Chapter 29 - How Do We Stop It?
Events in this chapter occur during season 2 episode 10, and use portions of dialogue from the episode.
"Dr Whitehall wants you," one of the HYDRA commandos said, opening the door. Skye looked up, and then at Cal.
"I'll make plenty of time to answer all of your questions," Cal promised. "But first, now that he's served his purpose, I'm gonna kill the man who destroyed my life." He started humming as he walked towards the door. "Best. Day. Ever."
Skye shuddered.
She pressed her fingers to her lips and subdued her emotions quickly, though. She didn't want to risk starting up another loop between herself and Brock. And that would happen all too easily if she let herself get angry again.
So she sat back. Took deep breaths. Reassured herself that Cal was wrong; even if something happened to change her in some major way, she would always have Brock. She loved him and he loved her, and there was nothing in this world that would permanently separate them as long as they both lived.
Much as she'd soothed him earlier, now his mind reached out to hers and reassured her. He was nearby. Help would be coming. She might be alone for the moment, but that wouldn't last long.
When the guards came for her, Skye wasn't terribly surprised. They didn't bother tying her hands as they led her out of the room and down a series of hallways. They brought her to a group of people just standing around in an otherwise empty room. She listened quietly as Whitehall asked Ward about her, and Ward claimed she'd been insurance against the Bus shooting them down.
She deliberately widened her eyes when Whitehall explained that he'd countered Ward's order to not shoot down the plane, but since she knew Brock was fine and he'd have found a way to let her know if anyone else was badly hurt she assumed they'd pulled some sort of stunt to let HYDRA think they were downed.
Then Whitehall turned to her with the Diviner in a case held by Agent 33.
"I'd like you to pick it up," he told her, his expression curious.
"You first," she taunted, her usual spark beginning to show. She only rolled her eyes when the guards pulled their guns on her. She looked over at Cal and saw him nod slowly. Whatever else he'd done to her, she didn't believe he wanted her dead. So if he thought she would be safe, it was probably true.
In a decisive movement, she grabbed it out of the case. She watched, a little astonished, as it lit up in her hand but otherwise did nothing. She felt something a little like Brock's touch in her mind, but it was definitely not her soulmate. Then she brushed the feeling aside and thrust the Diviner at one of the guards, hitting his neck with it where his armor didn't quite cover his skin.
Cal attacked another one with a scalpel he'd hidden in his pocket, but the fight was over as quickly as it began when everyone else pointed guns at her. She knew she couldn't hit so many without getting herself killed, nor did Cal have a gun. Ward did, but he couldn't shoot them all before they shot her.
In the impasse, Whitehall looked at her with an expression of mingled interest and scolding. "I do hope," he said, his tone sounding like an adult scolding a small child, "that you're as special as your mother."
Cal was breathing heavily. "If my daughter wasn't here, I would tear you and your men to pieces."
Whitehall only smirked condescendingly, looking at all the guns pointed at Skye and Cal, before turning to Ward and asking why he was really here.
It was Raina who responded, though. "Is it really that hard to see? It's love. Agent Ward believes that if he helps Skye fulfil her destiny, she'll see him for who he really is."
"That," Whitehall said, "and the fact that he knows the Faustus Method can erase her soulmark."
Skye's mouth dropped open. "What?"
"I did promise him a reward if he brought me Raina. You're a bonus." Whitehall tilted his head, smiled at her in a way that made her skin crawl. "We shall have to discover your true gifts, my dear. And if you survive the process of discovery, Agent Ward will indeed have his reward."
xoxoxoxoxoxox
Brock was being lowered down into the tunnel when the spike of Skye's rage hit him. And fear. For the first time, she was truly terrified, though he couldn't tell what it was that was frightening her so. He clung onto the cable and concentrated on breathing.
Just. Breathe.
Trip grabbed him as he hit the bottom, helped him unhitch the cable. "You all right, Rumlow?"
"No," Brock gritted out. "No. Skye - she's frightened, now. Something's happened to scare her."
"Coulson and May will get her, man. Come on. We gotta find Mack and blow this place to hell."
