Chapter 2
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I hope you all enjoy the second chapter of Family.
"So what did he say?" Coulson asked as May left the interrogation room. May moved past Coulson who followed. The two met with Hunter, Mack, and Bobbi in the common room. "May what did he say?" Coulson asked again.
"He said Hydra wanted to find a way to create people like Skye. They wanted to create another version of super soldiers, a next generation," May answered.
Coulson nodded understanding. "Okay, so what did that have to do with FitzSimmons?"
"Leverage," was all May said and the team paled. "He said every time Skye refused to a test or an experiment, they would hurt Fitz or Simmons. When every they would question Simmons about Skye's biology and she refused they would hurt the others. Same with Fitz whenever he refused to build them a weapon." May looked older than her years. She rubbed her hand over her face.
"After a while, Hydra started to drug them. The drugs were supposed to make us seem like the enemy." Mack sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"So, like the Hunger Game," Hunter said which caused everyone to give him a look. "This is what happened to Peeta in the last book. Made him the perfect enemy against Katniss." Everyone still looked at him in surprise. "What? I read," Hunter said and sounded slightly insulted.
"This is going to be a long road of recovery isn't it?" Bobbi said and May snorted at the understatement. The group walked to the infirmary wanted to check on their friends. As they got closer, they could hear Jemma screaming. May gave Hunter, Bobbi, and Mack a look that told them to wait outside. She and Coulson entered cautiously.
"FITZ, SKYE!" the English woman screamed the fear laced in her voice. She looked around the room before her eyes landed on her two friends. Her body relaxed and her gaze landed on May and Coulson. "Agent May, Coulson?" Jemma asked unsurely.
May smiled softly and nodded. "It's me, Jemma." The young woman looked unsure and May remembered what Hunter had said. "Ask me a question?" Jemma still looked hesitant. "Ask me about a memory I'll tell you if it's real or not real?"
"Did you let Hydra capture us?" Jemma asked in a small voice.
"Not real," May said quickly, scared to ask how they altered that memory. Jemma, Fitz, and Skye had been at a Hydra base to find files on the obelisk. May had been on comms when they were discovered. May and Bobbi hadn't been able to get them out in time before Hydra had captured them. When they finally got inside there was blood all over the floor, and the room had been destroyed in the fight. May had felt the panic rise in her when she didn't see the three agents and the fear that crushed her when she realized that they had been captured.
Jemma thought for a moment. "You gave me self defense training when you found out I was going undercover?"
"Real," May said and smiled remembering how hard training Jemma was. The young woman had put up a fight at the idea of having to hurt someone but eventually allowed May to teach her basic defensive moves to disable someone without hurting them too much.
Jemma's eyes filled with tears and she broke down crying. The English woman reached out to May. May walked over and gently took Jemma's hand. The younger woman pulled her into a hug. She stiffened at the hug but relaxed slightly as Jemma cried. Her tears stained May's shirt, but the Asian woman didn't care.
May let Jemma cry until she had no more tears to shed. Coulson carefully approached not wanting to scare the girl. A groan next to Coulson told them that Fitz was waking up.
"Hey Fitz," Coulson said with a small smile. Fitz sat up in the bed and eyed Coulson. Coulson reached out and Fitz lunged at him. He managed to land a punch on Coulson's cheek before the director was able to restrain him.
"Fitz! Fitz, it's me!" Coulson shouted and May let Jemma go.
"Jemma run!" Fitz shouted which caused Skye to wake up. The field agent looked around the room before her eyes landed on May still holding Jemma. There seemed to be a fog in her eyes that clouded her vision. Skye ripped out her IV's and leaped at her S.O. May released Jemma just as Skye landed on her hands wrapped around her throat. May fought back and easily ripped Skye's hands from her throat since the younger agent was weak from weeks of torture.
"Skye wake up!" May shouted trying to not hurt her student. Skye shoved her hands forward, and a blast sent May flying back into the wall. Fitz elbowed Coulson in the stomach who released him. Fitz looked around wildly until he grabbed hold of a scalpel and held it out in front of him.
"Fitz, Skye," Jemma said and placed a hand on each of their arms. The two instantly relaxed at her touch but still stayed in defensive positions.
"Skye, it's me," Coulson said softly, and Skye looked at him confused but shook her head.
"No, no, no," she muttered and gripped her head. The building started to shake again, and May swore underneath her breath. "You're not him, you're not him," Skye kept muttering. May and Coulson shared a look not sure what to do.
Jemma touched Skye again and whispered something into her ear. Skye seemed to calm down as the shaking slowly lessened. She stared at Coulson for a second before spoke.
"Real or not real, you care about us?" she asked and stared him in the eyes.
"Real, I care about the three of you a lot," Coulson answered with honesty in his voice. It broke Mays's heart to see the distrust in the youngest agents eyes. The doctor entered the infirmary and order the Director and Deputy Director out so she could treat her patients.
"Rule Zero Skye," May said before she walked out with Coulson.
May, Coulson, Mack, Bobbi, and Hunter watched from outside each swearing vengeance on Hydra for hurting their friends.
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Skye sat still as the doctor stitched her side again. In her need to attack May to keep her friends, safe Skye managed to rip open the stitches. Once the doctor left Skye moved her bed next to Jemma's and so did Fitz. The three of them curled up together feeling safer now that they were alone.
"Do you think they are telling the truth?" Fitz asked as he stared at the door.
"I-I don't know," Jemma whispered and clutched her hair tightly. "Everything we know about them doesn't seem right. Coulson is supposed to be this uncaring harsh man but," she trailed off and Skye leaned her head against her shoulder understanding the scientist frustration. The Coulson they just met, the one that wasn't in their memories, had seemed caring and concern like a father would be.
"Its like all the memories that bring up negative feelings have been altered but how do we know if that's real?" Skye asked. Fitz thought for a moment before he asked a question.
"Skye what does Rule Zero mean?" Skye thought for a moment before a memory came to her. Unlike the other memories she had of May, this one was clear and not blurry. The two of them had come up with a set of rules to follow when Skye first became May's student. The first rule was Rule Zero, always trust each other. No one except the two of them knew what it meant.
"It means to trust her," Skye said as she stared at the door. She could sense her S.O was still out there watching. "That's why when she found us, I was relieved."
"How do we know that memory wasn't altered?" Jemma asked unable to keep the scientist in her locked away.
"It wasn't blurry. That memory was clear as day," Skye answered and turned to look at Fitz. "What about you Fitz? Do you have any clear memories?"
"Um-I have a memory of working on the Quinjet with Mack? It starts off clear but becomes blurry when I try to remember more," Fitz answered.
"So we agree that the blurry memories we have are altered ones?" Skye asked and the scientist and engineer nodded in agreement. "So we do what Jemma did with May. We play a game or real and not real to figure out the truth."
"And whatever happens the three of us stick together, agree?" Fitz said. Skye and Jemma agreed.
"Let's call them back and figure out our memories," Skye said and turned a determine gaze to the door.
Hydra will not win this time.
Hope everyone liked this chapter. The next chapter will focus on Fitz, Jemma, Bobbi and Mack.