Sorry about not updating every week. I've been busy, but to make up for it I'm posting two chapters.
Hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think!
"A History Lesson" (Chapter 14)
The first sense he has is hearing. A heart monitor beeps in the background; a blood pressure cuff is wrapped around his left bicep. He can feel a pulse clip on his left pointer finger and someone's fingers entwined with his right fingers. Coulson shifts, trying to get a little more comfortable.
He hears said person tightening their grip on his hand. "Coulson?" The voice belongs to Skye.
Finally, he slowly opens his eyes, barely seeing much of anything; but he sees Skye sitting in the chair beside the bed he lays in. She smiles at him, to which he gives her a weak smile. Then, he swallows, finding his throat dry. "Sk-ye."
Skye smiles brightly. "Hey, AC." She greets softly.
He furrows his brows. "What happened?" He asks just as he clears his throat.
"Thirsty?" She wonders, letting go of his hand to get a cup of water upon seeing him nod. He takes note of her bandaged hand and makes a mental note to ask about it later. When she returns, and presents it to him with helping hold the straw, he sucks greedily. Only when he gives her a sign that he's done does she answer him. "You had a panic attack."
Coulson looks at her incredulously. "A panic attack? Never experienced one of those before."
"At least, that's what you told me as you were blacking out." She explains, depositing the empty cup on a tray and sitting in the chair beside his bed. He watches her, noting that her tone of voice suggests she doesn't believe him. His blue eyes meet her chocolate ones as she stares at him. "Simmons thinks everything is starting to stress your heart. She wants to put a monitor on you for a few days."
Coulson slowly nods, "How did we get out of the isolation room?" He wonders out loud.
She swallows a big lump, recalling how Fitz switched her new DNA with her old one. "We're cleared." She says, throwing on a fake smile.
He purses his lips, eyeing her hand. She notices his eyes looking down, dipping her head to see what she's sure he sees. Her bandaged hand. "What happened, Skye?"
"Fitz accidentally knocked over a lamp in there, and I was trying to help clean up the glass." She tells him, lifting her gaze back to meet his curious ones. He gets this vibe that she's lying, but he doesn't call her on it.
Instead, he changes topics. "What'd I miss?"
She crosses her arms as best as she can and gives him a fixed glare.
An innocent look plays across his face as the tips of his ears redden. "What?"
Her face lets go of the fixed look. "The conversation you seem to avoid must wait." She sighs, standing up. "A contact from Portugal alerted May about an incident at a pier. We're getting ready to head out."
Coulson sits up, grabbing the thin blanket and throwing it off him as he moves to stand. "All right, just let me get ready." He tells her as he moves.
"Coulson," Skye places her hands on his shoulders, stopping him. "You need to rest."
He shakes his head. "I gotta be there, Skye." Coulson looks down, edging off the bed.
Skye inhales then exhales. "Please, Phil. You need to rest."
His blue eyes meet her chocolate ones with a look of surprise. He's not used to her saying his first name, preferred her not to at one time, but Coulson suspects she felt that's the only way to get him to still. Obviously, it's worked. "I'll let May do the ass-kicking; I'll be on light duty." He attempts to compromise.
Skye can't help but to smile. "You'll have to discuss that with Simmons." She jerks her head to his chest. "Heart monitor, remember?"
Rolling his eyes, Coulson stands up. "I'll be fine, Skye." He tells her in a certain tone.
"I am so not gonna be responsible for this!" She calls as he walks away, crossing her arms. "Yep, May's definitely gonna kill me for this." Skye says in a softer tone. Looking toward the infirmary, she spots Simmons. "Jemma!" She calls, walking toward her.
"Yes?" Simmons says by way of greeting. "Oh, Skye." The British doctor smiles as her friend comes to her side. "What's the matter?"
"Your director is insisting on going with May to Portugal. Please do something to stop him. I don't wanna see him get hurt again."
Simmons sighs exasperatedly. "There's no stopping Director Coulson, Skye. You and I both know this." She shakes her head.
