Skye took a deep breath as she holstered her gun. Not that she was going to need it. She glanced up at Lincoln, wondering if he was as freaked out as she was about this. The mission they were going on. If he was nervous, he hid it well. Simmons tapped her shoulder from behind.
"Coulson wants to see you for a minute." Skye nodded and turned towards the hallway before being stopped in her tracks by Lincoln. He slid in front of her and held a hand out.
"It's gonna be fine. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm still worried."
"Don't be. Remember, these are not our people. There's no fault in loyalty here."
"Right." Skye pressed her hands against her legs in a weak attempt to steady them. The whole earthquake-causing-thing might not go so well if she couldn't stop her hands shaking.
She walked up to Coulson's door and knocked, then entered after she heard a mumbled invitation from inside. He was sitting on his desk, turned away from her. The screen in front of him was showing the different profiles of the powered people. Skye felt her stomach turn over.
"There's something I need you to understand." Coulson said, turning the monitor off and swiveling around on his desktop. "There is no version of this that we use lethal force against these people. They're living, breathing, things and there is no way this scene ends with a pile of bodies. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"However, if the situation calls for it, an impressive amount of strength might be necessary to subdue them. I'm assuming you and Lincoln are up to the task. If it gets difficult in there, we pull you out, not take them down." Skye nodded again. This all had already been said during the briefing session on the mission. "We're hoping friendly faces such as yours will calm them. You know exactly how they feel. Make sure to work with that approach."
"Yes, sir." This was beginning to feel a bit repetitive.
"There's another reason I want you out in the field." That caught her attention. He hadn't mentioned anything about this in the briefing. "Lincoln." She tensed up, knowing where this was going. "Skye, Lincoln suffered more of a confusion of loyalties than you did after the whole Inhumans thing. That place and those people were much more a part of him than they ever were of you. And although he left them to fight for us, it wasn't because he cared about us so much, it was because he didn't support they things Jiaying was doing."
"Sir – are you implying he came to us because there was no better choice?"
"That's exactly what I'm implying. As he couldn't possibly stay on their side because of their ideals, and he couldn't exactly leave – we were on a boat in the middle of the ocean – it's a possibility that he only went against the people his loyalty lied with because it was the only option available to him that didn't involve changing his moral code."
"I understand your point, but I can assure you Lincoln had more incentive to join our team than necessity."
"I'm not sure I can believe that." Coulson got up off the desk and walked over to the window. Skye felt like sticking her finger in ear ear and twisting it, because what she was hearing couldn't possibly being said by Coulson. Agent May, perhaps, but never Coulson.
"Can I ask you something?" He nodded. "It doesn't seem like you to be so suspicious of newcomers"
"That isn't a question."
"I just mean – when I showed up, you didn't seem as skeptical of me, and I was affiliated with a group literally hell-bent on the destruction of SHIELD. With even more hatred for your organization than probably Jiaying had."
"Still not a question."
"Okay fine," Skye said, frustrated now, "Why are you being so unfair to Lincoln? I was worse than he is."
"Truthfully?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, that would be a nice change." Coulson sighed and walked over to face her.
"While I'll admit that the Rising Tide was more against us than the Inhumans, they weren't as much of a threat. Not to offend your little group of laptop "hacktivists", but compared to hundred of people with either powers or the potential to gain them, you weren't very intimidating."
"Okay, but –"
"Not to mention the fact that you weren't loyal to any of them. You weren't after the destruction of us, you were after your parents. All that "we deserve to know" stuff wasn't really on your priority list. Lincoln, meanwhile, was incredibly broken down and lost when they took him in. They were more like a family to him than anyone else had been, and definitely more than the Rising Tide was ever to you." Skye stayed silent, taking this all in.
"So what's your point?"
"Point?"
"You didn't call me in here just to tell me you think Lincoln's not very trustworthy."
"No. I called you in here to ask you how trustworthy you think he is."
"I think I've already answered –"
"You've just been defending him. I don't want your side of the debate. I want you to think hard and give me a straight answer not based on any relationship you two might have."
"So do I think he's trustworthy?" Coulson nodded as confirmation. Skye thought very carefully to herself, trying to put her feelings aside and use only plain, flat logic. She felt her stomach sink.
