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Chapter Text

They had searched every inch of the Colosseum, but there was no trace that Skye or Fitz had ever even been there, let alone were there now. They even waited a while to see if they would make an appearance, but as the hours dragged on it became clear that they weren't coming at all, or the team was already too late.

Sif was getting antsy. Ward knew this because when the Asgardian was anxious, she made herself known.

"This is pointless," she stated. "Waiting is not helpful. If I am to stay and aid you, we must be doing something proactive."

"Sif's right," Coulson agreed. "We should go help Simmons search at the BUS."

"That is a good idea; I have technologies that could be beneficial in your aircraft."

"We should keep someone here in case they come back or haven't made it here yet," suggested Ward, even though he knew the chances of them coming there now were slim.

"I'll stay," offered May. "Let me know if something comes up."

Coulson nodded. Soon they were piling back into the same SUV they'd used to get there in the first place, and Ward found himself getting tired of the thing after spending so many hours sitting to wait for Sif.

They got back to the BUS. Everyone tentatively examined the aircraft as they walked inside. As though a murder or some other horrific crime had occurred. It was deafeningly quiet in there.

Until one scientist came bursting down the stairs, that is.

"Oh you're back!" exclaimed Simmons. "I've looked on Skye's laptop, she left it here. Which at first I thought probably meant they didn't leave willingly at all because well, have you ever known Skye not to take her laptop with her? But then of course, even if she had left willingly she was going to give herself up to someone who probably wouldn't even let her use it. Though he may have, but either way-"

"Simmons," Coulson stated. "Do you have anything to report?"

"Yes! On Skye's laptop I found two train tickets from Sorrento to Rome at 5:42 am. I'm guessing they used a bus to get to the former."

Damn it, they were too late, thought Ward. But unless Fitz and Skye were touring the city, which wasn't entirely impossible, they had already beaten the team to meeting up with her father.

"Did you find anything promising at the Colosseum?" asked Simmons.

"No," Coulson answered, just as Sif walked passed him purposefully. She probably decided the scientist wasn't going to give them any valuable information. "Did you find anything else?"

"Just some papers in Skye's room," explained Simmons. "They were actually torn to bits."

"What were they?" asked Coulson, interest on his face.

"I'm not entirely sure. They seemed like they were handwritten notes to someone. I was just about to look into it."

Ward swallowed. He knew what those were. They weren't going to help with their investigation.

"Don't bother Simmons," said Ward. "Skye told me about those. They're just letters she was going to give us the first night I caught her leaving."

"Oh," breathed Jemma in dejection.

"What's that girl doing?" asked Trip suddenly. They all turned to see Sif trailing around the lab with a device in her hand. It looked like it had something, symbols and information, lighting up around it that resembled data that would come off the holo-table. Unlike the table, it was clearly portable.

"I am scanning what types of life forms this vessel has held in the past," said Sif, obviously engaged in her task. "My device detected abnormalities."

"Well, Skye has been in the lab plenty of times in the past," said Simmons. "Could it be detecting her?"

"It has already identified the half-breed," Sif informed them. "More non-midguardian life has been here."

Simmons, Ward, Triplett, and Coulson all managed to share a look.

"Wolfe never went in there…" mumbled Coulson.

"My blood samples from Skye were gone. He may have gone into the lab..."

"The creature spent a great deal of time here," said Sif. "Many hours over many days."

"But… but that's not possible!" protested Simmons. "I've spent far too much time in there not to notice something. Unless the creature was small enough to be undetected, perhaps."

Sif's device made some sort of noise, and she looked at it with satisfaction. Maybe not satisfaction, but in a sense that her readings were ringing true. "This gives us a logical conclusion. You've had an imposter in your midst, for the creature living with you has been a Skrull."

Everyone seemed to wrack their brains as the name itched their memories.

Wolfe had mentioned those when he was talking to Skye. They were one of the beings that were after her… what he had said caused the curse that made the Inhumans unable to breed. The prophecy that Skye was being blackmailed into fulfilling.

And there had been one here?

"What?" Simmons exclaimed. "A Skrull? An imposter? What does that mean?"

"Skrulls are beings that can take any form they so please. With the proper preparation, they can even steal habits. Memories. Though they always make mistakes," the Asgardian finished, her words ringing through Jemma's head.

Make… mistakes.

He had made mistakes. Small mistakes, but he'd made them. Plenty of them.

Jemma was going to throw up.

Her head spun with a terrible vertigo and she tried to steady herself. Feelings of horror-struck disbelief rolled off her in waves, but honestly, it made sense. The facts added up.

"Simmons?"

Coulson was talking to her. He was trying to comfort her, maybe attempting calm her down. Was she acting out?

Of course she was. She was on the ground, sobbing and trembling.

"I knew," she said shakily. "I knew he was wrong but none of you saw it so I thought maybe it wasn't too b-bad. But it was! Oh my god."

There was a sword in her face. That should probably have set off some sort of alarm in her mind, but she barely flinched. It didn't matter. Nothing did, because Skye hadn’t convinced Fitz to drop her off.

He had taken her there.

And he wasn't Fitz at all, was he? But that meant…. That meant he was…

"She's not the one the alien impersonated," protested Ward, his arms outstretched in front of her as Sif's double-bladed sword attempted to reach her. "It was her partner."

She sobbed.

Was her partner?

She couldn’t breath.

"He's dead," she said, trembling with disbelief through her crying. There was a heavy weight to her words. They echoed through her ears with repetition and reminded her it was true.

"Simmons, we can't know-"

"Of course we know! Why would they keep him alive? There's no point to it!" she said wildly, trying to convince the stunned faces of her friends to turn their heads from hope. "Look at the facts: he's been gone for days, and he was off life support when we left him… oh god, we just left him!"

She was shouting. She was angry and she was sad. Her heart felt like it would explode it at any moment. Like the tears cascading down her face would never stop. Languish crept on her skin as she was once again drained from the exhausting pain of loss filling her bones.

She couldn't go through this again.

Jemma wiped off the tears and tried to get up, but her knees wouldn't move. New tears just replaced the old. She could feel herself falling apart. Her best friend. Her best friends…

"He may not be dead," said Sif, prompting Simmons to raise her head to look at the woman with bleary red eyes.

"What do you mean?" asked the scientist hoarsely.

"Skrulls like to keep their prisoners alive as long as possible, in case they need to clone their memory banks again. It's their process."

"You couldn't have mentioned that before she went into hysterics?" asked Ward, voice tinged with annoyance.

It didn't matter. It didn't matter if Simmons had just gone off in front of her team or if Sif's words would have stopped Jemma from doing so. The woman was saying he could be alive. There was hope. Dear god, all she needed was hope, until she needed truth behind it.

With the realization that her friend may not be dead, other horrors hit her anew.

The team hadn’t known he'd been gone. He'd been captured and in enemy hands for a week while they were all blissfully unaware, going about their lives as though he was right there beside them. Anything could have happened to him. He could be being tortured or he could still be in a coma. Meanwhile, an alien had been waltzing around by her side.

Simmons realized, as much as anything could be happening to Fitz, anything could have happened to her.

She was alone with "Fitz" many times since they'd found him in Costa Rica. No wonder he'd kept taking her by surprise. Kissing her in sudden attacks that were so unlike him.

And she'd kissed him back.

Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to be on the brink of death in the first place? She’d thought she had him back, she’d thought he was safe… so what if he was a little different. Fitz had been home and that was what had mattered.

Yes, he’d been home… right next to the man who'd taken him away in the first place.

"You," Jemma seethed, turning on Ward. "This is all your fault!"

"What?" he asked. Simmons saw him glance around the room to eventually land eyes on Coulson, as if fearing her accusation would make the older man turn on him. "I've never even heard of a Skrull before."

"Not the bloody Skrulls you utter halfwit!" Simmons screeched. "Fitz nearly died because of you, and those creatures have him now for that exact reason!"

The irony of the situation was, if Fitz was indeed alive, the only people to be accredited with that feat would be the Skrulls.

No thanks to Ward.

"You've been so gung ho about helping Skye, I pushed passed the fact that you tried to kill us. Kill us, Ward! That you were a traitor and had been working for Hydra the whole time I knew you. I even felt sorry after I stuck you with that sedative!"

"Simmons, I-"

"Don't try to defend yourself! You do not get to defend yourself!" she exclaimed, pushing on him with multiple angry shoves to the chest that barely made him stumble. He didn't lift a finger to stop her, though. "You've been back here with us for days. Days we've let you walk around and I tried to ignore you because you were an asset. But you never even tried Ward."

He scrunched his brow. "Tried?"

She growled in frustration. "To apologize! You never apologized! Never even tried. Not that an apology would make up for what you did, but you needed to at least do it. I can't believe I even allowed myself to so much as speak with you!"

Ward swallowed, but he didn't say anything.

Was he not even going to try to say sorry after she'd just laid it out for him? Was he that dense? Maybe she didn't give him long enough to gather his thoughts, but she couldn't wait anymore.

Simmons bolted out of the room.

Ward watched her go, feeling as though he couldn't quite move. He wanted to explain to her. He wanted to apologize because he knew he should be groveling to every single last one of them, let alone at least try to repent for that horrible action.

But that would mean going into the box.

And he'd kept that box tightly shut in the corner of his mind. If he opened it, that would mean exposing everything. He could become unstable. He couldn't do that to Skye, not now when she needed him. He couldn't become unpredictable.

When he turned away from the now empty corridor Simmons had run off to, he was met with double death glares emanating off of both Triplett and Coulson.

Maybe Ward didn't have a choice.

"I think I should go back to your city of Rome," said Sif, as if she hadn't noticed the explosion of emotions the scientist had just gone through. Her nose was down in her Asgardian tech. "My devices can detect if Skrulls have any technologies in the city. There was no sign of Inhuman or Kree intelligence, but this makes sense now."

Coulson nodded to her. "Thank you. Agent Triplett can escort you."

"That would be a helpful service," responded Sif, nodding her appreciation at Trip.

He appraised the Asgardian head to toe. "Trust me, it's my pleasure."

Into in the SUV they went once again, heading right back where they’d come from. The drive was a short enough distance that it hadn't been a particularly difficult trip.

After the SUV was out of the vantage of the open cargo bay doors, Coulson turned on Ward. Surprisingly, he didn't look angry. But he did look intense.

"Is this going to be a problem?" asked Coulson. Ward could feel the heat of his gaze.

"I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to, sir," said Ward stiffly.

There were indeed a good amount of problems floating around the team lately, but Grant was actually pretty positive he knew what the man was talking about. Another response just didn't come immediately to mind.

"I've got an agent up there who had a cross-off attempt directed at her by someone on her own team, who I'm pretty sure she’d believed to be her friend. Then he turned out to be reporting on her, and said team, for months. You don't think that would make someone harbor ill-feelings?"

Coulson appraised Ward after he said his carefully chosen words. Ward then had to think about his just as much.

"Of course it would. I have no delusions it wouldn't."

"Then it strikes me as odd you wouldn't be doing everything you can in your power to fix it," Coulson stated. "We're in quite a situation here and I don't have time to send you to a seminar on how to get along with your co-workers. I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt to help us out as you've proven to have some worth, but if either of you are emotionally compromised you can't be at full working capacity. That puts our two agents in jeopardy. So find a way to fix it."

Ward wanted to say that in order to fix it, he might become emotionally compromised himself. He wasn't one to usually let his emotions run him, but that was because he could compartmentalize his feelings. He wasn't' forced to rip them out at the surface. He was trained to put them away until such a time that he could handle them and work them out on his own.

He wanted to tell Coulson this. And maybe he should have, but he didn't. Instead he slipped back into the persona Coulson wanted him for, the only reason he kept him around. He didn't care about Ward's feelings. He cared about what happened to his actual agents, and for that he needed soldiers. So that's exactly what he would be.

"Yes, sir."

Chapter Text

Apparently Skrulls liked to talk, because between the time they had Skye on the ground and when they began to herd Fitz and her off to wherever they were going to hold them, they had monologued the hacker's ears off. Maybe they just wanted to rub in her face how foolish she had been to believe "her father's" story. But still, they told her everything.

Her actual father really had infiltrated SHIELD, but Paibok took him out and replaced him just a year earlier when they’d found out what he was doing, who he was after, and that it was a possibility to find the sacrifice. Same thing happened with Raina. Lyja had been the one to replace her.

And of course, Fitz had been taken by the aliens from the Hydra facility.

"Don't worry Skye, we're going to find a way out of this," Fitz assured her, way too brightly for their current situation as far as she was concerned. Their current situation being marched up the stairs of the decrepit building the Skrulls were holding them in.

"I know," Skye told him firmly, not voicing that his statement was only half true. Fitz would be getting out of this. She'd make sure of it. They may have had leverage against her, but she could use it right back.

"Well aren't you adorable," said Lyja of Fitz. "So optimistic."

"Shouldn't be too optimistic," said Bartak. "I hope you know that scientist you'd like as your mate has no interest in you."

Skye nearly stopped walking, a deep feeling of nausea setting in with the realization. In regard to what Jemma had told her about Fitz while they’d been having their girl chat. It hadn't been Fitz at all.

"I don't…" Fitz glanced sheepishly at Skye, before turning his attention back to the alien. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Human, I was you. I felt everything you feel and had your memories. I was Leopold Fitz from Glasgow, who prefers wearing ugly comfortable jackets to suits and whose mother never let him have two biscuits after dinner growing up and let me tell you, there is no hiding the attraction you have to one Miss Jemma Simmons," said Bartak. Skye watched a blush run up her friend's cheeks. "To be honest, it was pretty overwhelming. That's why I tried to do something about it."

Fitz' cheeks got even redder, but all traces of embarrassment were replaced with anger. He stopped, turning around to face the alien head on.

"What did you do to Simmons?"

Bartak smiled, showing off some decidedly pointy teeth. "Only what you tried to do when you were stuck in the ocean. Though I was a little more forward. Maybe that was a mistake because it took me out of character a bit… but nothing a quick memory wipe couldn't fix."

Skye gasped, removing her gaze from the floor to stare incriminatingly at the alien.

"That was you," she spat. "Graviton didn't mess with their memories at all!"

"Of course not, you little idiot," Bartak told Skye shortly, as if her epiphany was merely interrupting his story. He turned back to Fitz. "And I guess the little scientist must really hate you, because she turned me down more than once when I was in your form."

"Yeah right!" Skye exclaimed. "Simmons could never hate Fitz. She hated what you did to him, and she was going to figure out everything if you hadn't messed with her freaking brain!"

"Not that this isn't a fascinating conversation," Lyja pointed out from ahead of them, "but can we continue it while we move?"

Bartak nodded, gesturing for Skye and Fitz to keep going with their ascension up the stairs.

"Who's Graviton?" Fitz asked suddenly in a whisper.

"He's… a bad guy," said Skye.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for that. Clears it all up."

"Well, is now really a great time for lengthy explanations?" Skye told him, her voice decidedly frantic as she gestured around herself.

"Coulson is going to find us. He won't stop looking," Fitz assured her loudly, as though it were a proclamation to the aliens. Skye honestly hadn’t known he had it in him. But Simmons had mentioned him acting incredibly bold when he’d used the EMP to take Garrett out. Maybe Skye was just selling him short.

They walked all the way up the stairs until they reached the door to the roof, Skye holding her breath in fear and anticipation of what could be there. What was so big or scary they had to keep it on top of the building? Weren't they supposed to be taken to some sort of holding cell?

When Lyja opened the door, the bright sun blinded Skye's eyes momentarily. The staircase had been so dark it took them a moment to adjust, but eventually they did, and she was met with a great amount of… nothing.

The roof was bare.

Before Skye could ask a question they were ushered to the middle of the flat empty space. Lyja promptly tapped in the middle of the air and a keypad rose up from nowhere.

A floating, alien symbol language, keypad.

Even weirder when a door appeared out of nowhere, dropping down in front of them to the point where it basically made a ramp.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Fitz. And while Skye definitely hadn’t ben expecting it, she hadn't felt much of a shock. She'd been getting way too many surprises handed to her in the last couple days.

"What were you saying about someone finding you?" giggled Lyja, as the two agents were pushed onto the invisible aircraft.

The first room they entered looked similar to the BUS' cargo bay, given the fact that Skye was pretty sure it was a cargo bay. But everything else was different. It had lines of patterns running around the walls and, for the most part, the room was empty. It just looked cleaner than their cargo bay in general, actually.

"So it's cloaked," mused Fitz, looking around at the space. "I've thought about making one of these devices before!"

Lyja chuckled. "I definitely want to take Curly Hair here for processing," said the alien. She mussed up Fitz' hair as though he were a dog, but he quickly flinched out of her reach. "He's too cute! You can take that thing. It's no fun to be around her if we can't even rough her up."

"Fine by me," said Bartak. "I've had enough of the tiny man, seeing as I lived him."

"Oh but first… take off your jacket," Lyja told Skye, who scrunched up her face in confusion.

"Why?"

"Because I'm telling you to," said Lyja, voice firm with impatience.

It wasn't really much of an answer, but her jacket didn't matter. Heck, she had a whole bag of clothes with her that in the confusion she had no idea where they'd gotten off to, let alone her cell phone.

With jerky firm movements to outwardly show her disdain, Skye ripped off her black leather jacket and flung it at the Skrull, who caught it diligently in one hand. She then began to put it on.

"Oh, I see. You hate me but you like my style?" scoffed Skye. "Shame you've got me on the chopping block, I'd love to give you some fashion tips so I never have to see another one of those flower dresses again."

Lyja smiled. "Trust me, I hate the dresses too. But when you're another person… well, sense of style changes. A lot of senses change." She gestured to the jacket. "It just would have been such a shame for this to go through processing."

"Processing?" asked Fitz warily.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't take too long for you. You may not have known it, but you've been our guest for quite some time." She smirked, showing off those monstrous teeth. Skye was sure the creature could never smile in a way that didn't look pure evil. Her grin swiftly dropped and she turned to glare at Skye. "That thing has to go through a little more in depth process, seeing as it's new, but you'll see it soon enough.

Fitz glanced uncertainly at Skye, his worry nearly radiating off him in waves. They shared a quick moment of renewed dread before Lyja grabbed Fitz' arm to start tugging him away.

"Ow!"

"Hey!" Skye growled at the roughness. She took a step to run after him only to find herself jerked back by a hand on her upper arm, hold tight enough to bruise.

"You don't want to do that, little creature," chided Bartak, red eyes bearing into her own. "Lyja may have to hurt the human if you do."

Skye wanted to punch a wall or something. Why couldn't they just threaten her? She could take a hit. The nuns had even had a belt for when her rebellious attitude proved too much for them as a kid.

But lately it was always someone else. When she was at Hydra it was Coulson, now it was Fitz. Even Deathlok stopping Ward's heart.

"Fine," she fumed, trying to rip her arm out of his grasp. He softened the grip but didn't release her, using it to guide her through the ship.

As it turned out, "processing" entailed a few things.

First, she was put into a strange rectangular chamber. She jumped frigidly when jets of cold, purple liquid shot near-painfully onto her entire body, not stopping until she was drenched as a drowned rat. Skye could see why Lyja had wanted to take the jacket before she’d gone in.

Just as she started to shiver, a powerful blast of heat slammed into Skye and dried majority of her off in just a few seconds. The impromptu shower was definitely strange and unexpected, though nothing she couldn't handle.

Next she was put through a scanner in what seemed to be a medical room. It didn't look like any lab she'd ever seen, but after strange rays flashed over her - a scan for injuries, she heard them mutter- she was immediately taken over to a sort of healing machine. A Skrull calibrated it. A few moments after being turned on, her hand was fixed. It happened so quickly the process was almost like magic. They then stuck her head in to fix the bruises and cuts she'd acquired over the passed few days.

Even her ankle, which had been bothering her so little she was actually confused when that was the appendage they forced inside the machine. Skye couldn't even recall when it had happened… probably one of the times she’d been thrown around by Graviton.

The last place they brought her was definitely her least favorite activity. She was in an eerily empty, circular room that automatically made Skye hug herself. Great beams of yellow light took up residence in the center of the chamber, and what looked to be a female Skrull stood on the other side of them.

"What is this?" Skye asked curiously, voice quiet, as she felt dwarfed by the strange chamber. It wasn't surprising when she didn't get an answer.

She was pulled to stand on the opposite side of the room from the Skrull already present, just over a strange circle on the ground and something that looked nearly like a gun above her.

She tried to control her now heavy breathing as her stomach started to churn, unable to take her eyes off of the thing above her. If she weren't fairly certain they didn't want to kill her, that's exactly what she'd have thought they were doing.

So what were they doing?

A light just like one in the center of the room suddenly burst out of the gun and Skye tensed up. She expected some kind of pain or uncomfortable feeling, but she honestly didn't feel anything. It was as vacant as though it were merely shining a light on her. Maybe her head felt a little squeeze, but it was hard to tell.

When she looked across the room, she saw it happening to the Skrull standing there as well.

Then it was gone.

No sooner had it been turned off had Bartak been grabbing her arm again and puling her out of the room. She thought she’d been getting the gist of what was happening during the rest of the processing, but that was perplexing.

Skye glanced behind her back into the chamber one last time. She was just able to make out the Skrull that had shared her experience change before her eyes, into someone the hacker knew quite well.

"No," she whispered near inaudibly, before looking up at her Skrull warden accusingly. "You can't do that! She can't replace me!"

Whether with the help of adrenaline or just from pure rage, a good shove she freed herself from Bartak's firm grasp. She began running back to the room. It crossed her mind that there was probably nothing she could do, but she couldn't just let someone impersonate her. She couldn't let her team be tricked like that! Again.

When she neared the chamber she saw Skrull-Skye talking with some of the other aliens, but the fake girl stopped as she noticed the hacker bolting back towards them.

Skye saw her own face smirk at her, along with a taunting wave of twirled fingers.

Talk about self-conflict.

Seeing the gesture made by her twin was so strange it made something snap in Skye, and she stopped in her tracks. Just stared.

It was too long of a pause and she felt Bartak's hand on the scruff of her neck, gripping firmly as it mingled with her hair and pulled loose strands from her head.

"Get back here," he growled as he forced her away from the chamber.

"But you can't do this," Skye snarled as she tripped over herself and was hauled away. "You can't replace me with some half-assed versio-"

"It's a precaution," he interrupted, speaking simply. "But we needed the scan now. Now stop whining."

He pronounced the last word as she was shoved fiercely forward and released her neck. She rubbed at it tenderly, her cautious eyes watching the Skrull. She was still finding it hard to look at them. Their appearance was new to her and frankly, kind of horrifying.

More horrifying was what they could do, of course.

She came to the conclusion that if the team even came close to finding them, they'd send out her clone to deter them. The alien had all her memories and her skills. Why should the team suspect it wasn't her? They hadn’t with Fitz. She hadn’t with Fitz, and Simmons had almost paid the price for it. Thank god that girl knew her best friend.

No, there was no hope for her. But she would not go down without knowing Fitz was safe.

Bartak guided her down a small flight of stairs. She was met with what probably should have been a disappointing sight, but she still felt a sigh of relief push passed her lips.

Fitz was sitting on the cot inside of what was, for the most part, a clear cage. Though the walls weren't completely see through, they had some distortion so you could make out the boundaries. He was wearing some sort of skin tight, dark blue, jumpsuit. It wasn't incredibly flattering.

Fitz stood up when he saw them coming, but he didn't say anything. Merely blinked. She didn't know what to say either. 'Hey, how was your induction to the alien spaceship prison?' just didn't seem to have that ring to it.

Bartak brought her right up to the door to the cell and brought a key out from his belt. The strange metallic door slid open gently with a hiss, but before releasing Skye to go inside he shoved something into her chest.

"Put that on," he told her firmly. It was probably the same thing Fitz was wearing.

Skye didn't answer the alien. She merely walked inside the room as she heard the door slide shut behind her, watching Fitz' eyes as he, in turn, watched Bartak leave up the stairs. The moment he was gone, Fitz hopped over to Skye.

"Ok, so I've been examining the cell and I've never seen anything like it! It's as though it has a cloaking device in it of itself. But honestly it's not that advanced, we could have something like this up and running at the BUS soon enough," Fitz told her in a near cheerful voice. Actually, it was pretty dang cheerful.

"Alright," said Skye slowly, trying to take in the small mouthful of information.

This was the first moment they’d had to themselves since this whole experience started, and that honestly wasn't the first thing she'd think of to talk about. But he was on the right track. Thinking of ways out, so she tried to do something Ward had taught her when he was still her SO: compartmentalize. He said to put away your fears in a tiny box and focus on the now.

Skye closed her eyes, and tried to imagine a box in her mind…

"Are you alright?" asked Fitz. "I mean, other than the obvious of course. You kind of look like you’re in pain."

She opened her eyes.

So making a box was so hard she looked like she had a massive headache or something. Great. Why did Ward have to make everything seem so easy?

Imaginary box or not, she still managed to push her fears far enough to the side for now.

"Sorry. No, I'm fine. Well you know, considering... I was just thinking," she rambled. "Anyway, what does all that mean?"

"Ah, nothing really. I just thought it was interesting. I was trying to see if it had any flaws we could use but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's near impenetrable!"

"Great," Skye said sarcastically, maybe snappy enough to be considered harsh. She walked passed him to sit on the scanty cot.

"Yeah, there's only one bed. I don't know how you wanted to handle that…?"

"Simple. I won't sleep," she told him.

"What?"

"I've got a week left of life," she pointed out. "I'm not going to waste any of that time unconscious."

"Oh come on, Skye, that's ridiculous!"

"More ridiculous than being trapped on a spaceship surrounded by shape shifting aliens?" she asked him wryly.

"Well… uh, yes! As that seems to be happening and not sleeping for a week could physically harm you, not to mention how difficult it would be to even accomplish in the first place... Anyway, we're getting out of here. Coulson will come."

Skye almost protested, but she decided against it. He didn't need to know about the other Skye that was ready to take her place and throw them off the trail. What was wrong with giving him a little bit of hope, even if it was false? It was just like when he’d disagreed about Ward being a traitor. It was his coping mechanism.

She sighed. "You're right. All the more reason for one of us to be up and ready when he comes." She furrowed her brow, suddenly realizing that the engineer had had his back to her for the whole conversation. "Fitz… what are you doing?"

"Oh well, I just thought you might be changing," he told her, still facing the door.

She glanced down at the jumpsuit with disdain. Dark blue with black stripes running up the arms wasn't exactly fashionable. Then again, even if it were Gucci or Prada, it would still be prisoner's clothing.

"Wasn't really planning on it, actually," she mumbled.

With the information that she wasn't intending to change for the aliens, Fitz turned to face her.

"I was thinking about it. Maybe we should try to co-operate, because until we find a solid way out of here or to affect them, we don't want to give them any reason to suspect. You know, any more of a reason to keep an eye on us."

Skye considered the words as her gaze shifted back to the clothes. "I guess I should, then…"

Just as she began to reach for the garment they heard the door opening. Skye came to stand by Fitz as Lyja and Bartak came down the stairs.

"Hello, you two," sang the former.

Skye wasn't sure if she hated the woman’s voice more now or when she’d been disguised as Raina. With the Raina voice you could tell she was just trying to work you over, but everything Lyja said now sounded way too enthusiastic. As if to excite a child, or even a pet.

"How do you like the new place?" she cooed.

"It's a prison cell," Skye said dryly.

"Could be a bit roomier," put in Fitz.

Lyja smiled sideways, her eyes moving over to look at Bartak mischievously. "You know, I think they're right. Must be boring."

"I agree," said Bartak. "What should we do about that?"

Lyja's eyes seemed to sparkle, and Skye feared for whatever thought was giving them so much excitement. Fitz chewed his lip next to her.

"How about we play a game?"

Chapter Text

"I'm sorry."

Ward said this out loud. To the wall. He hoped no one was watching the cameras in the Cage just then.

He just wasn't used to the word. It tasted funny on his tongue. Sure, he'd said sorry to Skye, but he had been in a near desperate state for her approval at that point. And while Simmons was as clever as they come and a good resource, Ward didn't harbor any sort of feelings for her.

Simmons had said he hadn't even tried to apologize. He wasn’t even sure what that meant. Was there a proper way to say it? He really didn't have much experience with the matter. Maybe she’d just meant neither of the scientists would have accepted it if he did say sorry.

He tried again.

"I'm sorry."

Did that sound sincere? He couldn't tell if the inflection was in the right place. He needed it to sound real. He needed Simmons to be at one hundred percent to help Skye, and based on the way she'd been locked in her bunk the passed few hours, that relied on him getting this goddamn apology out and for it to be said right.

"I'm sorry," he told the wall again. "I'm sorry." He took a breath. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

"I apologize."

"I am sorry."

"I'm – damn it!"

Ward threw a punch into the bed and instantly feared he'd ripped straight through the mattress. With a steadying breath, he pulled his hand up to realize the cot was still, thankfully, in tact. Coulson was pretty stingy with damages now that SHIELD, or whatever they were now, was tight on money.

"Jesus Christ," he mumbled, getting pretty fed up with the situation. He was stuck on these two tiny words. Words. The things that had always seemed so insignificant to him. It was actions that made impact.

But of course, that was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place: his action of throwing FitzSimmons into the ocean.

He hadn't wanted to do it. He'd tried to convince Garrett they didn't need to cross off the science duo, but John had asked him. The way he’d worded it… "do something for me."

God. That was a sentence worthy of working someone over if Grant had ever heard one.

The more Ward thought about it, he found a lot of things his SO had said to him had been manipulative.

Ward hadn't been trained when Garrett had picked him up from the jailhouse to take away, but he'd been to the SHIELD academy. He'd been specifically taught to interrogate and use people. How could he miss the signs?

Because you're an idiot. Can't handle yourself. Weak.

Just like Garrett had always told him, when it suited him to say so.

The man had been a father to him for sixteen years, but in reality he was just training Grant up like a weapon. His own personal soldier to do his bidding.

Ward had known this, to an extent. He knew John wasn't a man to take someone under his wing with nothing in it for himself. That would be counter-productive. Still, the agent cared for Grant. The only person to call him son. The only person to ever give a crap about him.

Or was that another part of the act?

"Shit!" he shouted in frustration, slamming down a full-forced punch.

Ward's hand did go through the mattress this time.

"Shit," he repeated, mumbling as he glanced at the ripped fabric.

Coulson wasn't going to be happy.

Garrett would have been furious.

Ward sat down over the part of the cot he'd just ruined, rubbing his hands through his hair.

Weak. That was a sign of weakness. He was weak.

Grant picked himself up. He wouldn't fidget; he'd take out his frustration.

He punched the wall, knuckles bleeding instantly.

Ward glanced momentarily at the red liquid, as his mind spun. He'd killed the only man he truly ever thought of as a father. He'd killed him because he’d been becoming dangerous. To protect a girl, because he was scared he would lose her.

He'd been weak because he'd been scared. He'd been strong because he made the right choice.

He hit the wall again.

Ward truly did believe it was the right choice.

Another punch.

He just couldn't decide what it meant about himself. Now he had nothing. But this ridiculous apology. He had a team that hated him. He had the woman he loved despise him. Everything was falling apart. His life was falling apart. How could he do anything? Did he know how to do anything but be a killer? A murderer? A monster?

Two jabs this time.

He couldn't even figure out how to make one goddamn apology!

His hands attacked the wall in a rhythmic pattern. One, two, three. One two, three. Jab, uppercut, jab. Hit, punch, jab.

He repeated his routine until the wall was as red as his hands. Until he was screaming; shouting curses to the air. Even then he didn't stop.

"Ward?"

"Jesus!" Ward exclaimed, spinning around startled to see the timid-voiced scientist. That wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to get surprised. He wasn't supposed to flinch.

"What are you doing?" asked Simmons, voice still small as she stood in the doorway.

Ward glanced uneasily at the wall, placing himself a few feet away from the bloodied and beaten space. Did it matter? His hands were red as well and she could easily see both.

"I'm working out some issues," said Ward, slightly winded from the workout. "What are you doing here?"

He sounded harsh, though it wasn't intentional. It was actually incredibly stupid. But there it was.

Simmons grimaced. Or maybe it was a nervous smile. Still, she lifted herself up taller, but only before clutching her arm nervously as her body slouched back down.

"I came to apologize for my behavior," she said.

Ward felt his eyes get large. A disbelieving smile lit up his face and he nearly laughed.

"You're kidding," he said with a cocked eyebrow, still grinning with incredulity. It was ridiculous; he shouldn't be smiling.

"No, of course not," she assured him. "The way I went off on you earlier. It was wrong."

"You were wro-?" And then he did laugh. He couldn't keep it in. The box in his mind was wide open and his wits were escaping with everything else. "You don't have to apologize to me. You will never have to apologize to me. Not after what I've done to you."

"Just because you did something worse doesn't give me a free pass to be horrible to you," said Simmons shyly, as if she weren't entirely comfortable with the thought.

"Yes it does," protested Ward. "That's exactly what it should mean. An eye for eye; you have the right."

"No!" said Simmons, gathering up her courage that had most likely been suppressed by the state she'd found him in. "I don't care what you were taught at the Academy of Operations, or perhaps more accurately, by… John Garrett. That's not how life works. You can't move on if you don't let go."

"Are you saying your apology is just as much for your benefit as it is for mine?" asked Ward, and Simmons took it under consideration.

"Honestly… yes," Jemma admitted.

Ward stared, not actually taking to heart her words. "Then apology accepted, for your sake."

"See, this is your problem Ward!" Simmons shouted, taking steps so that she was finally in the room. "You need to stop chastising yourself! You need to let things go."

Ward scoffed. Like it was that simple. He could put things in a box, sure. But he could never get rid of them. He couldn't forget about Garrett, the man he'd dedicated his entire life to, whom he had made every decision based on. He couldn't forget about FitzSimmons' faces as he watched them fall into the ocean. He couldn't forget Skye's disgust as she called him a Nazi, a serial killer. A monster.

"Ward, I don't know if you realize this even now, but you were terribly worked over," she continued. "Garrett had you in a state of near Stockholm Syndrome. You're not necessarily a weak person, but you were without a doubt incredibly manipulated."

Can't be one without the other, thought Ward.

"Simmons, I've done things. Unforgivable things," Ward told her. "This psychoanalysis crap can't apply to someone like me."

"Yes it can," Simmons insisted as she closed the gap between them even farther. "You've done irreversible things Ward, not unforgivable things."

He stared at her, considering the words. He supposed it depended on the person. What they were willing to forgive.

"I'm going to be honest. I don't know your true intentions. It will be impossible for any of us to know that. The trust you broke is, as it stands now, irreversible, but…" she said pointedly, raising her eyebrows at him.

She was giving him an in. This was his chance.

"It was supposed to float."

Her eyes fell and she sighed with dejection, almost sounding disappointed. "I know..."

"Garrett ordered me to kill you. He expected me to put a bullet in your head," Ward told her, not missing her flinch at the second half of the statement. "I tried to give you a fighting chance. To find a way out like you always do."

"But Fitz didn't," she stated, the heat in her voice rising. " If it weren't for the Skrulls taking him, he would have died. They must have found a way to keep him alive so they could make their copy, but he could be dead. He- he still could be dead…"

Ward watched as the wall of resolve she'd built up started to crumple, the tears forming in her eyes. He did something he maybe shouldn't have.

Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her into his chest.

And he hugged her.

At first he felt her stiffen, but only for a moment before she relaxed in his arms, wrapping her own around him. She buried her head into his chest as she let the tears flow.

They stayed like that, the scientist and the soldier, embracing each other over the lost people they'd rather be in the arms of. He avoided letting his hands rest on her too much. Bloodstains would probably not be helpful in the situation.

"We'll get them back, Simmons," he told her quietly, trying to let himself go. Trying to be sincere for her. She merely balled her fists up in his shirt, crying harder.

It wasn't until that moment he realized it, but he did care. He didn't have to merely act sincere. He cared for this person in front of him. He wasn't like he was attracted to her. In fact he was sometimes incredibly annoyed by her, but he cared.

"I'm sorry Fitz is gone. I'm sorry he's there because of me," Ward finally told her. He couldn't even say it to her face as she nuzzled her head into his chest harder, the attempt to mask her distress all too clear. "It's my fault. And I'm sorry for what I did to you, even if Garrett ordered me to. That doesn't matter and I take full responsibility." He sighed, letting the weight of his apology fall off his chest. "And it's completely understandable if you can't forgive me."

A few more sniffles later and she finally lifted her head so that he could see her eyes, red puffy messes that they were. She studied him.

He wondered if laying it out like that provoked her, reminding her it really was his fault. That he was unforgivable and she was letting a monster that had ripped her friend away touch her; comfort her.

Then she smiled. It was small, probably difficult to get out. Still, it was there.

"But I do," she told him. "I forgive you, Ward."

The words had Grant feeling more release than he expected they would. He felt tension leave his shoulders along with a knot that was tied tightly in his stomach. He was still tense, as current situations wouldn't allow him to be anything less, though somehow a burden had been lifted away. It was just as Simmons said, but it was such a sentimental thought to have something so fickle actually affect him physically, or have an impact mentally. The happening was bizarre and definitely not one Ward had been expecting.

He was supposed to be apologizing for Simmons, to get her back on track for Skye. But there was no doubt that it helped him, too.

As the girl set her head against him again, there was no trace of the forced smile. She just stared at the wall.

"We have to get them back," she stated drearily.

Ward found that, as much as he wanted to find Skye, she wasn't the only reason he was going to do this. Fitz was important too. He was important to the girl in front of him. Back when Ward had been on the team, the engineer had actually been an enjoyable acquaintance to have around. It wasn't just about making up for his actions. Grant cared about both of them.

Ward backed up, bringing his hands to rest on Simmons' shoulders so he could meet her eyes. Her head was down, though. He began making it obvious he was trying to search for her eyes, until her gaze near reluctantly glanced up.

He intended to give her more words of comfort. Try to build the resolve she'd had when she'd come into the room, build it back up with a renewed sense of hope.

But as his own mouth opened, she was the one to fill the room with sound. A gasp. Surprisingly, a ghost of a smile crept up her mouth as well.

It was certainly a random happening for someone he thought felt lost at the moment.

But something had definitely clicked in her mind. He wasn't sure what had caused it or reminded her enough to kick her brain into gear again, but Ward definitely felt a slight relief at not having to try to console her anymore. Still, he would have.

Her eyes wide with excitement, she stated, "I know what we can do!"

Chapter Text

Forty-eight.

That was the amount of times Coulson had called Fury in the last twelve hours. It might have been ridiculous, it might have been unwarranted, but the man had said he'd be available.

Not only did Coulson require resources, he also had information on Graviton for his old SO. Wasn't that what Fury was doing, searching for Graviton? Maybe he'd gotten sidetracked. Either way, Coulson had reasons he needed to reach the man and it was becoming infuriating that he was never available.

"Any luck, sir?" Triplett asked from the doorway.

"Not with Fury," said Coulson, unsurprised to see the field agent back so soon. "But I've been able to call in a couple friends. Well, more like friends of friends. Agent Hartley is an old time contact and recommended them. They'll be here shortly."

"Nice. We could use some extra hands."

"Speaking of extra hands, where's our Asgardian pair?" asked Coulson.

"She had to head back up the rainbow. She was called, I guess.”

"You two have any luck?"

"Lukewarm. Her alien tech was able to tell us that there was other alien tech, Skrull stuff, in the city. And that it's still around. But it's scrambled and cloaked. She mentioned a proper engineer being able to do something about it, but I'm not sure if she was talking in Asgardian terms or if there's something we can do too…"

"We'll try it," Coulson assured him.

"Sir!" said Simmon's voice coming from the hall, soon the owner came with it. She was looking particularly inspired. This was an interesting sight, as her companion next to her had been at the mercy of her yelling fit just a few hours earlier.

"Ward and I would like to request permission to use the Golden Retrievers around Rome for a bit. We can calibrate them using something of Fitz or Skye's, and they would be able to track it rather like a hound dog would track a squirrel. It's a somewhat unorthodox method as the chances of finding a trail fresh enough and within a vicinity that they could pick it up is unlikely, but since we know about the Colosseum, I thought it may be a good place to start!"

Coulson heard her request. Paid attention to the whole thing. But he was still hung up on the first part of it.

"You and Ward? Alone?" asked Coulson.

"Yes. I think it would be a two person job."

"I agree. But… Ward? Last I saw you two you weren't on the best of terms."

He glanced at the specialist, well aware that he was talking about the man right in front of him as though he weren't there. If it fazed him, he didn't show it.

"Well… we've come to a sort of mutual understanding," said Simmons. "…in Laymen's terms."

"Alright then," said Coulson uncertainly. He gave Ward a rather impressed look. He'd certainly fixed the problem. "Triplett has just informed me that Sif does believe that the Skrulls remained in the city, so it could definitely be worth a shot."

"Perfect!" exclaimed Simmons, her emotions having done a complete one-eighty from the last time he'd seen her. Perhaps the Golden Retrievers idea had given her a renewed sense of hope. "Ward, if you could I'd like to have an extra set of hands setting up the calibrations on the Retrievers. We haven't used them in quite some time so it could take a bit to get them going as I'm not sure what state they're in."

"Whatever's needed. Not sure how much I can help."

"Oh, don't worry I just need your hands. Even a child could do it," she said simply.

"Agent Simmons, I need to speak with Ward a moment," said Coulson, wanting to catch them before Simmons started to get into another science ramble. "You can get started on that if you like, though."

"Of course sir!" she said, beaming and muttering to herself as she began to go down to the lab to begin her plan. Coulson cocked an eyebrow at Ward.

"Must have been a hell of an apology," said Coulson.

Ward half-smiled, reminding Coulson of when he trusted the agent completely. Or perhaps rather, of his character he'd played. But the longer he was here, the more the lines between the two people became blurred.

"It was a fairly mutually beneficial experience, sir," said Ward, serious in tone, sounding more sincere than anything else he'd said since he'd been back that didn't revolve around Skye.

"Glad to hear it. But if you're going out in the field with her, you can't just be concerned with Skye. You'll be Simmons'-"

"I'll take care of her, sir," Ward assured him. The loyalty to the team appeared abrupt to the leader, but somehow at the same time, it seemed organic.

"Good. Then you'd better go help her out so we can get you two on the road.”

Ward nodded, walking out of the room to follow in Simmons' footsteps.

"Looks like Simmons has a temporary lab partner," admonished Trip.

"Better be temporary," said Coulson. "Ward and the lab? Seems like a dangerous combination. And surprisingly, I'm not really referring to the whole Hydra thing."

Coulson wasn't so worried about the technology the Hydra man could access. He was more concerned with how clueless he'd been with the gadgets, as had Coulson himself. Still, he probably wouldn't be getting into the more complex ones at the moment.

A shrill beeping suddenly erupted from a phone on Coulson's desk. The older agent walked over, looked at the screen, and pressed a button to deactivate it.

"What was that sir?" asked Triplett.

"The cavalry's arrived," Coulson informed him lightly. "Not like "The Cavalry" cavalry, but our backup. Agent May is here too, though."

Coulson walked down to the cargo hold, feeling Trip on his heels as he went. When they got there the ramp was opening. In came a fair amount of sunlight, and three figures stood at the doorway.

"I have been to one of other remaining SHIELD bases and let me tell you, it is much more cleaned up than this dump. What the hell happened to your cargo hold, mate?" said a man in a leather jacket, English accent.

"Looks pretty nice to me," said the other person, a larger man with some of the biggest biceps Coulson had ever seen. He must have been the mechanic.

May walked passed both of the new recruits as they appraised the place, walking from the Cargo hold doorway and straight up to Coulson.

"How was the ride?" he asked her.

She looked at him somewhat coldly, and then sent her glare back to the Brit.

"I don't like that one."

As she finished her sentence she walked on, going up the stairs and into the BUS. Trip came up just next to Coulson and took her place.

"So, new meat?" he prompted.

"Yep. Agent Triplett, meet Lance Hunter and Alphonso Mackenzie."

Chapter Text

"So, what is your name?" asked Lyja, circling Skye in a predatory manner. A lion closing in on its prey, deciding how to go in for the kill.

"Creature," Skye answered from her knees.

It was the only thing she ever repeated, the only word they wanted to make sure was engrained forever in her brain. The mechanical droll to her voice when she said the mantra made Fitz sure they were succeeding.

Lyja chuckled. "And what are you?"

"I'm… feeble," she decided upon this time. She stared her dead eyes at the wall behind Fitz in the cell.

"What else?" asked Bartak harshly.

"Repulsive," responded Skye.

"Step it up here; what else," growled Lyja, prompting Skye with a few waves of her hands. "Give us something good."

"Useless."

No sooner had the word slipped from Skye's lips that Lyja had her head craning back, the girl's hair threaded through her fingertips. Skye barely reacted more than a grunt, she’d become so accustomed to the treatment.

"No!" scolded Lyja. "You need to dig deep, Creature. We are not just telling you to prattle off insults, they must describe you."

"And you are so very useful, helping us eradicate such a disgusting species," Bartak told her, gently letting his pointer finger run down Skye's cheek.

She stared dutifully at the ceiling.

"So think of something better, unless you want us to bring out your little human friend…" sang Lyja.

Skye brought her gaze down briefly to see Fitz. Her eyes reflected no emotion in the small moment he caught them. When the Skrulls had started working on her, those eyes had blazed with a passionate fire driven by fury.

Not a trace of that light was present now.

They played this game many times, more than once a day. The two aliens seemed to enjoy it immensely. Psychopaths, they were.

At first, Fitz had been a big part of it. He was "what they were playing for", as the Skrulls put it. Fitz still had the bruise on his shoulder from when Skye had disobeyed the first time.

"Have you even realized how disgusting you are?" Lyja had asked Skye. She had been forced to her knees; barely held back rage on her face. Her lips quivered, her fists were balled up. Lyja laughed. "Your own species wanted to kill you! Even if you weren't the sacrifice, they wouldn't want such an abominable mutant around like you. You don't belong anywhere, little freak."

Leo watched through horrified eyes. He could hear Bartak chuckle, reverberating through his hands that held Fitz's face in place.

He could see the fury in Skye and knew she wanted to lash out. The words' meaning didn't seem to be bothering her, but the fact that someone would put her on her knees to whisper such harsh lies was pushing the girl.

"So, tell me, what's your name?" asked Lyja.

"My name is Skye," she said stiffly, after only a slight pause.

"Hmm, no I don't think so," Lyja informed her. "I don't think that really fits, does it, Bartak?"

"Not at all. Too free," Fitz heard the Skrull explain from above him.

"I think we'll call you… Creature," Lyja decided on cheerfully. She prowled in front of the hacker to gauge her reaction. Skye stared up at her with true disdain. “What do you think about that?”

"Fine, whatever! I'm a mutant, I'm disgusting," she exclaimed venomously. "Call me whatever you like. I. Don't. Care."

Fitz felt his hair pulled roughly back in the alien's grip. Concern flashed across Skye's eyes.

Lyja shook her head and clucked her mouth like she was a disappointed teacher. Which, in some deranged sense, she was. "I told you what we're playing for, remember?" She gave Skye a light tap on the nose, making her face crinkle in disgust. "Besides, it's not us that are doing the name-calling. Now, tell me what your name is."

A pause.

"Creature," Skye growled through gritted teeth, clearly not wanting to comply. Her fists shook.

"And what are you?" Lyja questioned, letting her fingers drift idly through Skye's hair.

"Idiot…" Skye mumbled through a sigh.

"Why?" asked Lyja firmly.

Skye hesitated.

Lyja shook her head with impatience. "Well?"

Skye's face trailed upward.

"Because I walked right into your damn trap, you moronic, sadistic, green goblin freaks!" she shouted.

Before Skye even finished speaking, Lyja grabbed her chin between her fingers roughly, while the fingers of the other hand rubbed together with a loud "snap".

Fitz barely saw how she forced Skye to look his way before the pain blinded him.

He shouted in a combination of surprise of hurt, bending forward from the blow to his shoulder.

"Fitz!" Skye shouted despairingly, all trace of her fury gone and replaced with concern.

Fitz tried to get out the words to console her, to tell her it wasn't that bad, but nothing came from his mouth. He didn't know what had hit his shoulder, but it was hard and forceful and he wouldn't be surprised if it had dislocated the bone.

"Don't worry… I'm okay, Skye," he finally managed to pant out.

"Don't touch him again you bastards!" she growled.

With that, Fitz felt another blow, this time to his stomach. He'd never been punched in the stomach. It made him want to throw up.

"Stop!" wailed Skye, her fiery attitude gone and replaced with a desperate tone. Fitz could even hear the tears in her eyes. At least he wasn't the only one crying.

The engineer managed to get a look at Skye, saw the pity in her that showed an eagerness to help. But it wasn't surprising that she hadn't run to him. They'd already learned not to move from where the aliens told them to go.

"Then behave," urged Lyja, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Skye closed her hatred-filled eyes and ground into her teeth, stifling whatever response she'd rather be voicing. Instead, she was obeying.

Fitz wished he were braver. He would love to make a threat or a quip that his friends seemed to be so good at. But he wasn't. Not when they had him so close and in their grasp.

He had tried to be threatening once and all it got him was a one-way ticket to the bottom of the ocean. Finding his way back up had come with a price. If it weren't for the Skrull technology, that price would have been his life. Instead, it ended up being the action that led to his current situation.

He despised watching this. He should be the one forced to say such awful things. With Skye, they were nothing more than horrendous lies.

"Why are you idiotic?" continued Lyja.

Fitz looked up through his tears and watched as Skye's trailed down her face. He realized her shaking was no longer in rage.

"I'm letting my friend get hurt."

"Good… good!" Lyja jumped happily, clapping her hands together with excitement. Bartak hoisted Fitz up to watch again, but he already had been. "What else are you?"

Skye met Fitz's gaze. He'd never seen her look so desperate, this girl who held so much life and could find the humor in any situation.

She looked him dead in the eyes as she choked out:

"Sorry."

But this time they’d left Fitz in the cell, watching from afar. The threat was clear enough. They had brought him out the second time. That had been when Skye had made small mistakes that accounted for a few minor cuts and bruises that now took up residence on him. The third time they hadn't needed to touch him. The fourth time they hadn’t so much as bothered to get him out of the transparent cage.

