Grant and Skye stood at the bottom of the rope, waiting impatiently for Trip and Mac to get to the surface and send the rope back down for them. They'd met up with the two men on their way to the opening where they'd gone down into the tunnels. When they first glimpsed the other two agents, Skye took one look at them and launched herself at Trip, hugging him fiercely.

"Whoa there, girl. Don't take off my neck." Trip smiled, winking at Grant over Skye's shoulder. "Guess you found her," he said easily.

"I did. Thanks." Grant had always envied Trip's casual manner even in the face of grave danger. Not only did it lead to people underestimating him – a valuable asset in the field – but he seemed so relaxed and happy most of the time. Grant wished he could do that too but he was just too serious and stiff. I need to work on that. His eyes turned to Mac who, although silent, appeared to be fine. "You two seem to be OK."

Skye backed away from Trip only to grab Mac and pull him down for one of her firm hugs. Grant smiled to himself. Leave it to Skye to make everyone feel loved. He wished he could be as generous with his affection as she was but he had a long history of needing to be cautious to overcome. Besides, that would be weird with guys.

Trip came over to stand by Grant, smacking him lightly on the arm, as close to a hug as the two Specialists were going to get. "We're fine. You have no idea how relieved I am to see you guys," Trip murmured. He clearly didn't want to upset Skye. "With the walls closing, that energy surge and the earthquakes, I wasn't sure I'd ever see you two again."

"I know the feeling."

Trip nodded, glancing at Skye and Mac who'd finished their hug. Grant could also see the wheels turning as Trip observed their fatigue and withdrawn manner. "We should get going," Trip said to the group. "Coulson's probably having a cow wondering where we are."

It wasn't far from the truth. Grant could hear Coulson and May arguing as the group turned the last corner before the opening.

"Phil, you can't go down there. We don't know how stable those tunnels are."

"We can't just leave them, Melinda. The tunnels have been playing havoc with our communications, so we have no idea what's happening. What if they're injured and need our help?"

"They're Specialists. They'll find a way back. You stay here." Grant raised his eyebrows at hearing May boss Coulson around. "I'm going to go get our infra-red scanners from the Bus. Maybe if we get closer to the source, there won't be as much interference and we can determine their location."

May barely had time to leave the room because just as soon as Trip yelled up to him and tugged on the rope, Coulson was yelling to her. "May! They're OK!" He scanned the tunnel with his flashlight and saw all four agents looking back at him. "Everyone's OK!"

Coulson and May made short work of getting everyone back to the surface. "Where's Raina?" May demanded as soon as they were all back on solid ground. "We saw her go down with the obelisk." She leaned over to glance down into the tunnel. "Is she still down there?"

"She didn't come back up before us?" Skye questioned, looking around as though expecting Raina to leap out from a corner.

"No," May replied. "Pretty sure I would've remembered that."

"She'll get out on her own," Grant said dismissively, stopping himself from rolling his eyes. Raina always did a fine job of looking out for herself and this time would be no different. He had other things to worry about. "Is everyone else all right?"

"Everybody else is fine," Coulson told them. "We've been worried about the four of you, especially once the earthquakes started. This place is clearly unstable. We need to get back to the Bus as soon as possible." He glanced at Mac. "Good to have you back."

"Glad to be back," Mac said quietly. It seemed like he wanted to say more but then just looked down and kept his silence.

Grant looked at him, puzzled. As someone intimately familiar with the feeling, he could tell that Mac felt guilty. For what though, he had no idea. Clearly he'd missed a lot while undercover, so he looked forward to catching up. Grant was both dreading and anticipating the briefing that was sure to come once they got back on the Bus. Although he was eager to know what had happened since he'd been gone (and officially clear his name from his most recent double assignment), he wasn't thrilled to tell SHIELD about their transformation. He needed more time to think about what had happened to them and what it all meant.

The six Agents left the boiler room quickly and headed outside. Grant fell back a little to walk with Skye who was quiet and withdrawn. He took her hand and squeezed it, expecting her to make eye contact. She didn't. "Hey," he said in a low voice, pausing until she finally glanced at him, "we're going to figure this out." Skye nodded but didn't respond. Grant sighed. This was going to be difficult.

No one talked much on the way back to the Bus. Everyone seemed tired, freaked out or both. Grant used the time to think, his tactician's brain whirring at top speed. I have to find a way to talk with Skye before we debrief. We need to be on the same page. He didn't know how he was going to do that though. To ask for time alone with her would seem somewhat suspicious. He went over various scenarios in his head, rejecting each one as too shady or ridiculous.

