Chapter 31: The WellNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
After that rollercoaster, our next few missions were pretty simple. Some retrieval of information here, some standard presence required there. Nothing too complicated, nothing too exciting. But then, Thor came back to Earth. And not simply like that, no. The God of Thunder had to bring a whole bunch of Dark Elves with him and spread chaos all across London.
As soon as what was happening hit the news I contacted the others. None of the other Avengers had any idea where he was, but he knew where we were. At least where the Avengers Tower was. If he wanted anything, he could just fly in.
But still, this was how the team was sent to Greenwich University to clean up the mess that the Asgardian left behind. But we didn't stay long there. For in Trillemarka National Park in Norway, something happened. Something that got S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention and our mobile unit was called there to assess what was going on.
Coulson, Ward and Jemma had gone on location to gather information from the eyewitness and to examine the tree that two people had taken down and cut in half. I had to admit that hearing Ward taking care of Jemma and making sure she was comfortable with climbing on the tree trunk was… peculiar. I wouldn't have expected him to care enough to help her out with her caution towards heights. Turns out the robot had a slightly bigger heart than I expected. It didn't mean I would start trying again with him, but I could give him some more slack.
The rest of the team was working from the Bus, each doing their own thing, which was for Fitz to work on the Lab based on what Jemma found at the Park, while May and I were trying to find the people who did this. This turned out to be easier than expected since they weren't really hiding. They were instead causing havoc in Oslo, spreading violence and using fire to spell "We Are Gods" on the asphalt.
"Jakob Nystrom, 30. Girlfriend, Petra Larsen. Leaders of a Norse, Paganist, hate group" Ward laid out the information on the large screen in the Lab.
"Yeah" I chimed in. "And their numbers are growing thanks to what happened in Greenwich and the internet" I rolled my eyes. "Yay, the internet, she said sarcastically". I noticed the question in Jemma's eyes so I explained further on the 'Norse Paganist group'. "Ancestor of anything derived from Norse mythology. Stories of Asgard and… stuff" I added pointing to the half-formed 3D representation of what the two people had stolen from the tree.
Fitz took that as his cue to explain. "We scanned the tree from one side. Too much damage for complete reproduction" he said as if he expected us to say something about the thing being half-formed.
"But," Jemma pointed out, "see here? It is clearly broken from both ends"
"Awesome" I muttered to myself. "At least two more pieces to find".
Ward, who had taken the stuff on his hand and was examining it closer noticed that the surface wasn't completely smooth. "What about the marking?"
"Asgardian symbolism". All three of us turned around to see Coulson and May walk in, with the former explaining. "Hard to translate with our limited knowledge". Great, I thought. Thor would come in very handy right now.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigations are on the trail of Nystrom, and his followers," May said and then looked back at Coulson, who continued. "We're charged with identifying the object and find any other pieces before they do"
"How are we gonna do that?" I couldn't help but ask. When I got raised eyebrows from most of the people around me I rushed to expand. "Don't get me wrong. I believe in us, 'Go Team' and all that. But they seem to be at least one step ahead. They found this thing in a 150 square feet kilometres of Norwegian forest. Inside a tree"
"Actually that's a valid point," Coulson said and I quietly said, "Thank you". "Which is why we're gonna go and meet our own expert" Coulson continued. "When we first found the hammer in New Mexico, I consulted one of the world's leading experts in Norse mythology. Elliot Randolph. A professor at the University in Seville. We'll leave immediately" he nodded at May who left to go to the cockpit. "Maybe he can tell us more about these markings"
We all left the Lab and got strapped in for the take-off. "England… Norway… now Spain" I started listing out as the plane left the ground. "Who knows which country's next?" I turned to look at Jemma looking at me from her seat next to me. "You know, I always wanted to do a Euro trip. Look around, travel a bit". I bit back a laugh. "Hopefully spend more than just a few rushed hours in each country"
I felt Jemma softly taking my hand in hers, a smile on her face. "Maybe…" she started and paused. "Maybe, at some point when we have time, we could do that together?" I couldn't help the happy, peaceful feeling that spread inside me at that suggestion and I nodded. So distracted was I, that I didn't hear May letting us know we could unstrap.
She tugged at my arm and only then did I notice that the rest had left the cargo hold and it was just the two of us there. And while we unbuckled ourselves, we didn't move from our seats there. Not really wanting to ruin the mood, but still needing to get this out of my chest I spoke. "I think, before we go on that trip, there are a few things that… you know. We are gonna have to talk about it eventually"
Jemma let out a sigh at that and looked around. Seeing that it was only the two of us on the whole floor turned back to me, a slightly more anxious expression on her face and her heartbeat elevated slightly as well. "I know…" she said in an almost defeated voice.
"Hey, hey" I quickly interrupted her train of thought. It would do no good for her to get lost in her head at that moment. With my finger, I gently lifted her chin, which she had dropped, so that she looked at me and not her hands. "Why are you so worried about this talk? I might or might not be terrified to have it, but I want to believe that there's nothing to worry about"
Her eyes were boring into mine. I could feel her heart slowing down as she relaxed, the corners of her lips also tilting upwards. "You're right. You always are"
I let out a small breath that sounded like a chuckle. "I think between the two of us, you're the smarter one"
She lifted her eyebrows playfully as if saying, 'Well, I can't argue with that', and whatever resident anxiety was in the room just disappeared. "I just don't want this to be awkward" she genuinely expressed.
I looked a bit to the side and tilted my head as if I was thinking about it. "I think we've passed the awkward part of this too many times already," I said with an easy smile. "But, if this is what you're worried about, don't. Jemma, seriously. Us and awkward, it just doesn't work. Not when we were in the Academy, not when you saw me in a hospital bed years later, not now, not ever. We don't do awkward". She challenged me with a look and I raised my hands submissively. "Fine, fine. We can do awkward, but we get over it pretty quickly".
She let out a watery exhale and let her head fall back onto the seat, looking up at the ceiling. "How did this happen?", she asked but I was almost certain she was talking to herself. That didn't stop me from answering.
"I think this is all your fault really," I said as I mimicked her position and stared at the ceiling as well. I could see from the corner of my eye that she turned to me with a baffled expression on her face. "Yup," I said popping the last letter for emphasis. "Definitely your fault, one hundred per cent". She half-heartedly flicked on my shoulder so that I turn in her direction. 'Wanna elaborate on that?', was what her expressive eyes conveyed. "No, seriously. Think about it," I continued as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I just wanted my peace and some quiet, being left alone with my computer as I survived Operations. But then you, you had to come in and offer me a freaking granola bar because you noticed I had missed lunch. Totally your fault—"
"Oh, shush you" she interrupted and knocked on my shoulder once more. "If I remember correctly, which I certainly am, you were to blame for that" she playfully bit back.
I huffed. "How can that be true?" I challenged.
She pressed one finger on my chest. "You had to act like a knight in shining armour and prevent Ward from spotting me that first day at the canteen. You hadn't even spoken to me yet, not a word. And yet there you were, taking a blow for me so that I would have my lunch in peace. So…" she dragged out the word, "if it's anyone's fault it's really, and utterly, yours"
Well, shit, I thought. I had completely forgotten about that. I rubbed my face, hard, trying to think of something to say as a comeback but came up empty. "Fine" I threw my hands in the air and sat back on my seat. "You're right," I said and as I lowered my hands, the one closer to Jemma fell on her shoulders and I gently pulled her in a one-arm hug. She laid her head on my shoulder and linked her fingers with mine. "But you have to admit that you were at least partially at fault as well. Nothing would have happened if you hadn't been so darn thoughtful"
"Can't say you're wrong there" she replied as she eased even more onto my side. "You would never initiate a conversation for so long" she laughed at the memory. I could feel her relaxing even more. "So, what happens now?" She asked the question that I knew was going through her head for a while.
