A/N: So this is something random I wrote when I was bored. It will have six chapters, one for each agent of the team. I'd love a review! The first chapter will be on Skye, but with a slight twist or two, because I think that Ward should have found her, so don't skip through it.
Disclaimer: I do not own AoS, I only own my own ideas!
As we round the bend, the passengers on the north side of the...
"I wish we had more time to take in the views," Fitz moans.
"Maybe later," she replies, but she isn't really listening.
They start talking about 084s, whether they could be people, whether the case is an 084. Fitz says it isn't.
"We might not know what it is, but we know it comes from Cybertek," he clarifies.
"Hang on," Skye says, turning and looking at the screen.
"May's goggles are offline. When did that happen?"
"All the comms. are down," Skye says, fighting to keep the panic from her voice. She puts a finger to her ear. "Coulson? Simmons?"
A wild mechanical scrambling, but nothing else. No reply.
Fitz swears. "What do we do?"
"I think we should go find Ward."
"What if they come looking for us, though? What then?"
"Fitz, what the hell is going on? This is a non-combat op."
"Cybertek must know we're here."
Then they hear the gunshots.
Both of them leap behind stacks of luggage, and a wild fight begins.
There is one left, and he's holding some sort of grenade. They freeze, and Simmons runs in. "We've been made!" she cries, and spots the grenade.
She swears. Then she wraps her arms around him, and it explodes, and she flies backwards, and the only sound is the train.
Skye screams, and Fitz runs forward to check her pulse. It is weak but definitely there. He lets out the breath that he didn't know he was holding and nods. There is a lump in her throat that won't go away.
The blue around her eyes is fading, but the lump isn't.
"I'm guessing there was some sort of dendrotoxin in it," he says, "To cause paralysis or sleep."
"Well what do we do? We're the only ones left."
He hesitates. "Go find Coulson. I'll stay with her."
"What about him?" she gestures towards the man. "I can't kill him. Not in cold blood, like that."
"Ok," he mutters, "We could, uh, throw him off the train."
He wasn't being serious, but she nods. They lift him up and Fitz opens the rusty little door.
They toss him out.
"Ok," she says, "Look after her."
Then she runs out. Fitz strokes Jemma's hair, holds her close to him. He whispers to her that she should wake up, that everything is fine, but she is immobile and lifeless.
Skye searches the entire train, but there is nobody. She makes her way back, and she feels sick. There is a strange roaring in her ears and she begs herself not to faint.
"They're all gone," she says to Fitz heavily, "We're the only one on the train. Unless they've all miraculously turned into Italian passengers, the whole teams gone. No sign of May, Ward or Coulson. Simmons is here."
"We're stopping," Fitz says.
They wipe the dirt away from the window, and Skye spots Cybertek loading a package into a car.
"We need to go after them," she says decisively.
"We can't just leave Simmons!" Fitz argues.
"Ok." She lets out a slow breath, and draws another one in. "Ok. We leave her with something to defend herself. Coulson will get here soon."
Fitz tucks a gun into her hands. "There. Let's go."
They nod at each other, and jump from the train.
"Well- we can't just let Quinn get away! We have to something!"
"Skye, you can't go in there. It's suicide."
"Can you disable a car?" Her breathing is ragged and he can see the fear behind her eyes. A prickle runs down his spine and he feels a pang of unease.
"With my bare hands." He regrets the words as soon as he says them, but it's too late.
She's terrified, but she wants to be an agent. She wants to fit in. She wants to be part of the team. To do that, she needs to prove herself. She needs to do this, and she is terrified but she cannot let Quinn get away.
"I've beaten Quinn before," she reasons, "Activate the tracker."
"Skye, he held you at gunpoint! What if this time, you aren't so lucky?"
"The tracker, Fitz." She knows he's doing his best to scare her off, and it's working, but she feels like she owes this to the team. To SHIELD.
"Already done it."
"Disable their cars. I'll get Quinn."
He hands her his gun. "Here."
"You'll need it out here!"
"Just take it," he hisses. She gives him a tight smile and pulls him into the fastest hug he has ever experienced, and before he can stop her she runs towards the house.
He moves stealthily towards the cars.
What the hell?
Mike Peterson.
He's alive. He's alive.
There is joy, and panic, and terror, and shock, and a hand around her throat.
Wait, a hand around her throat.
Mancini is pointing a gun at her. Her eyes widen in surprise and she can't quite breathe properly. She wrestles his hand off her.
"Skye," Quinn says smoothly. Not him again. She knows that she came in to get rid of him, but the shock of seeing Mike and now him here as well is too much. She stumbles away from them, unsure of what to do.
Fitz is outside, she thinks.
"I see you've found our friend here."
"Your friend!" she spits, "What've you done to him?"
"We enhanced him," Mancini says, "We made him stronger."
"His leg," she whispers.