He'd lost count how many times they'd done this to her over the passed few days they'd been there.

"Make it a new one," hissed Bartak.

"I'm…" Skye floundered, seeming to be thinking earnestly. There were so many horrible words she'd called herself over the passed few days… maybe there was nothing left in her mind's dictionary.

"Bartak, why don't you go get the human?" asked Lyja sweetly.

Skye perked up as soon as Bartak moved towards his cell. It was the first sign that she had any emotion left in her.

"No!" she cried out. "I'm um… I'm just too stupid to think so quickly. Please, I'll remember something."

"Aw, she's learning!" giggled Lyja as she released Skye's hair. "But you've used 'stupid' so many times. You need a new one."

"Tick tock," said Bartak, tapping on his arm.

"A… dog," Skye forced the words out, her dead eyed stare setting in again as she prepared to shut down.

"Oh, I like that," said Bartak eagerly. "Why?"

"Because I'm beneath you," Skye said with a tone of absolute defeat. "And… obedient."

Fitz could feel his blood boiling over. Not only was she insulting herself now, she was admitting they were getting to her, that they were breaking her. With words no less. If he and Skye were in opposite situations, he knew she wouldn't hesitate to stick up for him. To fight for him, despite the physical pain she'd cause herself.

Leo truly wished he were that brave.

Maybe he had been, once. He'd stood up to Garrett. And though that had been a life or death situation indeed, somehow this one felt direr. This one where they caused him pain for anything done wrong, anything out of line. Where he didn't have the luxury of hope that he'd be able to get through to someone he thought was a friend.

No, the only friend he had here was Skye. And they were forcing her to lose herself.

"I think that's a good note to end it on," Lyja decided in her silky cheerful voice, though Skye didn't move a muscle. She wouldn't dare unless she was ordered to.

"Yes, this game is getting boring," observed Bartak, as he looked over Skye. "We should come up with another one."

"Well, the ritual is soon. But we can probably think of another game to play at least a couple times before then." Lyja's fingers twirled through Skye's hair again, as they did often. She sighed. "It's almost of shame to see it go."

"It is fun to toy with the hybrid because of the foul races it comes from, but a human could be entertaining as well. They look enough alike," Bartak said.

Both the Skrulls looked over at Fitz and he felt a shudder go up his spine.

"Not that one," Skye's quiet voice growled. They turned to face her, dark eyes trained to the ground. "Or I won't be doing this ritual at all."

There was a moment where Fitz was afraid they'd get angry, but Lyja smiled. Or sneered, as it was decidedly evil looking. She towered over Skye as the girl's head remained down.

"Don't worry, pup, we wouldn't dream of keeping him. Cute as he may be," Lyja assured. "Now, back to the kennel with you!"

Bartak gave Skye a shove between the shoulder blades so that her eyes widened with surprise as she jerked forward. There was a small pause between his action and Skye actually pulling herself gingerly to her feet. She trudged over to the cell.

The door opened automatically. Skye avoided his curious eyes as she walked passed him, straight onto the cot in the corner and sat facing the wall.

That was vexing. He usually awaited her at the cell where she'd give him a small smile. A smile of reassurance, one that said, "don't worry." Despite how fake or see-through it had been or how she might really have felt, she’d made the effort.

This time she didn't.

"See you two tomorrow!" Lyja waved. "Or perhaps tonight, you never know!"

Fitz was the only one to watch them as they disappeared up the stairs.

"Bastards," he muttered, before turning to Skye. She was curled up into a ball on the cot.

"Skye?" he called tentatively.

"Don't talk to me Fitz," came her muffled reply. Her tone was resigned, not angry. "I'm going to take a nap."

"Thought you said you weren't sleeping?" he asked. Though he’d caught her drowsing, she’d never flat out attempted to sleep. Like a defiance she’d kept lit inside.

"What else is there to do?" she replied flatly.

"We could talk," he suggested, sitting on the edge of the tiny bed with her. "I've got some stories I could tell actually. You know, there was this one time when Simmons had this bunny suit… have I told you this? I've told this story quite a bit-"

"Fitz," Skye cut him off, head still facing the wall. "I've been talking. And to be honest, I'm kind of done with it."

Leo didn't know what to say to that. He didn't know what to tell his friend, how to comfort her. If everything went as the aliens were planning, he'd be walking out of here in a day or two.

And Skye would be dead.

The abrupt sound made Fitz jump, Mostly because he didn't know what it was at first or that the anguished sob had come from the girl next to him.

"I-I just don't understand," Skye cried, trembling as she tried to get it out. She sat up suddenly. "Why are they doing this? I'm already going to die, why do they have to do this to me too? I don't… I didn't do anything to make them hate me and they h-hate me so much!"

She broke down with her sobbing then and Fitz lunged forward, wrapping his arms over her as she cried into his chest. The scientist gently rubbed his hand along her back.

"Hey, hey…" he cooed, unsure of what to say. He really had never done this with anyone, except Jemma sometimes. Not that he really knew what he was doing in those instances either.

"It would be okay," she sniffled into him, bringing her head back just a little to talk. "I could die. I mean, I don't want to die, but I could. I was ready to when it was for a good reason. If they would just hurt me I could at least go down swinging."

"You don't… you don't have to listen to them for me, Skye," Fitz offered, because it was the only thing he could.

Skye lifted up her face to look at him. She seemed to realize how blaming her comment had sounded.

"No, no of course not! I would never, ever do that," she told him. "I'm... I'm dead, Fitz. They can break me. That's fine! But you're going to get through this. I can't let you be broken too… not again."

Her tears had all but stopped falling when she said this. When she confessed how she would die, how she'd let herself be broken. It only broke Fitz's heart.

"Coulson and the team are looking for us. He can find us."

Skye tilted her head to the side, almost amused with the comment. She sniffled. "It's been days, Fitz. And we're on an alien spaceship. What could SHIELD even do if they found us?"

Fitz swallowed the lump in his throat. "I don't know. But I can't accept this. I won't."

He stood up then, beginning to observe the sides of the cell. Skye gazed at him curiously as she kicked her legs over the side of the cot.

"What are you doing?" she asked, wiping the remaining tears with her shirtsleeve.

"If Coulson can't get us out, we'll have to do it ourselves." Fitz began tracing the edges of the cell with his hand.

Skye sighed with exasperation. "Fitz, you've looked it over a thousand times…"

"Yeah when we first got here! Maybe something's changed."

Nothing had changed. He knew that. But the least he could do was give Skye hope, even if it was false. He had to try to be brave for her.

"Hey kiiiids," they heard Lyja's voice call to them from above, causing them to share a worried look. She usually wouldn't come back so quickly. "Caught some visitors for you."

The lump returned to Leo's throat as they listened intently to the distinct sounds of struggle.

Skye and Fitz's attentions were both solely focused on the stairs now, awaiting some understanding of Lyja's words. Their curiosity was satiated, but their worry heightened, when two bound figures were thrown down the steps.

"Thought we'd try a new game," said Lyja playfully.

Fitz and Skye didn't know what to say, so they just stared in horror as Simmons and Ward looked up at them helplessly from the floor.

Chapter Text

Whenever the Skrulls would come to get Skye out of her cell, she wouldn't be there.

Oh of course she was there physically, but the moment her mind would register what was coming her conscious would slip away, leaving whatever autopilot function she had to try and deliver what the aliens craved.

Which was basically insults, about herself, and why they applied to her.

She knew what she was saying wasn't true. Fitz had assured her of it the first moment they brought them back to the cell. He tripped over himself and stammered, trying to tell her it was all a game and she shouldn't take it to heart. But she’d known that, in earnest. Sure, some of the things they made her say were probably real flaws of hers but she didn't think those made her that horrible or defeated of a person.

Though as the games continued, it became hard to separate realities from what she'd construct in her mind to proclaim.

She'd given them the word 'dog' because she had high hopes it would appease them, shut them up and let her go back to her tiny hole. The worse the dig would be on herself, the quicker they were always satisfied. And like every other word she'd said, Skye stressed in her mind that it wasn't true. They were just words. She would play along with them, though she knew she wasn't trained. She wasn't their dog.

But… wasn't she?

What was a broken person? When someone breaks under torture, it's because they finally gave up the information. Gave them what they wanted. It was when you listened to your tormenters and did what they said.

Good intentions or not, doing it for her friend or not, wasn't that exactly what she was doing?

So Skye realized she was broken. She was a trained, obedient dog for these horrible people she despised. And she despised herself for it.

But as Skye found the horror in her terrified friends' eyes, she knew she couldn't be obedient any longer.

"Look what I found wandering around Rome… couple of strays," cooed Lyja, running her fingers through Ward's hair, gentle as a mother would her son. But there was no affection in the gesture. She pouted. "You know, I think they were trying to find you guys."

"What-" was all Skye mumbled out though, before Fitz took the reins.

"No!" he shouted, immediately running up to the glass that was their cell, pressing his face against it desperately. "Jemma! Oh god, Jemma, are you alright?"

Fitz's voice seemed to only distress the girl more as large tears began pouring down her face. She moved her head to the side, sobs muffled by the cloth in her mouth. Wiping her face with bound hands Skye saw the grey rings around them, recognizing the Cuffs instantly. Both she and Ward had them on their feet as well, though those didn't appear melded together as the ones on their wrists did.

Lyja cocked her head to the side and donned a pouty voice. "Aww, can't you tell? Your girlfriend can't really speak up at the moment." Then she whispered loudly, with a hand sideways on her face, "I think she's got something blocking her mouth."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Skye found her voice, watching as Ward stood unmoving next to the girls. He wasn't even breathing heavily. He was just observing, and Skye knew he was waiting for an opportunity to strike. "I told you I won't do this ritual if you hurt my friends."

"You told us you'd do it if we didn't kill him," Lyja said, nodding at Fitz. "We said nothing about anyone else…"

"Well I'm saying it now: I won't do it!"

Lyja gasped with surprise Skye knew to be false. "But you submitted. Pledged yourself."

"I don't give a crap about some weird bow you people made me do!" Skye exclaimed, fire reaching the surface in fear for her friends. "Now let them go."

Lyja laughed, somehow airy and hearty at the same time. "I can't believe you think you have any leverage here. We've been playing with you for a week and all of a sudden you think you can make demands?"

"Yeah, you've been doing it to me. You can still do it to me!"

The Skrull rested fingers on her forehead, exasperated. "Oh dear god, little Creature, we are doing it to you. Don't you get it? This is the stage, and you're the audience. You're just as much a part of this game as they are."

Skye just shook her head, unable to put words into her mouth as it just hung open. It was happening again. This was all her fault again. Over and over again she put her friends' lives in danger, and once more, she was forced to observe in horror.

Simmons shaking just in front of her, terror on her tear-drenched face and a sense of trepidation in her eyes. Fitz banging as hard as could on the cage. Shouting. Crying. Ward was being as calm as a silent night, though he must have known what was coming. Skye knew he had to be scared. He might have perfected the mask but no matter how many times you've faced death, no matter how many horrible situations you've been in, fear would always be there.

As Skye was learning.

"Skye, what do we do!" Fitz asked desperately, spinning in a quick circle with anxiety as his hand threaded through his hair. He stuttered something through tears. She couldn't make that part out.

"We…" Skye couldn't bring herself to say it. She knew just what exactly they could do about the situation.

"Skye!" Fitz shouted, requiring an answer from her. Shaking her shoulders and clearly passed rational thought.

"Fitz we can't… do anything," Skye explained in a horrified whisper, trying not to frighten the others more. "We're in the same boat."

"Right," said Lyja. "Whom should we start with? Little scientist girl… or big bad soldier?"

Simmons might have sobbed harder, but it was hard to tell. The girl was going at it pretty bad already. Ward was still standing strong. Fitz… Fitz was the one Skye's gaze wanted to avoid the most. He was shaking and hyperventilating, near jumping up and down in mad anxiety. But Skye was afraid if she didn't keep an eye on him he'd fall to the ground in pieces.

"Well, this one is already drowning in her tears. Maybe we should let her stew… and to be honest," she grabbed Ward firmly by the chin and forced him to look at her, "I prefer working into honeys who can handle themselves for a while. Makes breaking you so much more… satisfying!"

This was one sick, sick girl. Skye couldn't imagine all Skrulls were like this. They couldn't all be hell-bent on destroying species and hurting innocents. She wouldn't believe it. These people must have been terrorists, a religious sect. She didn't know. But there had to be some reasoning behind their actions besides making people suffer for the sake of fun. Or genocide for the sake of… genocide.

Skye was pulled from her thoughts as Simmons' entire body slammed into the wall. The Cuffs on her wrists held her there, similar to the way they’d clung to Skye on her first night with these creatures. But Jemma's stomach was on the wall, her face sideways as she tried to find air around her gag.

Then Ward was on his knees as Lyja brought some instrument out of nowhere, like she’d been keeping it to herself as a secret. Waving it in front of Ward as though taunting, though he must not have known what is was. Skye sure didn't. Some kind of baton, it looked like. It didn't matter. The scene unfolding before her was horrifying and she wasn't sure she wouldn't throw up.

"Now this is going to be fun," cooed Lyja softly, just before bringing up the baton to Ward's neck.

It was a Taser. Or something like it. Skye could see the blue shock come off the wand as it bore into Grant's neck harshly. His eyes widened into saucers, as he couldn't hold back his grunts of pain.

"Stop!" shrieked Skye, suddenly becoming near desperate as Fitz with seeing Ward's pain. She shook like a collapsing house, every feeling of distraught present suddenly weighed down on her at once. "Jesus, I'll say whatever you want about myself. I'll do whatever you want. I'll bow and pledge loyalty or whatever crap you want, I promise! Just stop!"

Lyja grinned crookedly, pleased to get such a rise out of Skye. And Skye hated it. But at the same time, she knew it was good. She had learned they would stop only when they wanted to stop. She'd learned the faster they were satisfied, the faster it would end.

But not now.

"Oh Creature, we're not playing that game anymore. There are new rules here. And the rules to this one are… huh, well, there really aren't any, are there?"

Skye fell to her knees, suddenly unable to support her legs a moment longer. She'd become accustomed to the position anyway.

"Ward, I'm so sorry," she told him earnestly, electing to leave out the apology to Simmons. The spotlight wasn't on the scientist, no reason to bring her to the Skrull's attention.

Ward barely nodded in acknowledgment.

It entered Skye's mind briefly – so, so briefly, as the fear, desperation and other emotions were in charge up there now- that just two weeks ago she might have enjoyed seeing this. When she’d wanted him dead. Nothing more than a Hydra bastard. But not now. Of course not now, while it was happening.

So the alien went to shock Ward's neck again, blue sparks making their appearance.

When a miracle happened.

Ward grabbed the Taser. The baton. Whatever, the shocky torture thing! The important thing was that he had it and was somehow able to redirect it into the Skrull's chest. He held it there. He held it until she was on the ground, and then held it even longer, and she was out.

Skye, along with what was probably a mad person's smile, near growled with satisfaction of seeing the woman go down. She then almost broke down in tears with a strange sense of relief.

Ward grabbed the gag out of his mouth, having to use both hands as they were still bound together by the wrist cuffs.

"Easier than I thought it would have been," said the specialist, flashing Skye a grin. She was kind of impressed with how unshaken he was.

Ward quickly plucked something from Lyja's clothes, his Cuffs falling off instantly. He walked towards Simmons.

"You stay away from her!" shouted Fitz suddenly, and Skye realized there was no relief on his face at all. He was still just as worried as when Lyja had waltzed their friends into the room. "Don't you bloody touch her!"

Then Skye remembered: the last time Ward had seen Fitz, it was from an airplane unit the Hydra man had been dropping into the ocean.

Ward did touch Jemma, putting his hand on the small of her back as he released her from the binds. He was able to steady her before she fell and then shakily removed the rag from her mouth.

"It's ok Fitz, he's good again," said Simmons through remaining tears that had dried pretty quickly. "He's been helping us while you've been gone."

'Good again' seemed like a relative term to Skye; the guy still had a lot to make up for, but she supposed it was as accurate description as any to convince Leo. And, Skye had to admit, Ward had been more helpful and sincere than she would have imagined him capable of since he'd been back.

Fitz seemed rather unconvinced, but didn't argue. Skye took his silence as a way of saying Skrulls trumped Hydra-Ward on the badness scale.

"Ward, check if she has a remote on her," Skye said. "You can open the cell."

"Yeah, I'd like to get the hell out of here as well," said Fitz strongly, barely a trace of his earlier panic attack showing.

"Ok… got it," Ward mumbled, taking the remote from Lyja's still form.

He pressed a finger down on the device and the cell door slid open, Jemma rushing inside before the two prisoners even had a chance to leave. She embraced Fitz immediately.

"Oh god, I'm so happy you're ok," she told him, her face pressed into his shoulder. He seemed somewhat stunned, but returned the hug.

"Same to you," he told her.

"Hey, Skye, how are you holding up?" Ward asked her casually as she stepped towards him. They were still in the belly of an alien spaceship, he'd just been shocked with electricity by a crazy lady, and here he was sounding as if they were just deciding what board game to play.

"Well, I'm up," Skye told him, realizing how literal of a response it was, as she'd been on her knees a few moments ago. "I'd ask you too, but you seem to be handling this amazingly well."

"I did have training," he pointed out.

"Yeah. Well training or not, I'd rather you not have to use it. How about we get out of here?"

Ward nodded.

FitzSimmons were still in an embrace when she looked over at them, seemingly in their own world. It made Skye feel a nibble of warmth in her belly, though her rational mind told her that cuddling could be done later once they were all safe. Preferably on the BUS, under cozy covers having a movie night or playing Scrabble.

The scientists finally let go of one another and turned to walk out the door.

Until it shut.

"What the hell!" shouted Fitz. The door had slid forward in front of their faces as they met the threshold together.

Panic bolted through Skye. Almost unwillingly, she dragged her eyes over to Ward. He was holding up the remote, shrugging ruefully.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

"Finishing the job," clarified Ward. "They were supposed to die, Skye. You're the only one I care about anyway, and dragging them along will only slow us down."

Skye shook her head. A small movement weighed down with disbelief at first, but it gained fervor.

"No! Don't do this! I was starting to trust you, Ward. I was really starting to…" she cut herself off, unable to admit how much she was beginning to rely on him. Her head rattled again. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to," he said plainly, grabbing her wrist. "C'mon, we're leaving."

"No," Skye growled with frustration, planting her feet into the ground as he dragged her. "You're just as crazy as I knew you were before you killed Garrett. I never should have trusted you!"

"You're right," he told her simply. "I don't need your trust, or your permission, Skye. Just you. And an opportunity to get you on your own away from the team. Looks like this is it."

"You can't be this evil!" she shouted, disbelieving as she tried to pry his hand away. "No one is this evil!"

Except…

In a surge of clarity that gave her a head rush, the pieces came together in her mind. Bartak hadn't been there. He had been the one who wanted to play a new game in the first place and had been there every single other time, so where was he now?

"Oh god," she said in a horrified whisper. Her head whipped around. "Fitz! They're-"

But "Ward's" hand covered her mouth, pulling her back into his chest.

"Shh, let's see how long it takes for him figure it out on his own."

Skye didn't resist the hand. She didn't do anything, allowing her body to fall limp in his staunch grip. Her new hope of ever leaving this place had diminished as easily as if someone had blown out a candle, and the girl's fight had gone with it.

"Oh lord, not this again," whined Simmons nervously.

"I know! I can't believe you trusted him!" shouted Fitz. "It's been all of about five minutes before he's leaving us to our deaths again."

"While you are right," said Simmons, "I was actually referring to the fact that my last moments are apparently going to be with you, again!"

The engineer stared blankly at her.

"What?" asked Fitz, hurt so plain in his voice.

"Honestly, what are the odds that I would be stuck in a certain death situation again with you?" asked Jemma spitefully.

Red flags. Red flags popping up like daisies. C'mon Fitz.

But he didn't notice anything was off. In fact Fitz seemed to completely forget their current situation of hopelessness, suddenly becoming quite offended, even placing his hands on his hips.

"Quite good actually. Considering we've spent most of our frequent lives together, not to mention in a potentially dangerous line of work."

Jemma scoffed. "Then that must be the reason, I think. You can't protect us."

Fitz's show of offense went out like a light. He began to suddenly express a state of miserableness, as he must have seen some truth in the comment. But Fitz had protected Simmons, he'd near given his life for her in the ocean. How could he not realize that? How could he not know how important he was?

Skye had had enough.

"Ow!" fake Ward shouted, shaking out the fingers she'd bitten. He'd become absorbed in the scene playing out in front of them so he was barely paying attention to her, and she'd gotten in a good chomp.

"Fitz, they're Skrulls!" she sputtered out quickly. Her mouth was hastily covered once again even though the gesture was fruitless now. She'd said her piece.

Fitz had turned to Skye at the sound of his name, but looked back to Jemma with horrified eyes. The sinister smile the girl was now boasting only confirmed Skye's words.

"Well, mine lost," Jemma said simply. "I suppose Creature is smarter than you, pet."

Fitz swallowed nervously, backing away from fake Simmons.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Simmons asked, just as she morphed into something decidedly not Simmons. It was Bartak, voice low and cold. "Don't want to give me a kiss anymore?"

Fitz grimaced, retreating even farther.

Lyja then popped up from the ground with the pep to rival any cheerleader.

"Oh, that was fun!" she squealed. "Wish I didn't have to have my eyes closed for it. You guys did great! You did it without original scans, too. I find it so hard to play a part without the memories…"

Bartak smiled. "Thank you, Lyja."

"Wait," Skye mumbled to herself, mainly. Her mouth had been uncovered for a few moments, though 'Ward' had kept her in a tight bear hug from behind. "If Bartak and Lyja are both there, then…"

She turned her head around to take in fake Ward's face. He was staring at her, smiling in such a way that made her skin crawl like a thousand spiders were creeping up her back. And it wasn't just because the manic grin was coming from a carbon copy of Ward. It was because she realized who the new player in the games was, confirmed as his face transformed before her eyes.

"Paibok," she whispered.

"Yes,” he told her triumphantly, and she fought to keep composure. She hadn't seen the alien who’d pretended to be her father since the first night she'd been there, and honestly, she'd been grateful for it. "They needed an extra body, and let's be honest… I missed you." He chuckled, and she felt her lip bend down in a low scowl. "Well, perhaps more specifically I missed those wonderful emotions that I can cause to run across your face. Fear, despair, misery… you were built for it, little mutant."

He threw Skye to the ground then, abrupt and viciously. She caught herself well enough. As soon as she braced herself against the floor, she was able to spy out some things within her reach.

The hacker's hand quickly went to grab the baton. She stood up, trying to use the weapon against her captor. The blue light spilled right onto Paibok's skin and there was the sound of crackling electricity, but he didn't so much as flinch. Though of course he had to grin.

"It's a prop, nitwit," said Lyja dryly.

"Oh," was all Skye had to say in response, staring at the stick in her hand as her other hid coy behind her back. She wanted to turn around. Wanted to scurry backwards to be in her tiny, see-through cell. But if she did, they could suspect something was up. So she waited, sincerely hoping Paibok didn't enjoy lingering games as much as the others.

"There's a nice one," Paibok said, near gleefully as he pointed a waving finger in her face. "Embarrassment. Doesn't it look so nice on her?"

Skye felt herself slipping away. Not really, because she was in fact too fired up and anxious to try out this new secret weapon, but her body began to slump out of habit from the past week.

"Of course! It's our favorite game, after all," said Lyja.

"My favorite game would be breaking its fingers," mumbled Bartak, crossing his arms like a stubborn child.

"Oh come now, don't be greedy. You get to watch it die painfully enough."

Skye stood still as death and listened to the terrifying declarations. The reveling of her misery, as she appeared defeated. But she wasn't. Inside she was seething. She was so mad that terrible, twisted beings like this existed and wanted to do something about it; she wanted to stop them. But with the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to, at least for now, she merely waited.

They all glanced to her then, probably hoping to see another "emotion" run across her face, but she kept it the same. That probably satisfied them enough though. Her blank mask of defeat to show how subjugated she was.

She didn't actually feel all that owned. She really probably should. They kept her locked up like a caged bird and toyed with her and Fitz as they wished, but she didn't. Not since she thought they had her friends. Not since she saw Ward and Simmons like that. She just couldn't afford to be. The only thing she could afford to be was an agent.

Still, the aliens bought it well enough; Skye could tell from the wicked smiles they were now boasting.

Paibok laughed at her expression, waving at her dismissively.

"She's done," he said.

A strange thing to say when thought about, but Skye knew exactly what they meant. They believed she'd been brought down as low as she could get.

She wanted to prove him wrong, but merely gazed down at her feet, bit her lip, and used the most quiet, conquered voice she could muster.

"May I go back to the cell? Please," she asked with dead resignation.

She gulped a lump down when Paibok leaned in close to her face, and she couldn't help but think that wasn't completely acting.

"Oh, have Lyja and Bartak been teaching you manners? How thoughtful of them," Paibok told her, his face far too much in her personal space. She had to stop breathing to not get a whiff of bad breath, and she briefly wondered what they ate with teeth as sharp as sharks'. A small shiver ran up her spine at the possibilities. "But since you asked so nicely, of course."

He gestured invitingly at the clear prison.

"Thank you," Skye mumbled bitterly, just before turning around. She was careful to bring the hand she'd been holding behind her back around herself to her chest as she did.

Skye held her mopey attitude until all the Skrulls had cleared the room, Lyja complaining that the game ended too quickly as they went. Paibok silenced her with a snarl, dangerous and close to her face. By Lyja's eyes when he did, Skye realized something:

They were near as scared of him as she was.

But… they were still psychopaths.

When the Skrulls were gone Skye let out of breath she’d been holding, allowing relief to embrace her. Even if there wasn't much to be relieved about, their mere presence had had her on pins and needles. The respite was fairly short-lived once she saw her friend.

Fitz was just sitting on the bed, trembling. Face in his hands.

"I really thought we had a chance there… just for a moment!" Fitz quivered. "I thought we were going to get out of here. I thought you were going to get out of here."

Skye might have felt hopeful a moment before, but her friend's complete lack of such jolted her like a sharp slap. She'd never seen Fitz break down like that.

Hope was a fickle thing, it seemed. But it was strong, and to dangle such an ever changing yet impactful prize in front of someone only to rip it away was one of the worst torments Skye believed could be thought of.

She appraised him warmly though, letting her hand rest on his back comfortingly as she took a seat next to him. Her eyes scanned the room covertly, as though checking there were no Skrulls hidden in the walls.

"We are," she told him firmly, opening up her hand that held something so dear. "But we can't wait around for a rescue anymore. We have to do it ourselves."

She watched Fitz's eyes as realization dawned, the little remote that controlled the door in her hand giving them the exact amount of solace they needed just to hold out a little longer.

Chapter Text

Simmons and Ward walked back into the BUS with an utmost amount of dejection on their faces.

Coulson knew better than to ask how their outing had gone. The response had always been the same and besides, the complete lack of anything resembling hope in their features contained the answer. They'd gone out over ten times by now, only coming back to recuperate briefly before starting the fruitless process again.

It was as farfetched a thing to be doing as ever, but at the same time, Coulson didn't have anything of real use to put them on. He didn't know how else to find Fitz and Skye, and if the specialist and scientist pair wanted to spend their time searching the city, he didn't have the heart to tell them to stop. Even May and Triplett had gone out to chase a few vague leads in the absence of anything else productive.

Well, Coulson did have a brief thought that Simmons could be helping Mack, the new mechanic. The man was trying to see if he could make anything of the clutter Simmons and… the Skrull had been working on. Because, strange thing was, the fake Fitz seemed to have actually been doing work when he’d been claiming to create something to take down Graviton. And though Coulson didn't trust it completely, it was worth a study of.

"It doesn't make any sense though," said Mack, shuffling through papers in the lab. "It's almost… passed understanding."

"That actually makes a fair amount of sense," said Coulson dejectedly. "I don't know why he was working on anything really, but these aliens seem to be far ahead of humans as far as intellectual levels."

"Whatever it is… the schematics he's made are detailed. I could work on it, but I'd have no idea what I'd even be creating. Your scientist had a look already?" asked Mack.

"Simmons and Fitz collaborated often, but she's a biochemist," explained Coulson. "She couldn't make any sense out of it either. It's just that she thought it was due to it not being her expertise."

"It's not really my expertise either. This guy was doing things way over my head. Your real engineer too, not just the… fake." Mack began rubbing the scruff of his neck. "Shape-shifting aliens… this world is getting damn crazy."

"No kidding," Coulson agreed. Though he'd gotten the impression it was pretty crazy before, given everything he'd faced with his team, and even other instances. Like dying… for days. More importantly the coming back afterwards. "Let me know if you get anywhere."

Coulson began to walk away, but Mack's voice cut through the room.

"Actually, I was able to look at the specs your… uh, Asgardian friend gave us to hone in on the Skrull technologies. I've been working on a device that could make the scrambled tech traceable."

"Really?" Coulson asked, allowing some hope into his voice. "Do you think… will it be functional?"

"Give me a few hours and I think we can try and give it a test run."

It was the first good news in days. All week, actually. Coulson felt a pang of regret that he hadn't checked in on Mack earlier. But that would have been pointless; he had asked the man to come to him if he had anything to report.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it," Coulson said, his tone near jolly. He backed out of the lab with a smile that almost seemed to unnerve the tension ever present in the air of the BUS these days.

By the time he walked out of the doors, Ward and Simmons were already making their way towards the cargo hold exit again.

"Simmons, Ward," Coulson called to them, beckoning as he did so.

They walked over, but not before putting a brief glance in each other's direction that gave Coulson a small start. He was still getting used to their truce sort of relationship.

With any luck Wardsimmons won't become a thing… Coulson wasn't sure how well he'd be able to handle that.

"You two heading out again?"

Simmons merely nodded, but Ward voiced a "yes sir."

"Well, it will have to wait. I need Ward on standby."

Simmons tucked a piece of hair behind her head eagerly. "Is something going on, sir?" she asked, and it was hard to miss the hope in her voice. Hope that Coulson didn't want to stretch any further than it should go, so he told her his response rather flippantly.

"Mack's just been working on something for me. I need Ward with me to help test it out."

Simmons' slight glow faded, and she averted her eyes, nodding.

Coulson didn't like it, how down and hopeless his team was. But it had been a week. And with usual kidnappings – even if this was anything but- that put your probability of finding the captured at less than ten percent.

The agent didn't want to think like that. More importantly, he didn't want Simmons to think like that. Plus, with the ritual and what Sif had said about the Skrulls' process, there was at least a better chance they were alive.

Just as he was near pitying Simmons for looking as though he just told her he'd beaten her puppy, he spied out Hunter coming down the stairs and heading for the lab. Humming a jolly tune, the mercenary took a chomp out of the sandwich in his hand as he descended.

"Hunter!"

"What!" he exclaimed, startled through his full mouth, before making sense that the noise came from Coulson. He swallowed. "I mean… yes?"

"I need you to accompany Agent Simmons on an assignment.

"Doing what, exactly?" he asked, just before taking another bite of sandwich, crossing his arms as he began to head over. Coulson didn't really approve of the tone. Thing with mercenaries was they didn't usually sport much respect. With this one, that seemed to be a defining trait.

"Agent Simmons needs a driver, and hopefully someone who can handle themselves if you get caught in any unsavory situations," Coulson told him firmly. "Think you can you manage that?"

Hunter's face lit up.

"Can I manage finally getting out of this damn plane? Yeah, I can manage that. In fact I'm nearly jumping for joy. Something to bloody do…"

"What are we doing again?" asked Agent Hunter, his hands shifting slightly on the steering wheel.

Simmons sighed. Honestly, she’d had to have explained it to him five times by now!

"Well," she started, hoping he didn't miss the annoyance in her voice, "we are trying to find Fitz and Skye using the tracking capabilities in the Golden Retrievers to calibrate to a distinct marker in their scent or-"

"No, no, I got that. What are we doing that's new?"

Jemma's brow furrowed. "New?"

"Yeah. You and Hydra guy, which, by the way, I still don't really get the whole allowing a traitor to hang out with people. So if you ever feel like explaining that to me… but anyway, you and him already did that a pretty good amount. Shouldn't it be done… er, calibrating, or whatever the hell it's doing?"

"We're not spending the time calibrating anything. It only works within an approximate two hundred meter radius. So we have to move around-"

"Bloody hell! That's what you've been doing? That's what we're doing? That's insane!"

Apparently Coulson hadn't given him much information other than 'go with the scientist'.

"It's not insane if it works! And we had the approximate location…"

"Just how big was this approximate location, eh? You two must have finished covering that bit days ago."

They had, in fact. She and Ward had set parameters, limits to how far they would take this. Jemma just couldn't bear to stop. She’d kept dragging Ward out with her, but he would want to come too, because the man seemed to be just as desperate and determined as she was.

"Well, yes but… it's the most productive thing we can be doing to find them. And if we just have just a semblance of luck…" She felt herself falter, straightening her posture instantly before stating firmly, "All I know is that we have to try."

The way Hunter was gawking at her suggested he might have thought she was crazy.

"You're insane, love," he told her simply. "You know that?"

She scowled and scoffed, making her offense to the statement shown. "If hope, resignation and persistence are qualities of the mentally unwell, then yes, I suppose I am."

"Great," Hunter said, staring back at the road with annoyance. "Thought I had a good gig going having to drive around a pretty girl. At least you're not as mental as my ex-wife. Now she deserved to be put in a nut house somewhere."

Jemma just stared, ignoring the comment of being called 'pretty' and instead focusing on the abrupt Segway he'd chosen to make. Hunter caught her gaze.

"Well, I guess you could be just as mental. Don't know you that well, really." He shrugged. "At least you're English."

Simmons couldn't help but nod. "That is actually quite a welcome change."

"Yeah, imagine crazy in that accent. That's the ex. Not too peachy."

"I of course have nothing against Americans but certain words just sound so ridiculous! As though they're more… heavy and drawn out?" Simmons exclaimed, chuckling as memory entered her head. "Just a few weeks ago, Skye asked if I wanted to watch 'Hairy Podder'. It was difficult not to cringe! And to make matters worse, she'd asked about the Sorcerer's Stone."

"No, I completely understand. Not that I really have a thing for that wizard kid, but I'd hate the way the she-devil would say certain words, like 'deadbeat' or 'moron'."

Simmons couldn't help but grin at the effort he'd put into using such a girly voice, though she had a feeling he'd chosen those words because they caused an annoyance other than how they sounded in the woman's accent.

The grin quickly faded as she thought of Fitz, him being the one to poke fun at Skye for saying the magical saga's name that way in the first place. Simmons wouldn't have said anything. She'd grimaced, as she couldn't help it. Skye had noticed the gesture.

"What? You guys like Harry Potter!" Skye exclaimed through obvious confusion. "Simmons has a replica or something of someone's wand."

"Luna Lovegood's, actually," said Jemma.

Fitz walked over from the other side of the lab, obviously exasperated as he informed her, "She's frowning because you called it the Sorcerer's Stone."

Skye's eyebrows shot up. "And…?"

"Its correct name is the Philosopher's Stone," said Fitz.

"That's the British name. Not necessarily the correct name," Skye protested.

"But that makes it the correct name, because it originated in Britain."

"Well we're in America right now!"

Simmons couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Actually Skye… we're still in Mexico at the moment."

"What? Oh. I thought we left… Wait, seriously?"

"We're refueling," said Simmons.

"Oh yeah." She turned back to Fitz. "Well, neutral ground then," she stated happily.

"That just means it should default to the original and rightful name!" Fitz exclaimed, and Simmons could even hear offense in his tone. Both girls saw how much of a rise it got out of him, so Skye continued to antagonize while Jemma continued to be amused by the whole conversation.

"Jesus, what the hell is that?" Hunter shouted suddenly. Somewhere mid sentence Simmons had felt a rumble go through the car. She turned around, and was surprised she hadn't noticed earlier the great amount of blue light that was now pouring into the vehicle, as it must have been what Hunter was referring to.

Hunter slammed the brakes, the car screeching to a halt to make an early stop. The two exited and stared.

A blue light was emanating from a few blocks down the street, shooting what almost seemed to be a storm from the ground upwards into the sky. It was a near magnificent sight, but it was somewhat frightful as well.

Then it stopped. Just like that.

"That was an interesting storm," Hunter remarked.

"That was no storm!"

"I know," he said, perhaps disappointed she didn't get his sarcasm. "Just trying to keep things light. Probably should call the boss man though, eh?"

Simmons nodded. "Yes, I'll contact him on the way."

"Oh the way? Where?" Simmons just gave him a pointed look. "You mean on the way to the big blue light show?" he asked incredulously. "We don't even know what the hell it was!"

"Well, I'm guessing it was alien, considering there is a known alien presence in the city already."

"Yeah, alien. Could be alien anything. Aliens with an alien army, or alien guns, or aliens with probing machines... I don't know! I do know we can't just go up there with two agents, one not even bloody field ready," he explained, gesturing towards her lightly.

She held a tough gaze though, hoping to make him falter.

"Oh, I'm ready," she told him, grabbing the ICER out from her holster and arming it. "I'm getting my friends back."

Hunter looked a little shocked at first, but Simmons thought it was in a decidedly good way. Almost appraising. Perhaps impressed.

"Nutty, intense, and just a little bit scary. Maybe you're more like my ex-wife than I thought," he told her with a handsomely crooked smile that nearly made her blush, just before opening the passenger door and gesturing for her to get inside.

"Guess we're rushing to our deaths with the aliens at the giant blue light storm."

"This is the place," Ward remarked, as they pulled up to the building.

Mack's creation was sketchy at best. It had Coulson and Ward running around more of Rome than they would have liked, but it eventually got them to a prominent location. If the Skrulls were still in the city, it was most likely they'd be here.

The odds that they were still in the city were now definitely against them.

But, if the Skrulls were ever there at all, maybe they'd left behind clues.

They found the door to be locked, which got both of their attentions. Ward managed to kick the thing down. It was old, used, and definitely rusted.

The men went inside, each holding a flashlight and gun. It was an incredibly old building for sure, exposed piping and decaying walls, but it was spotless. There were no signs of dust or anything else that would be there had no one seen the inside of it for years.

Ward made a hand signal, one that said he was going to check up the stairs.

He did just that. Coulson took the time to check the first floor, though there wasn't much to see. It was just one room and was completely empty, save for the piping and whatnot that lined the walls.

"Place has been swept," Ward announced when he came downstairs. "There's nothing up there, not even on the roof. But it's too clean."

Coulson nodded. "Someone was here."

"They're long gone now. And took any clues they might have left with them."

The news was unsurprising, but that didn't stop the disappointment. They were back to square one.

Or at least, they’d thought they were.

The duo were probably a good ten minutes out from the building when the blue light appeared, and if Coulson didn't know better, its origin seemed to be originating exactly where they'd just come from.

Ward turned around the car quickly, neither of them needing to say words to explain that they needed to go back. They needed to find out what it was that was causing some freak blue lit storm.

A blue that was the exact same color as the Terrigen Crystals.

"Sir! We just saw something phenomenal!" Simmons had exclaimed when he answered the ringing phone.

"Blue light storm in the middle of Italy's capital city? Yeah, we caught that," said Coulson.

"Oh. Well, we're going back to investigate!"

"So are we," Coulson explained. "Make sure to keep your distance. If you find anything, do not engage. Do you understand?"

He was not losing any more people out here.

"Understood," she reluctantly answered.

"Keep in contact, we need to collaborate on this. I'll contact Triplett and May."

He hung up the phone. They were getting incredibly close to being back at the building, when the same blue caught his attention. Like it was merely sparking just in the distance.

"What the…" Ward mumbled.

"Follow it," Coulson ordered.

"But the main light definitely came from more east."

Coulson didn't usually just get feelings. Sure, he trusted his gut in quick situations - maybe this one counted - and the giant storm should maybe be their real concern. It made sense that way. But something, something down deep and running through his veins, told him the tiny blue lights in the distance held the current target.

"I've got a feeling."

"You sure we should be basing finding Skye… and Fitz, on your feelings?"

Coulson looked him square in the face.

"It's a really strong feeling."

Chapter Text

"There's no way this is going to work."

"Come on, Fitz. We have to at least have some hope!"

"Do you realize how many variables there are? We've walked through the ship once. We have no idea of the security measures they're using, if they're monitoring us… they are obviously well ahead of us as far as technology! They could know we've left the moment we step out of this cell."

Skye had been so hopeful and optimistic because she had found one tiny key on the ground, as though it were a guaranteed ticket out of this place. Did she magically forget they were on an alien spacecraft? She'd been trying to smother her smiles all day since she'd found it.

Now she was scowling.

"Since they've made it pretty dang clear they think we're stupid, maybe they weren't worried enough to bother using security measures… I don't know. But we have to try," Skye said firmly, as though she weren't giving him a choice. She scoffed. "Besides, what are they going to do if they catch us? The ritual thing is so close now; they need to let you go soon anyway or they know I won't do it. If it were just for me of course I wouldn't… endanger us, but if they do this I'll be killing off an entire species! We need to try and get out of here."

She was right. He was being selfish, knowing he was going to get out of there anyhow. Leo had to do this for all the people that would be in the crossfire.

He nodded. "Alright. You do have some semblance of a plan, though?"

At that, she gave him a sheepish smile. "Uh, open the door with the key…"

"Yeah, got that."

"…and try to find another door, preferably one that leads off of this ship. Oh! And really really hope they haven't taken off from that rooftop yet. Cause uh… I don't know how to pilot a Skrull spaceship. Or any, spaceship…"

Fitz couldn't keep the cold stare of disbelief he had off his face. "That is a truly brilliant plan. My hope is feeling quite restored."

"Good," said Skye, ignoring the sarcasm completely. "Ready then?"

"I suppose… it's now or never."

"Exactly. So, it's probably night," said Skye. "I'm not sure of course, but best guess…"

"Based on meals and the general times they'd come to…" he fumbled on his words, not wanting to use their terrible wording of playing with them, "to take us out, you'd be correct."

"Right. So let's blow this popsicle stand," said Skye, grinning much more than Fitz thought appropriate for their predicament. He really didn't look forward to when they'd get caught or any immediate repercussions that would ensue.

But still, when Skye pressed the remote to the lock on their transparent prison, he walked out with her.

Then he was grinning too.

They both were, ear to ear, just from being able to step out of that cell door using their own free will. Not getting dragged out to play some horrific game or take part in a set up scene.

Skye took a deep steading breath beside himself as they approached the stairs, and he noticed his friend biting her nail apprehensively. She quickly hid her hand behind herself, as though taking away the distraction. Good idea. Fitz inhaled a deep breath as well.

"Here we go…" she mumbled.

They were definitely on the right track. The Skrulls must have been asleep. Lights dim, hallway empty. No one was in sight. After they'd checked the immediate surroundings, the pair took their guarded, peaking stance from around the corner and brought out the full length of themselves, beginning to trot down a corridor.

They didn't know where they were going. Everything appeared the same, and fear kept them from opening doors they could not see into. But the more they progressed through the twisted hallways, the more they realized they were going to have to.

Skye stared sideways at a wall panel. "Um, how…?"

"Let me."

Fitz raised a hand in front of the box to inspect it, but the door slid open as soon as his fingers neared the small panel. They both took a jolted step away in shock, unprepared for the unknown door to open without more coaxing.

Luckily, no one was inside.

They were still headed in the right direction as the area resembled the cargo hold. Lady Luck must have really decided to finally pay a visit after deserting them for so long. That was fine. If they at least got out of there now, Fitz was sure with some good therapy and talks with Simmons he'd get over the experience.

But in the same way the sight of the cargo room was fairly jovial, as they were near their way out, it was also terrifying. Even more terrifying for Skye. Fitz knew the grimace on her face was present due to the additions the room had gained since their last time of being in it.

In the corner was the only light source of the area. Glowing a grim blue, the luminous colors seemed to be originating from a tub of some sort. It was elegant and sleek, an almost marble substance. The crystals Skye told him about must have been held inside. Though despite the eerie iridescent glow it set off, that was not the scariest addition to the room.

Just next to it was a rectangular box. A clear chamber, standing upright that was merely tall enough to fit a person. It seemed futuristic and rounded as well, showing that it was an advanced piece of technology.

But inside it held chains. Old, medieval looking shackles that contrasted so greatly from the other component it was almost upsetting, as it could have had a near aesthetic appeal. If Fitz cared in even the slightest about the Skrulls’ décor, that was.

Skye's breathing went just a little faster. Just a little different. Their situation was bad enough, but the sight of what they’d had planned made it a little worse for her.

"C'mon, we're getting out," Fitz told her, grabbing her hand to redirect her towards the door. "We don't even have to think about that."

"Yes we do!" she insisted suddenly, the empty gaze that she had been staring at the crystals with suddenly filled with fervor. "We need to take them."

"Take… take the crystals?" Fitz stuttered.

"Yeah. Get them back to the Inhumans or… I don't know. I do know that something so powerful can not be in these psychopaths' hands."

Fitz blinked. "But the door! The wonderful door! The door that gets us out of here, right over there-"

Skye had already walked away, trotting carefully over to inspect the glowing items. Fitz groaned but followed the girl. Strangely, she made no move to gather the rocks. She ended her stride abruptly in front of the thing, her head jolting to a still stop.

"You should go," she told him firmly, staring into the water filled tub. Her mind was obviously working over something as she glared into the glowing blue.

"Ah c'mon, let's just grab the bloody rocks and we'll go together-"

"No," she told him. Her voice resolute but quiet, as they were still sneaking around. "I… I have to do this."

"Do what?" Fitz asked, and she raised her eyebrows pointedly. Her gaze shifted to the objects in front of them. "Oh, stop being ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous!" Skye protested. "This way there can be no threats, no chance of people getting hurt. If I run away now, they'll try to get me back. They'll use whatever means necessary to drag me back in two days. Do you realize how much damage they could do? How many people they could hurt?"

Millions, thought Fitz immediately. He didn't dare voice it. It didn't matter, he needed to get Skye out with him and that would most definitely not help to convince her.

"I was being selfish…" Skye lamented, wrongly. "I thought by getting out of here now I could save the Inhumans, but it would just condemn the human race. And… and maybe if I go through this before my birthday, there's a chance I won't die. Not that it matters…"

"Skye-"

"There's no time!" she shouted, her voice so strong for the amount of silent tears Fitz realized were deftly running down her face. "Y-you have to go. I don't know what this does; it could be dangerous for you. Or loud…"

"Do you even know how to work it?" asked Fitz.

"No," she admitted with realization.

Fitz buried the fear rapidly welling up in him.

Skrulls could be on them at any moment. Skye was about to give up her life for the greater good. And despite how much he really did not want her to do it, despite how much he wished there were a better option, he knew in his heart, and perhaps more so his logical mind, that she was right. So, he needed to focus.

Fear, sadness, grief; it all had to be pushed away.

"Ok, the water needs to be heated right?" he asked, and Skye shakily nodded her head, obviously surprised by the sudden change in attitude. "Heated enough so the crystals give off their mists… well, technically that would be water vapor-"

She was hugging him then, so tight he thought his air might be cut off if she put in any more pressure. She nuzzled hard against him. He felt moisture on his face and he realized it wasn't all from Skye's tears.

She let go, wiping her eyes with a tender hand.

"Ok, figure it out Mr. Engineer," she said as lightly as she could through the sniffling. "So we can get you out of here."

Fitz did as he was told, hastily going to work to determine how the machine worked. It was a perfect mix of technology and classic ritual, obviously set up to be pleasing to the eyes while having the proper mechanics in place.

He saw the lever, and with a glance over at the glass case with nothing on it but chains and a vent from the tub, he realized there was only one option. His stomach dropped instantly. He had to. There was no other way. He realized he was getting quite used to the dire situations just from what he'd experienced the passed week, let alone what had happened with Garrett or in the ocean.

"Alright, I think I understand it."

"Good, tell me what to do," Skye said.

"You'll have to… to get inside."

Skye's eyebrows knit together. She looked puzzled as opposed to perturbed, as Fitz would have expected from asking her to get inside the strange chamber.

"But how can I activate it from ins-"

"Someone has to activate it from the outside," he explained gently.

Her confusion turned to concern the moment it clicked, and she began shaking her head rapidly.

"Wait, no. The Skrulls will hear. And I don't even know what this will do! You can't… this was stupid. You're right, we need to go-"

"No Skye, you were right. Besides, as much as there's a chance for you, there's a chance for me too."

Skye seemed to get angry with that.

"Oh c'mon! My chances are basically less than one percent, but even that is my best hope in this messed up situation. There's a real chance for you to get out of this if you go now!" she told him, grabbing his shoulders to redirect his stance towards the door. He could feel her shake when they touched. Heard her voice quiet and cracked as she continued. "Because if, or when, I'm not around, they'll have you Fitz, and I won't be able to do anything-"

He held her hand.

"Together," he whispered as he turned to face her, tightening the hold. Her face could nearly reflect his with the amount of tears on it, and his mind took the moment to note how the blue radiating from the pool caused a shimmer when it caught the water on her cheeks.

Other things flew across her face as well, a menagerie of emotions. Fear, anger, defiance… she was having an internal battle of the highest kind. But maybe she thought that as much as she felt she had to do this he did too.

She'd be right, because he really, truly did.

Fitz had tried to save Jemma at the bottom of the ocean. He'd been resolved to die before, and it had worked. She was alive.

That was some solace. That Jemma Simmons was alive and breathing somewhere and would be able to live a full life. She'd have to get passed the traumatic experience of finding two of her friends were no more, but she was strong.

And if Fitz was honest, helping to make sure a species was not killed in a ritualistic genocide was a good way to go, so he knew she'd be proud of him. Or it was at least better than some freak lab accident. That’s what he’d always said to Simmons would be the way it would happen if she'd kept bringing unstable elements into their lab.

The memories stirred inside of him, and though Skye was the one holding his hand, he knew his last moments would only contain the face of Jemma in his mind.

