FitzSimmons had begun working on both samples from the livestock and readings from the dissipated portal. I, meanwhile, was letting myself spiral into a pity trip. I knew it was a stupid thing to do. I'd had no idea what that stupid box could do when I bought it. But did the seller? That question had never really made it into my mind. All this time, I had focused on what happened once I received the box but never did I wonder about its origins. And thanks to being in a TV dimension, I had no way to access my purchase for any clues.

The hot sun was beating down as I sat near a fountain, trying to think. If the rift was still open, it meant that more dimensions could leak through. The only thing I could think was that we had to find the rift and mend it. But how?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Coulson sat beside me.

"Yeah, these thoughts aren't really good." I leaned back on my hands. "Think of the portal rift as an open door. So, while it's unlocked, anyone can walk in and out if they stumble upon it. The only way to make sure that nothing else can come through is to lock it with a key."

"The portal box," he concluded.

"Yes. Now here's the fun part. If we follow this line of thinking, that means someone has to turn the key and make sure the deadbolt is in place." I closed my eyes. "Since it was unlocked from the other side, the lock should be secured on that side."

"That's a one way ticket."

I opened my eyes and nodded. "Yeah."

He pushed his sunglasses up some. "It may not have to be that way."

"I know. But we can't throw out that it's a good idea."

()

"Solution 57 is highly unstable," Simmons began. "In Holtz's documentations, the subjects started out with super human strength that seemed controllable. But they're mental capacity began to revert to more primal functions."

"The three 'F's," I murmured.

She shifted uncomfortably. "To be blunt, yes. They also started exhibiting pack like behavior, defining an alpha male and hunting."

"So if there really is someone from that dimension here, that's not good," Ward piped up.

"We don't have any way to know. If the solution just triggered strange things in people from our dimension, then Solution 57's original hosts could be immune to such effects."

"Can we track them?" Coulson asked.

Fitz nodded. "Yes. We've entered the portal signature into the scanners."

"Then let's move."

()

I sat shotgun beside May in the short bus, Ward and Coulson in the back, rechecking weapons. There were two energy signals matching Solution 57 and we were headed to the first. My knees wouldn't stop bouncing. We had no idea what we were going to find. Would they be normal? Would they be pack-like cannibals? Would they possess super strength?

May pulled over. "Twenty feet."

Twenty feet were desert caves. Dark, cramped, and trap-like. I shivered. "This isn't good."

May nodded. "Only one way in, one way out. And these caverns can have branch offs. We could get cornered."

I sighed. "Looks like I'm up." I opened the door.

Ward jumped out with me. "Whoa, what?"

"Super speed. I'll dash in, make an assessment and dash out." I shrugged, like it was so logical.

Coulson stepped out. "She has a point. It's harder to corner something moving that fast."

May handed me a gun. "Just in case."

I took a deep breath. "Back in a flash," I joked, kicking in my super muscles and dashing in. Time slowed around me, allowing me to see everything coming. The cave wasn't a trap. It was a make-shift home, lined with a few blankets and three people, sleeping. Two men and one woman. They looked normal enough. A little rough around the edges but they were dressed in local attire and looked like they may have recently had a bath. I couldn't see any threat. They just looked homeless.

I dashed back out, stopping short in front of Coulson before I bowled him over. "Sorry. Stopping power didn't kick in." I grinned. "But hey, got the info. Three people who look local. No signs of aggressive or pack behavior. They were sleeping. They just had blankets around in there. They may be Solution 57 dimension people. Safe."

Coulson looked to the cave, his sunglasses hiding his eyes from any read. "Let's just post here for now, then. No need to startle them. They could be just scared from the jump."

May nodded. "I'll stay."

()

Simmons pulled me aside once we came back. "You're sunburned," she observed. I hadn't even realized it. The spaghetti strapped top and shorts I'd worn in the heat hadn't protected my skin. "I have something for it."

I followed her into the lab as she pulled out a tube of ointment. "Thanks," I grinned.

She smiled. "I have something else, too." She turned and grabbed a syringe. "A little something for you and Agent Ward."

I tilted my head. "Let me guess, depo?"

She nodded. "However, I tested it on your blood first. With your regeneration, you'll burn through this in a month, rather than three. So we have to keep up with it."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

()

I read the instructions on the burn cream as I walked, subtly realizing that I knew this plane by heart now and didn't really need to look where I was going. It was like walking around my home. It was my home.

Skye gave a low whistle when I came in. "Wow… lobster," she motioned to my color.

I nodded. "Can you help me apply some ointment?" I handed her the bottle and had a seat on a bar stool.

She popped the top, starting with my exposed back and shoulders. "Wow, you really burnt."

"I didn't pay attention earlier. I was out sitting in the sun a while then I had the mission." I shrugged then winced. "Maybe my increased healing will help this, too."

