Previously: The frost giants destroyed most of earth, even though Skye tried to kill them all with her empath powers she said "dang it all I can do is read feelings!" so Ward came and gave her a hug in her despair to which Coulson said "Hey that's not cool that's my almost daughter" but he still gave Ward some cotton candy which sent some mixed signals though Fitz stole it anyway to give to Simmons but the most important thing to remember is April Fools :) I know I'm lame, it's fine.

BUT REALLY Bobbi and Wolfe were in some pretty bad conditions. Skye found a way to manipulate other's emotions to basically be able to "persuade" them to do whatever she wants, thus having Lyja the Skrull lead them back to their ship where Morse and Wolfe were healed by their medical machine. Skye was able to lead all the Skrulls there, but once she released the hold on them her nose began bleeding and she didn't look to be in the best shape.


Chapter Fifty One

Skye's nose was dripping crimson. But the girl hadn't taken any sort of hit, let alone to the face. And that made Ward very, very scared.

Her eyes were wide with fear and it soon became clear they were unseeing. Or at least they weren't taking in what was going on. Her eyes were the only things moving as they sped back and forth jerkily, just before her entire body started shaking.

"She's seizing!" shouted Simmons, and everyone in her way innately moved to let the doctor through. The girl barely looked Skye over. "I can't… I can't know what's happening if her powers did this to her. I don't know where they originate from or how they're conducted, what would cause such a reaction-"

"We need to get her back to that magic healing thing," said Hunter.

"It's not magic, it's science we don't understand!" Simmons exclaimed. "And that's just it, I don't understand it. I won't know how to calibrate it."

Ward walked right up to the brim of the clear prison they were standing next to. Inside held some very sulky looking Skrulls. The moment that Skye had convinced them to go inside the hold that she had on them seemed to have broken. They'd appeared alert and aware, not to mention pissed off.

Then Ward had gotten distracted with Skye as she'd begun to crumple. So when he looked back to the aliens, it gave him quite a start.

They had changed into their true form.

He hadn't been able to cast more than a glimpse at the dead SkyeSkrull, but now there were over twenty aliens' faces staring back at him. With hatred.

"Lyja," he stated. By a mere perk of her eyebrows as the woman heard her name Ward knew it was truly her. It was a Skrull with cascading dark green hair. She was staring at him venomously. "Tell us how to work the machine."

"When hell freezes over," she spat. He didn't have enough time to argue that she'd already done it twice, and she continued. "Actually, it would make this whole situation wholly satisfying if you'd be a doll and just leave Creature right where it is as a consolation prize. You see, we'd love to watch it die."

From the way the other Skrulls looked towards Skye hungrily, Ward realized there was no way he'd get any of them to co-operate. Each one was as sadistic as the next.

"We have to try," said Wolfe. "It could be familiar to me."

That's all Ward had to hear to snap into action.

"Let's get her upstairs," Coulson said, but Ward was already moving. He grabbed Skye's shaking arms, hauling her up and over his shoulder as smoothly as possible. He moved quickly, trying to ignore her body's trembling movements as he rushed her upwards.

When he placed her inside what, to his mind, Hunter had appropriately named the "magic healing thing", he couldn't help but feel bile in his throat. This was just like Italy. Hell, they were still in Italy! But it wasn't a hyperbaric chamber they were putting her in just to sustain her, it was an alien machine. One that would heal her.

Or it wouldn't.

Morse and Wolfe had had battle wounds. Yes, Wolfe's had been inflicted from his powers, but they were cuts on the skin. Marks and bruises. Outwardly showing. But Skye's brain seemed to have been affected on her.

Would this machine even work?

Wolfe was at the controls with Fitzsimmons, who'd gone over to see if their minds' knowledge could be of any help at all. Ward stood with the rest of the agents. Each one as worthless as the next in the situation. They just waited. And watched her struggle.

That was probably the worst thing.

She was not unconscious. Her eyes still dashed about rapidly, trying to find something to latch onto or see, but she couldn't seem to actually find herself truly there, in the moment. She just seemed terrified.

Ward wished he could at least hold her hand just for a human touch of reassurance she wasn't alone, but the sealed pod kept him from doing something even as simple as that.

They seemed to find the machine's power switch.

