Chapter 17
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AN2: Thank you for the support. I hope you like this chapter.
Once Skye is in the position her Uncle told her to get to, with her father by her side, she looks to Clint and he nods at her. Focusing Skye stands up and fires the arrow and once she has managed to hit exactly where she intended to, the middle of the gate, she squats down again.
"Nice Shot." Coulson tells his daughter impressed.
"Thanks." Skye responds as she gets a second nod from her Uncle and presses the dentation on the bow, "Learning how to shoot an arrow with Uncle Clint was my favourite thing about the last couple of weeks." Skye tells her Dad as the gate explodes.
"How has the academy been?" Coulson asks curious as they get up and head for the gate that just got blown up.
"Regular arrow heads unless I say otherwise." Clint tells Skye who nods.
"I'll tell you all about it later." Skye tells her father preparing another arrow in case she has to fire in a hurry.
"How are we going to get through the flames?" Fitz asks.
"Tony." Clint say to his friend.
"Everyone hold onto each other's hands." Tony instructs as everyone puts their weapons somewhere safe, in Clint's and Skye's case over their shoulders, and Ward leaves the rocket launcher on the ground.
"Why?" Ward asks.
"Just do it." Tony requests and one everyone is, he grabs hold of Skye's hand makes it so that no one can open their hand and then he flies. He makes sure he has gotten enough altitude so that everyone can pass over the flames before he moves.
"Tony they're firing at us." Clint tells his friend as they fly into the compound.
"Yeah, thanks, I've noticed." Tony responds and he starts to fire at the people at the same time Clint, who is closes to the bottom and the only person with one hand free, grabs the gun out of Fitz's pants waste and starts firing as well and within a few seconds there is no one else firing at them.
"Get us down, we've got to find them." Coulson instructs and that's what Tony does.
"Keep together and keep your eyes' open." Clint instructs the others as he hands Fitz back his gun.
Several floors below Quinn, the Clairvoyant and Victoria are standing in a lab.
"Bring the prisoners to me." The Clairvoyant orders his children.
"Is now really the best time Father?" Quinn asks, "We've got a S.H.I.E.L.D team above, not just any team but the team that wants us the most, we should be getting out of here."
"No, I will not run." The Clairvoyant tells his children, "I want the Coulson's alive, kill everyone else, instruct the men and bring me my prisoners." The Clairvoyant tells his children, "Both of you. That is an order." He instructs and both Hand and Quinn leave the room.
As the team make their way through the facility they are surprised by the lack of guards.
"Anyone else surprised that there doesn't seem to be more guards?" Fitz ask as just as he does the group gets fired upon again.
"You had to say something, didn't you?" Ward asks as the group takes cover and starts firing back.
"There is no evidence to prove the myth that saying something actually causes it to happen." Simmons comments.
"Not the time Jemma." Skye tells her friend as Coulson gets the last person shooting at them.
"Come on." Clint says and the group make their way in the direction that the people who were shooting at them came from. That direction leads them to a corridor with doors on either side.
"Everyone take a door." Ward suggests as he picks up the guns that the people who were shooting at them were using.
The group spreads out and each open the doors.
"This ones' locked." Skye tells the others having difficult opening the third door that she tries.
"Get back, I'll blast it." Ward says coming to his girlfriends' side.
"No need, I'll pick it." Skye say pulling out a lock pick out of her jeans pocket as she grabbed it out of her bag before they left the academy, "We don't know what or who is on the other side." she points out as a click is heard.
"Get back, I'll open it." Ward tells Skye moving her out of the way.
"He's right, get back." Clint says going to the other side of the door and looking at Ward, "Now." He says quietly and Ward bursts open the door.
"Nat." Clint says racing to his girlfriend side where she is tied to a table, "Come on wake up." Clint says shaking her as he and removing all the restraints.
"Clint?" Natasha's faint voice says then when she realises what' going on she quickly sits up.
"Take it easy." Clint tells Natasha.
"We don't have the time. We need to find Melinda and Steve, save a whole bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D scientists, and get back tec." Natasha says jumping down from the table.
"Here." Ward says handing Natasha the guns he took from the men.
"Coulson's found May. Skye and Simmons are with Steve." Fitz says coming into the room and the other three go racing into the corridor and the end where everyone else is standing.
