Chapter 16
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"Skye?" Coulson asks not sure about what he is more shocked about hearing Skye's voice or hearing her call her Dad, but he knows that he is more relieved that he has ever been.
"Yeah, it's me." Skye replies sounding just as relieved as Coulson feels.
"Go get May." FitzSimmons tell Ward at the same time.
"Are you okay? Where are you? Are you hurt?" Coulson asks concerned as Ward runs out of the room.
"I'm… Okay." Skye says hesitantly as she isn't sure explaining her injuries would be a good idea "And I'm still trying to work out where I am." She informs him.
"Fitz is tracing the call, he'll be able to tell you where you are and we'll be able to come and get you." Coulson tells his daughter.
"He won't be able to trace the call." Skye says at the same time that Fitz says "Why can't I trace the call?"
"Why not?" Coulson asks Skye.
"Quinn put this bracelet on my arm it's a bit like the one you put on me except this stops any form of GPS or Satellite telling you were I am." Skye explains.
"Have you gotten away from Quinn? Are you safe?" Coulson asks concerned.
"Yeah, I've gotten away from Quinn, I'm not exactly sure about safe." Skye comments as she looks out of the alley she is to make sure she doesn't see Quinn or any of the Super Soldiers "Quinn told me a lot, probably a lot more than he should have, so he's probably got everyone looking for me." Skye explains "Wherever she is step up the security you have on Rania, something Quinn said makes me think that she's more important that she seems. Also I found out that the Clairvoyant is who took me when I was and baby, I'll explain more when I see you but basically he tried to make me like him and because of that he apparently can't see me, that's why I've been safe all these years." Skye explains.
"Skye?" Melinda asks running into the room Ward right behind her.
"Mom." Skye says relieved to her hear her mother's voice.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" May asks worried her concern for her daughter overshadowing the joy she is feeling that Skye called her Mom for the first time.
"Considering everything I'm good." Skye tells her worried mother.
"What does that mean considering everything?' Coulson asks concerned "You haven't answered the question about whether you hurt or not." Coulson says as Skye hears a beep on the phone so she looks at the screen to make sure it isn't a message from the owner saying to give the phone back at a location, it's not, but instead it something that makes her blood run cold "Not good, I've got to ditch this phone." Skye says clearly concerned.
"Why? What happened?" May asks worried.
"A message just appeared "Nice try Skye, but I'll find you." Skye explains. "Any help you could give for hiding from Quinn and at least two Super Soldiers would be appreciated." Skye tells the group.
"How did you get away from them?" Ward asks curious and impressed that she managed to.
"Broke out of my restraints, picked a lock, hung from a pipe, jumped over them by swinging on the pipe, locked them in the room I was kept in, jumped out a first story window, and ran." Skye explains quicker.
"You what?" May and Coulson asks shocked but both are extremely impressed and proud "How hurt are you?" May asks at the same time that Fitz asks "What can you tell me about where you are?"
"Um the sun's just setting, it's colder than it was in Los Angeles. The money I stole from people on the street I was walking along was both Euro's and American dollars. I hear people talking Spanish, English and Russian mostly, but I can't pick up any distinct accents. I'm not in a large city but it is a city and it took me twenty minute to run from where I was to what looks like a shopping district." Skye quickly explains avoiding answering the, are you hurt? Question as she doesn't want to lie or make Coulson and May worry more.
"I've really got to ditch this phone in a second, but before I do what shouldn't I do to hide form Quinn and the soldiers?" Skye asks.
"Change your clothes." May tells her daughter "Steal money if you have to, but buy the clothes legally. Get something that is completely different to what you are wearing but at the same time makes you blend in, you don't want to stand out. Don't go to the places that they will expect you to go to, Police Station, Hospital, or Embassy, avoid those kind of places because Quinn will have people waiting for you. Do not draw attention to yourself and avoid security cameras as much as possible." May tells her daughter.
"And don't trust anyone." Coulson adds "We'll find you Skye, just hold on." Coulson tells his daughter.
"Got it." Skye tells her parents "Simmons you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here." Simmons answers.
"Good." Skye says "Don't even think about borrowing my stuff while I'm gone, not after last time. You destroyed my blue sweater." Skye comments, to the confusion of everyone but Simmons because as far as they are aware Simmons has never borrowed stuff from Skye, as she looks down at her watch.
"Don't worry I won't, you made the consequences perfectly clear last time." Simmons responds to the confusion of everyone else while she hurriedly types something into the computer.
"Good." Skye responds "I've got to go. I've probably stayed in once place for too long." She tells her parents.
"Skye, we'll find you." Coulson promises his daughter.
"Be careful." Melinda adds.