I tightened my grip on her arm, comfortingly. "Now, we take it one day at a time. As slow as we need to. We can just see what happens from now on. What do you say?" I smiled down at her and she lifted her head and smiled back.
"I would like that very much"
Notes:Just a light chapter y'all as we go into E08. They did have that talk in the end. We're slowly getting there :')
Take care everyone and thanks for the support! See you tomorrow.
Chapter 32: Asgardian EncounterNotes:Normally I just have AN's at the end, but just had a TW Warning for this and the next chapter, so that will go up here. Nothing too major, but please skip this chapter and let me know so I can update you on the plot if need be.
TW: PTSD / Flashback
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
After Jemma, Fitz and Coulson met with professor Randolph, the expert gave them a possible location that Asgardian objects could possibly be found, while I was still doing my research on the duo.
I was in the command centre, still searching the internet for anything and everything I could find on the two Gods-wanna-be. With an algorithm that I had developed, it wasn't that hard to gather information, but I still wanted something to keep me busy. So, at the same time, I was cross-referencing all the sites of Vikings in the world throughout time. Hopefully one of those places would be where the other two pieces of the Berserker staff were.
Ward and Coulson walked in and Coulson all but threw the tablet he was holding on the holo-table. "Did you guys know there is a Mount Thor in Baffin island?"
Ward scoffed. "No"
"You know what's not on Mount Thor? Anything Asgardian at all. Our agents on the ground haven't found a thing" he sounded irritated. I mean, he had every right to be.
"Great," I said sarcastically. "I can't say I've made a lot of progress either, at least when it comes to locating those two. They believe they're gonna ascend to be the Gods of destruction and death. People suck" I concluded.
Ward raised an eyebrow. "People suck? That's all you got?"
"Ward please," Coulson said rubbing his forehead, clearly not in the mood for our usual arguments.
"Well, people do" I emphasised my point and looked at Coulson with an apologetic expression, letting him know I'm not really gonna continue but change the subject. "Well, there's chatter about going underground. But that could mean a lot of things… from going incognito—"
"To searching the next piece" Coulson interrupted and finished my thoughts.
"Exactly," I said. "Speaking of which" I clicked on the holo-table and send a map of the world to the big screen that was behind me. "I was looking at the Viking routes that Randolph mentioned. There are some sites along the Volga River in Russia, some in Kyiv and weirdly… here" I pressed again on the table to zoom in.
"In Seville, Spain?" Coulson asked, moving closer to the screen, looking at the routes.
"I know, right? What are the odds? But I really looked into it and it checks out. I know it's a long shot, but they attacked. Twice"
At that moment May walks in. I had sent her to try and check specifically in Seville to see if she could find anything that could possibly relate to one of the two parts of the poem that indicated where the parts of the Berserker staff were. "Found on promising location with Viking relics. El Devino Niño. A church built on the ruins of an 8th Century crypt, built on Roman ruins from 206 BC"
I quickly typed and pulled up the location on the map for everyone to see. "East of the river," Ward said, sitting a part of the poem we were using as reference.
Coulson nodded. "And lots of bones. Let's see what we can dig up" I rolled my eyes and gave him a side look. The smirk on his face made me shake my head. "See what I did there?" And he was about to leave and call the others.
"Can I…" at that he stopped and I had three pairs of eyes turn to look at me. "I just think we need to proceed with caution" At the exasperated looks I got I rushed to explain. "Not just because it's an alien artefact. What are the odds that a Norse mythology expert, based on Seville, wouldn't know Vikings had attacked. And you said that Baffin island, the island which he mentioned, had nothing Asgardian. I think this professor knows more than he lets on. I suggest we bring him in whether we find the stuff or not"
There was a long pause as everyone analysed what I had just said and then they all nodded, one after the other. "You're right, there are things he's not letting on" Coulson agreed. "You and Ward will go with one vehicle in the crypt and try to find the stuff. Fitz and I will be in another vehicle nearby monitoring the situation. He's the one we need if our sensors pick up on something. May, you and Jemma stay here. Chances are we're going back with the professor, prep the Cage. If anything happens be ready to grab Jemma and come to our location" and like that everyone left and went to do their own respective jobs.
Thankfully, as the time which we headed to our destination fell within the traditional 'siesta', the streets were pretty much empty. This allowed us to reach the crypt faster than we otherwise would have. It also helped because Fitz and Coulson would have a better visual from where they were parked in case we had any unwanted visitors or the professor.
Both Ward and I were holding a tablet that Fitz had programmed to act as a spectrograph for us to identify where the second piece of the stuff was as if it was somewhere down there. "How are you doing, agent Ward?" I heard Coulson ask through the comms.
"Wishing I was shorter" he replied. "Nothing yet, all readings are normal" he added soon after.
"How about you, Skye?" Came my turn.
"I'm lucky Ward picked up the super creepy hallway instead of the slightly less creepy dungeon room… place. I've got nothing yet. Sorry" I concluded
It wasn't three seconds later when Fitz's voice came through the comms. "Ward, your spectrograph is reading something near you"
"I don't see anything," he said back, and I could imagine him looking around in the dark.
Fitz paused at that. "Well… it's right in front of you. Oh, wait! No… oh, okay. It's moving. Northwest"
At that, I took off. I secured the tabled under my armpit while I held the flashlight in front of me. By focusing on my vibration I saw where Ward was and I also caught the other presence that was moving away from him. Just as Ward's vibrational signature caught up with the strangers his voice came through. "You'll never guess who—" he started saying but then stopped sharply. The last thing I heard from him before he went dark was a gasp.
"Ward, what's happening?" Coulson yelled over the comms and I quickened my run even more. I was almost there. "Skye, can you just—"
"Almost there" I didn't let him finish. I got there and saw Ward on the ground, unconscious while another man was over him, the stuff inside a bag as he looked over what was happening. I immediately 'felt' the man, and walked closer, lifting my standard gun at him. "Don't move" I said, my eyes trained on him.
It took me a couple of seconds to realise two things. One was that he was Randolph. The other had to do more with what he was than who he was. He didn't feel like a human. He felt like… Loki. "No…" I whispered to no one in particular. I could hear Coulson calling me from the comms but my mind was in another place.
Randolph, if that even was his name, seemed just as intrigued by me. His eyes examining me, like I was a sort of museum exhibit. "I thought the experiments were shut down" he spoke but I was pretty sure that he was talking to himself. But I heard it nonetheless. And hearing that just clicked something in me. A memory I had forgotten about. I was transported years back.
Suddenly, I wasn't in the crypt Randolph was not standing in front of me, and Ward wasn't laying on the ground behind me. I was in the Joined Dark Energy Mission Facility and the person in front of me was the black-haired Asgardian. "A Kree experiment," he said. "How fascinating".
And just as his spear headed towards my heart once more I heard Ward gasping from behind me, growling even. I shook my head and I found myself back at the crypt, a thin layer of sweat covering my forehead and my heart hammering in my chest. "Shit!" I cursed when I saw that Randolph had left. I turned around to see Ward coming to.
I made a move towards him, but he flinched away and crawled away. "Calm down, Ward," I said in an authoritative voice that seemed to bring him out of his gaze. His breaths were coming in short, his eyes were flying all over the corridor, not focusing on anything in particular. He seemed almost… afraid. "The-The stuff. He has it" he stammered out.
I touched my comm just to make sure that what I said would be properly heard from the other people. "The stuff's gone. Randolph took it. And something's wrong with Ward". I approached him like he was a hunted animal, scared and ready to attack if need be. "Ward, listen to me. You need to calm down, okay?" He finally seemed to register my presence. "Okay, we're getting somewhere. Now, eyes on me," I said and he nodded. "Did you touch the stuff?" Nothing. I surpassed the urge to roll my eyes. "Ward," I said more forcefully. "Did. You. Touch. The. Stuff?" I emphasised every word, making it clear I was expecting an answer. Without saying anything he nodded. I made a move closer and I could see his muscles locking up at the proximity. "We need to get out of here, okay? We'll have Jemma look you over and have you right as rain in no time. But I need you to work with me" I said as I crouched down to his level. "Let me help you out". Still fidgeting he nodded and allowed me to grab one of his arms and throw it over my shoulder, helping him up.
