Lucky you! You get this chapter a day early since my birthday is tomorrow and I'll be lazing about instead of being on the laptop.
Happy Mother's Day to any mommy that reads this!
And don't forget to check polyvore. There's another set for this chapter.
Caroline waits patiently inside the elevator as JARVIS takes her up to Tony and Pepper's penthouse, a StarkPad in hand as she flicks back and forth through the documents that need Tony's signature if he wants his latest party to go off without a hitch. It's mostly documents to secure their chosen caterers and decorators, but there are also a few styles of various invitations that she needs Tony and Pepper to choose from so she can print them out to mail them. And normally Caroline would have sought Tony out in his labs but since it's well after the end of the work day, Pepper had somehow managed to get her boyfriend to join her in their own living quarters by some form of persuasion that Caroline doesn't even want to spend another moment thinking about.
This is one of the rare times that she's been invited into the pent house so when the elevators finally open, Caroline kicks off her heels and leaves them in the corner of the elevator. After all, if anyone stooped so low as to steal her shoes, well then that's why security cameras were invented.
Caroline finds the couple standing before the window overlooking the New York skyline, both dressed down to comfortable t-shirts, jean shorts for Pepper and cotton pants for Tony, and both with bare feet. They're sipping from flutes of champagne, Pepper's head leaning on Tony's shoulder as they laugh quietly about something.
"Aw, aren't you two adorable," Caroline coos.
Both turn, not at all startled by the vampire's appearance, and Pepper waves her over with a smile. "Hey, Caroline, would you like a drink?"
"Um, sure. Fair warning, though, I might chug it. I only have a few documents for Tony to sign and then I'm out of your hair."
"That's fine." Pepper untangles from Tony, walking over to their bar where the champagne sits in a bucket of ice, and Caroline walks up to Tony to show him what he needs to sign and where on the StarkPad. "You working after hours to finish all this up today?"
"Yeah. It's really not much work," Caroline shrugs, placing the StarkPad on the nearest flat surface since Tony didn't take things handed to him unless it was from Pepper. "I'll just have to send off the documents to their respective owners and send off the chosen invitation to be printed once I have Tony's permission."
Pepper hums, pouring the bubbly drink into yet another flute before making her way towards Caroline. And instead of Tony just signing away on the documents, he's actually taking the time to skim through the details.
"Uh, Little Bit, who did we choose for music?"
"No one." She takes a sip of her beverage instead of chugging like she intended, then gives Tony her full attention. "The party takes place on three floors of the tower so I thought it was pointless to have only one floor with live music or a dee-jay. So instead, I'm compiling a list of everyone's favorite songs to have JARVIS play."
Looking horrified, Tony gasps, "You didn't?!"
"I did." Caroline takes yet another sip of her drink, humming at the taste. "There's already part of the list in your email. Clint went overboard with the country tunes so Natasha and I cut out the most outrageous songs, and kept the more appropriate ones."
"At least tell me there are some decent rock tunes on that list?"
"Maybe," she grins coyly. "Just tweak the list and send it back to me- same goes for you, Pepper- and Natasha will help me decide on what stays and what goes."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Tony quickly signs the virtual documents with a flourish, pursing his lips in contemplation as he flicks back and forth what Caroline guesses are the invitations. "Ugh, I don't care what the invites look like. Pep, you do this."
Rolling her eyes in good humor, Pepper quickly downs her champagne just as Caroline does the same, the CEO then taking the StarkPad from her boyfriend to choose what invites were to be printed. "Hmm," she hums. "-so the dress code is classy yet fun and flirty, correct?"
"Yep," both Tony and Caroline answer.
"Okay, so that knocks this one, this one, and.. this one out of the running," Pepper mumbles.
As Pepper makes her decision, Tony sidles up to Caroline. "So you inviting the peeps from Mystic Falls and New Orleans to come out for the big day?"