It's Skye's turn to sigh. "I need to go speak with Fitz."
Simmons furrows an eyebrow but watches Skye walk away.
~AoS~
She meets Fitz in the stock room. The overwhelming feeling never leaves her, except when she's in Coulson's company. Uncertain why, she's merely accepts that their lives are irrevocably entwine.
"The whole room was shaking, Fitz." Skye reveals firmly, bouncing back and forth on her feet in a nervous habit. "The gun in my hand exploded."
He looks away as he responds. "Oh, God."
Skye glances back, checking if anyone is coming into their little area. She sucks in a shaky breath. "I-I thought I could handle it." She shifts to her right. "But I can't. It's too much. I-I think we need to tell Coulson what's happening."
He moves his hands out to stop her. "Hang on. Wait. Just wait until I've or – analyzed–"
She cuts him off. "I can't control it when I'm upset or nervous." Skye responds in a louder tone. "I don't get it, Fitz. When Coulson's in the room, it's like I feel much more confidant and the constant under the surface shaking ceases." She urgently tells her confidant. Looking away, she finishes in a lower tone.
Fitz finds this intriguing. "Perhaps, it has something to do with the GH-325." He offers, remaining calm. "I'm running that diagnostic on your blood samples right now. Hopefully, when it's done, we'll have a solution. There's nothing you–" He cuts off as they both turn their heads at the approaching footsteps.
They move along.
~AoS~
When Coulson, May, and Lady Sif begin to head to the Quinjet to go check their latest lead, Skye holds back.
"That's where we have to go now." Coulson says as the three move, turning their backs on Skye.
Quickly, she reacts. "Director?"
They turn around, waiting. She can clearly see the intrigued expression on his face. He knows something isn't sitting right with her. She hardly ever calls him that.
"I'd like to sit this one out, please." She comments.
He steps forward, worried. "You all right?" He questions in a tone reserved only for her.
"Yeah," she jerks her thumb behind her. "Just after my run-in with blue man group, I still feel a little banged-up, and I'm worried I'm not gonna be much help out there, so…" she trails off, only half-lying.
He seems to accept it. "Okay. Whenever you're ready."
She catches May questioning her response. "Is it really about being hurt, or is it about your nerves?"
"I promise, it's just about the guy making me see cartoon birdies all around my head. That's it."
"Have Simmons give you one more check while we're gone. Let's make sure there's nothing serious."
"O-okay." She stutters, looking directly at May, feeling slightly uncomfortable with her piercing gaze.
Coulson and May turn as Coulson commands May to open the SSR file in question, but Lady Sif remains staring at her. Slowly, she turns to follow.
Skye looks down.
~AoS~
Vin-Tak shifts his footing, putting pressure on his left foot as he addresses Coulson and Lady Sif. Completely ignoring the other occupants in the room, he focuses his attention on the warrior. "Well, then, if you know Kree history, perhaps you heard the tale of terrigenesis."
"Of course." Lady Sif confirms. "Ancient Kree descending on planets, altering the inhabitants to fight their war."
"And Earth was one of them." He admits.
Coulson's gun wavers, as he's struck silent. His mind races with all the mysterious puzzles being glued shut. Everything made complete sense.
"Blue angels who fell from the sky." Skye recites softly, looking down at the floor. Realization dawns on her, too.
"Eons ago, the Kree waged a very long war. Casualties were high, and they needed soldiers." Lady Sif explains.
"You mean cannon fodder." May supplies.
Vin-Tak gets defensive. "We needed killers." He turns his attention to Coulson, continuing his defense. "One vicious faction, among the Kree, genetically modified other creatures' DNA. These modifications can be activated with Terrigen crystals."
Skye's mind rushes with stress as the realization of what the Kree – her ancestors – had done to people like her surfaces. Her father isn't the monster after all; this race is the real monster. The memory of her experience surfaces, throwing back the fear she had as the brown cocoon slithered its way up her body, fusing it to the spot.
Lady Sif speaks back. "We know these torturous experiments failed." She reveals, certain of that knowledge.