By the time we got out of the crypt, Coulson and Fitz had caught up with Randolph, who had lost one part of the stuff to the Norse Paganistic group.
And by the time we got back, the Lab was ready for Ward and Randolph was in the Cage.
Immediately Ward was connected to a blood pressure machine and some other things that helped monitor the situation. I was sitting on the back as I was trying to not think of what had happened.
"This is all ridiculous" Ward said as soon as Jemma and Fitz started looking him over.
I so couldn't deal with him at the moment. My mind still playing over the scene that flashed in my head. I barely registered Jemma talking, explaining why she was doing the check-up and if he was feeling claustrophobic. While I didn't pay attention to what was being discussed, Ward's body language made it clear that he was irritated. He was being questioned by the science duo about what he remembered and he didn't like it one bit. He harshly pulled him arm off the blood pressure machine and walked towards the screen which displayed the camera from inside the Cage.
"Quiet!" He ordered sharply at FitzSimmons, given that I hadn't really spoken since we got back on the Bus. "I want to watch this!", and he pressed play on the screen, unmuting it.
However, as soon as Coulson started interrogating Randolph and asking him questions, I could hear the readings of his heart rate going crazy. I quickly grabbed the control and turned the screen off. Immediately, his head turned to me, eyes wild. "What are you doing?!"
"Are you shitting me right now?" I asked and walked up to him, staring straight at him. "It's clear that you're getting agitated by this. You need to stay calm, not get worked up" I told him, my face a trained mask of apathy. Truth was, that other than the obvious agitated look that he had on his face, he was vibrating so hard that it was hard to ignore. And he got more and more upset as he heard what was happening in the Cage.
"What the fuck do you know? Who the hell made you a doctor? And now that we're talking about that, you better stop being all the time on my case, acting like you know everything. I know you're hiding something, and I plan to find out exactly what that is" he hissed, threat clear on his voice.
But I didn't back down. "I know more than you do, that's for sure. I never said I was a doctor, it's common sense, you idiot! And it's quite hypocritical of you to say that I'm always on your case since you've been a pain in my ass for so long" I called back.
"Both of you, stop it" Fitz tried to intervene and it was only thanks to Jemma's input that things calmed down a bit. "Well, this makes more sense. Ward, what you're experiencing, this feeling, it's chemistry"
I turned my head to her. "You sure?"
"Yes," she rushed to say. "There are spikes in his adrenalin corticotropin hormones. It's like those stories you hear when a mother is able to lift a car to save her baby. An adrenalin surge can create a massive—". Oh no, she starting rambling. That would only infuriate Ward more at the moment. But before I managed to intervene Ward pointed a finger at her.
"Stop. Talking. Just fix it!", he yelled.
The expression on Jemma's face told me everything I needed to know. She couldn't, and the words she spoke next were enough to verify it. "I wish I could. But we can relieve some of the symptoms. I'm going to give you 10 cc's of benzodiazepines"
I mentally agreed but didn't say anything, still looking carefully and readily at Ward to make a wrong move. "A sedative? Not gonna happen" he instantly refused.
"Well, be reasonable" Fitz somehow found the courage to speak up. "Look how you're behaving"
He properly got into Fitz person space, pointing a finger to his heart and pushing it into his shorter man's chest. "And if I'm sedated, and we cross paths with those juiced freaks, the ones who flip cars and smash people up, are you gonna take them on and keep us safe?"
After hearing all that and reading the situation, I got between the two of them and pushed Ward back, even allowing a small amount of my vibration into the push. "You forget your place, Ward," I said standing protectively in front of my friends. "There are at least two more people in this plane that can take them on since I doubt May will hesitate to do so if need be. So, no. Fitz won't have to, hopefully. But the team can afford you being sedated if it results in you acting more like a human being and less than a feral animal when you wake up"
He stared at me hard, and then as the very mature person he was, he grabbed his shirt and left the Lab heading upstairs, probably to his bunk. I made sure to follow him vibrationally just to verify that.
I was still not a hundred per cent back since what happened at the crypt. So when I felt a hand on my shoulder, I was startled and even jumped back a bit. I immediately regretted it because Fitz and Jemma were looking at me with concerned expressions. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"That was just a biochemical reaction. You know that, right? He didn't mean any of that" Jemma tried to reassure, thinking that this was because of what had just happened.
Before I even managed to reassure her, Fitz jumped in, reading the situation better. "That's not what this is. Did you touch it as well?"
Jemma, who had turned to look at Fitz as he spoke, turned back to me with a startled look on her face. "Skye!", she exclaimed and made a move to come closer to me, but I took a step back holding my hands up, letting them know not to come closer.
"Skye" Fitz spoke quietly, with a very gentle voice. "We were in the comms with you. You stopped responding for quite a while. Your comm didn't go down like Ward's did, but we couldn't get a hold of you for a good few seconds" he explained, trying to reason with me. "Even if you didn't touch it, maybe just being near it affected you, okay? Something happened down there" he tried to reason.
I pushed my hands in their direction once more, to let them know not to approach. "J-Just give me a second," I said with a wavering voice which stopped the scientists from coming closer.
Neither of them spoke, giving me some time to collect my thoughts. I knew I need to explain this, at least partially so that they stopped worrying. And while Jemma knew of my powers and my status as an Avenger, she still didn't know what went down before the Battle, it was classified. And thank God for that. I really didn't want to even think about it, trying to shake the cold feeling that I felt on my chest, where Loki's spear had pierced my skin and turned me against my family, made me do things that still haunted me.
"It was not the stuff," I said with as much conviction I could muster. "I had a… mission a while back" I started hesitantly. "It went south pretty quickly. An… enemy managed to infiltrate our base. And several of us were held… hostage" it was the closest explanation I could come up with that resonated to what had actually happened. "I was one of those people. Something that Randolph said, it…" my gaze fell to the ground. Now that the adrenaline of the whole Ward-situation was coming to an end, the memory was coming back to me stronger and it was getting harder to ground myself.
"You had a flashback?" Thankfully Jemma was quick to catch up to what I was implying and I nodded. She was my main doctor, after all, she had a very vague idea of my condition.
Fitz looked almost startled at the news. "You have PTSD?"
Still looking at the floor, I nodded. I had my eyes now closed, taking deep breaths as I tried to instead thinking about my family. "Should I call May?"
I shook my head. "I'll go to her. Can you call her and tell her to go to the cockpit if she's not there already?" I didn't trust myself to use my vibrations at that moment. I was too tense and not calm enough to be able to rely on my powers. I lifted my head and saw that neither of them had moved closer to me and it eased me up a bit. I knew that Jemma probably just wanted to hug me, and I appreciated the fact that she was holding herself back for my sake.
As soon as Jemma nodded I made my way upstairs. However, I didn't make it far as I bumped into Ward who just exited his bunk, headphones and phone in hand as he was probably going to take his frustration out of the punching bag.
The sudden invasion of my personal space startled me and made me lose some of the focus I had managed to gain. My breaths started coming out slightly faster, and I took several steps back trying to increase the distance between us.
I started listing things quietly, trying to centre myself once more as I made a move to walk around him. "I'm on the Bus. Jemma and May are here. I'm safe, he's locked up. I'm on the Bus. Jemma and May are here…" and so on.
I didn't manage to go far, however, as Ward was once again in my space, this time standing right in front of me, towering over me trying to be intimidating. I stopped my muttering, eyes closed. "Ward. Move. Away" I said carefully.