Not only had they managed to turn it on, they managed to get it working. And the effects were instantaneous. Ward knew because along with the bright light, Skye stilled. Her eyes stopped searching. And degree by degree, she became aware.

The blood on her nose didn't disappear. It hadn't with Morse or Wolfe either, so it should be cause for concern. Though Ward didn't like the sight.

The pod opened and she got up holding her head, drawing back her hand to stare at the fingers that had brushed along her scalp. As though she was going to find remnants of something. Her hand touched her under her nose tentatively, noting the red liquid before wiping it off with her sleeve. She looked up at them in a slight daze.

"Uh…" she mumbled.

"Hey," Simmons cooed, being closest to the girl. "You strained yourself a bit hard with your abilities, we had to use the Skrull's machine on you."

"Uh huh…" Skye said thoughtfully. "These -" She swallowed. "These powers are like the definition of bittersweet," she commented tiredly, trying to give a small smile.

Apparently she'd been in so many life or death, rescued after a hell-of-an-ordeal situations that her attitude was becoming accustomed to it as well, easily settling into wry comments.

Wolfe took the liberty of tucking her errant hair behind her ear, the gesture seeming to calm her. Ward could tell they were already forming a strong a bond.

Despite there being many candidates and three much closer, Ward practically rushed forward to help her out of the pod. He offered a hand. She smiled, a drained look to her face that made such a simple gesture seem to take a lot of effort. But, more than anything, she appeared grateful.

Ward was just pulling her out of the pod when a slow clapping echoed off the walls. A drawn out, steady beat; loud against Grant's ears. All the agents turned about to see two new figures coming down the hall. One appeared to be just a man. The other, a woman. But not a woman like Ward had ever seen before in his life.

Ward didn't exactly consciously do it, but he found himself pulling Skye just a little closer to himself.

"Well done humans!" rang out the over-zealous voice of the man. "I honestly didn't think you'd have it in ya. And zero casualties. Color me impressed, guys."

As the pair approached, Ward managed to get a better look at them. The man was large, in the sense that he was bulky and surely very fit, as his skintight shirt was showing. A patch of hair black as night was slicked back on top of his head.

But what concerned Ward was the woman. She moved as though she were floating, calculating each step to make her seem like she were proceeding forward in a trace. Her eyes were circular like saucers. Not in a sense of fear, but they truly did not seem like any other eyes he'd ever seen. They were perfectly round. She had thin blonde hair worn back in a braid, but what was alarming was that underneath it.

Her brain.

It was visible through her skin. There was no skull that Ward could see, but who knew? If skin could be translucent, perhaps so could bone.

"You were watching us?" asked Skye.

That would probably on the lower end of the spectrum for the questions Ward had in mind to offer. At the top was, "who are you?" and "where did you come from?" But at the highest point had to be "what the hell are you?"

The man chuckled. "Sure. Wanted to see how you'd do against the Skrulls. Pretty entertaining… I kept this planet's completely unequipped law enforcement away, FYI. You're welcome."

"Why didn't you help us?" exclaimed Wolfe in disbelief. "They're Skrulls for god's sake!"

He shrugged. "Just wasn't the time. And, well… I didn't really feel like it."

Ward couldn't take it anymore. "Who are you?"

"They're Inhumans, that's for sure," scoffed Wolfe.

"True," nodded the man. "My name is Alaris, and my companion is Desidera."

Desidera dipped her head in acknowledgement, eyes still wide and staring ahead as if not truly seeing. Not many things unnerved Grant, but this woman with a see-through head truly did.

"We're retrieving a prisoner," explained Alaris offhandedly. "Weeell…" He nudged his head back and forth, as if trying to decide how to word something. "Take into custody, I suppose is more appropriate."

He looked to the strange woman in askance, who bowed her head.

And he grabbed for Skye.

"Hey!" Ward shouted, as well as a few of his teammates. Skye still mostly looked overwhelmed from her recovery while the man pulled her over, not struggling as much as she most likely would in normal circumstances. Everyone else had gotten feisty right off the bat, though they quieted once the man produced a gun as quickly as though he were already holding it.

"Whoa now, let's not get hasty," he said, gripping Skye's arm as he pointed his gun with the other hand. "I've just been ordered to take her in until the ritual date has passed."

Everyone visibly relaxed. Not that being taken into custody by an alien race was good in any way, it was nice to know that he only wanted her until her birthday.

