A/N: Review Response: Review 1. (Guest) I'm glad you caught up! I promised more metahumans we love (as Inhumans in this story), and who doesn't love Vibe? I do have certain pairings planned, but you'll have to wait and see what they are... more on that soon. Review 2. (Indigene Syke) Cisco is great. It's a lot of fun to write from his perspective. More exciting stuff coming soon!

Enjoy chapter 8!

"Caitlin, wake up."

Caitlin groaned, wincing as she sat up. Simmons was next to her, with a careful hand on her arm and a concerned look on her face. There were multiple people in the room, and Caitlin looked around hurriedly. "Cisco -."

She saw Daisy and Coulson standing a few feet away, near what looked like a statue. Shock trapped her voice when she recognized it as Cisco, covered in a rocky cocoon with his hand outstretched in her direction. It looked like he'd been trying to walk when he was trapped.

"Caitlin, I need you to talk to me," Simmons said in a gentle but commanding tone. "Is your vision normal?"

Caitlin answered all her questions, knowing she was checking for signs of a head injury. She didn't have one. She felt a little off, kind of blank, but she was fine chalking that up to the fact that her friend was in a cocoon right next to her.

"I thought it was a fast process?" she asked.

"Usually it is," Simmons said, offering her a hand to help her stand. "Fitz is bringing up some equipment now, and once we've done a preliminary analysis we'll bring him back to the Playground."

"Snow, what happened?" Coulson asked.

Caitlin looked at Cisco for a second, and then at the rocky pieces near where she'd been laying. The remnants of the man who'd smashed the terrigen crystal, if she had to guess. She was a bit fuzzy on how it had happened, but she'd definitely seen the crystal collide with the floor before she'd passed out. She explained it to Coulson and the others.

Coulson seemed the most concerned. "Where did they get a terrigen crystal? And if he didn't suspect he was an Inhuman, why break one himself?"

"Maybe he didn't want to survive," Daisy said darkly. "This is HYDRA, right? Maybe he just wanted to try to take out as many people as possible once he found out we had control of the base."

"You're lucky," Simmons said to Caitlin. "If you'd been conscious when the mist was released… well, it's fortunate you fell the way you did, so you couldn't breathe it in properly."

Caitlin nodded, stepping away from the crumbled pieces of rock that had been the HYDRA agent and closer to Cisco. She couldn't clearly see his expression from beneath the rock, but she didn't have to – it was clear enough from his frozen posture that he was scared.

Barry ran in, with Fitz by his side. Fitz handed Simmons a kit. Barry stood next to Caitlin, looking at Cisco. "Fitz told me, but…" He turned to Caitlin. "You're okay?"

"Fine," she said quietly. "Just worried about Cisco."

"He's alive," Simmons said. "Heartbeat is strong."

"So we can move him?" Fitz asked.

"Yes. Carefully!" she cried as everyone went to help. She ran ahead to prep for a more detailed analysis. Coulson, Daisy, Barry, and Fitz carried Cisco back to the plane, Caitlin following close behind. He was alive, she had to keep reminding herself. She had no idea what kind of change he was going through, but Barry had been like this, and he was fine. Cisco would be too.

She hoped.

They all waited near the lab as Simmons looked at him. Caitlin didn't know enough about the transformation process to be any help, and stayed back to avoid getting in the way. Simmons looked at Cisco's husk for a good twenty minutes before walking over and saying there was nothing she could do.

"As far as I can tell, he's fine," she reported. "His body may just take longer to rewrite the DNA."

Caitlin sat down in a corner of the lab after that. She wouldn't leave until something had changed. Barry couldn't seem to sit still, and went back to the HYDRA base to look around with several members of the team. Caitlin was staring into nothingness, her thoughts minimal and her emotions warded off, to be dealt with later.

She didn't realize someone was trying to get her attention until a water bottle was held in front of her, and she focused after a few seconds of confusion. It was Fitz.

"Thought you could use a drink," he said. "I can get you something stronger if you'd like, but Simmons said you might have a head injury, so I thought water would be best." The awkward checkup was endearing to her, and she accepted the water with a grateful nod.

"You're sure you feel okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said mechanically. Though she wasn't completely, he seemed to believe her. He also seemed to realize she was more focused on Cisco than herself.

"Simmons is running more tests," Fitz said, gesturing to her with his head. "She's running them again, actually. She ran all the usual ones before. Seems to think she's missed something, though I know she hasn't." He was quiet. "Daisy isn't worried, and she's been through the process. Try to keep that in mind."