"No," he said and forcefully pushed me hard and my back met one of the sides of the plane. I could feel myself losing the battle to another flashback, and I could tell that this one was about to be a heavier one.
I started repeating a different sequence. A coded version of the normal one I repeat to myself. "Cестра, Old Guy, Greeny, Capsicle, Tin Man, Pepper, Mā, Manscaping". I stayed there, back on the wall not moving.
"Ward, get away from her" I could hear Jemma in the background. When did she come upstairs?
"No," he said one more as he came over me again. "She's gonna give me some answers and I'm gonna get them now" he towered over me as I stayed there frozen, afraid to break the slight control I had left over this whole situation.
I kept repeating the words over and over again, faster. I barely registered Jemma running from behind Ward and towards somewhere.
"Stop muttering!" he hissed close to my face. I closed my eyes, trying to focus but with him yelling so close it was hard to even hear myself. "I knowyou're hiding something. You've been hiding something all along! What is your secret?" He hissed and pushed the corner of his phone on my chest.
The cold metal was digging in my skin. Close to where the Asgardian had done the same years ago.
Just like that, I wasn't on the Bus anymore.
And in front of me stood Loki.
Notes:Hope you all liked it. Some of the plot thickens and Ward is not being his best self right now.
Thank you all for the support and take care! See you tomorrow :)
Chapter 33: Coming BackNotes:The same thing applies as the last chapter really. Feel free to skip it if you want/need to. Again, nothing major, but just in case...
TW: PTSD / Flashback
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
May's POV
I had the Cage prepped for when Coulson would bring Randolph in and as soon as that happened I went to the cockpit. I was checking everything in order to take off to the next location as soon as Randolph gave us one. After the stunt he pulled in Seville I was sure he knew where the last part of the stuff was.
I was in the middle of the usual checks I do when Simmons called. She had never done that before. "What's the matter?" I asked as soon as I picked up the phone.
"Skye is… not doing great," she said and I could tell there was something she wasn't letting on. "She wants to meet you at the cockpit, she's heading there right now" she expanded.
At that, I ended the call and I moved a few things around for the two of us to have space when she came in. This was a first, and if I was being honest, it worried me. A lot. It wasn't too long later when I felt that something was wrong. The Bus wasn't that big, Skye should have been here by now. Not being able to stand still anymore, I decided to go and see what was taking her so long. As soon as I opened the door Simmons almost bumped into me. And it was clear that she ran here. "What's going on, agent Simmons?" I asked wasting no time.
"Skye… flashback… Ward" she managed to get out in between breaths and it was enough for me to understand.
Fuck, I thought as I pushed the younger agent to the side and rushed to the main area from where I could hear Ward screaming at her. I arrived to see Skye cornered with her back on a wall, Ward towering over her as he pressed his phone on her chest, hard.
At that moment something changed in Skye's eyes. They glazed over, and it was clear that what she was seeing wasn't what everyone else was seeing. That was bad, really bad. The flashback started and Ward, not only partly caused it but also walked right into it. I had to get him away.
Running with everything I had, I threw myself at Ward and tackled him to the ground, throwing both of us over and behind a sofa, as we took cover. Because of that, Ward barely escaped Skye trying to grab his arm, which would definitely be broken by now. "Stay down, agent Ward" I commanded, a threat evident in my undertone before I slowly rose to my feet. Now that no one was close to her, while she was still locked into whatever memory she was seeing, she didn't make a move towards any of us.
Keeping my distance, I lifted my hands, showing that I meant no harm and briefly looked around the room. I needed everyone out. With a slow, careful and quiet voice I spoke. "Fitz, you and Ward head to the Lab. Simmons, you go and call Coulson, let him know what's happening, and then go to his office with him. No one is to come back here until I give the okay. Am I understood?"
Everyone agreed quietly and left the two of us alone.
"Hey Skye," I spoke gently. Her head turned to me. "It's okay, you're having a flashback," I said never closing the distance between us. "You're on the Bus with me. Jemma is here as well, so are Coulson, Ward, and Fitz. You're not wherever you think you are. I'm going to call Clint, now, okay?" I asked but wasn't really expecting an answer.
I could see that she was still taking in quite sharp breaths. Her eyes, while trained on me didn't really see me.
What made me the most uneasy was that I didn't know she had PTSD, but I should have guessed. After everything that she told me regarding the Battle and what we talked about with Natasha and Clint when I met them at the Tower. The worst part was that I had no idea what the flashback was about and if, based on the situation that she thought she was in, she would deem it was important to use her powers. That would be hard to explain.
Before I dialed the number that I knew by heart I clicked a different button on my screen and shut down the CCTV and the recording devices that were in the common room. Soon I heard the archer's voice in my ear.
"Hey, Mel. What's up?" He asked.
"Clint" I just said and I could imagine his tensing up at my tone.
The alertness was clear when he spoke again. "What's going on? What happened?"
Still looking at the girl in front of me, I answered. "Skye's in the middle of a flashback" I could hear him curse on the other end of the line. "I don't know what triggered it. An agent almost walked right into it but I managed to prevent any damage. Right now it's just the two of us. The room is secure"
"Put me on speaker," he said immediately and I did as asked.
I would have called Natasha, but I knew that she was on a mission with Captain and Clint was my only other option. I was just glad he was available to speak.
"Hey Kid" he used the voice that he reserved only for the people closest to him. "It's Clint here. Just listen to my voice, okay? Focus on me. Loki's not there. He's locked away in Asgard and he can't touch you. You're safe. Mel is there with you, she's gonna make sure nothing bad happens…"
He kept talking to her gently as she started to calm down and her breaths slowed and deepened.
I watched as she appeared to slowly come out of it. Her eyes were now shut as she listened to Clint still speaking. "I think I can take it from here Clint" I cut him off at some point as he had no idea what was happening.
"If you're sure. I expect an update. And let Skye know I'm only a phone call away" he said and ended the call, not expecting an answer, instead giving me the room I needed and not lingering.
It was only a few moments later when she opened her eyes again and looked at me. Really looked at me and I could see the recognition this time. I smiled gently at her. "Hey," I said and waited. I didn't have my hopes as high that it would mean an answer from her. But I still hoped for it. "Is it okay if I come closer? What do you want me to do?" I asked.
It was clear that she was tired. Her shoulders were slumped, the fact that she leaned on the wall could be the only reason why she was still standing. As she didn't answer my question, I thought of another way to present it. "Can you nod?" I asked first and foremost. When she did so I let out a breath. "Alright. Nod once, if you want me to help you to your room, nod twice if you want to go to the cockpit. In the first case you're gonna be alone, in the second I'll be with you. You can get some rest in either" I said slowly, making sure she understood what I was saying.
When, after a while, she nodded twice I took a tentative step closer. "Okay. I'm gonna come closer and help you lean on me. How does that sound?" I proceeded only when I received another nod from her.
From there on I explained everything that I was about to do and waited for the 'okay' from the girl. As soon as we got in the cockpit, I let her down on the co-pilot's seat. I grabbed a S.H.I.E.L.D. standard blanket and pillow that I had stored in the room, and made sure she was comfortable before I lowered the back of the seat a bit further down. She was dead to the world not too long after.
I gave myself a few seconds to wrap my mind around what happened before I let the team know it was safe to get out. I turned the cameras and microphones in the common room back on and I called Coulson in the cockpit.
I heard the door open slowly and turned to see Coulson peek inside. "Hey" he spoke softly and I ushered him outside. I closed the door behind me. "What happened?" He eventually asked.
So I asked what Simmons had told him and told him an unclassified version of what happened when I intervened in the common room. That we had some common acquaintances and I called them up to help calm her down. He didn't ask much. Just asked if she was going to be okay and also informed me that he was gonna talk with Ward. After all, he was one of the main reasons why things happened.
He soon left and I saw him go to his office. My best guess was that he was waiting for Ward.
