Twenty Eight

She wasn't sure how long she had been drifting absentmindedly through space. After Nero's men had finished their dirty work, they dragged her off towards an escape pod and launched it into space. Emily was aware of her surroundings. She was even aware of the pain burning through her. She tried ignoring it. Pain was irrelevant at the moment. She knew in the end that if anything did happen, she would more than likely survive… as much as she preferred not surviving such an ordeal.

Emily tried plugging her mind into where the escape pod was headed. She couldn't read the coordinates – her head throbbed too much to get a decent reading. Instead, Emily was forced to sit back and try to keep herself from losing control.

She'd nearly lost control back at the Narada. She wasn't sure what would have happened if she did lose control on a ship. The thought had never occurred to her until then that losing control would be a bad idea. Hundreds of innocent lives could be put at risk if she lost control.

A contingency plan was desperately needed to avert such a possibility. Director Fury had built what he called a 'safe room' for people like her. She had often wondered what would happen if she was thrown into that room. Coulson always used to reassure her that the room would never be used. He'd taken her to Xavier's School for the Gifted for the sole reason to teach Emily how to control her powers. It was only after she went through a summer of training as a young student that they moved to Georgia. Even then she had to constantly keep her powers under control. Yet, there was always the small spark of fear that she would inevitably lose control.

She closed her eyes and tried blocking out the constant beeping that sounded in the distance. Wherever the escape pod was taking her, she knew it would be a long journey.

.

.

It was barely the end of summer when Emily found herself running along the sidewalks of Manhattan. Since moving to Georgia, Coulson had taken her on several trips during the summer as a way of easing her into their new life. Though she managed to avoid running into several people along the way during her escape attempt.

It wasn't necessarily a means of escaping.

She wanted to explore the city since it was where her parents came from. Her mother was from Brooklyn, while her father had lived in Manhattan for most of his life. She'd heard stories about how they met and how they started their careers on the Atlantis.

Though Emily had no desire to see her parents again, that didn't mean she wasn't eager to explore their history. She'd never been to Manhattan before. Coulson had stopped by the office to drop off some paperwork and work with new recruits while Maria kept an eye on her.

Emily took full advantage of Maria's slight distraction – a mistake the brunette wouldn't make again – and she made a run for it. She knew she would pay the price for running away once Maria found her, and the brunette would find her eventually. She had dozens of methods towards finding missing people, including Emily. And now, she was beginning to regret running away.

She could see why so many adults told children never to stray from their parents in the big city. The buildings were huge and daunting. Everywhere she looked, there were either people, buildings or cars surrounding her. Sure, there were a few trees every now and then. But, the city was huge and easy to get lost in. Emily felt more than overwhelmed with the realization that she could be lost.

She should have known better than to slip away from Maria's watchful eyes. Yet nothing could have stopped her from wanting to explore the city further. Despite the fear of knowing that she could be lost for good, there was also a certain air of excitement stirring within her chest. She rarely allowed herself the luxury of exploring whenever she was with McCoy in Georgia. Mostly because his parents were equally cautious as Coulson of them slipping away.

Eventually, Emily finally came to a halt near the end of a street.

She blinked a few times when she noticed that the street split into what looked like a park. People were walking to and from the park, telling her that it was safer than the sidewalks at the moment. She'd already nearly gotten run over by a few pedestrians.

The nerve of those people, she thought in annoyance. You'd think they were used to seeing a seven-year-old running around without any parents.

Emily almost laughed at the thought. Coulson had slowly but surely been working on ways to coax her into trusting him. There were times when she really wanted to believe that he'd adopted her for a good reason. Yet, Emily couldn't bring herself to figure out why he went out of his way to show that he cared. It wasn't as if he would keep her around forever. She had a feeling that once she was old enough, he would kick her out and force her to fend for herself.

She decided it wasn't worth dwelling on the thought.

Maybe if she was lucky, someone would pick her off the street and take pity on her. It would save her the agony of what would likely follow when Coulson did find her. Or worse, when Maria found her.

A shiver swept through Emily as she thought of how angry the brunette could get. She had seen Maria when she was angry, and it hadn't been a pretty site. Emily simply stayed in the background as Maria yelled her head off at whoever was on the receiving end of her wrath. The only thing she did know at that point was that she didn't want to be on that end of Maria's wrath. The brunette knew when to dish out her anger, especially when it was well-received.

She paused when she noticed a group of kids were chasing each other around a fountain. For a moment, Emily was tempted to join them. She never once experienced what it was like to just be a kid. Even after Coulson adopted her, years of habits formed aboard Starships took away any chances she had at being a kid.

Summoning up whatever courage she had left, Emily carefully made her way towards the small group until she saw what they were really doing.

A girl who looked to be around her age was trying to escape a couple of older boys tormenting her. Emily narrowed her eyes with annoyance after she realized that these kids weren't playing with the girl. She looked as if she was out of breath and on the verge of tears. She'd dealt with bullies enough times to know that was what those kids were. She'd made enough kids cry at school to know how to handle them, and this was another opportunity to do so.