"I don't know if he is." Coulson nodded again as if he'd been expecting this.
"Well, good luck in the field. Let me know about any concerns or speculations on the matter." Skye nodded and left the room, twisting her hands anxiously along the way.
Lincoln ducked as another heavy chunk of concrete whizzed by his head. Even though he got down in time, he still felt a breeze tickle the top of his hair. So much for the friendly approach. Jesus, this guy is dangerous, he thought as he snapped his gaze back towards the young man now with his hands surrounded by swirling earth.
He looked over at Skye, ensuring she was doing okay. She seemed to be holding her own with an older but very fit man who looked a bit like a cat, sporting a lot of hair and a pointed snout. He seemed to possess cat-like strengths as well, almost literally flying from one to another of the huge piles of packing crates that lay around in the abandoned warehouse.
There were a number of other assailants surrounding them but they were currently being dealt with by Bobbi, Hunter, and May, who'd made their appearance when things had gone south. One of them was controlling some kind of gas that Lincoln couldn't see the source of. A young woman was cowering behind the crates displaying no power that he could tell, but carrying a gun and nonetheless dangerous.
He turned back towards the man targeting him and sized him up again. No lethal force, he reminded himself. He cursed as another heavy concrete block nearly hit him again. It's not like he'd prefer a body count, but having an opponent using drastic measures against you when you weren't allowed to do so as well was difficult.
Lincoln tried to aim the small bolts of energy he could send towards precarious crates he could see. It would hopefully be a bit easier to knock someone out if they were trying to ward off falling debris while defending themselves. Fortunately, his idea seemed to be effective enough. The telekinetic man opposing him began focusing his power on the wreckage falling on him. Lincoln began to focus his power on him again, aiming between the falling fragments. One hit him on the left side of his head and he went down, all the earth swirling around him in a cocoon of sorts immediately dropping to the ground.
Lincoln grinned, pulled his hands back and brushed the clods of earth and rock from his body. It's not like he enjoyed being forced into violence, but there was something satisfactory in winning a fight.
Suddenly, he heard a yell. He turned and saw the cat-like man hit the ground and slide a few meters before coming to a stop. Skye straightened from her position crouched behind a crate and holster her icer. The trickle of blue energy across the cat-man's face receded, indicating he was out cold.
Bobbi, Hunter and May were still battling their respective opponents, and both Skye and Lincoln turned to help them.
However, Lincoln turned a bit more slowly and therefore noticed the young woman armed with a pistol step out from behind the crates. The gun in her hands was shaking, but her gaze was rock hard and in that second, Lincoln understood what she was about to do. Not why. Maybe Catman had held a place in her heart or something.
Love. It was complicated.
Lincoln began to run towards Skye. He noticed Bobbi finish off her attacker and turn to see what was happening, but she wouldn't be fast enough.
He tackled Skye just as the gun went off.
Skye hit the ground as if an elephant had landed on her. Not that Lincoln was that heavy, but being football-tackled full force by an adult male wasn't exactly agreeable.
She sat up and groaned.
"Lincoln, what the hell was –" Skye stopped as soon as he'd slid onto the floor, facing up. His eyes were closed but the first thing she caught sight of was the humongous dark stain on his chest.
"Shit." she said, frozen in place. Her hands were beginning to shake. "Bobbi! Bobbi, I need help! Bobbi!"
"You don't need to yell, I'm right here." said Bobbi's voice in her ear. She sat down beside Skye, pulling Lincoln nearer and ripping his black shirt off. Skye clapped a hand over her mouth. There was a lot of blood and it was still gushing out. Bobbi put both hands over the wound, pressing down hard. "I know this is hard, but you need to sever your connection right now."
"Wha–"
"Skye, if you keep thinking of him as your friend Lincoln, you're not gonna be able to think straight enough to help him. As of right now, he's just another wounded patient. Like the ones that we get in the Playground, right? Calm down." Skye had begun to hyperventilate.
"He's gonna die."
"He is definitely not going to die. You got two in the gut and you were fine. Now calm down and help me." Skye shook her head and then stared down and Lincoln's torso, trying to block out his face.
"Okay, we need some kind of bandage to hold back the bleeding."