As it turned out, he didn't need to use any of them. Quite unwittingly, Jemma saved him. Once the Bus was in the air and headed back to the Playground, she and Coulson had a long talk about pathogens and contamination. It was decided that everyone who'd been affected by their time in the tunnels – Mac, Skye and Grant – needed to be in isolation until Jemma determined them to be safe.

"We don't know what we're dealing with here," Coulson explained to Grant and Skye as he quarantined them in Skye's old bedroom. Mac was being quarantined in the room once assigned to Fitz. "So until Jemma can run some tests and clear you for duty, we need to take precautions."

Grant nodded seriously, twisting his expression into one of irritation when what he really wanted to do was sigh in relief. They'd have a chance to talk. Skye hadn't spoken at all since her question about Raina, something Grant knew Coulson noticed because he kept glancing at her. "Call if you need anything," he told them as he shut the door.

Skye immediately sat down on the edge her old bed (the room was so small that there was literally no other place to sit). Grant sat down next to her, determined to get her talking. He gently took her hand and turned to start the conversation when Skye suddenly burst into tears and leaned into him, sobbing onto his shoulder. Grant was surprised. He hadn't expected this but, recovering quickly, dropped her hand so he could put his arm around her shoulder.

"Shh…" he whispered as he held her protectively against his body. This is a bad idea. She has to keep calm. "Just listen to the sound of my heart." Skye nodded. Grant felt some turbulence but overall she seemed to be holding it together. He let her cry for a few minutes, then started smoothing her hair. "Babe, I know it was rough going for a while but we're going to be fine. You know that, right?" He wanted desperately to tell her that he'd never let anything happen to her but both of them knew that wasn't true. Some things were beyond their control.

Skye raised her tear-stained face. "How can you be so sure, Grant? We don't even know what we are anymore or what we can do. Nothing's ever going to be the same again." Her voice broke, then she sniffed, clearly trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to erupt. When he saw her swallow and then take a deep, calming breath, he couldn't be prouder. That's my rookie. She closed her eyes. "I really don't want to see the look on everyone's face when we tell them that I'm the one causing the earthquakes."

"I don't know. I'd kind of like to see the look on Hunter's face." He grinned at Skye but she didn't take the bait.

She shook her head. "No. Don't do that. Please don't joke. I don't think I can stand it."

Grant's smile slid off his face and he ducked his head so that he could look her in the eyes. "OK. I won't." She gave him a watery half-smile and Grant leaned his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes, remembering that terrible moment when he'd thought he'd lost her forever. Then he reined his emotions back in (Now's not the time, Ward) and leaned back so they were once again face to face. They'd both had their moments of grief but they needed to start pulling it together so they could figure out a plan. Time for us to start thinking like agents. "Skye, I know you think what happened to us is horrible but it happened and we're going to deal with it. We don't yet know all we need to know, so it's possible that these powers will be great…" he smiled slightly at her disbelieving expression, "…in time. But whatever they are, we need to start thinking about the positives. For one thing, nobody died."

"You're right. That would've made everything so much worse."

"Plus our powers could prove to be assets." Skye looked skeptical but she nodded. "And I've been thinking about what we should tell Coulson. I don't think we should tell him about our powers." Grant held his breath, hoping that his bald pronouncement wouldn't upset her enough to cause tremors.

"What?" Sure enough, turbulence started.

"Not yet anyway," Grant amended, waiting until Skye turned to face him fully before continuing. He took a deep breath, hoping that she'd get the hint. She did, the turbulence almost immediately decreasing. "You were right when you said that we don't know what we can do or how our gifts work. We need to figure that out, do some experimenting." Skye opened her mouth to say something but Grant put his finger against her lips, lowering his voice even further so she had to strain to hear it. "You know how SHIELD feels about gifteds. Remember how they treated Scorch?" Skye bit her lip, nodding. "They'd do the same to us. We'd be put on the Index and given handlers. They'd never allow us to use our powers or live independently. Hell, I doubt they'd even let us continue to be together. I mean, one gifted is scary enough but two?" He shook his head. "There's no way."

Skye looked at him, her eyes wide, tears no longer in evidence. "What are we going to do? I can't just lie to Coulson or May."

