"Right then, welcome to your first day of community service." Phil Coulson announced with a sigh as he stood outside the local community centre on a rainy Monday morning. He was annoyed that the new suit he'd bought was getting soggy and raindrops were rolling off his thinning hair and into his eyes. In front of him were three young men and three young women dressed in the orange jumpsuits they were required to wear for every day of their seven weeks of service.
"You're all going to be working together for the next seven weeks so let's just start with introductions. I'm Phil Coulson, your primary probation worker; I'd prefer you call me Coulson. Let's go down the line and introduce ourselves, shall we?"
Silence.
Coulson turned to a young man at one end of the line. "Let's start with you, if you don't mind."
The young man shrugged. He wasn't short, but he wasn't tall. He scratched at his stubble. "Can't we get an umbrella or something? It's pissing it down."
"…Your name, please. Then I'll arrange to get some umbrellas." Coulson stated.
"…Brill. Hello all, I'm Lance Hunter. And I'm an alcoholic." The young man grinned. Everyone glared at him in disapproval. "…Tough crowd."
Coulson glared down at the soggy clipboard in his hands and crossed off Lance's name, turning to the young woman stood next to him as an invitation to speak.
"Daisy Johnson." She said, her short brown hair sticking to her cheeks from the rain. She still somehow managed to look beautiful.
"I'm Jemma Simmons." The girl next to Daisy announced without needing a prompt. "Hello."
"Lincoln Campbell." The tall blonde young man next to Jemma grumbled.
Everyone turned to face the tall young woman next to Lincoln with anticipation. She'd had a presence since the second she'd arrived that morning yet hadn't said a word.
"I'm Bobbi Morse." She stated. "If anyone makes a Morse code joke, I will break your arm."
Lance's mouth opened and closed very quickly.
"…Go on, introduce yourself." Coulson said warmly to the young man next to Bobbi at the other end of the line.
Everyone looked at the curly-haired boy with striking blue eyes. He'd not once looked up from the floor. "Leo…Leo Fitz."
"Are you Scottish?" Lance leaned forward to face the other young man. "Brilliant. Love that accent. You're my favourite. Or maybe you are."
He winked at Daisy. She gave him the finger.
"Now we've got that out of the way, I'd like to repeat that you'll be working together for the next seven weeks of your community service as you pay the local area back for your various crimes. So, there will be no fighting of any kind between you and you will follow any and all instructions given to you by superiors. Failure to comply could add to your time doing community service. Understood?" Coulson asked.
Everyone stood staring at him blankly.
"Good." Coulson smiled. "You'll be starting with some simple redecoration work. The main hall of the community centre needs its walls repainting. You'll find everything you need inside."
A sweet smile came over Leo's face. Lincoln clocked it.
"What's up with you?" He asked argumentatively.
Leo's smile faded. "Oh, I just, I…I l-like painting."
"Can I at least hit him and no one else?" Lincoln asked.
"You know the answer to that." Coulson groaned. The community centre doors opened behind him and a handsome man with jet black hair and muscular physique strolled out, complete with a black velvet jacket. "Everyone, this is your secondary probation worker, Grant Ward. When I'm not around you can rely on him to be here. You are all to respect and follow any of his instructions too."
"I've laid out all the paint and brushes for them; shouldn't be any disasters." Grant smirked and Coulson nodded.
"Excellent. Time for you all to give back." Coulson said, enthusiastically tapping his clipboard with his hand.
The second he did, an enormous clap of thunder filled the air, followed by an almighty flash of lightning the left everyone squinting.
"Holy shit! Where did that come from?" Lance chuckled excitedly.
"It's just the weather." Grant rolled his eyes and turned to Coulson. "We should get them inside."
"Agreed. Come on everyone." Coulson said, turning to face the community centre entrance.
Another crash of thunder and flash of lighting, even louder and brighter than before.
"Bloody hell." Leo cursed under his breath as everyone looked up at the sky.
"This wasn't forecast was it?" Daisy asked in confusion.
"It was supposed to be sunny skies, I'll admit." Coulson said. "The rain was a nasty enough surprise when I woke up this morning."
"It's getting heavier, too." Bobbi noted, then froze. "What the…holy shit."