"I figured I should," Caroline answers. "But anyone from Mystic Falls won't be attending. Turns out, Alaric knocked up his girlfriend and the wedding just so happens to be on the same day of our event. Elena's in charge of the baby shower and bachelorette party, Damon is Alaric's best man, and everyone else is pretty much involved in the wedding somehow."
"Well, that blows."
"It's fine," the vampire shrugs. "Elena's assured me that she and Damon will be mailing in their donation towards the charity, and Alaric and Jo- the girlfriend- sent a check already that's just waiting to be deposited."
"Well that's sweet of them," Pepper pipes up, having been paying attention to Caroline as she made the invitation decision. "Will you be attending the baby shower or bachelorette party?"
"Sadly, no. The parties are back-to-back just two days before the wedding and I'll be busy here."
"Caroline, if you want-"
"No. It's totally fine," Caroline assures Pepper, taking the StarkPad back and tucking it beneath her arm. "I've already started looking online for gifts. I figured since Alaric's quite the fanboy, I'll send the baby Cap-Bear and Bucky-Bear, as well as a few Avenger related items to decorate the baby's room."
"Ohhh," Tony's eyes light up. "Take my card and get everything Iron Man related that you can find, and tell them it's from me."
"Obviously," Caroline rolls her eyes with a laugh.
"And if they're registered anywhere, get me a list of the things no one has gotten the happy couple, and I'll check a few items off it from Tony and I."
"You guys, you don't have to."
"But we want to," Pepper assures her. "Now send me the list before the end of the day so I can get a head start on online shopping."
Just as Caroline starts chuckling at Pepper's kindness, JARVIS' posh voice interrupts them.
"Sir, you have an incoming call from Director Coulson."
"After hours, J. Tell him to call back in the morning."
A few seconds pass and then, "The Director assures me the situation is quite urgent."
Caroline and Pepper slowly lose their amusement, both ladies gulping and turning their attention to Tony. "Fine. Put him on speaker."
It takes a few more seconds and then the voice penetrating the air belongs to one Director Coulson. "Mr. Stark, I apologize for any inconveniences-"
"It's fine, Agent. Or do I call you Director now? I think I'm gonna stick with Agent."
"It's- it's fine. Whatever you want." Tony immediately loses what little amusement that kept him nonchalant, worried eyes seeking out an even more worried Pepper and Caroline. That was so unlike Phil Coulson.
"Phil?" Pepper timidly calls out. "What's happened?"
There's an audible sigh and then, "I need a favor. Something's.. happened and I need someone from my team to be looked after. The Avengers- the technology that Stark and Banner work with- could aide my agent in ways that we can't."
"What agent, Phil?"
"..it's Skye."
Caroline's eyes widen in fear but Tony's quick to answer. "Yeah, sure. The little agent can bunk down with us."
"Don't give me an answer yet," Coulson then surprises them by saying. "Just tell me you'll think about it. What happened, down in Puerto Rico, it- it didn't end well. I'll be by the tower tomorrow with more details but I'm afraid the entire team is going to be needed to make the final decision after you hear the details."
"Director?" Caroline weakly calls out. "It's Caroline. Just- please, tell me Skye's alive and well?"
"She's alive, Miss Forbes, but she's not in the greatest of mind sets, I'm afraid."
Caroline's features crumple with worry and Pepper's quick to fling an arm around Caroline's shoulders, and tucks the younger girl into her side. "Be here by ten in the morning, Phil. We'll be waiting."
Come morning, all residents of the tower are up in the penthouse and waiting for Coulson to show up. Caroline had been tasked with informing everyone of the impending meeting the following morning, and no one really knew what to think of Coulson's favor. What could have possibly gone wrong that they're dropping off one of their teammates at the tower?
Stefan and Natasha are tucked away in the kitchen- Natasha perched on the counter as Stefan works making lunch for everyone, he finally letting them taste his family recipe of spaghetti sauce and pasta. Pepper and Bonnie are perched on stools at the bar, keeping an eye on Tony as he mixes himself up a drink in his anxiousness.