"But that's tomorrow," Skye said. "The Skrulls are all locked up. I think I'll be ok on my own for one day. And if you were planning on taking us to another planet… seems like a waste of gas."

Alaris quirked his mouth upwards. "Well, by the way I understand it, this ritual can be done every year."

Skye stared up at him. "But… that means the date will never pass for good."

He gave her a pitying smile, but it didn't meet his eyes. "Yeah. Shame."

Alaris brought out silver cuffs near out of nowhere and slipped them onto Skye's wrists.

"You can't do that!" Wolfe growled, stepping up to the man. "You can't arrest her. She did nothing wrong!"

Alaris looked to him curiously. "You're her father, right? You should know better than anyone that she can be taken in. She was an infant when you fled with her. We were going to take her then, too."

Wolfe looked beyond frustrated. He was livid. He spat through grit teeth, "how did you know where to find her?"

Alaris smiled. "Oh, you had her hidden pretty good, sir. No idea where she went for years. But that's why we have Desidera, here."

Wolfe looked to the other Inhuman, but she did not return the courtesy. Her eyes stared blank and dull, straight ahead.

"Skrulls came, so I could see," Desidera explained simply. Her voice was monotone, if not whimsical.

"Yeah…" Alaris said, obviously unimpressed with her explanation. "Don't really know how, but the Skrulls figured out where your child was before we did. We caught a prisoner, Desidera could see into his mind, and baddabing, we found the kid!" He scratched his own chin with the gun in his hand. "I think that's called following the breadcrumbs or something around here."

"Please don't do this," Wolfe suddenly begged. "Don't take her."

"Hey, at least the royalty has not ordered for her execution. Do you realize how dangerous she is? And here especially!"

Coulson scrutinized him. "What's wrong with Earth?"

Alaris chuckled, as though finding Coulson's ignorance amusing. "You, my friend, have quite the Skrull infestation. They're hiding all over this planet now! And unlike on Attilan, you have no idea what you're up against. So you see, we can't leave her here. She won't be safe. Though we are going to have to send over a team to deal with the Skrulls, because somehow that's our responsibility…" he muttered, seeming bitter about it.

"So I'm going to some alien prison for the rest of my life?" Skye asked, bitterness seeping into her voice as well.

The Inhuman shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just the muscle to get you."

Ward felt anger prick at his skin like needles. "I thought you said they weren't executing her?"

"I said there's no execution order, yet. Maybe they'll make her go through Terrigenisis. She's a hybrid so it may kill her, but that blood status also means she ain't got any rights. And it supposedly renders the ritual moot if she does survive."

"But she's already done that!" exclaimed Simmons, stepping forward. "And it didn't kill her, she has powers."

"You do?" talking and looking to Skye as though a four year old had just presented him with a drawing he was expected to be proud of. "Well, come on, show me what you can do."

Skye wavered under his over-enthusiastic gaze, looking uncomfortable with his request. But she shrugged. "Well, you feel bored and amused right now, which is kind of strange and almost impressive," Skye said. "I think you're bored and annoyed because this is taking longer than you'd like, but amused at our… ignorance."

"Hey, a baby empath! That's cute." He appraised her. "Suits you."

"So she can stay?" asked Fitz hopefully. Alaris' amusement seemed to climb up his face. He definitely liked the ignorance.

"No," he said with fake disappointment. "She still needs to stand trial, go into the system..."

"For what?" asked Wolfe, incredulous.

"Being an illegal alien, for running away, I don't know! That's the royals' business."

"But I took her away."

He shrugged. "And I'd gladly take you in too, but warrant's only for the girl."

"She's only half-Inhuman, there's no way they will give her a fair trial!"

"Preaching to the choir, my man. Heh, earth expressions… anyway, I don't make the rules and I'm not a royal, just work for 'em," Alaris said, now truly showing his boredom. He put on hand on Skye's shoulder. "But we really need to get going."

May was the first one to spring up her gun, but it was quickly followed by Coulson, Ward and Trip.

"You'll have to get through us first," Coulson growled.

Alaris looked as though he were about to burst out laughing at the threat, but Skye spoke up before he got anything passed his lips.

"Coulson… I should just go with him," she said, sounding resigned.

"What? No! You did nothing wrong. You don't deserve this!"