Grant took both her hands in his. "You're going to have to." Skye again opened her mouth to interrupt, so he rushed to finish. "I know it's going to be difficult but we need to know what we're dealing with before we let them in. As far as they're concerned, all that happened in that room was the obelisk exploded and caused some earthquakes."

Skye yanked her hands out of his and turned her face away from him. Grant didn't know what to do. He hadn't even considered the idea that Skye might disagree with him. Suddenly, she tugged on his arm, scooting both of them back further on the bed so that they were fully sitting on the bed, their backs against the wall. She halfway turned and placed her head against his chest, resting her ear next to his heart. Grant put his arm around her, hugging her close. "This is never going to work," she murmured. "The minute they run tests on us, they're going to know we're different."

"We don't know that. But you're probably right." He sighed heavily. "I'll think of something. All we can do for now is take it one step at a time."

"How can you be so calm?" she demanded, lifting her head up to look into his eyes. "This is literally a life-changing event and you're acting like we're learning a new skill."

Grant smiled. "In a way, it is a new skill." Skye snorted. "I know you're still new to this but this is exactly what Specialists are trained to do. We adapt to changing circumstances. And I've been adapting my entire life. You assess the situation, determine your options, and move forward with whatever's going to help you survive. In this instance, it means keeping certain information to ourselves until we're sure it's safe to share."

She snuggled back onto his chest. "I get it. Troubleshooting."

He chuckled. "That's certainly one way to put it." Then his tactician's brain started working the problem, creating and discarding every scenario he could conceive of until he found one he thought could work.

Fortune kept favoring him though as Coulson didn't seem to be in any hurry to debrief them, so Grant's problem-solving skills weren't yet put to the test. Once the Bus touched down, he and Skye were ushered into a small room enclosed mostly in glass although there was one small area designated for privacy. Mac apparently had a different one down the hall.

"I know how much you two like to be together," Coulson explained with a hint of a smile as he showed them their new temporary quarters, "so I decided not to separate you." He paused. "Besides, there are only two contamination rooms."

Both Grant and Skye laughed at the brief moment of levity in what had been an extremely long and traumatic day. After eating, showering and changing clothes, Skye immediately fell asleep. Grant, however, was way too tired to even consider it. He sat on the floor with his back against the wall watching her sleep on the bed. He'd been keeping his emotions under rigid control, wanting to be there for her. But now that she was resting, he was free to attend to himself. He closed his eyes, going back over everything that had happened since the moment the walls closed, shutting them in.

Flashback

Every Specialist is taught not to fear death. It's an occupational hazard, something that isn't unusual. It even borders on normal. They see death regularly, frequently cause it themselves and know that any day could be their last. Although every Specialist has enough arrogance to do the job, they're also painfully aware that they could do everything right and death could come for them anyway. All Specialists learn this lesson. However, what can never be taught is how it feels when you believe that you're on the verge of death. Time loses its constancy and reality is turned on its head.

From the second the heavy walls sealed Grant, Skye and Raina into the circular room, time sped up, each event occurring at lightning speed. In what felt like an instant to Grant, the obelisk disclosed the inner crystals, the wave of energy erupted and the hard smoky substance covered Raina. Then everything slowed down, each movement happening slowly as though covered in molasses. Grant turned his head to look at Skye at half speed, intending to remark upon Raina's predicament, only to glimpse the unknown element snaking its way up Skye's body. It felt as if the universe was laughing at him, letting him get just a peek at what happiness looked like. Time fast-forwarded – he barely heard her last plea to him – and Skye was gone.

Time stopped. Grant froze in place, not knowing what he was supposed to do. Can Skye be saved? Why did Cal encourage her to do this if it meant her death? He heard the sound of his heartbeat in his ears and felt the utter silence around him. It was the stillness which ignited his grief. This wasn't supposed to happen! This is not how it was supposed to end! I can't live without Skye! He once again felt the numbness he last encountered when John was killed. The realization of when he'd last experienced shock shook him out of his daze and propelled him toward the crystals, determined to do something – anything! – that would bring Skye back.

And then the crystals exploded. Grant felt his body flying through the air – through molasses again – landing with a thud against one of the heavy walls. He laid on the ground, breathing hard, everything around him in sharp relief. He saw every detail, every crevice, in the statues of Raina and Skye. He could hear two men talking in the tunnels. He could feel the warmth emanating from the explosion and the vibrations in the air. He leaned up on his forearms, determined to get a better look. What's happening to me? What's going to happen next? As if in answer, Grant felt a pressure slowly, ever so slowly, creeping up his legs. He looked down, saw the grayish black element starting to coat his limbs and laughed. I had to ask.