"Hunter's got the first aid pack Coulson deemed necessary." Bobbi waved him over. He swiftly knocked out his guy, dodging the last few wisps of gas and slid over to where they were kneeling. They began to apply the medical supplies frantically. Lincoln's eyes were fluttering and as Skye held his hand she felt his pulse growing weaker.
She felt a pain behind her eyes and blinked. She couldn't cry, she wouldn't. Lincoln needed her full attention right now. Skye shook her head and turned back to them, still grasping his hand firmly.
"You'll be fine."
Bobbi looked up, but Skye wasn't talking to her. She looked at Lincoln's closed eyes.
"Fine, you hear me? You'll be fine."
Skye burst into Coulson's office, fury etched in every angle of her face. He looked up from tinkering with his new hand.
"Back from the mission?"
"I sure as hell am, but Lincoln almost wasn't." His eyebrows drew together.
"What?" Skye stopped for a minute and breathed deep, trying to calm herself.
"Lincoln got shot. For me. He took a bullet so I wouldn't." Coulson looked taken aback. That probably had to do with the way she'd delivered the info. If there was a tone that took the verbal form of a slap, she was using it.
"Is he okay?"
"I don't know, but I really don't think there's should be any question about his damn loyalty anymore, huh?" Coulson sighed and stood up.
"Skye –"
"No, I don't wanna hear your apology. Unless it's not an apology, in which case you're a jackass.." Coulson remained quiet.
"Let me know if you've got any orders for me." Skye threw as much malice as she could into that short sentence and then whipped out of the office, slamming the door behind her as she did.
Lincoln peeled his eyes open. It was a difficult job, considering they were caked with blood from a cut on his forehead that somehow nobody had cleaned yet. Odd, considering he was in a hospital-type-facility.
Hospital?!
Everything came rushing back and he tried to sit up. That small movement proved to be very painful and he collapsed back against the pillow again, groaning in pain.
"Are you okay?"
A small dark haired head poked its way into the room through the door.
"Are you okay?" Skye smiled lightly and pulled the rest of her body through to sit down on a chair beside his bed."
"I don't think you're in a fit position to be taking care of me right now, hmm? You did just get shot."
"That's right, I'd forgotten." He put a hand to his abdomen and winced. Skye's easy smile faded.
"Hurts like hell, doesn't it?" she noted, still looking very cautious. Lincoln's eyebrows raised.
"You've been shot?" Skye nodded. "You know, I never intended to take a bullet for you. I mean, there's the romantic gesture and all that, but I maybe think flowers would've hurt less."
Skye smiled again.
"I was just hoping to get you out of the way and then maybe nobody would've had to get shot. Still, this way I get to lord it over you now, I guess." he teased. "Next time I want a beer, I'll try it out. 'Skye, could you get that for me?' 'No.' 'But I took a bullet for you!' That's how it'll be."
Skye was laughing now, and Lincoln found it was a bit contagious as he began to chuckle himself. He stopped quickly, putting a hand to his ribs again and Skye did as well, slipping back into her sombre seriousness.
A bright red stain appeared on the white t-shirt he'd been put in, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from Skye.
"You're bleeding again."
"It's fine." he said hastily, pulling his bedsheets up over the red.
"No, it's not. Let me see." she pulled the covers back down and tugged up the hem of his t-shirt. The bandages around his ribcage were becoming more bloodstained by the minute.
She pressed down on the wound, lightly resting another hand over his now-bare chest. He sucked in his breath at the sudden contact.
Skye glanced up and made eye contact, now another element to the tension in the room at that moment. Lincoln felt his cheeks go red and he looked back down towards his stomach. However, he still felt Skye's eyes on his face.
"You know," she began, "when I thought you were gonna die, I kinda wanted to kiss you."
Lincoln snapped his head back up. They locked eyes for a minute. Then he felt his gaze almost subconsciously flicker down to her lips.
"Why didn't you?"
"Well, you were covered in blood and unconscious." He felt a grin tug at his lips.
"I'm not anymore." he moved his face closer to hers.
"True." she closed the distance.
They broke apart after a minute, cheeks flushed and breathing heavily. Skye grinned and leaned in again until their noses were touching.
"If you die after that, I'm gonna kill you."
"Well, I'll try not to."said Lincoln, moving in again.