Chapter Twenty-Six (Survive, Paranoid)

(Sometime Later)

Skye awoke with a jolt, not knowing what was going on. She looked around, finding herself in a strange room filled with too many candles to count. And she looked to her body, finding herself covered with a white sheet and acupuncture needles sticking out of her. And was she naked?

"What the hell?!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, you might want to calm down." came a soft, calm voice.

Skye frowned and looked to her left to see a young, blond man with a slight beard coming up to her. "Who are you and where the hell am I?" she demanded.

The man smiled slightly. "I'm Lincoln, a transitioner here at Afterlife. Gordon brought you here after you called for help. This is an Inhuman safehaven." He gestured to the needles in Skye's body, "Those are to help stabilize your powers so they don't get out of hand. I think you're okay now." He pointed to the table next to her, "Those are your clothes. I'll take the needles out and leave you long enough so you can get dressed."

Skye nodded hesitantly, but Lincoln seemed to be nice enough. He began to take the large, yet thin needles out of her and place them on a tray.

"Skye, isn't it?" he asked.

All she could do was nod.

"Good." he replied with a slight smile. "You're done now. You can get dressed and I'll be right back." Lincoln quickly left the room.

Skye narrowed her eyes and got up, reaching for her clothes. "Weird." she muttered. "But I guess Gordon kept his promise. But what the hell is an Inhuman?" She slipped her clothes back on and went to open the door for Lincoln. "I'm done."

"Good. I imagine you have a lot of questions." he said, nodding his head as he came in. "You were out for a while. So was that guy that was with you."

The memory came rushing back to Skye all too fast. Her eyes widening as she remembered Ward being shot, "Grant." She looked at Lincoln, "Is he okay?!"

He nodded softly, "He's been in the care of our best healers for a few hours now. He sure does heal fast. I checked on him in case you ended up asking about him. He's fine."

"How long have we been here?"

"About five hours. I don't know what caused you to fall unconscious." Lincoln replied. "I can take you to Grant if you want. He's just down the hall, but I don't know whether he's awake or not. But they'll let him sit with you until he does so."

Skye couldn't help but smile at Lincoln's caring grin. She nodded, "I would like that." she replied.

Lincoln nodded in response, "Follow me." he said, leading Skye out of the room.

Skye followed the man down a corridor and she surveyed her surroundings. There really wasn't any windows for her to look out of , but the halls had an ornate look and feel to them. They almost felt safe and warm for some reason.

He led her to a set of doors and opened them for her, she walked in and he closed the doors, leaving her to herself. Skye looked to see Ward sleeping peacefully on a bed opposite of her. His shirt was off and a massive bandage covered his torso.

A woman by the beside, who seemed to mixing medicine, looked up at her and smiled, "You must be Skye." she said. She pointed to the chair next to Ward's bed, "You can sit. I don't know when he'll be awake though."

Skye nodded and went to sit down, "Thank you." she said in response. She kept her eyes on Ward, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest while ignoring the woman that must've been one of the healers that Lincoln talked about.

And Ward looked so peaceful.

(An Hour Later)

Ward jerked awake, fighting the air with his hands, the remnants of a nightmare fading.

"Grant! Calm down!" he heard a voice yell.

He blinked to see Skye standing over him, a spot on the ceiling smoking. He must've accidentally sent a flame that way. Skye smiled at him.

"Hey, big guy. Good to see you alive."

Ward narrowed his eyes as he went to sit up, cringing in pain, "Alive? What happened? Should I be dead?" he asked.

"Gonzales tried to get us and you were shot, through the chest." Skye explained.

Ward's eyes widened, "Through the chest?" he questioned. "Then how am I alive? Where the hell are we?"

Skye shrugged, "I really don't know. Gordon brought us here after you were shot. I called out for his help and he kept his promise." she explained. "I heard it called 'Afterlife'. But I don't know the location."

Ward nodded and shifted, finding his torso wrapped in a massive bandage. "But how am I alive?" he asked.

"Healers. And you apparently heal pretty fast." Skye replied. "That's what someone I met said. I was out for a while and he checked on you in case I woke up asking for you."

Ward nodded, "Guess they know us pretty well, 'cause that does sound like you." he laughed slightly, ignoring the pain in his chest and back. "It's nice to know that you care about me."

"You're just now figuring that out, dumbass?" Skye retorted. "We've been through enough together that you should know that and you are my boyfriend, aren't you?" she asked.

Ward blushed, becoming flustered. And Skye wasn't sure whether it was from his powers or he was just plain embarrassed. "Well, uh, yeah, I guess. I-I don't know." he stammered, still flustered.

Skye couldn't help but laugh, "I guess that bullet didn't really do anything to you, then." she joked. "You really are the T-1000, just with flamethrowers."

Ward narrowed his eyes, "I thought I told you to drop that name long ago, Skye." he stated.

Skye shrugged, "I can call you whatever I want." she replied. But then her face fell, "Oh my God, Coulson. Does Coulson know that we're gone?"

Ward's eyes widened and he shook his head, "I don't know." he replied. "But if he does, then they're going berserk. And I don't know where we are, so that's no help to us now."

"Maybe, once you're fully better, we can get out of wherever the hell here is and get back to them." Skye said. "I don't want them worrying for too long. And maybe the Gonzales thing will be done by the time we leave here."

"I hope so."

Author's Note: I don't own AoS, Marvel does. Sorry for the wait, confused where to go with this. But Skye meets Lincoln in the same creepy way. And Ward's okay from his gunshot wound. But they're worried about the team now, will everything be okay? Keep reading and PLEASE favorite, follow, and/or review! ~AwakeAndAliveSpartan.