A/N: More or less a filler a chapter, but important. This will lead to the next step in Skye's secret beginning to unravel. I apologize for the delay in updates, I've fallen pretty far behind in my stories. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up soon and get back to updating more consistently.
Chapter Fourteen: Hidden Things Part I
"Stay on the ground floor," May instructed, "Ward and I will take a look around the offices and small rooms."
Part of Skye wanted to protest being stuck here in the front area of the church however she decided not to argue. She had already spoken with the priest who had been a witness earlier, she wasn't necessarily needed at this point. Even though Skye knew she could be useful in helping them look around for anything unusual, she figured it would be better not to argue. Instead she nodded stiffly.
May and Ward walked away from the obviously annoyed young woman without a word. Ever since the sighting of Deathlok, Mike Peterson, Skye had been anxious to find out where he was. Not to mention she needed to know every single detail of what happened to him. It was her fault that he was taken and turned into a half man-half machine.
Skye wrapped her arms around her stomach as a wave of nausea rested it's ugly head. A week ago she had started working on recreating the serum that Wade had been injecting her, but to no avail. If anything the synthetic version was unstable and would potentially do more harm to her than the original formula would. For now she only had the original formula to keep her somewhat healthy. However after the first injection she gave herself, she experienced the symptoms of withdrawal.
Skye could not understand why it reacted this way. Why she wouldn't go through withdrawal symptoms right after not taking it or why they showed up when they did. There were pieces of the puzzle that she was missing. It was driving her insane, yet at the same time it gave her a thrill. This was something she didn't know and couldn't predict. In spite of herself she let the corners of her mouth twitch upwards. There was something she didn't know. Not for long though. She would figure it out soon though, she'd be damned otherwise.
Skye took a deep breath, trying to focus on anything but the growing pit in her stomach. Trying to ignore it wouldn't make it go away she needed a distraction until it passed. She walked out of the lobby of the church and down the first hall on her right. Growing up at St Agnes had made her accustomed to the decorating choices of churches. Several pictures of various saints hung on the beige colored walls. Skye knew the Petersons weren't religious, so she had to wonder exactly why Deathlok would come here.
Who would send him here? And why? What was hidden here that he needed? Skye thought over everything she had read on this church. It was a local one, not the type to hold anything significant. There wouldn't be anything special or valuable here, except maybe a person. Deathlok hadn't kidnapped anyone, a few people have been killed, but all because they were in his way. No targets. Deathlok had stolen objects though. Technology and intelligence. It made Skye extremely curious as to why a poorly funded church would catch his eye. Skye continued down the hallway when she looked through a window to see an empty room with a piano inside. A practice room.
"Why do I have to play this?"
"Because they want to test your memory."
Skye frowned softly at the memory, yet she found herself walking into the empty room. The room was 20X10, the piano laced in the dead center with the lid up. The sound of her converse against the hardwood floor filled the silence until she stood before the instrument. Skye let her fingers run along the covering board. It was Spruce wood. Skye wasn't too surprised by the wood choice, spruce wood was the most commonly used wood in assembling pianos. She lifted the covering to gaze at the black and white keys. How long had it been since she last played?
The last time Skye had so much as looked at an instrument was when she was eighteen. Then she had been messing around with a guitar before returning to do more work for the scientists. Skye glanced over her shoulder at the mostly closed door of the practice room. May and Ward probably wouldn't come down this way. She could play a note or two before they finished. Besides it would take them awhile to shift through the offices, she had time. Skye refocused her gaze on the piano keys.
Hesitantly she let her fingers hover above the keys before pressing down. The sound the piano made was delicate, gentle as a breeze. Skye let her fingers go into the right position before pressing again, she played every note she could remember once. Without really thinking about it, the music entered her mind and she began to copy the noise making it come to life. The cool touch of plastic ivory against her warm fingers was refreshing.
Had playing always been this nice? Skye shook her head at the thought. Of course it wasn't. Wade sucked the fun out of everything. Unlike Hydra or SHIELD which didn't have any fun to begin with. Skye paused for a moment letting the notes fade out until a song came to mind. The first song she ever played in the music area with Wade had been Fur Elise. It was one of the only pieces that she could just play through without having to match the notes to anything or be tested on it for whatever purpose the scientists had. Rather it was the song she could use to drown out all that.