I walked back in and looked at the sleeping girl, brushing some hair off her sweat-cladded forehead. I took my phone out again and called Clint. He owed me some explanations.
Skye's POV
I came back to consciousness when the plane hit some turbulence. I didn't jump off, startled. But just opened forgotten eyes and looked at the ceiling of the cockpit. I was a bit disoriented, having momentarily forgotten how I got in the cockpit and then it all came back to me. I titled my head and noticed May in the pilot's seat, focused on her job.
But, May being May, of course, she noticed that I had woken up.
"There's a water bottle and Simmons made you a sandwich. On your right" I looked in that direction and found the two items. "We're almost in Ireland. That's where the last piece of the stuff is" she added as I grabbed the two items moving in an almost lethargic way.
"How did you—?" I tried to ask but had to stop because my throat was too dry and had a coughing fit.
"Drink up" May ordered and I did as much. "You don't have to speak. I talked with Clint" she explained as I unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. "He let me know what they would usually do after you had a flashback. When Simmons found me in the kitchen, trying to make you a sandwich she insisted she took over. She kept asking me if you were okay" she briefly looked over at me as I took another sip of the water. "You two talked" she didn't ask, she declared. "About damn time" she smirks and then turned her attention back at the evening sky.
I could tell that she was contemplating asking me, so I decided to make it easier for her. "When we were in the crypt and I saw him. He…" I had to stop to swallow a lump in my throat.
"That's okay. Don't feel like—" May tried to reassure me but I interrupted her.
"I want to" I met her eyes, speaking honesty. "I want to tell you, to try and make sense of this whole situation because I'm very confused" I confessed and she turned back, looking out of the front window giving me time to find my words. "You said you talked with Clint. So, you know that it's not something that affects me too much, at least not anymore. I've trained myself to expect it, I know my triggers. By now, I usually just get nightmares, I haven't gotten lost in a memory for a very long time. The reason why this happened" I pointed at myself, "is because it came out of nowhere". I took a deep breath, replaying the events that led to everything. Analysing everything so that the next time something similar happened I was prepared. "He's Asgardian" I started with that, deciding it was as good a place to start as any.
"We know," May said and I turned back to her. "Coulson figured it out. It's the reason why he knew where the pieces of the staff are. It used to be his" she explained further. "How did you know?"
"He felt different" I remembered. "His body vibrations were different. He felt more… I don't know. 'Dense' could be one word to describe him. He felt like Loki. And then he called me something that unlocked a memory I guess. I think I had subconsciously surpassed the events that led to my mind control. But then he called me an 'experiment'" I purposely emphasized the word. "Randolph that is. And suddenly it wasn't him standing in front of me anymore, it was Loki, with his spear in hand, ready to control me. Looking at me as if he could see inside my soul as he called me a 'Kree experiment'. And then soon after that, he touched me right here" I pointed in the middle of my chest, right over my heart. "And suddenly I was his to control"
There was a long silence that filled the room. "So, with Ward…?" May asked
I nodded. "I was going back and forth from that memory, trying to stay in the present as I headed to you…"
"But he had to stop you, yell at you and then press a sharp, metallic material in the middle of your chest" she finished for me. When I nodded she clicked her tongue. "That's unacceptable". I didn't disagree, but he was dealing with his own demons at that moment. I was about to argue but May stopped it. "No, Skye. It's unacceptable. He's a Level 7 Agent, who knows better than that. The stuff that he touched compromised him, but that's no excuse to act the way he did. Simmons tried to stop him but he pressed on. He's trained, he should know the signs of a flashback, should have seen that you were struggling"
I saw she was gripping the wheel of the aircraft very tightly. I shook my head and got up. "How long 'till we land?" I asked as I folded the blanket and placed that and the pillow back to where they're stored.
"We're almost there" she supplied.
"Awesome, I need to talk to Coulson," I said and headed for the door. With my hand on the handle, I paused and turned back to May. "Thank you, Melinda. For everything" I told her with a smile and left the cockpit.
It wasn't half a minute later when I knocked on Coulson's door and he called me in. "Skye," he said surprised when I walked in. "I, honestly, wasn't expecting you to be up. How are you feeling" he motioned for the chair opposite him for me to take a seat.
I nodded my thanks and, after closing the door behind me, I took the offering. "I'm going to be honest here, sir. I know you must have talked with the rest of the team about what happened and you have a vague idea. I have PTSD. It's not something I can help. But I've been handling it the last few years. Today…" I trailed off trying to express my thoughts properly. "Today was an exception. I would never endanger the team. And I understand that what happened today compromised me. I learned we're heading to Ireland for the final piece. With May and Ward, you should have enough specialists to see this mission to an end. I would like to suggest I stay behind" I finished and waited for his reaction.
He just looked at me, saying nothing for a while. Until a singular word left his lips. "No"
I shook my head. "Excuse me?"
He got up from his chair and walked around his office. I stood up as well and waited for him to stand in front of me. "As we recently discussed, I trust you. And the fact that you came in here, to tell me that you feel unable to continue with this mission strengthens my trust in you. So, no. I still want you on this mission"
"I don't understand your point," I said genuinely. "Why would you risk—"
"Because I'm not risking anything," he said and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know you would do anything for this team, and as I said I trust you. Plus, I had to bench Ward. Had he come to me and explained what was happening he would still be on this case. But instead, he lashed out to the Lab and then to you. He didn't see that a member of his own team was suffering and made the situation worse. On top of that, I checked the tapes. He continued advancing towards you despite Simmon's requests not to do so"
I blinked a couple of times, digesting everything. "What did you say with May. She said the exact same thing" I smiled and he took that as his cue to go back to his seat.
"Well, I did talk with every member of the team. And Melinda and I go way back. Sometimes you'd be surprised how, when you know a person for years, you tend to see matters the same way"
"Prepare for landing" May's voice echoes through the speakers and we strapped in.
Notes:An early update today since I have some stuff to do later.
Sorry for the lack of chaos, I know people were expecting it ^^' May came to the rescue. But there will be more action and somewhat chaos (?) in tomorrow's chapter (not sure about the word chaos but it definitely is something).
Thank you for the support! Take care and I'll see you tomorrow :)
Chapter 34: To Seek And To FindNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
By the time we touched down and got ready to head out the sun was no longer in the sky. Before I left Coulson's office he handed me a briefcase that had Randolph's belongings, which were collected when he was brought in the Cage.
I opened the case in front of him as he headed to one of the unmarked SUVs that we had in the cargo hold. I watched as he casually took his watch and wrapped it around his wrist. When I lifted my eyes and looked at his face I noticed that his eyes were trained on me. He smiled and kept looking at me as if I was a museum exhibit. God, how I hated that look on his face. "You don't know" he stated. There was intrigue in his tone as he spoke.
"I don't" I answered truthfully. "I would like to learn, if you're willing to explain a few things after this mission" I decided to add. I closed the case that I now had in my arms but was empty. I should be more upset, but I honestly wasn't.
His eyes still analyzed me. It seemed as if he was trying to decipher me. It was almost like he was seizing up whether I was a threat or not. I couldn't really tell, for I had no real idea what he knew. "We will see" was the only answer he provided before he went to the SUV that Coulson would be in.
I stood there for a second and then shook my head. I had to stay focused. I noticed another presence walk in the room and I turned around to see that Ward stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at me.
Without looking back, I turned back towards the other members of the team and walked into the SUV with May and Jemma. It was the three of us in one, while Coulson, Fitz, and Randolph took the other one.
As soon as I sat in the dark, back seat, Jemma sought my hand. I wrapped my fingers around hers and we stayed like that, silent for the rest of the short journey. The ride to the church where the Asgardian had presumably stored the last part of the stuff was complete too soon and we soon were inside the old building.
Randolph of course got distracted and started talking about how the priests thought of him as a saint. "Hey" I spoke up and interrupted them. "The staff?" I asked and raised my eyebrows while nodding my head to emphasize my words.