Vin-Tak shifts his gaze as he discloses vital information. "Not on Earth." Everyone looks fearful. "Here we had to shut them down." He continues. "This faction had built a city. They brought with them the Diviners, which hold the crystals. Their plans were discovered and thwarted by the better of my kind, putting an end to that dark chapter of our past."
Skye shifts her gaze to look at the man. "Until now."
"When I saw that ancient signal had been triggered, I knew it had to be a Diviner. If the Kree Empire learned that these experiments were a success, they would be likely to renew them."
"Why did you come here?" She asks.
He acknowledges her. "These transformed beings are…abominations. I knew that I had to find the remainder of the Diviners before another monstrosity occurred, and erase any knowledge of it."
Coulson looks down at the weapon in his hands as May asks. "How many Diviners are supposed to be in that crate?" She steps passed him and forward towards the alien.
Vin-Tak answers. "Enough to create an army."
The agents stare, dumbstruck, at the Kree. Simmons pops on the intercom, revealing that the crate is empty.
"My worst fear has come true." Vin-Tak admits, looking down at the floor. "We must find the remaining Diviners, as well as anyone who's transformed."
Coulson finally speaks up. "We drowned the temple where the Diviners were activated, so that's a plus. And we do know the woman who was changed."
Skye's heart begins to race. I should have been upfront with him in the first place.
"So someone was transformed." Lady Sif repeats. "A Kree slave-warrior created. Have you put it down?"
"No." May answers. "She disappeared."
"What do you know of her?" Lady Sif asks.
"We don't know much about Raina's transformation." Coulson states, turning his head to face Skye. "Skye witnessed it but didn't see much."
"You were there?" The Asgardian warrior questions, taking a step closer to Skye.
Skye stares at her, feeling a panic rising under her skin.
"What did you see?" Sif asks, taking another step closer.
She gets the feeling of a prey being cornered. "I-I didn't – I mean, n-nothing." She glances at Coulson then at the others.
Vin-Tak takes his turn to ask questions. "Was anyone with you? The changes may not be on the surface…but buried inside."
Skye looks off to the left, witnessing the half-full glass of water sitting on a table nearby beginning to rumble.
The Kree averts his gaze to Coulson. "You must understand these creatures are weapons – abominations – even if they don't know it."
That's when all hell breaks loose. The rumbling intensifies. Skye slowly averts her gaze to the right.
Coulson, currently confused, looks around as the area shakes roughly. The others follow suit. By now the gun in his hand has been lowered, remaining in his hand by his side.
"Son of Coul, what is this?" Sif asks, turning her head to look at the director.
He's at a loss, opening his mouth to respond but unable to speak.
It's May who realizes it has something to do with Skye. "Skye." She says in a half-questioning, half-stern tone. Skye looks at her. "You want to talk to us?"
Skye's heart is beating so loud that she can feel it in her ears. She swallows, knowing he's going to ask. For once, even the demeanor that flows off Coulson and makes her calm isn't calming her nerves. He needs to touch her.
Coulson steps closer to her. "Skye, what's doing this?" He finally asks in a weak tone, staring straight into her eyes.
The room is quiet as they all stare at her, waiting for her response. She has nothing left but to admit what happened down in that tunnel. Shakily, she answers. "I am." Lady Sif reaches for her. "Don't!" She backs away from everyone, freaking out. The pane glass in the entrance behind her shatters, raining down behind her.
Coulson and May stand in front of her protectively. Her SO lifts her gun, aiming it at the two aliens. They're prepared to fight for her.
"Hand her over. I will take her to Asgard. It will be safer for all of you." Lady Sif assures.
"We will do no such thing." Coulson states. He's not about to let the woman he loves be transported off Earth where he won't be allowed to see her. Slowly, he lifts his gun.
Vin-Tak responds. "The weapon has been activated. It needs to be eliminated before it hurts someone."
"Skye is not a weapon." Coulson sternly states.
Lady Sif tries to reason with him. "Coulson, no one is saying Skye chose this, but she is dangerous."
