A/N: It took four years, but we have no reached the end of the official end of the story. I cannot thank every single one of you enough for giving this story a chance and putting up with all of the crazy delays I had on this story because life happened. This story is close to me and I am glad that I have made it to the end with all of you. While this is the official end, I'm hoping to still put little snippets of what happens after this chapter. Kind of like a small little epilogue series to get a glimpse of how other things play out. But overall, the arc of this story is complete and the scene that I first wrote that kick started this whole thing has been reached.
I hope you guys enjoy this final chapter and that you enjoyed the ride for this story as much as I have. Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much for going on this adventure with me.
Summary: Agents Melinda May and Phil Coulson are put on a new assignment to look after an object of unknown origin, an 0-8-4. The only catch is this 0-8-4 is a person. A fourteen year old girl who's spent her life in the foster system is now in more danger than ever. A man beast is hunting her and SHIELD has to make sure that it doesn't get close to her. AU, MCU characters will be used.
Chapter Twenty Six
When Skye first received her inhuman powers, it had been so overwhelming, like the entire world was vibrating and she was the only standing still. Though she had been quickly knocked out after her powers were released into the world, she still could feel the world around her shaking, trembling. While staying at the SHIELD facility, she had managed to tune in and out the different movements around her. How everything felt, the people versus the building, narrowing what vibrations she felt and being able to tell the difference from each one. Like how the vibrations of a person were fluid and a machine was more rigid. Explaining that to her dad had caused him to raise an eyebrow, though he accepted her words for it and said it was good for her to understand it and to help him understand it.
As Skye sat at the dinner table, ignoring the chatter of the others, she could faintly hear his voice. She even had his vibration and her mom's memorized, she missed their steady humming presence. At the time, she had been so accustomed to the different vibrations and shakings, she sometimes couldn't differentiate it all, but they were constant and consistent. It felt nice. The vibrations here were okay, the movements and noise of the earth below was nice and real, not artificial as machinery could feel.
So when she felt a shift in the vibrations of the surrounding area, she couldn't ignore it. While there was a constant buzz of electricity here in Afterlife, most of the buzzing came from nature, but what she felt now was different. Could it be? The doors burst open, revealing Gordon and causing everyone to jump. Lincoln shot her a frantic look for a moment, but she didn't look at him, she kept her eyes on Gordon.
Jiaying rose from her seat at the head of the table, "Gordon, is everything alright?"
Gordon 'looked' at the teenagers before answering Jiaying, "It would be best if we get all of those under 18 out of here. The winds have changed."
The phrase caused Jiaying to tense, but she kept her expression calm and reassuring, "Okay, I will take the necessary precautions. Gordon, please lead all of them to safety with the others and transport them."
"What's going on," Joey asked, his eyes wide and worried.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Jiaying stated plainly, "The adults will take care of it. Go with Gordon."
The sound of helicopters reached their ears, Skye's heart jumped. That had to be SHIELD, they were here, they had to be here. Were Phil and Melinda here? Had they come for her? Excitement and hope rushed through her veins as she recalled the nerves she felt when she worried that Phil and Melinda wouldn't ever come for her, that they would just leave. The conversation hadn't been that long ago, but it was ingrained into her memory. The ground began to shake slightly, all eyes turned to her and she realized she was the one causing the shaking. Cal placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, mistaking her surprise for fear.
"It's going to be okay, just go with Gordon and he will get you along with your friends safe," he said to her, but he looked sad.
Skye frowned, she looked at her friends, at Lincoln wondering what she should do. If they left with Gordon, he would just teleport them away and then how was she supposed to find her parents again? No, she couldn't go to another location, not when she was so close to finally going home. It had taken fourteen years for her to finally find a place she could call her own, to finally feel like she had family and she was not about to lose it when it was so close. There was no way that could happen.
The ground shook violently, but this time she hadn't been the one to cause it and Gordon went flying to the side. There, hovering in the door was Iron Man, the freaking Iron Man was here. Skye's mouth opened in complete surprise. She was a huge fan of Iron Man and couldn't believe he was here, was she dreaming? Was this real? Had the freaking Tony Stark Iron Man come here for her? Was he with SHIELD. Glowing blue eyes narrowed in her as she stood from her seat, mouth still wide open.
"Hello kiddos, you are saved by yours truly," said the slightly mechanical, but definitely recognizable voice of Tony Stark. "Skye, your parents are here for you. Let's not keep them waiting."