"Right" Randolph exclaimed and started walking towards the opposite side of the church, climbing up the stairs quickly.
We were almost at the top when May voiced what had been bothering me since we entered but I couldn't quite pinpoint it. "It's quiet" she observed and I sought the urge to add "Too quiet".
I noticed Randolph heading to a tall, box-like furniture and fiddling with the lock. "Why do you think I trusted them with my secret? They've taken a vow of silence" he finished just as the lock came undone in his hands.
Only for us to realize that the last part of the staff was missing.
"But…" I heard a voice from close to where Randolph was standing and I immediately started walking in his direction. "…when you get them talking…" the voice continued just as dramatically just as Jakob came into the light and I run the last part towards him, "…they squeal"
And just as he made a move to stab Randolph in the heart with one of the two parts of the staff he was holding, I pushed Randolph away, with a small helping of my vibrations to make sure he was truly in the clear and grabbed the piece with my hand.
Immediately my hand felt as if it was on fire, the hot feeling spreading from my palm, up my arm, and to the rest of my body in a matter of milliseconds. I felt a white-hot rage rise inside me and I had to use all of my willpower not to let my powers loose at that moment.
Jakob, clearly not expecting me to do that, was momentarily frozen on the spot. Without a second thought, I grabbed the second piece of the stuff that he was holding loosely on the other arm, letting some of my vibrations travel through the alien material, and he let go without much struggle. The pain was clear in his face as he stared down at his hands which had just been subjected to a controlled portion of my powers, wondering what had just happened.
Then his painful expression turned into anger, realizing that he now had no parts of the staff in his possession, and made a move to grab them from me.
Wrong move buddy, I thought.
I kicked him hard in the chest, letting a few vibrations leave from the sole of my foot and sending him flying to the opposite wall. He crashed hard on the stone wall, which cracked, and his body fell limp on the floor. But he was still alive. I felt his heart to make sure.
"Skye" I heard someone say my name and my head snapped in the direction of the others. I saw equally concerned expressions from every member of the team and an intrigued one from the Asgardian. I was not sure who had said my name but it didn't matter, for May soon spoke up. "Skye, drop the staff"
I could feel the place start to shake a little bit as if it was in the beginnings of an earthquake. Just as I started making a conscious try to tune it down, my mind map picked up several other individuals rushing into the church from all the doors of the ground floors. I mentally cursed as I greeted my teeth. "Stay here" I commanded, not even bothering to ask, and jumped to the lower floor. I landed softly on my legs, my powers absorbing the extra vibration that I would normally produce, making it feel more like landing on a mattress than a hard floor.
I saw people enter from the doors and they spared just a glance to one of their fallen leaders before charging towards me.
At that moment, I felt as if time slowed down.
My grip on the staff tightened even more, this new power surging through my veins. My mind clouded, and I was not in the church anymore. From what Ward had told the others, and what information about the Berserker staff Randolph had provided, the anger that I was experiencing was expected. I was expecting to travel back to the Hellicarrier, maybe even before that. I was not expecting to hear hisvoice again.
"Daisy" I heard him say and after I blinked the Doctor was standing in front of me.
"What are you doing to me?" I heard myself, a younger version of myself asking as his assistants were dragging me into a separate room. "What do you want?!" I asked again, trying to shake off the hands, only for their grips on my biceps to intensify and I let out a whimper.
The men threw me in the room and quickly backed away, shutting the stone door shut. I picked myself up, weak as I was from all the days they probed and probed, trying to find something. The room was empty, round and freezing cold. It was all made out of stone, and the door from which they brought me in had no handle or anything.
I had a bad feeling about this. This was new. It wasn't like any room I had been to before. I looked around and found a camera on the ceiling.
My attention was diverted by a clicking noise. It sounded as if something was released into the room. Something like gas. I looked at the floor and noticed some sort of mist start spreading in the room from a hatch that had opened close to the floor.
I could feel my eyes widen as I turned back towards the camera and then run to the stone door, banging on the hard surface that separated me from anyone else. "I told you! I'm not who you are looking for! I'm not Daisy!" I screamed at him for what must have been the millionth time while my fists started bleeding as they scraped against the stone.
"We will soon be together my daughter. You will be who you were always meant to be" I heard his voice through a speaker and I could imagine that awful glint in his eyes. The same one he had every time he looked at me.
I kept banging, yelling at him to let me out as the mist closed in on me.
Suddenly, I felt my legs grow stiff and unmoving. I looked down and saw my body turning into stone. I could feel my heart rate skyrocket and I used every last bit of my strength to try and break the glass. "No! Please! Let me out!" I kept yelling over and over as the stone grew and climbed up my legs to my torso and towards my neck.
I felt my throat close and I found it impossible to take a breath. The stone started setting around my head, the last thing I saw was his face, looking triumphantly at me.
And then there was darkness.
Nothing but darkness. Darkness and quiet.
Until everything shook.
I landed heavily on my knees, feeling drained and breathing heavily as I came back to the now. I heard a clattering noise and looked down, seeing the two pieces of the staff that I was previously holding, on the floor. I looked up again, fighting against my exhaustion, and noticed all the bodies that surrounded me.
I looked further up, at the platform that the others stood and noticed that only the three men were there.
I heard a gasp from somewhere and I turned my head, only to see Petra close to her boyfriend's body. "You have got to be kidding me" I gritted out as I made a move to pick up the two pieces again.
Just as my hands wrapped around the metal once again I saw May walk in front of me and I felt another presence on my back. Jemma, I thought. I, with difficulty, got up and squared my shoulders. "This time, let me help" May whispered to me as she grabbed my arm and prevented me from going towards Petra.
"I won't make you relive Bahrain" I whispered back, the steel and determination in my eyes made May release my arm. "Hold her back," I told her, referring to Jemma, as I turned towards Petra who was looking at me with a furious expression.
She charged at me, but with my vibrations picking up her movements and her lack of any kind of training made it easy to disarm her, her piece of the staff dropping on the floor. As soon as that happened, I felt the two pieces I was holding starting to shake. It was only a second later when the last piece flew and attached itself to the ones I was holding.
I was now holding the original Berserker staff. Which looked like it was never broken in the first place.
As the weapon was now complete, the powers surging through me grew tenfold and I could feel my muscles burning from the sheer effort of holding it together. After I took a few seconds to gather myself, I stood up staring at Petra who was now completely disarmed.
But harmless as she was, she still yelled at me. "I am not afraid of you" as she charged at me.
"You should be" I answered back and with a swift motion, the staff collided hard with the side of her skull and she collapsed unconscious on the floor.
I fought hard to release my cramped up fingers from the grip they had on the staff, as I let it fall onto the floor. As I was no longer holding onto it, the last of my strength disappeared with it. I felt my knees buckle and my eyes roll back as my body started falling.
The last thing I felt before everything went dark was the feeling of someone's body against mine before I hit the floor.
Notes:Don't know how chaotic it was, but it was something ^^'.
I just realised something as I was reading this for the nth time. And I wanted to ask your guys opinion on it. Do you think The Doctor did the same thing many times before he collected Skye? Like, he was looking for his daughter, but was it the first girl he kidnapped, or was she like, the 10th or something? Cause if that's the case, there is a high chance he potentially exposed many other girls in the past on the mist as well. I haven't really worked on that aspect yet, he will come into the story a lot later, but what do you guys think? I just realised that this is a very possible reality based on his character and his desire to find Daisy.
But, in any way, thank you for the support! Take care and see you again tomorrow :)
Chapter 35: Pub ConversationsNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
I was bone tired.
That was all that I could register as I slowly rose back to consciousness.
All I could do was stay motionless in the same laying position I woke up to, trying not to fall back to sleep. What happened? I thought, trying to recall the events that led to me feeling like I had just ran several laps at Steve's speed.
