Hello Friends!
Sorry for the long wait. Life is freaking crazy. Homework, church, college ministry, helping friends through anxiety, managing my own anxiety, a friend in the hospital for overdose...
Yeah. well. Enough about me.
Sorry this chapter is so late!
Also. Using a random number generator, I am excited to announce that whitetiger1249 is the winner of the oneshot drawing!
Yay!
Alright, without further ado, here is Chapter 8!
Thanks again for being so awesome and supportive! You are amazing readers, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Disclaimer: don't own stuff
He almost missed it, the paper peeking out from under another drawing.
His heart started pounding furiously as he slowly picked the paper up.
There in bold blood red crayon, was a drawing of a skull with tentacles.
The symbol of Hydra.
"Phil!" Skye called, snuggled happily in May's arms.
Coulson dropped the paper, quickly hiding it under the couch.
"Skye! I missed you!" he reached out to hug her and she jumped from May's arms to his.
"I missed you too. I was scared you would never come back."
Her tiny frame shuddered in his arms.
"You didn't want to play with Garret?" Coulson smoothed her hair.
Skye shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder.
"Should we ask about the apples?" May whispered Coulson. He shook his head, somehow sensing how much emotional turmoil the little girl had been through.
"Not yet. Skye, honey, where's Elsa? Did you leave her upstairs?"
"Oh! I did!" Skye realized.
"Hmm, maybe you should go get her." Phil put Skye down.
"Okay!" Skye started running towards the stairs, but suddenly Phil grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. He kissed the top of her head and began tickling her.
She shrieked with laughter.
It was a sound both agents were happy to hear.
"I guess she likes being tickled." May was actually smiling as she watched Skye bound up the stairs.
"I guess so," Phil was beaming.
Suddenly his smile faded.
"May, I found this."
He pulled out the drawing of the Hydra symbol.
"Shit," May whispered, taking the paper. "How could she know this?"
"She must have seen it in the lab."
"Shit."
"We have to ask her to know for sure."
"How could Hydra be involved? We took them down!"
"We have to ask her. Maybe this is a false alarm."
They turned to Skye who was running back to them holding Elsa and Anna.
"Elsa and Anna? It must have been a rough day," Phil tried to keep his voice light.
"Well, Anna missed you and she was scared so I kept her with me too."
"Well, that's good of you and I'm sorry Anna was scared."
"She's okay now." Skye cradled her dolls close.
"Skye, we need to ask you something really important." May sat Skye down on the couch.
"Can you tell me why you drew this? And what it is?" Coulson held up the drawing.
Skye stopped smiling.
"Skye? It's okay, you're safe now. But we need you to tell us about this."
"It's… it's from the horrible place." Skye was sinking back into the couch.
May pulled Skye onto her lap, wrapping her arms around her.
"The lady, it was on her silver machine."
"Her laptop?"
Skye nodded, leaning her head against May's shoulder.
"She wore a white coat and she was mean."
They had gotten the information they needed, but Coulson wasn't ready for the conversation to be over. Skye was actually sitting in front of them, talking about what happened. Maybe this would help. People always said it helped to talk about things.
"Why do you say she was mean?" May asked the question he was about to.
"She never smiled, and she pointed this thing at me when I wouldn't eat the apples and it hurt and was scary. And she would make me lie on a table and they put these things around my hands so I couldn't get up and she made them poke me with needles…" At this point the tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking in May's arms. "And I had to do different things, and nobody would talk to me and I was so scared. Nobody was nice there," Skye whimpered, unaware of the anguish on the two agents watching her were experiencing as they watched the little girl try to put into words what had happened to her.
"You're here with us now," May promised, gently rocking the tiny girl and smoothing her hair.
Coulson watched the stern agent comfort the five year old, feeling as though he was intruding in a private moment. He could barely believe the tenderness he was beginning to see in May. It seemed to be reserved for Skye and Skye only.
They were definitely in way over their heads.
And now to add to the mess, Hydra was involved.