He recognized Skye's fight as well as they caught each other's eyes. They took a moment, something to share only with themselves, as the looming threat that the aliens could be on them at any time pushed heavy on their shoulders. But resigned; something near happy at the good they were doing, they took the moment to nod and take comfort in each other's bravery.

They unhooked their intertwining fingers, as Skye inhaled a sharp breath. Just a harsh short cry before she became silent, unwilling to mar her probable last moments with more tears than she had too. He watched her get into the chamber.

Then an alarm sounded.

Loud and blearing, the room's lights grew strong. The sudden occurrence, well, alarmed the two of them.

Despite how pressing the issue had been before, they didn't have the luxury to even pretend they had time now.

Skye quickly shut the chamber door. She near retreated into herself, as though trying to step as far as she could from the chains inside, appearing nervous that they were going to wrap around her themselves.

Well, it wasn't a completely absurd fear. Alien tech and whatnot.

Fitz looked down at what he had to do, decidedly not hearing the alarm. Not seeing the lights. Not feeling the presence of the Skrulls as they got nearer or Skye staying ever so still, watching them come. No, no he was definitely focusing.

There was a lever he knew would heat the crystals. He pulled it to the best of his ability, though it was difficult as though it were sticky or old.

But he did it.

The Skrulls were mere meters away from him now, rushing forward. He could hear their shouts. He could hear the angry cries and he knew if he survived this, if there wasn't some crazy reaction from the process that killed him along with his friend, they would take out their frustrations on him.

Still he watched, strangely resolved to do so, as Skye was smiling, smiling inside that chamber to try and reassure him. To show him she was proud of their triumph, though her eyes held despair and fear through the gesture, as the blue mists now began to fill the area.

Then she wasn't smiling.

She was screaming.

Even as hands clambered onto Fitz roughly, pulled him away, he watched. Skye looked –and sounded- to be in pain as she tried to crumple to the ground, but something was stopping her. A brown covering began to snake up her body briskly, engulfing her in the strange material and halting her movements as it encased her.

Her panic-stricken eyes were the main thing Fitz could see now, even as Skye was being covered alive in some unknown substance and the whole chamber began to erupt with the turquoise that filled it to the brim. But it wasn't just in the case that held the mists now. The light surrounded it.

Fitz could tell it was emitting scalding heat from the distortion in the air around it. As the Skrulls tried to open the door to regain their precious prize they weren't ready to let go of just yet they were burned, jumping away from the door in a panic. Like it was a boiling pot.

With one last forlorn glimpse from the girl, Fitz watched her eyes disappear from his vision as they too became covered.

Then Skye stopped screaming. Or perhaps, more accurately, her screams became muffled to a point of stopping. The coating had run over her face to close her in, covering her body in a complete and total cocoon.

Fitz stared at the statue that was formally his friend, silence filling the room in a delicate veneer.

He was in shock. The Skrulls were in shock, as they just stared as well. They were mourning the loss of their weapon, but he was mourning Skye. The hacker, his friend.

It was but a moment of stilled and stunned silence. Just a moment, just in pretense before it happened. Because suddenly her encasing burst open, the covering that had become hard while it clung to her body flying through the air as it crashed through the chamber violently.

Everything moved so fast then, and Fitz couldn't even get a glimpse of Skye. To see if she'd cracked apart along with it, because with this abrupt and brutal occurrence came deafening silence.

And then there was less than silence. There was nothing.

Chapter Text

Skye hadn't known what to expect.

Or rather, she'd expected many things. She had expected to be in pain – big old check, there – but even so, she'd expected to eventually not feel anything.

She did not expect this feeling.

She felt it surging through her veins, trickling and coursing through her blood and body like electricity as it sparked and filled her with life. Even though, she realized, she was near unconscious as she lay on the ground.

But she wasn't unconscious. Her eyes felt wide as saucers as she stared up at the ceiling of the chamber. She was aware that only a few seconds had passed since her cocoon had broken and the mist had sparked blue, causing this… feeling, to jolt through her.

Her cocoon.

How. Strange.

She wished she'd asked more questions to Paibok when she’d thought he was really Wolfe, because the cocooning process definitely took her by surprise.

More so that she even made it out of the thing at all.

The Terrigen Mists apparently sparked a great deal of electricity when conducting with, for lack of a better word, herself, causing the covering over her body to break open in rapid, flying shards.

So Skye was wide-awake. Alert and aware. But for a few moments, as much as the electric shock filled her, surprise did as well. She just looked up, waiting for a noise to penetrate this deafening silence.

When it didn't, her body seemed to make a choice for her as her legs swung down from the strange position they'd fallen to: lodged up the side of the chamber. The chamber, she abruptly noted, that had cracked from whatever had happened.

She put her hands to her head, trying to stop its toggling around on her neck as though she were a bobblehead. It felt heavy and she couldn't keep it straight even with the support from her fingers.

As she managed to steady it her thoughts caught up to her. With those thoughts came the thought that she was thinking those thoughts, therefore…

She was alive.

Which was… unexpected.

Picking herself up gingerly from the ground she attempted to scan her surroundings. Most noticeably, it was just quiet and dark. Then a spark lit up the room. Just for a moment, just a tiny blue light.

That came from herself.

It happened again. And again. Her body was producing some sort of static shock, or more. It didn't hurt, but even in Skye's ogled mind she registered it as hella strange.

The sparks did give her a little extra insight as to what the room looked like, as well as her eyes ever adjusting to the darkness. Along with the fact that the many Skrulls, just a few minutes ago fiery and angry and terrifying as they’d attempted to claw their way into her cage, were now knocked out.

Even more pressing, the unmoving figure at her feet.

"Fitz!" she shrieked in concern. She'd tried to keep her voice somewhat quiet, though it still echoed through the halls of the spaceship. She reached for him.

Fzzt. Fzz.

Her hands recoiled. She was still teaming with electricity, static shock, or something. Whatever it was, she was afraid if she touched the man, it would hurt him.

But as a Skrull stirred beside her, she knew it didn't matter. She had to get Fitz off the ship. Not to mention, herself.

She grabbed at his hand, preparing for an incredibly difficult journey as she tried to pull it over her shoulder. For a guy Fitz was pretty light, but Skye wasn't exactly Rosie the Riveter herself. Still, she hauled him up.

And nearly pulled his arm out of his socket.

He flung up her shoulder. She was so unprepared for the his jump that was made from her own muscles she flailed, trying to get a handle on him before he drifted back to the ground. Despite her fumbling she managed to catch him, and she felt strong.

She was strong.

Whatever the Mists were doing to her they were still coming off her body in waves, in moments of shock and shedding power. She didn’t know if death was still in the cards for her. She didn't know if the strength would last, if she had a power she hadn't noticed. For some reason, in her mind she knew the electricity was from the remainder of the mists shifting through her, and not a permanent gift from them. Like instinct, although that didn't matter. Only one goal mattered now.

Getting off this damned spaceship.

Skye carried Fitz in her arms, hauling him a little roughly. She wasn’t used to hauling around such a large object.

Following what the Skrulls had done when they'd brought them on in the first place, she managed to get the door opened and get off the ship. They appeared to be in the same place, on the same rooftop in Rome, even though Skye couldn't fathom why they'd want to stay there. But she was all too grateful for it.

It was dark. Nighttime escape; just as they'd planned.

She went into the old building and down the stairwell. Her sparking kept up a nice flashlight substitute in the pitch-black area, though it caused her to flinch each time it went off. Not that it hurt her in the slightest. She couldn't feel it at all really, but it was a strange occurrence that despite its frequency she nearly forgot about during each interval.

When Skye had gotten the two of them clear of the building, beginning to start the trek away, she heard something that made her skin crawl.

The ship door opened again.

Which meant the Skrulls were awake and could be on her at any moment.

The girl shuffled away as quickly as she could with Fitz in tow, but even with the strength to lift and carry him, there wasn't much strength left to be fast.

But she'd damn well try.

Skye got a couple blocks over and happened upon a street that appeared to be a low key bar scene. The amount of people out told her it couldn't be too late into the night quite yet - or very early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it - as there were still many partiers living it up.

The frazzled hacker was somewhat relieved to be around other people, even if she knew she couldn't stay there. Still, she had to stop and stare. Just for a few moments because something was weird. Something was off with these people.

They were glowing.

Different colors wafted off of them as though vapor from a fresh shower. Radiating like a big glow stick party... if someone had taken out the juice from the things and thrown it into the air.

As Skye observed the scene in a shocked silence, she made note that each person seemed to be holding their own color, even if many of them were the same: red. Some a light red, some a reddish-orange. There were also a couple darker greens and purples.

It was bizarre, and Skye couldn't help but just stare. Did no one else see this?

Fitz shifted in her arms.

Whatever was going on, it would have to wait for an explanation later. Right now, she needed to get away, or at least contact her team. Maybe she could ask someone for a phone…

"Skye?"

She nearly screamed at the sound of her name, but it was a familiar voice.

Ward stood in front of her.

Skye's heart burst and plummeted in her chest at the same time.

"Oh thank god," he told her, the relief in his voice impossible to miss.

But after her start, Skye didn't move. Not an inch. She just stared, attempting to absorb the sight in front of her.

His face looked overjoyed with relief, as a genuine, full out smile lit it up, which was something she'd only seen on this man's face a few times in her life. Still, he was certainly exercising a portion of caution when he made a step for her.

He was a Skrull. He had to be a Skrull. What were the odds her team would find her so quickly? Even if the chances were good at all, the Skrulls finding her first was surely the highest probability.

And maybe it mattered, maybe it didn't, but there was also the fact that he was glowing too.

Unlike the rest of the crowd, he seemed to be sort of… morphing through colors quickly? Yellow, to aqua, to purple. Skye might have witnessed it happening in the group of partiers a couple times, but not quite this fast.

She pulled Fitz back defensively.

"Stay away fro-om us," she told him firmly, her voice skipping when a shock decided to jolt through her at the time.

Any happiness that was on Ward's face dropped; concern was all that was present now. And maybe some anxiety. Skye made note of a color change to the mists that surrounded him. The yellow was gone, the purple dimmed. An aqua hue dominated.

"Hey, it's ok, Skye. You're ok. It's Ward," he cooed gently with his hands out in a surrendering gesture. "We know about the Skrulls and their abilities, but this is me. Coulson's around here too."

"Coulson…" Skye mumbled out in breathy tones, yearning to see him. She also yearned to jump into Ward's arms, then let him carry her and Fitz to the BUS together in a great big group hug.

Though there was quite a good chance "Ward" would carry them right back to the ship they'd come from.

But colors danced in front of her vision and obstructed her thoughts, causing only one question to come to mind.

"What is wrong with you?" Skye demanded, to which Ward's confusion deepened, his brow furrowing. "The colors! You're glowing. All spectral-like."

Ward hesitated, but eventually took a step forward. Slowly. Calculated. Like he was approaching some injured animal and wasn't sure of what its response would be.

"I don't think I see what you're seeing," he told her gently, staring intently into her eyes. "Did they do something to you?"

"Don't ask me questions! You're just trying to distract me!" she snapped. "I need to get out of here…"

"No! Skye, please don't go," he asked desperately, evidently afraid to have her slip from his fingers. But for what reason... concern of her well being or concerned his prize would be lost? "Call Coulson! He'll tell you where we are. Since it's his number, a number you know, you'll be sure it's him."

That sounded like a good idea. For her, yes, or as a distraction tactic for him. He could be stalling. Could be a Skrull.

Or he could just be Ward trying to get her to come home.

Skye didn't know. She just didn't! And her life, and Fitz's, were literally hanging in this moment and the stupid choice of whether or not she could trust someone.

All the colors raving in front of her eyes didn't help either.

"Find me a phone," Skye ordered coldly. "I'm not using yours."

Ward nodded with relieved eagerness, going into the group of people quickly to ask for a device. Skye took the moment of waiting to rearrange Fitz, drape an arm over her shoulder so it seemed she could just be supporting a friend that had already had their limit of partying for the night.

Ward came back less than a minute later, tossing Skye the phone from a few feet away.

"Oi!" a spikey-haired girl he'd brought with him shouted, the light red rays emitting from her turning darker. Skye supposed that must have been whose phone he'd borrowed, but she couldn't help the uneasy thoughts that ran through her head about every person around her…

Skrull. Skrull. Skrull.

"I said you could borrow it mate, I didn't say you could throw it at your weird girlfriend." The girl gave an angry nod at Skye. "Where did you even find an outfit so hideous? You a Trekkie or something?"

Skye ignored her (though not without the inward realization that she and Fitz were still wearing their alien jumpsuits), as she'd already been typing Coulson's number in the phone. She was holding it up to her ear by the time the girl had finished her speech. Out of the corner of her eye, Skye could see that the Spikey Hair had turned livid. Ward spoke up.

"She's actually not my girlfriend, just my friend," he said, flashing her a small smile that would keep any woman busy trying to keep her heart from melting. "And I really appreciate you letting her use your cell. That was so nice of you."

Spikey Hair was just short of mesmerized, her eyes growing big at Ward's tender and grateful words. "Oh, not a problem," she stated with a complete change of tone. "Just didn't like seeing it thrown about. But maybe once I get it back, you and I could get a drink…"

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end of the line snapped Skye into listening, her heart leaping when she heard the team leader.

"Coulson! It's me," she told him quickly, making sure her head was clear enough to keep an eye on MaybeWard and his new friend.

"Oh Skye… thank god," he breathed in relief. "Where are you?"

"Um…" She glanced at the sign. "A bar called 'On the Rox'. I don't know where…"

"I know where it is. I'm right next door."

"Is Ward with you?" she asked.

"He's somewhere in the vicinity. We split up."

"He's here," Skye told him, relief hitting her like an ocean's wave as she watched the specialist chat up the girl. He was distracting her. He was distracting her so Skye could confirm it was him. So he could take her back to the BUS. So she and Fitz could finally be safe.

"I'll be there in two minutes, Skye," said Coulson through the phone. "Just stay with Ward and-"

"Skye!"

Again she turned around at the abrupt shout of her name, but the sight before her had the color draining from her face. It wouldn't usually, but when someone is talking in your ear, you wouldn't think to see them saying something else right in front of you.

And unless they'd gotten their hands on Coulson's phone, she was pretty positive the one in front of her was the fake one.

Skye found herself backing up with Fitz clutched firm in her hands. Quickly realizing she didn't want to alarm the Skrull that she was onto its charade, she willed herself to stop.

"Coulson?" she asked the Skrull, taking a moment to appreciate the aura that seemed to be attached to everyone and their mother since she'd gotten off that spaceship. But his… it was strange. Instead of coming off in waves, it came off in jagged spurts; different than anyone else she'd seen.

"Skye, are you still there?" she heard real Coulson's voice from the phone, which had drifted a couple inches from her ear.

"Yeah, I'm-"

"Who are you talking to?" asked fake Coulson.

"I was just-"

"Just stay with Ward, Skye! There are shape shifters around, don't talk to anyone else," real Coulson informed her.

"I know, I'm not-"

"Aren't ya done yet?" Skye heard Spikey hair. Next thing she knew the phone was being ripped from her grasp.

"Hey!"

"It's my phone!" the girl protested. Skye stopped paying attention to her, turning back to fake Coulson. Fake him was staring at her with fake concern. "Whatever, I'm leaving this freak show."

The girl walked off mumbling something about "old men in suits," when Skye felt Ward approach her from behind, though he still kept his distance.

"See, here's Coulson. Can we get out of here now?" Ward asked.

"Skye, let me help you with Fitz…" fake Coulson suggested, coming closer to her.

"No!" she exclaimed, dragging the engineer away like a mother bear with her cub. "Just… everybody back up!"

Maybe Ward was real, maybe he wasn't. It could be either way since phone Coulson told her they were both in the vicinity. But the Coulson in front of her… there was no doubt about it. He was a Skrull.

"Please, Skye…" said Ward desperately, though she could hear his frustration. "We have to go! They could be on us at any moment, and I swear to you it really is us-"

"Oh thank god!" exclaimed another Coulson, the real Coulson, as he came running at them. He jogged passed the other two and directly up to Skye. The only person she'd allow in her little bubble.

Unlike the jagged shapes of colors coming off of the fake Coulson, this one held the same colors she'd seen Ward with when she’d first seen him: yellow, aqua, and purple.

She felt a very big urge to hug the man. But with Fitz on her shoulder and a still dire situation in front of her, she knew that would have to wait. Though Skye did accept the help from her team leader as he lifted Fitz's other arm over his shoulder.

Ward began backing away from the lot of them.

"This can't be good…" he said warily, surveying the group.

Coulson's eyes widened as Skye knew he was just noticing his double. She opened her mouth to explain the dilemma, but was suddenly distracted as two new figures entered the scene from the back of the bar.

"Damn. For an older chap you really move fast," said an English man Skye was fairly certain she'd never seen before. He was definitely out of breath when his golden brown eyes met with Skye. "This your hacker then? …and I bet that's the engineer?" he added as his gaze shifted to Fitz, before finally turning to Coulson. "And… holy hell there's two of you."

The other figure that had come in with the man looked just as shocked. Skye could tell from Simmons' quick jump along with a small yelp of surprise.

"Dear lord!" she said, shocked. "How can we know who's who?"

Ward's eyes scanned the group quickly, obviously calculating some sort of response.

"Well Skye seems ok with that Coulson," he said, nodding to the agent.

“Does she…?” said Jemma suspitously.

Ward nodded. “Only person she’ll let near her.”

"But she could be wrong!" protested Simmons.

Skye stared at Jemma. She noted how surprised the girl looked at the situation, but at the same time, she didn't seem particularly worried. The hacker noted there was a definite lack of concern for anyone's well being. Noted the fact that her aura matched the only confirmed Skrull. Noted that she stood just a little too comfortably near said Skrull.

Skye's hand reached around the back of Fitz and into Coulson's gun holster. Grabbing the one she knew to be an ICER, she let Fitz's weight fall completely onto her team leader and fired six shots: three at fake Coulson, three at fake Jemma, just for good measure.

"Christ!" shouted the English man as he knelt down to check on the fallen woman. "Bloody hell, you didn't tell me she was crazy! Are all SHIELD women completely insane?"

Skye felt offense mix with her whirlpool of current emotions.

"I'm not insane, Trainspotting."

"And I'm not Scottish!" the man protested. "But why the hell shouldn't I think you are? You just shot Agent Simmons!"

"It's not really her. They're both Skrulls," Skye explained, hoping whoever this was -and everyone else- knew what she meant by it. "I can tell. They give off… a different color."

English snorted. "Oh yeah. Playing with a full deck, this one."

"Hunter. Shut up," ordered Coulson. "Actually, talk. Do you have any idea where Simmons is?"

"You don't really believe her, do you?"

"Of course I do!" Coulson exclaimed shortly, Fitz still in his arms. "Is there any point when you separated that she could have been intercepted and replaced?"

"Uh, yeah actually. Rest stop, couple blocks back."

"We have to find her," Skye said with determination, already starting to head the way Hunter had gestured.

"Actually, I may be able to help you out there."

That was a new voice. Well, not new. But new to the current conversation. It was also a voice Skye never, ever expected to hear again.

"Wolfe?" she asked incredulously.

The man looked exactly as she'd known him, other than the jumpsuit he was now wearing. But she hadn't ever known him. Not really.  She'd known Paibok the Skrull, a tormentor. The evil leader she'd come to compare as Hitler in her own mind. She'd never met her real father.

But the colors… the aura. They weren't lit like the fakes. They seemed more like the team's and dancing people's colors.

Like he was… real.

She certainly hoped he was. Not just for the sake of not wanting to deal with a Skrull, but because Skye could only assume that was the real Jemma Simmons held unconscious in his arms.

Assume because there were no colors coming off the girl. But as there were none coming off of Fitz either, Skye was starting to believe whatever was happening didn't happen when you were asleep.

Skye was awestruck and so sure in her gut that the man before her was her true father. She'd felt it before, this feeling of positivity. But after a dream that merely showed her what he was on the outside. The person she'd seen as a baby, with her own two eyes.

She could see the inside now.

"Is he a friendly?" asked Hunter.

Ward cannoned his gun up to point at the man and Coulson set Fitz down rather harshly to do the same.

"Guess not," Hunter chimed, raising his weapon as well.

"How…?" Skye mumbled.

"I was on the ship. Your Terrigenesis shorted the circuits… I tried to come after you."

Skye could feel how wide her eyes were, in awe and completely drawn to the man bathed in yellow and olive greens.

She stepped forward.

"Skye don't get too close!" protested Ward, stopping her stride with a hand to her arm.

She crumpled.

"Ahah!" she shouted, falling to her knees. She felt it. And by it she meant just... a heck of a lot. She felt concern, joy, tenderness… excitement at finding the person they were looking for because thank god they found Skye they needed to find Skye-

Hold up, wasn't she Skye?

She didn't even know anymore. The feelings were drowning her. When she opened her eyes, the blues and purples and reds were flooding her mind, clouding her vision. She couldn't see. Sparks were flying off of her in waves and she recognized that the lights to bar began to short out, making it even darker except for the spectrum of mists in front of her, wafting off people.

She could barely make out the cries of eagerness to help from her concerned friends before she was too overwhelmed by emotions to feel anything at all.

Chapter Text

"If you would untie me I could help her. Please."

"Last we saw you, you were threatening to murder thousands of people if Skye didn't kill herself. So no, I don't think we'll untie you."

The first voice Fitz didn't recognize. But the second he knew incredibly well. Coulson.

"I told you that wasn't me!"

"Why is he not he knocked out again?" asked a new voice.

Another unrecognizable. Definitely English.

What had happened? Last thing he remembered he was….

Wait. He remembered everything.

Fitz willed his eyes open and was met with mainly darkness. As his eyes trailed, he could spy out faint moonlight shedding rays through a small window high up in the room. From what he could tell, the walls looked wooden. And old. He was sitting on something that was soft yet harsh and prickly… straw.

He was in a barn.

Fitz shot up.

He glanced around himself immediately. Coulson, May, Triplett… even Ward stood just a few feet away, along with a man in a leather jacket who looked somewhat cross. Tied to a post meant to hold up the barn was another man Fitz didn't recognize, though his face tugged at his memory as if he should. Still, Leo guessed he wasn't good news. You know, considering the bondage.

But that was just the people standing, while he'd been set in the middle of two lying unconscious on the ground: Skye and Jemma.

Though Fitz found himself somewhat grateful to be alive, as it occurred to him he could have very well died after what transpired with the… ritual, he couldn't help but feel frantic and worried at the thousand questions that rushed to his mind.

Was it just another game? Payback for letting Skye kill herself early?

The thought jerked in his head.

Skye, kill herself. Skye. Dead.

He looked down at the two women beside him with a heart full of dread, utterly expecting them to be still as stone and just as cold.

But they were breathing. Both of them were breathing.

Simmons' breaths were even and she had a healthy flush to her cheeks, as though she were simply having a nap. She appeared peacefully sound and blissfully unaware that she was lying on the ground of a barn in unknown circumstances.

While Skye was… sparking. Sparking with a blue that matched the hue of the mists, so Fitz assumed it was a side effect of what she'd put herself through in that chamber. She seemed to be in some amount of pain. This was evidenced by sweat making her clammy face glisten and by the small shivers that shook through her, as though she were ill. While she lay there scowling in her sleep, Fitz noticed that her agitated eyes seemed to be glowing… underneath her eyelids.

Fitz finally looked back up at the group of standing people, the sudden movement earning their attention.

"Thank god, man," Triplett said through a sigh, coming closer to him with a relieved expression. Fitz scurried back. He didn't want to go too far, as he didn't want to leave Skye. Or Jemma really, but odds were… well, she probably wasn't her.

"He thinks you're a Skrull," informed Ward calmly.

Trip's face fell, but he looked understanding. He backed off.

"I don't think you're a Skrull, it's that I don't know if you're a Skrull," said Fitz weakly. He didn't realize until he tried to speak how upset his stomach was or how much his head hurt.

Coulson pursed his lips. "I can say with the utmost sincerity we're not, but we'll keep our distance while you figure it out," said the team leader. He stepped forward just slightly as if to reassure, though he stopped himself. The man was staying true to his word. He smiled. "Don't mistake our aloofness for displeasure though; we're thrilled to have you back with us."

Fitz wasn't exactly sure what to do. Could he leave? He certainly didn't want to leave if this was really his team. Though he couldn't leave Skye anyhow, especially in her current condition.

"Triplett, the water," May said suddenly, to which the man nodded. He grabbed a water bottle out of a black backpack that lay near him on the ground, sending it Fitz's way by rolling it across the floor. It nudged at his feet insistently. He knelt down to pick it up, eyeing it warily. He was thirsty, but he needed more time to access the situation.

"While you're figuring out whether to trust us or not," Coulson said patiently, sensing Fitz's unease even with that small gesture, "feel free to ask us any questions. We'll try to fill you in the best we can. Maybe later you can do the same for us."

Questions. Yeah, that was a good plan. Make out a hypothesis as to what was going on after being given facts. Fitz didn't know whether they were Skrulls or being sincere and were truly his team, but he decided on a question that would be fitting to either situation.

"What happened to Simmons?" Fitz asked, fairly certain that whatever was going on with Skye was just a side effect of the Terrigen Mists.

"The Skrulls intercepted her and knocked her out," said May. "But I checked over her. She should be fine."

"While the field agent protecting her didn't even notice it happened," Trip added somewhat accusingly. He even sent a glare to the leather jacket bloke.

"I said I was sorry!" the man screeched in offense. He was the British one. "I mean they looked exactly the same."

"We're in a barn. Why are we in a barn?" Fitz questioned, standing up to brush himself off. Though he didn't leave his place between Simmons and Skye. "And how… if you aren't Skrulls, I mean… how did we get away?"

"The ritual triggered something," explained Coulson. "It's unclear exactly how, but you got knocked out and we found Skye carrying you through a bar district in Rome."

"Skye’s been awake?" asked Fitz. He'd assumed she was in some kind of coma since the process.

And she'd been carrying him? That must have been a sight…

Coulson continued. "She was awake, but Ward touched her and... she collapsed. She started sparking more and that caused the electricity in the area to kind of... well, spaz out, so we had to go somewhere isolated. Though we aren’t positive on an exact explanation…”

"He shorted her out, somehow," announced the man bound to the post abruptly. Fitz watched the group turn in unison towards him. The man sighed. "The process of Terrigenesis has to use a great deal of power to succeed in changing an Inhuman. But Skye's not completely Inhuman, and it seems to have created extra energy inside of her. Manifesting in the form of electricity, I guess. It must have reached a breaking point when your agent touched her," he tried to explain. Though to be honest, he didn't sound incredibly certain about his own reasoning.

The team just stared at him. Incredulous, confused, angry stares.

"Look, I can't know why unless I examine her. To try to glimpse what power she has. Her form of hybrid has never undergone Terrigenesis and we don't know what it's doing to her!"

"You are not going anywhere near Skye," Coulson growled.

The man took in a sharp breath as his head careened backwards, hitting the post in frustration. He looked dejected and desperate. Broken.

"Coulson please… I worked with you for years. You know me. I just want to help my daughter."

"Your… daughter?" mumbled Fitz. His eyes lit up. "You're Wolfe! Skye told me about you. She said you weren't… real."

"He's not," snapped Ward.

"Yes I am!" he protested, fruitlessly struggling in formidable bonds. "Paibok took my place over a year ago and has kept me prisoner on that ship-"

"We heard what you said: the prophecy that you-" Coulson paused to scoff in disbelief, "I'm sorry, the prophecy that the Skrull told us about was a fake one."

Wolfe nodded frantically in agreement. "Yes, it's true. Just as true as how I was a SHIELD agent for twenty-three years. I still am! And that is my daughter." He was near panting in desperation, and Fitz couldn't help but feel bad for him. "You're killing her, Coulson!"

"Maybe we should give him a chance," suggested May, and Wolfe's face lifted in hopeful intrigue. "She's not getting better."

"I want Simmons to look her over first," Coulson said firmly. "She has to wake up soon."

"Soon may be too long."

Worry sparked in Coulson's eyes, his determination beginning to falter.

"But, if he's lying… I mean the odds of him just suddenly being free at the exact same time-"

"We’ll have guns on him. I said give him a chance, not a pass,” assured May firmly, though Coulson pursed his lips. He didn't seem to want to give in. Fitz watched as the woman he'd thought of generally as cold place a hand on Coulson's shoulder, her voice soft as silk when she spoke. "Phil, look at her."

Coulson did. Fitz followed his gaze down and near gasped at what he saw: Skye looked worse than she had mere minutes ago. Her teeth chattered and the trembles wracking her body were approaching a violent speed.

The grimace on Coulson's face made Fitz sure the man was not happy about it, but he nodded. He stood straighter. His voice came out as a near bellow.

"Alright, weapons up. I want him surrounded. Triplett, block the exit."

Fitz felt awkward as they shuffled into position. He still didn't want to trust them so was sure to keep his distance. This could be a rouse. A giant game to make a fool out of him, again. Because with Skye lying sick on the ground, whom else would they use as their plaything?

He was doubting it now, though. The situation seemed too detailed to be made up. Too… sincere.

Of course he wouldn't put exaggerated lengths passed the sadistic bastards.

"Fitz?" Coulson asked cautiously. "Could you move Simmons so she's not so close to Skye?"

Not seeing the harm in it, Fitz did as he was told. He grabbed her carefully under the arms and felt a pang of guilt when he accidentally knocked her lolling head on the ground.

"Ah, so sorry Simmons," he muttered quietly. "That may smart when you wake up."

Laying her delicately in a particularly fluffy bale of hay he found a few feet away, he took a moment to appreciate the way the moonlight passed over her face. Highlighted all her perfect features. Of course, they were all perfect to him.

He really hoped she was real.

"Alright, May, untie him," Coulson then announced.

May used a pocketknife to free the man of his many bindings (honestly, the amount he was strung up was near ridiculous), and the sheer vigor with which he bolted away caused the field agents to raise their weapons higher, but they didn't shoot. He was merely eager to get to Skye. Then they circled him, trapping him so he couldn't get away even though he clearly had no intention of it.

Wolfe began observing her, moving her arms and giving them a shake or feeling the back of her neck. He pried open an eye. Fitz saw the source of the glowing that was masked before: her actual eye was radiating blue light.

It was a startling sight.

"Well?" asked Coulson impatiently. "What's happening to her?"

"Hard to say…" Wolfe mumbled. "I've never exactly dealt with someone of her species before. Actually, I've never encountered any half-breeds that met with the mists."

"I thought you said you could help her!"

"Well I have a better chance at helping her than you do!" he snapped at Coulson, before peering down at Skye with pity and fear. "I may not know exactly what to do, but I have to try…"

He brought his hands – Fitz could see now that they were shaking- up and soon after his thumbs were pressed firmly down, just on top on Skye's eyes. They near disappeared from sight as they pushed into her head.

"What are you doing?" shouted a very alarmed Ward, making a step forward for the man. May put her arm out to stop him. Coulson looked frozen.

Fitz… didn't know what to think.

The pressure was obviously fairly great, though not enough to cause ocular damage. At first there was no change. But soon Skye began to move. Then she began to thrash, moaning against him in distraught.

Still no one did anything, because something that could be described along the lines of miraculous was obviously happening, even if she felt pain.

The frequent sparks that were coming off Skye started to gravitate towards Wolfe once he'd knelt over her. And that same power, the Terrigen power, was now being drained from her eyes and pulled over into her father.

The man snatched his hands away suddenly; tugging a few times before he’d managed to break off from her. It took some force but soon they snapped apart like magnets.

Skye slumped down in to the ground, completely spent. It reminded Fitz of how she'd been after she was shot, her body clearly just needing to crash and recharge.

But she looked better.

"What did you do?" Coulson asked the man curiously, at the same time Ward hoisted him up and had his hands pinned up behind his back.

"I, uh. I think I absorbed some of the Mists' energy…"

"You think?" questioned Ward.

"Like I said, never done this before. First time dad and all. But I believe that because she's different…" he trailed to a stop. Fitz could see him trying to arrange thoughts in his head for the rest of them. "I've heard the Mists work abnormally on non-pure Inhumans. They results are unpredictable and can even be fatal. It's why I hadn't wanted to expose her, ever in her life. But the Mist's power seemed to be lingering on her… so I thought, being an Inhuman, maybe I could help by taking some of it."

May was taking Skye's pulse. She then she put the back of her hand on the girl's cheek.

"I think it's working," she said. It was hard to miss the relief in her voice.

As if to prove her point, Skye mumbled beneath her.

"Did she try to say something?" asked Trip.

Wolfe leaned over in Ward's arms as if craning to hear. May backed off, trying to give her space. Fitz got closer, but he didn't want to leave Jemma too far behind as she was alone in the corner now.

"Stop…" fell muffled through Skye's lips. The group shared looks of concern.

"Yep, definitely trying to talk," confirmed the newest Brit.

"Quiet," scolded Coulson softly, as he leaned closer to the girl.

"Stop… being so… concerned."

No one knew how exactly to take the statement. At least, judging by the confused looks on their faces. But the confusion was coupled with relief. Smiles were on every one of them.

Fitz could tell they were holding back pouncing on her in joy.

Even so, as she tried to sit up she was met with a great deal of attempted help, Triplett and May fighting over a spot on her back and Coulson took her hand as she tried to steady herself. Ward shifted slightly in annoyance; he yearned to be helping her as well. Fitz would have jumped in too, but the girl was already swamped with support.

"Ah, guys…" she muttered in a slightly irritated tone, rubbing her head. "You just replaced concern with relief. Just… just tone it down."

Her words are a little off, Fitz noticed.

Skye glanced around as her senses returned to her. Her eyes landed on Ward, who had Wolfe smiling in his arms at her. She looked about to say something, when her stare flickered towards Fitz and the words died in her throat. Her face flooded with relief.

Despite a state that was obviously far from perfect, she picked herself up and ran over towards the engineer to pull him into a tight hug. He felt her arms linger for only a few moments before he was released. Her eyes trailed up and down his body, as though checking he was really there.

"You're ok!" she told him gleefully. "I thought you might have... not been ok when I knocked you out with the ritual."

"Fit as a fiddle," he told her with a smile. But despite having a gut feeling that these people were really his team, he had to warn her. He'd been fooled, humiliated and hurt by the Skrulls too much in the passed week not to be sure. "Skye… I just woke up here. I don't know if this is our team. You know… the real ones."

Skye's grin seemed to be an answer in it of itself, but the girl explained anyhow.

"They are. Fitz, it's them; I can tell. I know you're confused… and scared and concerned," she added, looking up as though gathering the information from her head, "but I am one-hundred percent sure." She turned towards their audience, running a hand through her hair exasperatedly. "I'm sure, and I can't even begin to explain how amazing it is to see each and every one of you."

Her eyes were gleaming with tears of relief and what appeared to be overwhelming happiness. Fitz couldn't help but smile with the same reason, now that Skye had confirmed they weren't Skrulls. Now that their time in that place was over, and he and Skye wouldn't be forced to play mortifying games. Now that Jemma's eyes could open any moment and he could see her bright smile illuminate the room; no longer having the last thing he saw of the real Simmons be her screaming in horror at the bottom of the ocean.

But… how did Skye know they weren't Skrulls? She'd just woken up…

"Skye," he said firmly, turning her away as she looked over the group gleefully.

He needed to make sure this was real. Optimism had certainly been his downfall in the past. He'd been too trusting. Too quick to believe good news, when what hid just beneath the ice were life-threatening lies.

"Yeah?"

"How… how can you be sure that we're safe?"

She cocked her head then, gave him a crooked half-smile. She had a secret. It was also at this moment Fitz noticed something he probably should have a bit earlier.

Wolfe hadn't taken away the blue color from her eyes completely with the power exchange. The sheen of color was still there, burning in her eyes like a fire. Like it was moving and living inside of her. The brown was still prominent, but Skye surely had a new aspect to her now.

"Well…" she started, taking a moment to side-step herself so she was addressing the entire group. "Guys. I think I may have gotten one of those cool alien powers."

Everyone shared glances sporting furrowed brows, though most were still smiling. Wolfe was definitely smiling. In fact, he looked proud.

"You can tell when people are Skrulls?" asked Ward.

Skye didn’t have the chance to answer as the barn rumbled greatly, rattling the rafters and beams and shaking up the hay in the place. The old boards began to shed a shower of dust onto them. Everyone in the old building was forced to stumble about for the few seconds it lasted.

"What was that?" asked Fitz urgently.

Coulson and May shared a look, just before turning around to head towards the barn doors. Skye followed them, though Ward stayed behind with Wolfe.  Triplett didn't make a move for the door either. Fitz felt a pang of guilt leaving Jemma, but she was just lying there. Plus, he was just going to the door.

Outside was a mainly quiet night, but they could make off something in the distance. It was so far that it looked merely like a speck floating in the air, but Fitz could tell it was just perspective. Which that meant the object had to be massive.

"What is that?" asked Hunter incredulously.

Skye was checking her surrounding so Fitz followed suit. They were on a country road with a lot of greenery spread out in either direction. Though it was difficult to see far in the distance in the night.

"Well first off, can you tell me where we are?" asked Skye.

"We're a good chunk away from Rome," explained Coulson. "We drove until we came across a rural area and that took us a few miles out."

"So… is that noise coming from the city of Rome, then?" asked Fitz, pointing to the floating speck.

"I guess so, but it's so far," said Coulson. "Whatever's over there would have to be big for us to be able to see it from here."

"It is," stated May. All four of their eyes shifted to her as she held up her phone for them to see. It was a news website, holding a picture of the floating Italian iconic building. "That's the Colosseum."

The news website showed the architecture hanging in the air. The article mentioned hostages, along with a few casualties that had already taken place.

Skye paled, her face knitting together with strings of alarm and concern.

"Graviton's making good on his threat," she whispered in distraught. "I… I thought if it would do no good to threaten me, because I already did the ritual before the right date, I thought they wouldn't…"

Skye couldn't finish her sentence, the horror of causing this to happen fresh on her face. Fitz scooted closer to her.

"Maybe they think the ritual has a chance to still work. Or they were always planning on using Graviton anyway no matter what you did," said Fitz, the theories suddenly piling up in his head. "Or maybe…"

"They're pissed and want me back to make me suffer for it," Skye finished the thought Fitz had become unwilling to voice. He still nodded in agreement. Based on the Skrulls tendencies, that honestly seemed to be the most likely option.

"I have to go back," she said with an air of terrified realization. Her voice quivered. She stared ahead with a true fear, as though she were imagining exactly how that particular meeting was going to unfold. "I have to-"

"Skye, shut up," Coulson said, a tad harshly. But it seemed to do the trick. Skye snapped out of the strange fixation she had on the floating Colosseum. Her stare moved to Coulson with something almost like hurt on her face, but more of a silent askance. "You're not doing that. Again. Remember what happened last time?"

Skye blinked.

"But… but the people-"

"We have a new agent working on a device to take him down. We just have to get Fitz back to the BUS as quickly as possible to help him finish it."

"Plus, there's no way we could know they're going to stop once they have you, Skye," Fitz added. "Like you said, they're angry."

"Right," agreed Coulson. "In fact, I could think of a good amount of reasons why that's a horrible idea. But right now we need to focus on getting back to the BUS. Ok?"

Skye was stunned for a moment, but then her lips pressed together in a sort of suppressed smile. She nodded with enthusiastic relief, obviously grateful for the reasoning of not having to go back to those people.

Fitz could not blame her. He would take any excuse he could get his hands on to never return to them.

Skye was renewed with energy from the whiplash of expectations of her. She actually grinned.

"Then let's get back to the BUS, help this new dude with whatever it is you're talking about, and get the bad guy beat. They'll be sorry they ever messed with agents of SHIELD!"

May gave her a rather exasperated look as the woman turned to go back through the threshold of the barn, presumably to get Simmons or help Ward with Skye's dad. Though Fitz could have sworn he saw a slight grin up the corner of her mouth. Still, he even had to glance at Skye uncertainly with the way she worded her enthusiasm.

"You sound like you hopped out of a comic book," admonished Coulson.

Skye fixed him a look. "And Graviton doesn't?" she asked wryly. "Plus I apparently have super powers… face it Coulson, we basically are in a comic book."

Fitz pointed to her. "She does have a point there, sir."

Coulson sported an amused expression as he shrugged. "I guess you're right. We'd better get going then. I think it's to take down this super villain."

Chapter Text

The ride back to the BUS was one filled with excitement, anxiety, and a lot of questions. Comments or inquiries and whatnot, directed at Skye and Fitz. Though the blunt of them went to the former (considering the whole new powers thing), any questions about their actual imprisonment went to the latter. It reminded Skye of the rescue mission ride after she'd been imprisoned by FakeWolfe, but she noted a few differences.

Firstly, Fitz was there now to take some of the heat off of her. Difference two held some similarities, as even with having to make an escape from Graviton the last time the team rescued her, they'd left the scientist behind. Now he was too big of a problem to ignore and they were speeding back to the BUS to actually deal with the problem, not move on from it. Another difference of course was that after that excursion she didn't have some new Terrigen whatever power to deal with.

In the similarity pile: the fact that they'd picked up Wolfe again. Skye had high hopes of this one being her real father, though.

"So you can see people's emotions, but with color?" Fitz inquired, definitely the one to be most interested in her new superhuman abilities. So as much as he was relieving her of questions about imprisonment, he was adding to the list as well.

The man had perked up quite a bit once she'd told him with utmost certainty that those around him weren't Skrulls, but his eyes lingered on Simmons' still unconscious form. The team – May most adamantly - assured she'd just been taken out with a sedative, but Skye understood the worry.

"And Skrulls look all… squiggly, so I can tell when it's actually them. But, yeah. You guys were all full out glowing before I got knocked out, and now you just kind of have this tint of color to you," she explained, witnessing it before her very eyes as she did. "Before Ward touched me I couldn't really feel anyone's emotions, and now I can. It's… how I can associate the colors with each emotion. They're just kind of in my head."

"But you can't read our minds," he conceded, looking just a tad too worried about the answer, making Skye nearly grin. She shook her head.

That tad bit of worry she saw, she could feel it too. In fact, the worry was circulating through the van and built up in Skye, along with all the other shared emotions that were now squeezed inside of her from the multiple people.

"No mind reading. Yet, at least…" she mumbled off, pressing a hand into her head.

"Skye, you alright?" Coulson asked with concern. Great, more emotion.

"Yeah I just… you guys really feel a lot. Lots of stuff crammed in here. And then there are my own feelings of course… ones that include stupid stupidity," she mumbled, pulling at her hair a bit in irritation. "It was just so dumb to think they wouldn't go through with their threat if I made myself unusable!"

"You did the best thing you could think of," Ward said in attempted comfort. She did feel a slight relief at his words, despite Coulson having made sure she should know this just a few minutes earlier.

Ward must have been just incredibly happy and satisfied to have found her, because every time he spoke she felt waves of pure warmth from his emotions. Of course, everyone had an air of relief along with their mountains of worry wafting on to her, at least to some extent. But Ward's was excessive.

No wonder she was getting headaches from this.

"Skye, you have to remember," Coulson started, "if you had gone through with it, a whole race would have been exterminated along with yourself. With Mack working back at the BUS, we may be able to defeat Hall with minimal casualties. This was the best possible outcome."

She nodded quickly as to dismiss the subject. She hated when they tried to coddle her with reassurances when she was berating herself for doing something wrong. Like she was fishing for comfort, when in actuality she really just wanted to make sure they knew how much she regretted her actions that caused people pain.

But in this instance, they were right.

She pressed her hand to her forehead again.

"You sure you're alright, sweetheart?" asked an incredibly skeptical tone.

Skye gave a quick glare to Hunter. She wasn't exactly his biggest fan so far. The hacker knew she shouldn't be so quick to judge, but even in such a tense situation he almost made everything sound like a joke. Like he didn't really care what the answer was even as he asked the questions. Maybe he did but… sure didn't sound like it.

"I'm fine," she told him gruffly. "Headache."

"We can work on your powers to control them better, Skye," Wolfe said. "Later, when there's time."

Ah yes, her father. Her real father, and she was kind of confident he was real since she'd discovered her powers could tell Skrulls from humans. Or… other aliens, apparently.

She'd assured the team he was the real deal the first chance she got, and though they were skeptical at first, they were allowing him the luxury of a slight trust.

Still, Skye wasn't entirely mentally prepared just yet to have a reuniting with lost family. And despite how eager he seemed to talk to her, get to know her and maybe just try to catch up for lost time, Wolfe was respecting her space. He was waiting for her to ask the questions and talk to him.

Because for now, all she was giving him were one word answers and nods.

So she nodded.

After a few more choice questions about their imprisonment, they got back to the BUS to meet the other new man, Mack.

He came out of the lab wiping his hands, having obviously been working on something. He took in Fitz and Skye's appearance without trying to hide the appraising, though Skye supposed she was doing the same thing to him.

"Name's Mack," he told them, holding out a hand to each of the agents to give them a hardy shake. He seemed incredibly nonchalant, as though there weren't a gravity-altering man throwing around Rome at the moment.

"I'm Skye and this is Fitz."

He put his hands on his hips. "Nice to meet you guys. And nice jumpsuits."

Skye and Fitz shared a look at the reminder. She couldn't believe she could keep forgetting that she was wearing the clothing, seeing as Fitz had one on as well and that was staring her right in the face. But she supposed she'd gotten used to him in the apparel.

That familiarity was most likely also why the two seemed to gravitate towards one another. After going through a week of imprisonment and staying in line for one another's safety, it was hard to leave each other's side. The feeling of protectiveness had become habit.

At least, that's how Skye felt. And by the way Fitz stayed near her, she guessed he felt the same way. Plus, even with her somewhat shottie powers, as she was still getting used to them, she could feel the protectiveness and worry from him in her own head, too.

It wasn't that Skye couldn't be sure she felt the protectiveness and worry, because she definitely could. But to know for a certainty they were coming off of Fitz… it was just hard to keep track of.

Skye saw him glance sideways as Triplett carried Simmons out of the van. His eyes lingered on the scientist as though he wanted to go to her. The only reason he wasn't, Skye guessed, was because Coulson had told Fitz the new mechanic need help figuring out how to defeat Graviton.

"So, you're the engineer, right?" asked Mack.

"Uh, yes. That's me."

"I could use a hand with these specs. Come take a look," Mack said with a beckoning wave of one large arm. Seriously, the guy was pretty jacked.

He was also sporting a dark blue tint at the moment. Skye could feel he was in serious mission mode to get his work done, despite the rather casual attitude. Maybe he was trying to not scare people who'd just been held hostage, in case they'd have a defensive attitude. But still, not coddle. It was nice.

Fitz nodded quickly. "Oh good, yeah."

Fitz followed Mack into the lab and Skye watched him go with a feeling of sudden emptiness. Turning around, she saw Coulson, Ward, May, Triplett, and Wolfe – who was definitely off to the side, as he seemed to be wanting to give them a fair bit of space – staring at her.

Skye didn't know where to start. There were all the reassurances and hugs and comfort that she knew they wanted to shower her in. Then of course she needed to talk to her father, her real father, but she didn't just want to interrogate him. This man never kidnapped her or gave her a reason to distrust him. She honestly just wanted to talk and get to know him.

But with such a dire situation that would have to be later.

"I'm going to change. This isn't really my color," she added to try and lighten the mood, as they were all feeling the threat of Graviton. And were still definitely concerned with her and Fitz's well-being, the light blue tinged around them proving it.

Plus, she could feel their feelings.

It was bizarre. That was the best word for it. These new emotions shoved into her head that somehow had a different place in her mind than her own, as well as the hues she saw people in. She wondered if she would be able to turn it off or control it, or if her friends would always look like painted Easter eggs to her from now on. She definitely wouldn't be able to give her opinion on outfits anytime soon.

Yep, her fresh powers were definitely going to take some getting used to. Maybe her father could help her out with that.

Again, not now.

"Take your time Skye," Coulson told her.

Skye gave him a mildly confused look at the statement, considering there was a super-villain out there destroying the capital of Italy. Still, she nodded and made her way to her bunk, eager to get out of the jumpsuit.

Chapter Text

Skye had run off to change without so much as a pat on the shoulder from Coulson. It wasn't odd, considering what she'd been through. But it still made Ward worried. Specifically because…

What the hell had she gone through?

She was obviously trying to make it seem as though the whole "alien powers" thing could just roll off her shoulder, but she couldn't hide inherent attitude.

Both she and Fitz had been displaying it. They were nervous, calculating. Constantly on the lookout as though their lives were depending on it. Bodies drawn inward or to each other. Uncomfortable was the prime definition, and it had Ward itching to know what had gone on.

He wasn't a big talker, but Skye was. Maybe she was avoiding what she'd rather be spilling her heart out about. So he slipped away from Coulson and the rest to go and have a chat with her.

Coulson eyed him as he walked up the staircase but did not stop Ward, so Grant figured that was the best go ahead he could have received.

Knock, knock, knock.

"One sec, Ward," Skye called. "Still changing."

She stepped out a moment later in signature flannel. It was on the loose side to contrast her recent attire. That jumpsuit had looked incredibly clingy. Probably uncomfortable.

"Hey," she greeted simply, tugging on her elbow in an almost shy notion.

"So, is my knock that telling?" Ward asked.

"Uh… what?"

"You knew it was me."

"Oh. Oh. The um… the feelings you're feeling… they feel like you, I guess," she mumbled off. "I don't know, it is hard to distinguish most people but yours are just more obvious…ish."

"Huh," he responded. Though what he'd rather have liked to say would have been along the lines of:

What the hell did that mean?

Skye could tell him apart from the others. Sure, Ward was concerned… ok very concerned. For Skye. Relieved as well to have her back of course, but wasn't that about what everyone was feeling? What made him special?

"So… something up?" she said, closing the door behind her. She laughed almost half-heartedly. "Well you know, other than gravity-man trying to kill everyone because of my mere existence."

Ward shook his head. "Don't do that."

"What?"

"Blame yourself," he said.

She shrugged. "Why not? It's warranted. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for me."

"He'd just be hurting other people," Ward assured her. "He's mad."

She shook her head. "I really don't think he would. I think the Skrulls purposefully saved or extracted him or whatever from the gravitonium. You remember what I said about Raina?"