Suddenly, the memories of the church and what I saw while I held the stuff came to the surface. My eyes snapped open, sweat already forming on my temples. It took me only a second to look at the ceiling to realise that I was in a bunk at the Bus. While that eased my uneasiness a little bit, it didn't really eradicate it, for I was not in the privacy of my own bunk, but someone else's.
A whoosh filled the room startling me, as I was still a little bit disoriented. Not knowing what happened after I passed out and before I woke up to whoever's bunk that was, well... it did not sit well with me.
My eyes moved to the door of the small room, which was now open and was the reason why that sound was created in the first place. I saw a figure, with their back towards me, making their way into the room. Out of instinct, I curled up on the head of the bed, back pressed tightly against the wall as I ignored the sparks of pain that that move sent through my torso. My hand was extended towards the figure, ready to send my vibrations should this be someone I didn't know.
However, as I let my powers slowly scan the vibrations that this person sent, along with the familiar light brown hair, I realized that this was Jemma and I relaxed. My hand fell heavy on my lap, my head rested on the wall behind me and I let out a breath. When I opened my eyes again, Jemma had turned around and had stopped dead in her tracks, as she noticed that I was awake. "Hey" I tried to say but my voice broke.
That seemed to bring her back to the present, as she hurried to place a tray with medical supplies that she was carrying to her desk and sat at the bottom of the bed.
"Hey," she said back softly. She placed a hand on my leg, and smiled at me. "How are you feeling?"
I thought about it for a while before answering slowly. "Tired," that single word contained my whole world at that moment.
She hummed and nodded as if expecting that answer from me. Her eyes traveled towards my torso and her eyebrows furrowed. I looked in the same direction and only then did I notice two things. For starters, my arms had wrapped themselves around my middle protectively because of the pain waves that I received from that area, especially my ribs. And also, I was not in the same clothes I was before. I was just in some shorts and a bra, as my torso and arms were wrapped tightly with bandages. "Would you mind if I had a look? I need to change your bandages".
"Sure..." I said, and it was my turn to knit my brows. A little bit of the confusion I was feeling slipped into my tone. "How did this happen?" I asked as I unraveled myself for Jemma to have a better look and be able to do her job.
Her fingers started to move slowly and delicately to unwrap the material that was around my body. "What do you remember?", she asked instead of answering.
"I..." I started but stopped short, not wanting to relive what I saw soon after I touched the staff. "After I took down Nystrom and before Petra came in, it's kind of... blank" I lied instead. She immediately lifted her head and her eyes met mine, silently telling me to cut the bullshit. I let out a breath. "Nothing I wanna talk about now, but definitely not what happened in the church" I eventually added.
She seemed satisfied with that and she resumed her work. "Well, from where I was standing and watching... you took quite the beating" she gently pressed at several spots, assessing the situation and I did my best not to flinch but she must have picked up on my muscles tightening up every time she touched a sore or sensitive spot. "You gave plenty, but received some hard ones as well. I think you didn't really realize how hurt you were at the time because of the adrenaline rushing through your system because of the Berserker's staff influence". She finished her examination and started laying and wrapping the new set of bandages around me. "I think it was the staff's effects in combination with your peculiar physiology and advanced healing capabilities that allow you to be in such a good state now. You should have been much worse from what we witnessed. The tiredness is another symptom of you holding the staff. Randolph has been very helpful and provided us some very useful information on what you should do in the next few days in order to properly restore your energy"
"Speaking of energy," I said as another wave of tiredness washed over me. "The fact that I used my powers mustn't have helped the situation". I watched as she finished and sat back down to the edge of the bed. I opened my palm to her direction and she, instantly, took a hold of it and squeezed. "How are you doing?" I asked.
She scoffed at that and shook her head. "You're unbelievable, you know that?", she said. I shrugged my shoulder as I played with her fingers. "Skye..." she said my name with such a heavy undertone that it spoke whole sentences on its own. "I had to watch you fight a group of people, holding an alien artifact that we know almost nothing about, then pass out from exhaustion while you had sustained some serious injuries and then taking care of you and waiting several hours for you to wake up. I didn't know in what state you'd be in, when you awoke. I didn't know if you'd be as agitated as Ward was. Which was why I had you moved from the Lab to my bunk, so that you were both more comfortable and that I could keep a close eye on you no matter the time". Her eyes started filling with tears. "I'm not doing great, but I've been worse" she said and my mind flashed back to her jumping off the plane.
"I'm okay" I hurried to say. "I'm sorry I worried you" I smiled gently at her.
She blinked her tears away and looked at me with such a genuine expression that I felt she allowed me to look into her soul. She then bent over and kissed my forehead. "You're not okay, and we both know it. So, how about you start being honest with me and with yourself, hm?" She smiled and I could help but nod.
Happy from my non-verbal answer, she sat further back and squeezed my hand once more. "Now, we know for sure that the staff brings up memories" she explained. "You think you wanna talk about what you saw?"
The hopeful expression on her face would have made my answer a positive one even if I was about to decline. But, since this was Jemma, I felt like I could talk about anything with her and that this was a safe space for that.
"I think I remembered how I got my powers..."
"Mind if I sit?" I looked up from my drink to find Randolph standing next to me, pointing to the empty seat at my table.
I shrugged and moved over a bit for him to have more space. "Be my guest" I told him before I took a sip from my beer. I was in a little pub close to the hotel we were staying, trying to relax after Jemma cleared me. Despite that, she still instructed me to do nothing too strenuous or tiring for the next few days.
Randolph dragged the chair and sat quite heavily on it, placing his own beer on the table. I looked at the drink and then him. "Does alcohol even affect you?", I found myself asking.
The Asgardian, who was staring at the yellow liquid, had a contemplating expression on his face. "Does it affect you?", he asked instead of answering.
"I don't know…?" I eased back on my chair and threw my head back, my eyes trained at a random spot on the ceiling. "It definitely doesn't do anything to me in a small portion. I've never really tried to see how much I'd need to consume in order to actually get drunk, but I'd guess the answer to that would be a lot". The sounds of the pub filled the silence that followed. As he didn't give any indication he wanted to speak, I let out a sigh and turned to his direction, properly facing him. "What are you doing here?"
I watched as his hand wrapped around his glass, twisting it around almost like he was bored. But if he was bored, then why was he still sitting here? "Agent Coulson is a nice guy," he started. "He offered to let me stay in the hotel with you all and then drop me off wherever I wanted to tomorrow". He finally grabbed the glass and brought it closer to his lips. "I took his offer," and for the first time since sitting next to me, he drank.
I shook my head at his answer. "But what are you doing here?" I pointed at his chair. "You could have been anywhere in this town, and yet you chose to come sit with me. Why?" I was tired of him beating around the bush.
"You wanted to talk," he said as if it was obvious.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to decipher if he was fooling around, but he wasn't. I stood up and motioned for him to follow me to a table at the far corner. From there I would be able to see if we had any prying eyes or ears. Only when both of us had taken our seats did I speak. "What made you decide to talk? From what I remember, you weren't sure you wanted to when we last spoke".
"Well…" he moved his hands and pointed at me. "You happened. Or, to be more precise, you happened to hold the staff".
At that, I remember what the staff 'showed' me and I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "What did that have to do with anything?"
He took his time answering. "You see… unlike the others, I held the staff. I talked with the biochemist one. Simmons, was it? And while she understands, more than most, what happens to someone who holds it, she hasn't experienced it first-hand". He adjusted in his seat to better look at me and then his hand was pointing to himself. "I never wanted it, which is why I got rid of it as soon as I could. Others thrived from the power that the staff provides, but… nah. Not me".
His eyes were examining me, like back at the Bus. His pause also indicated that it was my turn to say something.
