Chapter 28: The Heart

As Agent Coulson headed towards the interrogation room, he couldn't help but feel conflicted about the conversation he was going to have with their prisoner. On the one hand, he had not the slightest bit of compassion for Curtis Tyler after everything he must have done to Skye in order for her to break down the way she had earlier, or for his sister, who had made her disdain for SHIELD and everyone associated with it more than clear during her interrogation. That and her clear lack of compassion for her brother's victims had left Coulson with very little sympathy for the red headed woman, despite her ultimate willingness to cooperate.

On the other hand, however, as he had agreed to the deal Agent Haze had made with the forger, he felt obligated to uphold it, if he didn't want to be in her dept, and he knew that the reassurance he had just given to Agent Ward was nothing more than a shady trick, splitting hairs to ignore his own responsibility on the matter.

As he finally entered the room, he hadn't even laid eyes on the young woman yet as her angry voice suddenly pierced the silence.

"And here I thought you people had actually forgotten I existed, what with letting me sit here and wait for hours without telling me shit! I didn't do anything to you or your agents, I was minding my own damn business, when you dragged me into this and then I even helped you, so how about you start treating me with some fricking common decency, okay?"

Agent Coulson didn't respond to the forger's furious rant and did his best to keep his expression neutral as he closed the door behind him and sat down opposite from her, but apparently something about him must have given away the fact that he had come to deliver bad news, because Olivia's eyes suddenly widened and the briefest flicker of pain passed over her features as she fell silent.

A part of her obviously didn't allow her to show any form of weakness in front of the SHIELD agent, though, and so she quickly composed herself again, putting on an almost perfect mask of indifference.

"So he's dead then?", she asked, looking at Coulson for confirmation.

The agent remained quiet for a moment, studying the young woman's reaction, trying to make sense of it.

"No," he finally answered truthfully, but the forger clearly remained wary of the seemingly good news.

"But?" she supplied, anxious to hear the whole truth.

"But he has been severely injured. Apparently he goaded one of my men into attacking him, thinking he could avoid imprisonment that way."

Tyler's sister didn't reply immediately, needing a moment to let the news sink in.

"I guess there was no way for him to get out?" she finally asked, trying to make sense of her brother's actions.

"None that I could think of, no, we had the place completely surrounded," Coulson replied honestly.

"Then that does sound like him. Idiot," Olivia muttered quietly, more to herself than to Coulson, and for a short moment the agent actually expected her to break out into tears, but then the young woman's expression hardened again, and she looked at him angrily.

"Well, thanks for telling me, I guess, but where's your other agent? Didn't she have the guts to tell me herself how she lied to me, played me? We had a deal and I told her that I would hold her responsible if she broke it."

The open threat hung in the air for just a second, but that was all the time Agent Coulson needed to lose any compassion for the red headed woman he might have developed over the past few minutes, after seeing her reaction to her brother's condition.

He had just freed one member of his team from being abused and tortured by Curtis Tyler, he was not going to listen to his sister threatening another, even if she was only on the Bus temporarily.

"Agent Haze is busy right now, cleaning up the mess your brother made, but I'm actually sure that she'll want to talk to you herself once she gets the chance, because despite the fact that your brother is a sociopathic monster, who deserved far worse than what my agent did to him, I believe that she actually feels bad for violating the deal she made with you, even though as long as he lives, you'll get what you asked for, nothing more, nothing less.

And just so that you don't misunderstand me, I don't care if your brother dies. If he does, however, and you suddenly decide to attack Agent Haze or any other agent under my command in revenge, if you even so much as think about laying a finger on anyone working for SHIELD, I will personally have you locked up in the cell I had reserved for him and throw away the key.

Now nod if you understand me," he finished, seeing as the red headed woman was completely dumbfounded by his little speech.

As she finally complied and nodded her head briefly, Coulson leaned back in his chair and relaxed again visibly, before standing up and heading towards the door.

"Good," he simply noted, but before he could leave the room, Olivia's voice held him back once more, any trace of anger or defiance gone and replaced by genuine sadness.

"Can I see him?" she asked, looking up at Coulson almost pleadingly as she continued.