"I don't wanna be this way." Skye admits.
"Imagine what will happen if your powers grow. " Sif says. "It may not stop at breaking glass. You could bring down buildings, tear continents apart–"
"I can get a handle on it." Skye hopes to God she can live up to that promise.
Vin-Tak speaks up. "That's not what you were designed for. You were designed to destroy, which is why you must be put down."
"Yeah, well, that sounds a lot like killing to me." Fitz pipes up, stepping into the room.
Vin-Tak is angry. "This is not your concern."
"Skye, let's go." May starts for the door, letting Skye slip through first.
Vin-Tak takes a step forward.
"Fitz, we need bambino!" Coulson calls. Fitz darts out. Coulson steps in the way, guarding the door and blocking their path. He aims his gun at them. "You want her, you go through me." He says coldly. "She's mine and I'll be dammed if I let you lay a hand on her!"
Vin-Tak and Lady Sif are shocked. The Asgardian warrior has never seen this side of him. Where he seemed so detached before, he's now willing to risk his life for who could very well kill him.
Coulson holds out both weapons. "Sif, you got your memories back. You know we're friends. Consider what you're doing."
"This is for the protection of your people." Sif stands right in front of him. She stares at him, searches his face. "You are in love with her." She realizes.
Coulson inhales sharply, staring at Sif with admittance not spoken.
"Enough!" Vin-Tak roars, picking up Coulson like he weighs nothing and casting him aside – straight at the table.
Sif stares, worrying for his sake before taking off.
~AoS~
May guides Skye in the basement where they held Ward, pressing the shield to the cell and throwing the wall up. She turns to Skye, choosing to speak in a softer tone. "Okay. Hey," she starts, climbing on the cot where Skye sits scooted back against the wall with her legs bent at the knees, panicking. "Listen to me – just me. We can do this. You can do this." May tries to calm her down while Skye curls her hands.
Tears break out on her face, trailing down their familiar paths. She's still hyperventilating, but she manages to speak. "I can't. I can't make it stop." She tells her. "Not without Coulson touching me." She reveals.
May briefly wonders about that but banks it for further analysis later. Right now, she needs to get Skye calm. "You will control your emotions. Just like we practiced." She slides off the bed but still watches her.
"I can't make it stop." Skye's voice breaks as she repeats herself. Scrunching her eyes shut, she rests her head against the cool wall, arching it upward. Then, she looks back at May. "Everyone is at risk."
"Just focus. Skye, look at me. Focus. It'll stop." May tells her just before Sif's sword slits through the holographic wall.
"Agent May, release the girl!" Sif orders.
"She'll get through." Skye comments.
"Ignore it. Remember – focus." May commands, getting in her fight stance and blocking between Sif and Skye.
Skye pants, trying her hardest to calm down. She needs Coulson. "I can't." Just after Sif gets through, Skye grabs May's gun and shoots herself, knocking her unconscious.
"Skye." May immediately goes to her.
"She harmed herself." Sif states in awe.
Coulson bolts down the stairs to the room they're in. He walks closer. "Even though she knew it meant giving up her freedom." He aims the gun at Sif.
Lady Sif turns her head to look back at Coulson. "All to save the rest of you."
"Don't you see? She wants to get better." Coulson explains. "If you take her away from the people she loves, she'll only get worse." Coulson breathes heavily.
Sif looks back at Coulson before averting her gaze to Skye.
"Please," he pleads. "Don't take her away from me."
~AoS~
Sometime later, after Lady Sif and Vin-Tak leave, Coulson wanders around the base, eventually finding himself in the basement surrounded by his mother's secret stash. Skye has kept herself locked away in the vibranium room of the Bus, ignoring him for the time being. He's tried to get her to open the door and let him in, but she wants nothing to do with him or anyone else.
So, alas, here he is, eyeing the thousands of filing cabinets, uncertain what to look at. He doesn't want to read any of his mother's letters to him or look through the albums. Merely, he just wants to be somewhere other than his bed or office. Perhaps, he should take Lola for a drive.