"I know you will, and I will" Skye says truly meaning what she is saying, truly trusting someone else for the first time in her life, "Bye guys." Skye says before hanging up the phone.
"She's okay." Melinda says relieved to Coulson as Simmons runs across the lab.
"She's okay." Coulson repeats both so happy to have heard from their daughter.
"She called us Mom and Dad." Coulson realises.
"Yeah, she did." May says still sounding shocked.
"Simmons what was that about? What are you doing? What's the timer for?" Ward asks Simmons interrupting May and Coulson's moment.
"What this is all about Agent Ward is that Skye is a genius." Simmons tells him as she enters a code into a lock box.
"That thing about borrowing her stuff and a blue sweeter that was a code." Coulson realises.
"Exactly." Simmons says "When you were on bed rest and when you two" She says looking at Fitz and Ward "Were obsessed with band hero Skye and I spend a lot of time down here watching TV shows and talking." Simmons explains "I don't even remember how now but we got onto the subject of how Manscapeing isn't really a good safe word so we started to think of a better one and that lead to a whole lot of other codes so that we can find each other if something happened to one of us, or if we were in danger, or anything like that." Simmons explains.
"So how does that code help to find her? She said she wasn't sure where she is." Ward reminds her.
"She doesn't have to know." Simmons tells him "In exactly 108 minutes form when she said that code she will log into a Gilmore Girl's chartroom under the name JavaJunkibeatsLit and leave a post about how Luke and Lorelai are so much of a better couple that Rory and Jess it will look completely normal but hidden in that message using an encryption that she created will tell us the location of the computer she is sending the message from, a clue which only one of us will be able to figure out which will lead us to what nearby location she is hiding at, and which website she will post at next if 108 minutes pass and we or someone we send doesn't turn up there." Simmons explains.
"108 Minutes?" Fritz asks "You were watching Lost when you created that weren't you?" He asks and Jemma nods "And you didn't invite me." He says looking annoyed at that.
"You were playing band hero." Simmons defends.
"Simmons she said that Quinn put a bracelet on her that will prevent her location from being told via GPS." Coulson points out.
"Shouldn't matter." Simmons comments "Skye's code should by past that but if it doesn't using a program she created which I have, with your help." She says looking at Fitz "We should still be able to get the coordinates from this end." Simmons explains.
"I'm going to call Director Fury tell him that Skye's called and she's going to need an extraction." Coulson comments.
"I'm going to start the plane. From what Skye said Europe seems like the most likely option and it's going to take us a while to get there." May comments and both her and Coulson leave the room.
"She's okay." Simmons says relieved once May and Coulson leave the room.
"Yeah, she is." Fitz says also relieved.
"I wouldn't celebrate now, she's got a long way to go before she is safe and she did avoid the question whenever she was asked if she was hurt." Ward points out though he too was very, very relieved to hear from Skye.
"You had to point that out didn't you?' Simmons tells him "I was trying not to think about it." Simmons admits.
As soon as she hung up the phone with her parents and the rest of the team Skye dropped the phone on the ground, stepped on it and smashed it. Then remembering what her mother said she leaves the alley in search of a woman's cloths shop that is still open.
It doesn't take her long before she finds a store still open and where all the signage is in English.
"We're closing in five minutes." The owner tells Skye ask she walks in.
"I won't be that long." Skye says and she first heads to the jeans section where she gets a pair of black jeans in her size. Once she collects them she goes and gets a long brown coat to replace her short black leather one as well as a new tank top and a buttoned down long sleave blue top.
"Do you have somewhere I could put all this on?" Skye asks curious as she pays "I want to wear it now." She explains.
"There are change rooms out the back, you can use them, but hurry." The owner tells Skye.
"I will, thanks." Skye says.
As she in changing she notices that the cuts on her stomach and torso may be a bit worse than what she thought they were, that there is more than just a few pieces of glass sticking into her, and that hanging from a pipe with what is likely a broken arm wasn't the best idea she could have had. Leaving her torn and bloody clothes in the dressing room Skye un ties her hair which was up for once and leaves the store, but not through the front like she came but through the back door which see sees.
Checking her watch to see how much time she has until she has to message Simmons Skye walks around the area, amongst the people trying her best to blend in and stay hidden at the same time. Something that as the sun has now completely set is quite easy to do as long as she avoids direct light as much as possible. As she passes a chemist she debates going in to get herself some pain medication and supplies to treat her cuts and remove the glass, but she decides against it for two reasons, the first being that Quinn knows she's hurt so likely has people keeping an eye out for her and her second reason being that she doesn't want to dull her senses in case Quinn and the Super Soldiers find her.