"I'm so glad you're okay." Skye says hugging her mother tightly.
"You okay?" Melinda asks her friend when her daughter lets her go.
"Fine, you?" Natasha asks her friend.
"I'm good." Melinda responds.
"Can we get out of here now?" Simmons asks
"No." Steve says, "We've got several S.H.I.E.L.D scientists and tec to find first." He tells everyone,
"We've still got our mission." He says looking at Natasha and Melinda.
"He's right. We've got to compete the mission." Melinda says, "Fury doesn't know what the Tec does, or at least he told us he didn't, and that means that we can't let whoever is behind this keep it."
"Not whoever, the Clairvoyant. The Clairvoyant is behind this." Skye tells her mother.
"Then we definitely can't let him keep it." Natasha says.
"Okay we split up." Coulson comments, "Fitz you go with Tony, find the tec." He says looking at the two geniuses, both of whom nod, "Simmons go with Steve. Ward you've got Skye, look after her." He tells his agent.
"Of course Sir." Ward assures his boss.
"That leaves you guys and us." Coulson says looking at Natasha and Clint.
"Spread out." Coulson says.
"May." Melinda says stopping her daughter before her and Ward can go in their direction.
"Yeah?" Skye asks.
"Be careful." She tells her daughter.
"Always." Skye assures her mother and the group heads in different directions.
Unknown to the group hidden in a hidden corridor of the corridor that they are standing in is Quinn and Hand who are listening to everything that they are saying.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Quinn says grabbing his sister's arm.
"Let go of me Ian." Victoria tells her brother, "I'm going to help father."
"No, you're not. We've got to get out of her." Quinn tells her.
"What, and leave father?" Victoria ask surprised and Quinn nods, "Look I know you are a gutless, spineless coward, but I'm not." Victoria tells her brother, "I will not run and leave father here alone."
"This isn't about bravery Victoria, father wouldn't want us to go back down there." Quinn tells his sister, "What father cares about more than anything is destroying S.H.I.E.L.D, we owe it to him to make sure that happen even if he's not the one doing the destroying." Quinn tells her, "If any of them see you, then you are done. Not even you would be able to talk your way out of that." Quinn tells her, "We've got to trust father to handle them and if he can't then we owe it to him to finish his work." He tells her, "You know I'm right." Quinn tells his younger half-sister.
"I've never said that you we're right and I never will." Victoria tells his brother.
"You just did." Quinn says the smug smile back on his face, "Come on, before we're found." He says puling Victoria in the direction of the helicopter.
After leaving the rest of the group Skye and Ward are walking side by side Ward having his weapon drawn and Skye having an arrow ready to fire just in case.
"You know you're pretty good with that." Ward says referring to the Bow, "Hitting the gate from the distance you were at was pretty kick ass, and I noticed an arrow in the leg of one of the people who were shooting at us." Ward tells his girlfriend.
"How do you know that it wasn't Uncle's Clint's shot?" Skye asks interested as she is positive that it was hers but she wants to know how he knows.
"The end of the arrow was blue." Ward tells her, "Plus there was another guy with an Arrow to the chest. The blue arrow hit the guy in the lower leg. I may not be an archery expert but I am a weapons and I'm guessing that that was the point, incapacitate not kill. That sounds more like you than your Uncle." Ward tells her.
"Yeah, it was me." Skye confirms, "It's been hard work learning, but I've put in the practice and I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it." Skye comments.
"I'd say you are." Ward tells her and they hear a noise from around the corner, "Stay behind me." Ward instructs raising his gun and Skye follows him though she has her bow ready and is fully prepared to step around him and shoot if she has to.
"There's nothing here." Ward comments lowering his gun slightly.
"Doesn't look like it." Skye comments and as silently as possible she removes her Quiver from behind her back and use it to hit Ward over the head with it, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Skye tells him a tear coming to her eye, hating that she hurt him because one thing that she truly hates is someone hurting someone that they are in a relationship with, but knowing that she had no choice "I'm sorry, but if you knew what I have to do you would never let me go." Skye says placing a kiss on Ward's cheek, "I'm sorry." Skye says once more before standing up, and putting her Quiver back on her back and puts the bow over her shoulder almost positive that she isn't going to get a chance to use them but needing them with her because it's like she has a piece of her Uncle with her, a piece of her family, a reminder of why she is doing what she is doing. Looking at Ward one more time Skye makes her way down the corridor, knowing exactly where she has to go and exactly what she will have to do when she gets downstairs.