He always had to ask, even when he was younger and curiosity was going to bring pain. He just had to know. His questioning nature led him to his greatest achievements and it helped him survive. He wouldn't have made it five years in the Wyoming wilderness had he not asked what would happen if he tried different things. It's also what made him an exceptional Specialist. He always had questions that needed to be answered before he felt prepared. Are there any more exits, what if the patrol comes early, should I keep gloves on when touching the item? Grant asked them all. Grant's questioning nature even led to his betrayal of John and Hydra because he started asking what would happen if Hydra won and did he want that. So even now, when facing his greatest grief and personal tragedy, he had to know. Until he didn't. Once the gray matter started engulfing him, he stopped questioning and just let it happen.

Instead of struggling with the element, Grant relaxed against the wall. He knew it was useless to fight against whatever it was and wanted to use his remaining time well. He thought about those who'd loved him – Grams, Elizabeth and Thomas, Buddy, Kara, his Bus colleagues, and Skye, beautiful, funny, smart Skye – and decided that, all in all, it'd been a good life. Sure, he'd experienced a lot of hardship, far more than his fair share, but he'd also been loved, had fun and made a difference in the world. And he'd been in a relationship with Skye, not for as long as he should've, but long enough to know true joy. If they both had to go, then Grant was glad he could share this with her. At least we'll both go out the same way. He felt utterly at peace as he quit watching the substance and turned his head to look at Skye. He wanted his last sight to be of her. There was a small smile on his face as the element covered his mouth and nose. His last thought was one of surprise and gratitude that it didn't hurt. Then…nothing.

Suddenly, Grant found himself awake again. What's happening? Am I alive? Is this death? He heard the sounds of small pieces of solid rock crumbling on the floor and felt a few shards of his own statue prison disintegrate when he experimentally pushed against his shell. He laughed a little to himself. If I fight my way out of this, will I emerge as a butterfly? Then everything exploded. Every single bit of his shell fell off of him and he was free.

Grant remained still, trying hard to get his bearings. Another one of John's valuable teachings: If you wake up and you don't know where you are, take a moment to ground yourself and figure out what's going on. Acting too quickly on minimal information can be a death sentence. As good advice as that was, the current situation wasn't making it easy. Grant realized that he was still in the underground chamber but between now and the time he'd been cocooned, the environment drastically changed. The ground was trembling and debris was falling everywhere, crushing all the flowers growing in the dirt. That's weird. Looking around wildly, he saw Raina and Skye standing in the same positions they'd been when they'd been engulfed, their shells nowhere in sight. Both women looked exactly the same except for their expressions. They were freaking out.

"Oh my god!" Skye yelled as she weaved her way unsteadily towards him, tears of relief in her eyes. "Are you OK?"

Grant nodded, tentatively pushing up onto his arms, somehow expecting his body to hurt or be weaker, to have some evidence of his imprisonment. But there was nothing different that he could tell. The only thing that seemed off was how much warmer he was. He stood up, grabbing Skye's outstretched hand, and started pulling her towards an opening in the wall. "We have to get out of here!" he yelled over the sounds of chaos.

She nodded, looking around at Raina. The other woman seemed disappointed, her expression more sad than afraid, but she too was making her way toward their exit point. The three of them made it into the hallway outside their chamber. Oddly, the quaking appeared to lessen although the ground still wasn't stable. Raina leaned back against wall, catching her breath. Grant took the opportunity to run a practiced eye over Skye to see if she was truly unharmed. Satisfying himself that she was fine, he ran his hands gently over her hair and face and kissed her deeply.

"I thought I'd lost you back there," he murmured when they came up for air, touching his forehead to Skye's.

She smiled slightly, almost sadly. "For a moment there, you did," she whispered back.

"No he didn't," Raina said to Skye. "You weren't dead. None of us were."

Grant felt an unpleasant jolt of awareness; he'd almost forgotten she was there. He transferred his gaze to Raina. Skye probably knew more than he did – hopefully Cal had imparted some knowledge about this – but Grant was puzzled. None of this makes sense. "Why aren't we dead? Why didn't we die like everyone else who touched that stuff?" He looked over at Skye, expecting her to answer but she looked just as confused as he felt. He noted that the quaking had completely stopped.

