A/N: Yeah it's been awhile. Let me tell ya'll, keeping up with this story is the hardest for me because it sticks with the episodes so I have to work with the episodes and a lot of Netflix to set the stage. Not to worry, this story won't be canceled or put on another HIATUS, this story is really special to me because it really got me started on really get into my work. I am sorry that updates can't be more consistent or closer together like the other stories, but it's coming along, I have too much left for this story to do.

As always, thank you Agents for your support and patience! You all should be level ten agents by now!

Summary: Skye had spent all her life looking for her parents, only fate would have her move down the hall from her mother, Agent Melinda May, the Cavalry. In SHIELD Skye had found the one thing always wanted, a family. She had it all, until it fell apart and now she will do everything in power to hold on and never let go.


Chapter Six

Hunter had finally returned to the base, though it worried Coulson slightly. It was no secret Hunter's main focus was money or getting a profit, Coulson knew Talbot had offered him something that the mercenary likely couldn't refuse. The new Director couldn't blame him either.

The meeting had gone about as expected given the circumstances. Talbot wanted Coulson, he sent Hunter to retrieve him and in exchange would receive a good amount of goodies that he could use, along with some for his fallen friends. That loss was still too fresh for the mercenary, he honestly didn't know how to process the information or how he was supposed to respond.

They had been his closest friends, his family and now they were gone, forever.

No one's ever truly gone, a soft voice whispered in his mind, they're just here in a different way now.

An image of the owner of the voice flashes through Hunter's mind as he looked out the window at the mostly empty streets. He missed her too, more than he would ever admit to anyone. Hunter sighed heavily, he needed to clear his head.


Fitz had been making progress on determining the information that he and Simmons found lying around before. It was tests done on Creel, to figure out what was going on with him and how he got these powers. Fitz couldn't for the life of him understand the route they were taking on trying to find a way to stop the powered individual.

Simmons commented, "Using an adenovirus factor to counter Creel's ability."

Fitz nodded absently, "Yeah, well, it's pointless, really, since the injected, um…"

He cursed in his mind, why could he not get the words out when it was right there?

Simmons waited a moment more before finishing his thought, "Injected vector will never bind to his cellular membranes."

"Yeah, so ... well," Fitz said, his tone softening, "then they'd have to find a way to destabilize…"

Simmons continued, "The molecular structure of Creel's epidermal cells, yeah. Destabilize."

Simmons always knew what he was trying to say when he couldn't say it, she would finish the sentences he started. Some days he would finish the sentences she started, they traded off and were always there to help each other. Fitz tried to ignore the stab he felt in his heart.

"Oh. I d... I didn't solve this today," he said looking at the sheet, his mind reeling.

Mack had been standing off to the side for a few moments watching Fitz with a frown. He hadn't known what the scientist was like before the accident, the one that left him a little more than a shell as far as the others were concerned. It was sad to see, but Mack wouldn't treat him as if he were fragile. After all, he could remember a time when he had been a weak state and all he wanted was for people to treat him the same way.

Mack walked over to him, "Who you talking to?"

Fitz jerked as Simmons said, "Me."

Fitz shook his head, eyes wide, "What? No one."

Mack nodded, his smile came easy, "You like talking to yourself. That's cool. A lot of people do. You know, I like singing in the shower. Yeah, I know it's not really the same thing, but I wouldn't want anyone to hear it."

Mack laughed at his joke, Fitz joined him softly, but not with any heart in it. The smile Fitz wore was fake and obviously not genuine.

"What do you want," Fitz asked gently. Mack replied, the topic ready in mind, "All right, for cloaking, were you thinking about putting it under avionics or something else?"

Fitz inhaled sharply, he was so tired of hearing about the damn cloaking, "Enough with that! I'm busy... with... something."

Mack quirked a brow, "Well, it sounds like you're just blowing me off. You want to be alone? That's cool."

Simmons had moved from beside Fitz to observe Mack from a different angle. Fitz made a face at her, wondering what on earth she was going.

When she noticed him looking, she commented, "You know, I think I like him. He's honest."

Fitz glanced at Mack, "Blunt, I'd say."

Mack nodded, "I call them like I see them."

Fitz frowned, it was easy to forget the others couldn't hear Simmons. He shoved the thought aside before it could upset him further. His gaze focused on Simmons.

"No," Simmons started with a head shake, "he doesn't talk to you like the others. It's quite refreshing, actually."

Mack noticed that Fitz wasn't looking at him anymore, just at the empty space at his side or at something behind him. At first he thought maybe Fitz was just trying to come up with the words, but then he realized the young scientist was zoning out. Mack snapped his fingers in front of him.