Skye thought she was going to explode from sheer joy and shock. Not only was the Iron Man talking to her, he knew her name, but also her parents were here, Phil and Melinda, they were here, they came to get her. However, before she could so much as say a word, Gordon jumped to Iron Man, trying to teleport him away, but Iron Man was faster and just barely got out of his reach.
Skye felt a cold hand wrap around her upper arm and yank her harshly to the side. Her mind went blank for a moment as she looked to see Jiaying was dragging her to the back door, away from her friends, Iron Man, her freedom. She had to do something, she had to do something and get away, but that would give her away. But there wasn't any real time to think on it, she had to get back to- there was a loud crash and Skye's eyes widened in horror as she watch Cal run to Iron Man. As much as she wanted to get out of here and away from her birth parents, it didn't mean she wanted them hurt.
"No, don't hurt him," Skye shouted as she was dragged out of the room. She hoped both men heard her and wouldn't end up killing each other. "We have to stop! My friends."
Jiaying glanced at her with sharp eyes, "No, we keep moving. They won't catch you, I promise."
Skye knew that Iron Man wouldn't hurt her friends, but Jiaying didn't know that and she was horrified that the woman was more than willing to leave her friends behind to what she believed were an enemy. Shaking her head, Skye tried to pull out of Jiaying's grip, but it just got tighter and tighter as she struggled to keep up with the woman weaving through the halls. In moments, they made it outside, where the world looked to be nothing, but chaos. Skye only just now felt all the new vibrations that were erratically moving about, it was so incredibly loud, she wondered how she could have missed.
There were SHIELD agents everywhere, but they weren't fighting, they weren't even in heavy armor. It didn't look like they were ready for a fight, she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. However she didn't think about it for long, she scanned the area, looking for her mom, looking for her dad, but they weren't there. Though she did see something that made her eyes light up.
There was a flash of red hair in the flurry of people, red hair she had only ever seen on one person before. That had to be Natasha, she was here, which meant maybe Maria and Clint had come to. As if on cue, she saw arrows flying through the air, one coming right near her. It had a flashing light, but Skye knew it wasn't a bomb, it was a beacon. That means he saw her, which means her family could find her, which meant- Jiaying pulled her to the side harshly, trying to stay hidden in the shadows.
Skye dug in her heels, "Wait!"
Jiaying turned around to completely face Skye, her grip on her arm starting to throb. The woman bent down slightly, now gripping both of her under arms with such a fierce grip, Skye was surprised she wasn't losing circulation. As she stared at her birth mother, she no longer saw the kind woman from days ago who was gentle. Instead, she saw something else, something frightening. At that moment, Skye was back in all of the foster homes with the mean parents who didn't care about her, who wanted something from her.
"They will not take you, we need to keep moving," Jiaying said coldly. "Think of our lessons, if you can cause a big enough earthquake, it'll distract them and we can get away."
Skye gaped at her, "But- but what about everyone-"
"Many will not make it, but it is the only way to escape," Jiaying interrupted her.
"But-" Skye tried to speak.
Jiaying cut her off harshly, "No. Afterlife will start again, many will survive and many will not, but that is life. Gordon will get out as many as he can, so will the other transitioners. Now, release your powers, crumble the earth."
Skye shook her head, "No, I don't want to do that- I can't- there are innocent people, on both sides-" Skye winced at Jiaying tightening her grip.
"Both sides," Jiaying whispered coldly. "No one from SHIELD is innocent. You cannot see it now, but that will change soon."
Skye opened her mouth to say something, to protest, but then she suddenly felt cold. As if all the warmth was being sucked from her body as her mother's eyes took a slight golden look. Her mother's ability was to heal herself, Skye knew that, but she had to take it from someone else and when she did, that person was weakened. Was she, was she doing that to her? Skye's eyes widened as she squirmed, her powers began to react in defense of her, but she couldn't get away, she was too tired.
"Don't worry, it's alright," Jiaying whispered to her gently as she stopped using her powers. "The effect won't last forever, just enough to get us out of here."
Oh, Skye understood now. Jiaying had weakened her so she couldn't fight her, couldn't argue with her anymore. It made her want to throw up. Where were her parents now that she needed them the most? To get her away from here, to get her to safety. Jiaying tugged Skye along, she was too tired to fight her off, that didn't mean she didn't try. Due to the sudden exhaustion, she was tripping over her own feet, but Jiaying kept her upright with her vice like grip, like other foster parents had done.