Ward nodded. "She was actually a Skrull."

"Graviton never would have made it out if it weren't for Lyja using the Skrull technology to help him. Garrett probably never would have been able to use the gravitonium in the first place… and Lyja only ever infiltrated Hydra as Raina to get to me." Skye took her head in her hands. "It's all screwed up."

Ward couldn't handle watching her take all this pain on her own. So, taking a page from his own book when he'd gone with his gut with Simmons, he pulled her close and into an embrace.

It did not go as well as it had with the scientist.

Skye gasped and recoiled so that he let go like she was boiling. Tears brimmed in her eyes and her mouth went back and forth from a smile to a frown as though it couldn't decide which emotion to feel.

Oh…

"Skye I'm so sorry. I didn't realize-"

"No, my fault," she said, accusing herself anew. "I can keep a handle on it if I try. I just wasn't ready for the touching."

"Why do you keep blaming yourself?" he asked.

She gave him a skeptical stare. "Ward… you gave me a hug. By all accounts I should be excited at the prospect of learning that the robot has feelings. But because I had to make the decision to give myself freaking powers, I can't even handle that!"

Ward was definitely noting the pent up anger now. Anger that was clearly being drawn inward. Whether she really hated the situation for what it was or something had happened there that made her extra hard on herself, Ward wasn't entirely sure. He just knew she needed to veer off the subject.

"What does it feel like?" he almost whispered. She'd been bombarded with so many questions earlier he'd tried not to partake.

"It's… confusing, mainly. Hurts a little, depending on how many people are around or if they're very emotional. Like when I first woke up- you guys were all freaking the hell out."

"That's because we care about you," Ward told her in earnest. "We thought you might be dead."

She sighed. "Well, not dead. Just… a freak." She looked him over. "Like, you're literally blue right now. Smurf blue."

"I always like Papa Smurf," he said, daring to smile.

She returned it. "Sorry, more of a Smurfette tint."

He enjoyed the glint in her eyes the small banter caused through her bittersweet smile. He found herself wrapped up in the sight, and couldn't help but notice something was different.

"Blue…"

"Yeah. I'm thinking it means concern-"

"No, Skye. Your eyes aren't brown anymore. They have blue on them."

Her brow furrowed. "What?"

Ward looked closer, passed the delicate curiosity on her face. There was an iridescent glowing, almost. They weren't naturally blue eyes, it was as though a filter had been added to them.

"They probably changed during that process," he said. "Maybe that causes you to see the colors."

Skye brought a hesitant hand up to her eye.

"Does it look bad?" she asked.

Ward cocked his head. "I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been so close to you… but it's definitely not a normal eye color. Like you're wearing those ridiculous color contact lenses."

"Gee, thanks." Skye dropped her hand sulkily. "I guess I deserve to have some physical abnormality. After what I did."

He almost rolled his eyes.

Blame blame blame.

"You know, I'm not going to be the one to tell you it's not your fault."

She frowned. "I never said that you should."

"I know. But I do want you to know that personally, I believe none of this happened because of you."

She stared at him blankly. "You're losing me... So, you're not going to tell me it's not my fault… but you don't think it's my fault?"

"Hey, if you're hell-bent on believing that all of this is because of you, I know better than to try and change that stubborn mind," he told her. She almost looked smug at that. "But continuously blaming yourself is pointless. Unhelpful really. We need you Skye, and we need you focused."

She sighed. "You're right. However or why ever this happened, it did. I just need to learn how to control it better so I won't be a nuisance."

She crossed her arms as though she was nearly hugging herself andWard yearned to hold her again even then, to give her comfort. He almost took a step back to keep himself in check.

"That extra concern isn't helping," Skye said pointedly.

God, here Skye was talking about how she needed to keep her emotions in check, but what about him? He was the trained one and he was making her feel like crap. How could he tone down concern? He could compartmentalize… but that never seemed to work when it came to Skye.

"I'll… go back with the others," Ward said, at a loss. Maybe she really could use some alone time. Alone with her own feelings so she wouldn't have extra stuff crammed into her head. "See you downstairs."

"See you," she muttered quietly after a pause.

Ward turned on his heel and began to stride away when her small voice called his name.

"Grant," she said. He turned back to her and she gave him a frail smile. "Thank you for checking on me."

Ward honestly felt a little awkward at the gratitude. It had been such a small offering that he didn't truly believe it deserved any thanks. Then he remembered that Skye could feel what he was feeling, causing him to of course feel even more awkward. He nodded and scurried off.

He hoped someone would have a plan of action by the time he got back down there.

Coulson had been fine with Ward going to check on Skye, though he hoped the man would be back down before her. Skye would probably be feeling the need to help, but honestly, there wasn't much a hacker could do in their current situation. The field agents could, though.

Problem was, Coulson wasn't too comfortable talking about plans in front of Wolfe.

Sure, Skye had said he wasn't a Skrull. Coulson trusted that. If she was so sure, even if the powers were new, he would trust her judgment. What he didn't trust was that her father didn't have another agenda. He had infiltrated SHIELD for over twenty years, and though there was the motivation of finding his daughter, that had been quite a commitment.

But Coulson might have been biased, as the man looked like someone he'd come to think of as the picture of enmity in his head these past weeks.

"You know, I may be able to help your engineers, now that I think about it," said Wolfe, seeming to sense Coulson's thoughts. "Inhuman technology is pretty advanced."

"Yeah. Why don't you go do that?" Coulson told him firmly.

The man kept a friendly smile on his face, true to his character, as he walked over towards the lab to meet with the others.

Coulson turned to the group of field agents.

"We don't have much time," he informed them.

"What are our orders?" asked Trip eagerly. "We can't really just sit here and wait for the guy to destroy the city, can we?"

"Nope. We're going to have to try and deter him," said Coulson.

"Using those guns we did before?"

Coulson turned to see Ward striding towards them. His check up on Skye must have been relatively short, so Coulson's thoughts were sidetracked.

"No I don't think so… how's Skye?"

Ward shifted his head side to side. "As good as can be expected. I think she needed a few minutes away from people, really. The emotions were getting to her."

Coulson nodded. "Makes sense."

"So… why wouldn't we be using these weapons you already have?" asked Hunter.

"To be honest, I wouldn't feel comfortable using those again as it wasn't really Fitz who made them," Coulson explained. "I actually got rid of them when I realized he'd been a Skrull."

Hunter blew air from his lips and shook his head, as though trying to clear it. "What kind of madness did I get myself into here…"

"The ridiculous kind," said Coulson.

"It's definitely a ride," added Trip.

Hunter agreed whole-heartedly with his exasperated nod and widened eyes. May didn't look too pleased with the frivolity, as her face was a stone mask. Given the dire situation, she was probably in the right mind.

"If we don't have the guns, what are we planning on doing?" she asked. "Last time we faced Garrett with this stuff we were thrown around like ragdolls, while this man is actually made up of the element."

"And he can fly," added Ward.

"But, that's because he's made of Gravitanium, right?" asked Hunter.

"Yeah…" said Ward.

"Just clarifying." Hunter shrugged.

"Gravitonium," mumbled Trip.

Hunter scoffed. "Oh, sorry. It's not like it's on the periodic table of elements just yet."

Triplett smiled amusedly. "Because you definitely have that science mumbo jumbo down, I bet."

Coulson pressed his fingers into his forehead. "Alright enough with the games. We need to grab some weapons and get out there, at least distract him for a little while to buy Fitz and Mack more time."

"Whoa, whoa," said Hunter. "Is this a suicide mission? Because going in guns blazing when the blazing guns probably won't even have any effect on the man does not sound too promising."

"It won't be a requirement to come with us, Hunter," Coulson told him, basically answering the man's question without voicing it. It wasn't a one hundred percent suicide mission, but odds of not getting out were definitely higher than other times.

"Well if you do die out there, as in all of you, how will I go about getting my payment?"

Coulson frowned.

"Not cool, man," said Trip.

"It's a legitimate concern in this business!" protested Hunter. He gave Coulson a pointed look of lifted eyebrows, showing him the question was still raised.

"You'll get it," Coulson said shortly. Now was not the time to be dealing with mercenaries, but he honestly needed him. "We should have someone field ready stay here with the rest of the agents anyway. You'll have to deliver them as soon as they're ready with the device."

"Babysit and then make sure the kids get to school, got it," said Hunter. Coulson just rolled his eyes; he didn't even have the patience to give him a look.

May took the time, though.

It was an upsetting thought to be putting so many of his agents in life-threatening jeopardy after just getting two back. But these were field agents, and that was their job; their duty. If they were captured as opposed to killed, Coulson would put just as much manpower into getting them back as he had with Fitz and Skye. It could sometimes be the worse fate. Anything can happen to you in the hands of the enemy, and torture isn't exactly fun. Phil knew from experience.

What he didn't know was if Skye and Fitz were tortured, or how they'd spent their week in captivity in general. Fitz didn't exactly go into detail when questions were asked. He told them necessary facts and what had happened when he'd first woken up, and the rest of the time he said they'd spent in a cell together. The way Fitz shifted uneasily, glanced at Skye with something like askance, made it seem like more had happened than he was letting on.

They looked fine enough physically, but something was… off.

Skye had been enthusiastic about taking down Graviton when they left the random abandoned barn, but the same as when they picked her up from Wolfe, bringing up her situation in the car had seemed to bring her mood crashing down.

That, and she appeared to be getting headaches from her new powers.

Skye had been a mere shell of herself when they found her at the nightclub. Carrying Fitz around, nervous and jittery like a frantic abused animal, but how could she have been anything less? She must have been terrified they'd find her; their shape shifting abilities had made trusting even her own senses difficult. Not to mention having just gone through whatever the process had been to get her powers.

Fitz had been skeptical as well when he'd woken up, but they'd been more prepared for the reaction after experiencing Skye's fear. Since the team had been confident he'd be fine physically, they were slightly more concerned with Skye's well-being in her sick state.

Coulson just hoped they were ok. He knew May had noticed too, from the way she looked at the team leader when Fitz started acting like he was withholding information. She of all people understood what emotional stress could do to a person, and without physical marring, the two seasoned agents were worried that's what had gone on. Of course, being held against your will for a week in the best conditions would be cause for emotional duress.

Coulson worried for his whole team. But that was what it was to be the leader of a SHIELD unit. To order his comrades to put their lives and well being on the line, in order to save the greater good.

Which was exactly what they were going to do.

Chapter Text

Skye was out of the jumpsuit, searching her closet for the loosest material she owned. It wasn't too hard, considering that's what made up a large percentage of her wardrobe. Big sweaters and comfy flannel were her forte. Almost like a leftover reflex from when she'd get hand-me-downs at the orphanage, as she'd always manage to be too small for them, so had to grow into the outfits. Still, the loose-fitting clothes felt like another step towards freedom, somehow.

She was admittedly surprised but glad that Ward had come to chat with her. One person in her head was better than eight, and she honestly wasn’t ready to be alone for too long just yet. Still, she allowed him to go on ahead of her to relish the feeling of being with her own emotions before going back into that minefield.

When she walked downstairs she saw Mack, Fitz, and… her father all working on something that was sitting in the middle of the lab table. It was a machine of some kind, about the size of an engine and having some similarities to one. From Skye's point of view, at least. She didn't really know much about engines.

She sauntered into the lab to observe the scene. Wolfe appeared to be explaining something to the other two, who appeared to be absorbing every word with so much intent they might have thought he was the second coming.

As the hacker made her way inside, she noticed the monitors held vastly different information: a few seemed to hold specs of the object they were working on, while one held a feed to the medical room.

Simmons was lying on the bed and still passed out. There was nothing present on her body that someone would have if they were truly hurt, like IVs or a medical gown. Skye supposed it had only been a couple hours since she'd been knocked out, but she was starting to become worried for the scientist. She decided to see how the boys were faring before checking up on her though.

Once Skye actually began to listen in, Wolfe inadvertently gave her the only information she really cared for.

"Give it two hours to charge up and we'll have a device to take down this Dr. Hall."

Mack looked somewhat overwhelmed, but impressed. "Well damn. Kind of feel like I've been wasting my time."

Wolfe shook his head vigorously. "No, no, you got it pretty far. I would have had to build the thing from scratch if you didn't already have what you did."

"Well I did absolutely nothing…" Fitz mumbled.

"The specs-" started Mack. "Oh, right."

"What?"

"That uh… that wasn't really you."

Fitz sort of concaved in on himself for a moment, pursing his lips together nervously as Skye felt his anxiety. It couldn't have been a very pleasing thought: someone walking around in your skin while having people create memories of being with you. Skye had had actual fun with the Skrull she now knew as Bartak, playing tag with the DWARFs and just enjoying Fitz's company… right before the fake tricked her into giving herself up.

"So that's it?" Skye stated eagerly as she pressed forward into the room, effectively pulling the spotlight off of Fitz and she herself out of her thoughts. "We have something to defeat Graviton now?"

"If what this guy says holds true," Mack told her, gesturing at Wolfe.

"Oh, you're an engineer now?" Skye asked shortly.

She was being snippy with him, arms crossed and tone abrasive. She wasn't even sure why, when the man had obviously been in the same awful predicament as her in being a Skrull prisoner. He'd even been there for much longer.

But how could she really know that?

He wasn't a Skrull. He wasn't squiggly. He wasn't even sporting a feeling of distrust, or the dark orange she'd come to associate with it. It was just getting hard for her to take anything at face value lately. Particularly difficult with this person. Images of his smiling face while chaining her up or calling her a disappointment rushed forward.

That hadn't been real. She understood that, in her heart. But she didn't know this man. So when she looked at him…

That was all she saw.

He shook his head, grinning placidly. "I'm not an engineer. But… I was interested in weapon technology, being a soldier. I'm not saying I can build a rocket or anything, but slightly more than basic knowledge on Hala equals a higher level of intelligence here."

"So you're saying we're stupid? Gee, thanks," Skye jeered.

"You're not stupid,” he assured immediately. “Neither are humans, they just aren't there yet in some aspects. And the Skrull technology is more closely related to Inhuman tech than yours."

"Inhuman tech is closer to Skrull technology than humans'? That seems backwards."

"Look," Mack said, stepping between the two of them as Wolfe opened his mouth to say something. "The important thing is we have something, isn't it? Don't get me wrong I think this guy being an alien is crazy too but… if he helps." Mack shrugged.

From the way he'd worded it, Skye concluded he didn't know she was pretty much an alien as well. Probably didn't even know this man was her father. Wolfe looked at her curiously, making her believe he shared that particular thought. She ground her lips together and shook her head; a firm yet mental "don't you dare tell him."

He didn't.

Fitz suddenly seemed to be by Skye's side, having crept closer to her over the course of the conversation. Maybe she'd done the same to him without even noticing. They were really feeling the need to be next to each other at the moment… Skye wondered if it would be different once Simmons woke up.

"Fitz, why don't you go change," she told him, trying to give him an out. He'd been ushered in to work on the device so quickly he hadn't had a chance to do so. Since people had kept pointing it out, that was all she'd wanted to do. Wolfe's was still on, though.

Skye gave him no such out.

"Yeah ok," the scientist mumbled and began to head out..

"And Fitz?"

He turned around. "Yes?"

"Check on Simmons? Please."

Fitz gave her a shy smile and walked away, making Skye feel almost empty. She turned back to the two men, who had small looks of puzzlement on their faces. Maybe it seemed like a random or unimportant conversation, but Skye had had her few minutes to herself and she wanted to offer the same courtesy to Fitz.

"Alright then," Skye said, slapping her hands on the table. "Let's tell the rest of the team what you boys have here."

"You just missed them, sweetheart."

Skye turned to see Hunter strolling over, a swagger to his step. He came into the lab and looked the glowing blue machine up and down. "But you got something? That is exciting, because Rome is kind of panicking."

"What do you mean?" asked Skye curiously.

"Well you see, when someone who could be described as a super villain rips a massive ancient building out of the ground, people tend to get a bit nervous that-"

"Not that! Where's the team?"

"They went to stop the gravity man."

"What?" Skye exclaimed, about to ask why they'd left without telling her.

"And before you ask why they left without telling you, Coulson said it was because you'd insist on coming."

"Of course I'd insist on coming! They need all the help they can get."

"You're not a field agent, though," pointed out the mercenary.

"I could run communications! We always have someone overlooking the op," protested Skye. She could feel his mind become puzzled as he began to consider.

"Huh, you've got a point… well, I don't know. Maybe he just didn't want to push you after just having been a prisoner for a week."

"So why aren't you out there, field agent?" Skye growled.

"Well someone's got to get you techies there once that thingamajig is ready." He gestured to the machine. "Plus, I don't really fancy dying."

Skye felt fury build up due to his flippant attitude, but concern boiled over as well.

"Dying? What are they going to do out there!" she exclaimed. She quickly searched the room for someone going to give her an answer. No one did. Wolfe just had his mouth pressed together in worry.

"Listen! Skye, right?" Hunter asked, and she nodded. "They're just going to try and distract him to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone for a bit. If they need our help, they'll contact us. That machine sounds like it will be up and running sooner rather than later."

"Two hours," Wolfe informed him.

"Right. So no one’s going to die out there, love. Just sit tight."

Hunter walked away, ending the conversation on such on nonchalant tone that Skye's mouth was hanging open. She turned to Mack and Wolfe, mouth still agape.

"Coulson literally just told me I'm not allowed to go give myself up and then he basically does the same thing!" she shouted.

"That's because they're doing something worthwhile and you giving yourself up would be idiotic, at this point in time," Hunter said; the annoyance himself sticking his head back into the lab. "We've already explained to you the reasons on the ride over here. Your memory that short?”

"Oh my god…" Skye muttered. She turned towards him laced in irritation. "Would you just… go away?" she snapped.

"Fine. I can sense when I'm unwanted."

She squinted. "Because I literally just asked you to go away."

Hunter shrugged, heading back in the direction he'd originally went off in. He might have been acting as though nothing fazed him, but Skye could feel his worry. She saw the yellow aura – her new word for the colors- as well. He was masking it, but he was concerned. For the team or what Graviton was going to do in general.

Everyone was worried. Everyone was sporting that dingy yellow, in part, and Skye could feel it wrap around her mind. The headache had gone away when she'd gotten out of closed quarters with everyone, but she could still feel what they were feeling.

Mack had begun observing the object in front of them when Wolfe suddenly stepped up to Skye. He was very close to her, but when he spoke his voice was so quiet if he'd been any farther away she wouldn't have heard him.

"Can we talk, please?" Wolfe asked her. He spoke so sincerely with pleading eyes that she felt as though she'd been scooped up into them, near forcing her to nod her head yes. She followed just behind when he led her out of the lab.

Chapter Text

Leo was still watching Jemma sleep. She'd been out for what felt like an eternity.

Fitz had been knocked unconscious along with her, and hours had passed since even he'd woken up. Since Skye had as well! It shouldn’t have been long enough to get too worried; sedatives could definitely last more than two or three hours, but he couldn't help himself.

Maybe this was what Simmons had felt when he'd been in a coma.

He only even knew about the coma because Skye had tried to catch him up on everything that had happened while he'd been unconscious. In between getting dropped in the ocean and waking up in the Skrull lair.

Yes, it was a lot to take in. Skye had been captured, tested on and tricked. Garrett was killed. They'd gone to Disney World for heaven’s sake! - and even given the situation he felt a slight pang of jealousy -, Graviton had come onto the BUS, Coulson basically phoned an Asgardian, Skye'd discovered who her father was, and then found out it wasn't really her father… honestly, quite a lot to happen in just two weeks. It was even worse to think that it had transpired while his team thought he’d been standing there along with them.

But the most jarring revelation for Fitz was had been Ward.

Skye had skirted the subject when she'd been telling him about everything else back on the spaceship. But after she obviously trusted the Skrull posing as Ward (Well, when she’d thought he was Ward,) there really was no getting around it anymore. So Fitz got her talking about her old SO.

Apparently the man had killed Garrett and become a useful asset to the team since. With Skye kidnapped they had needed resources, but because of Hydra they didn't' have any.

So they'd turned to a Hydra soldier? It just didn't make sense.

Fitz had almost died because of Ward, and he did end up in the hands of psychopaths because of him. Because of Ward, Simmons had been in the same position he was in right now, watching her best friend sick in an induced sleep, unknowing of when they'd wake up.

Only when Simmons had been in his position, apparently the situation had been much more dire. Fitz didn't wake up. He'd gone in the other direction.

Thank god she wasn't going that way.

Simmons' eyelids fluttered. He rushed to her side, happiness flooding him as he waited to see her again. For her to see him.

She took in a sharp breath of air at near the same time her eyes opened completely; Fitz's face being so close to hers giving her a start. Her open mouth crept up into a smile as her gaze lingered on him.

Until it quite suddenly became a frown.

Followed by a scream.

"Help! Someone help!" she shouted, eyes scanning about the room. She grabbed the pillow from behind her head and began to repeatedly pelt him with it. A rather measly weapon if you asked Fitz, but he supposed she was still groggy. Or he hoped she was.

"Jemma!" he protested as the attack continued.

"Hunter!" she exclaimed. "Where are you? There's a Skrull!"

"Jem- Je- Jemma!" he tried through the pillow assault. "I'm not a Skrull!"

She ignored his words, but suddenly stopped using the pillow. Her mind finally registered that it wasn't doing much. She picked up a tray that happened to be sitting next to the bed.

"Look around! You're on the BU-"

Wham!

Fitz felt a blinding pain to his temple. Soon after he'd gone backwards and onto the floor.

"Oh…" he moaned, pressing his hand up to his head. He heard Simmons' breathing, deep and fast, just before it started to slow and become shallower, as though in realization.

"The BUS…" she muttered, followed by a gasp. "Fitz!"

He heard her get off the bed and soon felt her hand in his. He wasn't willing to open his eyes just yet. The light he could sense beyond his eyelids seemed particularly harsh for the pounding currently in his head.

"Oh, please don't tell me you've been knocked out again…"

"I haven't Jemma," he mumbled, trying to force open his eyes, one by one. "And I promise, it really is me."

A shuddering breath escaped her gaping mouth, but she covered it with her hand quickly enough. Not quick enough that he missed her cheeks turn up in a smile, though. Just after, she was near choking back tears as she tried to say something, but shock and happiness weren't letting the words escape her throat.

Even with her difficulties, Fitz had to admit he was rather pleased with the reaction.

She flung her arms around him. Despite being hit with a metal tray mere moments earlier, his headache all but disappeared.

"Oh god… oh god… I can't b-believe it!" she told him through her tight hug. "I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead twice. And then I thought you were lost for good-"

"I'm right here," he assured her, stopping the ramble that he knew would have just kept building up. He felt his own tears of relief come loose from his eyes.

She pulled out of the embrace as her mouth gaped again, slightly shaking. As though she couldn't get any words out. Perhaps she couldn't decide what to say.

"Wh-what happened?" she asked as she glanced around herself. She must have been awfully confused. "I was just with Agent Hunter, when we saw this blue light and went to investigate. And then…"

"The Skrulls got to you. They erm… they tried to replace you, too," Fitz explained cautiously. "But the team found you, and they found Skye and me, and we're all back! We're all fine."

A smile so bright it could rival Christmas lights illuminated her face. "Skye as well?" she asked, near breathless. He nodded eagerly.

Simmons began short gasping noises, as though trying to contain her tears he knew were of joy and relief. And control her breathing. "I… I just don't know where to start! There's so much I want to say to y-you… Fitz..."

The sentences seemed so hard for her to get out of her sputtering mouth that Fitz decided to give her a temporary reprieve, even as she was obviously trying to say more.

"I really missed you, Jemma," he told her earnestly.

She bit her lip, suddenly looking upset at the comment.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry I didn't know it was you. I'm sorry we weren't looking for you. It was… that's horrible. I don't even know what you've been through! But you were there for so long…"

"Hey, hey, it's alright! I was, um… I was asleep before Skye showed up."

"And then you were alright?" Simmons asked hopefully. Fitz hesitated, so Jemma plastered a fake smile onto her face quickly. "That's fine, you don't have to talk about it."

"No, it's ok… we just-"

"No, Fitz," she said firmly. "You know you can always talk to me. But… when you're ready."

He smiled in a thin line. She knew him so well. Better than anyone, really. Simmons glanced away from him momentarily. The room suddenly became very quiet, the air stagnant.

"Fitz, what you said at the bottom of the ocean…"

He could feel his cheeks heat up. "Ah yeah… we don't have to discuss that yet-"

"I've had a long time to think about it," she spoke over him, her gasping and relieved tears all but vanished. She was obviously determined to say what she needed to. "When you were dying, Fitz, I thought so much about it. But then suddenly you were dead, and I didn't have a chance to tell you how I felt! It was… devastating to say the least and like a miracle you came back."

She sighed sadly before continuing, something like regret in her features. Like thinking of bad memories. Maybe… memories of a not real him?

It made Leo sick that there were memories of Fitz tainted by some alien.

"But then you were so different!" she went on. "I didn't know what to think anymore… I didn't realize it wasn't really you, but I knew something was wrong and I still thought about it. I couldn't stop thinking about it Fitz! Because the truth is… it's…"

She was speaking so fast and with so much vigor Fitz couldn't get a word in, but she was fumbling now. He wasn't even sure if she was talking about reciprocating his feelings or turning him down.

He opened his mouth to say something. She seemed to notice he was going to try to speak and cut her off. The next words out of her mouth rambled out quicker than her whole spiel, if it was possible.

"Oh, I know I shouldn't be doing this after being on the receiving end of it… but hell with it!" Her head lunged forwards.

And she was kissing him.

Jemma Simmons was kissing him. On the lips!

His best friend, his rival, his partner, his everything just turned into even more.

It took him a moment to react but he did, returning the kiss with zeal. He cupped her face in his hands almost forcefully, wanting to make sure it was real. He'd surely dreamt of this before.

Honestly, though it was a bit of a blur, he thought that after the ocean she didn't really feel the same way. All accounts pointed to him being on his deathbed, and the way she’d avoided kissing his lips was quite notable.

But in typical Jemma Simmons fashion, apparently all she needed was more than a few moments to assess the situation.

They broke off, both smiling like fools and soon Simmons was giggling like one too. Fitz was overjoyed. This was all he'd wanted, just to prove to her that maybe there was a spark and they could try to go with it. He wanted her to know how he felt. That she could possibly feel that way back.

Which was why the next words out of his mouth were somewhat surprising.

"I forgot to mention that the Skrulls are a wee annoyed that Skye and I escaped so they're currently having Graviton destroy Rome and we're probably not as safe and alright as might have I led on before."

Jemma just blinked, her mouth open in shock yet again. He couldn't blame her for being surprised as well.

She shook her head. "Oh. Oh! Alright. I suppose we should… continue this later?" she asked uncertainly.

She looked a bit put out. He didn't want that. He didn't want Simmons to be put out after she'd kissed him. Why did he say that! He could have said anything, anything at all, and he decided to inform her about a mad scientist attacking. Yeah, like that's not going to douse the mood. Way to go Leo.

He was just about to try and make up for lost ground when there was another presence in the room.

"Agent Simmons, nice to have you among the living again," said Hunter as he strolled in. "I came to check on you because… well, Skye basically told me she didn't want me around. I don't think that girl likes me very much to be honest, which is incredibly strange given the effect I have on women most of the time…" he trailed off, a wry smile growing on his face. He seemed to become aware of the two's position on the ground. "…and I can see I'm probably not welcome here either. Sorry to interrupt; I'll just be going then."

"No we're not-" Simmons started, and with a wary glance at Fitz stopped herself. "Well, the reason we're actually on the ground is because I hit Fitz with a tray and nearly knocked him out," Jemma told the mercenary awkwardly, as FitzSimmons began to rise to their feet.

Hunter nodded slowly. "Yeah, alright. Ok, that makes perfect sense," he said. "One question though: why was it that you hit him with a tray?"

"She thought I was a Skrull," said Fitz.

"Ah. That is something to be wary of nowadays…" Hunter mused.

There was a moment of silence. Then, Lance popped up on his heels.

"Well, I better be getting back upstairs and see where I can help or am at least semi-wanted. We'll be leaving in not too long anyhow, so make sure to get yourselves ready."

"Ready?" asked Simmons. "For what?"

"We're going to use the machine Mack and Skye's dad built to try and defeat Graviton," explained Fitz.

"Wolfe?" asked Simmons incredulously. "He's here? Right now?"

"You didn't explain?" asked Hunter curiously.

"I just didn't have a chance yet, thanks very much," Fitz told him with an tad of indignity. "I will though."

"Alright, let's not get defensive," said Hunter. "I'm heading back to the lab."

"Yes, us too," Jemma agreed with a smile. She was right; they could talk over their emotions later.

Still, Fitz couldn't help but feel elated with butterflies and lightheadedness and all the other fresh feelings of excitement the kiss had left him with. They were all only accentuated when she took his hand as they left the medical bay, following just behind Hunter.

Fitz tried to hold back the smile like a schoolboy with a crush, his face bright red. But he didn't mind. Even if he felt foolish or if nothing was actually going to come of it, right now his confidence had increased tenfold.

The situations in actuality had nothing to do with each other, but he felt as though it would be impossible to not take down the Skrulls now.

Chapter Text

As Wolfe didn't exactly know the plane very well, Skye took the lead from him. She brought them to the upper level and was intending to have them sit at the windows when she remembered the bar. Though the plane had never really been cleaned up from when Hydra had it, she noticed there to be some Bourbon left on the shelf.

"You want a drink?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as casual as possible.

He shrugged, a small grin forming on his face. "Maybe one. We don't want to get too impaired before we have to help the others."

Spoken like a true responsible parent, she thought, and nearly said, but felt like it would be hitting too close to home for her. Somehow, it was very hard to accept this man to be her family.

"Right," she said instead, turning around towards the bar. Skye lifted the bottle from the shelf and grabbed two glasses in her hand, setting them down to allow a fair amount of alcohol into each one.

The weight of an awkward silence was beginning to settle into the room, so Skye kept the conversation going as she poured. "I'm sorry I've been kind of… rude to you." She paused. "Ok, so I've pretty much been an ass. But I've just been having trust issues lately." And a hell of a lot of daddy issues, she thought only to herself, again wanting to keep the sarcasm at a minimum.

She grabbed the drinks from the table and spun around to face him. He was much closer than she expected, so she jerked to a stop. She took a second to regain composure before offering one of the glasses.

Wolfe looked at the glass momentarily, but to Skye's puzzlement didn't make a move for it. His eyes did seem slightly unfocused.

She held it out somewhat insistently.

"Um… here's your- whoa!"

'Whoa' because he'd strategically avoided the glasses, leaving them still gripped in Skye's hands where they hung over his shoulders as he squeezed her in a solid embrace.

"Twenty-five years… I finally found you," he mumbled against her.

Skye pursed her lips. The relief, excitement and nerves of the situation were rolling right off of him and onto her. She nearly allowed herself to hug him back, when she remembered: the emotions were not hers. The physical touching of the situation was tricking her mind even more than usual. She had to be sure to hold on to her own emotions and what she thought about things.

Which Skye knew, for certain, that her actual feelings leaned towards uncomfortable.

"Aaaaand we're hugging. Hugs are good. Surprise hugs are sometimes good, preferably not when I'm holding alcohol." She tripped a bit. "And… spilling it on your back."

He drew back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep any bounds."

"I know. I… can feel it. And I can feel how nervous you are too, which sort of doubled up in me when we touched and then made me super nervous so it's… it's really my fault." She sighed, setting the glasses back down on the bar. "I swear I'm not usually this awkward."

"Well, it is somewhat an awkward situation," Wolfe conceded. "Plus, you're feeling it for both of us."

"Lucky me," she deadpanned.

"You really are though," Wolfe urged, to which Skye raised a wry eyebrow. "You could have easily died by becoming exposed to the mists. The Skrulls certainly expected you too. And better yet, you've gained a power."

She scoffed. "A crappy one…" she mumbled, suddenly grabbing the drink back up and taking a swig. "Feeling people's emotions? I mean I hoped I could get something that would help the team. Like something fighty, maybe… super strength?"

She took another sip.

"But instead, now I'm just the girl that can't get close to people without invading their personal… space," she decided upon, not really know what else to call it. "Plus there's the whole color thing which is weirding me out, and I can't even turn it off!"

"Skye, we can work on it," Wolfe assured her, placing his hands on her shoulders. Her breathing slowed as a pleasant warmth crept up inside of her. Wolfe must have truly been trying to be calm about the situation, as the sense of serenity Skye was feeling, she realized, was coming from his touch. "When the powers manifest, everyone has a rough time controlling them and the price they come with. Of course we don't know for sure how much control it will even be possible for you to gain, but still, never resent your powers. They're a part of you."

"Easy for you to say… you can turn yours off," she mumbled. She caught a look of confusion in his eyes.

"You know about my ability?" he asked. This time he was the one to pick up his drink.

"I, uh… yes. I think?" she said uncertainly. Was this supposed to be a personal thing? Maybe it was wrong of her to know without him personally telling her. "The Skrull told me you can cause pain to people, but it makes you to get hurt too, so you became a soldier…"

He nodded vehemently. "Yep, that's about it." He paused, eying her skeptically. "And you really think inflicting pain on others is better than being able to empathize with them?"

Skye bit her lip, adding another awkward gesture when she began to tap the drink in her hand with the other nervously.

"When you put it that way…" She sighed. "It would just be nice to be able to protect myself. And others. That is the point of this organization, isn't it?"

"You do though. You're a brilliant hacker, from what I hear."

"Well I wouldn't say brilliant but I am… ok maybe that's a pretty good word," she admitted.

Wolfe’s gaze turned downward. "Did the… Skrull tell you the name we had for you?" he asked. Skye shook her head almost in a stupor.  She had another name? A real parental name. Not a crappy one the orphanage had given her or one she’d had to pick for herself.

Wolfe smiled. "Luna."

"Really?” she asked, letting the moniker roll around her head. “That doesn’t have to do with me being born on the moon, does it?”

Wolfe chuckled. “Nail on the head, there. That was the idea behind it,” he told her. “But in that sense, ‘Skye’ works near as well."

"Oh wow, yeah it does," she mumbled in awe, then sighed as reality hit once again. “Too bad I didn’t get lunar powers that could blast enemies away then…”

“Your powers-“ Wolfe started.

“Are a gift, I know I know…” she mumbled. “But they can't protect me from when bad guys come in with big guns or super gravity powers!"

"That's field agent work."

"I want to be a field agent."

"Do you?" he asked, a sense of pride seeping into his words. Then of course, her own head.

She nodded.

"You don't need powers to do that," Wolfe told her lightly. "Most field agents in SHIELD certainly don't."

"But what if they make me distracted?" she asked. "What if… what if I feel their fear, or their colors get too bright… Look, this power could have helped or hurt me. It’s just that right now, it seems to be doing a lot more of the latter."

Wolfe tilted his head, considering her words as a tiny smile painted onto his face. She could feel pity – maybe sympathy, but it felt more pitying - directed at her.

"You said you could tell when someone's a Skrull."

The words she was planning on saying morphed in her mouth. "I'm pretty sure. Seems to have worked out that way. They look different."

"That's great! You know that will help you in the field. At least for now." His mood became very somber very quickly, as he swirled the drink in his hand. "You know, well you probably don't actually, but... I saw you on the ship."

"You did?" she asked, voice quiet. "When?"

"Not physically. They set up a video feed to your cell and played it in my own," he said, and Skye blanched with the realization. "You weren’t the only one they loved playing mind games with. They wanted to dangle you in front of me. Constantly assuring me that you thought your entire family- that I – was dead. The Skrulls wanted to make sure I saw-"

"What they did to us." Skye gulped, her cheeks growing hot with embarrassment. Her father had watched her degrade herself over and over. He'd seen how foolish she'd been when they tricked her with Ward and Simmons…

"I wasn't sure whether to tell you or not but I think you deserve to know-"

"No, yeah, thank you for telling me."

She tapped on her drink again.

"Because…" he started, looking at his feet again.

God, as if meeting your long lost father wasn't awkward enough. Let's just throw in powers and being held prisoner on alien spaceship!

"Even though it was terrible, I feel like I got to know you, somewhat. Get a sense of the person you are,” said Wolfe. “I hope you don't feel bad about anything that happened, because all they showed me was that you're very brave, Skye."

She looked up shyly at him from under her bangs, feeling as though the compliment was undeserved.

"I saw how you helped your friend. How you convinced him that you had to try and get off the ship. None of us would be here right now if it weren't for your bravery."

Her eyes drifted as she thought about it. "Ok… I guess that makes sense. Pretty heroic way to spell it out though; that's just how things went down."

"That's how heroes are made," he told her warmly. "Not all heroes are super."

That was true. Her whole team were heroes, and none of them had any special powers. They just cared. They were smart, trained, caring people who saved others. Who helped the greater good.

"From the feed, I heard you give Fitz a recap of what went down recently, including what Paibok did when he impersonated me. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I can understand your hesitancy with me."

"That wasn't your fault," she assured him. In fact, nothing that had happened had been his fault. "God, this is so stupid!"

He'd obviously taken her words incorrectly as he turned to a dirty yellow color. He was anxious again. "I'm sorry-"

"No! Don't be sorry; that's what's stupid. That either of us are feeling guilty or ashamed for things that we had no control over."

Skye wasn't really expecting the cocked grin that made it's way up his mouth at those words, though she wasn't sure why. If there was anything she'd learned about this man, through the Skrull impersonating him or as she'd known him more recently, cheery smiles in any situation were his forte.

"You are a very mature person to realize that."

"I may be your kid, but technically I am an adult," Skye pointed out wryly.

"Well I am too, but I think you may have surpassed me in maturity level."

Skye was taken aback by that. Between Reddit, her attitude, her habit of looking up pictures of hot superheroes… she really didn't think she would ever be one to be called exceptionally mature.

He sighed. "I'm so proud of you for all your qualities, you're honestly better than I could have ever hoped. And beautiful," he added, and she felt herself flush at the compliments. "But you had to grow up too fast and I'm so sor-"

She cocked an eyebrow, and he closed his mouth before the apology. She smiled.

"Hey, we can still do the whole father-daughter bonding shtick. I mean, we may look a little funny at the Cinderella Ball..." Ok, sarcasm was definitely showing up now. Take it back a little, Skye. "But seriously, I want to get to know you. We just have to get through… this, first."

By this she meant the whole Skrulls-trying-to-kidnap-and-torture-her-for-a-weirdo-prophecy- (which should be void now, but they seemed to be persistent) - situation. She hoped Wolfe got that.

"Right," he said, just before downing the rest of the drink. "We should probably get back to that."

"One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Can we try that hug again?" she asked shyly. He nodded and wrapped her up in his arms, but this time she allowed herself to press against him gratefully.

Hugs were kind of a big deal to Skye. She'd never allowed herself to get close to many people as a kid, and as an orphan, she didn't have any family that had felt the need to encompass her like that.

Every time that she hugged Coulson, Simmons, Fitz… it reminded her that she did have a family. Now she'd finally found her biological one. The realization of how much love was in her life made her feel as though she had more luck than any other orphan in the world.

Chapter Text

"How are we supposed to get anywhere near there?" asked May.

Triplett, Coulson, Ward and May stood just outside their SUV, a fair amount back from the Colosseum that was floating in the sky. But the only real reason for the stretch of distance between them was the police border.

Obviously a good idea for the city, as Graviton was holding hostages inside of the piece of architecture. Even if he weren't it wouldn't be smart to allow civilians to get too close.

Before, police wouldn't be a problem. As of late…

"SHIELD badges won't do us much good anymore," commented Ward.

"'Cept get our asses hauled off to the big house," Triplett said.

"You know, I used to… kind of get a thrill out of telling other government workers I was taking over the op," Coulson admitted. "I think I'm gonna miss it."

May breathed an exasperated breath. "Boys. Focus."

"Once we do get up close and personal with the guy, do we have any specific plans?" asked Triplett.

Coulson just shrugged. "Distract him? We know we won't be able to beat him."

Nice pep talk, Phil.

But it was the truth. They knew that coming in. Still, in order to keep themselves alive long enough for the others to get there- as they communicated that their device would be done in about two hours - they should have a semblance of a plan.

"I know what I can do," said Coulson.

Ward cocked an eyebrow. "You have a plan?"

The leader shrugged again. "Ish. Just cover the Colosseum as close as you can get. Use high ground, weapons armed, but not hot. If things do go south, a few bullets could at least serve as a nice distraction."

The team nodded. Coulson began walking forward to the police line when May caught his arm. "What are you going to do?"

"Talk to him."

She exhaled and shook her head with frustration and annoyance. "He's psychotic, Phil. What makes you think he'll even give you the time of day?"

Coulson smiled. "The guy's calling himself Graviton and is throwing around one of the most famous buildings in Italy. That to me seems like he's craving attention. And if the reason he's hurting people is to get to Skye, maybe the Skrulls wouldn't mind him negotiating terms to get her back."

May pursed her lips, obviously not liking his plan(ish) he'd decided upon. But she saw the logic and nodded her head.

"We'll be watching," she assured him.

The field agents scurried into different directions. Coulson began to head towards the police barricade who were holding back only a few people. This was a big unknown threat, and after the battle of New York, people were more wary to be afraid if something like this happened. As they should be.

Coulson was immediately stopped by multiple men yelling at him in Italian when he’d gotten close. Phil knew very little of the language, though there was one phrase he liked to know in every language.

"Non… parlo Italiano," he told them uncertainly, in what was most likely a butchering of the accent. The admission that he could not speak the language seemed to only anger them further.

One of the officers scoffed. "He is American."

"This is not a tourist event!" a younger officer shouted.

"It is a terrorist attack; you must leave," said the first again. "Back up-"

"I’m aware of what it is, and am most likely more familiar with the situation than either of you. I actually know this man. If you'd just let me talk to him-"

"Civilians leave," said the older man. "You are causing danger to yourself by being here."

"Actually, I think I may be one of the few ways you could get out of danger. I'm guessing you have some heavy artillery on the way to deal with this guy. Trust me when I say it's not going to end well for you."

The older officer was skeptically eyeing him. "How do you know so much about this person?"

"We used to work for the same company," said Coulson. It wasn't a lie, but it left out some history. "Just let me over there and I'll accept whatever happens. I know it's dangerous, but it's our best bet."

The officers glanced at each other. They were apprehensive, caught between doing what they were told and what they were starting to believe could be a good option to try.

Coulson sighed. "How many have died already?"

Younger hesitated. "Three."

"He is killing one person every hour. He threw out a person that tried to leave in between."

"No one wants more casualties, and I can help. Just let me," Coulson pleaded.

The two officers looked at each other sadly. "Siamo disperati," said the younger, seeming to plead along with Coulson.

The older one sighed, but he took down the barrier and let Coulson through.

Coulson walked on with his head held high, but even he had to admit, the situation was a little scary.

He didn't try to avert his gaze when he passed the two dead bodies. Rather, he used their mangled images to remind him what was at stake here.

The Colosseum was big, and hovering about fifty feet off the ground only made it appear even more daunting. It didn't matter. Coulson kept moving forward, intentions to try and appease the man enough to not kill anyone else fresh on his mind. The consistent screams emanating from the building only served as a second reminder of the stakes.

"Dr. Hall!" Coulson shouted at the building as he began circling it, searching for the man. The building was huge, and he honestly wasn't sure of where he was. "I came to talk with you!"

A figure rushed towards him then, merely a blur in the air before hovering about twenty feet above his head.

Hall looked pleased as punch to see him, or perhaps to have been inflicting pain on people a few moments earlier. Either way, his face held a manic smile and Coulson feared just how many words he'd be able to get in before the man decided to squish him like a particularly bothersome bug.

"Agent Coulson," said the flying man, his right hand twirling its fingers to apparently keep the Colosseum in place. "I was beginning to wonder when you would show up. I know how much you just love to rescue people. Well, these humans would at least welcome the aid. Too bad you're most likely going to disappoint them as well."

"I see you're still a little bitter about our other meeting," acknowledged Coulson.

"I told you, I told you the Gravitonium was too powerful to be in anyone's hands. It needed to be destroyed. Now look what you've done."

Coulson scoffed. "I think what you're not getting here, is that the only reason people would have died then is because of you. And now the only reason people are dying from it is because of you."

"Someone else, someone more power hungry than me would have gotten their hands on it. I only want to discover and seek out information. Can you imagine if people who wanted to take this world for their own were in possession of it?"

"But the Skrulls won't want you to stop until they get what they want. You must know that!"

"I do," Graviton admitted, smiling cruelly again. "So give them what they want. It's only one person, and then I shall stop."

"No," was all Coulson had to say on that subject, before redirecting slightly. "Why are you working for the Skrulls? They are making you kill people! You used to be a good person, interested in the well being of others. Do you know what they've turned you into, Franklin? A murdere-"

Coulson felt like he'd been punched in the gut, and soon he hit a soft bed of grass. He rolled into it uncontrollably.

"That is no longer my name!" he screamed, making Coulson take a deep breath to keep his head as he lay on the ground.

He pulled himself up strenuously, an arm tenderly crossing his most likely bruised stomach.

"Ok, I get it," he rasped. "You feel different and you want to have a new identity. Most people get a flashy car for their midlife crisis, but a super villain identity works too."

"Don't test me…"

"I'm not," Coulson said, regaining determination and focus. "I'm really just curious. What are the aliens offering you?"

Hall's head cocked to the side and he hoisted himself up high in excitement. "Passage to a new world! There will be more discoveries to be made there than I have ever dreamt of."

"What's a few people that die in the process, huh?" Coulson asked. He was met with a lopsided grin from the other man, if you could still call him that.

"Exactly."

Coulson was becoming at a loss of what to say. He hadn't expected that to happen so quickly. He was forced to put the spotlight back where he wasn't entirely comfortable with it being.

"Do you even know what they want Skye for? They want to eliminate an entire species! You can't seriously think that's not too high a price for the sake of mere discovery."

"It's not a species I'm a part of, so to be honest, I don't believe I need to involve myself in their affairs. Besides, the Skrulls are worthy intellectuals. The Inhumans, as I hear it, are but vermin. Just like your agent that you're trying ever so hard to protect," he told Coulson tauntingly, and he even chuckled. "You must realize that the Skrulls are going to obtain her. That they will do the ritual on the correct day. If it doesn't work because of the little caper she pulled, they'll take immense time ripping her to tiny pieces, so long as they can help themselves from killing her too quickly. Maybe I can arrange for you to come with me when I return with the Skrulls to their own world. I was going to kill you now, but it is perhaps worth it so you could hear the screams of the girl-

"If you think the Skrulls will take you with them after their plan fails, you must be delusional!" Coulson shouted over him, desperate to cut him off. "Actually, I'm pretty certain you are delusional, but, like, even more so."

Hall squinted his eyes, an angry puzzlement trying to shade curiosity etched on his face. "Why wouldn't they take me? I will have done my part."

"They are psychopaths!" stressed Coulson. "Harming a species for no reason and using an entire planet's residents as hostages. If they're pissed off, they'll be pissed off at anyone they can get their hands on. Including you."

He may have been flying twenty meters above Coulson's head, but he could see Hall's nostrils flare with anger at the statement.

"Paibok and I made a deal," he hissed with insistence.

"And he tricked my agent into believing he himself was her father," exclaimed Coulson. "Their trade as a birthright is deception; what makes you think he wouldn't deceive you? You're nothing but a human, and he obviously doesn't have high regards of those."

"I have ascended. Become something greater," Hall growled.

"A mutant. A half-human. Skye's made up of two species too, and you're saying they want to tear her apart. What does that mean they're going to do when this plan fails? If the plan succeeds, even? You're nothing but another tool to them, just like Skye. They are only putting up with you until the very last moment they have to. Face it, Hall."

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" he bellowed, flying so close towards Coulson that the agent may have tried to duck out of the way if he was given even a moment of time to react.

Hall was seething as they almost touched noses, and Coulson could feel the hot angry breath of the man on his face. But he didn't move. Didn't flinch. Not so much out of fear or bravery, but worried any sudden movements would provoke the man.

Then Graviton turned, seeming to abruptly become calm as he floated a few feet away.

"Another hour has passed," he mumbled. "That means it's time for another to die."

Coulson gulped.

Not good.

"But I think this time we could make an exception," Hall whispered. Had Coulson finally gotten through to him?

Phil realized what an idiotic whim that had been when Hall gestured around himself with his hand, and masses came flying towards them from multiple buildings. He could hear their cries of surprise as May, Triplett and Ward came forth from the places they had found surveillance on.

May tried to shoot her gun from the air, but Graviton waved it away, doing the same with Ward's. Triplett must have not been able to even keep a hold of his.

Coulson's dry throat tried to swallow again.

"How about we make it three deaths this time," Hall exclaimed, barely containing his excitement as rough chuckles tried to force through his throat. He kept them restrained in the air, unable to move more than small wriggles.

"No… Graviton," he forced out, trying to appease the man in his desperation, "no one else has to die. You can stop this!"

"It just insults me that you really thought I didn't know they were there. First you try to kill me, then you mock me, and then you think I won't notice the only life forms in a mile radius around here not trying to claw themselves away? You think I'm a fool!"

"You're not a fool. Just don't hurt them!" Coulson tried, the wit to craft a better sentence taking leave of him when he saw the fierce determination in all three of the field agents' eyes, even if he should be calm under pressure. But they weren't going to show this man fear. They weren't going to go down like dogs. If Coulson could help it, they weren't going to go down at all.

But it appeared that Coulson couldn't help it.

"Sorry, but my partners want bloodshed. Perhaps once Agent Skye sees the carnage remaining of a few people she cares about, she'll be more apt to turning herself in. Then we'll see just who the fool really is."

Coulson tried to bolt forward, but found himself unable to move as Triplett floated away from May and Ward, lifting high towards the sky. How could the man control so many different things at once? He only had two hands!

Phil was beginning to realize he was more powerful than he might have assumed.

"Hey!" came a shout.

It took Phil a second to realize where it was coming from, as it wasn't the voice of anyone from his team or the mad scientist in front of them. It took Hall a moment as well, but he swung his head about, facing the sturdy blonde woman who held herself on one of the rafters to the Colosseum.

