A/N: Sorry that it took me this long to finish this chapter, but I didn't have a lot of time to write and I have also had a really hard time figuring out the right tone for it. But the next chapter will be out a lot sooner, I promise!

On a side note, who else out there had their hearts broken by Fitz's reaction last week? I mean, the scenes with Skye were amazing, pretty much exactly what I had been hoping for, but Fitz really blew me away. I think he was really channelling the entire fandom with his outburst!

Chapter 20: A Promise

Jack's expression betrayed not a single emotion as he kept pressing his arm around Skye's throat, cutting off both her air supply and the flow of blood to her brain to make sure she would fall unconscious within seconds. The young woman tried desperately to free herself from his grip, but he was a lot stronger than her and all the strength she had left was fading quickly as she ran out of air, leaving her completely at his mercy.

Skye let out a pained choking noise and gasped Jack's name, her eyes full of fear and desperation, but the blond man did not loosen his hold on her.

He knew that his boss, whose assault attempt on the young woman he had just cut short, was watching him angrily, but he kept his entire focus on Skye and her struggle against him.

"It's going to be over soon," he assured her silently, not really caring that his words were making his actions seem a lot more final than they were intended. Soon it didn't matter anyway, as Skye finally lost consciousness and sank down in her chair, completely limp.

At this point Jack released his grip on the young woman and let her head fall down to her chest carefully, but not before checking that she was still breathing and he could feel her pulse against his fingers as he pressed them against her neck. He let out a small sigh of relief now that he was sure that Skye was unharmed, despite her unconscious state, but just as he was about to turn his attention away from the hacker, his boss, Trevor Green, suddenly spoke up, his voice vibrating with barely concealed anger.

"Do you think you're making the calls here now?" It was as much an accusation as a question, really. "I wanted her to dig up some valuable intel from SHIELD's database, but I guess that'll be difficult now that she is unconscious."

"She wasn't going to do it," Jack replied, trying hard to keep his calm. "It took me long enough to get her to cooperate this far, pushing her any further could have made that entire progress undone."

"Then tell me, what am I paying you for, exactly? You are here to get the girl to talk and make sure she does what she's told and I don't see that happening."

"You wanted her to hack SHIELD's servers and delete some data and she did just that. If you had let me known earlier that you also wanted her to help get a bunch of agents killed, I could've told you sooner that that wasn't going to happen. Not yet. To get her to commit that kind of betrayal, I will need more time. A lot more," Jack explained, but his boss merely let out a frustrated sound and shook his head in confusion.

"You hurt her, and then you hurt her some more until she complies; how difficult can that be?" he asked exasperatedly. "I've hired you because of your reputation; now don't tell me you can't manage to break some mouthy little girl!"

Jack was fully aware of how angry Green was that his operation wasn't making as much progress as he had wanted it to and that he was tired of waiting, but having his interrogation and persuasion skills challenged did not sit well with the mercenary. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he answered his boss.

"Those agents on Skye's team, and by extension all of SHIELD, they've become her family. She wasn't going to put their lives in danger, no matter what you do to her. But if you give me more time, I'll get her to give them up.

If all you had wanted was to put her through hell, all the while hoping that she'll break, you could have just given a knife or a taser to one of these wannabe soldiers that follow you and let them get to work on her. But you found me instead, because you know I don't fail. I'm already in Skye's head and when I'm done with her, she'll do everything I ask of her, no matter what. She will pull the trigger herself, if I tell her to. But she isn't there yet." He glanced back down at the unconscious woman in the chair, before facing Green once more, an almost unnoticeable grin spreading on his lips.

"And to be honest, the reason why I just stopped you from attacking her is that I didn't want you to jeopardise this operation. Sir," he added, almost as an afterthought, knowing his boss's temper.

The taller man scrutinised Jack, as if trying to decide whether or not to trust his word, but in the end he finally nodded, releasing the tension from the air.

"Alright, I'll give you two more days to work on her, but by then I expect some real progress. Now get her back to her cell, we're done here for today."

Jack only nodded in reply, glad to have avoided a real confrontation, before picking up Skye's unconscious form and throwing her over his shoulder unceremoniously.

