Skye woke up screaming, the image of Tripp's crumbling face seared into her memory. She realized with a growing sense of horror that the shelves of her bunk were trembling. Skye took in a shaky breath, praying to whatever deities that happened to be listening that no one was around as she tried to still the shaking.
"No Fitz. We're the ones that need protection from her," Mac snapped. Skye stopped short in the doorway. He was right, of course, Skye had no control. They would be much safer without her there. In all their arguing, no one noticed her slip from the plane. By the time they found her bare bunk every trace of Skye ever existing had been wiped from the digital world.
Skye perched on the small counter, holding her head over the plastic sheet lining the sink. She she took a scissors to her dark hair until it sat right above her shoulders. She dumped the fallen strands in the trash can, igniting it, along with all of the trash she had accumulated in the past few weeks. It would be so like fate to have her found by a paper trail after all the work she had done to hide herself from Shield, she mused.
The old shower sputtered and spat, water spraying half way across the bathroom before she managed to wrangle the curtain shut. The place was a dive, but that's why she'd chosen it. It was the kind of place that didn't ask many questions. She ran a soap slicked hand over the dark lettering on her ribcage. Skye hadn't had any soulmarks before terrigenesis. After she woke, she had eight. No use dwelling on it. It wasn't as if they needed to mean anything anyhow. The only thing certain about soulmarks were that they were the first words your soulmate would say to you. It certainly hadn't meant anything to half the foster families she'd grown up water turned ice cold without warning and she sprung from the tub with a gasp, the rod and curtain crashing down around her.
"Shit," Skye hissed, toweling off and dressing as quickly as she could. Skye had already stayed here longer than she intended. She slung her backpack over her shoulders and started walking.
Clint Barton watched the team of Hydra agents swarm the target. They had been hidden in the thick of trees on the opposite side of the road. Clint had yet to see anything in the way of powers, but she was holding her own against at least a dozen men. This was no ordinary citizen; she clearly had government training from one agency or another. Still, they were getting much too close for his liking. Clint notched his bow. He felt the barrel of a gun press against his temple.
"Put your hands up," the man growled as he pushed Clint from the cover of the trees, "and don't you try nothin." Projecting his voice across the road he called, "Ay there girle, keep fighting and he gets a bullet through the brain."
Skye watched the Hydra head goon wander from the trees with a man at gunpoint. She felt the ground begin to vibrate beneath her feet.
"Let him go," Skye said carefully, her body sung as the prospect of releasing some of the energy buzzing beneath her skin, "This is your only warning."
The man laughed, "And what're you gonna do about it?" Skye rolled her eyes, sweeping her palms out to either side. A shockwave knocked out the agents she'd been fighting. She stalked across the road, open palm aimed at the head agent. "Ay, wait a minute," he stammered, "We can talk about this."
"I told you," Skye snarled, "That was your only warning." The wave was strong enough to throw him through a tree. Unfortunately, it also knocked the hostage back a few yards. "Oh, shit," Skye gasped, dropping to her knees beside him, "please don't be dead." She took his hand to check for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when he let out a pained moan. "Hey there," Skye whispered as his eyes began flutter. He felt around them in the dirt, frantic. She caught his shoulders, planting herself in his line of sight, "What is it? What are you looking for?" His brow scrunched up in confusion.
Reluctantly, he responded, "I'm sorry. I'm deaf without my hearing aids and it's too dark to read your lips." Skye gasped as the top line on her ribcage tingled, warm. She turned her phone brightness up all the way and set it on the ground between them. He moved to stand, confusion and fear playing across his face.
"Wait, I'm sorry," Skye's hands moved along with her words, "I didn't mean to hurt you. I wouldn't…" She took a shaky breath, tears welling as he froze. "I was just trying to get you away from that Hydra agent." He still hadn't moved, so Skye did, tucking her phone in her front pocket."Shit, yeah, I'm sorry, I'll just go." She rushed into the night, stomach already burning with rejection and self loathing.
"Wait, come with me," the man called out as he raced after her.
She turned to face him, "What?"
"I know you're on the run from Hydra, whatever remains of Shield, and god knows whatever other organizations have heard about you." She flinched and he sighed, moving into the light of her phone. He looked distinctly less panicked. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, I'm Clint Barton." He stuck out his hand, gentle smile on his lips.
"Clint Barton. Holy shit, my first soulmate's an Avenger," she muttered, quietly enough that only she heard, "I'm Skye. No last name."
"Well, Skye no last name, how do you feel about New York?"