Summary:
Things are going to become… complicated.
To explain the drama of Skye's situation I took, among others, some phrases from ' .com':
"Being a heroin addict…my brutal truth" posted on February 19, 2016 by kalielizabeth0139.
Chapter Text:
Thomas and Grant met that morning in a Starbucks bar.
Things were going on pretty well between them, and Grant couldn't still believe that! He was really happy, like he hasn't been for a long time! He loved Thomas so much that every time he looked at him his expression changed, becoming tender and mild like with nobody else, except Skye.
"So, you told me you brought back Skye to her father, to keep her safe…
But why do you still care so much about her?
Didn't she put four bullets in you?"
"Only two reached me, and didn't provoke any serious injuries.
I assure you that if she wanted me dead I would have been!"
"Ok, so you think that if she didn't kill but only wound you she deep inside still loves you?
This is insanity!
I'll tell you what I think: you are still in love with her and you cannot let her go!"
"Probably."
"No, brother! Not probably. It is sure, 100% sure!"
Grant remained silent, then answered:
"You're right: the problem here is not what I feel, but what she feels.
The problem is that she hates me.
In her eyes I betrayed her and her friends, I tried to kill her team, and I lied to her…
I chose John over her: I sacrificed all my life to save him."
"Ok. We already pinpointed all that.
But that is the past.
And the past is in the past!"
"Yeah… but it still hurts…"
"In my humble opinion, you can choose: you can linger on the past, letting it ruin your present and your future, or… you can learn from it, and move forward.
Yes, you damaged her… but now she needs your help and you can give that to her… to prove the truth about your feelings, to prove that it wasn't all a lie…"
"But she doesn't want me near!
She despises me!
She detests me!
On top of what I already did to her, now I've taken away what she considered the best thing she achieved in life: Hive!
How can I make her understand?"
"If I were you, I wouldn't believe all she says…
You know how women are… saying something and then saying the exact opposite half an hour later…"
But Ward was hearing him no more.
He was staring at a newspaper lingering on a nearby table.
He stood up, grabbed it… and paled.
In the front page there was the photograph of a building in debris.
The title said "Quake Takes Down Bank" and the subtitle "Downtown Branch left in Ruins from Earthquake".
The article continued: "Authorities remain tightlipped as to what is being described as a 'terrifying ordeal'. At 9:03 pm last night, a 911-call was placed by a neighbor of the Los Angeles branch, reporting gunfire and shouting from inside the closed bank. Details are murky, but according to numerous eye-witnesses, first responders arrived on the scene ten minutes later and were preparing to enter the building when a mysterious shaking began. Following a period of intense but seemingly localized quaking, the bank collapsed to the ground. Miraculously none of the bystanders were injured by the debris…"
Ward muttered: "… intense but seemingly localized quaking…"
Thomas was looking at his brother, concerned:
"Hey, what's the matter with you? It seems like you just saw a ghost!"
Ward turned towards Thomas, looking intensely in his eyes and said:
"It's her!".
"It's her… what? What are you talking about?"
"Look at this" and he deployed the newspaper in front of his eyes.
Thomas grinned:
"Quake… it could be a nice codename!
Hellfire and Quake! The couple of the year!
Sounds good!"
"Stop with that! This is serious!
Why did she need to rob a bank?
I left her some money… they weren't much, ok, but staying with her father, she shouldn't have needed more, especially in such a short period of time!"
"Maybe she simply wanted to make her life have a quantum leap!"
"Yeah… it could be.
The only thing I am sure about now is that she is in danger!
The Sokovia Accords are not to be trifled with, and she is aware of that!
Why the hell had she been so reckless?
She seems to have lost her mind!"
"And you have lost yours for her.
You wanna save her!"
"Yes!"
Thomas sighed, rolling his eyes:
"Good luck, then. Call me if you'll need something!"
"Count on that, brother!"
And the two parted from one another with a hug.
…
"I cannot accept them!"
"Why… why not?"
"Because the provenance of these money has been traced back to a bank robbery, that's why!
If somebody catches me with those, I'm screwed!
Look… I will not ask you how you got them, but I will not accept them as a payment!
And, moreover, I'm not going to sell anything to you anymore, my dear.
You are hiding something, something dangerous, I can smell it, and I don't want to get myself in trouble.
I spent years corrupting people, oiling gears and building a very advantageous net of relationships to have a free pass for drug market in this neighborhood and I'm not ruining all that for a silly spoiled girl who wants to play with fire!
And this is the end of the conversation!"
Raoul used a tone that didn't admit reply, hitting the table with a fist for good measure, too.
Skye didn't argue further.
Oh, if he only knew that she wasn't at all a silly spoiled girl, but a walking bomb!
She got out without a word, but she was going to teach that son of a bitch a lesson he would never forget!
After a few minutes a strong localized earthquake destroyed the building in which Raoul was staying, killing on the spot him and his henchmen.
"Oh, Raoul! It seems your very advantageous net of relationships couldn't save you, this time…
I'm so sorry!" Skye mocked with false regret.
She felt no remorse for what she had just done: they were the dregs of society, people who exploited the weaknesses of others to enormously enrich themselves. The only thing, of which she had ascertained before launching the attack, was that Jenny was not there.
She was a victim and didn't deserve to die like that.
Ok.
And now?
What would she do from now on?
The only thing she knew was that she was terribly suffering for withdrawal and needed to find quickly a solution!
…
After Raoul's death it seemed that the city was invaded by hundreds of new dealers who, driven by a fierce competition for market shares, were selling drugs of all types and dubious origin at bargain prices. The police, and the security forces in general, where on high alert and surely some of them regretted the good old times when Raoul was in charge to keep calm the waters and supply the city of drugs, yes, but quality drugs, tested and "harmless". Overdose deaths and infections of various types had multiplied dramatically in recent times and the situation was slipping dangerously towards the emergency.