Getting Skye back to her cell hadn't taken a particularly long time, but it had given Jack a moment to think about the ultimatum the Colonel had just given him. He knew that he was on the right track with Skye, that at this point a psychological approach, exploiting her fears and weaknesses, was much more promising than physical torture, but he felt that it was still time to increase the pressure. When he finally put Skye back in her chair, he made sure once more that she was still breathing and her heartbeat was steady before tying her back up with the duct tape. This time he also placed a piece over her mouth, making sure she wouldn't be able to scream the next time she woke up.

He watched the unconscious young woman for a brief moment, noticing her deteriorated state, but without really caring about it. If anything, it was making his job easier, as a bad physical condition could also take a toll on the mind, making sure she didn't have the strength to fight him. After a while, Jack reached into one of his pockets and pulled out two small circular objects, about the size of large coins, and studied them for a few seconds before focusing back the still unconscious woman in front of him.

"You know, I've picked these up on a job I did a few years ago. The guy I interrogated was some kind of inventor, had all kinds of crazy gadgets in his house. Lots of useful stuff, too, but I think these I liked the most." He leaned forward a little and attached one of the devices on each side of Skye's neck, directly below her ears, then pressed a small button on them to activate them. There was no sound or light coming from the objects, but Jack knew that they were working. His eyes already lit up in anticipation of Skye's reaction once she woke up.

"I really think you're gonna find them very... impressive as well," he finished with a smirk before getting back up and heading out of the door, making sure to lock it behind him.

After the two specialists had left, Coulson found himself alone in the command centre, still watching the video feed of Agent Haze interrogating Olivia Campbell.

After the forger had taken her time taunting the SHIELD agent, including a list of the worst and most painful interrogation tactics she knew her brother to use, they were finally getting back to the one topic they really needed any information about: the location of Talos' hideout where Skye would most likely be at the moment. Despite her earlier assertions, however, that she wanted the group destroyed as much as SHIELD, Olivia denied having any knowledge about her brother's whereabouts.

"Do you really think he would give me an address where I can find him? You said it yourself, Curtis has a lot of enemies so even though he stays in contact, he isn't stupid enough to give me his location."

"He must have told you something!" Agent Haze replied, her patience wearing thin. "He even mentioned to you who he's working for, didn't he? Think, he must have said something – anything – that can help us find him!"

Olivia shook her head at this point and rolled her eyes before she continued.

"I told you, it's been weeks since the last time I talked to my brother and that was for a few minutes at best. We both destroyed the burner phones afterwards, so I couldn't have reached him again, even if I had wanted to. Yes, he mentioned Talos, but it's not like he—" The red headed woman suddenly broke off and paused briefly, something that wasn't lost on Agent Haze.

"What? What is it?" she asked, trying not to get her hopes up too much, before Olivia had even told her anything.

Any trace of frustration or uncertainty was gone from the forger's face by now and she was entirely serious as she continued. "Well, there is something Curtis said that might be helpful to you, but before I tell you, I want something in return."

"And what would that be?" Agent Haze asked, annoyed over the delay, but not surprised.

"A promise," Olivia simply replied, but then elaborated. "As I said before, even if you manage to find Talos' hideout and free your agent, I don't think you'll be able to catch my brother. He knows how to get out of a bad situation and I'm sure he'll see you coming, but if by some off-chance you do manage to get to him, I want you to promise me that you won't kill him. His life in return for that of your friend, that's all I'm asking."

Agent Haze hesitated a moment, thinking about her options. She knew that Olivia's demand wasn't unreasonable and well worth the information, but she also knew that it was hard to keep a promise like this in the field, especially if dealing with an opponent as dangerous as Tyler.

"Freeing Skye will be our first priority, but I promise that we'll try to—"

At this point Olivia interrupted her immediately.

"No, you won't just try! You give me your word, here and now, that he lives no matter what, or I won't help you anymore. Then good luck with finding your team mate on your own."

Haze let out a soft sigh as she glanced up at the camera, before finally nodding in agreement.

"Alright, I promise that we will take your brother alive at all costs, if we even manage to catch him, of course."