"Look at what I did! I brought an alien invasion to Earth! Of course I don't want to go to prison, leave you guys, but… what choice do I have?"

"None, actually," Alaris mumbled.

"That wasn't your fault," Ward insisted, ignoring the Inhuman.

"But it happened because of me. People died because of me!"

Trip stepped up. "We took care of the Skrulls and we can damn well do it again."

Alaris took amusement in the exchange, suddenly chuckling. "Look, humans, thank you for helping out with the Skrulls. A few less for us to clean up," he said. "And though that sect was the major group hell-bent on getting their hands on this infant here, you've still got too many aliens on Earth for her to stay. And I've got orders. You need to realize that this is a good thing."

It was not a good thing. Skye going to spend her life in an alien prison on another planet that only thought of her as some kind of crossbred problem was not a good thing.

Even worse was that Skye was accepting it. Pleading with Coulson to let her go and now she couldn't even look at the team, eyes down. Could she possibly be ashamed of herself?

Simmons' eyes snapped up to Skye's keeper. "Do you realize the reason we had even a remote chance against the Skrulls was because of Skye?"

"Say it ain't so, little girlie," he sneered.

"She can tell when they're Skrulls," Fitz added. "It's a part of her power."

Alaris just stared a first. "That's nice," he said finally. He tightened his hold on Skye. "And now we're leaving."

There was a spark in Skye's eyes. Just a moment ago she looked just as dismal as she was resigned, thinking she was better off leaving. But Ward could tell she'd been shown she did have worth here.

"Wouldn't it be good to have someone like that here?" she asked. "You said it yourself: the Inhumans will have to come back here to get rid of the Skrulls. I could give them a head start."

"We could give them a head start," Coulson jumped in quickly. "That's what our organization does, tend to the things the rest of our public won't understand. With our resources and Skye, we can track them down."

"Hell of a lot off your plate," Skye finished.

His cocky attitude was definitely brought down, and Ward watched him mull over the proposal. "Can't really trust you with that…" he mumbled.

"You just saw what we can do!"

It was a British voice from the back of the group, and Ward looked over to see Hunter had joined the conversation. He was still huddled close to Bobbi, near protectively. Ward was a little surprised he decided to lend his voice at all.

"Yeah. I saw that you guys were holding on by the skin of your teeth. Honestly, I almost thought you wouldn't make it out."

"That was just a trial run," Coulson explained. "Obviously our first time is going to be a little bumpy."

Alaris looked tempted. He truly did. Eyes bright with the thought of not having to come back to the planet and deal with such a nuisance. But – "Look, humans, this isn't a negotiation." He lifted Skye's arms to show the cuffs that held her wrists together. "This is an arrest."

"But it's not just the convenient thing, it's the smart thing," said Wolfe. Alaris cocked his head with intrigue. "These people know Terra. And they're the few on this planet that have experience with extraterrestrial life forms." He paused, stepped forward. "So, let's say they do end up being under-matched. You'll have to bring a team down here, but you'll be able to get help from the SHIELD agents where you need it. And hey, maybe with them the Inhumans' team will get cut to shorter numbers so you'll be able to stay up on Attilan."

Wolfe smiled, friendly and conversational as he said the words. Trying to appeal to the other Inhuman. But his eyes turned dark fast and sudden, his face taking a complete u-turn. "But trust me when I say if you take her away, they'll give you nothing, no information or aid, when you return to deal with the Skrulls."

Alaris inhaled a sharp breath.

He was seriously considering.

His companion moved her entire head so that her wide eyes settled on the Inhuman. "You would not follow orders?" she asked curiously.

He sighed. Looking rueful, but only for an opportunity he thought he was missing. Not for taking Skye away from the people she cared about. Not for taking prisoner someone who'd done nothing wrong.

"No," he said.

And then they were gone.

Disappeared, teleported. Ward didn't know. He just saw Alaris touch something on his wrist; it looked somewhat like a wristwatch. And all three of them evaporated.

It left a stunned silence in the air. The sudden absence of the banter and hope gave Ward whiplash, as he assumed it did to a few of the people around him as well.

Skye was gone. Truly gone. Arrested by some alien civilization and they'd never know what would become of her. If she'd be sent to jail or if they'd just decide it would be easier to kill her, put her to sleep like some mutt at the pound. Worst of all…

He didn't get to say goodbye.