Her fingers found the keys without a problem and before she knew, she was playing through the song. She shut her eyes, letting the darkness be the only thing she could see as the music filled her ears. When that song ended, she switched to a slower tune. It took a moment for her to realize she was playing Swan Lake. She hadn't been a fan of that one, but the melody was slow and melancholic in an almost hypnotizing way. All too soon, she found that she had finished yet another song. Skye opened her eyes at this point.
While she knew she should probably head back to the lobby to wait for Ward and May, she couldn't help but notice how her fingers twitched while away from the keyboard. She wanted to continue play, if only to distract herself for a little while and let go of her troubles. If only for a few minutes longer. Skye took a seat at the piano bench, her calves grateful for the reprieve as she stretched them out slightly. Without much thought, she just played to whatever melody filled her mind.
"It still doesn't make any sense as to why Deathlok would come here," Ward sighed, punching the bridge of his nose.
May nodded in agreement. There was nothing on file that could potentially be important enough for Deathlok to come here and steal. It also wasn't like this was just a regular visit to confession either. There had to be a specific reason as to why he came here. There hadn't been any damages done, Deathlok hadn't tried to break in anywhere. A priest had spotted him running through the halls, several of the doors opened yet nothing reported stolen. Some areas were a mess, but he must not have found what he was looking for.
"Would Skye know anything," Ward asked, his brow furrowed, "She knew Deathlok before he was Deathlok."
"The only thing useful she mentioned was that he wasn't religious, think he suddenly decided to convert," May said dryly.
Ward shrugged in defeat, "I don't know. I'll check the last room to see if maybe he left a trace."
May nodded, "I'll grab Skye. Radio if you find something."
Ward acknowledged her with a nod of his own before exiting the office. When Coulson had found this mission, May expected it would be a little more put together. Yes given Deathlok's recent moves, she shouldn't have been surprised. There appeared to be no pattern in where Deathlok was except that he stole advanced technology and information. Neither of those two things would be found at a small church.
May walked out do the room to head to lobby with her thoughts still primarily focused on this case. While she, Ward and Skye were here, Coulson and Fitzsimmons were still at the Bus. Fitzsimmons going over his recent activity with Coulson leaving the specialists and rookie to be on site. However May wasn't sure Skye was a rookie after all, especially if that video of her going through the course was anything to go off of. May had been sure that Skye knew some forms of self defense given what her files said, but nothing to the level of what she had seen from Coulson.
In training Skye definitely did not show this side of herself. When Ward saw it, he couldn't help but to ask what the entire team was thinking. Where and how did she learn to do that? Skye had dodged the questions each time, giving only the vaguest of answers in response. May had her suspicions, but would not voice them until she had a little more proof. When the agent arrived to the lobby she wasn't surprised to find Skye nowhere insight. The young woman tended to wander when bored or left alone for too long. May was about to pull out her walkie when she heard the music, a piano.
It was faint, most likely due to distance, but it was there. The priest had just left in the opposite direction of the church, not to mention no one else was here considering the recent event. May put the walkie away and followed the music down the hall. The closer she got, the clearer the music became. The melody matched a ballet that May had seen with her mother when she was younger. It was the March of the Nutcracker, but on only piano. The piano was close now, she could hear it coming from in front of her where the open white door was.
May walked over a bit cautious until she came up to the viewing window where she spotted the missing young woman, her eyes shut tightly. May moved forward to see her fingers flying across the keys. The only time May had ever seen her fingers move so quickly was over her laptop keys. Since when could Skye play piano? Since when was she this good? How many other hidden talents did she have? The video of Skye's physical had been a shock to May and now this. What else could Skye do that she never shared? The climax of the piece was just starting, how Skye managed to play it effortlessly was beyond May.
If May wouldn't have known better she would have mistaken her for a prodigy or possibly professional. May listened to Skye and studied her as her body moved with every note she played. Skye would press down on the keys harder than necessary, it made the piece sound angry. The only one who was angry here was Skye. When Skye finished, May didn't say anything or alert Skye of her presence. Instead she watched to see if Skye would play anything else. Skye's hands clenched tightly into fist. May noticed her shoulders were trembling slightly.