Skye felt her heart shatter at the comparison in her mind. The woman she had wanted to meet for so long, who she had loved despite never knowing, was nothing at all like she imagined. Was cruel, had killed so many people in the name of getting her, was willing to let others suffer, wanted her to make an earthquake to make the world around them crumble. It was too much for her. The ground shook slightly from her powers, or maybe it was something else, she didn't know, her mind was growing foggy as the world went by in a blur. Until she heard a voice, her mother's voice.
"Skye," shouted Melinda.
Skye's head turned in her direction, she could see Melinda in the distance staring at her and just near her was Phil fighting someone, disarming them actually. Her chest warmed at the sight and she could have cried in relief, in happiness to see them here. On instinct, on desire, Skye made a move forward, but Jiaying pulled her back and behind the taller woman. As she was already unsteady on her feet and exhausted, she was pushed back into the wall and was going to slide to the floor.
May felt her anger burn at this woman she didn't know shove her daughter behind her, into the wall hard enough that Skye was sinking to the floor. It had already been torture these past few days trying to find her daughter, the joy at seeing her alive and unharmed was enough to fill May with a burst of strength. Her daughter was here. Coulson was at her side, his eyes focused on Skye on the ground behind a woman he didn't know and didn't care to know. All that mattered was Skye and she was here and he wasn't going to lose her again. Never again. He failed to protect her before, he wasn't going to make such a mistake. May marched forward, her glare heated enough to kill someone.
"Get away from my daughter," May snapped, her tone laced with only the fury a mother could have.
Jiaying matched her tone, "She's not yours! She's mine! And SHIELD will not take her from me again!"
This was a revelation for May and Coulson, giving them both a brief pause. So this was Skye's birth mother, she believed SHIELD had taken her away. There were many things that May and Coulson didn't know about Skye's history, this only added to an ever growing list of items they didn't fully know or understand. But that was something they could sort through later, first they needed to get to Skye, they needed to get to her and get her out of here. It was time to go home.
"Skye, angel are you okay," Coulson asked her, his clear eyes meeting her cloudy ones.
Skye gave a weak nod as she tried to get onto her feet, she didn't have to try for long as the woman yanked her onto her feet and started dragging her away. In Skye's eyes was a true desperation and fear as her free arm reached for them, reaching her parents to grab her. May and Coulson raced after them, not willing to let this woman take their daughter away.
Coulson stayed behind while May split from him, going around to cut off the woman and stop her from getting away. Before they had arrived to start this invasion, they had been able to scan the area thanks to some Stark Industry tech and get the layout of the place. Though May wasn't sure where the woman was taking Skye, she had to assume there must have been some escape route nearby. Too bad she wasn't going to get there. May rushed in, stopped at the end of a corridor just in time to halt the woman and due to her sudden stop, Skye crashed into the woman. The woman turned around to go back, but Coulson was in her way. She had nowhere to run now.
May and Coulson assumed this woman was enhanced, that everyone here was an enhanced person, which meant they had to be careful and not make any mistakes or else someone would get severely hurt. There was no telling what power this woman had and what she would do to them. Not that it really mattered to them, the woman could tear them apart with her powers for all they cared. All that mattered was that Skye was safe.
"It's over, you have nowhere to run," Coulson said, his tone calm, but stern. "Let Skye go."
The woman practically hissed at them, "Her name isn't Skye, it's Daisy. And she's not going anywhere."
"Please," Skye spoke, her voice hoarse and eyes focused on Coulson. She looked at Jiaying. "Please, don't hurt them. Jiaying, they're my-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," the woman, Jiaying, snapped at her.
Skye flinched at the shout and cold look, both Coulson and May stepped forward sharply at that, each angry to see such a reaction from Skye. That terror, no one did that to their girl. No one did it and got away with it.
"They're my mom and dad," Skye continued, her face pained and eyes shimmering. "Please."
Jiaying shook her head, her own eyes shimmering despite her hard expression, "No! You are my daughter, not theirs! I am your mother, Cal your father! They are nothing."
"Jiaying," said a soft voice from the side, walking over with softer eyes. It was Cal.
Skye turned to look at him, he looked a little banged up and she only hoped that was the extent of his injuries, that he only had some scrapes and he was otherwise alright. Cal brought his gaze to Skye, there was such a warm look on his face, it was filled with love. It was the same way Coulson looked at her whenever she called him dad or when she rambled about computers or honestly did anything that he found endearing. It was a look that Skye feared no one would ever look at her like that. Was he here to help her? Would he hurt Melinda and Phil? The ground was trembling, but no one seemed to notice.