Steve and Caroline are huddled closely on the couch, Caroline tucked closely in Steve's side as he occasionally reminds her that everything's going to be fine. And below them on the ground, Clint and Bucky sit a good few feet away from one another as they roll a ball back and forth for Jax to chase.
JARVIS soon alerts them to an incoming quinjet, everyone tensing and turning to look out window wall as said quinjet lands on the elevated landing pad. Director Coulson and Agent May are seen first coming off the ramp, Skye and an unknown blonde coming next.
Clint groans when he sees said blonde and Natasha snorts as she tells them that the new agent is Bobbi Morse- also known as Mockingbird and Clint's ex-wife. Tony and Bucky poke fun at Clint in the time it takes for Coulson and his team to take the steps down to the penthouse while Caroline itches to run to Skye seeing as how the girl is barely holding herself together.
Everyone congregates towards the middle of the room except for Bucky, Stefan, and Bonnie who stay back and divide their attention between Jax and the newcomers. Agents May and Morse tense upon seeing the Winter Soldier but eventually give their attention back to Skye and the Avengers.
"Director. Agents," Tony greets as the pretty blonde agent settles Skye down onto a stool by the bar. "Care to finally explain what's going on?"
Agent May looks stoic as usual, agent Morse keeps sending pity-filled glances towards a clearly shaken Skye, and Coulson looks.. tired.
"Straight to the point, I see," Coulson sighs. Unbuttoning his suit jacket, Phil takes a seat himself two down from Skye. "As most of you can recall from our first visit here, I told you about a serum that Fury used to resurrect me."
"GH-325." Natasha nods, crossing her arms over her chest. "We recall."
"Right." Coulson's lips twitch into a frown. "But what I didn't tell you were the side effects that came along with it." Everyone seems to perk up at that new piece of information and Coulson fights the urge to shrink under their stares. "The serum- the alien dna- gave me odd boughts of visions, I guess you could say. It showed me- it showed me it's alien language and I felt compelled to carve the language into any and every available surface I could find."
"Only, it wasn't a language," agent May picks up. "It was a map that led us to an underground alien city."
"I'm sorry," Tony scoffs. "-did you just say an underground alien city?!"
Slightly fidgeting, Coulson nods. "We weren't the only ones on the hunt for the alien city. Hydra was, too, as was Skye's biological father."
All gazes dart to Skye and Caroline can now pick up Skye's very audible heartbeat picking up speed.
"As it turns out," Coulson continues. "Skye has her very own alien dna. Her father was obsessed with Skye obtaining her destiny but she wanted nothing to do with him."
Heartbeat picking up even more speed, Skye's breathing starts coming faster as well.
"We were on a mission to blow the underground city before another female- Raina- took the obelisk that Hydra had in their possession and let loose a mist that would transform anyone and everyone with their same dna."
"From the look of your agents, Director, it seems you should have called in reinforcements." Steve stares disappointingly at Coulson and the Director can only nod back solemnly.
"I know. We went in unprepared and our whole mission went.. awry. Not only did Raina end up with the obelisk in the city but Skye followed her down there as well as agent Triplet." Skye's breathing stutters audibly and everyone feels pity for the girl who can't meet anyone's gaze as silent tears start to fall. "We tried to follow in the tunnels but agents Ward and Mack were possessed by something ancient, and kept us from reaching the girls. Raina released the mist and agent Triplet destroyed the obelisk before it could spread out of the room. Only in return, we lost agent Triplet and Skye came out.. different."
Skye cringes at the word, shrinking in on herself and moves out of agent Morse's touch.
"Different? What do you mean by different?" Natasha frowns. "She looks the same."
"It's my fault," they hear Skye mutter. "I shouldn't have gone down there. I should have stayed upstairs."
"Hey. Hey, none of that," agent Morse finally speaks. "What did I tell you before, Skye? You're a rock star. When your boyfriend was possessed, you put four bullets in his chest to make sure you didn't lose sights of Raina. Most people wouldn't be able to harm their significant other like you did. You did good."