She nodded again, with a low "thanks," and he stopped trying to talk to her. He did stay next to her though, his gaze moving between the unchanged Cisco, herself, and Simmons.

It was silent in the lab for what felt like a long time before a sound made Caitlin perk up. Simmons ran over to Cisco, Fitz and Caitlin a beat behind her. As they reached him, another tiny piece of the rocky husk fell to the floor with a clatter.

"He's coming out," Simmons said, relief clear in her voice.

Caitlin watched with rapt attention as the husk started breaking apart in larger pieces, so that one second his hand was free, then his arm and a kneecap. The last of it broke away from his face, and Cisco staggered forward, tripping over the debris. Fitz caught at one arm, Simmons the other, and Cisco took in a shuddering breath. Caitlin looked at him and saw that his mouth was wide, his eyes focused but staring past her.

"Cisco? Cisco, are you okay?" she demanded.

"Cisco, you're free of it," Simmons said in her gentle tone.

Fitz started to move him towards a chair, and Caitlin pulled it out for them. They had just sat Cisco down in it when the man finally reacted, gasping and looking around.

"What the -?"

"Hey, it's okay!" Fitz started.

"What the hell just happened?" Cisco asked, looking between Fitz and Simmons. "You two were walking somewhere… someone took you…"

Caitlin looked at Simmons, concern drawing her brows together.

"We're right here," Simmons said, as Fitz said "no one's taken us anywhere."

Cisco looked at them carefully. "It wasn't like this. It was weird – it was like colorful and fragmented…"

"Do you remember what happened?" Simmons asked.

He looked at Caitlin. "The guy threw a terrigen crystal. It started reacting with me… next thing I know, this rock is falling off me and you guys are here. But I saw you somewhere else, I swear." He shook his head. "I saw you helping me out of the cocoon. But I saw something else too."

Fitz and Simmons shared some kind of look. "We can worry about it later," Simmons said. "Daisy will be able to help. Right now we just need to make sure you're alright physically…"

Caitlin stopped really listening and watched as they spent the next hour talking through the tests with Cisco, and recounting his emergence from the cocoon to first Barry, and then Coulson and Daisy. Caitlin sat in her spot in the corner, listening with one ear to see if she needed to pay attention. Nothing seemed to overly concern her, so for the most part she half-listened, half stared through them, aware of their motions but not focusing on them. She was tired, so this detachment let her be present for anything of importance, but not drain herself any further.

"…might be related to your power," Daisy was saying, at one point. "We'll talk about it more tomorrow, after you get some rest."

"Since we're not sure exactly what your powers are, I want to put you in a containment module tonight," Coulson said.

"Yeah, probably for the best," Cisco said.

More talking for a while, mostly about the containment module. Then Caitlin heard her name, and trained sharp eyes on Coulson. "Snow seems shaken. You might want to check on her."

"I'm fine," she said, standing. She startled them, apparently, by the way their eyes snapped to her. "It's just been a stressful day."

Coulson studied her, seeming suspicious. She knew they thought she was in shock or something, and if Simmons hadn't been so concerned with Cisco, she probably would have given Caitlin more attention. Caitlin wasn't in shock. She wasn't feeling like her usual self at the moment, but it wasn't shock. She just wanted to sleep. She thought Coulson saw that in her expression, because his suspicion lessened. "Get some sleep. I still want Simmons to check on you in the morning."

"Okay."

Caitlin walked to her room on her own. Barry was with the others, getting Cisco settled in his containment module for the night. It was only as she went to lay down that Caitlin belatedly realized something: though she'd been concerned while Cisco was in the cocoon, she hadn't felt the piercing fear she'd felt before they'd been thrown in the room. She hadn't felt much of anything.

Maybe she was in shock, her emotions dampened by a blanket. It was possible she wasn't recognizing it in herself. She pulled the covers up over her and closed her eyes, only remotely concerned. Shock would fade, if this wasn't just being overly tired. For now, she thought it was okay to not feel things full force.

It made it much easier to drift off to sleep.

0-0

Barry leaned against the containment module, his head pressed against his arm. Guilt had been making his steps feel leaden since the HYDRA base. Yes, Cisco was okay, but that he and Caitlin had even been in danger made Barry want to bow his head in shame. He wasn't fast enough. If he had been, he could have finished fighting in the room with Bobbi and Mack, and still gotten to Cisco and Caitlin before the crystal was shattered. He'd heard Cisco yell for help, and a few minutes later, he'd heard Caitlin do it again, with more urgency. He'd run into the open, risking being hurt but needing to get to them, and once the last HYDRA agents (he hoped) were down, he'd run from the room. He'd run from the room and checked every room leading back towards the front of the building, but he'd taken too long. By the time he found the right room, Fitz and Simmons were already there. He'd run Fitz to the plane to grab a med kit, interrogating him as Fitz grabbed supplies. Then he'd gotten back to the room and seen the damage.