"Could we maybe talk? I think I'd like to leave. There've been one too many people falling to their deaths around here for my taste," she said, not a hint of fear in her voice. In fact, despite the loud tone she was using so he'd be able to hear her, she sounded incredibly casual. "I think you could benefit from some good old one on one with me, too. Did you know that you just showed around twelve signs that could technically classify you as a psychopath?"

"Hush, girl! Get back inside the building, unless you want to be next victim," he hissed at her.

Coulson noted that his three field agents had started drifting slightly to the ground and the hold on his own body slightly less pressure. Maybe Hall couldn't do too many things at once, if he was distracted.

The girl shrugged. Then she smirked at him, playful blue eyes lighting up her face. "Yeah you're right. As much as I'm one for chatting, I'm thinking right now is a better time for action."

The blonde girl then reached surreptitiously down, causally bringing up one of the biggest guns Coulson had ever seen.

This woman was way in over her head. Unless she'd gotten a very specific gun, Graviton would be able to deflect the bullets just like he had everything else.

Then he'd probably kill her.

But she fired it. Though it seemed like it had a narrow shaft for bullets to come out of, a ray of what almost looked to be pure power sprang from it, traveling quickly towards Hall. He lifted his hand to deflect the blast, and Coulson waited for the energy to redirect out of the way.

This girl had known what she was doing though. His power did nothing to deter the blast, hitting Dr. Hall square in the chest as he began to tumble backwards through the air as his agonized screamed echoed through the air. Every lamp or building he got too close to would spark with electricity, as the lights in the vicinity went out along with it.

The pressure on Coulson’s body let up just as all his field agents fell in a great heap. He felt a pang of worry, but realized while she'd been distracting the scientist, Coulson's agents had gotten closer to the ground. The drop wasn't bad at all. Phil immediately trotted over to inspect them.

Graviton was whipping himself through the air in a random and frantic fashion, screaming the entire time. Finally, he sped off into the center of the city. A wounded animal going to hide.

Coulson watched as all the lights in the city seemed to go out along with him. Out of a nudging curiosity, he took a small moment to check his phone. His walkie.

Both were off as well.

Phil's gaze redirected when a large tremor shook the ground, and his eyes moved over to see that the Colosseum had crashed back to its original position. More or less. People started pouring out of the doors soon enough, but Coulson could hear a few cracks from the now crumbling building. The civilians would need help.

"Who… the hell was that?" asked Triplett as Coulson came up towards them.

"I don't know," panted May. "But I'm going to take it she's a friendly."

"Definitely seemed that way," said Coulson. "Are you guys alright?"

Ward and Triplett nodded that they were, but May was uncharacteristically quiet. Ok, not so much uncharacteristically, but it was strange. She looked frustrated.

"May?"

"I'm ok," she said.

No she wasn't. Coulson stared her down, which wasn't that easy to do to a woman who seemed to have a part-time job glaring.

She sighed. "My knee injury from last week was irritated from the drop. But I can walk." She pulled herself up with difficulty, at first about to refuse the hands that Coulson and Trip had put out for her but quickly accepted them when she realized she could use them. "We have to help them," she insisted, gesturing at the Colosseum, when another piece broke off.

"They're going to be ok. Besides, your plate's full already."

All the field agents looked over to see the girl that had shot Graviton sauntering over to them.

"Someone needs to help the civilians," Trip insisted.

"Don't worry," said the woman. "Fury didn't just send me. The rest of my team are helping them out over there. We, on the other hand, have to work on getting this guy out of play for good."

"Fury?" asked Coulson, but the young woman didn't answer. Just gave him a small crooked smile, perhaps waiting for him to ask something of more substance.

But that's when he recognized her. He'd never met the girl, but she was a small legend. One of Fury's best agents. One of the best agents in SHIELD.

"Agent Morse," Coulson said as he exhaled with relief. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

She jerked her head back, moving the drape of hair that had fallen over her left eye backwards to rest on her shoulder. Her grin widened.

"Please, call me Bobbi."

Chapter Text

"What the hell was that?" shouted Hunter from the driver's seat of the van. "Did Skye short out the lights again?"

"No," she said indignantly, glancing sheepishly at FitzSimmons beside her. "I think that was like… a one time thing."

"What's going on then?" asked Fitz. "Because the fact that the city seems to be about eighty percent darker than any industrialized area in Europe should be-"

"-means we can assume the other twenty percent are using backup generators, but something must have obstructed the main power source!" finished Jemma.

She flashed a smile at Fitz, just at the glee of having him back and that they were finishing each other's sentences again. But there was something else there too now. Like something had sparked between them.

Maybe it was the way he surreptitiously held onto her hand.

"Satellites are down too," Skye said as she typed, furiously trying to get at least the GPS back up. "Not to mention every program I had running just glorked itself."

"Glorked?" muttered Simmons skeptically.

"Please try to use actual English, Skye," Fitz suggested. Skye was quite offended as her mouth popped open involuntarily.

"You do realize the irony of saying that statement, right?" she asked. FitzSimmons shared a look. "When you guys get into science mode, you two babble on like… like chattering chimpanzees!"

"Oh I would like a chimpanzee…" mumbled Fitz. "Prefer a Capuchin though-"

"Well, we are using actual words!" Simmons pointed out as she stopped Fitz short. His talks about primates could go on for a bit. "Words found in the dictionary."

"It's in the dictionary!" Skye defended. "It's in the… the Hacker's Jargon Dictionary of… Hackishness!"

Simmons scoffed. "Oh, come on Skye. Now you're just being silly."

"Nah, I just have hackitude." Skye squinted. "Which… isn't actually how you really use that word-"

"That's actually jargon?" exclaimed Fitz.

"Ok kids, how about we focus," said Wolfe, drawing seriousness back to the mood. Though he still look amused. Not to mention cheery, seeming to be his usual. Jemma liked that aspect about him.

"Yes children," stressed Hunter. "Do try to concentrate."

"Don't call us children," Skye spat.

Hunter gestured to Wolfe in the passenger seat. "He did!"

"Yeah, in a nice way," Skye snickered.

"Not to mention that he's significantly older than us," said Simmons.

"So am I," protested Hunter.

"Not significantly, just older," said Fitz.

"And so not in maturity levels…" mumbled Skye.

"Really?" Mack said out of the blue, having been sitting there listening. Simmons found herself somewhat embarrassed. "Can you even hear yourselves right now?"

"Got to keep it light when in the field, mate," said Hunter, obviously not sharing Simmons' abashed feelings. "Otherwise the stress will kill ya every time. Which, in this occupation, could actually be taken literally."

"No it can't, Hunter," Jemma said. "You can't literally die multiple times."

"I just we are seriously in danger of death! Not the ‘every time’ part. Obviously."

Mack rubbed his hands to his head. "Oh my god…"

"Mack's right," announced Wolfe. "We need to focus and plan. Comms are down if satellites are down, so how are we going to rendezvous?"

That stumped everyone for a few moments.

"Well we'll just have to look for them physically right?" suggested Hunter. "We know the approximate location."

"We don't have a clue what caused the power outage though," said Fitz.

"Surely it's on the news right? I can look it up on my phone even-"

"No satellites, Hunter…" Skye sighed.

"Oh. Right." He actually did seem mildly embarrassed by that. Well, maybe if he thought before he spoke… Simmons did think Hunter could be smart if he could control his impulses. "Well, physically it is then. Who's going to hoof it with me?"

"Not me!" exclaimed Skye, a strained smile on her face. Jemma grinned at her from across Fitz, lightened by her enthusiasm.

"Do I really bug you that much sweetheart?" asked Hunter. "Because I could try to tone down the sarcasm, at least a bit."

"It's not because of you, Self-Absorbed Guy," Skye informed. "If the satellites come back online, Wolfe told me I could help with the trajectory of the weapon."

"Ah, alright I get it. One question though: When are you going to start calling him ‘dad’?" Hunter said, tilting his head backwards to get a look at the hacker.

Skye glared.

"Hunter..." warned Wolfe.

"Are you just trying to feed the fire?" asked Mack.

"I was just curious! Right, so who's coming with me when we get there?"

"At least Mack and I have to go in order to calibrate the weapon if we can't get the satellites back up," said Wolfe. "Agents Fitz and Simmons should probably stay with Skye in the van."

"We can help with communications if the power comes back," said Simmons cheerily. She felt like she could run comms better than she had in the past.

Wolfe looked apprehensive though. "I feel like we should leave a field agent with them. None of them have combat training."

Skye's father looked at Hunter expectantly. "What, me? Babysitting again!"

Simmons huffed. "Again, we're not children!"

"Do you have a better word for it?" asked Hunter.

"Actually the correct word would be monitoring…" mumbled Fitz, but Hunter took no notice.

"I mean it was fine before when they were off on some crazy gambit but not when we're about to beat the bad guys!"

"We'll be fine on our own," said Skye decidedly. "I haven’t completed it but I’ve had a fair amount of training, and honestly, I'd probably get more work done without having to listen to that guy's griping."

"You're all sure?" Wolfe asked quietly, craning his head backwards to look at the three of them in the backseat. Jemma and Skye nodded.

“We’ll just be sitting in a van,” Skye said. Fitz suddenly became pensive.

"Yeah, but one time we were alone in a van, we were attacked and driven over the edge of a hill by a woman with a bomb in her eye…" he mused.

"Well that was a completely different circumstance," said Jemma. "With any luck, the Skrulls won't be looking for us if there's a big hubbub going on around the city, and-"

"Like I said, we'll be fine." Skye gave Wolfe a reassuring smile, but he sent her back a rather uncertain one.

"Fantastic," said Hunter. "Now that that's settled we can focus on getting there through this awful traffic. Who knew city-wide evacuation would clog the road going towards the trouble?"

"Damn, Bobbi Morse," admonished Triplett. The new girl was over to the side, appearing frazzled by whatever was going on with her phone. A few people were still scurrying out of the Colosseum behind her.

"You've heard of her?" asked Ward.

"You haven't?"

Ward scowled. No, he hadn't. But cursory observances of her mere stance and behavior, coupled with her impressive appearance with the gun, not to mention her reputation known by the team… well, it certainly made him think she would be a formidable ally.

She sauntered over to them, still hitting something on her phone.

"I can't get on comms with anyone," she said in a tone of frustration, slightly shaking the device in her hand before poking at one in her ear. "My team are good over there for now, but once we split up, that's it." She turned to look at Coulson. "Fury's had nothing but good things to say about you though, so I'm guessing that shouldn't be a problem."

There was a hint of a question to what was mainly a statement, and Coulson's tone made it sound as though he'd taken it as a challenge.

"It shouldn't," he assured somewhat over-zealously. "We actually have some members of our team bringing a weapon that should be enough to neutralize him. Problem is, it will affect everyone in the vicinity."

Morse's lips formed a line of smugness. "Good thing we started an evacuation then."

Coulson nodded. "Yeah, thanks for taking care of that," he said, not sounding insincere.

"Now the problem is we have no idea where the guy went," Ward noted. "He's probably going to be pretty pissed off when he comes back."

Morse raised her eyebrows with incredulity. "You’re saying you wish I didn't save your asses back there?"

"No," he said defensively. "I'm saying that he can get the jump on us now. Before he was making a public spectacle, now he's licking his wounds and it will be harder to target him."

"How big of a range does this weapon have?" Bobbi asked. Coulson spoke up.

"Unclear, we'll know more when the rest of the team gets here."

"So I take it this is the meet point?” she said, gesturing around herself.

The team looked at each other, sheepishly.

"You didn't make a meet point before the power outage, did you." It wasn't a question, and Morse appeared to be harboring a slight feeling of annoyance because of it.

Coulson grinned. It could have been reassuringly, but Ward knew it to be more one made of apprehension. "They have an estimate of where we are," he offered.

She held out her hands, palms forward. "Hey, I'm following you here. Fury said if you tell me to jump, I jump. No matter how nervous you are about them finding you, obviously you have faith in this team from what I can tell.” She paused. “Well, maybe not him, but…" Her eyes rolled sideways, stopping at Ward, "most of them."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You may be abrasive but you brought up some good points, so no one argued with you," she threw out casually. "Though they weren't incredibly happy that you were so blunt about it. Even their body language screams uncomfortable, but at the same time trying to deal because you could be worth it to put up with.”

Ward held still, uncomfortable about being in the spotlight. Not to mention she was hitting the nail on the head pretty dang hard.

Morse paced slightly now as she spoke, taking casual steps. "So you could be the new guy that they haven't seen enough of yet to determine if you're alright or not. But personally, my money's on that you did something to scorn them in the past and you are still trying to rebuild that trust."

Triplett laughed. "Oh, I like you girl," he said, wagging a finger at her. She actually looked exalted, eyes brightening as she chuckled.

"Flattered, really. So, when is this weapon supposed to show?" she asked, trying to get her face back to a serious point.

"Soon," assured May.

"I think you mean now," said a low-toned voice, and everyone turned to see three newcomers.

"Mack?" exclaimed Morse. Clear excitement lit up her face.

"Hey, Bobbi!" He set down the large crate that he was carrying one end of while Wolfe held the other, making room for her to come in for a hug. "Didn't know you'd be at this party."

"Not much of a party," she admonished. "Our target basically qualifies as a supervillan, maybe even an alien invasion. I know SHIELD deals with gifteds but this is… intense."

"Yeah." He looked exasperated. "It's nuts."

"You two know each other?" asked Ward skeptically. The woman pointed to the mechanic in what seemed about to be an explanation, but before they got the chance to answer the third figure that had come with them spoke up.

"What. The. Hell." Hunter peeked around Mack's bulking form. When Bobbi caught his eyes, her smile dropped.

"Hunter," she acknowledged. It was somewhat coldly, but there was surprise there.

"I'd say she knows both of them," Trip observed. Ward couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"What the hell is he doing here?" she asked, glancing around herself for an answer. She clearly didn't get one fast enough and her blazing eyes landed back on the mercenary. "Shouldn't you be out doing things on your own, like you said you were better off?"

"Izzy called in a favor," he said simply.

"Oh, since when do you ever help Hartley?"

"I help her! I mean the pay isn't bad either…"

She scoffed. "Of course. You don't really know how to do an actual favor, do you Lance?"

"I've done ten times as many favors for our friends than you ever did for me!"

The girl's mouth popped open with offense. "I did so much for you! I even tried to put a good word in with SHIELD!"

"SHIELD was always your thing, you know I never wanted that!"

Her eyes bulged as she gestured vigorously around herself. "Then what the hell are you doing here?"

"Alright, I think I'm going to cut in here," said Coulson, gesturing a little time out signal as he walked between them.

"Sorry," Bobbi conceded, backing down. "My ex can sometimes bring out the worst in me. Especially when he materializes out of nowhere."

May sighed as she gave Coulson an exasperated glance. She looked to Bobbi. "You two dated?"

"Married, actually," corrected Hunter. Ward felt actual surprise grace his face.

"Damn," said Triplett, with equal parts astonishment and amusement.

"Ok… wasn't expecting that," admitted Coulson. "Think you two can play nice until we get this kinda big deal of a situation under our belts?"

"I can." Hunter pointed. "No promises about this one."

She scoffed. "Oh of course. Always assuming the worst."

"Well you've certainly never given me a reason to assume any better!"

Her face got red and livid. Ward had seen that look a few times on women he'd known before, and he prepared for the noise of the matter.

But May beat her to it. "You are both grown adults. Why don't you try acting that way?"

The two became shy and abashed as they had before, but Ward wondered if it was just the calm before the storm again.

"Hey!" called yet another voice. "You guys!"

It was Skye.

Ward might have been happy to see her, but he'd honestly hoped she'd stayed back at the BUS when all he’d seen were the two mercenaries and her father. Now she was out in the open, with Skrulls hunting her. And they'd left her off on her own!

You could say he was peeved.

"What are you doing here?" Wolfe asked as the brunette trailed to a stop in her jogging.

"Wanted to help," she said simply with a shrug.

"Uh, I actually quite vividly remember you saying you wanted to help from the van, on your own, in case the servers came back up," said Hunter.

"Well, they're not up," she protested. "Anyway, I can do that stuff from here."

Ward squinted. "Wouldn't you need your laptop?" he asked, referencing the girl's empty arms.

"Ah… yeah, probably should have brought that." She actually looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm just so psyched I must have forgot it. Seriously, I just want to help."

That was somewhat… idiotic of her. Honestly, it surprised Ward that she wanted to part with the object anyway. She loved to have it around whenever she could and was very protective of it. He'd tried to touch it once. Just to Google something. She'd snatched the thing back quick as she could, donning a raspy voice he didn't think she'd even be capable of making as she proclaimed, "my precious…"

"Skye…" started Coulson.

"Don't send me back, please. I can help! I can do something, I'm sure. Anyway, if the comms come back up I can do that stuff from my phone. Easy peasy."

"You can stay Skye," he decided, looking somewhat overwhelmed. "But make sure you're near a field agent at all times."

"Field agent; got it," she said, only too eager to please. Ward noticed Wolfe get closer to her at the same time his own body twitched to do the same. So Grant realized that particular order wouldn't be a problem.

Bobbi was trying on her phone again, but looked over to the very few stragglers of the Colosseum now. "Let me get an update to my team," she said. "Maybe they have an inkling of where we can start looking for this guy…"

Coulson nodded and the agent walked away. Hunter clucked his mouth.

"Don't know why you'd ever want help from that one," he said.

"Because she's helpful," Coulson responded. "I already like her more than you."

Hunter's mouth gaped and Skye chuckled, Ward's head innately turning towards the sound.

"Hey," he said gently.

"Hey yourself," she responded happily. "Power outage is weird, huh?"

"Yeah," Ward agreed. She seemed so cheery. "How's your head?"

"Hm?"

"Your head. You seemed to be having some problems with your new… issue?"

Ward wasn't sure why, but saying powers still seemed ridiculous. Calling the new thing in her life an "issue" probably wasn't much better though. But Skye didn't seem to mind.

"Ah, yes… that." She shook her head as though to clear it. "All better. Feel right as rain."

"Good," he said. She flashed him a radiant smile. "Tell me if it comes back though, alright? This is new, and you shouldn't be trying to hide anything about it."

Her smile faltered, and she glanced slightly around her shoulders. Like someone was watching, which Ward knew to be a nervous tell. She obviously wasn't comfortable even talking about the powers yet.

"Sure," she assured him. "But I really feel fine, so you just be sure to keep your head in the game, ok?"

Smile was back. Skye's snark was back. Just bubbly quipping her. No fidgeting, anxiousness, or pains in her head. And he was glad for that.

Still…

Something told him he should keep a good eye on Skye for a while.

Chapter Text

Scouting parties.

Scouting parties to find an evil, working for aliens, super-powered maniac in Italy. With the radius of looking at just about… everywhere in the city.

Coulson obviously didn't have high hopes to find Hall this way. He'd sent off most of them, but left Wolfe and Mack behind to set up the device. Coulson stuck around to ward off anyone remaining or trying to come back to the area, because using the machine on Graviton would affect a decent amount of space.

So the rest of them went on foot to find a man who was obviously hiding with the intentions of herding him back, but unable to call for backup even if one team found him.

Ward hadn’t appreciated comms as much as he should have until this moment. There were missions that he'd gone dark on, but it was usually somewhat planned. It was usually possible that someone in an entire city would have a form of communication.

The only upside to the situation was getting to spend time with Skye. He'd been partnered with her, mainly because she'd had so little training and he was one of the best. Also, Ward assumed, because Skye was the one person he'd proven true loyalty to.

Hunter had gone with Triplett while May had gone with Bobbi. Less space getting covered while in pairs, but more likely to not die with two people.

"If the comms do come back up, I'll honestly be able to do my thing from my phone," Skye'd been saying. "What caused the outage anyhow?"

"Hall had a freak out when Morse shot him with that weapon," said Ward. "Caused some kind of pulse that made him lose control."

"Ah, so that's why we're looking for randomly floating objects?"

"It might have caused his powers to overload," Ward explained, the best of what he'd caught on before Skye had showed up. "Or anything, really. But unless he is having a sort of power freak out, I highly doubt we'll be able to spot him."

Skye nodded. "Like a needle in a haystack. Or like… a hiding person in a giant city full of people that could be anywhere."

Ward smirked at that. "Right."

"Her gun was kind of awesome though," Skye mused as they walked. Ward didn't have his weapon out, but his hand stayed securely on it. Skye trailed behind him. "I mean, I didn't get to see the blast or anything… but the size of it!"

"Have you heard of her before?" asked Ward.

"Awesome, gun-toting girl?"

"Yeah. Bobbi Morse."

He glanced behind himself to watch Skye wracking her brains with a furrowed brow. "Maybe. Name sounds kind of familiar, like I've read it somewhere?"

"Maybe you saw it while looking through files," Ward guessed. "Apparently she's a top SHIELD agent."

"Really? That's nifty. For her to have shown up and all."

Ward huffed a laugh. "Yeah. Definitely nifty."

"Sorta weird that she brought her ex-husband along? Not that I’m judging, just… wouldn’t be my first pick."

Ward cocked his head curiously. "Hunter?"

"That's it. Forgot his name for a second. They do not seem to like each other very much, but I guess if they're both good at what they do…"

"Yeah," agreed Ward. "It is weird."

Morse bringing Hunter along would have been weird… if it hadn't been by chance that the two had run into each other in the first place.

Skye might have only known Hunter a few hours longer than she’d known Morse, but he'd driven the hacker there. Stayed with them at the BUS. He'd been with her just as much as anyone else since she'd gotten back from the Skrulls. Skye wasn't one to just forget names.

Were the powers getting to her? Ward didn't like the thought that she was becoming so overwhelmed by her abilities already that it was causing memory gaps. Brain damage, even. He had no idea what this Terrigen process really entailed anyhow, but Wolfe stressed she was different and the whole thing could be bad for her.

It worried him, but he'd decided to keep it to himself so he could keep an eye on the girl.

Ok maybe he'd pry, just a little.

"You sure your headaches are ok?" Ward asked. "Don't try to shove them off to the side just because we have other issues going on as well. Your health is important and we don't understand what's happening to you just yet."

She rolled her eyes. "I told you I'm fine, Ward."

"You were willing to give yourself up for the sacrifice, don't pretend that telling white lies about your health is an insane prospect."

He felt a hand on the back of his shoulder, pulling him around to face her. "You're calling me a liar?"

"I'm saying you stretch the truth when the greater good is at stake."

She seemed to mull that over. "It's possible," she conceded. "But in this instance, here and now, I'm not."

She stared at him hard, and he felt himself crumble. What if his own worry was making the situation worse for her? What if he was only working her up with his own feelings for her? She was even touching him… maybe her brain was being flooded at the moment.

"Sorry I pushed, then," he said. She dropped her arm from his shoulder. "And… if I'm worrying too much."

"Aw, you're worried about little old me?" she asked, in a voice Ward thought people normally set aside for when they were talking to puppies or something equally vulnerable.

"Of course," he said hesitantly, assuming she would know that already. His feelings were on his sleeve with Skye now, something he wasn't sure he was entirely comfortable with. But Skye knowing how he truly felt, he'd decided, could only be a good thing. "I'd just hate to cause you any more distress than you've already been through."

She snorted. "Why would that cause me distress? It's… nice. Knowing people care and all."

"I'm glad you're adjusting," Ward said wholeheartedly. Skye just smiled, so they started up their walk again. "You know, it suits you."

"What?"

What does she mean 'what'? She should know 'what'. And he doesn't know what to call 'what'!

"Your… gift."

"Oh," she said, almost shocked, a little coy. "Thank you."

It was barely a response, but he let himself ramble. "You just already care about making others feel good, it only makes sense."

"Right."

"Are the colors frustrating?"

"The colors?" she snapped, then sort of recoiled and she continued in a softer voice. "Oh um… Sorta! Well, actually, I guess not. Really."

Great. The worry was building up again. He hoped it wasn't too noticeable for her. "Skye… are the colors getting to you?"

"I…" She looked lost. "No, of course not. I just… forgot about them for a sec. They aren’t really bothering me anymore."

It was like she was backpedalling. She was nervous. "It's ok if they are Skye," he assured her. "It's ok if they're gone too. But if something's wrong, we need to get you examined…"

"Whoa, no way! I am not going to the doctor while all of this is happening."

"Think about what's happening to you!"

"I am fine," she told him indignantly. "I can control this."

"I'm not worried about whether or not you can control it, I'm worried about what it's doing to you!" he said.

She stared at him with a defiant little expression that was incredibly Skye. That she was begging him to challenge her to an argument she was sure to win. But she shouldn't be walking around if she couldn't keep memories from the last few hours straight.

In the car, she'd begun to explain what colors went with certain feelings. Even told them what she was seeing on each of the team members at the time.

"Do you remember what colors went to what emotions?"

She blinked.

"What? No! Are you testing me? God, I am not listening to this…" She blazed ahead of him hotly, but a few strides of his longer legs had him catching up.

"You had it pretty well pegged in the car."

"Well… it was fresh on my mind in the car."

"But it's not now?"

"No!"

"So you found a way to turn it off?"

"Um… sorta," she mumbled, her tone far more anxious than he'd like. Her eyes shifted. "Maybe."

"Skye, we need to talk about this-"

Then it hit him.

It hit him like a freight train.

(One that had a thirty-minute delay, damn it. He should have noticed sooner).

Skye wasn't having memory gaps. She was getting information wrong. She was taking what she saw and was trying to sew it together, acting the part well enough to convince him she knew what she was talking about. But she kept messing up. Specifically…

She was messing up things that happened after Skye had been with the Skrulls.

The next moment was spent rushing an arm to Skye's neck, pinning her up against the wall roughly. Her eyes held shock and betrayal. At that point Ward didn't know if he hoped he was wrong and this was truly Skye, or if it was actually an alien. That the hurt wasn't playing on Skye's genuine face.

"Where is the real Skye?" he growled at her. She looked terrified under his grasp, clawing at his arm.

"What? I am real!"

"Prove it," he spat dangerously.

She was near crying under his grip. "I-I don't know how!"

"What color did you say my aura was in the car?"

The question tasted funny on his tongue. It sounded like magical crap, really. He couldn't believe this was happening, that Skye had somehow transformed into someone who belonged on SHIELD's Index.

Or that he was possibly holding her alien doppelgänger.

She shook her head desperately. "Please, Ward…"

"Do not avoid the question," he said, pressing harder. But he held back from hurting her too much. If this really was Skye… well, the stakes were too high to go full out specialist just yet.

"I don't know…" she sobbed. "I don't remember, I swear!"

Ward breathed out hard through his nose in frustration. He tried a new tactic. "Who is Lance Hunter?"

Her head shook frantically. "He's just some SHIELD agent!"

Mercenary. She'd have known that.

This was becoming painfully obvious, but he still couldn't help but doubt. He had one tactic left.

Now he was definitely hoping it wasn't really Skye.

His fist hit her face once. Twice. She sobbed harder.

Oh god Skye, forgive me.

He was going in for the third punch when he was stopped. A hand curled around his fist, and Skye looked up through a curtain of messy hair. Her cheeks were already blooming red.

Her eyes were dark and sinister.

She pushed him with a harsh force of her hand so he stumbled backwards, his arm being forced free of her neck with the shove. His Skye wouldn't have been strong enough to do that.

The alien laid her head back on the wall, looking a little tuckered out and disappointed. But decidedly, evil.

"Guess my first day on the job isn't going too well…" she commented offhandedly.

Ward had his gun out now. An ICER.

"Where is Skye?" he asked firmly.

The alien looked decidedly unimpressed. "Dude. Are you threatening me with a toy gun?"

"Trust me, if you make me use this it will only mean that you're going to wake up in a world of hurt."

She snorted. Like, in amusement. "Oh wow. Feisty Ward! Kind of like a kitten."

The comment wasn't entirely un-Skye-like, and it threw him. He repeated. "Tell me where the real Skye is."

"Oh, I don't know," she threw out. "I mean, definitely with Paibok. But I'm not sure where he took her. He's definitely one for games, so I doubt they're back at the ship yet."

Ward stared.

"Change back," he ordered.

"I'm sorry?" she said through a laugh.

"Stop looking like her."

She tapped her chin. "Mmm, nah."

He grabbed the shoulder of her shirt, shoved her right back up against the wall as he held the gun to her head. She only laughed.

"All up close and personal. Oh, I like it, Ward!" she proclaimed, and then cocked her head to the side. Her voice lowered. "That's really all you want to hear from this body isn't it?"

He could make a threat. He should. But he just sort of snarled.

"Skye knows exactly what you think of her. How obsessed and in love you think you are. That's why she's using you, you know. She'll never trust you, but she knows you're enough of a sick stalker to help her out in a jam. Which, let's face it, she is definitely in one of those at the moment."

The thing was taunting him, baiting him, and it was working. Working because those could all very possibly be true. This Skrull did know what Skye thought of Ward, considering they’d most likely scanned her as they’d done with Fitz. It was just whether or not what she was saying was genuine.

"Cute," Ward said.

The girl smiled. A toothy, excited grin. "It's working, huh? Wow, she is really under you skin!"

He allowed himself a dark laugh. "If you think hurting my feelings is going to help you, you might as well give up now."

"Well, we did just have a pretty big chat about feelings a minute ago, didn't we? I think you're more of a teddy bear then you let on, robot."

The nickname triggered him. So much that he hit her head up against the wall. "Change. Back," he ordered again. He wanted to look this thing in the eyes.

"I really think that would be stupid of me."

"If you think I'm not going to hurt you just because you look like her…"

She rolled her eyes. "No, that's not it! I mean, the girl is wicked annoying. Probably be nice to take out a few of your frustrations… No, I'm more wondering how you're planning on explaining to the team that you beat up the favorite little hacker."

She looked at him from under innocent eyebrows.

"I'm telling them you're a Skrull."

"But are they going to believe you, Ward?" she asked earnestly. "You're a traitor. For Hydra. Skye's the only way you even get the benefit of the doubt. Without her you're just… unredeemable."

That. Was. It.

He punched her in the head. Hard, and she slumped to the ground.

He needed her knocked out; the Skrulls were too strong for him to be dragging her through Rome. ICER would have kept her out for too long.

But what would Coulson think, when he'd drag Skye's unconscious body back to him? He hoped the man would believe him. Perhaps he shouldn't chance it...

No. He had to get back to the team. He had to know where Skye was, the real Skye. If she was in the van. If she was out in the streets. He needed the team's help. Anything less would be selfish.

Ward picked up the alien from the ground and threw her over his shoulder, beginning to walk back where he'd come from.

Chapter Text

They are.

They aren't!

But they so are.

There was a battle raging inside Skye's head at the moment. It was hard for the girl to believe anything she saw anymore, what with Wolfe lying to her (not even the real Wolfe, but still...) and the Skrulls just being what they were. Skye had decided to become very skeptical.

So she stared, just trying to decide. Could it be real? It was going on right in front of her, very nonchalant. It must have happened in the past… this particular gesture at least, but it just wasn't stopping. Not to mention the… feelings, in Skye's head coming off of them. They were pretty specific, and steadily directed towards one another. They both had light purple and pink auras.

She couldn't be sure of course, so there was only one thing to do at a time like this for an inquisitive - and by inquisitive, yes, she did mean nosy - girl like Skye:

"FitzSimmons, are you two like an actual thing now?"

Almost on impulse and at the exact same moment, - because those two could most likely read each other's minds- they broke apart the previously held hands. Simmons blew air out of her mouth incredulously with zeal while Fitz began shaking his head.

"A thing? You may want to define thing because it has such a wide array of depictions as to what it could mean-"

"-such a silly question Skye, you know as well as I do that we're people-"

"And it's obviously trying to convey something that isn't very well put together by the sentence that only uses the wording of such a versatile subject such as things-"

Forget science babble. This was just babble-babble, being done at the same time. They weren't finishing each other's sentences they were just having random crap come out of their mouths for the sake of trying to hide something that was now painfully obvious.

It was adorable.

"You guys kissed, didn't you?" Skye asked, a little over-loudly so as to stop the gibberish spewing from their mouths. Maybe she was just the teensiest enthusiastic about it.

They both turned red as roses.

Jemma smiled abashedly. "It's possible-"

"-well, we were in the moment and-"

"-there might have been some kissing-"

"Aww!" Skye exclaimed, now getting to a possibly over-enthusiastic state for her own good. "Does this mean we can use FitzSimmons as a ship name now?"

"Psht, of course not!" said Simmons.

"It's nothing concrete yet!" exclaimed Fitz.

"Not to mention we are on one of the most difficult missions we've ever faced-"

"-so the last thing we should be worrying about is relationships."

"Though it is a rather convenient nickname…" Fitz mused.

Skye scoffed. "Because everyone else in the entire world saw this before you two seemed to!" she exclaimed. "Seriously, it's just been like waiting for the penny to finally drop this whole time."

Simmons bit her lip. "Skye honestly… it is a bit personal."

"We haven't even had a chance to discuss it ourselves," Fitz mumbled, sounding just a tad begrudged.

The waves of embarrassment hit Skye full force, probably because she was feeling just as awkward about calling them out on it as they had about being caught. Only difference: she had to feel it for all three of them.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to pry," she said, then checked herself. "Well, I did, but I didn't mean to make you super uncomfortable."

"No, it's all right Skye!" protested Simmons. "I just believe we should focus on the task at hand."

"Yeah, it's not your fault. You probably can't even help yourself."

It took Skye a moment to even understand what Fitz meant, but she did after just a few moments of stunned confusion. He meant her powers. That she couldn’t control her powers any better than a toddler having accidents while potty training.

She could control herself… Sure, she might not have been able to turn off telling what others were feeling, but she didn't have to flat out bring it up. Even if her impulses wanted to, she could and would respect people's personal space.

"Well… we can't really do much until these satellites come back up," she said by way of changing the subject matter, though the thought actually made her angry. "If they don't, we'll just be sitting here while the rest of the team has to fight off Hall. We'll have no idea how they're doing, if they're ok, if they need help…"

There was then a sort of dragged out scratching sound, specifically one of a sliding door being opened. Specifically that of the van. Specifically that of the one they were sitting in at this very moment.

"Hey guys," said Coulson, peaking his head inside.

Except, specifically, that Coulson was not Coulson.

Skye had to chomp down on her lip to stop the frustrated scream that now went on silently inside her mind. Not a gasp or panic, but pure anger flooded through her at the sight.

The man in front of her of course looked like Coulson, but the strange jagged squiggles that accounted for his aura told her otherwise. She was quickly learning to put faith in this power, as it seemed to be the one of the few things she could trust in this world so full of deceit. But she could not convey the utter amount of disappointment at the mere sighting of this thing pretending to be someone she cared for so much.

It didn't help that there were even more along with him. The three Skrull-migos: fake-May, fake-Triplett and fake-Ward.

Possibly the worst aspect was that, with their presence, feelings of excitement jolted through her. They weren't even nervous; all Skye could sense was enthusiasm. These beings truly did think of everything as a giant game.

"Hello sir!" exclaimed Jemma happily.

Skye felt Simmons' relief and splendor at seeing the team. The onslaught of emotions was making her near want to burst into irritated tears. Counting her own frustration and anger, there surely must have been at least one too many different feelings going on for one person to handle, or even comprehend.

"Did we do it then?" asked Fitz hopefully. "Is the op over?"

Skrull-Coulson gave him a bittersweet, thin-lined smile. Skye had to begin grinding into her lip. "Afraid not, Fitz," he said regretfully.

"Then what are you doing back sir?" asked Simmons.

"Did you find Wolfe, Hunter, and Mack?" Skye managed to grumble out, not seeming too conspicuous. "They left a while ago to find you guys and give you the device."

"Oh, yeah. They're setting it up right now," said Coulson.

Liar.

"To answer your question Simmons, we think we need to take Skye with us."

"What for?" Skye asked immediately. She hoped there wasn't nearly as much trepidation in her voice as she felt. But the fact that a Skrull said the words "take Skye with us"… well, it wasn’t an easy thing to let roll off her back.

"We're going to try and get the satellites to come back up," informed the Ward from behind him. "We need you to run some tracking programs for Hall."

"I uh… I can do that from here," Skye said. She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying her best not to appear suspicious. A weak grin spread onto her face. "I mean, that was the plan."

"We believe we've found a place that we can connect with the GPS systems, and it's not too far away," said not-really May. "It should help with our search for Graviton."

"Ah, that sounds promising!" exclaimed Simmons.

Skye wanted to scream at her, or at least find somehow to silently communicate. It was horrible that her friends were being tricked right in front of her and she could do nothing to warn them of it.

But then again… as much as her friends were being tricked, Skye was not. The Skrulls certainly seemed to be thinking she was. The fact that they were in their disguises at all proved this. Which meant…

They didn't know about her powers.

Not that they should. There wasn't really a concrete way how, but she'd expected them to be aware for one reason or another. In the back of her mind, she'd just assumed them to always know what power she'd get. They knew everything else about her strange role to play in this sacrifice. But then again, they proposed for her to die during the process. (Or did they expect the Terrigenesis to kill her only if it happened on her date of birth? Honestly, it was hard to keep track of).

Fitz was tapping his chin in thought. "You know, I was thinking of what a shame it's going to be if we find Hall and use the machine without getting any of the Skrulls, it's such a might of a waste. Oh, and we still need to think of a name for the machine."

"Do tell," said Coulson, intrigued.

"I generally like to think of something that has relevance obviously, but it's possible the more important aspect is that it be cool – "

"Not the name," growled Coulson, far too angry with Fitz than the real Coulson would be in this instance. "Why would it be a waste?"

Skye felt herself tense up. This was bad. If Fitz said anything about her powers it would clue them off. Quite likely they'd kill FitzSimmons where they stood and cart Skye off by force. No matter how much they seemed to like tricking her and getting her to follow them in that way, there was no doubt in her mind they had the necessary means to take her forcibly.

"Well," continued Fitz, "the machine neutralizes powers, thanks to Skye's special blood. Graviton, from what we can tell, is relying on those to live."

Simmons seemed unable to contain herself, having to elaborate on Fitz's previous comment before he could continue. "We believed he had died when he was thrown into the Gravitonium for a reason. It's a highly unstable and powerful element. If he hadn't have gained the powers from the substance itself…"

"He'd be dead,” said Fitz. “So that's exactly what's going to happen when he meets with the mechanism we've designed that includes Skye's blood."

The fake team leader was nodding with interest. "Yes, but what does that have to do with the Skrulls?"

"Hmm? Oh! All I was saying was that it would be the perfect opportunity to strip the Skrulls of their powers as well as immobilize them. The radiation alone would hurt anyone… but since Skrulls core body structure seems contingent on their shapeshifting powers, it could possibly even kill them, as well. The radiation alone would kill humans."

"But we don't know where they are, so that's a moot point," concluded Simmons. She shrugged.

FakeCoulson looked downright irritated. "So everything you told me for the passed two minutes… pointless speculation?"

Skye felt Fitz's unease as his skin turned red. "Oh erm… yes I suppose…"

"Great," he snapped. Skye had to bite back a snarl. "Well, we should get going, Skye."

Damn! Think of something. An excuse. A reason not to leave. Oh wait, that's the definition of excuse. But do not let them take you!

Or do.

The thought popped into Skye's head abrupt and fast and she rolled with it at the same pace.

Fitz's lament over the machine had given her an idea: lure the Skrulls to wherever they were going to set off said machine. She knew the thing had a high blast radius. If she could keep up a charade long enough to just get the Skrulls in the same vicinity…

In short, it would save a hell of a lot of trouble for later.

"Would all four of you come with me?" Skye asked, innocent and fearful.

"Of course, girl," the fake Triplett responded.

"We won't let you out of our sight," promised Skrull Ward, in an eerie reminiscence of when Ward was secretly keeping an eye on her at Providence.

She forced a smile. It was the answer she was hoping for, because there was no way she could attempt this crazy whim of a plan knowing FitzSimmons had been left with even one of the psycho aliens.

At the same time, it still made her want to cry. Skye knew she could be cool under pressure. She'd tricked people loads of times at this point, but being alone with a foursome of creatures that she knew hated her was not going to be a cup of tea by any means.

It wasn't just that they hated her. It was that they seared the fact into her brain as they'd begun to make her hate even herself when she’d been on that spaceship. Something she didn't think would have been possible. Skye didn't hate herself, but the fact that she'd begun to imagine, even in the slightest, that the things she'd been saying were true frightened her.

Skye knew that if she did this now, it would be more difficult to hold herself together than ever.

Not to mention, she'd be without Fitz. It was silly, but he'd been acting as though her crutch; her constant companion through this strange and unpleasant journey. It had only been for a few minutes that she'd even been away from him since they'd found the team, and she'd felt herself become just slightly unstable in those moments. Now she was going to willingly go with the people who made her so absurdly scared…

Skye stilled her thoughts. She couldn't let the bad ones in, not if she was going to succeed. It was a long shot, because it rode on the comms coming back up in time for her to know exactly where to bring the Skrulls when the time was right, if she could convince them to follow her.

If they wouldn't get fed up with her urging and just decide to drop the charade before she could bring the game to a close herself. But even that was better than their rouse ending now, where FitzSimmons would be caught in the crossfire.

And lest Skye forget, she had the upper hand. The upper hand on people who thought they had the upper hand. One might say that was the best upper hand to have at all!

Ok, maybe. Panic's definitely seeping into her thoughts…

But that was where it was going to stay.

The hacker picked up her laptop in one fair swoop, the gesture both seeming in character for the scene she was unfolding as well as making her feel just an inch closer to secure.

"Let's get going then," she conceded with a sigh.

"You sure we shouldn't come?" asked Simmons. "I am starting to feel awful useless now…"

"Just help with communication when and if you can," urged Skye, jumping in before any of the Skrulls even thought to take one of them as well. "Besides, it's stupid to put more people in danger than we'd have to. You know the drill… we're usually behind the scenes."

FitzSimmons, with only a slight hesitation, agreed, and then hugged her off. Fitz gave Skye a reassuring hand squeeze. A a prominent gesture over the past week, and Skye couldn't help but let just one drop of water slip passed the barricade she'd tried to build. She wiped it off before she turned back to the imposters, hoping they wouldn't notice any redness in her eyes.

If there'd been some way to inconspicuously leave a note, just to warn them, just to give them some inkling, she would have. But she honestly couldn't see how.

So she walked off with the creatures, giving one wistful glance back at the van before she went.

Despite a bad success probability with this rushed plan, Skye felt good. Because she was the only one who knew said plan. Who had this secret information of espionage all to herself.

Call it some precognition from the universe that was deciding to grace her with good luck and smooth sailing, but Skye could swear she already tasted the success of this rouse on her tongue.

Chapter Text

"What the hell happened?" Coulson exclaimed. "Is she ok?"

It was not the most pleasing sight to see: Ward, obviously irritated and worried, carrying an unconscious Skye over his shoulder.

The specialist let the girl roll off of him roughly when he approached Coulson, who felt himself wince at the force of her head bluntly hitting the ground.

Anger boiled over. "Ward-"

"It's not her," Ward said, sounding resigned. "They took her. They took Skye."

Again?

No, this was not happening.

Coulson steeled himself. He swallowed. "You're sure?"

"Positive." He pointed to the alien that looked like Skye. "That thing confessed it to me."

He nearly shook with rage. Just when things were going kind of well, too. Wolfe and Mack had the machine all ready to go, the area was evacuated. Sure, finding Hall was probably going to be a long shot but once he started attacking the city again, it wouldn't be too difficult - they'd just prefer getting to the man before such a kerfuffle started up again. But maybe if Coulson promised Graviton Skye as bait, he'd come back easily. Not that he had the tiniest intention to actually give her up.

"We need to find the Short Bus. That's where Skye is supposed to be," said Coulson.

Ward nodded eagerly. "We'll have to get her restrained first. She's strong…"

"Skye said they would be."

There was a small monument nearby, an arch of some kind, and just in front of it was a gate to keep tourists from intruding. Ward propped up the Skye look-alike while Coulson handcuffed her around the gate. He let go of the girl's arm when he was done, watching it slump uselessly to the ground.

"Think that will be enough?" asked Ward.

"I think Skye meant they were just pretty strong. Not like, Captain America strong."

"Could Captain America get out of handcuffs, sir?" Ward asked curiously.

Coulson didn't even feel the need to dignify that with a response.

"You stay here with her," started Coulson. "I'll go get-"

Skye began to cough.

Well, not Skye. But… yeah.

She winced, her eyes still not open as her head mainly supported itself with the help of her shoulder. Her arms hunched up but were met with the tug of the cuffs. She wearily opened her eyes, and Coulson saw the panic hiding there.

"Coulson?" she asked cautiously. "What's… oh god." She seemed to become alert. "Coulson, Ward's gone nuts!"

"Don't try these games again, Skrull," Ward growled.

"Coulson, listen to me," she pleaded. Whether it was against his better judgment, whether he knew she was an alien trying to play him, he couldn't refuse such a simple request from this girl's mouth. "I'll admit it: something's wrong with me. My powers are giving me memory problems or something. Like, gaps? I was trying to cover it up just because we shouldn't be dealing with that right now, but I guess that made Ward think I was a Skrull!"

Coulson didn't let any emotion through, but he looked at Ward in askance. "This true?"

"It's actually what I thought at first," said Ward. "But eventually she was trying too hard and the context clues didn't add up. When I questioned her, she plainly told me she was an alien."

"Yeah, when you punched me over and over again!" she said heatedly, her voice cracking.

Coulson felt his heart break. Just a little.

There were bruises blooming on her face…

"How about the way you grabbed my fist while that was happening?" Ward sneered. "Revealed a little too much strength there, huh?"

She shook her head in despair at Ward, then seemed to opt for Coulson again. "Please! I didn't do anything like that, he's lying!" she sobbed. Then growled in frustration, and finally ended with an abrupt gasp. "Coulson… maybe he's a Skrull!"

She looked so desperate. He couldn't tell if it was Skye in front of him, as the story made sense. She hadn't had gaps in her memory thus far but… maybe she had been covering it up.

Having the alien look like Skye while being interrogated would have been a road bump, but not unbearable. If Coulson knew without a doubt it wasn't really his hacker, he'd get passed having to see her body harshly questioned or even in pain. It wouldn't really be her body.

But doubt was instilled and now he couldn't be sure.

"Coulson," Ward started. "If I were a Skrull, or even just crazy, why would I bring her back to you?"

Valid point.

"I don't know," he admitted, turning his gaze on the girl. "Do you?"

"I… to trick you? Look, I don't know his freaking plan! All I know is he hit me and then you both tied me up! My wrists, by the way? Really starting to cramp."

She struggled at the bonds. Coulson kept an eye out for any semblance of super strength, not that she would likely be trying to use it. She needed to keep up the act. If it was an act.

"Ward, I have to be sure…" he said delicately.

"You can't be serious! Our Skye is out there and this thing may know where she is or how to find her!"

"We can interrogate her, but I refuse to go to drastic methods unless we're sure beyond a doubt that it's not Skye."

"But she told me-"

"Isn't that convenient?" sneered Coulson. His ICER was out now, pointing directly at Ward. "Came right out in the open to you, but now she's clammed up? What's changed? Maybe the answer is nothing. You've just got a new story."

"Dammit, Coulson…" Ward muttered, his arms beginning to rise in surrender.

"I'm sorry, but I need to get to the van to be sure."

Phil pocketed his gun, sauntering over to the man as he pulled his arms behind him. Ward wasn't resisting and Coulson felt a pang of doubt that he was doing the wrong thing.

"What's going on?"

Coulson turned his head to the concerned voice to see Wolfe standing there. But it was Skye-Maybe-Not-Skye who got the first word in.

"Well, Ward there is either totally insane or a Skrull. But Coulson can't be sure, so he's going to check the van to see if there's another one of me. Which I can assure you there won't be, because I'm right here!"

Wolfe was staring at Skye with pitying eyes. He didn't seem to even catch her explanation.

"You tied her up?" he asked Coulson sadly. The leader nodded sympathetically.

"She may be a Skrull."

Now Ward was seated and cuffed just a few feet away from Skye at the gate. She was sending death glares his way, to which he graciously returned. What he did not return was the taunting sticking out the tongue that Skye did, though.

This needed to happen fast. One of them was fake – or yes, insane-, but they needed to find the real person fast. Coulson almost couldn't believe he actually cared enough to rescue Ward after such little time had passed since his betrayal, but it didn't matter. Because somehow, he did.

"Wolfe, can you keep an eye on the two of them? I need to find FitzSimmons."

It was at that time that a black van drove up. Coulson's mouth dropped open in sheer disbelief who popped out of it.

"FitzSimmons?" he asked incredulously. Seriously, talk about timing.

"Hello sir!" Simmons said. "See, I told you they'd still be here."

"But it's not like it was absurd to think that they'd move!" said Fitz.

"Well with comms down it would make sense they'd like to keep a general meet point that everyone was familiar with – oh. Skye!"

"Heya," Skye said sheepishly from her chained position.

Fitz looked from Ward to Skye tentatively. "What's… what's going on?"

"One of them is a fake. Probably," said Coulson. "Now tell me, is Skye with you?"

FitzSimmons exchanged worried stares.

"No… I'm afraid you, Ward, Triplett and May came and picked her up about a half hour ago," said Simmons.

Damn it.

That had not been him, which meant the Skrulls really did have Skye.

Here he was wasting time.

"Then with her gone, we were just feeling bloody useless…" Fitz continued for her.

"So we came to check up on you and see if anything could be done."

"It's a good thing you did," said Coulson. He was already walking over to unlock Ward's cuffs when he heard a dark chuckle come from beside him.

"Super good thing," said the Skrull. "Otherwise, how could you tell how entirely screwed you people are?" She giggled to herself again.

The noise was cut off when there was a sound of metal being hit.

Wolfe had lunged forward, grabbing the Skrull's shirt at the shoulders and knocking her into the gate. Her head bounced off the bars.

"Tell me where my daughter is," he growled.

"Poor little Inhuman," the Skye mocked through obvious pain. "That's all you've wanted for so many years, isn't it? Pretty disappointing. Well, at least you got to meet her… before we gut her."