"You shot Grant?!" Caroline nearly shouts and Skye flinches.
"He had on a bullet proof vest," agent May sighs. "He was only sore afterwards."
"Oh. Of course. I didn't think about that." Feeling guilty for making her friend feel bad, Caroline takes a few steps closer. "But your friend is right, you know? If I had been in your position, I wouldn't be able to hurt Steve. I would have failed."
"I did fail!" Skye finally raises her voice, brows pulled together as if she were in a bit of pain and eyes filled with tears. "I got Trip killed because I defied orders. It's all my fault!"
The liquor bottles behind the bar start rattling and clinking against each other, and the whole team is on immediate alert. Coulson and May immediately turn to Skye, as do Stefan and Caroline when they realize that Skye's heartbeat is too fast for a normal human.
"Skye.. Skye, it's okay," agent Morse tries soothing but Skye ducks out of reach again and stands on her own two feet.
"I- I can't. I can't," she whimpers. Hands clench at her sides and Skye sobs as the floor beneath their feet starts trembling as well. "I can't- I don't-"
"Skye! Calm down," Coulson orders though not too menacingly.
"She's doing this?!" Clint yelps and gathers up Jax in his arms.
Skye cringes yet again and everyone takes a few steps back as the rattling glass bottles get even louder. From one second to the next, Skye's emotions get the best of her and then her head snaps up to attention as the liquor bottles and mirror wall behind the shelves explode into a million pieces.
Everyone cowers, covering their faces as the pieces of glass and mirror fly out towards them. The room goes deathly silent and Skye whimpers. "I'm s-sorry. I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"
Stefan grunts and everyone whirls around only to find a glaring Bucky struggling to get free from Stefan's grasp. Bonnie turns frantic eyes to Clint and with a terse nod from the archer, Bonnie then settles her attention on Bucky whose sags in some relief after a brief moment. But seeing as the Soldier is still lurking just beneath the surface, Stefan and Bonnie start pushing Bucky towards the elevator to get him away from Skye.
"We'll just- we'll be in the gym or.. somewhere." Bonnie attempts to smile. "While we are residents of the tower, the decision falls on Tony's shoulders. I'm sure Stefan will agree with me when I say that we'll back whatever decision you guys decide on."
No one speaks and a few of the team only manage to nod as they watch Bucky lose his cool. But luckily for them, he's allowed Bonnie to magically calm him when needed. And as soon as Bucky disappears into the elevator with the vampire and witch, all gazes turn back to Skye.
"Hey.. hey, look at me," Caroline speaks calmly as the floor lightly trembles. She shakes off Steve's grip on her hand and takes a few cautious steps forward. "No one blames you for anything. You don't have be scared of anything or anyone."
"This is what happened in Puerto Rico," Coulson sighs as Caroline inches closer to Skye. "We tried helping agent Skye but there's not much more we can do for her. We figured that since the Avengers have a few enhanced on the team, you'd be able to help her understand and control her ability since we can't."
"Bruce is away at the moment," Pepper speaks quietly. "But I'm sure- I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming back in."
The trembling gets stronger and Caroline finally reaches Skye, lightly gripping the girl's forearms and forcing the agent to look her in the eyes. "Tell me right now; do you want me to compel you to calm down? Tony's tower is not completely safe from whatever it is you're doing and I'm pretty sure your team ran out of vervain a while back, but I need your direct permission."
"P-please!"
Caroline tries giving Skye an encouraging smile, her hands raising until she's lightly gripping Skye's cheeks in her palms. Letting her pupils dilate, Caroline catches her friend's gaze. "Calm down," she orders and feels the immediate effect as the ground stops trembling while ignoring agent May's assurance to Morse that everything's fine. "You're safe, Skye. No one here is blaming you for anything."
The tension drains from Skye though she still looks every bit of guilty and sheepish, and the group start to relax once Skye's back under control.
"If you don't wish to keep Skye here, we'll understand," agent May says solemnly.