Hell, he wasn't even looking at her. His attention happened to be directed at Alaris, so Ward couldn't even say what Skye's last emotion had been before she was ripped away from them forever. Scared, almost certainly. But Ward had to imagine a hopeful smile or another brave face, because that's what Skye would surely be doing.

That's what he hoped she'd been doing.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever.

"I'm sorry," Morse finally spoke up. "It's always hard to lose good agents."

That's when he heard Simmons start to tear up, muffled as it was as she buried her face into Fitz's shirt.

'Lose' hadn't been said in the sense that they'd literally lost track of Skye. There was a detached finality to the statement. Bobbi was saying it as though she'd died.

But there was still a chance.

"Wolfe," Ward said. "How did you get here?"

The older man turned to him, and Ward could actually see the tears brimming in his eyes. He shook his head sadly. "A ship. But it had broken down years ago from the trip being a length it was never meant to withstand, and then it was confiscated by the Skrulls…"

"But we're in a spaceship now, are we not?" sniffled Simmons. "I mean, technically, if Wolfe knows anything-"

"Or we could reverse engineer it…" said Fitz.

"We could surely find some way!"

"Hold up," said Mack. "Are you guys talking about figuring out how to pilot a Skrull spaceship and go to another planet for one girl?"

"Yes," said Ward.

"Well that's mental," commented Hunter. "Though it's starting to appear to be a pattern with you people.

"Seriously?" said Bobbi flatly, looking to each of them. "I don't mean to throw salt in a fresh wound but… what we were up against? One casualty isn't that bad. And I'm all for helping a fellow agent when it's at all possible but going to an alien planet? Isn't that overstepping the bounds and just… kinda insane?"

"We specialize in insane on our team, Morse," snapped Coulson. Bobbi looked a little stunned.

"He's not even joking," Hunter mumbled to her. "I've been with them a few days and they seem completely bonkers."

"Days?" she countered. "I'm seeing it and I've been here hours."

Ward scoffed. "Yeah, and the only reason you're still here is because of Skye," he said. "So maybe show her a little respect."

Morse's mouth popped open, and she shook her head. "I didn't mean to be inconsiderate. I just… stealing a spaceship? C'mon."

Coulson merely stared at her. "Fitz?"

"I'll see if I can find an engine," said the engineer.

Mack sighed. "Maybe I can help too. But no way in hell am I taking off in this thing."

Coulson nodded. "That's fair. Wolfe, do you know anything about this tech?"

He glanced around himself, obviously a little daunted by it. "I can take a look…" he said uncertainly.

"But you could get us there?" asked Simmons. "You would know the proper co-ordinates?"

Wolfe shrugged, laughing a bit. "Sure. If we could get this thing off the ground."

"We have to," May finally spoke up. "There's no other way."

"Like my grandma always used to say, 'you haven't tried anything unless you've tried everything,'" said Trip.

Simmons sort of scowled at that. Ward would have thought she'd try to protest against that particular saying, but Coulson preempted her.

"Then let's get a move on."

They were all about to take a step to go somewhere, anywhere to help, when there was a small "zap" noise.

"Ok, two things," said Alaris, rather un-climatically as he'd just come back from what Ward had figured to be a final goodbye. Disappointingly though, he was alone. "One, you people are just a little too determined for your own good. I was gone for about three minutes and you're already hijacking a ship you know nothing about? Not too smart, humans."

"Don't take our people and we wouldn't have to resort to drastic, and… arguably stupid, measures," Coulson said, rather simply.

Alaris cocked his head with a smile. "Can't argue with that logic," he said, causing the faces of the agents to be puzzled. "Which brings me to point number two. I talked with my superiors. They think leaving your friend here will help to get rid of the Skrull infestation," he said, before adding in a stern voice, "As long as your organization known as SHIELD aids her."

"Of course," Coulson answered automatically, if not still a little stunned.

"Then congrats, you're now all under official employment of the royal family of Attilan." Alaris looked to Wolfe. "You know what that means. They are ambassadors, but we can and will hold you and your daughter under law of the Inhumans if you do not follow the terms."

Wolfe nodded somberly. "I understand."

"Terms?" questioned Simmons.