"Yes," Brock made his feet move. "Yes. I got this, Triplett," when the other man looked at him doubtingly, his sceptical expression clear even through the faceplate of the hazmat suit. "Let's do this." His fingers were shaking, he realised distantly as he lifted the paper map Simmons had printed for them. Oddly enough, Skye's emotions felt muted now that he was down in the tunnels, no longer as sharp and clear, and after a moment he was able to steady his hands and focus on the mission.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
"How could you!" Skye hissed at Ward once they were shoved into a storage room, secured to chairs and left alone. Cal had already run off on his quest for vengeance.
He didn't have to ask what she was talking about. "He's not good enough for you, Skye. He never was. You were blinded to his true nature. Rumlow's a killer, he'll do anything, hurt anyone who gets in his way."
"You are very right about that," she snapped. "There won't be anything left of you when he's done."
"He's dead, Skye, Whitehall ordered the plane shot down despite your theatrics. And soon he'll use his methods to make you forget you ever knew Rumlow, and we can finally be together."
"You deluded fucking maniac," she spat at him. "Brock's not dead. Do you think I wouldn't know? He's close. And he's really fucking pissed off. There won't be enough of you left to bury by the time he's finished with you."
Ward blinked at her a couple of times, then looked away. Skye sighed and slumped in her bonds. Where the hell was Brock? He didn't seem to be getting any closer. She could feel him intent on something, though, had to trust that he had a plan.
Hurry up, my love, she thought at him silently. Whitehall didn't seem to be wasting any time preparing to send Raina down into the temple with the Obelisk, or the Diviner as Cal called it. As it called itself when it whispered into her mind. If they didn't stop Raina soon, who knew what horrors might be unleashed?
Skye was not terribly surprised when the sounds of gunfire spurred Ward into action. He managed to get himself free, take out their guard and then came over to release her. "I'm sorry your little family reunion didn't go as planned," he commented as he cut her free of her bonds. "Least I can do is get you out of here. Sit down while I check the door."
Skye ignored his directive, following quickly. She saw a gun on the fallen soldier and scooped it up. While Ward's back was to her, checking the hallway, she quickly aimed and fired four shots into his side, remembering Brock's words. Always save some bullets for other enemies. As Ward slumped back against the wall, she walked past. "Never turn your back on the enemy. You taught me that," she snapped at him as she strode past.
Brock was going to be amused when she got the chance to tell him about this specific moment. She couldn't wait to see it. Now she just had to find him.
The first people she came across, though, were Cal and Phil. Phil was on the ground, Cal punching him in the head repeatedly. "Stop it!" she screamed at him. She aimed at Cal, her heart pounding in her throat, "Stop it or I'll shoot! Dad!" Cal wasn't her father; not in any of the ways that counted. But the word got his attention, and he did stop to look up at her.
Even so, she didn't think she could shoot him. He'd lost so much, between losing his soulmate and his daughter. It was hard to hold a grudge when she knew Brock would go just as ballistic should she get killed. But she couldn't let him kill Coulson, either. So she bluffed, and managed to get him to move away.
"After you change," Cal told her, "no one will understand. They'll be afraid. Change is terrifying. But I'm your father, and I love you. I will always love you, Daisy."
"You're wrong," Skye insisted quietly. "You are so wrong. My soulmate loves me. Nothing will ever change that. Not even if something happens to change me. I will always have him."
Cal hung his head, unable to argue with her claim; that was how soulmates were meant to be. But there was still a chance… if she lost her soulmate, she'd still come to him. So for the moment, he walked away.
"Phil!" the moment he was out of sight, Skye put the gun down. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't kill him."
"It's all right," Phil managed to groan.
"I'm gonna make it right," she said, a wave of determination coming over her. "I'm gonna find the Obelisk."
"No," Phil choked out. But she refused to listen.
"I'm gonna stop the drill. I'm gonna make it right." She lowered him gently, getting to her feet.
Ignoring his frantic cry of; "No, Skye, don't go down there!" she began to run.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
"All done?" Jemma inquired as Trip gave Brock a hand out of the hole.
"Ten minutes to spare," Brock checked his watch, once he'd dragged the hazmat suit off. Damn, but that thing was hot.
"I'd be more excited if Mack wasn't still down there," Fitz muttered.