Quinn claps his hands. "Well done, Skye. I see you've guessed what's in the package."
She draws in a sharp breath and looks towards the black case lying on the table.
"You...you..."
Quinn nods and they open the tube in which Mike is lying. He grunts a little and his eyes - well, his one good eye, as Skye sees that half his face is hideously burnt - slide open. He sits up.
Mancini opens the case, and a metal tube lies inside. He slips it onto Mike's leg.
"Stand, please."
He does as he is told, and lets out a gasp as the tube expands, pieces folding out until they become a metal leg. A leg.
"Mike," she says.
Quinn shakes Mancini's hand, gives him Skye's gun and asks him to head on upstairs.
"Mr. Peterson? The Clairvoyant has ordered you not to hurt me, right?"
Mike nods slowly.
"Right. But...if I was to hurt you, would you stop me?"
He shakes his head no.
"Mike," Skye says desperately, "Mike, listen. I don't know what they did to you but-"
Quinn interrupts. He acts like she hasn't spoken. "And would you follow my orders? If, for example, I asked you to kill her..." He speaks the words delicately, as though there is a certain way she must be pronounced, as though she is not a person at all.
Mike looks at her and she silently begs him not to. "They are not my orders," he says finally.
Quinn nods. "I understand. Off you go."
Mike leaves slowly, as though he is too tired and weak to be capable of moving like he used to. Skye hates the way he stares, like nothing matters any more..
He has a son.
"What the-" she begins, but she never finishes because there is a single shot, loud and clear, and she hears a slight clink.
Then comes the pain.
White hot, like fire running through her stomach, and beads of sweat appear on her forehead. She can't breathe. Tears well up in her eyes. She croaks something out, but not even she knows what she says. He holds her up, and she leans on him, and he supports her.
Then she remembers who shot her, and she tries to push him away but she can't because she's just been shot. And she feels the butt of the pistol digging into her, and the pain is unbearable and she hears a bang.
And the pain doubles, and he lowers her to the floor.
He says something, but she can't hear because there is a roaring in her ears and she is too hot and too cold, and he steps over her neatly, and she lies down and wants the pain to stop.
"Where is she?" he asks.
Quinn smiles, a slow, infuriating smile that makes Ward want to scream. He punches Quinn so hard that he doubles over and gags.
"Where is she?" he repeats.
"You know, Agent Coulson," Quinn says, focusing on the man who is holding a gun to his head, "You shouldn't send your pet project in, all alone like that. It's so easy to get hurt, these days."
This time Ward aims for the shoulder, and there is a loud pop.
"Didn't you teach her to stay away from nasty men with guns?" Quinn adds.
One blow, and he's out cold. Coulson drops him in disgust. "Find her," he orders.
They all run in different directions.
Ward goes down a flight of stairs. There is a closed door. He rattles it, but it's locked. He steps back, takes a breath and kicks it down.
And there she is.
Lying on the floor, blood seeping through her shirt and dribbling from her mouth. Her hair is plastered to her brow with sweat.
"No!" he shouts, and the noise echoes through the house. "Skye, Skye..."
She opens her eyes a little. "Ward," she croaks, and her cheeks are wet with tears. "Ward, I let him get away, and he has the package, and Mike. Ward, it's all my fault, I'm sorry..."
"It isn't your fault, Skye," he whispers. "It isn't your fault. You did good."
"I let him get away. I failed."
"Skye, listen to me." He realises that she is in his arms, and he is holding her. "Nothing's your fault. You were good and brave."
"I was bad. I was so stupid, Ward. They..." she pauses with the effort, "They have Mike."
She closes her eyes, and her pulse fades beneath his fingertips.
"Is she...oh." Simmons came in and knelt beside her, followed by the others.
"She was shot," Ward says numbly.
"Keep her upright. Can you find a pulse? She's lost so much blood..."
Coulson looks on desperately. "Do something!" he shouts.
Her gaze settles on the tube. "Put her in there."
"What even is that thing?" May asks.
"It's a hypobaric chamber, put her in. I think," she adds under her breath. They all lift her.
"Gently!" Fitz says.
They slam the door shut. Simmons lowers the temperature.
"Is it working?" Ward asks. Nobody answers. "Somebody tell me if it's working!" he shouts, but they all stare at Skye.
A breath.
Simmons collapses against the side in relief. "We need to get her back to the 'bus, fast."
They all touch their fingers against glass, briefly. May retires to the cockpit. Simmons, shakily, goes to wash her hands and Fitz follows her sadly. Coulson leaves without saying anything. Ward doesn't think he trusts himself to.
He is alone with Skye. He rests his forehead on the glass.
Specialists never cry, but for Ward, the tears come.
Well, that turned out sadder than I expected it to! Please, please leave a review, because reviews make my day and I need to know that people actually want me to continue! Who do you want to come next?
Thanks!