"Just- just give us a moment," Tony replies. He gestures for his tower mates to gather around a good few feet away from Coulson and his team even though Caroline stays by Skye's side, and it only takes one look at everyone's pitying expression to know his answer. "We're getting a new resident, aren't we?" He then sighs.
"She does have the potential to be very dangerous," Steve frowns and Natasha nods in agreement. "But she's also a friend of ours. If Coulson thinks we can help her, I say we give it a go."
"And if things get out of control, we do have Stefan and Caroline," Clint remarks. "Not to mention Bonnie who can work her magic and keep Skye calm."
Tony nods along with his teammate but the answer he's most interested in is Pepper's. "Pep?"
"Well," she mumbles, biting her bottom lip. "Both Steve and Clint make good points."
"But..?" Tony drawls.
"But does she want to be here?" Pepper finally says. "I mean, look at her. The girl is terrified and her team is practically giving her away after poking and prodding her. And for what? You and Bruce are going to end up doing the same."
Tony clicks his tongue a few times against the roof of his mouth, taking in the fact that no one is truly against Skye staying- it just seems like they're just more worried about her feelings- and comes to his decision. Turning around, Tony marches back over to Skye though he keeps his distance as to not spook her. "Do you wanna be here, kid?" he asks her. "You're welcome to stay if you want to stay."
"I- I want to control this," Skye quietly admits. "I don't want to put my team in danger so if staying here will help me, I'll stay."
"Excellent. You're staying then." Then turning to Coulson, he says, "We'll help her."
The Director, and agents May and Morse seem to sag in relief, the group then deciding to take their leave seeing as Skye still seems effected by her outburst minutes before. Though after the awkward goodbye's and promises to keep in touch, Caroline tells Coulson to linger up on the landing pad and she'll send someone out with a batch of vervain for he and his team.
Coulson thanks Caroline, and then he and his two agents take their leave to go wait by the quinjet where Natasha meets them to drop off their vervain.
Clint and Natasha then get to work on cleaning up the glass and pieces of mirror while Tony, Pepper, and Caroline lead Skye to take a seat on the couches, and Steve leaves to go check on Bucky. Caroline is the only one to stick close to Skye, slinging an arm around her friend's shoulders and holding her close.
"So," Tony breaks the silence. "-I guess we should work out your sleeping arrangements. Do you have a floor preference?"
Startled, Skye's brows knit together. "What?"
"Floor preference," Tony shrugs. "I'm not gonna situate you on the visitor floor all on your lonesome. There's an extra apartment on Thor and Bruce's floor, and an extra on Caroline, Steve, and Bucky's floor."
"No cage? No quarantine?"
Caroline tenses at her friend's words, Pepper gasps though her hand is quick to fly up and cover her mouth even as she looks horrified, and Tony's gaze darkens as his jaw clenches. "You're not an animal," he manages to say, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "You're not contagious. However, all I ask is that if you ever feel like you're losing control and no vampire or witch is around to calm you, I ask that you take immediate shelter in the nearest hulk proof room. There's one up here on the upper levels but the most secure and stable hulk room is right above the underground parking lot."
Skye's eyes are filled with tears but they don't fall. "T-that's understandable but I- I'm pretty sure the Soldier will kill me if he sets sights on me."
"He won't," Caroline squeezes her shoulders in assurance. "He was just startled, is all. He'll understand that you're not purposely doing this."
Looking to Caroline to make sure that she's being honest with her, Skye eventually nods. "Then sure. I'd like to be close to Caroline if that's possible?"
"Of course it is, sweetie," Pepper finally smiles before standing. "I'll just- I'll go get the apartment set up."
As Pepper takes her leave, Tony then settles his attention on Skye with a tired sigh. "Bruce is the one who does most of the blood testing around here but since he's in Kolkata, it'll be a few days for him to get back here."
"It's fine," Skye murmurs.