"What?" Lincoln asked.
"Look at the rain!" Bobbi stated. Everyone looked around in confusion.
"What about it?" Jemma asked.
"It's going up!" Bobbi yelled. "Look, the rain is going up!"
Everyone squinted. To their surprise, Bobbi was right. The rain was soaring upwards towards the clouds.
"How is that possible?" Lance wondered.
"It's not." Leo and Jemma said together.
"Let's just…let's get inside." Coulson said nervously as the thunder and lightning flashed again, once again with even more intensity that before.
"There's something else coming down with the rain." Jemma noted, pointing upwards.
Everyone looked in bewilderment as almost out of nowhere, big chunks of ice fell from the sky and slammed onto the concrete surrounding them.
"Holy fuck!" Lance cried as Jemma screamed and everyone panicked.
"Inside NOW!" Grant exclaimed.
Everyone ran for the entrance of the building. They were mere inches away from the door when a bolt of lightning crashed in front of the group and threw them backwards and onto the floor with huge force.
Silence for a moment.
Lincoln was the first to regain consciousness. He grumbled as he got to his feet and rubbed his head. He'd been the closest to the door and could've sworn he'd managed to touch the handle just as the lightning hit. He turned around and saw the rest of the group still lying on the floor, drenched from head to toe and some with small shards of ice littered over them.
He looked up and was greeted by a crystal clear blue sky. If he couldn't see the chaos in front of him he would've sworn there hadn't even been a storm and he'd dreamt the whole thing.
"Fuck." Lance groaned as he came to and sat up, looking at Lincoln. "Was your hair always that pointy or was that the lightning?"
Lincoln took out his phone and looked at his reflection. "That's how my hair always is."
"Oh….uh, looks great." Lance said and got to his feet just as Daisy, Leo and Coulson came to and stood up.
"Is everyone alright?" Coulson asked nervously as everyone awake nodded at him. He hurried over to Bobbi just as she woke up before helping her up and checking on Grant. After another minute or so, Grant finally came to and sat up, rubbing his head ferociously and pushing Coulson away as he stood.
"You okay there Top Gun?" Lance asked him with a smirk.
"Wanker." Grant whispered with unexpected fury.
Lance looked outraged. "Did he just call me a wanker?"
"Is everyone alright? For sure?" Coulson asked again, and everyone nodded. "Good, okay, um…let's just…let's just head inside and get to work, alright?"
"What the fuck was that?" Daisy asked.
"We'll just have to wait and see what they say about it on the news." Coulson said.
"Grandpa's right." Lance chuckled.
"I will not tolerate disrespect." Coulson warned, pointing at Lance.
"Let's just go inside already, I'm sick of it out here." Lincoln said and reached for the door handle. As he touched it, a spark flew out of his finger and shocked him. "Shit!"
"That's a fairly common occurrence, I wouldn't worry." Jemma noted.
"Did I ask you?" Lincoln argued. Jemma shrunk back.
"Just open the door." Grant growled. Lincoln obeyed, unable to hold Grant's gaze for too long. There seemed to be something in his eyes that wasn't there before.
…
"That wasn't weird though, weren't it?" Daisy said as she got to work painting the walls of the main hall. The aged white paint had peeled off, leaving the group with the task of painting over it with a fresh baby blue.
"Can we let this go now? It was a bloody storm." Lance groaned.
"A storm that knocked us all out. I think that's worth talking about." Jemma noted.
"Or we could just not talk at all? I'd like that." Lincoln added, smirking at Leo, who was painting on his own away from the rest of the group. "Like Braveheart over there. He's my favourite; too shy to say a fucking word to anyone."
Leo briefly looked over then refocused on his painting.
"He's got a point; you don't seem like the kind of guy who'd get community service." Lance said, turning to Jemma. "Same goes for you."
"It's a long story." Jemma sighed. "And one I'm not going to tell."
"What about you, William Wallace?" Lincoln asked Leo. "Care to share your story? No offence, but you do come across as a bit of a weirdo. I bet it was something like sneaking into a girl's room and recording them as they slept."
"I…I'm not a weirdo." Leo mumbled quietly.
"That's exactly what a weirdo would say." Lincoln shrugged. "At least tell me the weird film you took was with a decent quality camera."