"Don't you two know anything?" Raina asked disgustedly, pushing off from the wall and meeting them in the middle of the massive hallway. "'That stuff' as you call it is a Chrysalis. Only the Chosen emerge unharmed." She must have registered their confusion because she sighed heavily. "We were transforming. That's why we didn't die. We're special." She looked Grant up and down, with a clear sense of appreciation and a hint of her old mocking smile. Skye bristled but Raina didn't even glance her way. "I knew that both Skye and I were extraordinary but you Agent Ward, you are a surprise."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Yeah, I get that a lot," he muttered almost under his breath.

Raina started to head off down the hall but Skye grabbed her arm, yanking her back around to face them. "Wait. I still don't understand. What happened to us? How are we special?"

"That's what I'd like to know too," Raina said angrily, shaking off Skye's hold on her arm. "My grandmother… You clearly have a gift," she said accusingly to Skye, "but I don't feel any different. After all the time I spent working for this moment, I didn't get the answers I was searching for." She started to pace a little, seemingly unaware of the flowers appearing at her feet. "I was supposed to become something divine, something transcendent. My grandmother said I'd be an angel." She stopped pacing and glared at Skye. "Maybe it's because you were there. Maybe you received the gift meant for me."

Skye practically snorted. "What gift, Raina? What gift do I have? The gift of always being in the wrong place at the wrong time? The gift of almost getting the people I love killed?"

Raina chuckled mirthlessly, shaking her head. "You truly are slow." She glanced over at Grant. "I really don't know what you see in her." She crossed her arms and returned her attention to Skye. "The explosion. The shaking. All the raw power we could feel in the air. Does any of that ring a bell?"

"Yeah, it does," Skye replied in an irritated tone. She was starting to lose her temper and Grant felt the slightest tremors underneath his feet. Oh shit. "We're underground, Raina," Skye continued, completely unaware of the increased shaking of the ground, "in a place that's so unstable that we should be leaving as fast as we can instead of standing here talking to a crazy woman! I have no gift and you're just as insane as you always were." She grabbed Grant's hand and tried to walk off down the hall but he refused to budge. She turned and looked questioningly at him. "Grant? We need to go before this whole place comes down around us!"

"Skye, wait a minute." He could feel the tremors increase in power and frequency. He turned Skye a little to the side so his body was blocking her view of Raina, giving them at least the illusion of privacy. "Do you trust me?" he asked quietly.

"You know I do but we don't have time…"

"Skye," Grant looked directly into her eyes, trying his best to ignore the shaking around him. "Please. Trust me on this." When he saw Skye nod reluctantly, he continued, "Just close your eyes and take five circular breaths. Concentrate only on your breathing."

Skye gave him a look that let him know she thought he was crazy but did as he asked. She closed her eyes and he saw the intake of her first breath. Grant glanced around, noting that the shaking was starting to subside. Raina was still standing behind him, apparently interested in seeing what he was doing. Either that or she has nowhere else to go.

By the time Skye reached her fifth breath, all shaking and trembling had ceased. She opened her eyes, a bewildered expression crossing her face. "Grant, what's going on? Am I the one who's doing this?" she whispered.

Grant felt a mild tremor. He took Skye's left hand with his own while he used his right hand to cup her face. "I think what Raina was trying to tell you is that your gift is the power to make things shake. I'm sure it's more complicated than that but we'll figure that out later. Right now, you need to remain calm. Your gift seems to be tied to your emotions, so you need to call to mind your training," he gave her his best no-nonsense SO look, "and don't get upset."

She nodded and looked down. Grant could see her continuing her deep breaths. He whirled around to face Raina. "I wouldn't be so sure that you didn't get a gift too." He stopped when he saw the puzzlement on her face and laughed. He couldn't help it. "I'm sorry," he said when she glared at him, "but it's just so ironic. The whole time I've known you, you've been obsessed with flowered dresses. That's why John nicknamed you Flowers. But now, when there are flowers literally at your feet, you don't even notice them."

Raina looked down, her eyes widening as she saw a row of flowers where she'd been walking, many of them trampled from her steps. "You think I'm doing this?" she whispered.

"Well, they sure weren't here before. What's your explanation? You're the one who's supposed to know so much more than we do," Grant answered sarcastically. Raina was working his last nerve and there was only so much he could take.

