Whoah, sorry bout the wait guys. Went to Hot Water beach for a few days (which is just as good as it sounds :p) so this chapter was a bit delayed. But thank you so much for all your thoughts regarding the story! You all have a virtual hug from me :)

So, I realised that the timing on these last few chapters might be a bit murky, so for the sake of argument let's say Skye was taken by her father on a Monday ('cos, naturally, everything bad happens on a Monday, right?). Then that same day, we found out Coulson was being possessed by her father too.

Three days later (so, Thursday) Skye wakes up, and convinces daddy dearest to release his control over the Director, who then "wakes" up and contacts Natasha later that same day. Still Thursday, Skye and her father visit the destroyed village, where Skye learnt that the people who killed her mother were SHIELD/Hydra agents.

Saturday: was when Coulson met Natasha in Istanbul, and flew back to the Playground, where Coulson tells them about his plan to attack the Summit and steal Raina's machine, which he hopes will help him remember anything about Skye's father and where she could possibly be. Meanwhile over in China, Skye wakes up in the middle of the night when her father tries to desperately convince her to awaken her powers. And... here we are.

Man, that's confusing.

I apologize in advance about this shortish chapter, but it was more of a filler one to get rid of some dialogue...

...

Chapter twenty-one

Skye remembered once, so many years ago now that it seemed nothing more than a dream, going to the park with one of her foster fathers. She remembers being tossed into the air, laughing and screaming in equal measure, but so perfectly sure of the fact that there'd be someone to catch her, to stop that painful fall to the ground that seemed so far below. And there was that moment, right before gravity started to drag you back down to earth, when you're filled with nothing but sheer weightlessness and fear that comes with, even for just an instant, defying even the most basic laws of physics. For Skye, that was the most terrifying moment; when everything was still. It was the moment when you expected another step at the top of the staircase and instead found your foot falling through space; it was when you were tipping on a chair's back two legs and suddenly tilted a degree too far. It was panic; blind, indescribable panic, one of the worst of man's emotions.

And it was rising in her like an all-consuming wave.

It was like a wall of colours had blurred in front of her eyes; nothing but a screen of swirling chaos. She could hear her breathing, and it came in ragged, labored bursts of air. The first signs of an oncoming panic attack rang like church bells in some far back recess of her mind, but at this moment she was filled with nothing but the sheer horror of knowing just how much she'd underestimated her father.

He'd played his part so well; emphasizing that everything he'd done was for their family, that the people he'd killed had deserved it more than anyone, that she'd been completely blindsided. She'd ignored her instincts- the very opposite of what she'd learnt from Ward and May. And God, if she wasn't paying the price for it now.

But that wasn't exactly accurate, because it wasn't her that would pay the severest, it'd be the two civilians; the woman about to get a bullet in her head and the innocent man that would pull the trigger. As a SHIELD agent- or an ex-agent, whichever one- she'd sworn to protect people like this from people like him, but it was more than that. How could she sit back and let the massacre unfold in front of her when she had a choice, no matter how crazy it seemed, that would save everything?

The simple answer: she couldn't.

Skye's restraints didn't matter anymore, not when her father was giving her such a seemingly easy way out.

She looked up at her father. "You must feel so smart right now," she said bitterly. "Did you always plan it to be this way?"

He shook his head. "No, Skye, this was never part of the plan. Like I told you before, I would've given you all the time in the world. But that is the thing we're running out of. This was a final resort. Please, believe that."

Skye felt sick. This was like finding out Ward was Hydra all over again; the sense of ultimate betrayal.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

God, she was an idiot. She was so, so, so stupid. Absolutely naïve to believe anything that came out of her father's mouth held any semblance of the truth. She should've learnt not to trust anyone; not Ward, not Coulson, not her father.

No one.

"I don't know what to believe anymore," she said, staring at the gun which was still pointing steadily at the woman's head.

"Believe this," he knelt down in front of her, so their eyes were on the same level and their faces only a few inches apart. "Hydra, SHIELD; the ones who killed your mother? They're coming again. They will never. Stop. Coming. Awakening your powers? That's the only way for you to have a fighting chance; for you to survive. That is what you should believe."

"You don't know me as well as you think you do, otherwise you'd know I don't respond well to commands," she snarled in his face.

He gave a bitter smile, one that appeared so forced it looked as if one movement would smash it to pieces like the glass of a mirror. "Oh, I know that, Skye. I also know you aren't a murderer. You haven't even taken a life with your own hands yet. Could you handle this? Knowing that the lives of two innocent, young people, with infinite possibilities in front of them, could've been spared if you just made the right choice?"

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the gun. Why did the some of the biggest decisions in life always come hand in hand with violence? Why should some of the most significant events be defined by something so small? She closed her eyes, letting panic drag her further into the deep, endless ocean of blue.

"It's easy, Skye. It's already inside you; part of your nature. It's just been hidden and subjugated by your upbringing in the oppressive society. But it's there. You just need to look for it."

She almost scoffed at the black and white way he was presenting it, as if there was barely a decision at all. But to him there probably wasn't, to him it was only a matter of accepting something which had been a part of her in the first place. He didn't see it as the life-changing decision as she did. How could he not realise that?

Her father continued regardless. "After that, it's simple. You would be able to defend yourself and you and me?" he spread his arms out like he was presenting her with the world. "We'd be able to fix it- fix everything. We'd be just like you've always wanted; together, you and me."

"Like a dog lying at the feet of its master?" Skye snarled.

"No, you're not listening to me!" he screamed, then put his arms out in a motion meant to convey he was in control, before saying in a much lower voice, "we'd be a family."

