A/N: Here's chapter 4! Enjoy, and leave me a review!

"Coulson!" Fitz yelled as he ran down the hall. "Coulson, wake up! She's safe!"

He pounded on the door, still yelling. He couldn't tear the smile from his face.

It took a minute for the door to open. Coulson looked at him, seeming irritated. "What is it, Fitz?"

"Sir, it's the rock. It's let Jemma out."

Coulson froze. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I just watched it!"

"Let me get the key." Coulson said, moving quickly.

Two minutes later Coulson was undoing his personal lock on the door, which really consisted of about six different kinds of locks. Fitz looked in the window and saw that Jemma was still standing in the same spot.

Finally, when Coulson undid the last lock, Fitz burst through the door, running to her. He stopped a few feet in front of her, not wanting to overwhelm her.

"Jemma?" he asked.

She hadn't reacted as he'd run in. She still seemed as though she didn't see him.

"Jemma." He said again.

Recognition flashed in her eyes as she slowly turned to look at him.

"Fitz."

He smiled. "Are you okay?"

"I…" she narrowed her eyes. "I don't know."

"Well that's understandable, you've been through a lot."

She looked from him to Coulson, startled when she heard Coulson close the door.

"It's okay." Fitz said.

Now his happiness was fading. Why was she acting so weird?

Immediately after asking himself this he scolded himself. He had no idea what she had been through the past week. If he had been in her position, he'd be a little off too.

"Here, let's get you away from there." He said, slowly stepping towards her with his arms out.

She looked back at him, her mouth slightly parted, and then nodded. She took a small step forward.

He lunged forward and caught her as she stumbled, dragging her back away from the rock and towards the wall. "It's okay." He said, holding her tight. "I've got you. I won't let you fall."

She was shaking against him, ever so slightly.

Fitz held onto her, trying to comfort her as his eyes met Coulson. Whatever she had been through, she needed comfort.

Why else would she cling to him like this?

It stepped out of its former shell, feeling exhilarated. It was free.

Free, after so many years.

It forced its eyes to open, getting used to the feeling of the body outside its confinement. It would need a few minutes to gain full control over it like this. The body was perfectly obedient. It just needed to remember how it moved best, and make sure to act like the host had.

So when the man appeared again, with the door open, it didn't know what to do. It could tell from her memories that this man knew her best. He would sense anything that wasn't her usual character.

Then, once the man motioned for it to walk towards him, it knew what to do.

The man didn't know what the rock did to people it took inside it. That much was obvious from the way he had been studying it for the past week.

So it acted as if it was badly shaken, stumbling and not saying much.

The man was such a fool. By the time he let the host body go, it had the control it needed.

"Let's get you to bed." The man said.

It nodded and started walking, being sure to still appear weak. Oh, what fun this was!

But it remembered not to get lost in the mind-numbing freedom. It couldn't spoil this.

It had important things to do.

There was an Inhuman in the facility. It had gleaned from the host's memories that the creature was called Skye.

It needed to be destroyed. After that it would use the host to find other Inhumans.

The annoyance was the man. He wouldn't leave it alone, insisting on caring for "Jemma" constantly. It hoped he would leave soon. Maybe if it pretended to be asleep.

Yes, that seemed to work. It sensed the man's presence as it lay down, closing its eyes and feigning sleep. He hovered for a few moments before slowly walking out of the room, his reluctance almost tangible.

Of course it would have been faster to simply incapacitate the man, but it wanted to hold up its charade for as long as possible.

Once it was sure the man was gone it stood. It needed to test its abilities before leaving the room. So it held out its hand, palm up, and brought forth the flame. It burned an inch above its palm, black as the stone that had been its home for so long.

The host smiled.

"Fitz." Coulson said.

Fitz closed the door to Jemma's room softly and walked towards Coulson.

"How is she?"

"Sleeping now. She seems shaken, but otherwise fine."

"You understand that we still need to run some tests, right?"

"Why? We've got her back, and in a few days she'll be good as new. We shouldn't put her through the stress of testing."

"Fitz, I don't want to make her do it anymore than you do, but we have to. We know next to nothing about that rock, and I need to make sure it didn't change anything about her."

"At least let her sleep in peace for now." Fitz said.

Coulson's tone lightened. "Of course. In the morning we'll bring her to the medical section. You know how to run the tests, right?"

"Yeah." Fitz said. He'd seen Jemma do it and helped her enough to know exactly what to do. He just never thought he'd have to do it with her as the patient.

"I'm going to lock her in." Coulson said. "You should go get some sleep."

"No, I need to stay here." Fitz said. "If she wakes up confused, I can help her. I need to be able to help her."

"Alright." Coulson said, relenting. "Here's the key, if you need it. I'm going back to my office."

"Goodnight, sir." Fitz called after him softly. He slid down the wall, leaning his back against the part right next to her door; he never locked it.

Time passed. It waited for silence in the hallway outside before opening the door, expecting to find the hall empty.

"Jemma, what are you doing up?"

The man was sitting by the door, looking up at it.

"I need a drink." It said.

"I'll get it for you." He said, standing up. "You need to go back in your room though. I'm sorry, but it's Coulson's orders."

It thought rapidly. There was no other alternative. "I don't follow anyone's orders." It said.

It waved its hand, and a wave of light sped towards Fitz, who was quickly standing up. When it hit him he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Well, that had been easy. It wasn't even that fun.

Oh well, it thought. It would just have to take more time with the Inhuman.

It tapped into Jemma's memories and found the path to Skye's room, and set off towards it.

There was no sound coming from the room, and the lights were off. It took that as a sign that Skye was asleep. So it silently opened the door and stepped in the room, closing it behind it.

She lay on the bed, a laptop on the floor next to her. Now that wouldn't do, it thought. She needed to be awake for it to have any fun.

So it opened the door again and stood slightly behind it, knocking.

It took a minute for her to awaken, but she looked up and saw it standing by her door.

"Jemma?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. Her voice was the croak of those coming out of deep sleep.

"Skye." It said. "I'm sorry to wake you, but I needed to see you."

Skye sat up. "Am I dreaming?"

"No." it said with a smile. "Fitz and Coulson got me out."

Skye's smile was so genuine it almost felt bad for the ruse. Almost.

Skye stood and hugged it. "I'm so glad you're safe." She said against it.

"Me too." It said.

Skye separated from it and studied it for a minute. "Wait." She said. "Why isn't someone with you? After Puerto Rico I was put in isolation right away, and they didn't stop for a long time."

"Someone was with me, Skye." It said, semi-sweetly. "Fitz."

"What do you mean was?"

"He fell asleep."

A pause.

"Jemma, are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm better than okay." It said, smiling. "I'm perfect."

There was a split second where they stared at each other. Then Skye started to yell "Coulson!"

It moved quickly, backing Skye against the wall and pinning her there, one hand around her neck. "Don't do that." It said. "I don't want any more company."

Skye stared at her with wide eyes, her mouth open as she struggled to speak. "What – happened – to – Jemma?" she managed.

"She's gone." It said. "And she's never coming back."

It smiled at her, a cruel smile, as it brought fire to its free hand. "It's time to play, Inhuman."