Brock just shook his head. He'd seen no sign of the big mechanic and neither had Trip. His phone rang just at that moment, and he fished it out. May. He was hoping for good news. All he could feel right now from Skye was determination.
Being down in the city had seemed to scramble a lot of the signals across their bond; he hadn't been able to make sense of what she was feeling when he was down there, but strangely enough it still felt oddly cloudy now he was out.
"Raina escaped into the tunnels with the Obelisk," May told him once he flicked the phone onto speaker.
"I wouldn't lose any sleep over her," Trip almost chuckled. "The place is gonna blow in less than…"
"Skye and Coulson went in after her," May interrupted.
Brock didn't even hesitate. Just threw the phone at Trip, grabbed for the cable and leapt back into the hole.
"Damn," Trip said, tossed the phone to Jemma and followed him, ignoring the panicked shrieks of Jemma and Fitz.
"We gotta disarm the bombs!" Trip shouted after Brock as he slid down the cable. "It'll do us no good if you find Skye and we all die down here!"
"Fuck!" Brock cursed. He'd just hit bottom, stopped to wait for Trip. Shoved the paper map at him, stabbing his finger at it. "Skye's that way, somewhere. I can feel her. I'll disarm these two on the way to her. Can you get these ones, and then look for Coulson?"
"Yeah. Be careful, man!" Trip yelled after him as he began to run.
Brock raced down the tunnel, headed for the first of the bombs. He jumped over debris, swiftly retracing earlier steps as they planted the damned bombs. Of course, Skye probably had no idea that they were planning to blow the city to bits or she wouldn't have come down here. Damn it all!
He reached the first bomb in just a few minutes. He barely paused long enough to pull out the timer and toss it aside before taking off towards the next one. He felt Skye's presence growing closer as he ran and he looked down some of the side passages, hoping for a clue as to how to get to her after the second bomb was disarmed.
He had a few minutes to spare when he retrieved the second timer, and he spared a moment to wish Trip luck - his were further away. Moving more carefully now, though still at a swift pace, he tried to follow the bond to Skye. He took a couple of wrong turns, cursing softly under his breath as he backtracked and found a better path.
From up ahead, he thought he saw a glimpse of light and heard the sound of rock grating against rock. He also felt Skye and knew she was close. Something was happening, and he had to get to her. He poured on the speed and slipped between two large, moving stones just in time before the gap closed. Skye and Raina both stood there, Skye with a gun and Raina staring at the Obelisk intently.
"Brock?" Skye whirled to stare at him, lowering her gun. "What are you doing here, you can't be here!" She'd been so focussed on getting to Raina, stopping whatever awful thing was about to happen, that she hadn't felt him coming closer. And now he was trapped in here with them.
"I came to get you," Brock drew his own gun, put himself between Skye and Raina.
There was a cracking noise, drawing all of their gazes to the Obelisk, sitting on a pillar in the precise centre of the temple. It began to split open, revealing softly glowing blue crystals.
"How do we stop it?" Brock demanded grimly.
Raina only smiled.
"I don't think we can," Skye said softly.
The three of them stood staring at the blue crystals in silence for a long, fraught moment.
"What's supposed to happen?" Brock asked, looking at Raina. He still had his gun trained on her. But she, at least, seemed to know something about this damned alien thing.
"Something beautiful," Raina gushed, and he rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, there was an explosion of some kind of white mist out of the crystals. Skye started back a step with a small cry, but nothing seemed to happen. Brock looked back at Raina, who had a wide smile on her face.
And then the smile disappeared and she looked down at her hands, at the black stony substance beginning to form over them.
"What the fuck," Brock gaped.
"Brock!" Skye screamed behind him, and he tried to whirl to look at her, only to find that his feet were stuck to the floor, the black stone inexorably growing over his legs.
"Skye!" he twisted at the waist to see the stuff already creeping over her face, even as she screamed his name again.
He didn't have to think about it. Just pulled the trigger, firing at the blue crystals, even as the stone rose up his body. As it crept over his stomach, the unimaginable happened.
The bond between him and Skye shattered.
DA DA DA DUNNNNNNN.
Brock has taken Trip's place. And we all know what happened to Trip, don't we?
Dearie me. This is NOT GOOD.