And there it was, that one thing she'd always sought out like a moth to a flame, clinging to some form of normality in her otherwise craze-filled life. But that was before. Before seemed like such an impossible thing to return to now.

Skye leaned forward then, and narrowed her eyes "I already have one," is all she said.

An indescribable expression crossed her father's face- loss… fear?

And anger, most importantly anger.

She saw movement at the corner of her eye and, like a coward, slammed her eyes shut. But that didn't stop the deafening bang she'd been dreading from reverberating in her ears.

Then her eyes opened.

Really opened.

She blinked rapidly, the hazy image of her bedroom spinning around her. Her head fell sideways on the pillow to find her father sitting at her bedside, chin propped on his fingertips like he was internalizing some conflict.

The room full of papers, her restraints, the two people- a gun; a horrible, deadly gun- they were all gone, like the wisps of dreams that escaped through your fingertips as you woke.

But it hadn't been a dream, had it? And this was reality… right?

She blinked again, and said quietly, "you're gonna have to do better than that."

His face was half-shrouded in shadow when he answered. "Oh Skye, that was only the beginning. I don't want to kill anyone," he leaned in close, "but I will protect you at any cost necessary. If this," he waved a hand, and Skye assumed he was gesturing to their general surroundings, something which had not existed mere moments ago, "is that cost, then I will accept it. To make sure you live. You just have to say yes."

Natasha and May returned to the Playground a mere twenty-one hours after their departure. Coulson approached them as soon as the Bus's door descended, eyes scanning over their figures quickly to check for injuries. Finding none, he asked the question that'd been playing over his mind on a constant repeat. "You got it?"

May nodded. "It's set up in Fitzsimmons lab," she answered, motioning her head back towards the plane. Her face is blank- forcibly so, Coulson guessed. She probably knew better than anyone the extent of that machine.

He took a deep breath and moved forward- he would need to get this over with quickly or he'd really start to lose his mind. A hand on his arm had him turning back to face May.

"There's something else," she added in a voice that had him wondering what else could've possibly gone wrong. "We encountered a Hydra agent who claimed to know something about Skye's father."

Coulson blinked. Now that was something he hadn't been expecting. "I'm guessing you didn't leave him behind?"

"He's in the interrogation room, shouldn't be out for too much longer."

"We can deal with that at the same time then," he turned to Natasha, "feeling up for an interrogation?" he asked her.

She smiled- a cold, threatening smile, the one of the Black Widow- and said, "it would be my genuine pleasure, just give me a moment to get the smell of Hydra off me." When Coulson nodded, she turned and made her way into the Playground in search of a shower and some clean clothes.

May looked up at him. "This better work," she said quietly.

"It will."

"You don't have to do that."

He glanced at her. "Do what?"

May's eyes were dark, an unreadable brown, and Coulson wondered why every wall she had was suddenly thrown against him. "Pretend like everything's fine."

He looked away again, back into the Bus where he knew the machine was. There was no point lying or denying anything; she'd always been able to read him so much better. May knew him better than practically anyone, which was probably part of the reason he was still alive after all this time.

"Yes I do."

Natasha did a double take when she walked past one of the abandoned rooms, because surely the silhouette of a man doing pushups in the middle of the floor wasn't a normal occurrence in this place, right?

She cleared her throat, and smirked as the figure jumped abruptly to his feet before spinning around to face her. He raised a closed fist, then seemed to think twice and lowered it slowly down to his side.

Good. It meant Grant Ward wasn't a total idiot then.

Natasha's eyes surveyed what she guessed was Skye's room. "This could be slightly awkward," she said conversationally. When he didn't answer, she continued, moving further into the room "Right… so what's your story?" His head jumped to track her movements. "Coulson seems on the edge of a psychotic break, May's as secretive as always, Fitzsimmons obviously speak a language we can't even hope to understand and don't even bring up Koenig's family issues. But you? The one thing I don't understand is why you're still here."

"Good." His voice was rough, brash; he was on the defensive.

She gestured to their surroundings. "This gives it a way a little."

He shifted slightly, crossing his arms on his chest. "I just want to get her back; there's not much to my story."

"Mmm, that's not true. Everyone has a story it's just a matter of whether it'll give children nightmares if you read it to them at bedtime. Your feelings for Skye won't make this job any easier."

He gave a bitter laugh. "You don't think I know that? It's one of the first things they tell you: don't get compromised."

There was no need to ask who 'they' were. It was the unanimous eye watching over your back in the middle of a mission; it was the person who called the shots; the one who seemingly had all the answers to everything a person could ever know.

"I used to believe it too," she said into the darkness.

His voice was sharp. "And now you don't?"

"Oh no, it's definitely true. I just know now that sometimes we get no choice in the matter. Trust me, feelings are one of the few things you can't run away from." She gave a small smile, but her eyes were tuned to some faraway place. Or perhaps just a faraway person. Ward dismissed that thought instantly; agents like Romanoff would never fully let themselves become compromised.

That was the mere mortal's weakness.

"Love," she continued, "is like a bungee cord; the harder you try to get away from it, the stronger the force is dragging you back.

"May told me how your story started, and until now it's been someone else's masterpiece. Except for her."

For a second, it was the hardest thing in the world for Ward to just take a breath. "Except for her," he echoed.

"I've never met a Hydra agent with such a thing for a girl."

"Well that doesn't amount to much," he answered dryly, "most of them aren't even breathing."

Natasha grinned. "You would be the first."

So, if you're even more confused, I'm sorry. Basically, Skye's father made her hallucinate the whole conversation and those two people. But that doesn't mean that what he said isn't true. Something else is coming... :p

Thank you so much for reading! I'll hope to update with another chapter soon, I promise!

-F