"But until then, I can run a few scans. It won't take much and it'll only be a few hours just so we can get a head start on figuring out just exactly what's changed." Skye nods and Tony offers her a tight grin. "Awesome, so uh, I'll just go get things settled up in the labs. Just- just follow Caroline around for the time being. You'll be granted access to pretty much the same floors she has, anyway."
Once Skye knows all she needs to know, Tony starts to take his own leave. But before he can get too far, Caroline calls out to him. "We had an.. exciting few minutes earlier," she says. "Do you think the scans can hold off until later today? I'd like to get Skye settled in and comfortable before you start throwing scientific terms at her."
Skye cracks a small smile and Tony agrees to Caroline terms. "Fine. Bring food up when you come in."
Caroline scoffs but ends up agreeing, she then looking towards Skye. "Come on. The bathtubs in the personal apartments are to die for. You can come soak in mine and Steve's until your limbs feel like jelly."
xXx
Down in Tony's lab, Skye watches with rapt attention as Tony finishes devouring pasta and some type of panini. Her hair falls in a wavy curtain around her face, and her arms cross over her chest as if she's trying to keep herself together. Caroline's plan, in her opinion, had done wonders to calm her after the blonde vampire lifted the compulsion. However, that could have been the weird leaves and sticks that the dark-skinned witch stopped by to deliver and dropped in the water. Whatever it was, though, she wasn't complaining.
Skye had been permitted to soak for however long she wished and then Caroline offered her some socks, black cotton workout pants, and a gray two-in-one tank top that also had off the shoulder long sleeves.
"Okay," Tony starts, startling Skye out of her thoughts. "This is what's gonna happen." As he nears her, Skye catches Caroline's eye roll at her boss' back but then offers her a reassuring smile. "I'm just gonna hook you up to monitor your heartbeat and brainwaves." A cuff gets clamped around a wrist, a tiny finger monitor dangling from it before that, too, is clamped to a finger. Another cuff is secured around her bicep and a few wireless sticky pads are stuck to her temples. "Bruce is the one who is more adapt in reviewing blood samples so he'll do that when he gets in."
"Got it." Tony hums as he scurries back to his screens, typing on a flat surface while whistling. "So is this it?" Skye wonders. "I'm just gonna sit here while you play on your computers?"
"Hmm? Oh, no." Tony snorts. "I need to slightly rile you up for a mini earthquake or whatever it is you do."
"W-what?!"
"I need to see the difference between your regular vitals and your not so normal vitals."
"But that's dangerous!" Skye yelps. "I won't know how to make it stop- it never stops," she tells him in a rush in hopes he sees just how dangerous that idea is. "It's like- it's like a million bees buzzing within me. It never goes away and once I start, there's no containing it." Tony stares blankly and Caroline is slowly climbing to her feet, worriedly. "It's why I'm here! I tried to breathe through it- tried making it stop- but it only hurt me in the end."
"Tony?" Caroline frowns. "Maybe you should listen to her. Her heartbeat is starting-"
Skye flinches and the lights flicker, and both Tony and Caroline freeze. Instruments and tools around Tony's lab start rattling, and Tony immediately goes back to his screens while Caroline walks towards Skye. But before Caroline can say anything, Skye gasps and the lights above her shatter and sparks rain down.
Taking a stuttering breath, Skye slowly stands taller. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"
"That's a really neat trick, kid. I was hoping for something but I totally didn't expect it so soon."
"Tony!" Caroline whirls on him and the scientist feigns innocence. "I'm so telling Pepper on you."
After a few calming days and dressed in the same outfit Caroline supplied her with on her first day as an official resident of the tower, Skye smirks victoriously down at Clint who's sprawled on his back in the middle of the gym. Caroline, Bonnie, and Tony whoop in cheer, and Steve, Bucky, Stefan, and Natasha laugh at Clint's unfortunate ass kicking.
"Who trained you?" Clint groans, finally rolling onto his side.
"Ward was my S.O," she says and her smirk falters just the slightest but she manages to pushe on anyway. "-but when things got romantic between us, May took over my training."
