Skye's brain was racing at a million miles per hour, her eyes flicking across the computer screen with ease. She barely thought about what she was doing, but for some reason, it came. Text, ideas…it would have been overwhelming, but she was used to it.

Her eyes drifted over at the clock, and smiled as she saw that ten minutes had passed. Even though she wasn't looking, her fingers whisked across the keyboard, typing the words she had written so many times. * Her computer gave a little noise, and a page popped up;

Paul's Plants' Nursery. Please type in username and password.

Skye smirked, knowing the page was just a front, and looked back at the clock. Another thirty-three minutes, and she was in. The entirety of S.H.E.I.L.D. servers at her disposal. Skye cracked her knuckles, a grin suddenly growing on her face. Finally.

She got up, looking around nervously, and grabbed her coffee mug. She had just hacked into one of the most secure servers in the world. This was, like, criminal level. After rubbing her eyes a couple times, Skye picked up her coffee mug and walked back to her desk. Or tried to, anyway. her knee hit a small table, and she let out a gasp of pain and dropped the coffee mug on it.

"Damn!" Skye snapped at no one in particular, and started cleaning up the shards with a towel. Her eyes rested on the table, which consisted of a small two by two foot table with three drawers.

Skye's normally hyperactive brain stopped. She had told herself this was the past, but she couldn't stop her hands from shaking as she dared a look for the thousandth time. Inside was proof, proof she wasn't normal. Proof she was a freak. Her eyes flickered onto the contents of the slightly open drawer, before slamming it shut, the image burned into her mind. Again.

Five majors.

Two PhDs.

Results of six different IQ tests; 206

All with the same name; Skye.

Day One:

"Skye. Skye, are you with me?"

Skye's brain was jolted out of the old memory, and her eyes fixed on Coulson. His eyebrow was ever-so-slightly raised, meaning she had probably been spacing out for thirty seconds or so. Thirty seconds was enough to remember.

"Yeah, I'm with you. Just…thinking." Skye's eyes flickered towards the map on the screen, watching the thermal sensors blink on and off. "So…um…how is Simmons doing? I mean, she just came back, so…"

Coulson nodded. "I'd actually like you to help Fitz with the hard drive she retrieved, gather intel. And, Skye," Coulson allowed a half-smile. "Try not to make the rest of us feel too bad about our hacking skills this time."

Skye nodded, flinching at the bang as Fitz slammed his fist on the table, falling backwards into his chair, his eyes fixing on Skye as she walked in. "Finally. Well, there's—a—um, a—problem with the…the computer. It's not right with the…uh…." Fitz tapped the table impatiently.

"Hardware?" Skye guessed.

"Yes! Yes. Hardware. Yes."

Skye pulled up a chair, and although she kept her eyes fixed on the screen, her ears were focused on Fitz's mumbling. It had been a while since…the accident…had occurred, and to her surprise, Simmons' return had only made it worse. But as she listened, she realized he wasn't talking to someone else, he was talking to himself. Before Simmons had arrived, he muttered like he was speaking to a person, but now…Fitz was the mystery Skye couldn't solve. His best friend made him worse, interaction made him talk to himself instead of someone else in his head…and most of all, he acted as if he desperately needed help, but also desperately needed everyone to leave him alone.

"Here. Try plugging it in to my laptop." Skye picked up the flash drive and brought it to the other side of the lab, where she put in into the little slot on the side of her computer. It flashed once, 'trust this device?'. As she clicked yes and selected it in Finder, she groaned as file after file popped up, ringing through the lab. Skye quickly turned down the volume.

"What was that?" a soft voice mumbled, almost not wanting to be heard. Skye turned to find Jemma shut the door, before walking to look at Skye's laptop, glancing at Fitz nervously, who harshly turned away and muttered to himself again. Jemma sat down quietly, with a "How's it going?"

Skye shrugged, keeping her eyes fixed on the screen. "Okay, I guess. I'll transfer the files to Fitz, and then we can review them. Anything deeply important you want us to see, while we're at this?"

Jemma thought for a moment. "Well, possibly… Check number 49. I don't know quite what it is, but I couldn't open it."

"Yeah, one sec…I'll just…"

"Actually, I can do it if you like. You don't have to…I mean…I'd like it."

