Chapter Nineteen

A/N: Oh my gosh you guys 1k reads!!!! Ahhh thank you so much!!! Also, sorry this one took so long!

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"I wish they'd just hurry up and get here already," I mumbled to Grant. It was midnight and we were on high alert at the Port of Málaga, waiting for someone to show up. Grant, Coulson, Garrett, and I were all in full tactical gear and comms, waiting for someone to show up for the orb. We'd found it earlier in the day hidden under one of the boards of the dock, but we hadn't touched it because this mission was about the people after the orb, not the orb itself.

"Be patient," said Grant, looking around the dock again, "They'll show up."

"We've been waiting for hours."

"Some stakeouts can last days. If you want to be a spy, you have to have patience."

I rolled my eyes. He was right, but hat didn't mean I had to be happy about it.

Just as I was getting ready to say something else to Ward, just to break the silence, I heard the comm crackle in my ear.

"Hey, come in." Garrett's voice.

"We're here," replied Ward.

"We've got some movement at the entrance to the docks. Looks like your friends from the beach. Don't intervene, just listen. See if they'll let anything slip now that they're alone."

"Got it. Over and out."

The comms went silent again as Grant and I listened for the signs of someone approaching. It wasn't long before we heard quiet voices and approaching footsteps.

"Lo está aquí," one of the voices said. (It's here.)

"Bien. Lo vamos a mover a Maw' Tej immediatamente," said the second voice. (Good. Let's move it to Maw' Tej immediately.)

I waited, hoping they'd say something else, but they didn't. They just moved to where the orb was hidden and started pulling up the board it was hidden under.

Earlier in the day, we'd put a tracker on the orb. This was a risk because electronics generally didn't work around the orb, but we were taking the chance that it would fall of once the orb arrived at its location and activate a signal. It was a long shot, but if it paid off it would be more ham worth it.

Grant and I sat in silence as the men took the orb and left. Once we were sure they were gone, we headed off the pier to meet Coulson and Garrett.

"Hey there," said Garrett, grinning as he came up to us, "Long time no see."

"Thy didn't see you did they?" asked Phil.

"They didn't give any sign that they saw us, sir," said Grant.

"And judging by the size of the firearms they were carrying, I think they would've let us know if they'd seen us," I added.

"Good. Now we wait," said Coulson. We made our way back to the hotel and packed up. This time we headed out of town separately, meeting up back at the Quinjet to see if our tracker would activate.

After what felt like hours of waiting, our computer dinged, letting us know the tracker was on.

"Alright. Let's see where these boys went," said Garrett, pulling up a map with the tracker's location.

It was in the middle of Siberia. Literally. The tracker was smack in the center of the Siberian Plateau on the map.

"You have to be kidding me," I mumbled. Another freezing cold location.

Garrett and Coulson glanced at each other, seemingly coming to an agreement.

"Are you two up for the assignment? Going in and scoping the place out? Finally getting some answers?" asked Coulson.

I looked at Grant. He was still my SO, which meant it was still his decision to make.

"Definitely, sir," he answered almost immediately.

"Good. You'll have 18 hours to get ready to go once we get back," said Coulson.

I sighed. "I'm going to go get ahead on sleep. I get the feeling I won't have much time to do that on the mission."

I made myself as comfortable as possible in the Quinjet seats and passed out. This place was practically my bedroom with how much sleeping I'd been doing in-flight.

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"Hey, Slater, wake up," I heard Grant say. I was surprised to feel that he was actually being gentle.

"Hey. Thanks for not earthquaking me," I said, "Are we back?"

"No, but we only have 18 hours to prepare everything and get back in the Quinjet so I think we need to plan what we're going to do once we land," said Grant.

"Probably smart," I sighed. I still wanted more sleep, but that would have to wait. "So what are you thinking SO?"

"As soon as we get off the plane, we'll both go pack immediately. Then, separately, we'll write up our mission reports."

"We still have to do those?" I asked. I thought we might get a break since we were pressed for time.

"Of course we still have to do those," said Grant, shaking his head. Whatever, I thought it was a perfectly reasonable question. "As soon as you get your mission report done, sleep. You'll need as much as you can get. We'll meet up with two hours left in the cafeteria to eat and go over mission details."

"Sounds like a plan," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt as the Quinjet came in for a landing. Grant had timed his speech perfectly.

I walked into the cockpit to say a quick goodbye to Phil and Garrett, then I headed out of the plane and parted ways with Grant to go to my quarters. Packing didn't take me very long, but even with the most abbreviated mission report ever, it took me a while to recount almost a month.

Finally, I got to sleep again. It was all too soon when I heard the unfriendly beeping of my alarm clock. I hated that noise more than just about anything.

Somehow, I managed to get up, and I brought my gear to the cafeteria. Grant was already there, sitting at one of the tables in the edge of the room.

"Morning," I said, siting across from him.

"It's 3:30 am," he said, looking up from his coffee.

"Well, I just woke up. And technically, that is morning."

He shook his head. "Alright, let's go over the mission details. Garrett did a satellite scan for us and found almost nothing, just a small square not big enough to hold much. Unfortunately, this means we have no idea what we're walking in to. Our job is reconnaissance and, after we discover everything we can, we have to decide for our selves the necessary course of action. We're going to be dropped off about a mile away from our location, then we'll go in and get the job done."

"All the while trying not to freeze to death," I added.

"I assumed that was a given."

"Alright then. Sounds like a plan."

"Let's eat something and then we'll head out."

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Two short hours later, Grant and I were sitting in the back of another Quinjet, taking off for Siberia. This job never failed to amaze.

"You ready?" asked Grant as the plane's door closed.

"Ready."