Raina reached a hand out toward the flowers on the ground and some of them that were lying crushed suddenly straightened, looking just as fresh as they had before she'd stepped on them. "Flowers," Raina said flatly. She looked accusingly at Skye and started advancing slowly towards her, flowers popping up in her wake. "I'm the one who's spent her whole life researching this, doing whatever I could to get to this moment. I'm the one who endured working with absolute idiots in order to receive my reward." She snorted. "Now that I'm finally here, I get flowers while you – a woman who knows absolutely nothing and never even wanted this – get the kind of power I can only dream of! How is that fair?"

She stopped in front of Skye. Grant tensed, not knowing what was about to happen, but glad that Skye hadn't moved or flinched in the face of Raina's approach. That's my rookie!

Skye looked calmly at Raina. "You're right, Raina. I never wanted this. But if we're going to talk about what's fair," her voice started rising, "how fair is it that you've killed people in search of your reward? Did they deserve that? Is it fair that they died just so you could play god? If me having this gift of…whatever it is…is the cost of keeping you from having the kind of power you always wanted, then I'm glad I was given it."

Raina looked like she'd been slapped then her expression darkened and she turned away, striding off down the hall. Grant had just had enough time to relax his shoulders and let his eyes meet Skye's when Raina suddenly whirled. Her hand shot out and several of the flowers in the ground started growing quickly, their stems lengthening and wrapping around Skye. The ground started shaking in earnest as the vines tightened around her neck.

No way in hell! Grant could feel himself burning with rage as Skye struggled to breathe. He tried desperately to break off the vines or at least loosen their hold. The vines tightened even further, impervious to the efforts of both Skye and Grant to get them off. This isn't working! He looked down the hall at Raina whose smug expression infuriated him further. Skye's face was turning blue and her breaths sounded further apart. Raina was too far ahead for him to reach her in time to save Skye.

Grant's head felt like it was going to explode, his vision clouded with red. Although he'd always been a passionate person, other than the one time when he'd set his parent's house on fire, he'd never let his temper loose. This felt different. This felt like an inferno of emotion that was way out of control. A wave of heat rolled over his body, blocking out everything except Raina. Then, almost as if his temper had tired itself out, everything swung back to normal.

Skye was bent over to her knees, taking great heaving breaths, vines roped loosely at her feet. The ground was no longer trembling but there were scorch marks in a neat row leading up to Raina, who stood there looking shocked. The flowers she'd left in her path had burned to a crisp but she didn't seem touched by whatever fire had burned the ground even though the seared earth stopped just at her feet. Raina looked up at Grant, her eyes wide and scared, then she ran, turning a corner at great speed that she was no longer in sight.

"What the hell just happened?" Grant demanded of Skye when she looked up at him, her breathing mostly normal.

She smiled faintly. "Well, I guess now we know what your gift is." She shook her head and giggled, a bit hysterically. "Figures."

Present Day

Grant smiled. Skye was right: it did figure. He'd always been interested in fires of any kind: small, big, hot, cold, the five classes of fires, firepower. It was probably what made him such a great marksman. Fire was fascinating and Grant couldn't get enough of looking at it, studying it, even feeling it. He was mesmerized by how fire changes color depending on how hot it gets and which element is burning. He loved the sound of fire consuming whatever was in its path and adored the smell fire makes when heating leaves, food or different kinds of wood. Fire was his companion and his comfort. In the heat of his greatest anger, fire had been the weapon he'd used to get back at Christian. When he was alone in the woods, fire became his best defense against cold weather and starving. For Grant, fire meant life. So it made a lot of sense that fire would also be his gift.

He abruptly stopped smiling. As much as he loved fire, Grant also had a healthy respect for it. He knew firsthand how dangerous it could be and shuddered at the thought of being unable to control it. As far as he knew, it was pure luck that he hadn't burned Raina right along with her damned flowers. Anthokinesis. Grant said the word aloud, letting it roll around his mouth. Words were another one of his gifts and comforts which is why he could read, write and speak six languages fluently. That's what Raina's gift was: anthokinesis or flower manipulation. So her gift conformed to who she was as a person as did his. And, if he thought about it, so did Skye's.

Skye was a force of nature, someone who ran around creating chaos wherever she went. Her passion for answers and her ability to love often got her in trouble; both of her gifts served to shake things up. So it made sense for Skye's gift to be related to power. Whatever the Chysalis was, apparently it could see into the hearts of those it entombed. With that thought, Grant felt a wave of fatigue rush over him and he climbed into bed next to Skye. He closed his eyes and tried deep, even breaths but sleep still wouldn't come. There was too much to consider. Next to him, Skye moved restlessly, turning to face the glass wall. He was about to say something to her when he heard a sound outside of their room.