A hand moved to her throat so quickly Coulson was afraid he'd crushed it on contact.

"Stop it!" Coulson ordered. "We need her alive to find Skye."

Wolfe's face was distorted in anger, frustration, and grief, but he let go.

So Coulson took a swing.

"I think you'll find it's going to be in your best interests to start talking," he said. He liked to avoid physical interrogation when possible, but they didn't have a lot of time. Well, it probably helped that he already had some bad preconceived notions about this thing.

She whipped her head back, moving the hair away from her face to reveal a now bloodied nose. "My best interests? How about we talk about your best interests. Like, getting out of here before we tear this city to the ground."

"Lyja?" Wolfe asked out of the blue. It sounded like a name. She grinned.

"Nah, but nice guess. I'm a little more… tame than her, usually. But this Skye kid's got spunk. It's making me feel all feisty."

Every word was bit out with a taunting confidence. Skye could be snarky, and probably would be in certain captivity circumstances, but somehow the Skrull in her body was landing words with much more intent to damage.

"Where is Skye?" Coulson asked again.

She shrugged. "I already told Ward there," she said, nodding to the man, "I don't know. She's bound to be around here somewhere though, right?"

"If you have Skye, is Graviton done attacking the city?" Fitz piped up.

"Psht, no way Fitz!" FakeSkye said, and if her hands were free Coulson thought she would have put a waving dismissive gesture along with it. Instead her shoulders just shrugged. "Paibok's going to let her think she's doing some good in trying to defeat the gravity dude, then let her watch him kill all those innocent people. I mean, they are only dying because the insolent little bitch didn't turn herself in."

Coulson was angered by the comment, but stilled himself.

Ward showed no such restraint.

"Call her that again, and I get to see if you change back to your real body when I snap this one's neck," he snarled, hand on the girl's throat.

She studied him for a fairly long moment.

"Yes sir," she said haughtily.

"Do you know what happened to the city's power?" asked Coulson, trying to get back on track as Ward slowly released her.

"Uh, no," she said, her voice tinged with disbelief. As though it were a ridiculous question. "You guys are the ones that hit him with that gun thing. Which, by the way, kind of inconvenient! I guess it's not a huge deal because it didn't kill him. He'll be back to finish what he started pretty soon, I'm thinking."

Suddenly there was a loud screeching noise that had everyone covering their ears, save for the girl bound in front of them. She tried to reach her own by desperately hunching her shoulders, though.

Light by light and flicker after flicker, the power was back. It was daytime so the change wasn't staggering, but it was surely noticeable.

"Speak of the devil," admonished the Skye-Skrull. "Or the… lights."

Coulson spun back around to the alien after taking in the now lit city, and she met him with an over-zealous grin. "You did that," he accused.

She shook her head. "Nope. Like I said, coincidence." There was another sound, and Coulson watched the girl's eyes widen at the sight of something behind him. "As is that," she commented.

Coulson turned about. Not too far from the Colosseum there were ruins of the ancient city. Pillars of temples and statues that tourists would usually walk through, to see what remained of the old Rome.

Now they were crumbling more.

Coulson could just make out the shape of the flying man doing it, just as he heard his communicator switch on.

"Coulson," May's muffled voice rang out of his pocket. He brought it out of his pants. "You there?"

"Yep." The comms must have turned back on with the power.

"Morse and I found Hall, he's-"

"At the Forum. We know, and we're coming your way."

Coulson put the walkie back in its place and was met by the stares of FitzSimmons, Wolfe, Ward, and a rather infuriating smirk made by the alien.

She cocked her head tauntingly. "Guess the game's back on."

Coulson didn't like her tone. He was about to get back to interrogating, when his phone pinged. A text. His eyes widened.

"I think you may be right," he muttered, to which the Skrull looked decently confused. Which was nice. "And I think we're heading into the fourth quarter."

Chapter Text

"Where are we going again?" asked Skye.

"Near the Spanish Steps," explained Coulson, who, of course, was not really Coulson. In fact, the only person who was real in this little group field trip was Skye, based on what her powers told her. It was for that very reason this wasn't exactly a comfortable excursion.

Then there were their feelings, which were pretty far off from what she would presume her real teammates would be. No worry or determination present, but casual ease. Happiness. Excitement. Oh, and lest Skye forget those bloodthirsty feelings directed towards her, present with each of them.

Meanwhile, Skye's own emotions were probably more like the former. Worried, but determination was taking a lead role.

"Spanish steps? And here I thought we were in Italy." She grinned, trying to put on a façade of something she'd kid about.

All it earned her was a glare from the fake Ward.

"Are you really making jokes at a time like this?" he sneered.

She cleared her throat. "Ok, maybe inappropriate. But I've seriously never heard of them. Not that I know a lot about Rome.”

"Then why bother asking where we're going if you don't know the city in the first place?" May snapped. Skye felt a little pang of hurt at the tone. Stupid brain and logic not listening to her: They're not real.

They'd picked up a car that had been abandoned like many in the evacuated city. Though evading the cops a few times made it clear that the Skrull May's driving was near as good as the real May's was.

But the Italian car they were in? Not the biggest thing. Being wedged between two Skrulls pretending to be two manly and muscled specialists was not the most fun thing in the world to do.

She mentally added that to her list of reasons she was uncomfortable.

They parked the little red Fiat right in front of a bunch of steps, which Skye then assumed were the Spanish Steps.

"The Spanish Steps," exclaimed Coulson, gesturing to the stairs as she worked her way out of the car after not-Ward. "But what we're really interested in is the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, more often just called the Trinità dei Monti, which is the church at the top.” He paused. "I know all the names and stuff because I like history," he added, as though he felt the need to explain himself.

Maybe they needed a new Skrull actor.

If they were working off of personality profiles and not actual memory scans like the aliens had used when they'd copied Fitz, they might be more alert that Skye could figure out they were imposters. She'd have to be extra careful.

They walked into the church, which was pretty nice as far as churches go, but nothing spectacular. It definitely looked old though. If Coulson were truly there, she expected he'd be having a field day right about now.

What she didn't expect was the large amount of people in the far end of the building.

The first few pew rows were filled to the brim. It was a fair group of people seeking refuge inside the place, and seeming to want to be as far from the door as possible. A priest was giving a sermon at the front alter.

They'd gotten a few startled glances at first, but with the realization that Skye and her crew were apparently harmless, the priest kept preaching and the crowd kept watching.

"I thought they were all supposed to be evacuated?" asked May, with notable annoyance.

"Must have thought faith could protect them more than leaving," Skye said.

"Idiots…" muttered Ward with distaste.

The real Ward might have thought somewhat along the lines of the same thing – she at least knew he didn't believe in god -, but she didn't believe he'd say, or even think, it so plainly. And rudely. Then again, she'd known the real real Ward for about two weeks, so maybe he would have.

Skye was getting so sick of deception.

"Well girl," said SkrullTriplett, "better get to work."

She looked around. "Seriously?" she said, trying so hard to keep an attitude she'd really have in the situation. "The place the GPS is going to work is a house of God?"

"There appeared to be just a few places near here that were out of range for whatever happened. Only for the satellites but not the power, and this was one of them," said Coulson. "Just try it."

Skye had to stifle any remarks gnawing at her to get out. Slowly, she started to set up her computer in the back of the church, near the doors.

Why did they want her to do this anyway? Why weren't they just taking her back to their ship to try the ritual again. Or if they didn't think the sacrifice would work anymore, even killing her on the spot?

Skye couldn’t know. Though she was definitely interested in the reason, at the moment she was just grateful for it. Because having a one-up on them was giving her a fighting chance.

"Well, apparently it's an honest to God miracle," Skye said, her laptop blinking in front of her. "Because you're right: GPS is up and running."

"Can you find Dr. Hall?" asked the Coulson fake.

"Hmm. Satellite images are down over most of Rome. I'll see if there's any chatter though; maybe we can find him through social media of people already evacuated. It'll take some time."

"Oh c'mon, I know you can do this fast, girl," said Triplett.

"It's not that simple. There's a lot of data to move through."

"But you're the best at this computer stuff, girl!"

Skye sighed.

Triplett was definitely the worst fake.

She was just about to make another rebuttal, probably having to face the 'girl' nickname once more from the over-zealous Triplett Skrull, when there was a small click in the area.

The lights turned on.

Ok, so it was daytime and the change wasn't huge, but it was significant. Maybe she could contact the team now!

First things first: ditching the aliens.

"What happened?" asked Ward.

"Digital topographic imaging restored all over the city," Skye explained. She didn't really want to explain anything to these people, but the more she played along the better. She typed for just a few more seconds. "If we give that a few moments, the trace should be able to find him. Good timing too, because I'm having a nature calls moment."

"What?" asked Coulson.

"Bathroom," she clarified.

Ward stood up. "I'll take you."

She forced herself to laugh. "Thanks Ward, but I think I can manage on my own."

Oh, that was nice. Finally some anxiety was setting in from these guys. Perhaps thinking it would reveal their cover if they didn’t, they allowed Skye to walk over to the corner bathroom all on her own.

Maybe keeping suspicion low was why they'd let her keep her phone as well.

She closed herself into a stall, quickly typing out the message: I'm with skrulls that look like Coulson, May, trip and ward. Stay with graviton and I'll bring the skrulls to you. We can use the weapon on both. Will try to contact again soon.

She hit send, and an error popped up. She hit send again. And again.

It didn't make sense. Her computer was working, why wouldn't her cell phone?

Around the twentieth time that it didn't work Skye gave up, resigning to send the team a message from her computer. It would be hard with the Skrulls watching… but maybe she could find some tricks up her sleeve. Still, not ideal.

With a somewhat frustrated groan she exited the stall, pocketing her phone as she did.

A middle-aged woman drying her hands caught sight of Skye and chuckled. "Oh, my dear, phones will not work in here," she said in a light Italian accent. A light yellow aura filled with amusement surrounded her. Even though Skye wasn't exactly hip to Italian fashions, it seemed that the lady was wearing kind of an odd outfit with a cross around her neck-

Oh. She was a nun.

"What?" asked Skye. "Why not?"

"Our priest has set up a cell phone jamming signal in this parish."

Skye's mouth dropped open. She thought maybe the Skrulls had messed with her phone, but priests? Priests were blocking technology airways?

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Father says that the only calls to be heard during mass should be from God."

No wonder the aliens had brought her here. Even if the communications came back on, she wouldn't be able to reach her real team. And not reaching her team would be imperative to their plan of not knowing there was two of everyone. Because, even with how idiotic they obviously thought Skye to be, they'd have to know that would raise some suspicion.

"Well, I'd like to be making a distress call right about now!" Skye told her.

The nun was puzzled, dimming to a dark purple. "Distress? Is something troubling you?"

Full disclosure? Sure, Skye would try out the truth. "I'm actually sort of, well, you could call it kidnapped, at the moment. This is my only time away from my captors and your cellphone-blocking thingamajig is stopping me from contacting the people I need to get out of this! So yeah, you could say I'm distressed."

"Oh… I'm sorry," said the nun simply. Like she'd bumped into Skye's shoulder in a crowd, not like she'd just explained she was in a hostage situation. "I can step outside and call the police for you."

"No, can't have the cops," Skye said adamantly. "I have to play along or… people are going to be hurt. But… you can help me. Do you have a phone?"

"Yes, but it is downstairs in-"

"Take mine," Skye insisted, shoving the phone into her hands. "Please send this message for me. It's a matter of life or death. Seriously."

The nun stared at her. Skye could feel that she was skeptical about the situation, and a little scared too, but Skye's distraught face must have won her over. "I will do my best."

Skye nodded. "Thank you."

She exited the bathroom, but halted in her steps soon after. Ward was leaning just outside.

Skye stifled a gasp and forced a smile. "Thought I told you I didn't need a bathroom buddy."

He shrugged, arms crossed casually. "Can't be too careful. You've got a lot of people that care about you Skye." He brought his hand to her face, letting his thumb caress her cheek in an affectionate gesture.

God, he was toying with her. It made her want to scream.

"Right," she said. "How about we check on that trace?"

They walked back over to her "team", all of them eagerly awaiting her. Trip still had the creepy smile on his face that never seemed to go away. Seriously, could they not find someone else for his role?

Skye looked over her laptop fleetingly. "Hall is at… the Forum. Hey, I actually do know that place."

"Good work Skye," said Coulson, and she could tell the Skrull was uneasy. Whether it was due to being unsure of what to do or he just didn't like having to congratulate Skye, she wasn't quite sure. "I suppose we should take care of that, then."

"Yes," agreed May. "While we go to the Forum, someone should stay here with Skye."

Skye frowned. "Whoa whoa, who says I'm staying here?"

"Common sense," said Wardposter.

Wow. This Ward had a lot of sass.

"Um, I'd like to counter that wonderful argument," she said with an arguably equal amount of attitude. "Satellites are back. Comms are back. I should get closer to the action. Maybe even get back to van with FitzSimmons… either way, it just seems pointless to stay here."

"Stay here?"

All the Skrulls plus one hacker turned to look at the voice. It came from a nun, none other than the woman she'd asked the help of in the restroom.

"You cannot stay here," she continued. "Our parish is very against the technology you have out here. I would politely ask if you will leave."

Coulson smiled. "Of course."

"And please," the nun continued, and slapping a hand down next to Skye's computer she gestured to the setup with her other, "Do not forget any of this."

The woman lifted her hand and Skye's eyes widened. She had returned her phone. Skye honestly wasn't expecting to get it back, and after telling someone she was being held hostage, it must have taken a lot of bravery to do such a thing.

Skye wished she could act more grateful, but really, the woman had just kicked her out. Still… that's what she was aiming to convince the Skrulls of.

Skye smiled smugly.

"I'm guessing we're going to do this together, then? Really, it would be stupid to not have all your field agents with you anyway, leaving one behind just to babysit me."

SkrullCoulson nodded, though not without reluctance. "Fine."

Skye smiled triumphantly. She could do that. She'd just won a battle, after all. Even in the Skrulls' eyes. It had happened in a church too.

If she made it out of this, maybe she'd take up praying again.

Chapter Text

"You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine."

"Ok," Bobbi conceded. "I just didn't think the Calvalry-"

"Don't," she seethed, "call me that."

"Hey, I got a nickname too I'm not a big fan of. It even turned into my op name once. Didn't stick though."

“Fascinating,” May deadpanned. She didn't really care to hear what Bobbi Morse's nickname or codename was. The girl was good, but the fact that she kept trying to put May's injury in the spotlight was grating. It couldn't have been that noticeable, except when she leaned on it slightly wrong. May was decent at avoiding that.

"I'm sorry, this is something we need to discuss. If you're compromised."

May merely grimaced.

"I'm gonna be frank with you, because I bet it wouldn't be that easy to get you talking anyhow. Plus, I respect you," said Bobbi. She paused before continuing, perhaps waiting for a response, but May didn't give one. "So you're small and moving at a pace that shows speed is obviously your forte, yet you're taking over-calculated steps. Slightly favoring your left leg..."

"Doesn't mean I'm not fine," May grit out, continuing onward. Speeding up a bit.

Bobbi smiled. "Look, I just want to find this guy. I know Coulson thinks we should stay in groups, but if you're-"

Morse didn't finish her sentence, eyes becoming dark as she saw the situation ahead. Apparently talking about May's injury wasn't her first priority after all.

May had to agree. The sight before them was in fact exactly what they'd been seeking out, and Melinda was incredibly shocked to be seeing it. They had no tech. It was pure luck that brought them to him. Well, some of it could be attributed to Morse's estimation of the trajectory he'd gone on when Graviton had taken off. But still, not the best of odds.

The scientist was floating along with a menagerie of objects in his general vicinity. They were drifting around him, almost in an orbit of which he was the center of gravity.

Most of the city had been evacuated, but the man had managed to find a resting spot in a somewhat uninhabited looking place anyhow. An alley. Whether he'd become unconscious and this was the result of his uncontrolled powers in that state, or he'd made some sort of nest, they didn't know. But he definitely wasn't awake.

"Looks like we found him," commented May, gun now raised. As was her partner's.

"But no way to contact anyone…" Morse mused. "Are we sticking to the plan of herding him back towards the weapon?"

"I could try a head shot," said May. "If I can get close enough, I won't miss."

"It's like he has a sort of force field. I doubt a bullet would make its way through; it would probably just get caught in the field," said Bobbi. She began approaching the orbit, but cautiously staying a few feet away from the area that the items were obviously gathering.

"I can stay here," offered May. "He appears pretty out of it, while you could go get the rest of the team. Maybe they can just detonate the weapon here."

Morse nodded. "Not a bad idea. I don't see any way we could convince this guy to come back in this condi…" The agent trailed off, looking at her feet.

They were sliding.

Suddenly the blonde was off the ground and parallel to it, an invisible force dragging her backwards through the air. With quick reflexes, the girl tore out two metal batons from a belt on her suit, digging them into the cracks of the cobblestone before her. Behind her, the items floating eerily in orbit began to accelerate. She looked ahead of herself at May, eyes wide.

May rushed forwards but bolted to a stop, she didn't want to get caught in the force as well. She surveyed the area for anything that could be of use. Something long. The best thing she spied out was a bicycle a few meters away, and she ran to get it.

Bobbi was fighting a losing battle. The force was becoming more apparent on her body as it craved to drag her backwards towards the man. May heard a strained shout leave the woman.

May pushed the bicycle in between Morse's battle staves that were just in front of her head. The force was already great, just by putting the tip of the bicycle in its path. Melinda then gestured for the woman to grab on.

Bobbi looked forward at the wheel staring her down. Her teeth were gritted and arms were stretched and near shaking. But she tried.

The moment her hand lost grip on her baton she was thrown backwards, not getting her grasp anywhere near the bicycle she needed it to be at.

Morse was just one of the other objects, then. Flying in a now accelerated circle as May watched in something like horror. She heard Bobbi's shouts every time the orbit came close to her again. Though, notably, she sounded more frustrated than anything else.

Graviton opened his eyes.

As soon as that happened, the field of gravity increased, May finding herself now stuck in its path as well. She was lifted off the ground, for another of what she considered to be way too many times by Gravitonium, now joining the orbit as well.

Though dizzy and unable to see, May heard the shout of the man whose orbit she was stuck in. He was yowling, in pain or fear or shock, she didn't know.

Then she felt them speed away. Through the air.

It was a gut wrenching feeling. Her body was never meant to go so quickly, unprotected. But it was over almost as quickly as it'd started.

May felt the ground beneath her feet –or more accurately, shoulders, - as she was dropped down and rolled onto a hard surface. She groaned, gripping her elbow as she felt her knee rattle into unsavory positions. She'd hit her head on the way down as well, but no matter what the conditions, she was glad that her stay in the man's own personal gravitational bubble had been a short one.

She looked up and around herself. Hall was still in the air, as was Bobbi and a few of the items. They were in ruins of temples and columns… the Forum of Rome.

Graviton seemed to become self-aware then, his rushing about the equivalent to someone waking up groggy and angry from a nap. He looked at the few items remaining as they circled him. One caught his eye.

May watched as the other items fell, clattering to the ground forty feet below him. He was focusing merely on Bobbi now, gesturing for her to come closer with his hand, and her floating body obeyed.

May felt her belt to grab a gun, though not entirely sure what to do with it, when something else caught her attention. Her phone had vibrated.

Comms were back.

Graviton seemed morbidly interested in Morse. Spinning her around and examining her. Though May couldn't hear what he was saying, she could tell Bobbi was talking back. Keeping hum occupied. Not taking them out of her sights, she answered the phone.

"Coulson, you there?" she said into the phone.

"Yep," came his voice.

"Morse and I found Hall," she panted. "He's-"

"At the Forum. We know, and we're coming your way."

May pocketed the phone after her quick conversation, still making sure Bobbi was in her line of sight. Graviton was bringing her closer and May had a gut wrenching feeling.

She fired her weapon, far to the side of the man so there was no way it could hit Morse, but it did its job. Graviton’s attention turned to her like a wolf that scented prey.

He flung Bobbi away to the top of a column. She landed roughly. Despite the height of the thing she was thrown on that made her appear very small, May could still swear she saw the girl clutching her shoulder.

"You're one of Coulson's little lapdogs, aren't you?" asked Graviton as his attention redirected to May. "Did you come to chat with me as well?"

"Not exactly," May grit out. She held her gun up to him, despite the knowledge that it wouldn't be able to make a dent in the man. But it could distract or deter him.

He seemed to finally be catching on to that.

"So you came here for games then?" he asked, a smile making its way up his face. "As your little toy gun tells me."

He moved around in the air and May followed his trajectory. She wasn't exactly a wordsmith most of the time… but if the situation called for it, she could try to talk him down.

She didn't really get the chance.

"I have a game you may enjoy," Graviton said lazily. "It's somewhat like Jenga…"

As he punctuated the word he threw a fist into the open air.

A good chunk of the column Morse had been placed on was "punched" away at the center, causing the entire top half to rumble, but not quite fall.

May had been watching Bobbi as she surreptitiously tried to climb down the column. She hadn't gotten very far; it was a sleep slope and she was really only using one hand. But now the girl was clinging on to the unstable stonework she had just been hoping to get away from, trying to claw her way back up. Even attempting to use her clearly injured arm.

Finally the stone structure settled. Bobbi was still in bad shape, as she wasn't able to make it back up one-handed. She was struggling as best she could, but she just dangled.

"Your turn," Graviton sang tauntingly.

May didn't know what to do. There was only so much distraction the man could take before he got bored, or annoyed with her attempts and just killed them both. If he punched it down a few more levels Morse could perhaps fall without sustaining major damage… but May didn't like the odds of that one.

She fired.

He waved the bullets away.

"Really?" he asked in bored disbelief, absentmindedly looking at his fingers. "That's what you've got?"

"Did you expect something else?" she asked. She had to do something. Anything that could give Morse a little more time to find purchase on something and lift herself up. "My gun is really the only thing that will reach that high."

He smirked. "You're right, agent."

May's eyes followed his body as he made a slow descent, still a fair amount away from her, but now nearly touching the ground.

"How about we even the playing field?" he asked. May raised her fists to ready her stance and he quickly "tisked" with his tongue. "Oh, but it's my turn now."

With another punch to the air came another blow to the column.

This time it didn't stay up for even a moment to catch its balance. The thing went tumbling sideways, smashing into the column next to it. May heard Morse's pained shout when it hit, but she knew it could have been much worse. The agent could have been between the rocks.

In fact, the way it fell in actuality improved her situation. She was able to hoist herself up from the slanted angle, running over to the new column before the one she'd been hanging from crumpled completely to the ground. Morse managed to pull herself up on the plateaued top of the new column, rolling onto her back as she heaved from the excursion.

"Clever little girl," Graviton appraised thoughtfully. He turned back to May. "Obviously more clever than you. Maybe I should have you two switch places…"

"Shouldn't I get my turn, first?" May asked raising a brow.

Graviton looked amused. "I suppose that's fair."

May was about to take her time firing another shot when a very welcome sight told her she wouldn't have to.

"Hey, what about my turn?"

May dove, Graviton turned. But he didn't make it all the way around to see who'd voiced the question.

Coulson threw the grenade right at the gravity man. He was blasted backwards, through the fire did not touch him. There really did seem to be a force field around him, about the diameter that the items had been orbiting him.

He flew threw the air, right over May's head as she ducked on the ground. His body smashed into the rough stone floor. He soon picked himself up gingerly, gathering his senses in a way that May knew she only had a few moments. She ran to Coulson.

"Why didn't you use the weapon?" she asked.

"Skye's coming, and she's bringing Skrulls with her. If we could get them all in one shot…"

"So," May said, "we're still distracting."

"Afraid so."

May's eyes went to Graviton, who was now off the ground and looked particularly unhappy. Then she spared a glance to Bobbi. Hunter and Triplett were over there, seeming to attempt to get up to get her down.

"I'm just not sure how much time we have left."

Chapter Text

Skye chewed her lip nervously. It might have been a tell, but if she were about to face Graviton, even without Skrulls trying to be her buddies, she'd be anxious. This was all about believability.

Though really, she was trying to decide what to tell them. So, she looked at the facts: she knew Coulson's location, and she knew he was there distracting Graviton. The Skrulls knew Hall was there, but did not know Coulson and the rest of team were.

Then once the Skrulls saw them… the jig would be up. No more charades. Anything that would happen to Skye was a great a big blank slate.

She had put in the text to Coulson that she would try to give him a warning so they'd have a chance to hide. With the woman giving Skye back her phone that indeed seemed plausible.

The most important detail was to get the Skrulls near Graviton without her. She didn't really fancy dying in the big weapon blast that was going to take them all out.

Time to up the stakes on her lying game.

"So I think I'm getting a pretty good handle on these powers," Skye stated. The car full of Skrulls suddenly had their interests piqued. (She could feel that.)

"You think?" said the Coulson. "What makes you say that?"

She shrugged. "I can sort of feel it. So, I've got a plan."

Triplett Skrull grinned. "Let's hear it, girl."

"You guys go distract him, somehow… and I'll find some high ground to use my powers."

"We have the weapon, Skye," said FakeMay. "No need for you to separate yourself. That's putting you in unnecessary danger."

Skye's smile was strained on her face. "My powers could be like a backup."

"That's a good idea," said Ward. "I'll come with you though."

Skye donned an expression of disbelief. "C'mon, you know you can't be around me if I have to use my powers. They're insane!"

"But what if the Skrulls find you?" he asked.

Coulson nodded in agreement. "I don't like the thought of you being alone out there."

Skye waved them off, and she couldn't help but feel a little extra happiness as the aliens' anxiety level rose. "I'll be fine. The Skrulls won't be able to touch me if I use my gift."

Ward was put out, and appeared about to argue. But with a huff, he made a gesture of agreement.

Skye wasn't even sure what kind of "powers" she was making up. Laser eye vision? Making ginormous earthquakes? The Skrulls had to be curious, but wouldn't dare ask if they wanted to keep up their rouse.

That's when Skye realized: maybe they weren't being so cautious with her just because they liked games. Maybe the whole point of them running around in circles was because they were afraid of her.

After all, Wolfe said that the process could have done anything to her. She could be a giant bomb for all they knew! So until they did know, they were being wary. They probably would need to figure it out before trying to contain her, in case it was one of those things.

Too bad it was really just share time with feelings and weird aura stuff.

Weird aura stuff that is currently saving your life, she reminded herself.

She had to remember that. Without her powers, she would have no clue it was the Skrulls that had her.

"You sure you'll be alright, girl?"

Ok, maybe she would have suspected.

"I will be fine," she assured. For now, there were no more questions. She was thankful for that. Thankful to try and repeat the mantra in her head without distraction so she could focus and believe it. It wasn't just the Skrulls who needed convincing at the moment.

I will be fine.

.

"Ok, stop!"

The Skrull hit the brakes of the car at Skye's request, the tires skidding to an abrupt halt. Skye had managed to get an end seat in the back of the vehicle this time, and flung open her door as soon as it stopped moving. The ruins, and where Graviton and the team were supposed to be, were just feet in front of her.

"This is it," she sighed. She nudged her head at a particularly large building. "Just the high vantage I was looking for."

"You sure you'll be ok?" FakeWard asked, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder and pushing his frustration and anxiety into her head at full force. Oh, and that pesky desire to kill her.

"Definitely," she said. "I'm more worried about you guys. Be careful, ok?"

She inwardly begged them to go along with this. Let her separate, and give them the belief that they would be able to catch her again later. Her best bet was that they hoped she would use her power now. That way they'd be able to see it, make a threat assessment, and would know just where to pick her up for their trip back to the ship. Having learned how to contain her, there would make no more need for delay.

She could feel their conflicts. They were debating whether to let her go or not.

Skye needed to sell this.

Her arms wrapped abruptly around the Skrull that was Coulson, tightly squeezing as she nuzzled her head into his shoulder in a hopefully intimate gesture.

She felt him awkwardly pat her head.

"There, there," he told her hesitantly. "We'll all be fine."

Skye actually expected to hate the hug, but the feelings of disgust it provoked from him? She was sort of reveling in it. It went on for longer than she'd planned.

Eventually he grabbed onto her shoulders and pried her off, holding her at arm's length.

"I think we need to go," he told her stiffly. The Skrull was trying to put affection into the sentence, and it came out with rather split emotions.

Skye smirked. "I think you're right."

Coulson was thinking of calling it. That they'd find a way to beat the Skrulls another way, because he honestly wasn't sure how much longer they could wait for Skye.

They'd separated: Coulson, May, Ward, Triplett, Morse, and Hunter. Well, not Morse and Hunter. Bobbi was too hurt, even though they'd miraculously gotten her down from the pillar by managing to get a rope up there, to which she was able to zipline down. That only irritated her shoulder injuries.

The rest of them were playing a game of "shoot at the crazy person and hide," spread out around the ruins. But he seemed to be able to almost sense their presence, able to find and flick them across the ground with very little effort. This was almost a good thing, because Coulson felt that if this very unstable man felt any sliver of annoyance, he wouldn't hesitate in breaking their necks.

But, thankfully, Skye's message that she and the Skrulls were closing in came before he had to make that call.

Time to see how many bad guys this weapon could take down.

Skye reached the top floor of the building Coulson had sent her co-ordinates to, where she was met with the perfect sight for sore eyes.

"They're all moving into position!" commented Simmons.

"Coulson just sent the message," said Mack. "The Skrulls will be there in moments."

"Oh, it is just lovely to have comms back," said Fitz.

"But Skye?" asked Wolfe. "She's not still with the Skrulls is she?"

"Actually, I'm right here."

Four heads turned.

"Skye!" said all of them. Well, not Mack. But he seemed to be quite focused on the weapon in front of him. He did smile.

FitzSimmons rushed to hug her and Wolfe crept closer as well. There were smiles on all of their faces. Skye would have just as eagerly hugged them back, when she spied out something rather interesting in the corner.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed.

The question was probably unnecessary. Because given the facts, or one major fact that she herself was Skye, she could have most likely figured out that the thing cuffed in the corner was a Skrull. It just happened to look like her.

"She tried to replace you!" shrieked Simmons. "It's honestly a terrible thing… So rude."

Skye watched her clone roll her eyes. She wondered if the alien would have had a snarky response as well, but she was gagged.

This was really weird.

But Skye was adjusting.

"Sorry, should probably be used to that by now. I did just spend all day with doubles of Ward, May, Trip and Coulson. And let me tell you, I do not think they had the original memories because they were not really in character."

It was true, they probably hadn't had any chance to scan her friends. Only Fitz… and herself.

"How did you guys know it wasn't really me?" Skye asked.

"Well, to give credit where credit is due," said Simmons, "Ward actually figured it out."

"She only had memories from before the scan," Fitz put in.

"So she didn't know about my powers," Skye finished the thought. "This Terrigenesis thing? Becoming more handy by the second."

Wolfe grinned at that comment.

Fitz unexpectedly wrapped his arms around her once again, giving Skye an extra squeeze. "I can't believe we let them get to you again," he said, releasing her. "We should have realized. You shouldn't have had to go through that all over…"

"Hey," she said, placing her hands on his shoulders. "It wasn't your fault. Besides, it's working out for the better, right?"

"Skrulls are moving in," Mack stated. They all huddled around the window.

"Guess we're about to find out," said Fitz.

"Ready or not, here I come!" called Graviton. Ok, could he get much creepier?

"He's going to find us," sneered Bobbi. Hall was too close. "Everyone else left, you need to get out here."

"I'm not leaving you!" insisted Hunter.

Bobbi was basically a heap on the ground now. Shoulder messed up from the first time Graviton threw her, knee and ankle on each leg sprained from getting her down off the column.

Hunter didn't know what to do.

"Well it's useless for him to find both of us. The shapeshifters are coming and they're going to use the weapon. If you don't get out of here-"

"If we don't get out of here, it's going to be bad. But I know from previous experience I have a kind of rough time carrying you…"

"Calling me fat, Hunter?"

"No, of course not! I'm just not that tall, but you're tall, and given the fact that -" She was smiling. "Bobbi! This is no time for jokes."

"Well if you're not going to leave, we should at least joke ourselves to death," she hissed.

"Death!" exclaimed a gleeful voice. Morse and Hunter turned their heads.

He'd found them.

"I think I can help with that," Graviton jeered. His fingers curled under his hand.

"Aah!" Bobbi groaned as she was lifted into the air, her injuries irritated from the strain.

"Let her down, now!" Hunter shouted, raising his gun. "I'm warning you!"

Graviton flicked his wrist lazily and Hunter went flying.

"Lance!"

Bobbi didn't have much of a lull to watch her ex-husband fly into a pillar before there came a sound of cascading bullets.

Graviton looked towards Coulson, Ward, Triplett, and May with a bored expression.

"Really?" he said. "You know, this game of cat and mouse is getting rather old."

Bobbi thought that meant he'd just squish her or snap her neck right there, but he merely dropped her, focusing on the others. Others that she realized were most likely Skrulls, given her last communication with the team. Plus their attack pattern was off. They’d been going for shoot and scatter, not full frontal attack.

She fell to her knees and had to suppress a shout, biting her lip at the pain. She'd never had so many not-weapon induced injuries before. Bruises and dislocations were piling up, instead of the knife or gunshot wounds that knocked you out of the game early. Then again, she'd never had a battle with such a gifted before.

Graviton had now given his full attention to the Skrulls, - which was a little ridiculous when you thought about it, given that they were supposed to be working together- while Bobbi attempted to get away. There was, to put it lightly, literally no way in hell she could use her legs.

She whipped out one of her battle staves, slamming it into the ground as she began to drag herself along the stone.

It was an extremely slow and frustrating process.

"Oh yeah, that's much better than my help," said Hunter, appearing near out of nowhere. Masking her relief at seeing he was ok, Morse rolled her eyes.

"You should have left," she told him. He grabbed underneath her arms, and began pulling her only slightly faster than she'd been dragging herself. That hurt like hell, but everything seemed to at the moment. "Oh yes, this is a great escape plan. So practical."

"We just need to get-" he grunted, "outside the blast radius. If those are really the Skrulls, then the weapon will be going off any moment."

"Exactly," she muttered. "So go!"

"I'm not going to let you break our only rule, Bob."

What the hell was he going on about. "What rule?"

He smirked. "Not to die out there."

Bobbi had to purse her lips to swallow her already-formed protests. And hide her smile.

Because that was a damn good argument.

"Morse and Hunter are clear," said Wolfe, looking out the window. Mack's attention was fully on the machine in front of him. Fitz was peeking over them.

"Confirmed Skrulls in the vicinity?" asked Mack.

"Yep, all the ones who were with me are now down there," Skye informed.

Skrulls that looked like Coulson, May, Triplett and Ward. She wondered who they really were. Was her team about to kill Lyja? Or Bartak? Skye couldn't say it was a completely unwelcome thought, though it would be odd that they'd not know-

"Weapon deployed," Mack stated.

Skye felt her head rattle.

"That's it?" she asked, hurrying over to the window to see the damage. Nothing had happened! No light, no sound… To be honest, everyone down there looked fine.

"It breaks down the nervous system," Wolfe explained. "They'll start feeling the effects now…"

Oh boy, were they. Skye watched as the Skrulls fell to the ground. As Graviton began jerking in uncontrollable spasms through the air. He even flew right passed their current window, and everyone flinched in unison as the man torpedoed by.

Skye stared down at the Skrulls, writhing in agony. Shaking, trying to move with great strain. Finally they came to a dead stop.

"Dead" being the optimal word.

Apparently when Skrulls died, they'd change back to their original form. Skye had noted that the beings becoming unconscious did no such thing, but they were definitely morphing now. She could only assume that meant the worst for them.

Triplett and May turned into aliens that she only vaguely recognized from her first moments of being a prisoner on the ship. One, the over-eager younger Skrull that had been insistent on grabbing hold of Skye when she'd first gotten there. The one that had pretended to be a boy at the carnival. He'd been Trip. The other, a woman who'd had quite the opposite reaction. She'd not wanted to lay a finger on Skye while they’d been on the spaceship.

But the other two she recognized well.

Coulson had actually been Bartak, a partner in crime that specialized in making Skye suffer when she'd been there. She'd had a front row seat while he'd hurt Fitz.

Satisfaction at seeing his crumpled body welled up more than she'd care to admit.

That left Ward. She couldn't keep the relief that built up in her at the sight of his stilling body.

Spikey-coned haircut and all, Paibok now was the only one with a few remaining breaths in him. It was as though he were trying to crawl away, clutching his stomach. But soon enough he settled to the ground like everyone else.

Even up the stories of building and through the window, Skye could swear that she saw him look straight at her with eyes willing her straight to hell, just before he did so.

He'd tricked her as Wolfe; he'd tricked her as Ward. He'd been the one to kidnap her, force her to her knees and to submit, to sick multiple gifted beings on her and command this whole excursion. An excursion with one goal in mind: kill Skye, and the multitude of people that got in his way.

Skye wasn't sure she'd ever been so relieved in her life.

"That was Paibok," said an awed tone, but surprisingly, it didn't come from herself.

She turned to see her father staring out the window, a bewildered expression on his face.

"We've been running from him for so long," said Wolfe. "He's always been the one after you. There have been others, followers, but he has been spearheading the mission since you've been a baby, Skye."

The sheer waves of relief ringing from his voice and echoing in her mind had tears glistening in her eyes.

Skye had never had someone care about her. Not unconditionally. Coulson was becoming something like a father to her, and the rest of the team a family. But she'd had to earn that. If she'd been shy, if she'd been untalented… anything could have made them not even want to give her a chance.

All this man wanted was chances. He wanted her well being, and he wanted it before she'd ever done a thing to deserve it. For the first time, she felt a love created by blood well up in her. The feelings originating from both Skye and her father.

It was a moment without realization, a sort of autopilot, in which Skye found herself suddenly gripping her father. So tight she might as well be seven years old, for maybe she was trying to will them back to that time, together.

"I'm so happy you're safe," he muttered in her ear. She smiled against him.

"Same with you."

She heard a sniffle, and opened her blissfully closed eyes to see Fitz tearing up over the scene.

"Oh Fitz…" mumbled Simmons.

"It's beautiful, Jemma!" he protested quietly.

She pecked him on the lips. "I know."

The move of affection nearly shocked Skye, but... seriously, could they get any cuter?

Apparently not, because Skye heard a few gagging noises come from her double in the background. Must have been diabetes-inducing cuteness.

"We got some movement out there again," said Mack, redirecting everyone's attention back to the scene below.

Bobbi was out in the open again. Hunter and someone else were helping her to walk, in a way that was nearly carrying her. Meanwhile, a little over to the side, Coulson and the rest of the team were talking to other civilians.

Except those weren't civilians.

"Looks like someone's helping Morse-" started Wolfe.

"No," Skye said quickly, shaking her head. "It's the rest of them. The Skrulls. I don't know what they're doing but every single person down there except our team is a Skrull."

There was a muffled laugh by the other Skye.

Mack sighed. "I'd really like it if these aliens could give it a rest."

Skye whole-heartedly agreed, and was about to say so, when she heard the sound of a gun being armed.

"Then let's finish it," said Fitz, holding a weapon as determination flowed off of him in waves.

(Skye wished she could say she didn't feel Simmons getting turned on, but…)

That didn't matter though, because he was right. Time for weapons hot and all out. No more deception. No more undercover.

They'd just beaten the ringleader and his gravity-yielding weapon.

Now they just needed to defeat the army.

Chapter Text

"You understand what is happening, yes?"

"Will he come back?"

"Can you help us get out of here!"

Coulson was talking to a decent crowd of civilians that had come out of haphazard hiding places. He was sure to have checked the perimeter so that no one had been there for the weapon's detonation, but a few must have slipped through the cracks. Luckily, they hadn't been close enough to be affected.

"Yes, if everyone will remain calm, we can help you with evacuating. We have vehicles," Coulson assured them. They appeared relieved at that, but something that caught his eye brought about quite the opposite emotion.

"Agent Morse!"

"Hi, sir."

Her voice sounded extremely strained. Judging by that, her sweat-drenched, bruising face, and just the sheer amount of people carrying her, she must have sustained a fair amount of injuries. Meaning, she most likely was in a great deal of pain.

"Dang, you don't look so good," said Triplett.

"Bobbi took quite a beating," said Hunter, who was carrying her along with two strangers, but they set her gently down to a sitting position once they neared Coulson. "She needs medical ASAP."

"He's just a worrier," Morse assured somewhat laboriously, tapping Hunter's calf lightly until she had to stop and moan. She clutched her shoulder. "Well, maybe I could use some medical. It's mainly my leg though."

"Legs," stressed Hunter. "I can see the swelling on your left knee through your bloody pants, and you couldn't put a lick of pressure on your right. I'm not a doctor but I think it could be broken!"

"It's not broken, Hunter; I'd be in so much more pain."

"With your threshold? I doubt you'd even be able to tell!"

She sighed, seeming as though holding back an eye roll. "Fine, it's mostly my legs."

"And shoulder."

"You're pushing it, Lance."

Coulson couldn't help but smirk at the exchange between the two. Morse was literally being carried and she still tried to write the injury off. Phil was starting to think these two tried to pick fights.

"Simmons has supplies in the Short Bus, we can head over there," said Coulson, but then he looked over Bobbi once again. "Or… maybe we can bring it here. It's not too far away. Triplett?"

"On it, sir," Trip said, jogging off in the direction of the vehicle.

"I have a vehicle as well," said a petite brunette girl. She, along with a large man, had been helping Hunter with Bobbi. "It's just over there, if you want to follow me-"

"They aren't going anywhere with you!"

Coulson turned towards the sound. He saw Skye leading a charge, FitzSimmons and Mack each holding weapons, aimed and hot. Wolfe was dragging along a particularly annoyed SkyeSkrull prisoner. He had a weapon too, but it was trained at the alien in his arms.

If Skye was saying a seemingly harmless civilian was bad… the hacker's look-alike was probably not the only alien present.

"Get back!" he shouted. Ward and May both stepped away, both got their weapons out. Hunter hurriedly knelt down to clutch at Bobbi, but the small brunette had beaten him to it and yanked Morse up to stand unwilling on her injured legs. The girl held the agent close, taking on the strain the woman couldn't herself.

"Bobbi!" Hunter shrieked, grabbing for her still. His efforts were in vain when the man who'd just previously been holding on to Morse gripped him tight around the stomach.

Hunter struggled hard. He tried to get an angle on the brute but the hold was impossibly tight. Bobbi fought as well. Her injured state was obviously making things difficult; though she landed a fairly direct hit to the girl's gut and was expertly attempting to break free of her grasp. The fact that neither fazed the girl, who was near a foot shorter than the extraordinary agent, was evidence enough that she was not human.

"I honestly don't know why we didn't do this from the start," said the brunette, now training a gun at Bobbi's head.

It was somewhat surprising, but Morse gave a light-hearted chuckle. When she spoke her voice was as strained as it was friendly. "So I was letting an alien help me out and I had no clue. Gotta admit, you guys are good. But how about-"

"You can shut the hell up!" Morse's captor scolded. "Paibok may have had a thing for logic games and deception, and while they may be fun at times, violence is usually so much better." She punctuated the word by digging the gun's muzzle into Morse's temple. The agent looked begrudged, but seemed to think it was in her best interests not to speak again. "So we're not gonna do much talking… because Paibok isn't here anymore, is he, Creature?" she shouted to Skye.

There was a lot of blame in the comment. The emotion behind it didn't bother Coulson so much as the strange nickname she'd used. Not for the first time today, he wondered what Fitz and Skye had been put through on that spaceship. Not just physically, but what emotional turmoil they might have endured. It made his stomach churn to know that Skye had to face one of her captors again.

"Lyja," Skye acknowledged through obvious disgust, her gun trained on the alien.

"You think you're so very clever, don't you?" Lyja taunted. "I see it on all of your features. You smug little bitch! You killed my commander and you killed my best friend!"

"Yeah, we did," Skye said boldly. If she felt any fear from this alien, she was not showing it. "And if you don't want anyone else to die, you'll let my friends go."

The Skrull snickered, her mouth turning up to snarl the next words. "Sounds great to me. Hand yourself over and we can all go home."

"No way in hell," Ward growled as he gripped his gun more intently.

Lyja glanced over Ward curiously. "Hey… you were one of the characters in our show," she said with mild intrigue. Coulson didn't know what she'd meant, and by his furrowed brow neither did Ward, but by the way Skye's eyes glanced downward the words had meant something to her. "Poor little Creature, so upset when it thought we'd captured you. Hm. But of course, it really was quite willing to believe you'd double crossed her, when we-"

"I thought you said you were going to try not to talk too much?" Skye shouted. "Can't restrain yourself even on your own terms, Lyja?"

The alien's eyes caught fire for a moment as she dug her grip on Bobbi harder. "You'd better watch your tone!" she hissed, just before her voice softened effortlessly. "But, for once, the little freak is right. So if you'd just get over here…"

"You're delusional if you think Skye's going anywhere with you!" Fitz piped up from just behind said hacker. His weapon was aimed at the lot of "civilians", who were now holding their own weapons as well.

If someone did decide to shoot, it could domino into a massacre.

For now though, no one did. Lyja's eyes sparked when they saw Fitz, a flicker a real excitement crossing them as her mouth jerked into a grin. "Pet! I didn't know you were around. I'd love to have you come along with us too, cutie-pie…"

"No one is going with you!" Skye exclaimed. "Let Hunter and Morse go, and you can have her back," Skye jerked her head towards the bound alien in Wolfe's arms.

Lyja briefly appraised her comrade held hostage with what seemed like pure disinterest. "If you think I'm walking out of here with anything less than a despicable half-breed mutant, you'd be mistaken."

"Even for one of your own?" asked Coulson. "Loyalty must not be valued in your species."

"Loyalty is everything to us!" Lyja snarled, her body turning with Bobbi to face him directly. "You killed our leader, but we're going to finish what he started. No matter what it takes."

"Even if it takes your lives?" asked Ward, slightly incredulous.

"Of course, traitor," she hissed at him. Apparently Ward hadn't just been a character in her stage-act. The comment showed she'd been briefed on them, at the very least.

"I doubt all of you feel that way," Coulson addressed the small group of Skrulls posing as civilians. They merely stared at him, like good little soldiers. Of course they wouldn't admit wavering loyalty to the enemy.

Lyja rolled her eyes. Looking back at one of her disguised comrades, she moved her head in a slight jerking gesture.

There was a flash of light and a loud sound. The accompanying red that spilt from the target as a gun was fired happened too quickly for Coulson to have even reacted.

Wolfe dropped the girl in his arms immediately and she rolled to the floor, blood still pouring out of her head where the precise shot had been made by one of the Skrulls in the group.

Coulson watched the bloodied image of a dead Skye. Eyes wide, as she lay on the ground, unmoving. He couldn't stare for long, as his senses had to be alert. As he ripped his eyes away he noticed her begin to morph. Admittedly, he was curious to see what the Skrulls looked like, but focused all his attention on the alien holding an agent hostage before him.

"Whatever it takes," Lyja growled out. The girl gripped Bobbi's hair tight and pulled the woman's head down so that they were cheek to cheek, the gun under her chin. "You've made me mad, little Creature. You don't want to test me."

Skye's breath hitched in her throat, but her weapon held steady. There was a beat, perhaps to think, but Lyja filled the silence.

"If this does come to a firefight, there will indeed be casualties on both sides. But we have the greater numbers, greater training, and basically… we're just a better species," sneered the alien. "So don't think it won't end with all of your friends dead, and you shot in both legs. Come with me, now."

The order was drawn out and cold. Still Skye didn't lower her weapon. Instead she opened her mouth to utter an obvious protest, but Lyja preempted her again, this time with a loud sigh.

The alien's arm that held the gun dropped to her side lazily. "Oh god, I don't even know why I bother trying to be nice…" She picked the gun back up.

And shot Bobbi square in the chest.

"No!" wailed Hunter, his captor smiling wickedly as the man thrashed.

Morse fell to the ground, a fair amount of blood just beating her to it. Apparently the bullet had gone straight through her vest. She was desperately grappling at the wound and choking on liquid. The meager movements proved she wasn't dead, but with horrific realization Phil could see she likely would be soon. Blood was literally spouting out of her.

Coulson automatically turned his weapon to aim at the alien, though cocked guns in the direction of all his agents told him to hold on actual fire. He watched May and Ward's trigger fingers get jumpy as well, but they too held back.

"You should be thankful I got rid of the damaged goods first," Lyja said disdainfully, indicating the writhing girl.

Skye was gritting her teeth with restraint, though Mack didn't hold back as a feral growl rolled out of him.

Lyja sauntered over to Hunter, putting the gun against his temple. He snarled against her, tears forming in his eyes as he tried to shake free of the man's grip around his torso.

"Now you have exactly, hmm, let's make it… eight seconds until this one dies. Seven, six…"

Skye's wild eyes darted to Coulson.

Filled with tears of askance, she was silently pleading with him to tell her the right thing to do. They both knew what he'd told her to do. He'd told her not to give herself up and that it would be stupid, but now that very thing was looking like the near best option.

There were too many aliens. Not enough allies. FitzSimmons had mere ICERS, and they weren't good shots. While losing agents was never easy, when dealing with non-combat ready agents there was an extra sense of responsibility.

But even so, he highly doubted any of them would make it out alive in any case. If Skye went with them now, at least there'd be more than fresh corpses to try and rescue her.

So as much as he'd love to shake his head resolutely, make it clear to Skye to never give herself up, he couldn't do it. But he couldn't seem to affirm such an action either.

"Three," continued Lyja. "Two..."

Skye raised her hands abruptly as her mouth dropped open, presumably to offer surrender. But she got distracted.

In fact, they all got distracted.

Coulson flinched at the sound as every single one of the Skrulls began screaming, hands bolting towards their heads as they one by one dropped to the ground. He didn't know what to think. Phil looked at his team, only to see them all staring with gaping mouths, flabbergasted as he was.

The only exception was an ally not integrated to his team.

"Wolfe?" he heard Skye say. "Wolfe!"

All she got was a grunt in return. The man was tensing his entire body, hands balled in fists, as he seemed to be in real pain.

Skye rushed to him. "What are you doing?"