"Ah yeah, my superiors are making them up as we speak," said Alaris. "Don't worry, they'll be sent to you." He focused back on the machine on his wrist once again. "But I should be getting back to my ship. Desidera isn't too happy about this. At least we got all those Skrulls to take back." He looked up at them and smiled. "Pleasure talking with you lot, quite eye opening. Catch ya later."

Just like that, he was gone.

But also just like that, Skye was back.

She stared in a sort of stupor at her hands, flipping them around and inspecting the wrists that no longer were clamped together with silver metal. Her head snapped up to them, and Ward could see the tears in her eyes. She took in a sharp breath.

"Guess they dropped the charges," she mumbled, eyes staring straight ahead and wide with disbelief. Surely, she was getting some very similar looks directed back at her. But it wasn't long before the water building up spilled over and despite how hard she fought to keep her composure the tears overwhelmed her.

She shook her head almost immediately. "Ah god, I'm sorry," she sniffled, trying to hide the tears. "I just, there's a lot of emotion in here and you guys are really feeling sort of intensely."

"Of course we are!" said Simmons as she rushed forwards, pulling Fitz in her hand while Wolfe and Trip were hot on their heels. They all sort of collapsed into a group hug, Simmons and Fitz clutching her around the middle while Wolfe gave her a slight squeeze behind her shoulder. Triplett tried to just standing nearby, but Skye roped him in with a swing of her arm. "You were practically dead, and then you were nearly gone forever! I'd hate to think of life without you."

"Ditto. Definitely, ditto," Skye assured her as she broke off the embrace. "To everyone." She scanned the crowd, her eyes brushing over the three newest members before landing on May and Coulson. She took only a few long strides before they were in her clutches as well.

Trip laughed. "Guess no one is safe."

"This must be a group hug type of situation," Hunter whispered to Bobbi, who stifled a laugh.

"Don't worry, you're safe," Skye said flatly, though there was a ghost of a smile on her face. "But you're not."

It took Ward a moment to realize she was speaking to him. His mind was so backtracked that he didn't notice Skye rushing towards him until she was at his chest, her arms wrapping around his torso and nuzzling momentarily into him. His hands never even left the air before she backed up.

"There. I think that got all the hugging out of my system," she decided, shrugging.

"Good then," said Hunter, stepping forward with a clap of his hands. "So I can address the elephant in the room? Or, one of them, considering we just had two aliens come to talk to us and then bloody teleport away, but erm… mass mind control?" He cocked an eyebrow at Skye.

She shrugged, grinning guiltily. "Who… knew?"

"You didn't?" he asked. "You seemed pretty confident…"

"Trust me, never done that before. And… probably not going to repeat the experience. Considering the near death part of it all."

"I believe you can still push others' emotions without getting hurt Skye," said her father. "There were just too many of them to take at once."

She began shaking her head before he even finished talking. "No. It felt… wrong. No one should be able to do that to anyone else."

"But if it were the choice between killing a person or making them… pretty much, want themselves to go to jail, wouldn't jail be the better option?" asked Fitz.

Skye scuffed her foot on the ground. "I guess, when you put it like that…"

"How about we save this discussion for later?" suggested Coulson. "Let's get back to the BUS, figure out where to start on our new mission statement."

"Not to mention where we're going to keep a Skrull spaceship," said May.

"That too," Coulson agreed.

As he beckoned them forward, they all began to move out of the foreign place. But they spoke to each other casually as the group made its way out. The mission was finished, and there was a finality to leaving it behind that made Ward's stomach crawl. Skye might have hugged him, let him in for the briefest amount of affection, but when this was all over… where would he go?

Back to SHIELD? Would they send him to jail? He certainly deserved it, for what he'd done.

Skye was safe now. There wasn't anyone after her blood, trying to make her a sacrifice or capturing her as a prisoner. She was changed, but she was now the lead-runner in a new mission for SHIELD.

Ward just wondered if he'd be allowed to partake in it.


A/n: So there's two chapters and a small epilogue left, when there's only supposed to be one because I WRITE TOO MUCH! Sheesh.

Uhh the Inhumans are both comic book characters, but I just googled them so they're probably ooc. In the inhumans comics I have read they call the newly transformed infants and babies sometimes, so that's what that's about... gaaah I have more to say but I am sleepy and can't think you should like review because it makes me super duper happy I love you guys.

Also, I should have proofread this better. Story of my life. Or... story of this... story.