"Hey! Leave her alone, you jerks!"

Before the biggest boy in the group could reach the brunette girl, Emily jumped in front of him. The girl finally stopped running and nearly fell to the ground when she realized someone had seen them bullying her.

"What's a tiny thing like you gonna do about it?" the largest kid sneered while the others snickered in amusement.

Emily nearly rolled her eyes at the question. After going through two years of elementary school, she'd learned how to defend herself quickly. The larger kid was in for a nasty surprise when her fist suddenly collided with his nose. He and the others stumbled back when she threw her legs out seconds later, using whatever momentum she had to knock them off their feet.

"That's what I'm gonna do about it," she retorted without missing a beat. "Now if you clowns are finished, you can leave before things get any worse. Believe me when I say you're not the first idiots I've dealt with bullying someone."

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the kids as they scrambled back to their feet. Their eyes widened with panic when they realized that she was capable of landing more than just a painful swing. She suddenly thanked her lucky starts that Maria had taught her self-defense at a younger age. She knew damn-well these kids could've pummeled her had she not been trained.

"Christ, this kid is crazy!" one of the smaller boys finally exclaimed.

Well, that isn't the worst thing someone's called me, she rolled her eyes when the others nodded in agreement and ran off.

Once they were gone, Emily uncrossed her arms and looked at the girl they had been teasing just seconds ago. She frowned when she noticed that the girl had a cut above her lip. Her cheeks were flushed with frustration as she struggled back to her feet.

"You didn't have to help me," she mumbled halfheartedly.

"It was the right thing to do," Emily replied with a wave of her hand. She gingerly leaned forward to help the girl up, which she accepted gratefully. "You're hurt."

"It isn't as if I've suffered anything worse," the girl muttered with a shrug. "Those kids… Eli and his goons are always looking for reasons to pester me. They pick on me because I love art and music."

Emily rose an eyebrow in surprise before she did something that caught the girl by surprise. She stepped forward and carefully brushed the palm of her hand across the girl's cheek, ignoring the wide-eyed-look the girl gave her. It was only a few moments later when the injury began to heal itself. She struggled to hide the fact that her energy was already draining because of the injury.

"How did you… do that?" the girl asked hesitantly.

"I have the ability to heal injuries," Emily explained with a shrug. She'd gotten so used to hiding her powers that it was hard to believe someone actually looked impressed with them. "Most people who know about them are terrified of me."

She braced herself for whatever insults the girl would hurtle at her. To her surprise, and amazement, the girl's eyes just widened in wonder.

"You're like a superhero!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I've never met anyone with powers before… I'm pretty sure that Eva was a mutant, but she moved out of my class before I could ask. Are you a mutant too?"

Emily winced at the stream of endless questions that followed. She tried answering each of them as best as she could. The girl, who she later learned was Julia Thompson, was very enthusiastic once the fight ended. She never stopped talking despite the short answers Emily would give.

She quickly reached the conclusion that this girl was like a hyperactive puppy. Thompson barely took the time to breathe every few questions. They'd already walked for a few minutes when Thompson reached her hundredth question. Emily had been keeping track for her own amusement, but at that point, she found the whole thing ridiculous. She could already imagine what McCoy would say to the whole thing if he met the girl. Unlike Thompson, McCoy was normally passive unless the situation demanded it.

Unfortunately, it was also around the time they'd walked a few minutes that Maria finally tracked her down. Emily froze instinctively upon seeing the older brunette stalk towards them. Even Thompson looked intimidated when she saw the brunette for the first time. Though Thompson had no idea that Maria also worked for SHIELD, she did seem to know that it was best not to piss her off like Emily often did.

"Emily Grace Coulson, do you have any idea how worried we all were?" the woman snapped irritably.

"I was helping Julia get back to her mother," Emily explained without missing a beat. Thompson just looked at Maria sheepishly when the older woman's look of surprise fell on her. "She got lost when a couple of thugs tried hurting her."

"You should've seen the way she kicked their sorry butts," Thompson chimed in helpfully. Though, her face fell as a new thought crossed her mind. "Though I'm willing to bet Jason's going to be back at it when you leave."

"He won't if he knows what's good for him," Maria said after narrowing her eyes at the mention of 'thugs'.

Though they were just kids around Emily's age, that didn't make what they did to Thompson any better. She'd endured enough bullying in the past to know what Thompson was going through. She sure wasn't going to let anything else happen to the kid. Maria was more impressed than anything else with the way Emily handled the situation.

Eventually, they were able to find Thompson's parents and return her to them. They had been forever grateful that Emily found Thompson when she did. When Maria explained the situation to them, they were even more stunned that someone stood up to bullies to keep her safe. Her parents had profoundly thanked them for returning Thompson to them unharmed.

Emily wasn't entirely surprised that the family had been eager to find some way of repaying them for what she had done. But Maria passed the opportunity, deciding that she would talk to whoever was in charge of the thugs that tried hurting Thompson earlier. Emily had no doubt that Maria would give them a piece of her mind once all was said and done.