He looked through the window, to where Cisco sat in the containment module. His friend had his head in his hands. Cisco hadn't said much to Barry. Just commented that everything felt off, coming in and out.

Barry knew exactly how strange it felt, coming out of the cocoon, but he'd never thought things were coming in and out. He'd just thought time was playing tricks on him, as he seemed to cross the room in an instant, and a cup of coffee took sixty seconds to drop from his counter. Cisco's comment made him wonder if the feelings immediately after breaking out of the cocoon were different, depending on what the person's ability ended up being. Daisy guessed Cisco might have some sort of mental power…

"Barry?"

Barry picked his head up, forcing himself to focus on the present. "Yeah?"

Bobbi walked up to him, almost hesitantly. "I know you feel responsible for what happened, but it's not your fault. You know that, right?"

He could see flashes of guilt in her face. She wanted him to think it was her fault? "I know," he said. "The one who did it died."

Barry looked up when he saw movement, to find Mack approaching. "Bobbi, Coulson wants a report on what happened," Mack said. "He's in his office."

Bobbi smiled kindly at Barry. "We can talk later, if you want."

Barry watched Cisco move so he was lying down, and then sighed. If Cisco was going to try to sleep, there wasn't much point in Barry sticking around. He wanted to do something, anyway. Use some energy. He felt his speed kick into ignition, lightning travelling through his body. And then stopping. He shook his head, trying to blink away the black spots in his vision. He went to run forward again and leaned heavily against the wall, lightheaded.

"Whoa." Mack was next to him, one hand steady on Barry's arm. "When's the last time you ate?"

"Before the mission."

"Man, I thought you were smart."

Barry tried to seem offended, but Mack had him caught. "I guess I'm going to the kitchen."

"Damn right," Mack said. "And I'm going with you."

It wasn't like Barry was about to pass out. It wasn't that bad yet. At the moment, his only problem was trying to use his speed, not walking in general. He could tell that Mack wouldn't take no for an answer, though, and walked with him to the kitchen. He munched on an apple while heating up takeout, and then sat across from Mack. "You want some?" he asked.

"I'm good."

Barry loaded up his fork and started eating with a shrug. Now that he'd realized he was hungry, food was his top priority. Mack didn't talk as Barry ate, and when Barry finished, Mack was shaking his head. "I can't believe you can eat all that, and look like that."

"One of the perks of being an Inhuman?"

"Being a speedster, more like." Mack half-smiled. "Speedster. I like that."

Now that Barry was full again, he felt that need to be doing something. "You wanna spar or something?"

Mack's smile faded. "You're worried about Cisco. Us beating each other up won't help anything. How about a video game?"

It wasn't as much movement as Barry was thinking, but it would be just as distracting. And Mack was right: it would hurt less. So he stood and followed Mack to the rec room. He would just go for a run on the treadmill after.

0-0

Fitz was early, moving to the lab the next morning: so early that he beat Jemma there. Then again, she'd stayed later than him, setting everything up for biochemical analysis before turning in for the night. He found everything ready to start, and let the computer start its workup of the husk samples. He started the analysis of Cisco's husk first. No point in rushing the analysis of the dead HYDRA agent's.

He had a little while to himself, as he waited for the results, and found his thoughts wandering a lot. Which meant when Mack walked into the lab, Fitz was a bit startled.

"Easy, Turbo," Mack said. He looked around. "I'm surprised you're the only one in here."

"The others might not be up yet."

Mack was shaking his head. "It's not that early. Then again, Simmons isn't in here…"

Fitz partially smiled.

"Daisy's checking on Cisco now. You think Simmons should check on Caitlin again?"

"I'm sure she's fine," Fitz said, glancing up at Mack as he started running a test on a piece of rocky husk from the HYDRA agent. Cisco's results were in, but he knew better than to start interpreting them without Jemma. "She'd just seen one of her best friends in a cocoon, so her reaction seems fairly normal."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Mack walked over to him. "You know Caitlin's an almost perfect mix of you two, right?" Mack asked.

Fitz frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Fitz, it's kind of freaky how similar the three of you are."

Fitz didn't quite get it, and saw exasperation cross Mack's features. "She's her own person," Fitz said.

"Of course she is," Mack said. "But it's funny to find people who are similar to someone you know, and I definitely never thought I'd meet someone like either you or Simmons. Now I've met one who's like both of you." He seemed to see that Fitz wasn't grasping his point, because he sighed. "It's not important."