"He's using his gift," Ward explained. Skye's eyes got wide.

"Use the ICERs!" she exclaimed to her team without a second thought. "Now!"

"No! If you take one down, I'll lose my grip on the rest," he managed through grit teeth. "There's a lot of them, so I don't know if I'll be able to hold them for long, but I'll do it as long as I can before..."

Fresh tears flourished in Skye's eyes. "You better not be saying what I think you are."

He managed to give her a smirk. It was strange, with red marks appearing on his body in small scrapes and even deeper cuts. "It's ok Skye. If you g-go now."

She started crying in earnest now. Coulson barely registered how Triplett pulled the van up. In the back of his mind he realized how FitzSimmons and May had gone to help Hunter and Mack with Bobbi. Ward, who was standing next to him, followed the gaze. With a forlorn glance at Skye, he too went to help the injured agent, his strength making the trip to the van much easier.

Coulson realized, once his team got the injured agent into the Short Bus, both he and Skye needed to be on the move as well.

"Please don't do this!" Skye cried, wrapping her hands around the man. "Dad please! I just found my family, please don't go away again!"

It near surprised Coulson how easily Skye called her father by the moniker. But Phil supposed it was his rightful name, and right now, he was proving more than capable of its worth.

He noticed the other four nearing the van. "Skye we need to go," Coulson said calmly.

"I - no!" she said, her hands abruptly twisting through her hair as she pulled them away from her father. "I can't," she gritted out. Her eyes closed in strain then.

"Take her," growled her father at Coulson, in determination as well as through his pain. "Our anguish is too much for her gift."

Skye was shakily holding her hands to her head, as though fearing it was going to burst and she was trying to meld it together. She willed her eyes open through a set jaw.

"Thank you for finding me," she managed through her teeth. Through tears. Through her small smile as pain fought to make it a frown.

Wolfe reached out a shaky hand to soothe her and opened his mouth to say something, but Skye was screaming before long. Wolfe recoiled his hand. "Go! Now!"

Coulson didn't need to be told again. He swept up Skye at the knees, and she curled instinctively into his chest as he cradled her. Beside him, he thought he saw Wolfe's strain ease up, just a little, before he began jogging towards the van.

Skye's tears and breath fell onto him as she sobbed while he ran. Coulson had to wonder if it was more for her lost father or sharing the torture of the aliens.

He loaded her gently into the car before stepping in himself, staying clear of Simmons working on Bobbi.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Fitz, palpable concern in his voice as he watched over Skye. Coulson noticed Ward stiffen when he saw the condition she was in.

"She's feeling what they are," Coulson said, gesturing out the window. "She'll be fine when we get out of the vicinity."

As if on cue, Triplett started the car and they were on the move.

"Is she gonna be alright?" asked Hunter, his concern directed at only one person. His hand lay gently on top of the unconscious agent.

"Just let me work," Simmons said, resigned. It was not the most reassuring voice. Bobbi didn't look to be in the most reassuring position. Simmons was clearly only focusing on the gun shot wound, but the girl had been in pieces before Lyja shot her.

"We can't leave him," Skye muttered from her reclined seat. Coulson spun towards her, as her eyes fluttered open and there was a quivering frown on her face. She closed her eyes again. "I can do it… Please. He's my father, m-my family…"

Coulson patted the hair away from her sweaty forehead, as she continued mumbling.

"She needs a hospital, immediately," Simmons said of Bobbi, to no one in particular it seemed. Maybe the driver.

"The city's evacuated, it's gonna be a while to get to a not empty one," Triplett replied.

Coulson looked over to Morse.

She didn't have a while.

In fact, he wasn't entirely convinced a hospital could do anything for her. But he wasn't a doctor, and a hospital was at least her best bet. Her condition was eerily reminiscent of a shot Skye, and without GH.325…

He was drawn back to Skye as she let out a shuttering breath, gaining sense of her surroundings. Her eyes flickered intensely about. When her sights landed on the bloody, unconscious woman lying on the ground, she stared there a while, contemplating.

Skye trained her gaze at Coulson. "Go back."

He sighed. "This is for the best…"

"We need to go back!"

"Skye," Ward started, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're father knows what he's doing. And Morse needs the hospital."

Skye scowled. "I know what to do," she insisted darkly. "You have to turn the car around. Triplett!"

"Skye…" started Trip.

"Stop saying my name like I'm crazy!"

"Stop acting crazy!" Hunter exclaimed, his voice cracking. "Bobbi needs a doctor!"

"She needs a miracle," Skye spat. "She's dead, Hunter, look at her."

"Skye!" Simmons shrieked in horror. "She's not-"

"She's going to be!" Skye shouted, eyes wide and seeming unaware that Hunter had tried to pounce on her in a grieving anger at her harsh words. Coulson and Ward had stopped him, but it had still caused a fair ruckus in the small space. "Unless you guys listen to me and turn the damn car around."

Everything inside the vehicle stilled then. There was no sound, save for heavy breathing and whatever Simmons was using to monitor Bobbi.

"Just trust me, Coulson."

He wanted to, but what if she was only this sure of herself because it was her father? He knew when things involved people you care about, your mind could become clouded. You could make the wrong decisions when it came to your family.

But, just maybe, that was why he agreed.

Chapter Text

Skye's powers seemed to be something akin to a gas pedal.

When her father had started using his gift on the Skrulls, they’d all begun writhing in pain rather quickly. His power could go from zero to eighty in a mere moment, it seemed. Even with their intense anguish, it had only started as a tingling feeling in the back of her mind. Sure, it wasn't what she’d call comfortable, but it wasn't overbearing.

The longer it went on though, the more she felt it. The feelings accelerated slowly. Their terror, their anguish, their anger, frustration, and their torture. Which was like torture in her own mind. It had almost been enough to make her forget that her father, her only flesh and blood, was dying, right in front of her.

It was then that she desperately willed the aliens, willed everyone, to just stop. To just calm down. Let her be aware of her father's sacrifice.

For a moment, they let her foot ease off the pedal.

Just a moment, because soon she was swept away without her permission. She never blacked out, but Skye had been delirious enough to believe that what she now understood to be Coulson carrying her to the van had been a ship stealing her away into the sea, where she'd leave behind the others and be left on an island of solitude. With her own thoughts and feelings. This ship would take her away, and she didn't have to worry about willing the others to stop because her mind wasn’t bursting any longer. So she'd accepted it.

She'd woken to chaos as they left chaos in their wake. There was a woman dying in the car, but Skye's father was dying, too.

Her mind collected its thoughts as she realized something. She'd willed them to calm down. That had been Skye. Not only had their emotions been reaching her, but she was touching their minds right back. She wasn't just a passenger. She was in the driver's seat.

It had never been clearer what to do.

When she’d voiced this though, her team doubted her. That emotion circled around her heart, but she spat it back out. Then, just a little, she tried pressing the warmth of calm into their minds instead. She’d focused on Coulson, because he had been the one to make the final decision.

So they turned around.

It felt a little violating. But it had been necessary.

Skye could tell when they were nearing Wolfe and the Skrulls again. Her mind was starting to become full, so she closed her eyes. She tried to stay calm. There was death and pain echoing around her, but she stilled herself and breathed.

"This is mental," she heard Hunter in awe. "This isn't right, we shouldn't have listened to her…"

Skye tuned out to his rueful mutterings. It was easy to do soon enough because they were back with the Skrulls, and the Skrulls' screaming was loud.

She was receiving the pain loud and clear, despite how hard she tried to meditate.

"Skye…" she heard Ward's gentle breaking voice. His worry was now underlying the other emotions she was receiving. She felt his touch, wiping away tears she hadn't known she'd shed. The worry heightened at the feeling of his fingers. Somehow, this concern helped.

"I'm ok," she whispered.

The van stopped, reaching their destination in minimal time. When the door opened she willed her eyes to do the same. The colors bore into her as a blearing shimmer, but there was really only a single hue. Every person radiated a dark red.

Pain was the only thing present in their minds now.

Most of them were on the ground writhing. Some had stopped moving altogether. She looked to her father.

You didn't need Skye's power to see much of the red on him.

The sight jumpstarted it. Spiked her. Maybe gave her an adrenaline rush, she didn't know. She did know she reached her mind out far faster than she could have believed and soon she had a grip on each of her enemy's minds. Plus her father's.

She pictured turquoise and aqua, the feeling of sun on her skin during a day at the beach or the sense of peace she felt when listening to rain or the fluttering of keyboards. She willed it into them.

A few of their minds blanked out immediately. As they let go out of the pain, their bodies released them from consciousness, and thus her grip on them as well. The rest tried to gain composure from the torture, but there was an abnormal absence of panic.

She couldn't feel Wolfe's mind, anymore. But she couldn't spare to check on him.

Skye's eyes honed in on the stranger she knew to be Lyja. The woman seemed to be having a hard time keeping this human form she'd chosen, blipping back and forth between the young woman and her Skrull self. Eventually, she stabilized into the girl.

"You… what are you doing?" she panted out. Skye heard the disdain in her voice. She felt it as a slight tingle in her mind.

"I need to tell you that you feel bad," Skye said. "For hurting us."

The tired woman mustered up a tiny scoff. "I don't feel bad."

"You do," Skye assured her, reaching farther in. She was barely focused on the others now, Lyja being her target, but they were at such a peaceful state of mind from Skye's influence she doubted they'd try anything.

Lyja cocked her head. "I do…"

"Because we didn't do anything wrong."

"You were born," Lyja pointed out. "You killed my comrades."

"So did you," said Skye, thinking about her corpse of a duplicate. "And you hurt Fitz and I before then."

Remorse. Remorse, she willed at her. It wasn't seeming to stick, though serenity had been so easy to pass on. But, she realized, she had focused on things that calmed herself. Perhaps she needed to think of things that plagued her own conscious.

Lying to the team was the first thing that came to mind. That she hadn't cut contact with Miles and how she'd lost their trust for a time.

Leaving to give herself to Paibok, who she’d then thought to be Wolfe, early. How she hadn't planned to say goodbye.

Dragging Fitz into her torture. Dragging them all into this. Her father was on the ground in a pool of blood. An agent she'd never met had been drawn into the crossfire.

"I shot that woman…" Lyja mumbled.

"Yes." Skye nodded. Lyja's mind had somehow caught the same memory she was on. "She's dying, but you don't have to kill her. You can help with the machine on your ship."

The brunette's eyes snapped up to Skye, and they showed so much innocence. Skye wondered if she'd see the same thing if it were truly the Skrull's face looking at her.

"I could take you to our ship," Lyja repeated. "We have a medical machine."

It was then Skye decided she really didn't like this. It wasn't right to have this much power over a person's mind. Even the bad guys. She was hypnotizing them, like an evil witch from a storybook or the villains in spy movies.

She pushed back her reservations, focusing on the task at hand.

"Yeah," Skye agreed. "We'd be really grateful. You wouldn't have to feel guilty anymore."

"Ok," Lyja agreed with a light, dazed smile. "Follow me."

Skye did, and while she was pretty sure her team was following her she couldn't break her concentration enough to affirm it. Still, she felt their presence. She couldn't check on her father. She was influencing so many minds at once, and she could hardly think of much else.

So they went, Skye calling to the Skrulls like the Pied Piper to rats. As though in a dream. As much as the aliens were in a daze, she only had so much control as well. It near felt as though she'd floated there.

The cloaked spaceship wasn't far, but she felt the team's spike of trepidation when they saw it appear out of thin air. Their fear was quickly smothered. Did she do that, spreading the calm passed where she wanted it to go?

She found it hard to stay on the right side of the road with this power.

Lyja motioned towards the machine. Skye expected it to be the one she'd been forced into during her induction to the spaceship that had been her prison. Instead, it was the pod that Fitz had been kept in while the Skrull infiltrated the team by impersonating him.

Mack and Hunter approached, carrying the unconscious agent. Skye caught the woman's form in her gaze. She was stark pale, more so than any live person Skye'd ever seen and red marked more places than not. It was a harsh contrast to her blanched skin.

They placed her inside.

As Lyja closed the top, Hunter opened his mouth but shut it quickly. Perhaps he second-guessed any remarks he had to say.

There was a glow and time seemed to skip a few ticks. The next thing Skye knew the pod was open. She heard coughing erupt from it as Hunter poured over the edge.

"Bob?" he asked tentatively. "Bobbi, are you alright?"

"Oh…" she moaned, placing a hand on her head as she warily glanced around. She was confused. Her eyes began to move as though starting to gain the sense to observe. "Where are we…"

"Uh," Lyja scoffed. "She's fine. Our machine did its job."

"Thank you," Skye said placidly. Maybe the calm was affecting Skye herself more now. She was feeling near numb, and the sense of floating was increasing.

"Sure… I'm not exactly sure why I did it." Lyja shook her head. "Why'd I do that?"

Lyja was slipping from her grasp. Skye willed herself to focus. Tried to think of guilt again. What was she guilty of… she did put snow in Fitz's bunk once when they were parked in the Alps. Though she hadn’t really felt bad about that. That was sort of funny. It was really funny, honestly.

Lyja began to giggle, softly to herself. Skye couldn't help but smile.

Then all the Skrulls she'd willed to follow them burst into laughter as well. Skye was conducting her own symphony of cheer. It was amazing. Even though they were the jagged auras of the Skrulls, the colors were bright and inviting. Skye felt her head tilting with them, her orchestra. Her ocean and waves.

"Something's wrong," she heard Coulson mutter, but she couldn't imagine what it was. She felt bliss, and she was pushing it onto all of her new alien friends.

"Skye, tell them to lock themselves up," May said.

Skye tilted her head. "Noooo," she cooed in disapproval. "They're my friends."

Ward shook his head. "They're not your friends. They were just trying to kidnap you, torture you!"

Skye felt puzzled. The chain she had linked everyone together with rattled, and the Skrulls felt confused too. "They wouldn't-"

She stopped. She saw her father emerging from the machine.

Skye felt a sliver of clarity when she saw him. Her team must have brought him as well and used the machine to heal him. There wasn't the smallest sign of a cut on the man.

Well, not on his skin. The great amounts of blood were still present.

"They tried to hurt us," she mumbled in a stupor. She could feel it now, in another moment of brief alertness. Skye was losing her hold, losing her control. Her own mind was slipping. She centered her attention back on Lyja. Tried to push agreeability and believability. "It would be a really big help if you could take yourself and your friends down to the cells. Lock yourselves up."

"Would it really?"

"Yeah. For everyone."

So that was just what the Skrull did. The moment the last alien was in the prison, Skye let the chain go. Let herself stop grasping on with tense muscles to all their minds.

It hurt.

Like gripping them had been holding her together, and the moment they were gone, the floodgates were released. Her mind felt like an open sore.

"Alight then... so Agent Skye can use mind control. That's definitely new," mumbled Hunter. She barely registered his voice, before a broken sob erupted passed her lips.

"Skye?" Her father turned to her first.

She fell to her knees. "It hurts. Oh-oh god, it hurts," she blubbered. It was weak, and pathetic, but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

Concern spiked in her mind from the rest of them and she left out a brief scream. It had been like cutting into a fresh wound.

"Her nose is bleeding," Ward said.

"A bloody lot," Fitz mumbled in awe.

"It must have been too much strain," said Trip hurriedly.

The colors danced. The emotions flurried within her. Soon enough the pain was gone, replaced by an almost pleasant numbness. More people spoke, but they became farther and farther away, their voices underwater. Muffled.

There was pulling on her arms as they lifted her. Something about going upstairs.

She tried to say something, but her voice had left her. Her lips wouldn't even move. Her eyes would, but in motions foreign to her as her thoughts struggled to keep up with what they were seeing.

But her eyes would not close. That made even Skye herself worry.

Chapter Text

Skye's nose was dripping crimson. The girl hadn't taken any sort of hit though, let alone to the face, and that made Ward very, very scared.

Her eyes were wide with fear and it soon became clear they were unseeing. Or at least they weren't taking in what was going on. Her eyes were the only things moving as they sped back and forth jerkily, just before her entire body started shaking.

"She's seizing!" shouted Simmons. Everyone in her way innately moved to let the doctor through. The girl barely looked Skye over. "I can't… I can't know what's happening if her powers did this to her. I don't know where they originate from or how they're conducted, what would cause such a reaction-"

"We need to get her back to that magic healing thing," said Hunter.

"It's not magic, it's science we don't understand!" Simmons exclaimed. "So that's just it, I don't understand it. I won't know how to calibrate it."

Ward walked right up to the brim of the clear prison they were standing next to. Inside held some very sulky looking Skrulls. The moment that Skye had convinced them to go inside, the hold that she had on them seemed to break. They'd appeared alert and aware, not to mention pissed off.

Then Ward had gotten distracted with Skye as she'd begun to crumple. So when he looked back to the aliens, it gave him quite a start.

They had changed into their true form.

He hadn't been able to cast more than a glimpse at the dead SkyeSkrull, but now there were over twenty aliens' faces staring back at him. With hatred.

"Lyja," he stated. By a mere perk of her eyebrows as the woman heard her name Ward knew it was truly her. It was a Skrull with cascading dark green hair. She was staring at him venomously. "Tell us how to work the machine."

"When hell freezes over," she spat. He didn't have enough time to argue that she'd already done it twice, and she continued. "Actually, it would make this situation wholly satisfying if you'd be a doll and just leave Creature right where it is as a consolation prize. You see… we'd love to watch it die."

From the way the other Skrulls looked towards Skye hungrily, Ward realized there was no way he'd get any of them to co-operate. Each one was as sadistic as the next.

"We have to try," said Wolfe. "It could be familiar to me."

That's all Ward had to hear to snap into action.

"Let's get her upstairs," Coulson said, but Ward was already moving. He grabbed Skye's shaking form, hauling her up to cradle her as carefully as possible. He moved quickly, trying to ignore her body's trembling movements as he rushed her upwards.

When he placed her inside what, to his mind, Hunter had appropriately dubbed the "magic healing thing", he couldn't help but feel bile in his throat. This was just like Italy. Hell, they were still in Italy! But it wasn't a hyperbaric chamber they were putting her in just to sustain her, it was an alien machine. One that would heal her.

Or it wouldn't.

Morse and Wolfe had had battle wounds. Yes, Wolfe's had been inflicted from his powers, but they were cuts on the skin. Marks and bruises. Outwardly showing. It was Skye's brain that was affecting her.

Would this machine even work?

Wolfe was at the controls with FitzSimmons, who'd gone over to see if their minds' knowledge could be of any help at all. Ward stood with the rest of the agents, each one as worthless as the next in the situation. They just waited. Watched her struggle.

That was probably the worst thing.

She was not unconscious. Her eyes still dashed about rapidly, trying to find something to latch onto or see, but she couldn't seem to actually find herself truly there, in the moment. She was just terrified.

Ward wished he could at least hold her hand just for a human touch of reassurance she wasn't alone, but the sealed pod kept him from doing something even as simple as that.

They found the machine's power switch.

Not only had they managed to turn it on, they got it working. The effects were instantaneous. Ward knew because along with the bright light, Skye stilled. Her eyes stopped searching. Degree by degree, she became aware.

The blood on her nose didn't disappear. It hadn't with Morse or Wolfe either, so it shouldn’t have been cause for concern. Still, Ward didn't like the sight.

The pod opened and she got up holding her head. Drawing back her hand she stared at the fingers that had brushed along her scalp, as though she was going to find remnants of something. Her hand touched her under her nose tentatively, noting the red liquid before wiping it off with her sleeve. She looked up at them in a slight daze.

"Uh…" she mumbled.

"Hey," Simmons cooed, being closest to the girl. "You strained yourself a bit hard with your abilities, we had to use the Skrull's machine on you."

"Uh huh…" Skye said thoughtfully. "These -" She swallowed. "These powers are like the definition of bittersweet," she commented tiredly, trying to give a small smile. “Good one moment, sucky the next…”

Apparently she'd been in so many life or death, rescued-after-a-hell-of-an-ordeal situations that her attitude was becoming accustomed to it as well, easily settling into wry comments.

Wolfe took the liberty of tucking her errant hair behind her ear, the gesture calming her as she released a heavy breath. Ward could tell they were already forming a strong a bond.

Despite there being many candidates and three much closer, Ward rushed forward to help her out of the pod. He offered a hand. She smiled, a drained look to her face that made such a simple gesture seem to take a lot of effort. But, more than anything, she appeared grateful.

Ward was just pulling her out of the pod when a slow clapping echoed off the walls. A drawn out, steady beat; loud against Grant's ears. All the agents turned about to see two new figures coming down the hall.

One appeared to be just a man. The other a woman, but not a woman like Ward had ever seen before in his life. Ward didn't exactly consciously do it, but he found himself pulling Skye just a little closer to himself.

"Well done humans!" rang out the over-zealous voice of the man. "I honestly didn't think you'd have it in ya. And zero casualties. Color me impressed, guys."

Ward managed to get a better look at the pair as they approached. The man was large, in the sense that he was bulky and surely very fit, as his skintight shirt was showing. A patch of hair black as night was slicked down on top of his head.

What concerned Ward was the woman. She moved as though she was floating, calculating each step to make her seem like she were proceeding forward in a trace. Her eyes were circular like saucers. Not in a sense of fear, but they truly did not seem like any other eyes he'd ever seen. They were perfectly round. She had thin blonde hair worn back in a braid, but what was alarming was that underneath it.

Her brain.

It was visible through her skin. There was no skull that Ward could see, but who knew? If skin could be translucent, perhaps so could bone.

"You were watching us?" asked Skye.

That would probably on the lower end of the spectrum for the questions Ward had in mind to offer. At the top was, "who are you?" and "where did you come from?" But at the highest point had to be "what the hell are you?"

The man chuckled. "Sure. Wanted to see how you'd do against the Skrulls. Pretty entertaining… I kept this planet's completely unequipped law enforcement away, FYI. You're welcome."

"Why didn't you help us?" exclaimed Wolfe in disbelief. "They're Skrulls for god's sake!"

He shrugged. "Just wasn't the time. And, well… I didn't really feel like it."

Ward couldn't take it anymore. "Who are you?"

"They're Inhumans, that's for sure," scoffed Wolfe.

"True," nodded the man. "My name is Alaris, and my companion is Desidera."

Desidera dipped her head in acknowledgement, eyes still wide and staring ahead as if not truly seeing. Not many things unnerved Grant, but this woman with a see-through head truly did.

"We're retrieving a prisoner," explained Alaris offhandedly. "Weeell…" He nudged his head back and forth, as if trying to decide how to word something. "Take into custody, I suppose is more appropriate."

He looked to the strange woman in askance, who bowed her head.

Then he grabbed for Skye.

"Hey!" Ward shouted, as well as a few of his teammates. Skye still mostly looked overwhelmed from her abrupt recovery while the man pulled her over, not struggling as much as she most likely would in normal circumstances. Everyone else had gotten feisty right off the bat, though they quieted once the Inhuman produced a gun as quickly as though he were already holding it.

"Whoa now, let's not get hasty," he said, gripping Skye's arm as he pointed his gun with the other hand. "I've just been ordered to take her in until the ritual date has passed."

Everyone visibly relaxed. Not that being taken into custody by an alien race was good in any way, it was nice to know that he only wanted her until her birthday.

"But that's tomorrow," Skye said. "The Skrulls are all locked up. I think I'll be ok on my own for one day. If you were planning on taking us to another planet… seems like a waste of gas."

Alaris quirked his mouth upwards. "Well, by the way I understand it, this ritual can be done every year."

Skye stared up at him. "But… that means the date will never pass for good."

He gave her a pitying smile, but it didn't meet his eyes. "Yeah. Shame."

Alaris brought out silver cuffs and slipped them onto Skye's wrists.

"You can't do that!" Wolfe growled, stepping up to the man. "You can't arrest her. She did nothing wrong!"

Alaris glanced over him curiously. "You're her father, right? You should know better than anyone that she can be taken in. She was an infant when you fled with her. We were going to take her then, too."

Wolfe looked beyond frustrated. He was livid. He spat through grit teeth, "how did you know where to find her?"

Alaris smiled. "Oh, you had her hidden pretty well, sir. No idea where she went for years. But that's why we have Desidera, here."

Wolfe looked to the other Inhuman, but she did not return the courtesy. Her eyes stared blank and dull, straight ahead.

"Skrulls came, so I could see," Desidera explained simply. Her voice was monotone, if not whimsical.

"Yeah…" Alaris said, obviously unimpressed with her explanation. "Don't really know how, but the Skrulls figured out where your child was before we did. We caught a prisoner, Desidera could see into his mind, and baddabing, we found the kid!" He scratched his own chin with the gun in his hand. "I think that's called following the breadcrumbs or something around here."

"Please don't do this," Wolfe suddenly begged. "Don't take her."

"Hey, at least the royalty has not ordered for her execution. Do you realize how dangerous she is? Here especially!"

Coulson scrutinized him. "What's wrong with Earth?"

Alaris chuckled, as though finding Coulson's ignorance amusing. "You, my friend, have quite the Skrull infestation. They're hiding all over this planet now! And unlike on Attilan, you have no idea what you're up against. So you see, we can't leave her here. She won't be safe. Though we are going to have to send over a team to deal with the Skrulls, because somehow that's our responsibility…" he muttered bitterly.

"So I'm going to some alien prison for the rest of my life?" Skye asked, bitterness seeping into her voice as well.

The Inhuman shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just the muscle to get you."

Ward felt anger prick at his skin like needles. "I thought you said they weren't executing her?"

"I said there's no execution order, yet. Maybe they'll make her go through Terrigenesis. She's a hybrid so it may kill her, but that blood status also means she ain't got any rights."

"But she's already done that!" exclaimed Simmons, stepping forward. "It didn't kill her, she has abilities."

"You do?" talking and looking to Skye as though a four year old had just presented him with a drawing he was expected to be proud of. "Well, come on, show me what you can do."

Skye wavered under his over-enthusiastic gaze, uncomfortable with his request. She shrugged. "Um… you feel bored and amused right now, which is kind of strange and almost impressive," Skye said. "I think you're bored and annoyed because this is taking longer than you'd like, but amused at our… ignorance."

"Hey, a baby empath! That's cute." He appraised her. "Suits you."

"So she can stay?" asked Fitz hopefully. Alaris' amusement seemed to climb up his face. He definitely liked the ignorance.

"No," he said with fake disappointment. "She still needs to stand trial, go into the system..."

"For what?" asked Wolfe, incredulous.

"Being an illegal alien, for running away, I don't know! That's the royals' business."

"But I took her away."

He shrugged. "I'd gladly take you in too, but warrant's only for the girl."

"She's only half-Inhuman, there's no way they will give her a fair trial!"

"Preaching to the choir, my man. Heh, earth expressions… anyway, I don't make the rules and I'm not a royal, just work for 'em," Alaris said, now truly showing his boredom. He put on hand on Skye's shoulder. "But we really need to get going."

May was the first one to spring up her gun, but it was quickly followed by Coulson, Ward and Trip.

"You'll have to get through us first," Coulson growled.

Alaris looked as though he were about to burst out laughing at the threat, but Skye spoke up before he got anything passed his lips.

"Coulson… I should just go with him," she said, sounding resigned.

"What? You did nothing wrong. You don't deserve this!"

"Look at what I did! I brought an alien invasion to Earth! Of course I don't want to go to prison, leave you guys, but… what choice do I have?"

"None, actually," Alaris mumbled.

"That wasn't your fault," Ward insisted, ignoring the Inhuman.

"But it happened because of me. People died because of me!"

Trip stepped up. "We took care of the Skrulls and we can damn well do it again."

Alaris took amusement in the exchange, suddenly chuckling. "Look, humans, thank you for helping out with the Skrulls. A few less for us to clean up," he said. "Though that sect was the major group hell-bent on getting their hands on this infant here, you've still got too many aliens on Earth for her to stay. And I've got orders. You need to realize that this is a good thing."

It was not a good thing. Skye going to spend her life in an alien prison on another planet that only thought of her as some kind of crossbred problem was not a good thing.

Even worse was that Skye was accepting it. Pleading with Coulson to let her go and now she couldn't even look at the team, eyes down. Could she possibly be ashamed of herself?

Simmons' eyes snapped up to Skye's keeper. "Do you realize the reason we had even a remote chance against the Skrulls was because of Skye?"

"Say it ain't so, little girlie," he sneered.

"She can tell when they're Skrulls," Fitz added. "It's a part of her power."

Alaris just stared a first. "That's nice," he said finally. He tightened his hold on Skye. "Now we're leaving."

There was a spark in Skye's eyes. Just a moment ago she’d been as dismal as she was resigned, thinking she was better off leaving. But Ward could tell she'd been shown she did have worth here.

"Wouldn't it be good to have someone like that here?" she asked. "You said it yourself: the Inhumans will have to come back here to get rid of the Skrulls. I could give them a head start."

"We could give them a head start," Coulson jumped in quickly. "That's what our organization does, tend to the things the rest of our public won't understand. With our resources and Skye, we can track them down."

"Hell of a lot off your plate," Skye finished.

His cocky attitude was definitely brought down, and Ward watched him mull over the proposal. "Can't really trust you with that…" he mumbled.

"You just saw what we can do!"

It was a British voice from the back of the group, and Ward looked over to see Hunter had joined the conversation. He was still huddled close to Bobbi, near protectively. Ward was a little surprised he decided to lend his voice at all.

"Yeah. I saw that you guys were holding on by the skin of your teeth. Honestly, I almost thought you wouldn't make it out."

"That was just a trial run," Coulson explained. "Obviously our first time is going to be a little bumpy."

Alaris looked tempted. He truly did. Eyes bright with the thought of not having to come back to the planet and deal with such a nuisance. But – "Look, humans, this isn't a negotiation." He lifted Skye's arms to show the cuffs that held her wrists together. "This is an arrest."

"But it's not just the convenient thing, it's the smart thing," said Wolfe. Alaris cocked his head with intrigue. "These people know Terra, and they're the few on this planet that have experience with extraterrestrial life forms." He paused, stepped forward. "So, let's say they do end up being under-matched. You'll have to bring a team down here, but you'll be able to get help from the SHIELD agents where you need it. And hey, maybe with them the Inhumans' team will get cut to shorter numbers so you'll be able to stay up on Attilan."

Wolfe smiled, friendly and conversational as he said the words. Trying to appeal to the other Inhuman. His eyes turned dark fast and sudden, his face taking a complete u-turn. "But trust me when I say if you take her away, they'll give you nothing, no information or aid, when you return to deal with the Skrulls."

Alaris inhaled a sharp breath.

He was seriously considering.

His companion moved her entire head so that her wide eyes settled on the Inhuman. "You would not follow orders?" she asked curiously.

He sighed. Looking rueful, but only for an opportunity he thought he was missing. Not for taking Skye away from the people she cared about. Not for taking prisoner someone who'd done nothing wrong.

"No," he said.

Then they were gone.

Disappeared, teleported. Ward didn't know. He just saw Alaris touch something on his wrist; it looked somewhat like a wristwatch. And all three of them evaporated.

It left a stunned silence in the air. The sudden absence of the banter and hope gave Ward whiplash, as he assumed it did to a few of the people around him.

Skye was gone. Truly gone. Arrested by some alien civilization and they'd never know what would become of her. If she'd be sent to jail or if they'd just decide it would be easier to kill her, put her to sleep like some mutt at the pound. Worst of all…

He didn't get to say goodbye.

Hell, he wasn't even looking at her. His attention happened to be directed at Alaris, so Ward couldn't even say what Skye's last emotion had been before she was ripped away from them forever. Scared, almost certainly. But Ward had to imagine a hopeful smile or another brave face, because that's what Skye would surely be doing.

That's what he hoped she'd been doing.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever.

"I'm sorry," Morse finally spoke up. "It's always hard to lose good agents."

That's when he heard Simmons start to tear up, muffled as it was as she buried her face into Fitz's shirt.

'Lose' hadn't been said in the sense that they'd literally lost track of Skye. There was a detached finality to the statement. Bobbi was saying it as though she'd died.

But there was still a chance.

"Wolfe," Ward said. "How did you get here?"

The older man turned to him, and Ward could actually see the tears brimming in his eyes. He shook his head sadly. "A ship. But it had broken down years ago from the trip being a length it was never meant to withstand, and then it was confiscated by the Skrulls…"

"We're in a spaceship now, are we not?" sniffled Simmons. "I mean, technically, if Wolfe knows anything-"

"Or we could reverse engineer it…" said Fitz.

"We could surely find some way!"

"Hold up," said Mack. "Are you guys talking about figuring out how to pilot a Skrull spaceship and go to another planet for one girl?"

"Yes," said Ward.

"Well that's mental," commented Hunter. "Though it's starting to appear to be a pattern with you people.

"Seriously?" said Bobbi flatly, looking to each of them. "I don't mean to throw salt in a fresh wound but… what we were up against? One casualty isn't that bad. I'm all for helping a fellow agent when it's at all possible but going to an alien planet? Isn't that overstepping the bounds and just… kinda insane?"

"We specialize in insane on our team, Morse," snapped Coulson. Bobbi looked a little stunned.

"He's not even joking," Hunter mumbled to her. "I've been with them a few days and they seem completely bonkers."

"Days?" she countered. "I'm seeing it and I've been here hours."

Ward scoffed. "The only reason you're still here is because of Skye," he said. "So maybe show her a little respect."

Morse's mouth popped open, and she shook her head. "I didn't mean to be inconsiderate. I just… stealing a spaceship? C'mon."

Coulson merely stared at her. "Fitz?"

"I'll see if I can find an engine," said the engineer.

Mack sighed. "Maybe I can help too. But no way in hell am I taking off in this thing."

Coulson nodded. "That's fair. Wolfe, do you know anything about this tech?"

He glanced around himself, obviously a little daunted by it. "I can take a look…" he said uncertainly.

"But you could get us there?" asked Simmons. "You would know the proper co-ordinates?"

Wolfe shrugged, laughing a bit. "Sure. If we could get this thing off the ground."

"We have to," May finally spoke up. "There's no other way."

"Like my grandma always used to say, 'you haven't tried anything unless you've tried everything,'" said Trip.

Simmons sort of scowled at that. Ward would have thought she'd try to protest against that particular saying, but Coulson preempted her.

"Then let's get a move on."

They were all about to take a step to go somewhere, anywhere to help, when there was a small "zap" noise.

"Ok, two things," said Alaris, rather un-climatically as he'd just come back from what Ward had figured to be a final goodbye. Disappointingly though, he was alone. "One, you people are just a little too determined for your own good. I was gone for about three minutes and you're already hijacking a ship you know nothing about? Not too smart, humans."

"Don't take our people and we wouldn't have to resort to drastic, and… arguably stupid, measures," Coulson said, rather simply.

Alaris cocked his head with a smile. "Can't argue with that logic," he said, causing the faces of the agents to be puzzled. "Which brings me to point number two. I talked with my superiors. They think leaving your friend here will help to get rid of the Skrull infestation," he said, before adding in a stern voice, "As long as your organization known as SHIELD aids her."

"Of course," Coulson answered automatically, if not still a little stunned.

"Then congrats, you're now all under official employment of the royal family of Attilan." Alaris looked to Wolfe. "You know what that means. They are ambassadors, but we can and will hold you and your daughter under law of the Inhumans if you do not follow the terms."

Wolfe nodded somberly. "I understand."

"Terms?" questioned Simmons.

"Ah yeah, my superiors are making them up as we speak," said Alaris. "Don't worry, they'll be sent to you." He focused back on the machine on his wrist once again. "But I should be getting back to my ship. Desidera isn't too happy about this. At least we got all those Skrulls to take back." He looked up at them and smiled. "Pleasure talking with you lot, quite eye opening. Catch ya later."

Just like that, he was gone.

Also just like that, Skye was back.

She stared in a sort of stupor at her hands, flipping them around and inspecting the wrists that no longer were clamped together with silver metal. Her head snapped up to them, and Ward could see the tears in her eyes. She took in a sharp breath.

"Guess they dropped the charges," she mumbled, eyes staring straight ahead and wide with disbelief. Surely, she was getting some very similar looks directed back at her. It wasn't long before the water building up spilled over and despite how hard she fought to keep her composure the tears overwhelmed her.

She shook her head almost immediately. "Ah god, I'm sorry," she sniffled, trying to hide the tears. "I just, there's a lot of emotion in here and you guys are really feeling sort of intensely."

"Of course we are!" said Simmons as she rushed forwards, pulling Fitz in her hand while Wolfe and Trip were hot on their heels. They all sort of collapsed into a group hug, Simmons and Fitz clutching her around the middle while Wolfe gave her a slight squeeze behind her shoulder. Triplett tried to just standing nearby, but Skye roped him in with a swing of her arm. "You were practically dead, and then you were nearly gone forever! I'd hate to think of life without you."

"Ditto. Definitely, ditto," Skye assured her as she broke off the embrace. "To everyone." She scanned the crowd, her eyes brushing over the three newest members before landing on May and Coulson. She took only a few long strides before they were in her clutches as well.

Trip laughed. "Guess no one is safe."

"This must be a group hug type of situation," Hunter whispered to Bobbi, who stifled a laugh.

"Don't worry, you're safe," Skye said flatly, though there was a ghost of a smile on her face. "But you're not."

It took Ward a moment to realize she was speaking to him. His mind was so backtracked that he didn't notice Skye rushing towards him until she was at his chest, her arms wrapping around his torso and nuzzling momentarily into him. His hands never even left the air before she backed up.

"There. I think that got all the hugging out of my system," she decided, shrugging.

"Good then," said Hunter, stepping forward with a clap of his hands. "So I can address the elephant in the room? Or, one of them, considering we just had two aliens come to talk to us and then bloody teleport away, but erm… mass mind control?" He cocked an eyebrow at Skye.

She shrugged, grinning guiltily. "Who… knew?"

"You didn't?" he asked. "You seemed pretty confident…"

"Trust me, never done that before. And… probably not going to repeat the experience. Considering the near death part of it all."

"I believe you can still push others' emotions without getting hurt Skye," said her father. "There were just too many of them to take at once."

She began shaking her head before he even finished talking. "No. It felt… wrong. No one should be able to do that to anyone else."

"But if it were the choice between killing a person or making them… pretty much, want themselves to go to jail, wouldn't jail be the better option?" asked Fitz.

Skye scuffed her foot on the ground. "I guess, when you put it like that…"

"How about we save this discussion for later?" suggested Coulson. "Let's get back to the BUS, figure out where to start on our new mission statement."

"Not to mention where we're going to keep a Skrull spaceship," said May.

"That too," Coulson agreed.

As he beckoned them forward, they all began to move out of the foreign place. They spoke to each other casually as the group made its way out. The mission was finished, and there was a finality to leaving it behind that made Ward's stomach crawl. Skye might have hugged him, let him in for the briefest amount of affection, but when this was all over… where would he go?

Back to SHIELD? Would they send him to jail? He certainly deserved it, for what he'd done.

Skye was safe now. There wasn't anyone after her blood, trying to make her a sacrifice or capturing her as a prisoner. She was changed, but she was now the lead-runner in a new mission for SHIELD.

Ward just wondered if he'd be allowed to partake in it.

Chapter Text

Being back on the BUS was strange.

SHIELD had fallen, really. The organization was never going to be what it had been again, or, it would take a very long time to recuperate. The only things the team had been doing lately had been helping keep Skye from killing an entire race with some ritual or working as vigilantes to get rid of the alien infestation.

Now it was all over.

Well, other than the new mission an Inhuman that plopped out of the sky handed to them.

The past few weeks had been so on-the-go, moving from one thing to the next, it was incredibly strange to have a breather. Though they had a big one, now. Finding all the Skrull cells on Earth wasn't going to be a one-day job. There was prep work and calling people and things that had to be spanned out, so there wasn't really an immediate threat. Heck, the Inhumans didn't even have a team on the way yet.

Bobbi had left. She'd gone to reconvene with her team and find out whatever mission Director Fury had next for her, Skye guessed. Skye was honestly curious, what with the man supposed to be dead and all… what would SHIELD become?

Hunter and Mack stayed behind, though. For now at least. Coulson wasn't too sure if he could use them, but for the moment they were around.

They'd gone back to the BUS. Chatted or debriefed or whatever would be the proper term. Had a couple celebratory beers before they created makeshift cots for Wolfe and the other newcomers.

Then everyone just… went to sleep. Like it was a normal day.

But it wasn't normal. Not to Skye. Not to her, when the last time she'd slept was as a prisoner on an alien spaceship. Same with Fitz. Not to mention her dad, only his stay had been for two years.

Which was probably why, despite having not slept in over a day and not getting very much sleep over the last week period, she laid awake in her bunk.

Where. she realized, the absence of extra emotions in her head was really nice.

When Skye put some distance between herself and other people the feelings went away, for the most part. But when people were sleeping it was like her powers were completely turned off. Skye actually would have taken the time to do something thoughtless like browse her Reddit or attack some easy codes, but her laptop had been damaged by the Skrulls by the time they'd found it. Fitz had told her it was pretty much beyond repair.

Skye supposed if there had to be a casualty, her laptop was probably the best sacrifice they could have hoped for. Still, she missed it.

So she just enjoyed the emptiness of her mind as she lay in bed, trying to lull herself into believing she was safe and ready to sleep.

Until she felt a quiet terror seep into her thoughts.

It was slow coming in, but it caused a shiver down her spine. Despite her own troubled memories she knew it wasn't originating from herself. Because as of the moment, she was more relieved than anything else.

Then she heard a whimper come from next door. Fitz's bunk.

Skye whipped off the covers and bolted out of her room to head straight into his. She didn't bother knocking and barged right in, as something was obviously very wrong.

Except he was asleep.

Apparently Skye couldn't feel people's emotions when they were asleep unless they were dreaming. Or having a horrific nightmare.

Because that's what she realized was happening. His eyes screwed shut, sweaty forehead, small grunted noises slipping passed his lips. Not to mention he was doused in a dark purple, which she'd learnt to mean scared.

At least he'd managed to fall asleep, was the thought that preempted what she decided to do about Fitz's terrified mind.

Skye closed her eyes and reached for him through her powers, trying to grip the source of unease and fear. It was a little slippery to hold onto, but once she did, she tried to push in some happy thoughts.

She thought of Simmons first, because she figured that was what would make Fitz happy.

But Fitz's emotions were strong at the moment as they tainted her happy thoughts. She was brought back to the ship in her own mind. Back to the Skrulls; back to whatever was most likely causing Leo so much distress as well.

She tried to push back again with her Simmons thoughts and was shoved with more Skrulls. It became a tug of war, or sorts. In her brain.

Fitz shot up from bed all of a sudden, gasping.

"Skye?" he asked, obviously groggy from sleep as his adjusting eyes tried to find her. "What's going... is there a reason you're in my bunk?"

"Uh," Skye started, suddenly feeling embarrassed about what she'd just attempted. And failed. Why hadn't she just woken him up like a normal person? "You were having a nightmare."

"Oh," he said, looking slightly started at the information, rubbing the sheets between his thumbs nervously. "I'm sorry I woke you."

Skye shook her head. "You didn't. I couldn't sleep."

"It's hard isn't it?" he asked quickly, as though knowing exactly her own feelings. Before she could answer, he scoffed and shook his head. "Eh, what am I saying? I know what you went through is really incomparable to what I did, being up for a sacrifice and all…"

"Hey. Even if I had had worse problems, it doesn't mean what you went through was cakewalk. And I didn’t. You were their prisoner for way longer than me."

"But I wasn't even awake for that part. Meanwhile, you were getting kidnapped and tricked and-"

"Want some hot chocolate?" Skye interrupted. It was amazing how quickly they'd flung into the conversation and been on the same page, as though they obviously needed to talk about it. Get it off their chests.

But Skye wasn't entirely comfortable with talking to Fitz in a bed as she loomed awkwardly over him. If they weren't going to sleep, they might as well have the conversation under more pleasant circumstances.

He smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

Skye made two mugs of the drink. She set one on the table in front of the couches before sitting down and tucking her feet underneath herself. It always struck Fitz as funny how girls did that when they sat cozily. He picked up the cup meant for him.

There was silence for a little while, but Skye finally heaved a heavy sigh.

"I don't even think I know what it's supposed to feel like, not wondering if I'm going to die in any given moment."

"Or tortured," Fitz said quietly, as that was what his mind had dwelt on in the past week. They'd needed Skye alive and therefore couldn't touch her, but he'd been fair game.

He wished he could take back bringing it up though, because she looked at him with heartbreak in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Fitz. None of that would have happened if it weren't for me."

"Hey c'mon, we don't have to go over this again. It wasn't your fault."

She took a deep breath. "I know. Or I think I know." She sighed in frustration. "I just can't get over the fact that you'd never have even been in that situation-"

"Skye," he said firmly, stopping her ramble. "You can't look at things like that. You've done plenty for this team and stopping Hydra. Maybe if you hadn't been here we'd all be dead. But we can't know how things would or wouldn't be. We know what is: you're here and that wasn't your fault."

She sniffled. He hoped he hadn't just made her cry.

"Ok," she said, wiping her eyes a bit. But they'd already been so red, maybe it wasn't from tears. "God, I'm so tired. It doesn't make any sense that I can't sleep…"

"Ah, sure it does," Fitz told her, making sure she knew such a thing was normal. "Anyone who goes through such a great amount of stress would have a rough time."

"I guess you're right. I actually was staying up a while just to hear the nothingness of people's thoughts… it was so nice for things to be quiet up here," she said peacefully, then shook her head with a scoff. "God, I'm such a freak…"

"Hey, no you're not," Ftiz cooed gently. "You're just different now, and there's nothing wrong with that."

Skye stared at him warily. "I tried to push the nightmare out of your head with my weirdo mind powers," she said bluntly. "I think I'm a little more than just 'different'."

Ok, so Fitz hadn't exactly been expecting that.

"Did it work?" he asked. "I don't really remember…"

"Uh, I don't think so. You woke up when I started having a hard time with it." She shrugged.

"Well… thanks for trying."

She scoffed a laugh. "Yeah, because I couldn't have just tapped you on the shoulder or anything."

"Well, it was hard for me to fall asleep in the first place," he admitted. "So it was kind of nice of you to try to not wake me."

"It's weird. It's like I don't feel… safe anymore. I know it's ridiculous cause that's my bunk and I've always slept there but… that's just how I feel."

Fitz nodded in understand. "Yeah, I feel the same. Plus it's strange not sleeping with you." Fitz caught a small smile creeping onto Skye's face, and his cheeks immediately reddened. "I mean, sleeping with you around, not with you, or in the same bed, even if there was only one cot-"

"I got it, Fitz," she said, laughing a bit. It was a nice sound. "I feel the same."

It wasn't that he even liked Skye in that way, but girls always made him flustered. Even his best friends.

His other best friend just turned out to be more anyway.

"Do you think we should try getting back to bed?" he suggested as Skye yawned, her tired eyes looking like they'd love nothing more. The way she stiffened told an opposite story, though.

"Yeah, I guess it's worth a shot."

"Right, worth a shot…" he mumbled, the prospect not entirely enticing for him either. He took her empty mug and his, planning to drop them in the sink on the way to his bunk. "Well, good night."

"Hey Fitz?"

He turned about. "Yeah?"

"Do you think… maybe we could- mm, nevermind, it's stupid."

"You can ask me. It's ok," he prompted.

She was looking down, but quickly brought her eyes right into his. "Would you… would you maybe want to sleep on the couches tonight? Just tonight."

He wasn't exactly sure if she heard it, but Fitz exhaled a sigh of relief at that question. "I think that would be lovely, Skye."

The edges of her mouth turned up in a smile. "I'll go get some blankets."

May watched the agents carefully as they lay down. Fitz stretched out on the couch, while Skye curled up into a chair and they each closed their eyes. It was barely a minute before the sounds of each agent’s breathing increased to low, drawn out breaths. She concluded them to have already fallen asleep.

"You heard them too?"

May had sensed Coulson behind her before he said anything, but waited to turn around until he’d made himself known. She looked back just as he stopped to stand next to her, glancing at the two on the couch.

"I heard Fitz first," she said. "By the time I got here though, Skye was handling it."

"But you would have if she weren't," Coulson said presumptively. May didn't have to answer because it wasn't a question. She might not have done much, but no one knew as well as her the way traumatic experiences could affect the mind. She'd have given him the support he needed if it had come to that.

"I heard them both up and talking," Coulson continued. "It's odd for people to be awake at this hour, but I wouldn't have bothered coming down if it had been anyone else…"

"They'll be ok," May assured him. "We got them back."

"We still don't know what happened."

"And they may never tell us," May said, thinking it was most likely the truth. "But we'll know when they need support and we'll be there to give it to them."

Coulson grinned. That grin was never good. "You're a secret sentimentalist, aren't you?"

May just rolled her eyes.

"Well, I don't think I'm sleeping anymore tonight," Coulson said. "You?"

"Probably not."

"That's not really saying much though. Your alarm's about to go off soon anyway, isn't it?"

"I was actually planning on sleeping in."

"What, 'til dawn?" Coulson gave her that grin again and she felt a quirk in her lip.

"If we're not sleeping, we might as well work on Simmons' project," May said. "She wanted it ready by tomorrow afternoon, but maybe we could set it up for the morning."

Phil sighed. "Ok, maybe you're just a secret workaholic," he said cheekily. "But I agree."

They headed downstairs towards the lab, Coulson leading the way. Melinda was happy of the fact. It was easier to hide the smirk the man had left on her face.

Chapter Text

Skye felt like she hadn't had such a decent sleep in ages, as last time had probably been before Hydra came out of the shadows. She couldn't remember when she'd last slept for so long. Sunlight was pouring in high from the window, telling her it was at least around noon.

But they were on a plane. Could have gone to any time zone. So, maybe that really didn't mean much.

She stretched as she glanced about. Fitz was gone, his blanket and pillow absent with him. Skye wondered if he'd managed to fall asleep on the couch at all or if he'd only stayed out there to humor her. She supposed it didn't matter, but his presence truly had helped her to rest. So she had hopes that she'd been able to aid him as well instead of being a hindrance.

"Oh good, you're awake!" came a cheery English voice.

"Hey, yeah," she said, giving another stretch. "Morning Jemma."