"Curtis will either die or you're going to lock him up for the rest of his life in some top secret SHIELD facility, so no matter what happens, this will probably be the last time I'll have a chance to see my brother, so can I please visit him?"

Coulson knew that he had no obligation to allow this, neither to Olivia nor to her brother, but despite the fact that the young woman had threatened one of his agents only moments ago, he could feel his anger dissipating at the sight of her desperation and so he ultimately nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'll send someone to escort you to the hospital," he told her, before finally leaving the interrogation room, intent on heading back to the lab to see how Skye was doing.


While the room serving as the surveillance centre of Talos' hideout had not actually seen any combat during SHIELD's assault on the factory, many of the computers and servers in it were riddled with bullet holes, after the fleeing members of the group had tried to destroy the surveillance system and their data before the attacking agents got a hold of it. While Agent Fitz had already managed to get the cameras in the compound back to work during the search for Skye, getting access to the organisation's database, including any recordings from the surveillance system, proofed to be a lot more challenging, as many of the hard drives storing the data had been at least partially damaged.

So far, he and Agent Haze had dismantled all the systems in the room and removed the drives that were too badly damaged to access immediately, putting them in special crates to be transported back to the Bus later. For now they were still busy trying to get the remaining computers back to work, removing broken parts and connecting the rest to bypass what was missing.

"Alright," Agent Fitz stated, after connecting the last of the electric cables to a portable generator, "this should do it. Are you getting anything?" he asked, looking over at Agent Haze, who was sitting in front of one of the monitors.

"Yes," the computer expert replied, her expression extremely focused, "the system is rebooting, just give me a second."

As he was apparently done with setting up the hardware, Fitz walked over to join Haze, looking over her shoulder as the computer came to life, the stream of data that passed over the screen ultimately ending with a small box prompting the entry of a password. The female agent didn't need long to get past it, however, and after a few moments of finding her way through Talos' system, she had access to their entire database, or at least to all the files that hadn't been stored on the damaged hard drives they had removed earlier.

With Agent Coulson's order in mind, that the surveillance videos from Skye's cell had absolute priority for him, Agent Haze went through the different folders in the databank, until she had found the right one. Instead of opening any of the video logs right away, however, she connected a flash drive to the computer and started copying the files in question. She would have liked to take a look at the footage immediately, but as Agent Coulson had made it perfectly clear, that the access to it was restricted to the two of them and Agent May, and Agent Fitz was still standing behind her, she stopped herself from following her curiosity.

As the engineer had no idea about that particular order yet, though, he looked down at the computer expert in front of him with a slight frown.

"Those are the recordings of the camera in Skye's cell, aren't they? Don't you think we should take a look at them? They would obviously tell us what Tyler did to Skye, and as Green's body was lying in the room with her, it means that we pretty much have to watch those tapes if we want to find out what happened to him."

Fitz was obviously trying to sound equally interested in both aspects the surveillance videos would shed some light on, but Haze was pretty sure that given his still apparent concern for Skye, he was far more curious about what she had been through these last few days than about finding any information on the fate of Talos' late leader.

She remained silent for a moment as she thought about her answer, but when she finally replied to the engineer, it was clearly not what he had expected to hear.

"Yes, I know, but the thing is that you don't have the clearance level to see these files, Agent Fitz. Agent Coulson has declared all the video files from Talos' database that include Skye as level 7 classified, so I'm sorry, but I've got my orders. Maybe I can find something interesting in the recent activity logs, though, so just give me a moment," she said diplomatically and started typing again.

She knew perfectly well of course, that Coulson's request not to let Fitz or anyone else watch the videos from Skye's imprisonment had been less about security clearance and more about the emotional fallout that could come from witnessing their team mate and friend being tortured, but she was hoping that by invoking SHIELD's classification hierarchy, she could get him to back down from the issue.

However, while Agent Fitz had always accepted SHIELD's system of handling information, even though that same system had almost left him and Ward stranded in enemy territory without an extraction plan not too long ago, he was completely dumbfounded at being kept out of the investigation at this point.