"You have to stop this," Cal said to her softly.
Jiaying stared at him a moment, "What?"
Cal gave her a small smile, "Let her go Jiaying."
Her grip tightened on Skye, "No, not again. She belongs with us. I won't let SHIELD ruin our family again! They can take Afterlife, but they can't take her. I won't lose her."
"We've already lost her," Cal stated, his tone sounded so broken. "She doesn't want to stay here and why would she? After all we've done? No, she doesn't- we can't. They need to take her, so she can have the life we never could give her." Cal smiled at her, his smile was so heartbreaking. "When you love something, you set it free right? We have to do the same with her."
It was then something clicked for Skye. His eyes met hers and she just knew. She hadn't been as sneaky as she thought with the computers, he knew what she had been doing. He knew and he let her do it anyway. Because he wanted her to be happy, he just wanted her to be happy, even if it meant that he had to send her back to the people he had tried so hard to keep her from. Skye swallowed thickly at that, she wanted to say something to him, she wanted to, but then that cold feeling forced the breath from her.
His eyes widened, and he rushed to her, faster than Coulson and May could. The cold feeling increased, but before it completely vanished and she was on the ground, looking as Cal had tackled Jiaying, getting her away. Skye opened her mouth, she looked to her parents, but her mind spun and adrenaline rushed all over her being. And the world around her seemed to collapse and everything went to absolute chaos. Skye wasn't sure how it happened, but one minute she was with her birth parents and real parents, then the next she was in a different room that was dark and her back hurt.
Her mind spun around, wondering what happened. It wasn't as if she had caused it, or maybe she had. Her emotions made everything go all haywire, so maybe the nerves of her two sets of parents going at each other made her lose control of her powers. If that was the case, were either of them hurt? Did she hurt them? Worse, did she kill them? Skye's breathing picked up as she moved through the darker place, it was hard to see, but she had to get to her parents. She had to get to them.
"Mom, dad! Where are you," Skye shouted as she continued to move along the wall. They had to be okay, they had to be alright.
A hand grabbed her, before she could panic, she heard a familiar voice, "Skye, it's me!"
The darkness faded away and she could see it was Lincoln, thanks to all the static running over his body. That was a neat trick, she didn't know he could do that, but they had both learned a lot about their powers these past couple of days. So it wasn't too surprising that he could do something like that. A bright smile spread across her face, then it changed to confusion.
"Wait, what are you doing here? Where are we," Skye asked as he started to walk away, towards the other teenagers.
Joey answered her, "Well after your mom-"
"She's not my mom," Skye snapped, she blinked, "Sorry."
Joey gave her a funny look, but continued, "After she dragged you out, your- well Mr Johnson went to fight Iron Man and Gordon came back, he teleported us down here to be away from the fighting."
"We were supposed to follow the others, but we couldn't leave you, especially when the ground started trembling. We knew something must have happened to you," Lincoln said.
Elena smiled at her, "Had to make sure you were good."
Skye grinned at them, "Thank you, so much."
"Now that that's settled, let's get out of here," Lincoln said, he glanced ahead, "I think if we head that way, we should reach the surface."
Lincoln started walking, but not before Skye grabbed ahold of his hand, a silent way to say thank you and she was glad he was here. There was no one else she would rather face this with than him. The group continued their way through these underground tunnels, Skye was relieved that even though she made the ground shake and the power was likely out, at least so far no one was hurt. When the sound of muffled shouting reached their ears along with what looked like light up ahead, they ran forward, this must have been the way out. However after a few moments of running, Lincoln came to a harsh stop causing everyone to crash into him.
"Hey, why'd you-" the question died on Skye's tongue when she looked down to see a gaping hole.
There was no telling how deep it was, but likely if they were stuck there, they wouldn't survive which meant they were trapped. This wasn't good. They could hear several voices out there, coming through what looked like rubble blocking an opening. They needed to get over there or get their attention. But Skye imagined even with all of them shouting, they likely wouldn't be heard and none of them had powers that could make a bridge.
"Now what do we do," Joey asked with a frown.