Skye took the hint very obviously, glancing from Fitz to Simmons and mouthing 'Ohhhh.' before gathering up her laptop after transferring the file to Fitz. They worked quietly for a moment, before Fitz turned and said something. She could hear Simmons talking from outside, and could barely make out what she said. "The drive was damaged during our escape. We'll have to repair it to access any of its i-intel." she faltered, noticing Fitz was staring. "What?"

Fitz shook his head. "Just..um..you look different, that's all."

"Oh."

"…okay…" Fitz took the flash drive and turned away quickly, so Skye couldn't hear the first part of what he said. "…to first look at the, uh—"

"The shock sensor."

"Um, no, the, uh—"

"Voice actuator?"

"No, um, Jemma, can you—"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"No, you said you needed my help, so uh—oh, it's this, here. This, this—micro thingy—right here." Fitz pointed to it, motioning for Jemma to finish his sentence.

"Oh…I see. I see that." Jemma took a breath, and swallowed hard. "How about I…just leave you to in then." she put on such an obvious fake smile, and ducked out of the room. Skye hesitated for a moment, before going in, watching Fitz fiddle with the drive and sitting down next to him.

Fitz didn't look up, but continued to mutter things, not even realizing Skye was there. "Yes, I kn—no, it's this one. We have to…yes, recalibrate the, um…no, don't say it. Word, what's the word, yes. Yeah, that's it. Why are you—no, not that. I do, but—no, no, no! Stop! No, you can't. I won't let you—of course I want to, but it's crazy." Fitz suddenly stood up and banged his fist on the table. "Shut up! You're not even real!"

"Fitz…are you okay?" Skye put one hand on his shoulder.

Fitz jumped, looking startled, his face red. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just—I hate it that I'm the only one they treat this way. I hate it that I'm different."

Fitz…me too. Help.

" And Jemma…she changed." Fitz sat back down again, "It's so—so—"

"Frustrating." Skye breathed. "Fitz, I…"

"Don't say sorry. I hate it. I know something's not right with my head."

"No…Fitz….you're not the only different one." Skye's hands were shaking, barely able to believe she had said the words.

Fitz looked up at her, comprehending what she was saying, his eyes wide. "Skye…what's going on?" his tone was warning and scared as she slowly undid the screws on the bottom of her laptop. Fitz studied the papers that spilled out, his expression unreadable, before slowly looking at Skye in pure shock, his brain slowly understanding what it was. Skye collapsed back into her chair, the full force hitting her for the first time in a long while, choking on the words. "Something's not right with my head, either."

Skye's heart was beating way to fast to really concentrate on the mission, but she got the gist of it. File 49 was transmissions from the Hydra cover to a warehouse in LA, and they were there to check it out. It was a three-story building, with no basement. The S.H.I.E.L.D. car was parked outside, and it was eerily quiet. Experience had taught Skye that quiet never meant good things.

Clutching her gun in her hand, Skye silently creeped around the edge of the staircase. Coulson, May, Mack, Bobbi, and Hunter were all there too, and Coulson gave the signal to split up. Searching the hallways wasn't fun, but Skye was on alert for the slightest noise. Her ears perked up at a slight breath from behind a wall, and she turned and saw a person's shadow behind it. Jumping out from behind the corner, she kicked the Hydra agent's legs out from under them, and slammed their face into the wall, twisting the gun out of their hand.

Running on adrenaline, Skye sprinted towards the staircase, trying to run for the roof. Two Hydra agents cut her off, and she ducked behind a doorway, shooting from behind it. Bullets whizzed past her face, and panic shot through her as the gun in her hand clicked madly, out of things to shoot. The bullets stopped. Skye stayed frozen, barely breathing, and in a split-second decision decided to risk her chances, leaping out from behind the crevice. The rain of shots started again, but Skye's vision was too clouded with panic to notice. She turned…maybe to see what happened…and barely saw it coming.

Agony ripped apart her body, tearing through her stomach. It was nearly identical to Ian Quinn, but a hundred times more painful than she remembered. She vaguely recognized a figure through the haze, flipping a gun and shooting her thrice more in the stomach. She felt like crying, or yelling, but couldn't. The world was spinning too much, fading in and out.

Through Coulson yelling for help, more shots firing, and purple flashes of light, she barely noticed a voice whisper, "You're safe" before her mind finally gave up and the world vanished into a void of black and red.