"I didn't film anyone while they were sleeping. I…I'm not a f-freak." Leo said shyly.
"I disagree." Lincoln smiled.
"Just let him get on with it." Bobbi said.
"Ooh, Betty's in love." Lance laughed.
"Firstly, my name is Bobbi. Secondly, no I'm not. I didn't realise you were an eleven year old." Bobbi snapped at Lance. Daisy couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"Maybe my mind, but I can assure you my body is very well developed." Lance winked.
"If anyone empties their can of paint, send it my way so I can throw up in it." Bobbi said.
"So what did everyone do to get community service? Who's brave enough to share?" Daisy posed.
"Robbed a bank." Lance grinned.
"Funny." Daisy groaned.
"I got into a fight in a bar. Punched a few guys, smashed a few glasses." Lincoln revealed.
"Did you have to pay damages?" Jemma wondered.
"Nah, the guy who owns the bar went to school with my dad. Community service was enough for him. I only thought it'd be a week or two though. Seven weeks is taking the piss." Lincoln explained.
"It allows plenty of time for rehabilitation." Coulson announced as he entered the room and inspected the walls. "Looking good so far, everyone. Just checked the news; everyone's baffled by the storm. They have no idea where it came from or why."
"Because the weather here is always shit, that's why." Lance noted.
"I'd appreciate everyone toning down their language." Coulson said.
There was a loud bang as Grant's cursing echoed through the building. He stormed into the room with remnants of a wooden chair in his hands. "Bloody thing broke when I sat on it."
"No worries. We have plenty here." Coulson said.
"Look at all those pieces, though. Did you snap it on purpose?" Lance asked.
"Did I say you could speak?" Grant asked angrily.
"No, the Human Rights Act did."
"Little prick." Grant whispered and headed out to dispose of the broken chair.
"Anyway, I'll leave you all to it. Finish off all the walls and then you can have half an hour for lunch. Or if you ever need a quick snack use any of the vending machines dotted about. But don't use them as an excuse to slack off." Coulson said and headed out.
"Now there's an idea." Lance grinned, dropping his paintbrush and heading over to the vending machine in the corner of the room. "Anyone got any change?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"No problem." Lance said, grabbing the machine with both hands and furiously shaking it until a chocolate bar fell out. Victoriously, he picked it up and wandered smugly back over to the group. "Winning!"
Everyone worked in silence for a few minutes while Lance ate the chocolate bar. The second he was finished and dropped the wrapper on the floor he spoke up again. "So…three girls and three guys. Hasn't this worked out well?"
"Not for the girl stuck with the freak over there." Lincoln smirked as he looked at Leo, who lowered his head and carried on painting.
"I'd sooner bang Coulson than either of you assholes." Bobbi smirked.
"I second that." Daisy laughed. "Though I wouldn't mind getting my claws into that Ward guy."
"He broke that chair on purpose, I'm telling you." Lance stated. "Bloody nutcase."
"Someone's jealous." Bobbi said.
"Yeah, you are. Because you haven't gotten a glimpse of me without this jumpsuit on." Lance smirked, glaring seductively at Bobbi.
She rolled her eyes at him as he smiled and turned away, but she heard him speak again.
I bet she likes it rough.
"Fuck off!" Bobbi shouted, throwing her paintbrush at Lance. It smacked him on the cheek, leaving baby blue paint over his face.
"What the fuck did you do that for?" Lance asked in shock. Everyone was staring at Bobbi in confusion.
"Because you don't have any respect, clearly! You don't know the first thing about me and you just assume I like it rough, huh? Prick." Bobbi spat.
"When did he say that?" Lincoln asked.
"Just then! How did you miss that?" Bobbi asked. Lance had gone white as a sheet.
"He didn't say that." Daisy said.
"Yes, he did! I heard him say it!" Bobbi shouted.
"I didn't hear it." Jemma added.
"Open your ears, then! You heard him, right?" Bobbi asked Leo.
"Oh, I…I don't…I'd rather not get involved." Leo shied away.
"Great. Thanks." Bobbi groaned, looking back at Lance. "You're a dick."
Lance stared at her. How the fuck did she know I was thinking that?