"The Calvary?! What are you doing fightin' me then? Fight Nat. She's more your style."
"Come on, Barton, take it like a man!" Tony teases.
Steve sidles up to Caroline as Skye helps Clint back to his feet, and when he catches his girlfriend's attention, she beams up at him and purses her lips for a chaste kiss when he leans down. "Mmm, hi."
"Hey," he grins. "What are you doing down here? We just stumbled in when Skye rolled Barton over her back."
"Skye mentioned that sparring keeps her centered. Clint overheard and wanted to help."
"So you're just sparring? You're not testing Skye's limits with her powers?"
Caroline groans, her palm meeting her forehead. "You just jinxed it."
"I just- what?" he laughs.
"You just jinx-"
"Hey, Skye," Clint calls out. "-have you figured out yet how to control a bit of your power to aide you in a fight?"
"See?" Caroline groans again. "Jinxed it. We were doing fine with just sparring until you mentioned testing Skye's abilities."
"Sorry," he chuckles.
Turning back towards Skye, they see how uncomfortable she seems at the thought of using her ability in a fight. "But come on, think about it," Clint continues. "In the short time you've been here, we've figured out you can tap into- objects frequencies, I guess you can say- and make things shake really violently. We're pretty sure that if you concentrate just enough, you can hone in on a certain frequency or whatever and only quake that one thing instead of your entire surroundings."
Chewing on her lower lip, Skye shrugs. "I- I dunno. I haven't really- I haven't tested my ability like that yet. I wouldn't know how-"
"What about a surprise attack?" Natasha plows right on over Skye's voice. "In some cases, if one is surprised just enough then the mind takes over and work's on protecting it's being. Maybe if we surprise you.." she then trails off, gaze travelling to Stefan as a thought hits her. "You know what? Hold on."
Everyone watches as Natasha starts having a hushed conversation with her lover- she refuses to call him a boyfriend- and Caroline easily hears Natasha explain that if Skye has a vampire going at her then maybe that will shock her just enough for her subconscious to kick in and guide Skye to do what needs to be done. Stefan thinks it might work but as his gaze wanders and finds Caroline, the blonde nods once with an eye roll.
"If that's the plan, we're doing this together. There's no use in terrifying the poor girl with your ugly face."
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Steve asks but when he sees that she's staring at a smirking Stefan, he lets it go.
Caroline grumbles and starts peeling off her work blazer. "You're lucky I wore shorts today."
The phone comes out of one of her short pockets and everything gets handed over to Steve. As Stefan starts sauntering towards the middle of the gym and pushes up the sleeves to his henley, Caroline hurries to meet him without using her vampire speed.
Everyone watches as the two vampires meet, and then Caroline's calling out to Clint. "Barton, get off the mats. It's our turn."
Clint's expression turns gleeful when he spots Caroline and Stefan standing side by side, and the archer scurries to join Tony on the sidelines.
"What's going on?" Skye mumbles, gaze darting between the two vampires.
"Natasha's right," Caroline informs her. "We're going to find out if your powers take over when threatened."
"How, though? I don't usually find my friends threatening."
"Then picture this," Caroline grins a feral grin and Skye's eyes widen at the sudden intimidating aura her friend's giving off. "Stefan and I have turned off our humanities. We're blood thirsty and we don't care who we have to kill to sate our thirst. We're faster than you, we're stronger than you, we can smell your fear, and the th-thump th-thump th-thump of your heart is leading us right to your location."
"That's actually terrifying," the two vampires hear Tony mutter. "Are you scared? I'm a bit scared right now."
Skye looks unsure now, her gaze ping ponging between Caroline and Stefan as they slowly start inching away from one another. Caroline's amused grin falls and her whole demeanor turns malicious, and Stefan's resting face was always naturally unfriendly. At least, in Skye's opinion it was. And now that black veins are slithering to the surface under his eyes and his lips part just so with a hint of fang on display, he's even more terrifying.