"I haven't been able to sleep either," Coulson said. Grant opened his eyes a fraction, just enough to see what was going on. Coulson was sitting slumped on a stool just outside their contamination room. His arms were crossed and he was dressed in the same clothes he'd been wearing in Puerto Rico. The only difference was some bandages across the cut in his forehead. Jemma had been hard at work taking care of the team.

Skye sat up and turned toward Coulson, carefully placing the sheets around Grant so as not to disturb him. "Every time I close my eyes, I see my dad, Whitehall and the tunnels," she told Coulson, her voice breaking. "And now I'm stuck in this room with no privacy and no room to move. The only good thing about it is that Grant's here with me. So thank you for that."

Coulson stood up, moving closer to the glass. "I know it's hard, Skye, but Jemma's convinced that it's necessary. It won't be for long. Once medical clears you, we'll get you and Ward out of there." He smiled although it didn't reach his eyes. "You'll just be stuck underground like the rest of us."

Skye tensed. "How is everyone doing? We worked so hard on this only to have it all come literally tumbling down around our ears."

Coulson shrugged. Grant knew he was trying to keep it casual. For that, Grant was extremely grateful because Skye was way too keyed up. She needed to sleep. "Just trying to keep busy. Everyone deals with trauma in their own way. Sometimes it makes you just want to pack up and run."

"Is that what you want to do – run?"

"Sometimes. You?"

Skye got up and started pacing the floor. "How long did it take Mack to get out of quarantine?" Interesting. She redirected him and didn't answer the question.

"He cleared pretty quickly. Whatever took over his system is gone but he's pretty shaken up." Coulson paused, his expression compassionate. "Skye, I know it's hard to make sense of all this but we'll figure it out. The good news is that we don't have to figure it out now. You need to sleep, then we'll see about getting you cleared." He gestured towards the bed. "Looks like Ward's way ahead of you. You should join him."

Skye nodded, sitting back down on the edge of the bed until Coulson left. "He doesn't know you as well as I do," she said to Grant, still facing where Coulson had been. Then she turned, a little smile on her face. "There's no way SuperSpy would ever be asleep when people are talking around him."

Grant smiled, putting his arm under the flat pillow in order to puff it up. "It's a gift," he said modestly. "Now, can you please lay back down so we both can go to sleep?"

Skye nodded, snuggling into Grant's chest. "As you wish," she whispered wickedly. Grant poked her in the back so she'd know he'd caught her Princess Bride reference but otherwise remained still until he heard the deep, rhythmic breathing that signaled her descent into sleep. He struggled to remain awake a while longer in order to come up with a plan but the hours of wakefulness and the spent adrenaline started dragging him under. Grant gave in, kissing Skye on her head before he too drifted into sleep.

The next day dragged as it became evident that they weren't going to clear medical easily. Of course, part of the problem was that the team was too busy arguing and going after Hydra to work on getting them out of their imprisonment. They were nice enough to do some of their planning in front of the quarantine room so that he and Skye could participate but Grant felt curiously uninterested. While he was glad that SHIELD was going to try and cut off all of Hydra's heads, he was much more interested in testing out his new powers and helping Skye figure out hers. But he couldn't do that until they got out.

He also worried about Skye because she seemed constantly on the verge of tears. She even lost it after Bobbi kindly brought a quarantine survival kit. Then Grant had to hold her for an hour and whisper reassurances into her ear after Jemma came in with her ridiculous ranting about alien biology being a plague. Although he had no complaints – touching Skye was always wonderful – it wasn't a good sign. The more he tried to talk Skye down, the angrier he got at Jemma for being so wrong and upsetting Skye. How dare she talk like that about something she can't possibly understand! At first, he barely noticed the warming sensation but soon Grant could feel a distinct rise in his skin's temperature.

Apparently Skye could too because she bolted out of his lap, looking at him with wide eyes. "You're not going to…umm….lose control, are you?" she asked very quietly. Grant shook his head, immediately beginning the calming routine he used after high pressure missions. Some of the things on the shelves near them started shaking. A few items fell onto the floor but neither Skye nor Grant paid any attention. "Because I don't know if you've noticed but there's no place to hide in here. If things start…heating up…I've got no place to go."

"I know," he said through his teeth. "You're not helping."

Although she looked both offended and irritated, Skye was wise enough to back off and at least pretend to look through the magazines Bobbi brought. The shaking ceased. By the time she finished reading the first one – she'd gotten interested in several of the articles despite herself – Grant had calmed down. Skye noted his change as soon as their eyes met but neither of them said anything.