Bobbi froze. It was Lance's voice, just like it was before, but she'd seen his face that time. His mouth hadn't moved.
Coulson hurried in. "Is there a problem? I heard shouting."
Everyone looked at Bobbi.
"…No. All good." She lied.
"…Okay." Coulson nodded, smiled and headed out. Bloody kids.
"Excuse me?" Bobbi asked.
Coulson stopped and turned back in shock. "W-What?"
Bobbi froze again. She'd heard Coulson's voice say that. She HAD. "…Nothing."
Coulson said nothing as he turned and made his way out again.
"Are you okay?" Jemma asked.
Bobbi's head was all over the place; she could hardly breathe. "I need some air."
…
Bobbi burst out of the front doors of the community centre and looked out at the bank of water in front of her. The community centre was right on the edge of the city looking out over the dock. The sun was beaming down; any trace of the storm that morning had vanished into thin air.
Bobbi walked out to the metal fence stopping her from falling off the ledge and into the water and looked down, closing her eyes and trying to clear her head. What the hell was going on with her? Why had she heard Lance and Coulson's voices in her head, and so clearly? She could've sworn they'd said those things.
She always went for a run when she needed to calm her thoughts, so she set off on a light jog around the community centre. She stopped dead the second she turned the corner.
The benches had been torn to pieces, parts of the walls had caved in as if they'd been punched and branches had been ripped off of some of the trees planted nearby. It looked like a bombsite. And Grant Ward was stood in the centre of it.
He spotted her quickly. "…The storm did more damage than we thought."
"…Oh." Bobbi said, noting one of Grant's fists was bleeding onto the pavement.
"Nothing to worry about." Grant stated. "Go back inside and back to work. I'll clean this up."
Bobbi heard Grant's voice. She'll leave if she knows what's good for her.
Her eyes widened. She turned away and ran back inside. She wasn't imagining any of this. It was happening. It was real.
…
"Everything okay?" Jemma asked as Bobbi walked back in. Most of the room had now been painted.
"Yeah. Just felt a bit off. I'm fine now." Bobbi said, glancing briefly at Lance before returning to her painting. "I, uh…I think you're right about that Grant Ward guy. I just saw him outside. He looked…I dunno. He's not all there."
"Told you." Lance grinned. Daisy rolled her eyes.
Bobbi knew she couldn't tell them everything about Grant and the voices; they'd never believe her. What the hell was happening?
"You sure you're okay? You look a bit shaken up." Jemma asked.
"I'm fine, alright!" Bobbi snapped.
Jemma took a step back. "…Okay."
Sorry for caring. Jemma's voice echoed inside Bobbi's head, just like it had with the others.
"…Is, uh…is everyone else okay? Not feeling…weird?" Bobbi wondered nervously.
Everyone nodded. Lincoln smirked and pointed at Leo. "He's used to it by now."
"I'm not…I'm not weird." Leo said timidly.
"Sure." Lincoln grinned.
Bobbi watched as everyone got back to work and finished painting the walls. Coulson inspected them when they were done and let them go for lunch. They retreated to the locker room where they'd kept their belongings and sat mostly in silence as they ate the food they'd brought. Bobbi didn't dare bring up the strange goings on again.
…
The second Lincoln's parents went out shopping that evening, he called Rebecca and told her the house was empty. She only lived around the block, so it didn't take her long to get there.
"How was community service?" She asked as Lincoln let her in and they headed into his bedroom.
"…Weird. Pretty sure I hate most of the people there. Seven weeks is going to drag." Lincoln groaned.
"Did you see that storm earlier, too? Crazy." Rebecca said.
"Yeah, I got caught in it. So fucking weird. Honestly, I'm sick of hearing about it." Lincoln admitted.
"Well then." Rebecca bit her lip and walked up to Lincoln as he closed the door. "Let's stop talking."
She gripped the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head, running her hands over his ripped body. She unzipped his jeans and let them fall to the floor as he unzipped the back of the dress and threw it across the room. He took her up in his arms and let them both fall onto his bed, kissing her neck as she wrapped her legs around his waist and ran her hands up and down his back, feeling the movement of his muscles.
