Chapter 126: Hannah Hutchins

Dusk was beginning to fall when the Bus landed silently on the outskirts of a small town in the countryside. The situation was delicate. Coulson and his team had received an urgent call about a woman named Hannah Hutchins, who had apparently manifested telekinetic abilities after an industrial accident. Local authorities were in a panic, and the crowd surrounding her home was on the verge of a riot.

"We're entering a volatile situation," Coulson said as the team prepared to get off the Bus. "We need to remain calm, try to understand what's happening to this woman, and make sure no one gets hurt."

"What if she really is telekinetic?" Skye asked, still perplexed by the possibility.

"We'll find out. But until then, treat this with caution," Coulson replied, looking at everyone.

Ward adjusted his pistol in his holster, always prepared for the worst, while May, as usual, kept an impassive expression, already considering the options for neutralization, if necessary.

When the team arrived at the street where Hannah's house was, they found a chaotic scene. A crowd of people surrounded the residence, with protest banners and shouts of accusations. "Murderer!", "Witch!" echoed among the crowd, fueling the tension.

"This doesn't look good," Fitz muttered, looking nervously at the protesters.

Coulson nodded, his eyes scanning the scene, assessing the situation. He noticed that some local police officers were trying to control the crowd, but it was clear that they were at a disadvantage.

"Skye, Ward, try to calm the people down. May and I will go to Hannah," Coulson ordered, pointing to the house.

Ward signaled to Skye, and the two advanced towards the crowd. Skye raised her hands, trying to appear calm and harmless.

"Hey, guys, let's all calm down," Skye began, her voice clear and calm. "No one wants this to escalate, right?"

"She's a murderer!" one of the protesters shouted. "She killed our friends at the factory!"

Skye exchanged a glance with Ward, who was already keeping an eye out for potential rioters.

"I understand that you're scared and angry, but we have to take a step back. We're here to help,"

Skye continued, trying to contain the crowd. However, on the other side of the street, a strange invisible force seemed to take shape. A parked car began to sway, as if it were being pulled by an invisible hand. The sound of twisting metal caught everyone's attention.

"Ward!" Skye shouted, pointing to the car that was now moving on its own toward one of the police officers.

Before the vehicle could run over the officer, Coulson ran toward him, pushing him out of the way at the last second. The car crashed into a tree, making a loud crash. The police officer, stunned and still catching his breath, stood up and immediately drew his gun, pointing it at Hannah's house.

"She's killing us!" he shouted, his eyes wide with fear and anger.

Coulson stood up, placing himself between the police officer and the house.

"Put the gun down!" Coulson ordered firmly. "We're here to solve this. It won't help anything to shoot her."

The police officer hesitated, his hand shaking, but before he could make any decision, another invisible force pushed him back, throwing him against a wall.

That was when May acted.

In a quick and efficient movement, she pulled the midnight gun from its holster and shot Hannah, who was standing inside the house, staring with wide, fearful eyes. The shot was accurate, and Hannah fell to the ground, unconscious, her apparent telekinesis dissipating in the same instant.

"That should calm her down for a while," May said, as she put the gun back in its holster.

Coulson took a deep breath, relieved that there would be no further incidents, at least for now.

After dispersing the crowd and ensuring that Hannah was safe, the team entered the house. The place was in chaos. Furniture was overturned, windows were broken, and marks on the walls suggested that objects had been thrown with force. The tension in the air was palpable.

Simmons immediately began checking Hannah's vital signs, while Fitz set up a small device to monitor possible energy fluctuations.

"Her vital signs are stable. She appears to be in shock, but there's nothing abnormal physically," Simmons reported.

"What about telekinetic activity?" Coulson asked, looking around, alert for anything out of the ordinary.

"I'm detecting small energy pulses around the house," Fitz replied, examining the device. "Nothing extremely powerful, but still unusual." Ward, who was standing next to Coulson, looked at Hannah with a mixture of concern and suspicion.

"What are we going to do with her?" he asked.

— First, we need to find out what's going on here. If she really has telekinetic abilities, she could be in grave danger, as could everyone around her," Coulson replied.

May, ever practical, interrupted.

"We need to get her out of here before the mob returns. They won't wait patiently outside forever."

Coulson nodded.

"Okay. Let's get her to the Bus. We can interrogate her there and try to figure out what's causing this."

Ward and May quickly positioned themselves to help move Hannah. As they lifted her, she mumbled something, still unconscious.

"It wasn't my fault… I didn't mean to…" she said, her voice weak and distressed.

Skye, who had been watching closely, frowned.

"It looks like she's really terrified. She might not even know what's going on."

A short time later, the team was back on the Bus, with Hannah strapped to a chair in the interrogation room, still unconscious. Coulson and May were outside, watching through the glass.

"She doesn't seem like a typical villain" — Skye commented, who was also watching beside them.

"Sometimes the most dangerous people are the ones who don't know what they're capable of doing," May said, her tone impassive.

"Let's wake her up and find out the truth," Coulson said, before entering the room.

Hannah woke up slowly, blinking in confusion as her eyes adjusted to the light in the room. When she saw Coulson, she recoiled in her chair, startled.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"Calm down, Hannah," Coulson said in a calm, reassuring tone. "We're from SHIELD. We're here to help you. We want to understand what's happening to you."

She shook her head frantically.

"I… I don't know. I don't know what's going on. After the accident, things started moving on their own. I try to stop them, but…" She began to cry. "I didn't want to hurt anyone. I'm not a killer."

"We know that," Coulson said as he sat down across from her. "But we need you to tell us exactly what happened."

Through sobs, Hannah began to recount the events. She was a supervisor at a materials processing plant when an accident occurred that resulted in the deaths of several workers. Ever since then, things around her had started moving on their own. She believed she was being haunted by the victims of the accident.

"I tried to apologize… but it seems like the more scared I am, the more things move. I can't control it!" she exclaimed.

Coulson glanced at May across the room. Something about this story seemed… familiar.

"It's not ghosts, Hannah," Coulson said calmly. "But there may be another explanation for what's happening to you."

The team spent the rest of the night analyzing the data and searching for clues about the source of Hannah's power. While answers were still scarce, one thing was clear: something out of the ordinary had happened to her, and SHIELD needed to find out what it was before more people got hurt. Late that night, as the Shuttle flew to a secure SHIELD facility, Ward looked at Coulson.

"So, what's next?" Coulson, ever contemplative, replied with a weary smile.

"Right now, we're investigating what really happened to Hannah. Whatever the cause, I have a feeling we're only scratching the surface of this mystery."

And so, with more questions than answers, the team prepared to face the next challenges that were sure to come.