Skye swallowed, she took a slight step forward, moving Lincoln behind her. While her control of her powers wasn't perfect, none of their control was perfect, but she could do this. If she could at least get the rubble out of the way. All of the lessons she had here at Afterlife were helpful, she couldn't lie about that. But, she focused on the ones her mom had taught her about control, about focusing on her heartbeat. Taking a deep breath, Skye called on her power and punched the air in front of her, sending a wave that shook the ground, but blew the rubble down, showing an opening to the outside world. It was still night time, but it looked like the street lights were still on which was great.
"Nice one," Lincoln told her grinning.
Joey frowned, "It's open, but how are we going to get-"
Joey didn't get to finish his sentence as the Iron Man suit appeared in the opening and flew over to them. It stopped sharply in front of them, the wind blowing their air.
"Nevermind," Joey whispered.
"Nice to see you all again, anyone hurt," Iron Man asked them. They all shook their heads. "Great, now everyone grab on, I'll fly us out of here and to safety."
The teenagers did as they were told, he held onto them tightly and flew over the opening and set them gently outside where they could see dozens of SHIELD agents and many people of Afterlife just walking around, working together even. It was a sight none of them were expecting, actually, they had more less expected to see some sort of fight break out. Relief went through Skye at that, at least no one was hurting each other. Maybe SHIELD and the Inhumans here could work together, to build something better for people like her. There were some kind of hover jets around, taking Inhumans away, but not forcibly or in a scary way. They were going on their own, and in one of them, Skye could see that flash of red hair. It really was Nat up there. Things were okay. It made Skye feel like she could breathe a little easier.
Lincoln squeezed her hand, "Looks like things are okay."
Skye glanced at him, "Yeah, it looks that way. But my parents, I don't know where they are."
However, no sooner had the words left her lips did she see them in the distance and they looked just fine. Though she hadn't paid much attention to what they were wearing before, now that things had slightly settled, she noticed they were in dark suits. Neither looked hurt, which was enough to let her relax her shoulders from their once tense position. They were okay, they were alive. It took a second longer to stand there, but they spotted her then.
"Skye," they shouted at her, they sounded relieved and happy to see her.
Skye felt her eyes burn, she was so happy they were here and they weren't hurt. "Mom! Dad!"
Even though she was still exhausted and her back hurt from her fall, though she knew nothing was broken, she moved forward. It only took a few steps before she was sprinting as fast as she could to them and they were running to her with just as much speed. In all their years, never had they been so worried about someone before, so terrified that they would never see someone again.
The thought of not seeing her again, the girl who wormed her way into their hearts, the girl they said was their daughter. It devastated them, the very idea that she would be taken from them. In seconds, the child and parents crashed into each other. May had her arms wrapped around Skye first and Coulson wrapped his arms around both them, Skye sandwiched in the middle of them.
All of the fear each of them had started to release it's hold on them. Hot tears fell down Skye's cheeks as she buried her face into her mom's shoulder and just cried. So happy to be in their arms again, so happy to have her parents back and she never wanted to let them go again. She felt them each kiss her head, she smiled at the feeling. She was home, she was safe. Exhaustion was taking over, she could herself sinking to the ground, but her parents just moved with her until they were all on the ground, arms still wrapped tightly around each other.
"Mom," Skye said, lifting her head to look at May, then she looked at Coulson, "Dad, I'm so-so happy you're-you're here."
They squeezed her tighter, Coulson spoke, "Thank God you're okay."
"We were so worried about you," May told her, Skye could see the truth in her eyes. "Don't ever do that again."
Skye smiled at her, "I'll do my best."
May tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her hair, "You can never leave again. Ever. We love you too much for that."
"I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. You have no idea how happy we are to see you," Coulson told her.
Skye's smile was blinding and watery as she said, "I knew you'd come for me. Just like you said you would."
"Of course we came for you," May said softly, cupping Skye's cheek before leaning forward and kissing her forehead.
Coulson gave her a squeeze, "We'd move heaven and earth for you. No matter what, we'll always come for you."
Skye let out a choke breath as more tears streamed down her cheeks, it was an echo to a conversation they had when she first started to get comfortable calling them mom and dad. How terrified she had been that if something did happen, if the state or other said she had to go, if they would let her. If they would fight to keep her or come for her if she were ever gone. As Skye shut her eyes, relaxing completely in their embrace, she let the conversation play in her mind.
"If I was gone or something," she asked uneasily, scared of their answer, "would you come for me?"
There was no hesitation from either of them.
"Of course."
"We'd always come for you."