"What? No, that's ridiculous, that's not even how we do things on the Bus. At least not most of the time. And this is about Skye, so I don't care if I don't have the right clearance level, if I can do something, anything that might be able to help her, I'm not going to be kept out of the loop!"

Agent Haze looked at the young man for a moment, actually speechless, before a soft smile appeared on her lips, dissipating some of his anger.

"Trust me, Agent Fitz, you don't have to see what Tyler did to Skye to be able to help her, that's not going to do you or her any good," she assured the scientist, looking up at him from her seat with sympathy in her eyes.

"Skye just went through something completely horrible and the time ahead of her isn't going to be easy, either, but I've seen how much you and your team care for her. All you can do is to support her the best you can, then I'm sure it's just a matter of time until she makes a full recovery." She paused for a moment at this, looking at Fitz thoughtfully before continuing in a soft tone. "I know Agent Ward and even some of the others fell for Tyler's set-up, that Skye betrayed you, but you didn't doubt her for a second, did you?"

"No," Fitz replied with a faint shake of his head, the mere idea still unthinkable. "I knew it had to be a lie, because Skye isn't just an integral part of this team, she's the heart of our group, really." He knew that that was an extremely sappy thing to say, but the scientist didn't care. It was the truth after all.

"Then make sure that she knows that, too," Agent Haze advised him before finally turning back to the monitor, intend on finding some more information about Talos that would help them wrap up this mission.

"Right now, Skye probably doesn't have all that much faith in herself, or anything, really, so you and your team will have to believe in her even more." She fell silent after this and concentrated on the task in front of her while Fitz just nodded, not really knowing what to answer her anyway.

It remained completely quiet in the room for a few minutes, except from the tapping of swift fingers on the keyboard, but then Agent Haze finally seemed to have found something that could be of interest to the team.

"Here, this looks like the recording of a video call," she told Fitz, indicating the monitor. "And according to the time stamp, that was only minutes before we got here."

"Who were they talking to?" the engineer asked, slightly surprised. "Do you think there could still be other Talos members out there, who weren't here when we took out their hideout?"

"Only one way to find out," Haze answered and quickly proceeded to open the file. The image of a beautiful dark-skinned woman wearing a colourful dress appeared on the screen, obviously addressing one of the Talos members.

"I'd like to speak to the Colonel, if that can be arranged. I have some very urgent business to discuss with him." Despite the seriousness of her words, the woman's voice was soft and gentle and a small smile played around the corners of her mouth, giving her an incredibly warm presence even though she had to be in a powerful position, if she could contact the leader of Talos this easily.

Haze and Fitz watched her eagerly as she fell silent for a few moments, obviously waiting for the man she wanted to talk to, before finally continuing.

"Yes, he has, but I'm afraid I have to inform you that it has not been in your favour. The Clairvoyant has seen that the future of your organisation will be extremely short-lived and that there would be no point in pursuing this alliance any further."

"Too bad we're hearing only half of the conversation," Fitz remarked, clearly annoyed by the fact that the woman's answer was missing its proper context.

"Yes, but it almost sounds as if she already knew about our assault on Talos' hideout, before we even got here. Or what else could she mean by 'short-lived'?"

"I mean," the woman on the monitor continued, startling both agents with the timing of her reply, "that he has seen our mutual enemies heading to your location as we speak."

"Whoa," Fitz simply said, completely taken aback for a moment. "How could she possibly have known about our rescue mission for Skye, and who the hell is that 'Clairvoyant' she's talking about? Clairvoyance doesn't even exist!" the scientist exclaimed almost angrily, but as if to prove her knowledge of SHIELD's plans beyond any doubt, the woman now answered her invisible dialogue partner.

"Yes, and they are coming with a large number of agents. Their attack will be quick and decisive and I'm afraid the Clairvoyant does not see a future for your organisation after today."

"Well, however that 'Clairvoyant' did it, you can't argue that he knew a lot about our strategy."

Fitz was obviously about to protest against Haze's indication that she might be willing to believe in something like psychic powers as the woman in the flower dress spoke again, looking almost tranquil in her unwavering belief.

