Previously: Fitz became pretty insistent with Simmons romantically to the point where she felt threatened, until Triplett luckily came and interrupted. Fitz became aggressive when Simmons suggested they do some tests on him to see if anything was off as he seemed different since coming back miraculously healed, but they got knocked out suddenly before they could do it.

It turned out that Graviton had infiltrated the BUS to free Wolfe, who then told Skye she either had to do the sacrifice or he'd start destroying cities with five days to make the decision.

Chapter Twenty-One

Skye didn't even see Hall before Ward hit the ground.

She'd been too concerned with talking about Fitz and what he could have possibly said or done to make Simmons realize they needed to find out how he came back so suddenly, which should have been fine. They were on the BUS after all: the giant plane that seemed to be impenetrable. It should have been ok to have her guard down.

Yeah. Not.

All of a sudden Ward had been cracked against the wall and before she'd had the chance to run back and see if he was ok, Graviton was already floating towards her.

She didn't know where he'd come from and though her frazzled brain was in shock, she needed to get her team away. Their weapons, May and Coulson were all in an area passed where Graviton was coming closer. Even when Skye had tried to get to Ward, Hall merely used his powers to have Ward dragged back towards the scientist. So she focused on whom she could.

But there just wasn't enough time, and she was forced to watch in horror as her three friends were flung into the wall like puppets on strings.

Ward and Fitz were ok. Fitz had already come to by the time Coulson, Skye and May had gotten down there to inspect them, while Ward woke up shortly afterwards. Both with massive headaches, sure, but they were fine.

Simmons and Triplett were a different story.

Fitz had limited medical knowledge, though he was able to get the two set up comfortably. The engineer explained that it would be highly unlikely for each of them to have been knocked out due to head injuries with absolutely no other visible side effects, leading him to believe Graviton may have had a power to do it.

This was actually good news, because despite what movies may tell you, it was actually pretty common for people to die due to head injuries. And Simmons and Triplett had been asleep for over an hour.

"They were closer to him when it happened, so they probably got the blunt of it and that's why they've been unconscious longer than I had. Their scans seem pretty clear," he explained. "Though, based on Ward's scan, he did get knocked out by the force of the wall."

"Explains the massive pounding in my head…" Ward mumbled.

"What goes around comes around," May muttered.

It was a somewhat shocking comment from the woman, as she seemed to have been very accepting of the man being there. But Skye could understand May's disdain. Despite the bracelet and obvious restrictions, Ward seemed to slowly coming back into place on the team. Skye hadn't forgiven him because honestly, she wasn't sure she knew how, but she did attempt to treat him like a normal person. And May had made it very clear to Skye that that she'd definitely come to terms with him being around for convenience, but if she wanted to throw in a few choice words every once in a while, who was Skye to judge?

Coulson wasn't trying to be mean, or untrusting, but he asked. "Are you sure you can tell these things, Fitz? You aren't trained medically. This isn't your specialty."

"Technically it isn't Simmons' specialty either," he pointed out. "But yes, she taught me how to read the scans and I can probably use the equipment better than she can anyhow."

Skye squinted skeptically from her perch on one of the tables. "So you're saying they're going to be ok, right? Please tell me they're going to be ok."

"Yeah, perfectly fine, seems to me. They just need a little more time to wake up."

Fitz smiled reassuringly, and it somehow both relieved and alarmed Skye. On the one hand, if Fitz was being so casual about the situation it must really mean that he was completely confident that they were going to be fine.

On the other, she also believed that no matter what trouble Simmons was in, complete recovery outlook in the future or not, Fitz would be concerned. And they had been talking about him being off and needing testing, though Skye hadn't caught on to exactly why, other than the fact that he wanted to take Simmons out on a date. To be honest that seemed like a good thing, but there must have been more to it.

Whether he'd been emotionally compromised so that he wasn't caring or mentally damaged so that he was getting the facts wrong, either would give reason to be concerned.

"Fitz… what they were saying earlier about you needing to be tested. I know you didn't want her to, but could the reason Simmons was insisting on it be affecting your thinking now?"

"What? No, we weren't talking about running any tests," laughed Fitz, as though the idea were ridiculous. The scientist began rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Though, that wouldn't be a bad idea. We still don't know the reasons of my recovery." He dropped his hand. "But not right now. Obviously we have other things to worry about."

"What do you mean you weren't talking about that? Triplett asked Ward to stay in the lab with him so he could help…" Skye trailed off, not wanting to upset him.

"So he could what, Skye?" asked Fitz.

Her lips pursed. "So he could help him make sure you did what you needed for the tests… I guess you weren't co-operating."

Fitz scoffed. "That's absurd! We haven't talked about finding out what happened to me in a few days."