I looked down at my hands and flipped them over a few times, my eyes traveling all over my forearms and palms. "I know that any kind of power comes with a price one has to be willing to pay" I eventually said. I wasn't speaking exclusively about the staff and he knew it. "I didn't ask for this, you know. I think it was forced upon me"
"You think?", he interrupted quickly, a spark in his eyes due to this piece of new information.
I nodded, carefully recalling what I saw only a few hours ago. "About half of my life's memories are missing. I just woke up in a… hospital, not knowing anything but my name. There are only a couple of memories that I have from before that day, the second one was just brought up yesterday. There was a Doctor who wanted me to be someone I was not, so he kept testing me. That was until he sealed me in a room and did something that turned me into stone. The last thing I remember feeling is the same thing that I feel constantly ever since I got my powers". I left out a lot of details. He didn't need to know the whole story after all.
"And what is that?", he clearly couldn't help himself. He was intrigued as hell.
I placed my hand down on the table and send vibrations, through the wood surface, to his beer glass that he was still holding. Just enough for him to feel it, but not enough to be noticed by anyone in our surrounding areas.
"It's a constant buzzing under my skin and all over my body" I explained. "I've learned to tune it down with practice, but it's always there".
He gasped a little bit at the glass gently shaking in his hand and lifted it closer to his face to examine it. "Magnificent" he quietly exclaimed. His eyes were wide as a smile spread on his face. "I figured you could create earthquakes after what I witnessed back in the church, but this… oh, this is something else"
I scoffed, pulling my powers back. "It sure is something". I watched as he placed the, now still, beer back to where it was before. "But to answer your initial, silent question: No. As long as it's a power I can get rid of, I will do so"
His head snapped in my direction, an eyebrow raising in question. "You mean to tell me, if there was a way to get rid of your powers, you'd take it?"
"No" I spoke immediately.
There was now more suspicion flashing in his eyes. "But how does—"
"I know it sounds hypocritical" I cut him off before he said anything else. "Trust me, I know. I didn't want these powers when they first appeared. And if, back then, you had offered me a way out, I would have taken it without giving it a second thought. But I have come to accept them. They are a part of me just as any other part of my body is. I wouldn't be who I was today without them." I paused and pressed my finger hard on the table, leaning forwards to further emphasize my point. "But the kind of power that comes from the likes of the staff? I want nothing to do with it" and with that I sat back on my chair and stared at him, daring him to question me.
Neither of us broke eye contact for a while. And, at last, the first one to do so was Randolph who spoke before smiling. "And that is why I decided to talk with you". He backed down and drank some more of his beer, slowly enjoying the taste of it.
I, tentatively, mimicked him, trying to relax. "I've spent years holding it. By the end I could tell who enjoyed the power of it, and who didn't" he further elaborated. "For me, it was obvious you didn't. And yet you chose to hold it more than once in order to spare agent May of reliving a painful memory you obviously know about". At my raised eyebrow he added, "Enhanced hearing compared to humans"
"So…" I spoke in order to properly understand. "You waited to see what would happen if I held it?" He couldn't have possibly known that I would get anywhere near the staff, so there must have been another reason behind his actions.
He scratched his chin with one finger while making a face. "Truth is, I wanted to see how you'd act in a pressured situation that we were surely walking in. I knew that there was a high chance that those you hunted would get there before us". He then turned to look at me and his expression turned more serious, which in turn made me more alert. "See… your kind… from what I've heard, they were called monsters"
I was not sure how to process that bit of information. "What do you…?", I left the question hanging.
"Not much" he quickly said. "But I can tell you the little bit that I know"
"You called me an experiment" I recalled back to our initial meeting at the crypt. "Now, you're calling me a monster"
He nodded at that. "I needed to make sure you are not one" he tried to explain. Then shook his head and took a deep breath before continuing. "Let's go about this in another way. Do you know of the Kree?" I flinched a bit at that as the same word was spoken by Loki. "Oh, you do know of them"
"Actually I don't" I supplied. "But you are not the first Asgardian I have met. You're actually the third. And the first one, well he wasn't nice. We didn't 'get along', you could say. He's the one I heard that name from"
He saw that I didn't want to further elaborate and thankfully didn't press the issue. Instead, he shook his head once more and continued. "The Kree, they're not a peaceful race. We have fought them at numerous occasions in the past centuries. From what I have heard, they were trying to create weapons to help them win the war. They traveled to many planets and as their efforts were unsuccessful, they found their way to Earth. They experimented on humans, trying to create monsters with superhuman powers by genetically altering their DNA. But, once again, their experiments were not successful. So, another fraction of the Kree came to shut the whole thing down" he finished talking and looked at me.
I blinked several times, taking in the information. "That's it?" He nodded. I pinched the base of my nose, trying to muster more strength. "That can't be it. There has to be more"
"I'm sorry" he said and I could tell he really meant it. "This is all that I know. I know it's not a lot, and you probably have more questions"
After I calmed down a little bit I lifted my head back up and smiled at him. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. Thank you for telling me all that, I will have to do some research on what you've told me. Maybe I'll find something more. I can always ask Thor if he decides to turn up". I saw his eyes widen at the mention of the other Asgardian.
"You've met him?" He asked in disbelief.
I rubbed my neck. "Technically we fought together. But we haven't spoken much. He had to quickly go back to Asgard with his brother. I don't like that one as much" I spit out in the end.
"And you've also met Loki". He leaned back on his chair. "I'm gonna take a wild guess, but I'm gonna say that he's the one Agsardian you didn't 'get along with'"
"Bingo," I said and actually found myself smiling at this more lighthearted conversation we had. And just as my mood had slightly improved, I picked up someone walking towards the table. I looked in their direction to see Ward closing in.
Randolph picked up the change in the air immediately and looked at the other agents direction as well, his mouth forming a silent 'o'. "I will leave you to it" he said and got up to leave. But before he disappeared he offered me a piece of paper. "It was nice talking to you, Skye. I wouldn't mind staying in contact"
I nodded. Taken back by the gesture, as I stored the paper in my jacket, it took me an extra second to realize that Ward was practically next to me. As I was left alone with him, I took another large sip from my beer. "What do you want, Ward?", I asked, not even bothering to pretend to be okay with him being here.
"I came to apologize," he said. "Can I sit?"
I clenched my jaw, not believing him. "No," I told him.
He nodded his head. "I deserve that"
Oh, you deserve so much more than just that, I thought to myself but didn't actually say it. "Just say your piece and go, okay?"
Thankfully he still refrained from coming any closer. "Look, I'm really sorry. I know we bump heads all the time and don't agree on a lot of things. But you didn't deserve what you got and that's my fault. The staff, it messed with my head. I remembered something I hadn't thought about in a very long time" his eyes glazed over a little bit at the memory he was talking about but quickly turned back to normal. "I'm not that guy" he finished.
"You know what I believe, Ward? I believe that touching that staff made you show your true colours" I answered as I stood up. "I held it. I know you know. I held all three of them" my palms pressed on the wooden table. "What you felt? I felt it. But you don't see me going around snapping at people and demanding answers to things I have no idea about". I fixed my posture and my jacket as I was getting ready to get out of there and towards the hotel. Suddenly I didn't feel like staying at that pub any second longer. "So, no. When you say you're not that guy. I'm not entirely sure I believe you. And trust me when I tell you, I'll keep my eye on you"
I moved to get around him but I saw him moving as well and paused, tilting my head at him. Daring him to stop me by touching me. He, thankfully, took the signal and just stepped back, raising both of his hands. "If that's true, how did you hold all of them? Does everything just roll off your back?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Of course not. If it helped, I would rage all the time. I learned a long time ago that it doesn't" I finished the conversation and headed off, not giving him another second of my time.
Notes:Poor Jemma... Skye always makes her worry sick ^^'
And Randolph turned out to be a good kind of guy. At least Skye got some answers. Answers that created more questions for her, but at least it's a start.
Thank you for the support! Take care and I'll see you all tomorrow :)