"Yo. Fitz," he said getting the young man's attention, "Your mind go wandering again? What do you got there?"

Fitz looked down at the papers, "No... this ... this is just, uh…"

Simmons moved to his side, "Go ahead and show him. What harm would it do?"

Fitz could think of a lot of things, but before he could voice any of them, Mack started speaking again.

"Does it have something to do with stopping Creel," Mack asked, his eyes glancing at the pages again.

Fitz nodded, "Yeah. I think... I think that we are... I-I... have... I... I didn't solve this today."

Mack offered him a slight encouraging grin, "You think you can?"

"It's possible."


When Coulson sent Skye to clean out Izzy's things, she hadn't expected it to hurt so much. She hadn't known Izzy for long, though she felt the loss, what really got Skye upset was imagining this was her mother's room and stuff she was packing away. It did no one any good to think of such things, but Skye couldn't help it.

If her mother had been any closer to Creel, she could have been the one who was lost instead. The thought made Skye want to throw up. It was odd really, she never imagined that this would be her life, but she wouldn't trade it for anything. Releasing a shaky breath, she started putting more things away and stopped at the picture frame on her night table. Two women, one was Izzy and a woman who looked similar to her. Hunter had walked in to see Skye staring intently at the photograph, he smiled sadly.

"Izzy's sister, Jane," Hunter said making his presence known, "Her favorite person in the world. After me, of course."

Hunter took a seat on the neatly made bed, he recalled many nights where he sat up talking and drinking with Izzy, Hartley and Idaho here. His gut twisted at the reminder of those nights being lost forever, the only remnant of them in his memories which he knew one day would fade away. A message had to be given to their families, he mentally cursed when he realized he would have to tell one woman in particular of this loss. Though she was not someone he wanted to see and he was likely someone she didn't want to see either. Skye pulled him from his thoughts.

"Looks like they liked each other," she said gently, her gaze on him.

Hunter chuckled, "Yeah, those two, when they got together, there was a lot of laughs. And bottles of wine…. Izzy was good when it came to family." He picked up the blue pendant connected to a rusted chain, "Which is why I'm taking this. It belonged to her mum. Died of breast cancer about five years back. Jane has it now, too."

Skye swallowed, she looked back at the picture, "That's awful."

Hunter exhaled, "Yeah. Life can be a mean drunk that way. Never knows when to stop punching."

Skye could relate to that, she asked, "How did you guys meet?"

"Through my psychotic ex-wife," Hunter said holding back a laugh, "Though she's not legally psychotic, but she was crazy."

Skye smiled, "I see."

"Those two were good friends back in the day," Hunter said quietly.

The memories of meeting Izzy through his ex played through his mind. He recalled her personality had shown through even in those few mere moments of meeting for the first time. What was he going to do without her and the others? How was he supposed to tell his ex wife?

Skye said sadly, "I'm really sorry. It's really tough to lose people you care about."

"Secret to that," Hunter remarked, "Don't get attached."

Skye shook her head, "Tried that. Didn't work….For you, either it seems."

"Maybe not," Hunter replied, his smile grew slightly when he looked down at Skye on the floor, "You know, you remind me a bit of Izzy. Raw, but sharp. You got skills. Type that could earn you some real money in the private sector."

Skye scoffed, "As a mercenary? Yeah, I don't think so."

Hunter stood from his seat, but Skye could hear the smile in his voice, "We prefer the term "private military contractors." Don't knock it. Everyone needs an exit strategy eventually."

Skye frowned, she shook her head, "Not me. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s my life now."

"SHIELD isn't a life," Hunter told her, "It's just a job, a means to an end. Remember that…"

Skye glanced away, she recalled a similar comment was made to her by her mother less than a handful of times. It was always something about SHIELD not being the focus of her life. But how could it not be the focus of her life?

It was because of SHIELD she found a home, something she desperately craved as a child and teenager. It was because of SHIELD she found her mother, it was because of this organization she had real family. She had a purpose here, her life didn't start until she found SHIELD. How could she ever let that go?

Hunter exited the room, "You hear anything more about Creel, let me know."


That Night

May sat on the roof of the car she hot wired, though she knew she could have just taken one of the SHIELD vehicles, she hadn't want to risk being tracked. Most times she would just walk to the meeting point without being seen, but after telling Skye the truth she knew the younger woman would try to follow her. A small precaution to throw the hacker off her scent.

Cal agreed to meet her out here, he was running late she guessed. However she half expected he would make his presence known soon enough, likely get a jump on her like he had done before things went crazy. It was rather sad to think of those lost times, but May had realized she wouldn't have traded them for anything. Without those times, she never would have had Skye and she wouldn't trade her daughter for the world.