She moaned with pleasure and reached for his boxers, pulling them down his legs until Lincoln kicked them off. He pulled her up and onto him, leaving her sat on his naked crotch as he tore off her bra and discarded it, kissing all down her chest.
"Ow!" Rebecca yelped, jumping back.
"What?" Lincoln asked.
"…Sorry, I…electric shock." Rebecca said, shaking it off and climbing back onto Lincoln, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. The kiss deepened and grew more intense as the two fell back onto the bed. Rebecca gripped Lincoln's hair as she let his tongue explore her mouth.
The lights flickered, making Rebecca jump and sit up again. "What was that? The lights just went weird."
"It's nothing." Lincoln whispered seductively before kissing her again.
"Ow!" They both cried this time, jumping away from each other as they both felt the electric shot.
"What the fuck is going on?" Rebecca wondered.
"It's probably just, you know, an after effect of that storm. Come here." Lincoln smiled. Rebecca giggled as Lincoln rolled on top of her and resumed kissing her neck. She closed her eyes and groaned, now unable to see the lights starting to flicker again.
"Lincoln…" She whispered with desire.
He slipped off her underwear as they got under the covers and he began to thrust.
"Oh, Lincoln! Yes! YES! Oh!"
They'd found the perfect rhythm. Their moans of pleasure filled the room as Rebecca gripped onto the mattress. The laptop on Lincoln's desk began to spark along with the lights.
"Oh, Lincoln…"
"Becks…"
The streetlamps outside flickered. Car alarms started going off. Sparks of electricity flew all over the nearby streets.
"Yes, Lincoln, oh, oh, yes, YES…YES!"
A huge crash as all the lights in the nearby houses blew out. Streetlamps exploded, cars set alight, alarms went off everything.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!" Rebecca exclaimed in panic as she rushed out of Lincoln's bed, tripping over in the darkness as she reached for her clothes and inelegantly put them back on. "This is too fucking weird!"
"Becks, wait!" Lincoln cried, getting out of bed after her and finding his boxers. He slid them on and went to rush to find her; he walked by his laptop and it exploded into sparks, sending Lincoln flying across the room and into a wall.
After a few minutes, he got back up to his feet and rushed to his bedroom window, witnessing the chaos outside for the first time. "What the fuck?"
He looked at his laptop. The way it exploded like that reminded him of something.
The storm.
He ran a hand through his hair and jumped back in pain the second he touched his scalp. Looking at his hand, he could see small blue bolts of electricity flickering around the gaps between his fingers.
He carefully made his way around his room and found his phone, using the light from it to get a better look at his hand. The blue bolts of electricity were running through his fingers and up to his forearm.
Without thinking, he took a picture of it and stared at it in disbelief.
What's happening to me?
…
The next morning, everyone stood in the locker room putting on their jumpsuits in silence. Leo was making an effort to avoid looking at the girls getting changed. Lance was not.
Lincoln burst into the room. "That storm has fucked me up."
"Excuse me?" Lance asked, already amused.
"Anyone else have a major power cut yesterday?" Lincoln asked.
"…I, I did." Leo piped up shyly.
"It was me." Lincoln admitted.
"What was you?" Daisy asked.
"The power cut. I did it. The storm, it…I don't know how to explain it…I…I think it gave me some kind of power. Electrical power. You know?" Lincoln said timidly.
Silence.
"…Are you high?" Lance chuckled.
"I'm not making it up! Look!" Lincoln exclaimed, getting out his phone and showing everyone the picture of his hand. "I don't know how it works or how I control it. I can't seem to get it to work today but look at that! That's not normal, right?"
"…What the hell?" Jemma wondered as she looked at the photo. "I've never seen anything like that."
"It was the storm, I'm telling you. It zapped me and now I can do crazy things with electricity and electrical devices. I've…I've got powers." Lincoln said in disbelief.
"You're having me on. That's Photoshop, right?" Lance laughed.
"Why would I lie about something like this? We all felt it when we got hit, right? This buzz going through us. It changed me!" Lincoln shouted.
"What were you doing when it all kicked off?" Bobbi asked curiously.
"…I'd rather not say." Lincoln said quietly.
"Shameful." Lance grinned, shaking his head.
"You've got to believe me! I'm not making it up, I swear. I…it's freaking me out." Lincoln admitted.