"Something wrong?" Jemma asked, startling both of them. She must've entered the room while he and Skye were conducting their staring contest. "You two look tense."

"No, nothing's wrong," Skye muttered, breaking off her eye contact and looking everywhere but at Grant or Jemma. "We just want to get out of here."

"Well then, it's good that your long wait is over," Fitz said, entering the lab with a medical tablet in his hands. Jemma whirled to face him which was just as well since Skye looked utterly surprised. Grant tried not to grit his teeth in frustration. Skye really needs to pull it together! "I was anxious to double-check the results," Fitz told Jemma. He handed the tablet to her so she could see for herself. "Both Skye and Ward's DNA are an exact match to what they were before. They're clear." Fitz looked back over at Grant and Skye, beaming at them, clearly pleased with himself.

Jemma sighed in relief, then lit up the room with her smile. "Thank God."

Fitz's smile dimmed as he noted Skye's expression. He glanced over at Jemma. "Um Skye, is your bunk made?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I think it's fine. I mean, I've usually been sleeping in Grant's…"

"Well, mine is a mess," Grant injected smoothly.

Fitz put his hands on his hips. "Uh, well, maybe you could get him some clean sheets," he said to Jemma. She looked up at him, surprised. "They should probably sleep."

Jemma turned back to Skye, smiling widely again. "Yes. You both deserve a good night's rest."

"Yeah, I mean I…" Fitz said hesitantly, gesturing widely with his hands, "and I would do it but the last time I was in there, there were lots of ladies' things thrown about and there are just some things you don't want to know about your best friends." Despite himself, Grant almost smiled. Fitz's doing a great job.

"Okay," Jemma replied, rushing away, big smile still in place.

Once she was gone, Skye glanced accusingly at Grant who was leaning against the wall. "Oh, didn't I tell you? Fitz and I had a chat while you were in the shower," he said calmly. He really had intended to tell her about the plan but with Bobbi coming to visit and Jemma's rant soon after, he'd never found the opportunity.

Fitz nodded, opening the door and coming into the room. He knelt down near their bed so he could pick up a few things that had fallen on the floor earlier. Skye backed up until she could sit on the bed above him. "What did you just do?" she asked, almost as if she were in a daze.

"I switched your blood results with your old samples."

"The new samples are different?" Grant asked.

"Drastically. But until everyone around here calms down, I don't think we should tell anybody. What with the way Simmons is acting. For now, we should just keep it between us," Fitz said, waving his hand to include the three of them. "Keep you safe until we figure it out, OK?"

Skye nodded, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Grant started to move towards her but she got off the bed, almost falling into an embrace with Fitz, sobbing on his shoulder. Grant stopped, realizing that Skye needed comfort from someone who wasn't him, from someone who wasn't Inhuman the same way she was. Fitz was the perfect choice.

"It's OK," Fitz told Skye, gently petting her hair.

"This is all my fault," she sobbed. "I could've stopped her. I let this happen and I'm so sorry." Grant frowned, not realizing until just now that Skye had been carrying this guilt the entire time. How did I miss that?

"No, it's OK," Fitz murmured.

"No, everything's my fault." Skye paused, leaning back a bit from Fitz's shoulder. "Jemma's right. There's something very wrong with me, with us."

"No," Fitz said immediately. "You're just different now." He paused, letting what he said sink in. Grant understood that Fitz was also talking about himself, about how different he'd been since his underwater accident. "You're just different now and there's nothing wrong with that."

Grant sighed, grateful for Fitz's friendship, but sad for Skye. He started picking up their things in preparation for the move to his room, a place he'd never cared much about before but now was desperate to see again. He glanced over at Fitz and Skye who were picking themselves up off the floor and realized, much to his chagrin, that this experience was much different for her than it was for him.

Grant had been an outcast his entire life; it was something that he was used to. And while he'd recently found acceptance with his Bus colleagues, it was Skye who was his real home base. He could endure anything as long as the two of them were together. So him becoming Inhuman along with her wasn't such a big deal. But it wasn't the same for Skye. She'd finally found a family within SHIELD – a group of people who loved and cared for her – so to drive a wedge between them now was excruciating. That's why Fitz's comfort was so necessary. Grant hoped with all of his heart that the others would feel the same way but he had a bad feeling that it wouldn't be the case.