"You scared the hell out of me when you ran away," Maria added once they parted ways with the Thompson's. Emily felt her heart nearly skip a beat at that. She had been hoping Maria would forget about her little escapade. "Do you have any idea what Coulson would have done if he found out you were missing?"

Emily chewed the bottom of her lip and looked down at the ground guiltily. At the time, she hadn't cared what would happen if she ran away. Just being able to slip away without being caught had been oddly satisfying. Besides, she had a feeling he wouldn't feel too concerned if he planned on getting rid of her in the future.

"I figured he wouldn't care much," she admitted with a shrug. She refused to make eye contact when Maria narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "I'm just another assignment to him anyways."

She could have sworn she heard Maria curse under her breath. Emily braced herself for whatever scolding would follow when Maria took her by surprise. She placed a hand on her shoulder and forced Emily to make eye contact with her.

"Emily, Coulson cares so much about you," she said in a tone that told Emily she wasn't lying, "He adopted you not just because it was the right thing to do. He adopted you because he loves you, and losing you would mean more to him than he could ever say out loud."

It took a few seconds for those words to sink in. Emily found herself staring at Maria for a couple of minutes as she tried to comprehend what she meant by that. Coulson never acted as if he cared. True, there were the moments when he was there if she suffered from a nightmare, or on the very rare occasions, she got very sick. Yet, Emily couldn't brush off the fear that he would never truly accept her, just like her own parents.

She swallowed hard and gave a nod, hoping that would help alleviate whatever concerns Maria had for her. Thankfully, the brunette dropped the subject and continued on as if nothing had happened. Emily just hoped Coulson didn't get wind of the situation she had been in. Otherwise, she would never hear the end of it.

.

.

Emily wanted nothing more than to cry and let the worst of her pain ebb away with her life.

When the escape pod had finally crashed into a planet, she tried propping the door open only to find it sealed with a thick coating of ice. She had to slam her shoulder into the door several times until it finally cracked open with a loud clanging noise. Fiery pain shot through her shoulder just as a rush of cold air swept between her and the escape pod.

Great. Now I have a damn broken shoulder to worry about, she thought bitterly.

She shook her head, deciding it was better not to dwell on the thoughts. Instead, Emily's gaze swept around her surroundings to find a way out.

The crash from the escape pod had created a crater that she would have to climb out of. Emily bit back a groan of frustration as she noticed small grooves in the ice she could use. It wasn't much to go by, but she didn't plan on sticking around long enough to find out what dangers loomed ahead. Freezing to death was a certain possibility. The winds that howled around her was worse than anything she had endured on Earth. It was brutally cold, and the two suns that elapsed the planet only proved to mock her.

Her teeth ground together as Emily slowly but surely made her way to the top of the crater. She suspected that if the planet itself was covered in ice, the rest of the atmosphere wouldn't be much better. The escape pod had mentioned that she was on Delta Vega, a Class-M planet. Despite it being so close to a human-like planet, it wasn't the friendliest places in the galaxy.

Once she managed to escape the crater, Emily found herself staring at the sheet of ice that seemed to stretch on forever. She couldn't imagine being in a worse situation. Her chest was still bleeding out from the injury Nero's men inflicted. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire, and she was stranded on a planet doomed to kill her.

McCoy would've had her head if he saw the injuries she sustained. Of everyone on the Enterprise, he was the one who always cared the most. She never would have made it as far as she did in the Academy if it wasn't for the constant support he provided. Guilt stabbed her in the chest as she thought of what she would say to him if they saw each other again. She couldn't shake off the feeling that that moment on the bridge was their last together. The thought sent a shiver of dread through her, and she thought of opening up their mental link. Then she reminded herself how selfish that was.

Leonard has enough to worry about without me making it worse, she scolded herself silently. She didn't want to add to his laundry list of problems he was currently facing.

But as she began to wander through the endless dessert-like planet, she suddenly wondered if this was life's cruel way of telling her that she wasn't meant to survive. Emily wouldn't be surprised if God was sitting in his chair laughing his ass off at her predicament. She shivered and tried to assess the situation from a survivor's perspective.

She could keep wandering until someone hopefully found her on this barren spit of land. She could also stay back in the escape pod and die a slower, more painful death. Emily's mind began to work out that the latter option was better. At least if she started wandering, she could just let the ice consume her. She wouldn't even feel a damn thing.

It was with that notion that she began trudging through the snow at an alarmingly slow pace. The wind had picked up at a rate that sent her flying backwards at times. It took every ounce of energy for her to keep moving forward when a storm suddenly surged through. Black spots had begun appearing along the edge of her vision when Emily finally collapsed to the ground. She couldn't move even if she wanted to. Her body felt too numb with pain and exhaustion to keep moving forward.

The only thing she could hope for at that point was that life would dig its cruel claws into her quickly, and as painlessly as possible.