Fitz brought his mind back to the computer, slowly giving them DNA. Sometimes he just didn't find the relevance others did in information.

It was barely two minutes later when Jemma walked in quickly, apologizing for being late. "Oh, you started the analysis!"

"Finished, actually," Fitz said.

She walked over to his side, placing her hand on his shoulder as she leaned closer to look at the screen. Fitz was very aware of how close she was to him, her hair almost brushing his cheek. It made it difficult to focus on the computer.

"This looks fairly normal," she said, and Fitz thought she sounded a bit disappointed.

"What is it?"

She straightened up, taking her hand away from his shoulder. "I thought there would be some evidence as to why he took so long to emerge."

"Why do some kids take to riding a bike and others need weeks?" Mack asked. "Everyone's different."

Jemma looked at him for a second and then sighed. "I suppose that is a good enough reason. It's not very helpful, though."

"I didn't expect we'd get much from the husk," Fitz said. "If we can get the record of Cisco's blood from before yesterday, we can compare that. We just need a good hacker."

"I'll fetch Daisy," Jemma said.

"Wait." Jemma stopped at Mack's voice and looked at him. "Daisy's with Cisco now, and they just started talking. They probably need a little while. I was thinking you could check up on Caitlin?" Mack noticed Fitz's partial frown, because he looked at him. "I know you're not worried about her, Turbo, but they're still really new to this life. I want to make sure we don't scare them away from it."

"Way to make me sound insensitive," Fitz muttered. "I just didn't want to make her feel like she should be out of sorts."

Jemma touched Fitz on the arm. "Then we'll just make a social visit, yeah? Not as scientists, but friends."

Fitz looked at Mack. "Are you coming?"

Mack shook his head. "Coulson wants me in his office soon. Probably just for information on the HYDRA attack at the convenience store."

"Well keep us updated if you learn anything," Fitz said as he walked by. They hadn't gone over the list of victims a second time, because the decision to capture the HYDRA base had been so sudden. Fitz wondered if Coulson had found something they'd missed.

As they turned the hall to Caitlin's room they almost ran into her. "Oh, good morning!" Jemma said. "We were just coming to see you."

Caitlin looked between them. "Is Cisco okay?"

"Daisy's talking to him," Fitz said reassuringly.

She nodded. Fitz thought there was something off in her gaze, which took him a few seconds to identify as distantness. Just like the day before, once Cisco was in the husk.

"Do you want to grab some coffee with us and then check on him?" Jemma asked.

"Sure."

Jemma started telling her about the analysis they were doing, comparing Cisco's results before and after terrigenesis, as they walked. Fitz hung back, letting them get into the biology he could follow if he tried, but usually left to Jemma. Caitlin was holding a conversation with her fine, and Fitz decided she was okay. Being a little distant was normal, every now and then.

Barry was in the kitchen, loading a plate with a mound of scrambled eggs. "Hey," he greeted cheerfully. "You guys want some of this?"

Fitz smiled as they told him to eat, and Jemma retrieved mugs from the cabinet. "Neither of you would happen to be good at hacking, would you?" Jemma asked once they were all sat down at the table. Fitz picked up an apple.

"I don't do computers," Caitlin said bluntly.

"I can find movies and stuff pretty well," Barry said, almost wincing.

Jemma laughed. "I'm sure you've never actually watched those movies online."

Barry ate a few bites without saying anything, his amusement clear. "Why do you need a hacker?"

"Fast access to Cisco's medical records, so we can compare them to now. We can't exactly make a formal request."

"S.T.A.R. Labs has all our information. Since some of the work can be dangerous, Dr. Wells likes to have it in case something goes wrong. It's secured, though," Barry said quickly, as if they thought it strange.

"Daisy will get it for us, when she's done with Cisco."

"That won't be for a while, but I've got a little time." Fitz turned to see Daisy in the doorway. "What am I getting for you?"

"Where's Cisco?" Barry asked.

"Changing."

Jemma explained the situation to Daisy. "I'll get it in a few minutes," Daisy said. She looked at Barry. "I know you probably want to train more."

"Help Cisco," Barry said. "I've got a fancy treadmill I can use. And Mack will probably try to beat me up if I ask."

Daisy nodded.

"Do you have any idea what his power might be?" Fitz asked.

"Not yet. He's meeting me in the gym."

"Do you want anyone else there?" Barry asked.

"Ask Cisco. Might help to have a friend there."

Might be good for all of them to be there, Fitz thought with a look at Barry and Caitlin, but he kept it to himself.