"Oh, but he does. The Clairvoyant sees everything and he has seen your future as clear as day, what's left of it anyway."

"'The Clairvoyant sees everything'," Fitz repeated mockingly in a sing-song voice obviously meant to mimic that of the dark haired woman, actually rolling his eyes in the process. "Now if that's not the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, I don't know what is. There's no such thing as psychic powers; no mind-readers, no clairvoyants! Fairytales and superstition, that's all that is."

"Wait, there is one more thing", the woman suddenly continued, prompting Fitz to answer her as if she were actually talking to him.

"What, you're going to tell us that fairies and unicorns are real, too?" This finally managed to get a small chuckle from Agent Haze, who had become increasingly amused at the engineer's outburst, realising that the mere belief in something that was so clearly contradicting his scientific worldview was like a red rag to him.

However, when the woman's soft voice came from the speakers once more, she immediately sobered up again, focusing back on the monitor.

"'Jack', was it, right?" The woman paused only briefly, probably waiting for the mercenary to reply to her and then continued.

"Well, I have told the Clairvoyant how impressed I was with your work and he promised me that in case you manage to avoid being captured by SHIELD today, that he is willing to find a place for you in his organisation. So maybe I will be in touch," she finished with a warm smile and then ended the video call, causing the screen to go dark again.

"Huh, looks like her precious Clairvoyant doesn't see everything, after all," Fitz remarked smugly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he kept looking at the monitor, despite the image of the woman in the flower dress having vanished already.

"That bastard is going to spend the rest of his life in the Fridge for what he did to Skye, but of course she would have known that if her 'Clairvoyant' wasn't such a clear fraud. I mean, SHIELD has been keeping an eye out for people with special powers for decades and not even once did they manage to find anyone with real psychic abilities. Anyone claiming to have them is just a phoney, conning people into thinking they were legit."

"Well, whoever that woman was, she might not have known everything, but still more than enough to make her dangerous. I'll believe in a genuine clairvoyant when I see one with my own eyes, but until then this sounds more as if whoever has warned her about our attack has been leaking information from inside SHIELD," Agent Haze replied, her expression obviously worried.


Agent May was standing in the doorway of the room they had rescued Skye from only a few hours ago, taking in the almost empty space, the bare brick walls and most of all, the solid chair that was standing in the centre of the room, its legs bolted to the floor, remnants of the duct tape used to restrain the young woman still sticking to the metal.

There was a puddle of blood on the floor, where they had found Trevor Green's body and also some on the chair, but it was impossible to tell if the latter had come from the Talos leader as well, or if it was the hacker's blood.

After Agent May had stood like this for a few minutes, her expression grim, but otherwise devoid of emotion, she suddenly moved forward, closing the door behind her, and, careful not to step into the blood, slowly sat down in the chair, taking a deep breath in the process.

May had seen Skye's condition first hand during the rescue, both the utter desperation while still being tied up and the unstable mix of happiness and confusion she had displayed after being freed. She also did know a thing or two about trauma herself, but if she wanted to really understand what the team's rookie was going through right now, especially after what Fitz and Haze had told her about what had happened outside the factory earlier, she needed to understand what she had went through first.

Finding the video recordings of Skye's imprisonment was an important step, as was talking to the young woman herself, as soon as she was ready to face what had happened to her, but May found that true understanding of someone's actions and emotions was achieved most easily by actually putting oneself into the same situation and assuming that person's point of view.

Not that that was always a viable option, but right now, as she sat where Skye had been sitting, gripping the cold metal armrests tightly, like the young hacker must have done countless times with all other movement having been made impossible due to her restrains, she could feel a coldness starting to spread inside her chest and it wasn't coming from the room's temperature.

In a final effort to make the experience as close to Skye's as possible, the specialist closed her eyes, using her other senses to take in her surroundings.

Even though there were still other SHIELD agents in the factory, with the door closed, Agent May couldn't hear anything, instantly increasing her feeling of isolation. The metal chair beneath her was cold and uncomfortable, and the hard edges of the armrests were cutting into her skin painfully as she was gripping them tightly.