"Good," Olivia nodded, clearly relieved. "But don't forget, if something does happen to him, I will hold you responsible." She kept fixating the agent with an unwavering glare for a few seconds, until she finally relaxed visibly and leaned back in her chair.

"Let's find your missing agent then, shall we?" she asked, a playful grin on her lips. "The thing is, I never ask Curtis where he is, because I know he isn't going to tell me anyway, so instead I just ask him if it's nice there. And the last time we spoke he said 'Dorothy would feel right at home here'."

Agent Haze let out a sigh in frustration, the tension dropping from her shoulders.

"Yes, we already know that Talos is hiding somewhere in Kansas. That isn't going to help us."

"Maybe not, but he also said, 'and the Tin Man probably would, too'. Now, is that going to help you?" Olivia replied in turn, an eyebrow raised slightly.

Surprised by this new bit of information, Agent Haze looked up at the camera, wondering what Coulson and the rest of the team were thinking about it.

"Maybe," she replied thoughtfully, before she suddenly got up from her seat and left the room in a hurry.

Olivia remained behind, with nothing left to do than stare after the agent angrily.

"Yeah, you're welcome," she shouted at the now closed door, "and don't mind me, I'll just wait here." She tried to cross her arms in front of her chest in a sulky manner, but quickly had to realise that the handcuffs were preventing her from doing so, causing her to kick the table in frustration.

As Agent Haze approached the command centre, she realised to her surprise that only the agents Coulson and May were still in the room, currently very busy discussing something. They both immediately turned their attention to her, though, as they became aware of the blonde agent approaching.

"What do you think Tyler meant by that, 'the Tin Man would feel right at home'?" May came to the point straight away without missing a beat.

"I suppose it's connected to where he and the rest of Talos are currently hiding out, that his location has something to do with tin, or steel maybe. Of course it could also be something completely random, something he saw somewhere, but then we would be screwed, so I say we're not going to focus on that," Haze explained, managing a half smile as she stepped in front of the computer table and began typing hurriedly.

"We already have a rough area where Talos must have set up their base, and we also know that it's not going to be somewhere downtown. Too many potential witnesses, too little space. Now, if this 'Tin Man' reference is really a clue, telling us that the base has some connection to metal, I would put my money on them hiding somewhere in an abandoned factory, or a warehouse maybe, something connected to the metal industry. Just give me a few minutes and I'll have a list of potential targets."

"I'll tell Ward that we might have something," Agent May announced after watching the blonde agent for a while, hating to stand around and do nothing while someone else was doing the research. Coulson nodded briefly in agreement, then watched her leave in the direction of the cargo hold once more to talk to Agent Ward.

It wasn't long until May returned, this time with her fellow specialist in tow, obviously having already filled him in on the latest development.

"Have you found something yet?" Ward asked as soon as they reached the command centre, looking from Agent Haze to Coulson and back again. The female agent was still busy at the computer table, but glanced up as the two specialists entered the room.

"There are eighteen former, now abandoned, iron or steel factories and warehouses in north-east Kansas that match our criteria and would make for great hiding places for Talos." She was about to say something more, but Ward interrupted her immediately, shaking his head in frustration.

"We don't have the time to search eighteen places, Skye doesn't have that time."

"I know," Haze agreed, nodding, a smile slowly appearing on her lips. "But luckily we have satellite images dating back several days for all the buildings. And there is only one factory that has seen a surprising amount of activity for being abandoned. It's about 20 miles outside of Kansas City and here," she reached for a tablet and typed on it for a few seconds before handing it to Coulson, "are the coordinates."

The senior agent took the tablet with an honestly surprised expression on his face.

"You mean..."

"Yes, sir, we found her."

The wave of relief going through the room was almost palpable and Coulson took a deep breath as he looked down at the coordinates in his hand. When he handed the tablet over to May, his eyes, his entire posture filled with determination.

"Set a course for the closest airfield. We still have a few hours until we're there and in the meantime I am going to call in every favour I'm owed to make sure we have enough ground support to take that place in one fell swoop. Trevor Green might have a lot of men at his disposal, but we're getting Skye out of there, no matter what."