Caroline's next, letting her vampire visage bleed to the surface with an intimidating hiss and flash of sharp fangs. She and Stefan blur from one side of the gym to the other, keeping Skye at a distance but gradually getting closer and closer.
Skye takes a step back, fear swelling as one foot shifts in front of the other so her body's slightly angled to the side. One moment, Caroline's standing to the right and the next, she's gone. Skye's heartbeat starts picking up speed and then something's knocking hard into her shoulder to send her stumbling a few steps back. And when she finally regains her balance, she finds Caroline back at Stefan's side.
"Come on, Skye, show us what you got." Stefan taunts.
Skye tries her best to narrow her eyes and seem brave as she puffs herself up but the second both vampires disappear from her line of sight, her whole form tenses and she whirls around in a circle to find them. Not even the bystanders know where the vampires disappeared off to and when Skye's back facing her original direction with her breathing accelerated, Stefan and Caroline appear only a couple feet in front of her with simultaneous snarls and hisses.
Skye jumps in fear, one hand raising as if it has a mind of it's own, and Caroline and Stefan- only Caroline and Stefan- go flying back by an unseen force. Caroline lands on her left arm at least ten feet away, rolling until she stops with a groan, and Stefan lands flat on his back before his head smacks the ground with a deafening crack!
"Fuck," Stefan breathes out harshly, eyes clenched tight and rolls to his side and into the fetal position.
Steve, Natasha, and Bonnie rush to the two vampires' side while Tony, Clint, and Bucky continue to stare in awe.
Horrified, Skye looks down at her hand before clenching it tight in a fist and lowering it by her thigh. "I-I'm sorry! I don't know what-"
"Wow," Tony cheers, clapping. "That is some power you got there, kid."
"Holy shit. That looked amazing." Clint agrees.
Skye is still shaking her head, eyes filled fear at what she just did. And when she meets Caroline's gaze, she doesn't know what to think anymore. The blonde vampire is grinning- she's laughing!- and poking fun at a now equally amused Stefan. "Skye," Caroline calls out. "-it's fine. We're okay. There's no need to look so freaked out."
"But I- and you- Stefan's head!" She babbles as the vampires finally climb to their feet.
"Totally fine," he assures her. "There was a reason why we agreed so easily to test you. We're vampires; we heal."
"Exactly," Caroline agrees. "But if you don't mind, what exactly did you do? I mean, we didn't just go flying," she says. "It was like.. every bone in our body vibrated. My insides still feel like they're trembling. It's weird."
Skye opens her mouth to respond but Tony beats her to it. "Dammit! We're gonna have to do this again. I need readings of Skye's vitals for when she's on the defensive."
"Uhh.."
"It's fine," Caroline says, keeping her gaze on her friend who looks uncertain. "But we'll only give it another shot if Skye wants to try it. We're not going to force her into anything."
"Seriously," Skye scoffs, incredulously. "You're really going to put yourself in danger again?"
"Why not?" Stefan shrugs. "I've got nothing else to do."
Feeling torn between not wanting to injure anyone and wanting to find out just what exactly she can do, Skye breathes out deeply and centers herself. "Whatever," she faintly muses. "I'm not the one going to end up on my ass every time Stark demands another go."
"Yes! Everyone stay here. I just need to make a quick trip to the labs."
More amused now, Skye watches as Tony Stark runs out of the gym to go retrieve the cuffs for her vitals.
Okay, so one of my readers has asked if there was a plot to this story and to be completely honest, there's actually not. This story was only meant to be the events of CA: TWS with an added Caroline but then that would have only been 9 chapters. Bucky was never meant to be a part of this story other than that one scene by the Potomac, and neither was Bonnie and Skye. But since I didn't want a sequel that short, I started adding fluff, humor, and bumps in the road.
So from here on out, it's plotless fun and small incidents with minor altercations. I'm terribly sorry if you expected something more but it's just not happening.
And to be warned, there's only 6 chapters left so I can end this fic at 20.