It was rather cold in the room, and even though Agent May didn't mind, due to her more than sufficient clothing, she knew that Skye must have been freezing in the thin top she had been wearing when they had found her. The air was filled with the smell of dust and machine oil, but also the vaguely metallic odour of blood, stemming from the puddle on the ground.

May kept her eyes closed for another long moment, trying to imagine her surroundings from a rookie's perspective and not that of a seasoned agent, who had been hurt more times in the line of duty than she cared to remember. If she wanted to know how Skye had felt sitting in this chair, she had to forget her training and her years of experience, and allow her deepest fears to come to life, just like the young woman must have been confronted with hers in here.

The thought of Skye having been locked up in this room, Tyler interrogating and torturing her, all the while the team had been absolutely clueless about her fate, was making the specialist feel nauseas, and just the briefest image of the mercenary attacking the defenceless woman with an electro shock device enough times to cause the countless burn marks left on her skin was finally enough to make Agent May's eyes snap back open instantly.

Clearly having had enough of the experience, she got up from the chair again and left the room in a hurry, decisively heading towards the next stairwell, where a small group of agents was waiting for her, a body bag lying on the ground beside them.

As soon as the specialist approached them, her outward appearance not betraying anything of her rattled state, she gave them a signal to move out, causing the men to pick up the heavy bag without saying a word and following her as she led them out of the factory.


Skye wasn't dreaming. Despite the traumatic events she had been through, her body had been too exhausted to dream to begin with and as her consciousness had been dragged under by the tranquillising effects of whatever drug Simmons had injected her with, the young woman was sleeping like a stone, finally getting the rest she had needed so desperately.

As she finally did wake up, it was completely quiet around her, but for Skye the lack of noise was anything but welcome. For a fleeting second she even thought herself back in her prison, completely isolated from the rest of the world, but as her eyes flew open in fear, she found herself back on the Bus instead, lying on the holo table in the middle of the lab.

Clearly relieved, the young woman took a moment to gather herself before sitting up slowly, pushing away the blanket that had been placed on top of her, shortly followed by pulling out the IV drip, which had been attached to her arm once again. It had been almost empty anyway, so she figured that Jemma probably wouldn't mind if she freed herself from the needle embedded in her arm.

The young woman briefly wondered about the soft surface she had been lying on, but as she now noticed she was on top of several more blankets that had been laid out on the table, obviously intended to allow her to rest more comfortably. She smiled a little at the thought, touched by the care her team mates had been showing for her.

As Skye now looked around to see if any of them were there, however, she noticed to her surprise that she was completely alone in the lab. She tried looking out into the cargo hold, but the glass doors, instead of being transparent as usual, had taken on a milky white colour, blocking her view. She paused briefly, as she hadn't even been aware that they could do that, but of course it made sense that the lab in a SHIELD facility, even a mobile one, could be hidden from prying eyes.

The hacker wasn't really sure if she was glad about her solitude or not. On one hand she didn't want to be alone, not after how much she had come to hate her solitary confinement over the past few days and how much she had missed her team mates in particular, but on the other hand it did give her a moment to gather her thoughts and to actually get her head around the fact that her imprisonment was over and she was safe again.

Skye remembered the aftermath of her rescue, before she had somehow lost consciousness, all too clearly, and she felt deeply ashamed for losing control the way she had, resulting in her almost attacking her own friends in an irrational and senseless attempt to protect herself from Jack.

Her thoughts wandered back to the heavily injured and defenceless man she had seen being carried out of the factory earlier and a part of her still couldn't believe that that had been the same person, who had kidnapped and tortured her, causing her so much pain and suffering. With all the tricks and manipulations he had pulled on her while she had been at his mercy, seeing him so completely and utterly defeated had been as much a welcome surprise as it had just seemed to be absolutely impossible.

Skye would have thought that he could have managed to find a way to escape, even with SHIELD attacking Talos' hideout, but then again, she had probably underestimated the determination of her team to take down all of those responsible for her kidnapping.

At least that was what she chose to believe was the reason for his capture, but she had to admit that the fact that she was alone right now and none of her team mates were with her to welcome her home, so to say, did put a slight damper on that idea. The young woman knew that it was ridiculous to expect the others to wait at her bedside for hours without any definite knowledge of when she would wake up again, but a part of her was still disappointed to realise that not even one of them had kept vigil over her.