She rubbed gently, making every attempt not to hurt the tender skin. "Probably."

Ward rounded the corner, a book in hand and stopped, staring for a moment. He was completely frozen, watching Skye rub my red skin. "Huh," escaped his lips.

I chuckled. "Grant? You okay there?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He was still staring.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Sita, why don't you take your top off so I can touch more of your skin," she whispered in a husky porn voice, making fun of our onlooker.

I tried to get into the same voice. "Only if you turn down the lights and put on some smooth jazz."

Ward broke his stare to roll his eyes. "You two are incorrigible." He resumed his walk to the couch to read his book.

()

My burn had healed in a few hours. This new regeneration power was really starting to come in handy. I tried to take a short nap. We would be meeting up with May after sunset. But sleep wouldn't find me. I tossed in my bunk, trying to relax. I just couldn't stop thinking of all the "what if's" in our upcoming scenario.

The bed sagged as Ward lay next to me, putting his arm around me. "You're tossing and turning."

I hugged his arm. "Can't rest."

He kissed my shoulder. "Wanna talk?"

I sighed. "I'm afraid."

He squeezed me tighter. "Of what?"

"I was talking to Coulson about the rift. And I'm wondering if I have to close it… by leaving back to my dimension." I was getting choked up.

He swallowed. "There has to be another way."

"Possibly. We're looking into it. Since we're able to track the tears and portal jumps for now, it may not be that bad but, if it gets worse, I'll have to do what I have to do."

He turned me to face him, kissing my tears that I didn't even know I had shed. "No matter what has to be done. I will always love you." He kissed my lips, caressing my hip through the fabric of my sleep shirt. He would love me. And for the mission, he would let me go. He knew that sacrifices would have to be made.

I wrapped my arms around him, trying to get him so close to me that we could never be apart. I pulled his shirt over his head, touching the slightly scarred skin of battle wounds. He sighed contently, nuzzling at the crook of my neck. I ran my fingers through his hair, closing my eyes and just allowing myself to be with him fully in that moment. All the love in the world wouldn't change what our mission was: to save the world from things not of this world. Ward pushed up my nightshirt, urging me for skin to skin contact, nothing between us. I obliged, tossing the shirt aside and kissing him, whispering softly: "I love you."

He locked eyes with me. "Then let me love you back."

()

By dusk, I was showered and dressed, feeling more complete after an… eventful afternoon. Ward couldn't stop grinning. I elbowed him as we headed to the cargo ramp. "Knock it off. Coulson's going to yell at us."

He shrugged. "Well, it got you to relax."

My face warmed. "Shut. Up." As the ramp opened, Ward and I climbed into the SUV. Coulson emerged and slipped into Lola. I was a little jealous. "If I break up with you now, I get to ride in Lola, right?" I teased Ward.

"No woman will ever come between Coulson and Lola," he informed me as we rolled out.

I sighed. "Thus, the story of my life." I grew more serious as we got closer to the cave. May was still there, under a pop up shelter she'd been left with to keep her from sun stroke. She stood when we approached, her look unreadable as always.

I hopped out, waving. "No news?"

She nodded. "They've slept all day." She turned as Coulson landed nearby. "I'm expecting they'll wake soon since it's cooled down.

I nodded. "I would."

Ward eyed the cave, hands on his hips. "So do we even know what language to expect?"

Coulson stepped up. "That's why you're here."

May moved to the right, walking slowly. "There's movement."

I tensed, my hand going to the gun at my hip. But the woman that stumbled out looked very unthreatening, blinking at the dimming light of sunset.

"مرحبا. هل تحتاج إلى مساعدة؟," Ward spoke in the native tongue of the land.

The woman looked up to him. "What?" English. Good.

Ward took another step forward. "Do you need assistance?"

The woman swallowed. "Who are you?"

Movement from the cave stopped an answer as the two men appeared, also blinking, waking. They stopped when they saw us. "What's going on?"

Coulson stepped forward, showing his ID. "I'm Agent Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. We were alerted to a signal coming from this location and came to offer any assistance needed."

One of the men spoke up. "What signal?"

"It was a form of energy signal."

The man sat in the sand. "You found the portal?" He sounded hopeful.

I stepped up. "How did you get here?"

The man looked up at me. "We were just walking through the neighborhood."

The woman nodded. "There was a flash. We ended up here. We've been just trying to survive."

I looked to Coulson and he could see my heart breaking in my eyes. These people had been ripped from their reality. "We'll help you."

()

"It still doesn't explain the animal attacks," Ward complained as we met up in the war room later that evening.

Coulson nodded. "Agreed. So another SHIELD team is going to retrieve the portal jumpers while we take a closer look here." He pulled up images we had taken earlier. "If the people from the portal didn't do this, we may able to assume one of two things. One, something else came through or two, we have a completely separate thing going on."

I opened my mouth to speak as the entire plane began to shake.