It is five minutes until Skye is due to leave her message for Simmons and everyone is down in the Lab and they are on group call with Director Fury and Commander Hill so that they can see exactly where Skye is.
"It should be any minute now." Simmons tells the group.
"And you can decode the encryption?" Ward asks wanting to make sure.
"Skye left the program. The program and Skye herself are the only things that can. She created this encryption for this sole purpose, only she and I have ever seen it." Simmons explains.
Ward nods and everyone stands in silence for several minutes. "That's her." Simmons says referring to the message that was just posted.
"How long will the encryption take?" Coulson asks.
"About a minute." Simmons answers. "Done." She says a minute later. "That's the latitude and longitude for where the computer she is using is, and the clue to where nearby she is 'don't tell me what I can't do.'' Simmons says.
"Locke." FitzSimmons say together the second Simmons read out Skye's clue.
"What?" Coulson asks confused.
"It's a quote that a character on the show Lost used to say a lot." Simmons explains as looks at nearby locations to try and find the one that Skye will be at "Got it." Simmons says "Two streets over from the internet café that Skye used there is an abandoned building that used to be a shop called Jacob's it's a two story building Skye will be on the second level." Simmons tells everyone.
"How do you figure that?" Ward asks interested.
"Skye liked Locke more than Jacob." Simmons explains simply. Everyone else is still confused but because Simmons seems so sure they don't question it.
"Maria?" Coulson asks knowing that she is the closest.
"I can personally be there in half an hour." Agent Hill informs Coulson. "I'll get her out and take her back to my base where she can receive medical treatment if needed."
"Good." Coulson tells her. "I told her not to trust anyone when we spoke so you are going to have to prove to her that I sent you." Coulson informs her.
"How do I do that?" Agent Hill asks confused.
"Tell her that you're the welcome wagon, and that she didn't stick to her end of the bargain." Coulson explains "She'll believe you then."
"Will do. I'll go get your girl. Phil, Melinda, see you soon." Maria tells them before ending the call.
"How long until you will be at Commander Hill's base?" Director Fury asks.
"About seven hours." Melinda answers wishing that they could be there faster.
"Good." Fury says before ending his part of the call.
"She's nearly safe." Melinda says to Coulson.
"She's nearly safe." Coulson repeats as he hesitantly reaches out and grabs Melinda's hand which to his surprise she grasps instead of pulling away from.
As soon as she sent her message to Simmons Skye heads to the building that she decided would be where she would wait.
As she walks up the stairs to the higher level of her she can feel herself getting tired and not from all the running that she has done. Once she reaches that level she looks around and tries to decide the best place for her to wait, she decides on a little alcove across from the stairs so that she can see if anyone comes up the stairs.
She is tempted to sit down but then she realises that if she does then there is the possibility that she will not be able to get up so she stands instead. As she stands she looks down at the bracelet and wonders why Quinn hasn't found her yet when has that around her wrist, it's bound to have a GPS tracker in it after all, then Skye remembers the bracelets purpose and realised that to make sure that no one else could tell her location it's likely that Quinn also made it impossible for him to find her as well.
For half an hour Skye stands feeling herself getting more and more tired until she hears a noise downstairs. She listens carefully and she realises that it is a person, and that the person is coming upstairs. When Skye hears the person her first instinct is to run but she doesn't for two reasons, the first being that the person could be sent by her parents and the second is that even if she does run she isn't sure that she will get too far.
A couple of minutes after she first heard the person moving downstairs she sees her.
"Skye?" The Woman in blue pants and a blue jacket with dark hair asks.
"Who are you?" Skye asks not confirming or denying who she is.
"My Name is Maria Hill I am an Assistant Director at S.H.I.E.L.D, your father sent me." Maria tells Skye and it then that Skye notices the S.H.I.E.L.D logo on the side of her jacket.
"My father told me not to trust anyone." Skye says remembering Coulson's words though she does hope that the woman is telling the truth because she isn't sure how much longer she can remain standing.
"He told me that you would say that so I was to tell you that I'm the welcome wagon, and you didn't stick to your end of the bargain." Commander Hill tells Skye "I've got an extraction team standing by to take us back to my base where your parents are currently on their way to."
"He really sent you." Skye says relieved "Good, I really don't think I could have fought or ran if I had to." Skye informs Commander Hill.
"Are you badly hurt?" Commander Hill asks worried as she notices that Skye seems to be holding her left arm and that it only seems like she is still standing because she is leaning against the wall
"You could say that." Skye says standing attempting to stand up straight but instead collapses to the ground.
"This is Commander Hill I need immediate extraction with medical team now!" She says as she rushes to Skye.
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