Several corridors and a floor away Melinda and Coulson are looking through rooms trying to find the missing S.H.I.E.L.D scientists.
"You're not hurt are you?" Coulson asks concerned.
"I'm fine." Melinda assures him, "We jumped out of a plane landed and then were made unconscious. There wasn't time to be hurt." She tells him.
"Did Fury give you anything else but to get the tec and our people back?" Coulson asks.
"No. He said that he doesn't even know what the tec does, not sure if that was the truth or not." Melinda tells him as she opens one of the doors.
"Wouldn't be the first time he kept a secret." Coulson tells Melinda.
"Phil." Melinda suddenly says and she races into the room she just opened the door to.
"What is it?" Coulson asks then he sees, "Oh no." He says racing in too.
"They're all dead." Melinda says checking the pulses of the five bodies on the ground, all wearing S.H.I.E.L.D lab coats. "We've got to find the others, and get a team here so they get treated how they deserve to be." Melinda tells Coulson.
"I'll make sure they are." Coulson assures his wife, "Come on we've got to find the others." He tells her and after one last look at the bodies of their dead co-workers Melinda and Coulson leave the room in search of the others.
After leaving Ward Skye makes her way down a corridor and down another flight of stairs. Once she is on the lower floor she follows a long dimly lit corridor to the end where she pushes open and door and walks in, removing her bow from around her shoulder as she does, knowing exactly who will be on the other side and deciding even though she is almost positive that she isn't going to get a chance to use it that she's going to try anyway.
As Melinda and Coulson make their way back down the corridor they meet up with Steve, Simmons, Tony and Fitz, Steve having his shield back and Fitz holding some kind of case.
"We've got the tec." Fitz says referring to the case that he is holding.
"Good." Melinda responds.
"What about the scientists?" Steve asks the others.
"Dead." Coulson responds as Natasha and Clint come down the corridor.
"Have you seen Skye and Ward?" Melinda asks her friends.
"No." Clint responds the worry in his voice clear.
"We've got to find them." Melinda says and the group sticking together head the direction that none of them came from.
"May Coulson, I've been waiting for this day for a long time." A figure in the darkness tells Skye.
"Only my Mom is allowed to call me May." Skye informs the Clairvoyant, "You can call me Skye." She says walking so that she is standing in the middle of the room, "What do I call you? Clairvoyant? Mr Clairvoyant?" Skye asks.
"You can call me Herbert." The Clairvoyant says stepping into the light and allow Skye to look at the person who ruined her life for the first time.
"What no last name?" Skye asks.
"None that you need to know." Herbert tells Skye.
"Good to know." Skye says and she quickly grabs an arrow out of her quiver, raises her bow and fires.
"Not nice Skye." The Clairvoyant says raising a force field of electrical energy just like Skye can do to stop the arrow, "I just want to talk to you." He tells her, "That's the reason I have sent all of my men away. You are safe." He tells her.
"Yeah, why don't I believe you?" Skye asks using her powers to raise her own force field to protect herself, she knows it is very week force field but she doesn't want him to realise that.
A couple of minutes after the group joined back up they make their way down another corridor where they see a figure laying on the ground.
"Ward." Coulson says racing to his side.
"Ward wake up." Simmons says shaking him awake.
"Ahh, what happened?' Ward asks waking up, "Where's Skye?" he asks noticing that she isn't there.
"We were hoping that you could tell us, what do you remember?" Coulson asks.
"I'm not sure." Ward responds honestly sitting up.
"There are two heat signatures downstairs as well as the same energy that is Skye's powers." Tony informs everyone.
"Skye and the Clairvoyant." Natasha realises.
"Let's go." Ward says standing up swaying on the spot for a second,
"Wow, are you sure you're okay?" Simmons asks worried
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ward tells her, "Let's get Skye." He tells her.
The group make their way down to where Tony says the heat signatures are coming from. When they burst into the room they see Sky and the man who they are guessing is the Clairvoyant. The Clairvoyant lowers his force field to put one up behind Skye to stop one of the others coming closer and preventing them from firing at him.