May would have been lying if she said she hadn't considered leaving SHIELD behind, leave all of it, leave the friends she made and Coulson. Of course she wouldn't leave Skye, she wanted Skye to leave with her. The two of them restarting their life without this chaos, but she knew it was just a far off dream. She needed SHIELD as much as Skye did.

"What's on your mind?"

May didn't so much as blink, she kept her face forward, "Why did you want to meet now Cal?"

The man sighed, he stepped around the car until he was in front of May. He looked fairly similar to the last time she saw him, he appeared older and more worn down though and May knew it wasn't just from aging.

"It's about you and Daisy," Cal said, "The object these people are hunting, you two need to be careful around it."

No matter how often May told him to call Skye, 'Skye' he always just referred to her as Daisy. One time he screamed at her that Skye was not her name, to which May replied with an attack of a more physical sort. Cal wouldn't say anything else about her calling their daughter Skye, she wouldn't remark on the fact he only called her Daisy. For a brief moment, it made May think they had twins. Two different girls, two separate parents, like from the Parent Trap movies. She pushed the thoughts away.

May made a face, "We already know the Obelisk is dangerous, the same one you showed me before right? Creel has it."

Cal licked his lips, "It's not dangerous to you or Daisy. To the others, it's lethal. You and Daisy are the only ones who can open it."

"There's something inside of that thing," May remarked, she barely held back her surprise at the new information.

Everyone assumed the object was its own item, not a container. Her mind started spinning with possible things that the obelisk could be holding. Poison? Some type of secret weapon or formula?

Cal nodded, his expression turned grim, "Yes. Inside is a crystal. You and Skye should not come in contact with the crystal, not yet anyway."

"How about never," May said bitterly, her eyes narrowed.

Cal inhaled sharply, his fists clenched at his side, "You cannot avoid it. One way or another, you and Daisy will experience the effects of that crystal."

"Is that a threat," May questioned darkly.

"Not at all," said Cal, his calm demeanor returning, "It's a promise."

May frowned at the phrasing. Ever since she had met Cal, she knew he had an obsession with promises and how he would always keep them. No matter what it took, he would keep the promises he made. There were several times May had seen them come to life simply because he refused to let them go unfinished. This promise was different though, whatever that crystal was supposed to do, he wanted her and Skye to feel it's sting.

She could not let Skye near that object if SHIELD got it in their custody. Whatever game Cal was playing, she was not going to let Skye join the fun. This would be their game to play, Skye could observe while May handled this.

"What exactly is the crystal supposed to do Cal," May decided to asks.

If by chance Skye was affected first, she had to be ready for what would happen. Cal's eyes lit up for a few seconds, clearly he was eager to talk about this. May resisted the urge to groan.

"A process called terragenesis," started Cal, his face still gleeful, "You and Daisy are inhumans, I told you this before."

"Yes, I remember that," May said curtly.

Cal continued unbothered by her tone, "When an inhuman comes in contact with the crystal they go through a transformation. Much like a caterpillar does when it enters its cocoon. When an inhuman leaves the cocoon, they become, metaphorically speaking, a butterfly. They become more beautiful and powerful than they were before."

The misty eyed look had fallen over Cal, May wasn't sure how true his words were considering this state for him almost whimsical. It was moments like these that the scientist she knew the past had merged with the mad man of the present. The thought briefly made her sad, but she had more important things to focus on. Mostly figuring out what he was talking about.

"So a transformation happens," May prompted, wanting more information.

Cal nodded, "Yes, yes. When an inhuman finishes terragenesis, they gain supernatural abilities, like flying or teleportation, anything."

"Why do you want Skye and I to go through this," May questioned next.

Cal took a short breath, "I cannot answer that completely. But it will help you and Daisy to unlock your abilities, not to mention there's someone you both need to meet."

May leaned forward, "Who?"

"I can't tell you," Cal replied, though he appeared remorseful, "If Reyna comes around, she will tell a code. Code Angel. If she says that, do not fight her, go with her."

"Reyna," May said incredulously, she shook her head, "You can't be serious. You're working with her?"

"She helped me locate you and Daisy," Cal answered in slight defense.

"What does she have to do with this now, what happens when Code Angel is put in place," May asked, she folded her arms over her chest.

Cal glanced away, his jaw set, "Reyna is like you and Daisy, Code Angel is protection and a guide. That is all I can say about it. We'll meet again soon."

May wanted to argue, she wanted to force him to tell her more information about all of this, to explain everything he had said in detail, but no words left her tongue as she watched him leave. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the recording device, she would have to review this conversation later with Coulson when they had a few minutes.

Creel was still out there, he needed to be the focus along with finding that object.