Author's Notes:

Characters: Skye, Lincoln, Raina, Ward, Coulson, Simmons, Fitz, Bobbi, May, Hunter. Maybe Mack. (as well as various comic characters)

Rating: T. Trigger warnings will be addressed in the END of the chapter's notes. But there is an overall TORTURE warning. It's usually not graphic, but they get beat up too frequently to put a warning in every chapter.

Skye and Lincoln: I was writing it as friendship, but the natural chemistry that's been happening feels more like pre-relationship stuff. So... let me know what you guys would rather see. Ultimately I will decide and through the feel of the story, but if you want extra romance or light on it I wouldn't mind your input.

Ward: He's not in the story a ton but definitely plays an important part. Though there will not be Skyeward, he's not as villainous as he appears at first. (He's also not a straight up hero though.)

Prologue

Eight Months Ago

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Unfortunately, that had not been the sound of Skye's ICER taking down some lowlife. Or the local high school band's drums. Not even that annoying Jessie J song.

That was sound currently echoing off the sides of Skye's skull, considering her head was pounding. And not just a dull pain that came and went. Nothing like that. More as though someone was insistently knocking, but she was too tired to get up and let them in. Or more accurately, open her eyes.

Eventually, she conceded and did just that, though not without that grumpy grumble someone being rudely awakened would make. Though the noise was only in her head. Unfortunately, this motion of flicking open her eyes didn't stop the pounding. Not that she really figured it would. The scarier thing was that the basic action had been more difficult than she thought would be considered normal, as Skye barely managed to flutter her eyelids.

"She's waking up," someone said. A woman, Skye noted, though the voice was absolutely foreign to her.

"Really? That's… unprecedented."

Doctors, she figured. Skye wondered if she was hurt from a mission she couldn't quite recall. Maybe this was some SHIELD doctor patching her up. Wouldn't be the first time.

But she would know the doctor's voice, right? She's at least met them all.

Skye strenuously mustered up the strength to open her eyes. As expected, she was met with a medical room. But it surely wasn't SHIELD. It was dirtier, more haphazard than anything at the base. She wasn't in a medical gown, or even her own clothes.

Well, most of them. A bra and panties were the only things left on her.

It reminded her of how she'd woken up in Afterlife. Despite how unpleasant that had been, there was something much more sinister about what was unfolding in front of her now.

She tried to get up, fight back at all, and found her muscles would not respond. Just on a whim in a last effort she attempted the action to merely cover herself, but it was as though her brain could no longer make contact with her limbs.

Where am I? she wanted to ask.

But she couldn't. Her words were trapped in her throat, she noted, with the frightful realization that they took her voice as well.

Her breathing quickened and so did an eerie steadfast of beeping, which made Skye aware that she was hooked to a heart monitor. Her eyes darted downward to see all the wires protruding from her skin.

This was so not good.

Skye forced herself to contain her emotions and the heart monitor gradually settled back to an even pace.

"Oh, would you look at you?" a man who could perhaps comically be called a doctor said. His spikey white hair was not covered by a cap. He didn't wear a gown as most doctors in surgery… but an apron? Over a suit.

Weird.

He appraised her with an awful smile, amusement written all over his features. "You're a strong one, aren't you?"

Skye wanted to tell him off. Make a quip. "Yeah, strong enough to bash your head in." Something.

She managed a breathy grunt.

He chuckled, pleased by her attempt and failure of such.

"Yes, you are. You might want to save it for later, you'll need it. For now though, you don't have to worry," he told her, even as her gut was saying the exact opposite. Tenfold. "We're only taking a few samples, monitoring your vitals. Nothing life threatening."

Skye chuffed out her nose. It did not do the anger she was currently being burdened with justice.

"Oh, and the paralysis is a precaution. A few of the more… invasive tests were setting off your powers, even unconscious. We couldn't have that, of course."

There was the sound of someone clearing her throat and Skye moved her eyes up to see the nurse (or whoever was playing as one) with an impatient expression on her face.

"Right, we should get back to business," the man said. "We're going to put you back under now. Despite the paralysis, you'd be feeling pain. And we wouldn't want that." He grinned, and Skye's stomach twisted like she'd just seen Satan himself smile. "We're not monsters, after all."

Skye strained to see the woman as she moved and saw her hold up a syringe. She could barely make out the lady pushing the liquid into her IV, but felt the effects quick enough as her eyelids turned to lead.

Skye's eyes were already closed by the time she heard the doctor's last hair-raising words.

"We'll put the chip in next. Care to make the cut? It's just the front of her cerebral cortex…"

Then darkness flooded her.

Author's Notes:

Just a tiiiiny prologue to get us started. If there is any interest, I will update quite quickly :) I plan on this being a story told through flashbacks from the rescue, with the flashbacks holding the main chunk of the story and present time actually just gearing us in the right direction.

I have *not* abandoned my crossover, but i didn't want to break the muse for this story to write that. It will be up eventually!

I know this is short, but let me know if you're intrigued!