Silence.
"…Okay, good joke but that's enough now." Lance said.
"It's not a joke." Lincoln stated adamantly.
"He's right." Bobbi said quickly. Everyone looked at her. "I…the storm changed me too. I've got powers."
"Come on." Lance shook his head.
"What?" Lincoln asked. "What is it?"
"…I can hear people's thoughts. Not all the time, I don't know how it works, but I can. That's what yesterday was all about. I heard your thoughts but at first I thought you were actually talking!" Bobbi explained.
"Holy shit." Lincoln's eyes widened.
"Bullshit." Lance stated. "You think some admittedly freakish storm gave you two powers but not the rest of us?"
"Maybe…maybe we just don't know what we can do yet." Leo stuttered. "…We might have super powers."
"What the fuck did I put in my tea this morning?" Lance said to himself.
Bobbi heard his voice again. Shit! Why did I let them know I like drinking tea?!
"Drinking tea is nothing to be ashamed of." Bobbi smirked.
Lance looked at her in stunned silence for a moment. "Fuck. Off."
"D-Did you just read his mind?" Leo asked.
"You bet I did." Bobbi smiled. "It's nice to see him speechless."
"So you can control it?" Jemma asked, genuinely shocked and interested.
"Honestly, I have no idea." Bobbi shrugged.
"Can we just stop for a minute?" Daisy asked. "I mean…this, this is insane, right? Surely I'm about to wake up from a really weird dream?"
"I really don't think this is a dream." Jemma said excitedly. "I think this is real. I wonder what caused the storm…what powers might the rest of us possess?"
"Easy, nerd." Lance rolled his eyes. "I hope I have x-ray vision."
"You're disgusting." Bobbi shook her head.
"Basically, yeah." Lance agreed.
"We should keep this to ourselves." Leo said nervously, yet with more confidence than anyone had ever seen him show.
"If we all have some amazing super cool badass power, why would we hide that? We could go on the news and make millions!" Lance objected.
"Or we could be locked up and e-experimented on." Leo argued.
"This is a movie, mate." Lance said.
"I think he has a point." Jemma said. "We shouldn't risk it. Or at least wait until we know what all of us can do, if all of us can do anything."
"Agreed. It's a smart move. I'd rather not be dissected." Bobbi agreed.
"Me too." Lincoln nodded.
"…Fine, whatever. You'll be sorry when my power is something awesome and newsworthy like…like shitting money or something." Lance said.
"Shitting money?" Lincoln questioned
"It'd be worth the suffering and you know it."
The door slammed open and Grant stormed in. "You're all late to rollcall. Hurry up."
"Yes, sir." Lance rolled his eyes. "What did you do to your hand?"
Everyone looked and saw Grant's hand was now bandaged after what Bobbi had witnessed the day before. Grant glared at Lance with unnecessary intensity.
"Is it any of your business?"
Lance went to reply, but stopped himself when he saw the rage in Grant's eyes. He could've sworn his pupils had turned red for a second or two. Shaking his head, Grant kicked open the door and hurried out again.
Daisy sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Dude's got issues."
"Prick." Lance cursed. "Right then, let's go get given a task for me to spend all day ignoring and figuring out what my amazing power is."
With a smug smile, Lance headed out of the room with Leo, Jemma and Daisy following. Lincoln went to leave but Bobbi stopped him.
"Hey, do you think all of this is temporary or what? What if we're the only people affected?"
"I really don't know. We're gonna have to work it out as we go along." Lincoln said worriedly.
Bobbi nodded nervously and the two rushed to join the others.
…
Grant stood in the corner of the main hall watching as Coulson lectured the six misfits about their latest job filing paperwork. Every time he looked at them he became filled with a rage he could barely control at the best of times.
Ever since that storm, there was anger in his blood. He could hardly bare it. He hated his own existence.
It had felt like he wasn't even in control of his body the day before when he'd torn apart benches, chairs and trees with his bare hands and punched holes in walls. All he could do was try and forget about it and hope Bobbi had believed his excuses.
He didn't know what was happening to him, but as he stared at those delinquents, the rage he felt made him feel like they had to be held responsible for it.
If his newfound rage was somehow going to destroy him, he'd just have to destroy them instead.