Swinging her legs from the table, Skye finally stood up, now noticing that she was still in the clothes she had worn during her imprisonment, minus the shoes and socks that had been soaked in blood earlier. She could tell that her hands and arms were cleaner than before, and that the few minor injuries she had sustained had been treated, but she was still wearing the pink top she had almost shredded in an effort to make a bandage for the cut in her hand, and while it wasn't as cold in the lab as it had been in her cell in the factory, she still began to freeze slightly.

That was when she noticed one of her cardigans hanging over the back of a chair and she put it on immediately, glad that one of her team mates had apparently shown enough foresight to get it for her. Just as she was about to leave the lab and go to see if she could find the rest of her team somewhere on the Bus, however, the door to the storage room suddenly opened, revealing Agent Simmons, who had obviously just gotten a few new supplies and who was now just as surprised as Skye to see her patient up and about.

"Oh, Skye, you're awake!" the scientist awkwardly stated the obvious, a smile beginning to tug at the corners of her lips. "I wasn't entirely sure when you would wake up again; I mean, I could estimate the duration of the sedative, of course, but as you were so exhausted, it was hard to tell, really. I'm so sorry I wasn't here, I was just in the back, getting a new bag for the IV drip…," she trailed off briefly as she noticed that Skye had already removed the needle from her arm, "which I can see you already got rid of. Oh, well," she sighed in defeat, putting the bag with the clear liquid in her hand down on the table next to her. When she turned around to Skye again and continued, though, her face had taken on an almost ashamed expression.

"I just hope you know how sorry I am for sedating you in the first place. I know this probably wasn't how you wanted to return to the Bus, but you had gotten so worked up earlier, it seemed to be the safest solution for everyone." But Skye shook her head as she replied, making sure that the scientist knew she wasn't blaming her.

"Seriously, you don't have to apologise for that, Jemma. I know I must have scared you and the others with the way I was acting, especially when I took Ward's gun, of course, so I would have done the exact same thing in your position. To be honest, I'm just glad you didn't hit me over the head with a fire extinguisher," she finished with a slight grin, lifting up the atmosphere in the room instantly.

Simmons, who was relieved to find her friend in a better mood again, despite her persistent worries about her condition, answered in the same vein, doing her best to keep the conversation light-hearted for the moment.

"Oh, you know how it is, you never have one on hand when you really need it." The scientist looked at Skye for a brief moment, a fond expression on her face, before she finally moved forward and crossed the distance between them, pulling her friend into a hug for the second time that day. This time it was slightly less overwhelming, though, and as the two women stood with their arms around each other, Jemma actually managed to keep herself from crying once again.

"I'm so relieved you're back, Skye," she whispered into her friend's ear, obviously meaning every word of it.

"Me, too," the hacker agreed quickly, but when Jemma pulled back again after a few moments and got back to the topic at hand, her expression quickly became sober again, as the situation was simply too serious for her to treat it with humour or sarcasm, as she knew Skye tended to do to mask her true feelings.

"Well, I'm sure you're rather fed up by now at being prodded with needles and examined, but before I can release you, I really have to run a few more tests on you, alright?", the scientist asked, even though it was rather obvious that Skye didn't really have a say in the matter.

"Any way I can talk my way out of that?" the young woman asked sceptically, but obviously without much hope. When Simmons denied her plea just as expected, she didn't resist the instruction to sit back down on the table, while the biochemist took a blood sample from her, and performed a number of other diagnostics to make sure that Skye hadn't suffered any lasting physical effects from her abduction.

The young woman complied with the tests without complaining, eventually falling completely silent, which wasn't lost on Jemma, causing her to mentally add it to the list of uncharacteristic symptoms Skye was showing that indicated a severe psychological trauma in the young woman.

When Simmons was done with her examination, she put all her instruments away again, and just stood in front of Skye for a moment, obviously wanting to say something more, but not knowing how to approach the subject. As she finally spoke, it was more than obvious how uncomfortable she felt about what she was about to say next.

