AN: This story takes place after the events of 2x14 but before the ending of 2x15. Skye is in the cabin and has not been visited by Gordon

Skye gathered together the deck of cards once again, sighed, and began to shuffle them, planning on starting yet another game of solitaire. Partway through shuffling, she changed her mind and shoved the cards back into their box. She'd decided that solitaire sucked; even the name just reminded her of how alone and isolated she was.

Of course, she knew that this arrangement was for the best, for everyone's safety. She was far away from anybody, reducing her chance of harming anyone if she lost control. Also, she had those crazy gloves Simmons had made so she couldn't break her arms again. That hadn't been pleasant.

But still, living alone in a cabin in the woods was super boring and depressing. She couldn't wait until she could go back home, although she had no idea how soon that would be, or if it would even happen.

She sat up suddenly; she had that prickling feeling you get when someone is watching you. Quickly, she scanned the cabin, but there was no one there, as usual. She shook her head. She was probably just feeling paranoid because of everything that had been happening, not to mention the episodes of Paranormal Activity Fitz had persuaded her to watch. But it was nothing. She relaxed and started wondering what to do with her time now that she had officially quit solitaire, when she heard a voice.

"Skye."

She stood and whirled around, trying to place the sound. She still couldn't see anything, but the voice had sounded very familiar. Maybe the solitude had started to get to her head and she was hearing things. But no, she hadn't been alone that long.

"Skye," the voice said again, "Skye, can you hear me?" and this time there was no misplacing that voice. As much as her mind told her it was impossible, she'd know that voice anywhere. She still couldn't see anyone, but she knew, somehow, Trip was talking to her.

"Trip?" She said uncertainly, eyes still scanning the empty cabin. "Where are you? I can hear you, but I can't see you anywhere."

"Sorry, I – I don't really know how – " and suddenly he was there, in front of her. For a moment, it was like she could see through him, to the ratty old couch and the far wall of the cabin, but then his skin became opaque and Skye wasn't sure if she'd imagined it or not.

"Oh my – Oh my gosh," she blinked back tears and rushed to hug him, pressing her face against his chest, hugging him tightly despite the pain that still shot up her arms under pressure. "Trip, you were dead. I thought I'd never see you again and – oh gosh – oh but you're here." She shut up and held him and he held her and for a minute, everything was ok. He hadn't died, which meant she hadn't caused his death, and maybe she wasn't as much of a monster as she felt she was.

"It's ok Skye," he said with a bit of a chuckle. "It's alright, I'm not dead. I'm right here." And he was, he was here, and solid and real, and in her arms and –

Suddenly, Skye was hugging nothing. She opened her eyes and where Trip had been standing was empty. What was going on? Had she imagined all of it? Maybe she really was going crazy. She fought to keep her heart rate down; she knew all too well what would happen if it sped up. But where was Trip? What happened –

"Sorry," he said, and Skye turned around to find him now standing behind her, looking slightly embarrassed, and a little scared. "Like I was saying before, I'm not really sure how this works, or how to control it."

Skye swallowed and blinked at him, looking between where he was and where he had been. "Control what?"

Trip rubbed his neck, "I don't really understand what happened down there in that temple or whatever but… ever since I've kinda been able to walk through walls and stuff." He looked up at Skye, his dark eyes searching for something; fear, acceptance? She wasn't sure.

Skye just raised her eyebrows at him, and then slowly nodded her approval. "Well, I have to say, out of the three of us, I think you got the best deal."

He blinked, "Three?"

"Uh-huh," she moved to sit on the super-crappy-couch, "You, Raina, and me. The three people who were in the temple with the Obelisk." She said casually. She honestly felt pretty overwhelmed, but she decided the worst thing she could do right now was freak out. She knew from experience how much someone freaking out about your new abilities sucked.

He joined her on the couch. "What do you mean I got the best deal?" he asked somewhat warily as he looked down at his hands, which flickered out of existence for a moment before reappearing.

"Well, Raina turned into a prickly porcupine; I don't imagine she likes that very much." Skye said, trying to urge a laugh out of Trip.

He looked at her very seriously, almost worried, "And you?"

She sighed. She considered referring to herself as "a walking natural disaster" again, but felt it would kill the casual mood she was trying to establish. Instead she said, "Well, it appears I can cause earthquakes," and waited for that to sink in.

He just stared at her. The silence went on so long that Skye began to feel a bit uncomfortable and fidgeted with her hands. The movement drew his eyes down to her arms, where he saw the extensive bruising. Gently, he reached and grabbed her left arm, bringing it more into the light so you could more clearly see the ugly blotches of color. "What happened here?"

Skye tried her best not to wince too obviously; even slight pressure on her arms still hurt. "That was from me trying to not cause earthquakes, and instead containing them inside myself," she said quickly, then slipped her arm out of his hands and placed it back into her lap. She looked at the floor, not wanting to look up, not wanting to see in his eyes what had been in everyone's eyes ever since they'd found out: the fear, worry, uncertainty, even horror. She'd seen too much of that, and she didn't think she could take anymore, especially not from Trip.

Eventually, he reached over and grabbed her chin, softly turning her head to face him. Skye was surprised by what she saw in his eyes; yes, there was a trace of worry, but it was surrounded by respect and confidence. He dropped his hand, resting it on top of hers, and asked, "Do you scare yourself Skye?"

She bit her lip and nodded; she did. She was terrified that she'd hurt someone, but when she tried not to she'd only ended up hurting herself. She didn't know how to control her power and it was colossal and so much more than she could handle. She didn't blame the rest of the team in the slightest for being afraid of her.

"Do I scare you?" Trip asked, and he slipped into his in-between form, where you could see him, but see through him. The pressure and warmth on top of Skye's hands disappeared.

She shook her head. "No, you don't scare me," she assured him, "you're still Trip. Sure, this is weird, but it's not harmful to anyone. It's actually pretty cool."

"Then you shouldn't be afraid of yourself either," he said, becoming completely solid again. "You may have more overwhelming powers, but they don't make you any less you, Skye. And I know you. You'll figure this out. You always do."

AN: Do not ask me what Trip has been doing for the past few months, or how in the world he got to a secure S.H.I.E.L.D protected cabin in the middle of the woods. I don't know these things.