He goes down the steps and slips his hands in his suit pants pockets, strolling toward the first table that's clear. Setting his hand on the smooth surface, he sighs. Memories of what he and May discussed after Lady Sif and Vin-Tak left have him pondering on it more. Is it really fate that brought her to him? Is someone pulling strings to bring them to this point? Are their lives that entwined?
"I thought you might be down here." He hears Skye's voice coming from behind him. Whirling on his heels, he faces her with a mega-watt smile. Her hands hang off her back-jean pockets, shirt ridden up a little, revealing a smooth surface. Coulson can't help but to glance down. He's sure she doesn't even realize how she presents herself.
"Hey Skye." He greets shakily, throwing a warm smile up. "How are you feeling?"
Skye looks past him, noting the table has one closed file on it. Swallowing, she takes a step forward. "Like my world has shattered underneath me." Her eyes avert back to him. "Just like you months ago. Except what we found out is I'm meant to be a weapon, that the blue fallen angels were really a race intent on winning a long-standing war no matter what or how much damage they caused in their wake." She releases a shuttered breath, letting tears fall as she withdraws her hands from her pants.
He wants to pull her into his arms and make it go away. She shouldn't have to go through this alone, and despite what he told Lady Sif, she's practically on her own. He doesn't have powers – none of them do – but he can't see himself living a day without her.
"This has become awkward." Skye states, stepping back. "I should go back to the cage." She points toward the stairs. "I'll see you in the morning." She turns on her heels and starts to walk toward the door.
"Skye?" He calls, not having the slightest thought of it being awkward. He finds her even more intriguing than previous times. When she doesn't respond, he takes a few steps to catch up to her and reaches from behind her to grasp her swinging hand. "Skye." Coulson says sternly, stumbling slightly as he tries to get her to stop. When she does, she doesn't look back at him. She waits for him to respond. "This isn't awkward." He says, tightening his grip on her hand.
She huffs, still refusing to look back at him.
He slides his hand up her forearm, cupping her elbow. Coulson rests his other hand on her waist. He draws her to him, a little surprised she's letting him. Resting his neck in the junction of her collarbone, he tightens his hold on her. At first, she remains stiff but soon melts into him. "I'm relieved you're here. I couldn't stand it if they took you to Asgard." He tells her in a raw, soft voice only reserved for her.
Skye knits her eyebrows, completely thrown off with the position he's pulled her into. "I wouldn't go. Where I am now is where I'd like to remain." She admits, sighing.
"I'll make sure no one brings harm to you, Skye." He vows.
In a flash, she slips out of the embrace and whirls around to face him. "You can't promise me that!" she exclaims.
He misses the warmth, her in his arms. "I can try." He revises his promise.
She seems satisfied. Then, she leans to her left, eyeing the file. "What's in that?"
He half turns, instantly knowing what she sees. "Some family history my mother wrote to me." He vaguely explains.
"Well, lemme see." She starts to go to it but he snaps his arm out to stop her. He gives her a daring glare.
"It's best you don't look at it." He warns her, softening the glare to a smile. "Besides, we need to get sleep."
She lifts an eyebrow, knowing they'll revisit this file later. "You're right." She smiles at him before turning on her heels and heading to the door. "Are you coming, Director?"
"Yeah, be there in a minute." He answers distractedly as he goes back to the table, picking up the file. The warning Lady Sif gave him resurfaces. As he stares down at the file, he opens it, reading paragraph.
"You, my love, are a descendant of the blue angels who fell to the Earth. A royal in your own right by your parentage...One day, you will lead our great people with a chosen woman – not yet born – at your side...I have given Julie a parting gift to give to you when the time comes. Keep the crystal in a safe place, Phil. It will guide you home."
That crystal has been tucked away in a long jewelry box in the back of his safe in the office. Peggy Carter wasn't only the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. but a royal to Skye's people.
His people.
Sighing, he picks up the file and turns on his heels, leaving the area. No one can see this yet. Not even Skye.
TBC...