Ward finally stepped up, arms crossed and puzzlement on his face. "Yes, you were. We both heard you."

"Interesting," mumbled Coulson. "May, I think we should set a course for the hospital."

"What?" asked Fitz. "Why? I'm telling you they're fine!"

"It's just a precaution," Coulson assured him. "You've been through a head trauma as well and you're not trained in the medical field, Agent Fitz. We want to be sure they're ok."

May had just about cleared the door when they heard a moan.

"Mmm Fitz?" mumbled Simmons.

The startled engineer ran over to her bedside, taking hold of her hand gently. "I'm right here, Jemma."

Skye smiled. There was the Fitz she knew. And apparently, he'd been right.

Simmons brought her hand up to her head tentatively, eyes shut like she was in pain. She probably had a headache too. Still squinting, her eyes began weakly searching the room.

"Where's Skye? Is she alright?"

"Right here," Skye offered, waving her hand and stepping forward. "A… ok," she mumbled off half-heartedly. She wasn't ok. She was so many miles away from being at the halfway point truck stop to ok.

"Aw, damn. Who paid for drinks last night?" Triplett suddenly moaned, he too putting a hand up to his head. "They owe me an Advil or two."

"Welcome back to the living," said Skye warmly. She was happy to see them both up, at least a few of the nerves in stomach quieting down with the news of her friends' safety.

"Shit, send me back. This living world is too damn painful."

Skye somehow couldn't bring herself to laugh at Trip's joke, though she knew really wanted to. Depression had been clinging onto her like a dead weight since the incident a couple hours ago, though she managed to give him a smile.

"What happened?" asked Simmons. "I don't remember…"

"Yeah, things are definitely foggy. Last thing I remember is May telling me that they were coming back from getting the crystals."

"Ah, I'll explain," offered Fitz, so Skye immediately stood up, discreetly heading out of the lab. At least, she thought it was discreet.

"You ok?" Ward asked her, holding on to her wrist.

She gently pulled out of his grasp. "Yeah, I just… don't really need to hear this again."

"Do you want to talk?"

Once again, she attempted to bring up the sides of her mouth.

"No, I'm good. Thanks."

The hacker turned abruptly, hoping it was enough of a signal of asking him not to follow her and left before Fitz could really get into the story.

Skye didn't need to hear about how her father, the only family by blood she knew of, was threatening millions of people if she didn't come to him, if she didn't cut her life short in just a few days. She didn't need to hear how she'd but stuck, helpless and powerless to move while he explained his disappointment in her.

God, she'd been so scared.

She wasn't even sure why. She had been resolved that she may have to die soon a few days ago, and while a year was a lot longer she knew it was still going to happen. The odds of finding proof against it after recovering the Terrigen Crystals just seemed… unlikely.

But they had her. They had her and she couldn't move and couldn't speak. They could have done anything to her and she wouldn't have been able to even react, let alone try and make a signature sarcastic remark. She'd been so completely helpless in front of Coulson and May.

They'd been completely helpless, and there was nothing she could do.

Skye had gone up the staircase and straight to her room, where she collapsed down instantly into her bed. She couldn't do this anymore. She needed a release.

For a few minutes she just lay on her bed and cried. It felt good, letting the sobs flow unrestricted. It seemed like half of her time the passed couple days were spent trying to hold back the tears and stay strong, which she now realized had been for everyone else. To not look weak. But here, in her room, in her space with just herself, she could let go. At least for a while.

Skye didn't want to leave. She could admit this to herself, while she cried alone in her room. She was trying to be the strong agent she wanted her friends to see in her and do the right thing, as she was being before. But was it really that good of a cause when the man fronting it was threatening to kill so many people if she didn't? Maybe. But it didn't matter. He was holding a gun to millions of people if she said no, even counting out the Inhumans.

She hated it. She hated it and she hated him.

But she would go. Nothing had changed, not really. She still had to do this. Whether she could still keep her stiff upper lip or not she didn't know, but she was going to give herself to him and this sacrifice, whatever the hell it entailed.

Skye stopped crying then. She wouldn't allow herself to spend her time doing that for very long, because she really didn't have much time left. And sobbing her eyes out for hours wasn't exactly on her bucket list. But she knew something that was.

Wiping the snot with her sleeve, she moved over to her desk where she managed to find a small notepad with enough sheets left and a pen. She was definitely more of a computer girl, but she felt this needed to be done by hand.

Skye, with pen and paper in hand, moseyed back in her bunk, snuggled up in the covers, and wrote.

A/n: Sorry, may be pretty boring. And short. I would have put a boring warning at the beginning if you could skip but it includes a bit of plot you really shouldn't miss. Next is *hopefully* better.