The Devil of S.H.I.E.L.D

A/N: Takes place before season two of 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D' and season four of 'Lucifer'. For this story, 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D' takes place in same year as 'Lucifer' season 4.

As this story takes place before the second season of 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D', Simmons has not yet gone undercover in HYDRA

Phil Coulson sat in his office in their new S.H.I.E.L.D base. Actually, he should say the secret new S.H.I.E.L.D base. No one new or could know that any part of S.H.I.E.L.D still existed. No one trusted any of them after HYDRA took it over.

Coulson sighed as he thought about how everything he knew had fallen apart so quickly. Everyone who had anything to do with S.H.I.E.L.D, and was still alive, had lost everything. Now, they were forced to rebuild, which was easier said than done. If HYDRA's infiltration had done nothing else, it had proven to Coulson that trust was not something he could give out blindly. He trusted his current time. He knew none of them would ever betray him or S.H.I.E.L.D. However, they weren't enough. He would have to bring in new members, which was where the trust issue reared its head. He refused to allow another Grant Ward to cripple his people. They barely survived his betrayal.

Coulson's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in."

Jemma Simmons walked in a second later. She was carrying both a laptop and a file. "Sorry to interrupt sir, but I just came across something that might interest you."

"It's no problem, Simmons. What is it?"

Simmons put the computer on his desk facing herself. She opened it and typed for a second before turning it around to show Coulson.

Coulson found himself watching a news clip from Los Angeles from about a month ago. It was about the LAPD bringing down a crime lord known as the Sinnerman, who also happened to be a police Lieutenant. The clip showed pictures of the two people who brought them down. A homicide detective and a civilian consultant. Coulson wasn't sure why Simmons was showing him this, but he figured it had to have something to do with why the civilian consultant looked so familiar to him. "I recognize this guy."

"As you should, sir. I recognized him right away. I think I would've even if I hadn't been revealing old S.H.I.E.L.D files in an attempt to figure out how the HYDRA catastrophe could've happened," Simmons said before placing a file on his desk labeled 'Lucifer Morningstar'.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Less than three hours later, Coulson was putting on his suit jacket. His bags were next to him all packed. He was heading to LA as soon as possible.

There was a knock at the door. A second later, May stepped inside. "Phil, what's this I'm hearing about you taking a trip."

"Good, you're here. I figured you'd want to come, so I figured I'd wait," Coulson said with a smile.

May looked less than amused. "I thought we agreed you couldn't go out into the field."

"We did, which is why I waited for you. Besides, this isn't exactly field work. We won't be facing any bad guys. It's a recon mission, and hopefully a recruitment one. Well, actually, I think re-recruitment is more accurate," Coulson said before putting a picture of Lucifer Morningstar on the desk in front of her. He'd found a recent picture online, as well as a ton of information on him. Well, if a ton meant nine years. That's how current intel went back.

May frowned. "He looks familiar."

Coulson nodded. "The academy was good at shoving history down our throats. It makes it hard to forget totally. Plus, his picture was at the Hub. His name is Lucifer Morningstar." He said as he slid the file over.

May looked surprised as she picked up the file. "I know I know that name. It's almost as famous as Peggy Carter and Howard Stark. He was one of us."

"More specifically, he was one of the first of us. In fact, aside from Peggy Carter, I think he was the very first S.H.I.E.L.D agent." Coulson said with a large smile. History like this always got him excited. In fact, he didn't think he'd been this excited since meeting Steve Rogers.

"He was legendary. He was instrumental in bringing down HYDRA with the SSR before S.H.I.E.L.D began," May said before opening the file. A picture of Lucifer Morningstar was on the first page. She compared it to the more modern one. Obviously the black and white photo made it difficult, but from what she was looking at, the two were pretty much the same. The two men didn't just look similar. They looked exactly the same. If they weren't the same person, they looked like they had to be identical twins. Obviously, that was impossible. "Coulson, are you saying you think Agent Morningstar is alive? Even if he was, he'd be at least in his nineties?"

"Look at the pictures, May. Even if this man was Morningstar's grandson, there would be some distinguishing characteristics. There aren't. You know, I heard Agent Morningstar always claimed to be the Devil," Coulson said.

May gave him a skeptical look. "Yes, she'd heard that story at the academy too. She laughed it off just like everyone else. If the Devil existed, she was pretty sure he wouldn't have become a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. "You buy that."

"I think it's more likely that he's gifted," Coulson said. He couldn't pretend to know all that was out there or how the universe came to be, but he found it more likely that Morningstar was gifted than that he was the son of God and the ruler of Hell.

Again, May was skeptical. "With eternal youth?"

"I'm going to find out. If he is Agent Morningstar, we could use him. He could help us rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D and stop HYDRA. He's done it before. If he's just a descendent, maybe he can still be recruited. Either way, it's worth making a trip to talk to him," Coulson said.

May was still very skeptical about this whole thing. She'd seen a lot, but this was something even she had a hard time believing. But they didn't have much to lose. Worse case scenario, this guy thought they were crazy, and they just came back. "Alright. Give me twenty minutes to pack a bag.

Coulson smiled and let her go. Hopefully when they returned, they'd have a new ally to help rebuild what they'd lost.