On the other hand, the police was so busy with the dealers in war that it had neither the time nor the man power to quell petty crime, so Skye was free to sneak and rob around, especially in supermarkets, getting enough money to buy herself some dose on the black market.
But she had no idea with what she was injecting herself! The dealers said that it was a fashion drug in Russia these days and that anyone could manufacture it at home…
Maybe that was why it was so cheap!
Soon her little robberies became insufficient to provide her with the money she needed.
And it was really ironic: she possessed a little fortune and she couldn't use it for fear of being caught!
She had also left the house of her father, because he surely would have realized what was going on (he was a doctor, after all) and would have prevented her to go down that descent.
This fact had worsened her financial situation, as she had not only to think about the money for drugs and for food, but also for night accommodation.
On the other hand, she barely slept.
She barely ate.
But she loved that situation nevertheless, because the drugs numbed all her feelings.
She was always high as a kite!
She felt alive again, but her weight dropped and often she was getting arrested for her violent behavior.
Life went on… on the streets.
It had to.
There was never a spare moment, never a time that wasn't occupied with finding a place where she wouldn't be hassled by the cops, finding a place to sleep, finding money to feed her hunger.
She was always hungry: hungry for something to fill her stomach, hungry for her next dose.
Life on the streets happened in fast motion: if something took her off guard, she barely had time to get her bearings before her situation changed again. She learned to function while disoriented, learned to walk while the world was top down, while everything around her moved faster than the time it took her to steady herself.
But the amount of drug that once produced euphoria didn't work any more, and Skye come to a point in which she needed a shot or a snort just to feel normal; without it, she became depressed and, often, physically ill.
She began to use drugs compulsively.
At this point, she was definitely addicted, losing control over drug use and suffering powerful cravings.
Being a drug addict was having her dealers give her some dope, warning her that this batch had caused numerous people to overdose and she being excited, because that meant it was good!
Being a drug addict turned into her snorting a line of dope because she had to, not because she wanted to.
Being a drug addict had she on her hands and knees searching a car for chunks of dope that she may or may not have dropped. It was licking little gray pebbles to see if they tasted like dope. It was crushing up anything that could be broken down and snorting it hoping it would stop the withdrawals.
Being a drug addict was having her own bag for her spoon, her needles, the mixer, tie, lighter and cottons.
Being a drug addict was getting her something small to keep fresh water in, so she wouldn't have to use puddle water or Gatorade when she shot up.
Being a drug addict was never leaving without that bag.
Being a drug addict became her first priority. She wouldn't go anywhere unless she had dope to get her through it. She was completely useless when she was dope sick, anyway.
Being a drug addict was constantly shooting different drugs together, hoping her body would give out. It never did.
Being a drug addict became sleeping in abandoned caravans or on a bench in the park. It became eating a pack of peanut butter crackers every other day so she wouldn't starve. But more than anything, being a drug addict had become she having the money for food and a motel room but choosing to spend every cent on dope.
By the end of the month, a drug addict was all that she was.
Drugs had her soul and weren't planning ever giving it back.
…
"Skye, you asked my help and I'm willing to give you that, but you cannot be so choosy and squeamish!
You are left without a cent and I can give you that cheap drug you want, but cheap doesn't mean free of any charge!"
Jenny was trying to convince Skye to go down a route she didn't like at all, a route she herself has been forced to follow after Raoul's death. Raoul protected her, in a way, when he was still alive. But now he couldn't anymore…
It was evening.
The sun was setting.
Skye was with Jenny on the sidewalk, dressed, or rather undressed, in a very enticing way, with a red dress that covered her arms till the elbows, but leaving well-exposed breasts and legs.
Jenny knew that this was Skye's first time and was studying her carefully.
"This place is good!
It's frequented by enormously rich people!
You will see what dream cars will soon start to arrive!
Pick up just one of them, play nice and you will have the money you need for a whole week!
You are beautiful: you can seduce any one of them!"
Two or three cars stopped by them, but they were all driven by old disgusting and greedy men and Skye sent them all to hell.
Jenny scolded her and told her that those were the wealthier ones and she couldn't afford to let them escape!
"If I let them put their filthy hands on me, I'm sure I will throw up!"
Jenny took her in a dark corner and gave her a coca shoot, to make her softer.
When they went back on the sidewalk, a convertible black Ferrari was arriving: the driver was the most fascinating and gorgeous young guy of the neighborhood! Mirrored aviator sunglasses, well built and muscular structure, dark soft hair, apparently very tall, amazing cheekbones, designed lips, tanned skin, white shirt, blacks pants… a dream come true!
Jenny was almost drooling and tried to get to him, but he took away his sunglasses and Jenny recognized him immediately.
"Zack!"
"Yeah… And I think you know what I want, don't you?"
"Of course."
She turned 180 degrees towards Skye and said:
"You didn't want old disgusting and greedy men?
Ok, you are damn lucky, this evening!
There's just a young Adonis waiting for you, over there!"
Skye approached and startled.
"What are you doing, here?"
"Having some fun… Do you wanna join me?"
His eyes were extremely serious, drilling in hers.
She felt extremely uncomfortable.
"You're not my type!"
He chuckled and then tried to smile to ease the tension:
"I'm everyone's type…"
Skye didn't have much of a choice there and, given the situation and the fact that behind Ward's car there was a horrible guy, and giving also the fact that Ward was really astonishing and she was beginning to feel extremely turned on, she agreed to get in the car with him, although she knew she was going to get a lecture…