"Gladly," May replied, an actual smile on her face, now that they had finally found their missing hacker.

When Skye woke up slowly, her head was throbbing in pain, her tongue and throat felt like parchment and it seemed like an eternity until she was able to form a coherent thought again. While she was still struggling to figure out what had happened, why she had been unconscious again, she noticed to her bewilderment that her mouth had been taped shut. She tried to move her lips, to force the tape off, but to no avail. In the end she gave up and sighed in frustration, but at this point Skye suddenly froze as she became aware of something else, something a lot more frightening.

She let out a soft groan to make sure and stiffened as panic began to spread through her.

She couldn't hear. Not a thing.

Not that there was a lot of noise in her cell to begin with, but now she couldn't even hear the sound of her own breathing, or the rush of blood in her ears as her heartbeat sped up in fear. Her eyes darted across the darkness around her, as if she expected to somehow be able to find the answer to the question how this had happened somewhere in her cell.

She now finally remembered what had happened earlier, that Jack had suffocated her until she had passed out, and she wondered if that could be an explanation. Had the lack of oxygen somehow caused enough damage to her brain that it would account for her deafness, and if so, was this going to be permanent?

The thought alone sent a cold shiver of dread down her spine and Skye desperately tried not to lose herself to her pain and fear again. The longer she remained in this complete isolation, though, trapped in the dark and surrounded by an impenetrable silence, the more of herself seemed to slip away from her.

Minutes and then hours passed by agonizingly slowly and in some way it began to feel as if she wasn't even the one all of this was happening to in the first place. How could it be? How could this desperate, tear stained, broken mess of a woman possibly be her?

No, all of this, the kidnapping, the torture, the endless interrogations, all that had happened to Skye, the hacker, the brave, stubborn and stupid girl that had set out to become a SHIELD agent, but right now she didn't feel like she was that girl anymore.

No, right now she was just Mary Sue Poots, the girl from the orphanage, the girl without family, the girl without anything. The same girl who had cried herself to sleep at night after she had been sent back by yet another family and who had at some point simply refused to be sent into the foster system again, knowing how it was going to end, anyway.

Yes, she actually felt a lot like that right now, scared, alone, without any hope that her situation could possibly improve, ever. She had been heavily affected by the isolation before, the initial faint hope she had had of being rescued fading away in the darkness, but now that another sense had been taken away from her, this felt like a whole new kind of torture.

Completely motionless, blind and deaf, she felt like she had been turned into stone, more like a statue than an actual person, cold, numb, unhuman.

She could feel tears running down her cheeks, and she knew that at some point she had started sobbing, but the fact that she couldn't hear herself made the entire situation feel completely unreal, just increasing her sense of detachment.

Every now and then she thought she'd heard something, a sound in the distance, voices whispering around her, but she knew that it was just her imagination playing tricks on her, compensating for her lost sense. There were even some brief flashes of lights and colours, glimpses of faces in the darkness, the image of Jack's taser burning her skin, but she knew that it wasn't real, that they were just hallucinations. Not that that made them any less frightening, of course.

The first few times she had still flinched when she had thought that she had seen something in the darkness around her, but at some point she had simply decided to ignore it, pressing her eyes shut tightly, hoping the images would go away.

Skye felt like she was slowly but surely going insane, but all she could do was hope and pray that someone would get her out of here soon. As she had stopped believing in a rescue a long time ago, she just wanted Jack to get her, to ask her some more questions, or to give her another hacking job, anything really, if only it meant for this nightmare to end.

She didn't know how long it was, a few more hours maybe, but at some point the door in front of her actually opened again, and Jack entered the cell. She was blinking in the bright light from the corridor, but she knew his silhouette well enough by now, to recognise him immediately. As Skye realised that he wasn't alone, however, that the tall man from before, his boss, was accompanying him, something told her that this wasn't just a friendly visit.

Something was happening, something terrible and when Jack finally pulled his knife from its sheath once more, she knew that this time he wasn't going to use it to simply cut the duct tape holding her. This time he was going to draw blood with it.

To be continued...