"DON'T TOUCH THE FORCEFIELD, IT WILL KILL YOU, EVEN THROUGH YOUR SUIT UNCLE TONY." Skye yells as she takes advantage of the fact that the Clairvoyant needs to concentrate to put up the force field by lowering hers and sending a very strong stun blast of energy at the Clairvoyant which does nothing.
"Our powers are the same Skye, they don't affect us." The Clairvoyant reveals, "But no matter, I will show you just what you are capable of once I deal with them." The Clairvoyant says pushing energy out so that it starts to form a large ball of energy in front of him.
"I won't let you hurt them." Skye tells the Clairvoyant.
"I did want you alive Mr Coulson but I believe you daughter will provide the answers I need." The Clairvoyant tells Phil.
"I will stop you." Skye says raising her bow trying to get a clear shot something that is difficult to do with the energy that the Clairvoyant has in front of him.
"If you kill me then there is no one to control the energy that I have produced, it will be unstoppable, and it will kill all of them, maybe even you." The Clairvoyant tells Skye.
"You're right." Skye says lowering her bow and dropping it on the ground.
"Skye, what are you doing?" Coulson asks his daughter worried.
"What I have to do." Skye tells her father, "You're right if I kill you now the energy will kill everyone but if I draw all of it into me then they can get the shot off." Skye tells the Clairvoyant.
"You do that and you will die." The Clairvoyant tells her, "On the outside you might be able to handle the energy but drawing this much energy into you will cook your brain, it will kill you." The Clairvoyant tells Skye.
"I know." Skye tells him, "But I will protect them and that's all that matters."
"NO." Everyone's worried voice from behind the force field say.
"Cap keep them back." Skye says turning around to face them as Captain Rogers is struggling to keep Melinda and Coulson back from the force field while Tony is doing the same with Natasha, Clint and Ward while trying to look for a way through himself, all three of them looking as well,, "This is what I have to do, otherwise we're all dead and he has no one to stop him." Skye tells her family, "I love you all so much, but I've got to do this, I'm sorry." Skye says turning back to face the Clairvoyant.
"You're bluffing." The Clairvoyant tells Skye, "I know you. This family means everything to you. It's the one thing you've always wanted. Doing this will hurt them and you don't want that." The Clairvoyant tells Skye.
"You're right I don't want to hurt my family." Skye tells the Clairvoyant, "But if my choices are either I die or they do then I'll choose to save them every time." Skye says and focuses on the single desire of drawing the Clarivoyant's power into herself to save everyone as she raises both her hands one going in the direction of the ball of energy that the Clairvoyant has produced the other towards the force field.
"You've got a lot to learn, we can both do that." The Clairvoyant says and attempts to draw the energy out of Skye but finds it difficult, something which Skye quickly realises
"No, you've got a lot to learn." Skye tells him, "I've known about this power for three months and I already understand it better than you. The desire behind why you're using this ability matters, but more than that whoever or whatever you stole this power from had a moral compass much better than you. The reason behind what you want to use this for matters, the more selfless the more pure the reason the more you can do, something you'll never understand." Skye tells the Clairvoyant putting every ounce of strength she has behind drawing the Clairvoyant's energy out of him and into her.
In the next minute many things happen seemingly at once, the blue energy that was in front of the Clairvoaynt gets drawn into Skye, the Force field falls, Coulson fires a shot directly at the Clairvoyant's chest and both Skye and the Clairvoyant fall to the ground.
"No." Melinda and Coulson say rushing to their daughters' side everyone else, except for Steve who went to check the Clairvoyant has done the same except they have stayed several steps back to be respectful.
"Come on May, open your eyes." Melinda says pulling her daughter onto her lap her voice barley understandable due to her crying.
"No Baby Girl, come on, don't do this." Coulson begs tears rolling down his face.
"He's dead." Steve informs the others.
"Is she..?" Clint ask not even being able to get the question out.
"I can't get a pulse." Coulson is says barely able to get the sentence out when all off a sudden Skye's eyes open and she breaths.
"Oh thank god." Coulson says as Melinda hugs her daughter and Coulson hugs them both, "You're okay." Melinda says as she hugs her daughter.
"I'm not okay Mom." Skye says causing her mother to end the hug to look at her, "I'm dying." She reveals.
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