The older woman moved to the door and was about to speak, but stopped when Skye started playing again. It was a piece May didn't recognize. All she could guess from it was that it was no easy piece, Skye's fingers moved in quick procession together. Little jabs on each key the same way someone would type on a laptop, the same way Skye would hack. Never holding down on a key for long. While the other piece had ended rather quickly, this one seemed to drag on in May's mind. Minutes had passed, but May didn't seem to mind as she always enjoyed the sounds of the piano. Skye played this song with a lighter touch, only pressing hard on a few certain notes. With every few beats, May noticed Skye would move with the music only to stop and start moving with it again.
When Skye finally finished this piece, May spoke, "What piece was that?"
Skye jerked in her seat as if she had been electrocuted. The young woman turned around to see May, thinly veiled panic in her brown eyes.
Skye forced the panic away, "Oh uh, Moonlight Sonata, 3rd movement by Beethoven."
"I didn't know you played," May said entering the room, her arms folded over her chest.
Skye swallowed, "Oh yeah. No one else at St Agnes would do it at the masses so I did it. Sister Joan had me practice for hours."
May raised an eyebrow at that, not buying the story. There was no way that the nuns would teach her how to play piano during her brief stays with them. Not to mention they wouldn't teach her something as complicated as that.
"And they taught you all that," May questioned. Skye shrugged her shoulders, she turned back to the piano, "I taught most of it to myself. Once I got better, I made up my own songs and learned other ones that they would never let me play. You and Ward have any luck?"
"No," May answered deciding not to press Skye, "All we know is that he was here, but no reason why. We're going to meet the others at the second location."
Skye nodded, though she didn't face May. While Skye had been playing, she had been running through reasons as to why Deathlok would stop here. Earlier Ward had asked her a bit of Mike and if he would have any motive to stop at a church. Skye's first answer had been no, but the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if it was because of her.
What if he was trying to send her a message? The idea didn't sound too far off, but Skye couldn't let herself hope. For all she knew, and she knew a lot, he could be being controlled. Whether by force or complete takeover was beyond her at the moment. Unless it was something she told him.
"Skye," May said, "We need to go."
Skye didn't move, "Hold on a sec."
Skye leaned forward, she looked under the strings of the piano, her gaze moving to the edges. It was there she found it.
I hid messages in little places at the orphanage.
I bet that came in handy, tell me some places.
Sure.
"There," Skye said getting up from her seat.
"Where," May questioned moving to stand by Skye. The young woman put her finger against the carving, it was a number. 37.
May frowned, "That number could be anything or from anyone."
Skye shook her head and looked at May, "I taught him that. To hide messages in unassuming places. It's from him, but for what remains the question…. unless it's a room here."
"There was an office with that number, but Ward and I found that it was left untouched," May explained to her.
Skye's brown eyes lit up, "No it wasn't. Where's the office?"
"This way," May said exiting the room.
The two women rushed down the hallways and up the stairs until May stopped outside a white door with a small silver rectangle on the door. The numbers 37 carved into it. Skye brought her fingers underneath it, once she had a secure enough grip she jerked her hand. The rectangle popped up and a small slip of paper fell. May bent down to pick it up. It read 4357-63-7593.
"This mean anything to you," May asked her with a raised eyebrow.
Skye stared at the paper for a few quiet moments, "Help me Skye. The numbers match a letter the way a flip phone would. He's trying to reach me."
"For what purpose," May asked, "This could be a trap."
Skye didn't doubt that, "Maybe, but I know Mike. The only reason he would do any of the horrible things he's done is for his son, who had in fact gone missing."
"Let's meet up with Coulson and the others, compare notes,"May said pocketing the small paper.
Skye nodded wordlessly. The young woman followed the senior agent out of the piano room with echoing words in her mind. Skye knew that this was a setup, she could feel it in her bones that Mike-Deathlok was going to betray her. However she had to play into his hands if she wanted a chance to finally be free of her demons. If she ever wanted to get away, she had to find a way to get rid of them.
The real question was how? How would she get rid of them? She knew they needed her in order to complete their plans, but that was something she no longer wanted to do. She didn't want to do anything for them. What could she possibly do to get them to leave her alone? Skye didn't have an answer, but she prayed to whatever higher power was listening that she could figure it out.