"How the hell could this happen!" Fury roared.
It was a bizarre scene, the Director waving a messy five year old's crayon drawing in the air with a murderous expression on his face.
Nobody was laughing. In fact, everywhere only shocked and horrified looks were found.
Fury had called an emergency meeting for the top operatives of SHEILD.
"We now also know that Hydra is involved with Centipede and the girl is somehow connected. To both organizations now. Where is she now?" Fury turned to Coulson.
"Same location. It has proved to be secure."
"Good. Now can someone tell me why the hell we haven't pinned down Centipede and cut off its legs?"
"They've been one step ahead of us, sir. As soon as we pinpoint a location and move in, they move out."
The room was absolutely silent at that statement.
"We... We believe that Centipede is working to create a genetic alteration that will turn a human into a super soldier, enhanced reflexes, strength, everything. We were able to extract some of the serum found in the vial's of the girl's blood found at the second lab."
"Hydra might be funding them to create an army."
"The girl was needed because they have so far had no success in getting the serum to fuse with human DNA. The results of the in depth scans recently came back from the lab where the girl was held. Five remains of bodies were found in the dirt under the compound. What was left of their burnt cells was wildly mutated."
"And the girl?"
"Her 0-8-4 status means her identity is unknown. Somehow they got her location from our database."
"That information is very secure," Fury growled.
"Why didn't they inject the girl with the serum right away?" someone else asked. "Why all the tests first?"
"They probably were seeking to pinpoint her species. Besides, she holds a high value. They would not throw away her life so easily."
"I suggest we bring the girl in ourselves and study her."
"Absolutely not," Coulson's blue eyes sparked with anger.
He had been listening mostly in silence, increasingly disturbed by the way Skye was being referred to as a subject and species and…
"Coulson? Can you give me a good reason for that statement?" Fury raised his eyebrows.
"I can personally testify that Skye, yes, the girl has a name, was severely traumatized by her stay in the lab. To bring her back into a similar situation would be the same as torturing her. And let me remind you, whatever species or strange blood she has, Skye is a five year old little girl. For God's sakes, think of your daughters if you have one, or your nieces or your sisters. I hope SHEILD is still an organization that will protect the basic human rights of a little girl." Coulson's voice held a dangerous edge.
"Coulson, sometimes the needs of many…" Agent Graham's voice was quiet.
"When we make those choices, the person sacrificing does so willingly. Are you suggesting we subject a small girl to torture against her will?!"
"It isn't torture…"
"Trust me, to her it will be!"
"Then that's her problem. We aren't going to hurt her…"
"Whether or not you mean to, it will hurt her. And I will not stand for that!" Coulson shouted.
"Enough!" Fury roared. "The girl is not vital to catching Centipede and Hydra at this point. There is no need to involve her at the moment. We will focus our energy on the task at hand! And I will not have my agents fight at this crucial moment. I want answers on how information was leaked and where Centipede and Hydra are now so we can take them down. Am I understood?!"
There was murmured assent and the room quickly cleared.
"Phil? A word?" Fury stopped Coulson as he began to exit.
"Sir?" Coulson turned to face his superior.
"You seem to feel strongly about matters regarding the girl."
"If we begin using people for our purposes, we are no better than those we seek to destroy," Coulson stated.
"I agree. But matters never are quite so black and white."
"There are some areas where we cannot blur lines, sir."
"Coulson, I gave you and May this job because I know you both are capable of protecting this girl. Also because I know you are capable of compassion, and that is what children respond the most to. This girl may one day be crucial. Having an agent she trusts could be very useful."
"You are using me to control Skye," Coulson translated.
"The world is not that black and white."
"I'm not saying it is, but I stand beside my previous statement that some lines cannot be blurred."
"All I am saying is I need you to be ready to do your job, whatever that entails." Fury was already backing his briefcase, conversation clearly over.
"My job entails protecting Skye and that is what I will do," Coulson's blue eyes sparked slightly.
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