"Skye, I've already seen and treated the injuries you suffered while you were kidnapped, most of which seem to be the result of an electroshock device, so I have at least some idea what you went through, but there is something I have to ask you and I need you to answer me truthfully, no matter how painful the memory might be or… or even if you think that you had any reason to feel ashamed, which you wouldn't have!" The scientist emphasised, but only managed to confuse her patient further.

"Alright," Skye finally agreed, but it sounded almost like a question, as she wasn't really sure what to expect next.

"The man who tortured you, Jack," Simmons continued, willing herself to remain professional despite her own attachment to Skye, "aside from hurting you physically, did he, or anyone else, ever resort to any form of sexual abuse?" she asked, looking directly at the young woman's eyes to assess her reaction.

"You mean if I was…", Skye trailed off, not even able to say the word 'raped' out loud, the mere idea just too horrible to face. "No! No, Jack hit me, he used that damn taser on me until my hands wouldn't stop shaking from all the electro shocks, and he messed with my head, but he never did that. I mean I was tied up and completely at his mercy, but he never even implied anything like that."

Simmons sighed loudly and the weight that fell off her shoulders was almost palpable, as she relaxed noticeably and a small smile appeared on her lips as she hugged Skye impulsively once again.

"Oh, thank goodness. Now, I know what you've been through these past few days must have been horrible, but I also know that you're much too strong to let that keep you down. We're all here for you, Skye, so whatever you need, we're going to help you through this together." She was holding the hacker at arm's length now, looking at her almost teary eyed, but Skye didn't seem to share her optimism quite as much.

"Thanks, Jemma, I really appreciate it that you're looking out for me. I guess the others still have a lot of work to do, or they would be here, too, right? Finish up the operation, make sure everything is taken care of, that sort of thing," she said a little too casually, obviously trying to hide the fact that she was clearly hurt by her entire team's absence, but Simmons didn't fall for her act for even a second.

She did her best to keep a straight face, but couldn't really keep herself from smiling nevertheless as she answered Skye.

"Oh, you know how it is, with large operations like this there is always so much to handle, from all the agents that were involved, to the prisoners that were taken and all the intel that was gathered, not even to mention all the paperwork." Skye's face fell a little as Jemma seemingly agreed with her, but as the scientist suddenly took her hand and pulled her towards the door to the cargo hold, she went along without hesitation, only realising what was going on as the other woman continued.

"But, Skye, you can't really believe for even a second that any of that would have kept the others from coming here to see you. They're not in the lab, because I wanted you to be able to rest properly and they were simply completely crowding the room, but now that you're awake again, I think somebody would like to see you."

With that she pressed the large button next to her to open the doors, and as soon as they slid open, Skye could see that her earlier disappointment had been completely unfounded. The entire team was sitting or standing in the cargo hold, obviously waiting and now that the door to the lab suddenly opened, they were all looking at her in surprise and relief.

The cargo ramp had been lowered and she could see that they were standing on an airfield, but despite the fact that there were obviously still SHIELD agents moving around outside, telling her that the mission had not been wrapped up completely, none of her team members were showing any interest in what was going on beyond the inside of the Bus, or rather the inside of the lab.

Coulson and May, who had been sitting on the emergency seats at the side of the plane both stood up now and approached the young hacker, the former with a bright smile on his face, while even the latter visibly cheered up at the sight of their youngest team member. Fitz, who had claimed one of the lower steps of the spiral staircase for himself, indignant about being banned from his own lab, was clearly relieved, now that Skye's condition had obviously vastly improved from the last time he had seen her, and Ward, who had been pacing up and down in the back of the cargo hold, unable to contain his impatience any longer, just looked at her from the distance for the moment, content to see his rookie awake, rested and composed after her earlier frail state.

"Hey, guys!" Skye greeted them in an attempt to break the almost spellbound atmosphere, slightly embarrassed by the attention she was suddenly receiving, despite knowing that it just showed how much she actually meant to the others. "What up?" she asked awkwardly, echoing the very first words she had ever said to Coulson and Ward on the day she had met the team.

To be continued…