Jemma chuckled. "Oh well, I think you mean afternoon."

"Ah, really? Dang…"

"Yes, but it's completely understandable," Simmons said, waving her off. "I'm just rather surprised how you were sleeping so soundly on that couch! Not the most comfortable piece of furniture…"

"Better than my bed, actually. But Fitz helped."

"Fitz?" asked Simmons, sending a blip of surprise through Skye from her. "He slept out here as well?"

"Mmm yeah…" Skye said, voice drawing back with embarrassment. "I guess we just didn't want to be alone."

It wasn't that Skye assumed Simmons would be worried about Fitz and her… trying anything together even given how recent their new relationship status seemed to be, Skye just felt extremely foolish about needing a sleeping buddy in order to get herself relaxed enough to shut down for the night.

But of course, Simmons didn't judge her. In fact, extreme understanding flew through her.

"Oh, that makes complete sense! I'm glad you were able to rest."

"Me too," Skye said with the utmost sincerity. She didn't realize exactly how tired she'd been until she could compare it to how refreshed she felt now.

"Well, do you think you're up for running some diagnostics in the lab?"

Skye's brow furrowed, because at first she didn't understand the question. She'd never helped Jemma with science stuff before. But she realized…

"Oh. For my powers."

"Yes! While it is nice that we have your father around to answer any technical questions we have, it seems that every power is unique and we'd like to start understanding yours fully straight away!"

Skye had expected this. Eventually. Maybe not first thing in the morning, after all that had happened. (Afternoon. Whatever.)

Maybe they were starting so quickly because there was a lot of ground to cover. That Jemma was going to have to keep her locked up and examined for days. Skye had, after all, bent a hoard of people's minds to her will… maybe they thought she was dangerous and needed it under control.

Before she just invaded privacy a little. Now, she supposed, it was a lot more.

Then there was the fact that Jemma was literally radiating excitement, apparently at the prospect of studying Skye. Even outwardly, she looked incredibly eager. It was a little unnerving.

Still, Skye accepted. "Of course. Should we head down now?"

"Oh, erm… why don't you freshen up a bit first?" Simmons suggested. "It's probably going to take a while."

"Mind if I shower?"

"Go right ahead! And feel free to put on some nice clothes for the day."

She raised an eyebrow. "Nice clothes for a day in the lab?"

"Ah, well, it might not take all day and… even so, it's always nice to feel fresh and pretty, isn't that right?"

"Um, sure."

Skye didn't really see why she needed to be primped at all to go be poked and prodded with needles and exams. If it were any sort of in depth examination, Skye assumed Jemma would have her put in a medical gown anyway.

Still, she was grateful for the time to at least brush her hair and teeth. Skye in the morning was surely not a wonderful sight.

What she was not grateful for was Jemma standing just outside her bunk after she'd changed from the shower.

"Whoa," Skye said as she started, nearly running into the beaming scientist. "Are you uh… waiting three inches away from my door for me?"

Jemma's smile faltered, her mouth turning into an 'O' momentarily. "Ah… yes I suppose that could have, possibly, been considered waiting for you, in the strictest sense of the word, or any, sense of the word…" She cleared her throat. "Anyhow, are you ready?"

"Wow, you're really excited to see my… insides, huh?" Skye asked warily.

"Oh, why, yes of course! You produce so very interesting blood, DNA and such. I'm going to need many samples. Lots and lots of samples! Let's get a move on, shall we?"

For lack of a better phrase, Simmons was freaking her out. Skye still supposed it was for the best and followed the girl downstairs. They swept around the spiral staircase. When Skye saw the lab though, her mouth popped involuntarily open.

Not only were there a few extra people than she'd imagined would be around, and by a few she meant everyone remaining on the plane, but the lab had gone through a sort of metamorphosis.

There were streamers hanging from the ceiling. Balloons were wafting their way across the floor. But most noticeably, there was a cake sitting on the center table with three words written on it that Skye could honestly say she'd forgotten about.

"Happy birthday, Skye!" Simmons exclaimed, turning around to hug her. Skye was nearly too shocked and grateful to return the embrace, staring at the rest of the team. They were all beaming, each holding a glass of what looked to be champagne.

"Who… who did all this?" she managed through the stupid smile that was taking up most of her face.

"Ah well, Simmons really thought of the idea," said Fitz, beaming as though proud.

"But Coulson and May were the ones who actually put it together, in the middle of the night no less!" Jemma exclaimed.

Trip stepped up. "We all figured that you deserved something good though."

Hunter, who'd been hanging out in the back of the lab with Mack, stood up from his leaning on the wall. "Yeah, and since you weren't made to be a sacrifice like they'd planned for today, it's kind of like a birthday party slash celebration of life thing!

Skye rolled her eyes and sighed, the smile way too large on her face to be considered serious. "A birthday party is a celebration of life, genius."

"Ah," he said lightly in realization. "So it is."

Skye nodded thoughtlessly, happy tears threatening to overflow her eyes. She'd figured she'd cried enough for an entire lifetime, but somehow these felt fresh. Different. In a very good way.

"Thanks you guys," she managed to mumble as Simmons pulled her forwards so that she was in front of the cake at the table.

"You've earned it," May said, causing Skye to look at her in surprise at the comment, causing Skye to see that even she was smiling. That was a birthday present in it of itself.

"Plus, it's an excuse for cake," Coulson said. Skye realized he had a large kitchen knife, hovering eagerly over the pastry. "I'd never miss that opportunity."

"Who would?" her dad put in.

"I like the way these guys think," said Hunter. "How about we cut the damn thing already?"

"Wait, wait! I have candles!" Simmons shouted frantically. "Fitz, do you-"

"I have the lighter, Jem," he assured her. Skye watched as her friends scrambled about the medical appliances to get them on the cake.

"So… the lab for a birthday party?" Skye asked.

"Kitchen's too small," explained Fitz, lighting the candles as Jemma put them on.

"Then Fitz and you sort of took over the longue last night…" Ward said, a little playful blame in his voice. Skye knew he didn't mean anything by it, but she felt her cheeks heat up.

"There!" chirped Jemma, lifting her hand away from the cake. "Twenty six candles!"

"Very precise, Agent Simmons," Triplett acknowledged.

"Thank you! Now on the count of three, we'll sing. One-"

"Hold on a minute Simmons," said Coulson. "I said I'd do balloons and banners, but we never said singing."

"Oh, but it's tradition!"

"And I have a mad set of chords," put in Triplett, while Hunter shook his head in slight disgust and Mack just sighed. Fitz looked slightly frozen, like he wasn't too keen on the song but wasn't going to fight Simmons on such a thing. Ward was as unreadable as May, though she did put in a solid "I don't sing."

Her father just looked ecstatic about any possible turn of event.

"Yeah Jemma," Skye said. "We could probably hold off on the song. I think I'd sort of feel indebted to them, and maybe… scarred."

"Y'all are missing out," mumbled Trip.

"Oh but you'll blow out the candles at least, won't you?" Simmons asked. Though Skye had no intention of letting them sit there on fire in the first place, she would have folded against the scientist's puppy-dog pout even if she'd had even the greatest reluctance towards it.

"Of course." Skye made her way to the front of the cake, leaned over the thing, breathed in, and-

"Don't forget to make a wish, Skye!" Fitz exclaimed.

Skye quirked up the side of her mouth. "Don't worry, I didn't forget."

She blew out the candles, followed by everyone clapping their hands accompanied with a couple lighthearted cheers. Coulson was still eager to get his knife into the cake, doing so only after Fitz gathered off all the candles to carefully lick the remaining frosting off each one. Simmons looked slightly disgusted, but then he held one up to her mouth, at which point she took a taste as well.

Skye had lied about making a wish. Ok, she didn't lie because she didn't forget to make a wish, she just didn't need to. This was her wish. It had been for her entire life. Every birthday growing up, every star that flew across the sky or every penny in any fountain, she'd wished for a family. For togetherness on holidays and birthdays that didn't need presents so long as she had people who loved her. But Skye had stopped believing, eventually. After so many lonely nights where she'd returned unwanted, she’d never imagined she'd find people who cared about her this much or her biological parents, and somehow, she'd gotten both.

Maybe candles and pennies and stars were more reliable than Skye had given them credit for.

"Guys! I'm turning twenty-six, not five. I may be loving the party but I don't need presents," said Skye. "That's too much!"

"Oh, come now," Simmons replied. "You know we enjoy giving them to you probably more than you like receiving them."

"Probably." Skye smiled. "But I'm still really grateful."

"It's your birthday Skye, you deserve nothing less. Fitz! You give her yours first."

Leo perked up. "Oh! Right. Let me just go grab it…" he said, bolting from the room.

"No one told me we were doing presents!" Hunter protested.

"You probably wouldn't have even come if it weren't for the booze," said Mack. "Now you're saying you'd have gotten the girl a gift?"

"Well, I'd feel like a much nicer booze moocher if I'd have gotten her something with everyone else."

"You've known me for like a day," Skye pointed out. "I think I can forgive you. Booze mooch away."

Fitz came back with a large package that had to be at least four feet in length. It was wrapped sloppily, giving it an outline that looked like some sort of body.

He set it down in front of Skye. "There ya go, birthday girl."

Just before Skye dove into the gift she heard Simmons harshly whispered to Fitz, "what in the world is that?"

Fitz didn't answer, though his face did get a little red. As Skye uncovered the package she understood why.

It was a monkey. A giant stuffed animal monkey with a bow around the neck.

"Wow… thanks Fitz!" Skye exclaimed, picking up the plushie and giving it a hug. "I love it!"

He beamed. "How couldn't you! So his name's Henry, and –"

Jemma slapped his arm. "Fitz! I thought you were getting her new microprocessors!"

"C'mon Jemma! How could I pass this little guy up?"

"Little?" said Skye. "I doubt he's going to fit in my bunk."

"That's a good point," Fitz said, pointing a finger at her. "You should just keep it in the lab."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Simmons. "We are not keeping that in the lab."

"He could be like the monkey assistant we've always wanted!"

She scoffed. "We? We never-"

"Hey, lover's quarrel," Skye interrupted. "No worries, I think I can shove it into my bunk."

"See?" said Fitz. Giving another wary glance at Simmons he inched closer to Skye's face and spoke in hushed tones. "But Skye, honestly, if you really think there isn't room I could always keep it in my bunk-"

Simmons hit him again.

"Alright, my turn," Triplett said, stepping forward. He grabbed a small box out of his shirt pocket and gave it a toss upwards before catching it and setting it in front of Skye.

"A ring?" Skye said as she inspected the box closer. She couldn't help the first thought that came to mind, donning a southern accent. "Aw, my dearest Antoine I do so accept your proposal! My daddy's right over there ready and waitin' to give you his blessin'!"

"C'mon, you know I'm classier than that," he said. "If that were the case, I'd have at least have to take you out to eat. Maybe even splurge and go to Wendy's."

"Well that's as classy as you can get," Skye said wryly, opening the box. Her mouth fell open as a chuckle escaped when she saw what was inside. "No wait, I think this might pass it up on the classiness scale."

"What is it?" asked Hunter, peeking around Coulson's shoulder.

May smirked. "A mood ring."

Skye had put it on, now holding it out in front of herself as to admire it and sighed. "Thank goodness. Now instead of just knowing everyone else's emotions I'll be able to see what I'm feeling too!"

"What does it say for right now?" asked Coulson, a little curious.

"Mmm." Skye looked at the paper guide telling her what each color meant. "Grouchy. Oooh, this thing is on point. Birthday parties with the best friends a girl could have are a cesspool for grouchiness. I should start relying on this instead of my gift!"

"Ah, see?" said Trip. "You ain't that special. I've had those since I was five."

They all laughed, the sound slowly dimming until Skye was looking around awkwardly. Inquiring for more presents was probably rude, but she didn't want to declare it ended if anyone else had indeed been nice enough to get her something.

It wasn't until a moment later that she realized certified ninja Melinda May had crept up to her side, her hand open with what looked like a watch laying on her palm.

"Is that for me?" Skye asked. Somewhat dumbly. They were giving her gifts and she was handing it to her. Still, May nodded.

Skye looked at the object closer now that she'd gotten it into her own hand. "Hey, it's a Fitbit! They measure your heart rate and stuff. Thank you!"

That was the moment she dared to give the Calvary a hug. Luckily, she didn't use any ninja knowhow on Skye, but accepted the embrace by giving her a pat on the back.

"You didn't even bother to wrap it?" asked Hunter incredulously. "What sort of SO are you?"

"May's not my SO," Skye said, and unable to help but have her eyes flick to Ward. He was behind everyone else, leaning against the wall as though he didn't belong there. To be honest… Skye couldn't help but agree with his caution. If she were in his situation she'd be doing the same thing.

When Coulson's eyes drifted to the man he got up and left. Skye felt a pang of concern shoot through her and she was pretty sure the feeling was coming from herself. But being the current center of attention, she didn't go after him.

Simmons did, though.

Still, this seemed to be unnoticed by everyone else.

"I could be," May said, drawing Skye's attention back to her. "Your SO."

"You'd train me?"

May nodded. "As long as you're willing to put the effort into my schedule."

"Oh, don't do it girl," warned Trip. "That woman wakes up before the sun does."

"But I can wipe your ass on the mats, Trip."

He shrugged. "Fair point."

"That would be amazing," Skye said, hoping her voice reflected the utter gratitude she was feeling. "Thank you."

May smiled, but Skye could see Coulson waiting near impatiently out of her peripherals.

"Aw AC, you too?"

"My gift's pretty practical," Coulson said, eagerly holding out a blue and green gift bag. "Wouldn't get too excited.

Skye took out the tissue paper and her eyes grew wide. She gasped.

"This… yes!" she exclaimed. "Thank you Coulson!"

She threw him into a hug.

"I figured I need my computer analyst to have her own computer," he said as she dropped her arms.

"I love it!" she said. "Man, I can't wait to download-"

"Backtrack? It's already on there," he said smugly.

She squinted curiously. "Backtrack Three or Four?"

"Two," he said, catching her trick question. She couldn't help but squeal.

"Thank you!" she said again and couldn't resist an extra hug.

It was with great difficulty that she set the gift off to the side because she truly couldn't wait to try it out! The SHIELD computers were great, and definitely necessary, but nothing beat having your own personalized laptop.

"Guess I'm next," Wolfe said, stepping forward. "I'm sorry I didn't even think to wrap it but… this was your mother's."

Her father produced a gorgeous silver necklace. It wasn't much, just a chain with a single crystal looped on the end. But the rock was pearly white, shiny and sleek, the simplicity only making it all the more appealing.

"It's beautiful," Skye said in earnest. She inspected the jewelry as it dangled in front of her face. "Would you mind if I wore it?"

He got flustered as though it was the strangest question he'd ever come across. "Of course not!"

She gave the chain back to him and turned around as she held up her hair, allowing him to place it around her neck.

Skye toyed with the links once she had it on, examining it even closer. She realized there was a tiny charm, just a small golden sliver, next to the crystal. It was shaped as a moon and stars.

Wolfe saw her eying it. "Crystal wanted something of you close to her heart. So she added the charm."

"I was born on the moon…" Skye mumbled.

"Perfect for our little Luna, or for our Skye.”

Then she flung her arms around the man and hugged him. "Thank you, dad."

"See, I knew she'd start calling him dad sooner or later," she heard Hunter's voice, but other than rolling her eyes a bit she decided to ignore the comment.

Wolfe pressed a hand into her hair behind her neck to return the embrace, and she felt warm and caring feelings flow from him along with the entire room. Except one place.

Coulson was in front of her. Though he was happy, there was a sadness resonating from him as well.

Skye knew there was enough room in her heart for both her fathers; she just had to make sure they knew that too.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Simmons asked as she followed in Ward's wake, immediately after he'd walked away from the group.

"Hell if I know…" he mumbled. "I'm leaving."

"Now, you wait just a minute!" Jemma said, storming in front of him. "What happened to that present you got this morning, hmm?"

"It's not like she's going to miss some ridiculous ornament she doesn't even know about," he scoffed.

"Well I know about it!" Jemma insisted. "Ward… have you even properly spoken to her since we've gotten them back?"

He hadn't. She knew he hadn't. Even if Ward was voted to leave by the team, or even himself, Simmons knew it wouldn't be fair if he'd do it with no closure for Skye.

"Not really, but-"

"Then you get your arse right back in there, Grant Ward! You can't just slink away from us."

He grunted a bit. "But this is stupid. I can't believe you convinced me to get it…"

"You picked it out in the first place. The fact that you're second-guessing it only proves that you have problems with sentimentality and intimacy."

Ward's brow furrowed, which was about as close as you could get to the man being flustered. "Who said anything about intimacy?"

Simmons sighed and couldn't help but smile. She wasn't sure anyone could have fallen for a girl harder than he had, even with her knowledge of how Fitz felt about herself now. Even if Skye didn't reciprocate the feelings enough for anything to come of it, they'd both be worse off if they never discussed it.

"She's speaking with Coulson now," Jemma informed him. "Just give it to her when they're done. You don't have to do it in front of everyone… I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Ward huffed. "Fine."

Jemma smiled as he stomped back into the lab. That was about as positive of a response as she figured she'd get out of him and felt she'd done a job well done.

"AC?" Skye called to Phil as the rest were dispersing, finding smaller conversations and dipping back into the food and drink.

"Yeah Skye?"

"I just..." She sighed. "I guess I wanted to thank you."

He cocked his head. "For what?"

"For everything," she said as if she just realized this. "You… you gave me everything."

He smiled warmly at her, feeling slightly abashed but proud. "Ah Skye, I didn't give you anything. You earned it for yourself."

She shook her head. "You gave me a chance. So few people would do that for someone like me… you helped me find my family. As much as I love my father, I'm not just talking about him."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you feel that way, but those bonds you formed were your own to make."

"I know, I just… well, I want you to know that I… I really care about you," she said, before adding in a quieter and more hesitant voice. "You're the first real fa…ther figure I'd ever had."

He felt himself go still.

Father figure, right? That hesitant bundle of words was ‘father’?

Surely, Coulson cared about Skye. When she'd been gone, though he'd never admit it in front of his agents, his heart cried a little more for her than Fitz every night when they still hadn't come home.

But the fact that she felt the same even with her own father just over to the side was...

A pretty big compliment, really.

"Oh," he said, in absence of other words while his brain tried to calculate a more appropriate response. "Um…"

"I'm sorry, if that was too much. I just thought you should know." She laughed. "You are kinda like the papa bear of the team. I hope you're at least aware of that."

He chuckled. "I guess I could have figured that out. But really, the fact that you see that much in me means a lot."

"I know," she said, then seemed to catch herself. "Sorry… I wasn't trying to pry into your head or anything."

"No you're fine," he assured quickly and shrugged. "Heck, I want you to know anything I'm feeling. It's easier than talking about emotions."

She tried to smile but it was fairly forced. "I feel like I'm invading everyone's unwilling minds all the time. And… it doesn't feel good."

"All of us understand that you can't help it. No one blames you even if you feel some things we'd rather not share."

"That doesn't mean it's fair to everyone."

"You're right. And if you really want to learn to control it better, you have an Inhuman father and a team of SHIELD agents to help you in any ways we can."

"Thank you," she replied shyly.

"So how do you feel about going on the Index?" Coulson asked, before he got too emotional for her.

"Uh…" Skye shrugged. "I hadn't really thought about it because my powers were kinda harmless before. Other than making people feel a little awkward I didn't think I could do anything. But now, what I did to the Skrulls… I could seriously hurt someone."

Coulson nodded. "I know."

"So before if I got put on the Index it was pretty much protocol. I'd be on the Power People list, that's cool, whatever. Now it's like… a precaution. Like someone has a hand on me if I ever lose my grip."

"Mhmm. And how does that make you feel?"

She scrutinized him. "What are you, a shrink?"

"No. But you will be seeing a therapist in the near future."

"Whoa whoa, what now?"

"It's standard protocol."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "While I'm really not a fan of them, I guess it's only fair to share my feelings when I know… everyone else's."

"Good way to look at it."

There was a small pause before Skye decided to answer his question. "Being on the Index… It's not a bad feeling, knowing that SHIELD wouldn't ever let me slip up too bad. But…"

"Scary?"

"Yeah."

"That's ok to be scared. It's completely normal. You're probably beginning to understand that better than anyone, actually."

"Oh… yeah. I guess I am."

She hugged him then. Though it seemed out of the blue he was fairly prepared for it. He was learning Skye liked to give attack hugs when she felt sentimental or grateful. It was one of the many things he loved about her and the extraordinary woman she was turning out to be.

Skye nuzzled herself into his neck. He felt her smile.

"I love you, too," she whispered.

He was a little shocked, but tried to suppress it. Skye was only calling them as she saw 'em.

Even if she’d interpreted his own emotions before he did, she was one-hundred percent right.

"What were you talking to Ward about?" asked Fitz.

"Oh, just Skye," said Simmons.

"Hm," was all Fitz had to grumble.

It baffled him how Ward could just be walking around a bloody birthday party, as though he hadn't betrayed them all. Leo had tried to see the good in him right until what would have been the end, had the Skrulls not gotten to him.

Ward… he tried to murder them. Fitz couldn't just forgive that.

"How can you talk to him like that, Jemma? Like he's just another person."

Simmons turned to him, searching his face curiously. "Well… because he is just another person Fitz. Another person who was manipulated from the start of his life and the moment he realized he'd been wrong has been trying to make up for it."

"Yeah, the moment he realized. I pointed it out to him a dozen times on the plane and he still didn't help us. How could he do that?"

Jemma cocked her head. "Think about it like this, Leo: say I'm Hydra."

"Don't even joke, Jemma…"

"It's not a joke it's a hypothetical example! Now listen. So I've just told you I'm Hydra. You have no preconceived notions about the organization and I've made it appear rather inviting, as well as saying it's really a means to an end anyway if you were to disagree with the organization's mission statement. You believe it for years and then say… Skye, who you like and trust but have only known a few months, tries to convince you otherwise. She says that I'm evil over just a couple hours. Do you think you'd jump to her thinking immediately?"

Fitz shuffled his feet. "No, I suppose not."

Simmons put a hand on his shoulder. "Ward's trying to do the right thing. And you're precisely right: he's done plenty of awful things. But if we don't give him at least one second chance… I feel like we're just as bad as Hydra. Even Coulson believes in second chances."

"Just as long as you don't ask for a third," Fitz continued.

Jemma smiled. "Right."

"You're the most kind person I know, Jemma," Fitz told her. "I don't think many people could be that forgiving."

"Ah." She waved him off. "It helps that he's already begun to prove himself. I wasn't too keen on him being here at first, of course."

"When I was still away?"

Simmons nodded sadly as though reminiscing before wrapping him into a hug.

"You have no idea how glad I am that you're safe," she said. "I'm never going to let you out of my sights again," she vowed, releasing him. "Even if it means we have to have sleepovers with Skye every night."

"Oh…" Fitz blushed. "About that, Simmons…”

"Come on Fitz, I know you two didn't do anything."

Leo straightened up. That wasn't even what he was going to say but… somehow, he felt offended. "Oh you do, do you? You know, just because I haven't been with many ladies in the past doesn't mean I don't have any charm, Jemma Simmons. Skye and I… we could have… I can be sexy!"

"Of course you can!" Simmons insisted lightly. She pecked him on the lips. "Especially when you're flustered."

The comment sort of… irked him. Like she was just pacifying an insistent child.

Well, it was now or never.

Fitz literally swept Jemma off her feet, dipping her low to give her the hardest kiss he'd ever attempted in his life. He was pleased to see when he let up a dazed pleasure in her eyes, shock as well.

"I can be sexy," he repeated lowly.

(He was trying really, really hard to be sexy.)

It didn't help that he realized a moment too late that she was becoming increasingly heavy to his arms.

And they collapsed.

Jemma went into a fit of joyous laughter almost immediately, making Fitz smile even though he'd pretty much just humiliated himself. The sound was just so wonderful.

She cupped his cheeks and planted him with an enthused kiss.

"Damn well you can," Simmons chuckled.

"And what's going on over here?" asked Triplett cheekily, walking up with a few of the others.

"This a common position for you two?" Hunter asked as he approached. "You really need to get a room, plus a tie for the door…"

Triplett laughed. "Nah, it ain't like that. They're best fri…" Triplett looked over the pair of them. Simmons was biting her lip and Fitz looked… well he looked smug. "Well damn."

Skye was beaming as she walked over, clapping like a five year old with excitement. "Isn't it great? We can totally use FitzSimmons as a ship name now!"

"Ship… what?" asked Mack.

"A ship name," she said. "Like relation…ship. It's like- ok, we don't have to…"

"Yes, if we could not do that, please," laughed Simmons. "We can still be FitzSimmons if you so prefer-"

"But continuing to be used in the same sense that it always has," finished Fitz.

The others agreed. They didn't hold the spotlight on FitzSimmons for too long, all breaking up into other chatterings. It was almost like old times.

But Simmons held onto his hand longer than she ever had before and Fitz couldn't keep the pleasant smile off his face.

"So, the bracelet."

Ward turned to the sound of her voice. He actually felt startled, because he was deciding when would be the exact correct moment to go talk to her. When she was done speaking with Coulson she'd immediately gone to FitzSimmons, then Mack and Hunter joined in and Ward was just staring off into space making a plan of attack when she struck him with a question.

Right. The question.

Ward looked down at his wrist. "What about the bracelet?"

"When does it get to come off?" she asked, as though he should have known this was the question.

"Whenever Coulson deems it, I suppose," Ward said gruffly.

"Oh right, that's why Coulson told me to come talk to you," she said wryly, her tone feigning forgetfulness. "You'll like this." She grabbed his hand, bringing it up before her face. Her lips nearly brushed over the fist he was making. "Disengage bracelet."

The thing just fell off, clattering onto the ground.

"Huh," Ward remarked.

"I know. Doesn't it just eat away at you?" she asked cheekily.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked. He hoped she didn't absorb the worry from inside him as he wondered if this was Skye's way of telling him to leave. That would sting much worse than just having left to a blaring alarm thirty minutes ago.

"Because you earned it," Skye said simply. "You took this chance and you ran with it, Ward. You've taken every opportunity to help and you did."

Grant didn't know what to say. Yes, he'd been making the best of this situation, but surely Coulson would want extra precaution around him still. It had been all of about two weeks since he'd brought him and Skye to a Hydra compound. They weren't idiots, and though his intentions had been pure it would be all too understandable to think he was still not one hundred percent truthful.

"Plus I'm basically a human lie detector," Skye added at Ward's confusion. "So as long as you stick with me, Coulson said it's fine."

"Do you… would you be ok with me hanging around you?"

Skye tucked some hair behind her ear. "Well, yeah. I sort of suggested it."

"You did?" Ward asked, making sure to keep his voice even.

Skye jerked like she'd been hit. "Whoa there, tone down the excitement level or you may blow me over."

Ward nearly felt his cheeks redden. They didn't, but the fact that Skye could probably feel it anyway didn't help his stopping of the reaction in the first place.

"What did the Skrull mean when she said I was a character in her show?"

Skye seemed as though she'd been landed with another blow, but this time not from a physical force. She appeared suddenly beaten. Like she was about to cry.

Stupid, Grant.

He had decided before not to bring that up. Skye had cut the alien off for a reason and he wasn't going to pry. But embarrassment had had him grappling for a new conversation header and that was the first thing that popped into his mind.

Skye shifted uncomfortably. "While Fitz and I were there… the Skrulls liked to play games with us. And… trick us," Skye admitted quietly. She scoffed. "They thought it was entertaining."

He wanted to tell her to stop. Hearing this… it made rage build up in him he knew she'd rather not see. But Skye hadn't attempted to change the subject or deflect in any of her usual ways. She was opening up to him, and damn if she didn't deserve something a little cathartic. So he remained stoic.

"Anyway," she continued casually. "One time they pretended to capture you and Simmons. Like, they morphed into you or whatever and started… hurting you. Which was horrible to watch in the first place, but it got worse."

Ward stiffened.

"They made it seem like you overpowered the Skrulls and could get away, then you got our cell open… we thought we'd been rescued."

Then the sadists ripped it out from under them just to see them fall, Ward thought, enraged.

"But that Ward only wanted to take me and left FitzSimmons locked up," Skye explained. "But I believed it was you! I mean, I knew they were shapeshifters and I'd known what you'd done for us. That was so wrong of me to think. I couldn't just let Lyja blab it to you without saying sorry."

Whoa. Whoa whoa.

Skye was not having such difficultly because the contents of the story and what they had been put through… she was upset because she was blaming herself?

"Jesus Skye… are you… you're ashamed of that?" he asked in disbelief.

She looked down, only confirming it. "When they were hurting you it was one of the first times I realized I had feelings for you, even if I still thought you had a lot to make up for. Then I just turned around and completely believed it, when that should have been the easiest red flag to spot in the world!"

Skye didn't seem to have noticed she'd let a rather vital piece of information slip from her mouth. But he supposed, given the rest of the context, whatever feelings she had for him should be background noise to speaking about what she'd been through. The blame she'd wrongly placed upon herself.

Ward shook his head. "You do remember I betrayed you, right? You had every right to believe what you did."

It was not something Ward wanted to bring up at all. He still didn't even think of it as a betrayal (he hadn't considered himself loyal to the team while he was undercover, despite growing fond of the people on it) though now he knew his intentions had been skewed.

But given what Skye had seen of him, how could she not believe what the aliens had laid trap for her to fall into? He needed her to understand that.

"Of course I remember that! Kind of hard to forget," she mumbled, bitter. He couldn't blame her. "I'm not saying you were worthy of buckets of trust but I should have figured it out! The way they said it… it just wasn't you. Nothing like you've ever been. I was completely aware they were damn shapeshifters… I should have known right away!" she screeched, angry tears brimming in her eyes.

Ward realized it wasn't that he had a grade A standing with the team that was making Skye guilty for feeling this way. It was that she'd been tricked and humiliated and her pride didn't want to let her admit that to him.

He pulled her into his chest. She graciously pressed into it, which was more he could have hoped for with such an impulsive move.

"You did amazing," he told her firmly.

He could almost feel her roll her eyes, her voice already gaining back her attitude of norm. "You weren't even there."

"No, but you're here," he said as they pulled away from each other, though his hands lingered on her hips. "You got Fitz out of there along with yourself. Anyone who can escape alien prison all by themselves is pretty amazing in my book."

She crossed her arms. "You're probably just leading up to saying it was your excellent SO training that got me out of there."

He shrugged, smiling. "I wouldn't deny it."

"I knew it," she said wryly. She was smirking and he was glad for the organic change of pace of the conversation. Unfortunately, his hands were still out in front of him for the hug. Her eyes held squinted curiosity as she noticed what he'd been casually hiding before.

"What's that?" she asked.

He sighed. Well, he supposed it was time.

"Here," he said, holding out the gift lamely. "This is for you."

"Dude, you totally missed present time!"

He smiled cheekily and began pulling it backwards. "Well, if you don't want it…"

"Want! Do want," she said, grabbing for it greedily and opening the small package. "Hey, the Colosseum! That a… supervillain held hostage."

"Yeah well, it stuck out to me I guess," Ward said.

Skye smiled like she knew something he didn't. "You were totally taking in the sights, weren't you? Mr. Spy-man that never notices anything but the mission."

"It's hard to miss something that big."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

"If it's a bad memory though, just throw it away."

She looked a little shocked. "It's not a bad memory." She tilted her head side to side. "Eh, ok, so it didn't start out that great. Being taken to the Skrulls from there and all, but this mission turned out pretty damn successful!"

"You did get super powers," he reminded her wryly. Not that she'd have actually forgotten.

"Right," she said, looking slightly exasperated. "Super fun super powers…"

"I know it must be a lot to take in," he said, watching her face as the sarcastic mask she used to hide her feelings faded.

"It is, but there's something I don't understand about what they're telling me."

Ward nearly gulped. He wondered if his feelings for Skye were becoming too apparent for her to miss. Not that she didn't already know, but they were always swirling within him… he didn't want her to think he was obsessed.

"Why are you all not afraid of me?" she asked, looking up into his eyes. "I… I can literally make you do whatever I want you to."

"It nearly killed you."

"All that means is that I'd have to do it one person at a time," she reasoned.

He cupped her cheek with one hand. "Because we trust you. We know you'd never do that unless you had to."

"I could lose it though," Skye mumbled, shaking her head. "When… when you guys wouldn't go back to help Wolfe, I… pushed you guys into turning around."

Ward honestly didn't know that. Had she done it to him? He didn't feel anything.

Not that it mattered.

"That was the right play."

"It was wrong of me," she said. "It's… it's violating."

"Skye," he said firmly, putting both hands on her cheeks now as to ground her. "You did the right thing. Wolfe and Morse were dying and you made a call. If anyone else could have done that, they would have."

"But they can't. It's just me," she said, her lip curling upward in apparent disgust. "I know I'm being weird and bipolar… but it's hard figuring out you're a giant freak."

"You're special," he said, echoing words from a lifetime ago, because he'd thought them before long Raina had ever said such a thing to him. "And if anyone deserves a power like that, it's you. Because you'll always make the right choice."

They locked eyes in a strange hypnotic way that was hard to peel his gaze away from. She'd been near crying and she still looked beautiful. How could Skye ever think she was anything less than she was? Which to Grant was, well, perfect.

"Holy shit," she whispered, her mouth dropping just a bit. "It should be like, outlawed to think of someone so intensely."

Ward bristled. "Oh."

Then Skye's lips were on his, hungrily and eagerly moving away on his mouth. Her touch plunged deep quickly, like this couldn't happen fast enough and he returned her pace the best he could, instinctively wrapping fingers into her hair.

It was only for the briefest of moments that Ward recognized they were making out in the lab in front of everyone. FitzSimmons, Coulson. May…

But soon he didn't really mind, or couldn't even focus, because something was happening.

A warmth crept into his head, multiplying the feelings of care and lust such as ones he held for Skye. They were similar, but not completely the same… as though the same emotion but coming off in a different form.

It didn't take long to click that they were Skye's feelings for him.

It was amazing. It only heightened everything, their senses. He knew it was affecting both of them because he felt that too, they were in sync. It was as though the capacity he could possibly have for happiness had doubled in an impossible way.

There was also… another feeling. It started with his mind (Skye's mind really) and had gone lower. Much lower.

One might say, below the belt.

Skye broke the kiss off and her emotions had left his head immediately.

But that other thing… that was only calling to him more.

"Then again, maybe it was so strong cause I was feeling the same way," she panted.

"Uh huh," Ward said, slightly disheveled.

She frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Well… I think you transferred your powers while we were kissing."

Her brow furrowed. "You mean…?"

"I could feel your emotions. At least, I'm pretty sure."

"Really? Wow! Well, they were pretty much about the same as yours," she admitted. "Just less for my boobs and more about your - aspects…"

He chuckled. He thought he'd felt something directed towards his pecks in his mind.

"Did you uh," Skye bit her lip. "Did you feel that other thing, too?"

Well, to be perfectly honest he was still feeling it. "Yeah. Wonder what that's about…"

"That we're clearly sexually attracted to each other and when our emotions teamed up they made us super horny?"

Ward blinked. That was pretty straightforward. "I guess that could be a theory."

Skye caught her tongue with her teeth as she smirked, lifting her eyebrows. "Wanna test it?"

Ward was caught up a little in disbelief, but hell if he didn't have to be told twice. "Your bunk?"

"After you sir," Skye said, gesturing in front of her.

He grabbed her wrist as they turned around and Ward remembered they had an audience, wandering eyes glancing over them from their impromptu make out session. But they hadn't been close enough to hear anything. Ward hesitated a little but Skye eventually took the lead as they headed out the front door of the lab and –

An alarm started ringing.

Perfect. Timing.

"Is that a perimeter breach?" asked Simmons.

"Someone's here," said Coulson, heading towards the door. Skye looked at Ward curiously, a sort of "who do you think it is?" question etched on her face as Coulson checked a monitor to see who it was. He seemed relieved somewhat and went to fetch her.

"Bobbi!" Hunter exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to have a chat with you guys," she said. "Especially Skye."

"Good to see you're up and about," Skye commented happily.

The agent smiled. "You too."

Skye began walking over to the Bobbi as they began conversing but she looked over at Ward and mouthed "sorry."

Ward was definitely irked, though he couldn't help but smile to himself. He was fine with waiting, it made it all the more special. Heck, the fact that she'd even absolved him of Hydra traitor at all was something he was disbelievingly grateful for.

He supposed he had her powers to thank for that.

Plus getting the bracelet off.

And for whatever had happened that was about to get them into bed together.

Yeah… Skye might have needed adjusting, but Grant didn't think those abilities would be getting old anytime soon.

"So… something's going on?" asked Bobbi.

"It's Skye's birthday," mumbled Fitz, his voice muffled as he chewed on a piece of cake. Mouth still full, he offered it up to her. "Want some cake?"

Morse looked nearly overwhelmed by the action. As though it was the last thing she'd been expecting, though her face held certain amusement. "Um, no thank you."

"If you didn't know about the party I'm guessing you didn't come here just to booze mooch as well…" Skye mumbled, possibly eying Hunter just a tad. Morse caught the glance and rolled her eyes over to him.

"Really, Hunter?" she asked.

"Hey, you didn't bring her a gift either I'm guessing!"

"So you didn't contribute anything and still came to leech. Can't say I'm surprised…"

"It's fine, Bobbi," Skye cut in, a little awkwardly before Hunter could make a rebuttal. "I wasn't even entirely comfortable with the whole 'gift giving' thing anyhow."

Morse smirked. "I gathered, really." She ducked in close to Skye. "But just look at his face. Who wouldn't want to yank that chain?"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "You are so charming," he deadpanned.

"I try," Bobbi said with a shrug. "Though I guess you could say I do come bearing gifts."

Morse walked over to Coulson, handing him a small box. "Fury sent me to give you this."

Coulson observed it. "What is it?"

"It's a tool box. A…. small one. Fury's going to go dark. He's faked a death and as far as anyone knows, save for a select group of people, he's gone."

"What will become of SHIELD?" Simmons asked immediately.

"Fury handed the keys to the kingdom to an Agent that's pretty high up and very trustworthy. But before he did, Fury decided instead of separating by clearance levels, there should be subdivisions."

"Really?" asked May skeptically.

Bobbi nodded. "Coulson forwarded me what the Inhumans sent you guys. About how they want you to round up all the Skrulls. And you have a gifted on your side." She motioned towards Skye who tried to muster up a smile. "Your subdivision will focus on actual extraterrestrial threats to world security."

"Just how big does this director guy of yours intend for this subdivision to be?" asked Hunter.

"Not director anymore and… all of you, if you want. Then recruit as necessary."

"Not that this isn't a nice ride," said Trip, "It'd get a little cramped."

"Well we do have a Skrull spaceship," mentioned Fitz. "So we could try to do something with that…"

"That's also where my 'gifts' come in," Bobbi continued. "Fury believes this has the potential to be a crucial part of SHIELD's future and is prepared to give you whatever resources left you deem are needed."

"Wow," said Skye. "That's awful nice."

Bobbi turned towards the girl. "I'm pretty sure if it were anyone but Coulson heading it up, he'd feel a little different. Fury's trust in Coulson is pretty unwavering. He always says he can count how many people he trusts on one hand, so it's kind of a big deal."

Coulson tried to hide his proud smile. Unsuccessfully.

"I am also personally offering my services to the team," Bobbi continued.
"Skye, I really want to thank you for getting me to the machine in Rome. I mean… I was dead. I'd been in rough spots before then, but I pretty much felt myself die."

"I know the feeling…" Skye mumbled. She felt Ward's hand give hers a tender squeeze, nulling the painful memories of being shot.

"But I'm not. Hell, I'm not even hurt!" Bobbi spun around to the rest of the group. "The way you all look after each other… it would be an honor to work with you all."

"And it would be an honor to have you," Coulson assured.

Hunter sighed. "Are we gonna sing Kumbaya to initiate her now, or…"

"Jesus… You just can't handle when anything is serious, can you Hunter?" asked Bobbi.

"That's a lot of negative energy coming off the two of them," Trip observed.

"Trust me," said Mack with an exasperated sigh. "They could being singing a whole new tune by tomorrow."

Bobbi and Hunter just eyed each other, like that wasn't a completely out of the box idea. Definitely not possible to deny.

Then the lights went out.

It was unprecedented and took them all for a shock. No one got too panicked before the backup lights settled in, followed by every screen in the lab turning on.

"Greetings, humans," Alaris boomed as he came over all the screens. Every single screen.

"Subtle," scoffed May.

"Well we were hacking your systems anyway and I thought, why not?"

"Ah yes. Good point, good point…" Skye muttered quickly. "But um, why are you hacking our systems?"

"We're just uploading everything you guys are gonna need for aiding us with this Skrull fiasco. Known co-ordinates and weaknesses, pick-up points, etcetera."

"Terms?" guessed Coulson.

"Oh yeah, definitely the terms. And I'm your unwilling liaison! But I guess it's better than spending actual time on Terra," he said with a shudder. Literally shuddered.

Skye rolled her eyes. This guy was a drama king if she ever saw one.

"Now I'm gonna give you guys a hint… go to the Virginia location first. Pretty sure there's only two Skrulls there so you can get your feet wet!"

"Thanks for the heads up," said Coulson.

"Yeah well I wouldn't want you guys to come close to dying on your first time out! I'd be heading back to your planet tomorrow if that were the case."

Coulson nodded. "There's the double meaning."

"Nah, I'm sure you'll do fine. Just keep an eye on that one…" he said nodding to Skye.

"You can count on that," Ward assured him. Skye felt abashed not only by the comment, but she noticed that most of the crowd giving her reassuring smiles from the promise as well.

"…and get started! ASAP, or whatever you people call it. You were all just standing around anyway because I can see the lab's equipment wasn't in use, but you're all in there..."

"Oh well we're having a birthday party!" Fitz exclaimed. Alaris looked… unimpressed.

Simmons bristled next to him. "You know, not everyone has to be informed of that, Fitz."

"He was obviously curious!”

The Inhuman put his hand to his face. "These are the people we've employed…"

Coulson stepped up. "We'll get it done. ASAP."

"Good. Thank you humans," he sang sarcastically, as though they weren't doing him a giant favor.

Well, no Skrulls on Earth is probably a favor for both of them, but still.

He blipped off their screens rather abruptly as the lights turned back to their full glow.

"Does this really mean we're cutting the party short?" Fitz asked.

May sighed audibly, walking briskly towards the door. "I'll set course for Virginia." She turned to face Skye. "Happy birthday."

May set a hand on Skye's shoulder and she knew she saw a smile on her face. A tiny one. A ghost of one?

Then she headed out of the lab.

"I'll look our systems for the co-ordinates," Skye said, heading to a computer.

"Weapons check?" asked Ward. Coulson gave him a nod of affirmation and he began walking out. Grant glanced at Skye along the way and she tried to give him somewhat suggestive eyes, hopefully making a promise for later.

Simmons wanted to begin analyzing data that may be left when Bobbi offered to help, and soon enough both women were on their way to a station.

"I guess I'll, uh, sober up…" Hunter mumbled, disgruntled as he walked out of the lab.

"So the party's really over?" Fitz asked, sounding distressed. "Just like that? I don't even know what to do!"

Coulson walked up to him. "If you calm down, you'll remember what I asked for you to start specs on last night? I'd like you and Mack to work on those."

Fitz stared blankly for a moment before his mind caught up with him, his eyes lighting up with realization. "Ah yes, definitely. Let's go, Mack the mechanic."

Mack started a bit, as though he'd never really thought about his name such a way. He chuckled as he followed Fitz away.

"So what are you gonna do, Agent Coulson," asked Skye cheekily.

"I'm doing it. I'm in charge. Supervising."

"Ok well that sounds way easier than anything we're doing, I wouldn't mind that job."

Coulson shrugged. "Well, maybe one day you'll have it."

He walked away and Skye was left to ponder that thought. It was just a passing comment but… maybe one day she could do it? Be in charge of a team. Coulson was the best of course, he could probably be director if the opportunity was present.

Skye shook herself away from the thoughts. Nah, this was where she belonged. Next to her teammates and comrades and working together to beat the baddies. The fact that SHIELD wasn't dead was the best gift she could have ever been given. She couldn't imagine life without these people now, and her family just seemed to keep growing. Her unconventional, super spy, random little family.

Skye wouldn't have it any other way.

Chapter Text

MONTHS LATER:

"How many, Skye?" Coulson asked.

"Hmm. I see… give me a sec here. Thirty… seven. So everyone in there."

"Bloody hell!" screeched Hunter. "Where are they stashing these people?"

"That's what we're here to find out," said Coulson. "Morse, you in position?"

"Yeah, but could definitely use some back up with those numbers."

"What do you call me?" Hunter asked beside her. She shrugged.

"Partner?"

"Ah… ok. That's accurate."

"Is it?" asked Bobbi cheekily.

"Accurate enough."

"Oh my god…" Skye moaned. "Will you two stop flirting?"

"Like you and Ward are any better!" Hunter protested.

"We're not flirting on a mission," Skye pointed out.

"That’s most likely just because you're not on the ground with him," Simmons pointed out. Skye threw her a glare. "What? You two fraternize all the time on operations."

"Ok, well that actually brings up my next point," said Skye. "Sir, permission to head to ground?"

"Negative," came Coulson's voice through the com. "You can see the hostiles through the building with those goggles, no need for you to go in."

Skye groaned quietly. "While these are a real nifty invention Fitz cooked up-"

"-thank you very much-" he commented.

"-the point's moot when everyone in there is a Skrull. Not to mention I’m a field agent now, or supposed to be..."

"We could use the backup sir," Ward said into everyone's ear, on the opposite entrance of Hunter and Bobbi.

Coulson stayed quiet for a moment.

"May would say yes if she weren't on that preliminary with Wolfe and Triplett," Skye commented. "Sir."

Another pause.

"Head down to the South side entrance with Ward."

Skye tried to hide the smile. "Yes sir," she said, whipping off the goggles and hopping out of the back of the van.

"Hey, be careful with those!" Fitz shouted after her as she stealthily started forwards.

"Hush, Fitz!" said Simmons.

"Well they're very complicated spectral analyzers-"

"I know-"

"And she could have well broken them Jemma-!"

"I know-"

"Which would be catastrophic, because the science of the bispectrum glass is near impossible to imitate-"

Simmons silenced him with a peck to the lips.

"I know."

Coulson sighed, even sitting alone at their new base. He didn’t need visuals to tell what was going on. "I'm really going to have to update the SHIELD's handbook on dating in the workplace."

"Hey," Skye mouthed as she approached Ward. "Got your six."

He smiled. "Ready to move in?"

"Ready when you are, super spy."

Coulson pressed fingers to his head. "Skye, don't' make me regret this decision."

"Sorry AC. We've just got this down, pretty habit by now."

"Don't get cocky," Coulson said.

"Yeah," said Hunter. "And remember-"

"Don't die out there," said everyone else.

Bobbi couldn't hold back the smirk. Hunter folded back a bit.

"What?" he said. "You know it's nice to hear!"

Bobbi just rolled her eyes. "Permission to move in?" she asked.

"Granted. Keep eyes out for any alien tech."

"Roger that," she said, kicking in the door with Hunter close behind.

Ward looked down at the padlock over his entrance. He raised his gun to it.

"Wait," said Skye, holding out a hand. He lowered the weapon as she inspected it. Suddenly her leg flung upwards just before barreling down the heel of her boot on the large lock, dismantling it immediately.

Skye smirked as it rattled to the ground. "Rust."

"You're becoming impressive," Ward admired.

"Well, it helps when you have a kick-ass SO."

"I still wish I could have fulfilled that role."

"Against protocol," she reminded him. "Plus, I'm your monitor."

"Ex-monitor. I don't need you around all the time anymore."

"'Don't need me around', huh? Wanna be ex-something else?"

"Not what I meant…"

"Ehem," Simmons cleared her throat loudly. "Proving my point from earlier?" she mumbled.

Skye flushed a bit as it was definitely mission time and she wanted to be taken seriously, but she couldn't help but steal a kiss from her boyfriend knowing that no one could see. And really, they had this. It was almost second nature to them by now; they took out a Skrull nest every few days.

"Moving in," said Skye, gun raised and going forward into the building of aliens.

With the intel and technology given to the team by the Inhumans they made short work of the aliens inside the building, rounding them up like cows by sheepdogs.

It was always a case-by-case basis what they decided to do with them really, but most of the time the aliens had loads of people captured in cells somewhere while they'd go impersonate them. Which was one count of identity theft but another on kidnapping, and that got them bagged and tagged until the Inhumans came by to pick them up and use their justice system on the beings. Maybe take them to the Skrull's system even… it was a little unclear, but the Inhumans weren't willing to share the information just yet.

It was a strange little operation they'd begun running but it was a meaningful one, and the skills of such they'd gotten down pact within the first few weeks of it. It wasn't just Skrulls either, any alien life forms were their charge.

Their team was successful and simple, which was a fairly different tune than the rest of SHIELD was singing while they tried to recuperate from Hydra's incurrence.

Skye had to be called away sometimes to help them, actually. Well they all did, when aid was required in other SHIELD factions while their team's operations ran so smoothly. Hydra couldn't get the jump on them with deception anymore, not when Skye was able to tell if they were being sincere or not. So with her being such a powerful ally, SHIELD didn't worry so much about her status as a Gifted.

She'd always get to come back to her team, though. Her home and family.

It had become a tradition to have a "team movie night" whenever they came back from these extra escapades, ever since Skye had returned from a Hydra interrogation and Fitz had waited for her to watch Paranormal Activity.

It had quickly become one of their more favorite things to do, and the whole crew had even gone into a routine as to which member would get to pick the movie on each night. They sometimes had karaoke as well but Coulson usually hogged the mic, which irked Hunter to no end. Skye thought it was cute. (She vowed to get Ward up there one day).

It was things like that which made them less of a team and more of a family.

What they had was simple, something no one thought an agent's life could be. They didn't know how long the smooth sailing would last either. But for now, it was theirs.

And they were going to live each and every moment of it to the fullest.

THE END.