There wasn't a clock in the Cage, and Skye apparently hadn't yet developed a creepy Ward-like sixth sense about time, so when May knocked on the door the next morning, it startled her out of sleep.
She sat up abruptly, distracted by the clatter of the table and chair flinging themselves (okay, being flung) a few inches further away from her. Geez. Now that she had figured out she was the source of the vibrations, they seemed to be happening more often.
May was waiting, so Skye called out, "Come in!"
The code beeped, and May stood in the doorway, holding the most ruggedly tricked-out laptop Skye had ever seen.
"Is that mine?" she asked in disbelief. "It looks like it could survive nuclear war."
May's lips curved into a pleased smirk. "Fitz did a good job. Get logged in and let's get started."
Skye blinked. "Okay!" She supposed it made sense that May wasn't going to hang out. But when May had said she would see Skye this morning, Skye hadn't realized that she meant on a screen.
She took the laptop and cords from May, who added, "See you in a few," before closing and locking the door.
Skye plugged in the computer and got it booted up and logged on to the Playground network before an invite came across on FACE.
(When Skye had learned that the secure SHIELD equivalent of Skype was actually called FACE - Facilitating Avenue for Coordination and Execution - she had wondered, out loud, whether SHIELD had teams of people who sat around in rooms all day thinking up cool-sounding and completely contrived acronyms. When she pointed out, repeatedly, that it should really be abbreviated FAFCAE, she got nothing but rolled eyes from everyone. It still drove her crazy.)
Incoming transmission from Agent Melinda May
*ACCEPT*
May adjusted the webcam on her end, and Skye saw that she was in the gym. "Training and conditioning can't stop because you're in the Cage," May informed her matter-of-factly, with her hands on her hips. "Today I'm going to teach you how to stay sharp in 225 square feet or less with no equipment. If you need to get changed, you have five minutes."
Skye blinked and nodded. Back to business it was, then.
An hour and a half later, Skye's muscles were aching in a familiar way, and one less worry was rattling around in her mind. Her marksmanship might suffer from lack of practice while she was stuck in the Cage, but at least she'd be able to maintain her strength and endurance. And the mood boost from working out was doing wonders for her outlook.
"Good work," May assessed, and Skye basked in the approval. May's compliments were sparingly expressed and always treasured. "You'll need to set an alarm on your laptop," May continued. "I expect to see you here for tai chi every morning at 4am. Push-ups for every minute late."
Skye nodded, with a small grin. "Sounds great."
There was a momentary, awkward pause as the illusion of normalcy wavered.
"Thanks, May."
A faint shadow darkened May's countenance, but she banished it quickly. "I'll see you at briefing at 0800."
Skye nodded, and Agent May ended the transmission. Skye breathed deeply and reached her aching arms up toward the ceiling, bending one arm behind her head and grasping her elbow to stretch out her triceps.
She was just taking stock of how sweaty and gross she felt when there came a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" she called out.
"Morning shift," came Hunter's cheeky voice.
"Come in."
The code beeped, and Hunter was standing in the hallway. "They gave me the 6am to 6pm shift," he informed her, jokingly aggrieved. "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive you. I haven't been up this early since Christmas when I was eight."
Coulson must have told everyone to act normal, Skye realized abruptly, with mixed feelings. But oh well. It was actually kind of a relief to have Hunter snarking at her, instead of treating her like she was going to break.
"What happened when you turned nine?" she asked coolly.
"I realized the gifts would still be there after I slept in. Made my mum very happy," he replied cheerfully. "Now, Agent May informed me that you were going to need this?" He kicked a plastic tub on the floor next to him, and Skye realized it was filled with water.
The thought of scrubbing all the post-workout grime off her body sounded exquisite. But the appeal was tempered by the uncomfortable realization that she would be sponge bathing, with a sticky note the only thing between her and surveilling eyes.
Hunter must have picked up on her discomfort, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of Scotch tape. "Here," he said, offering it to her. "To prevent any catastrophes from the stickiness wearing off the sticky note."
"I see you know everything," Skye replied dryly. She accepted the roll of tape with distinct relief. It was better than nothing.
Hunter momentarily grew more serious. "Coulson said something about sending someone out to buy one of those room divider screen things for you, so you don't have to continue relying on sticky notes."
"That would definitely be an improvement," Skye mumbled. The strange reality of life in the Cage was setting in more and more, and, creeping in around the edges of her conscious thought, she felt the heavy, panicky sensation of being trapped.
"Well," Hunter said suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had set in, "I'm supposed to make these drops as quickly as possible, and I'm sure the water is cooling by the second, so...?" He lifted the tub of water and handed it to Skye, followed by a washcloth, a towel, and her shampoo and body wash.
"Breakfast is in an hour, briefing in two," Hunter rattled off in a businesslike tone. "Laundry pick-ups will be once daily in the evening. That won't be any of my business," he clarified.
"Wow," Skye replied, her eyes wide. "You really weren't kidding about room service."
"You have no idea." He rolled his eyes in mock despair and left.
Skye found herself grinning.
The briefing almost felt normal, except for the absence of Simmons and the fact that Skye couldn't turn her head to see the people next to her. The web cam's field of view only stretched wide enough to accommodate Coulson, May, Fitz, and Mack's elbow.
"Okay, team, here's where we're at," Coulson began straightforwardly. "We've got an as-yet-unresolved incident in São Luis and a new report of a Hydra base in Delaware that's been seeing an uptick in activity and could benefit from a little sabotage. Agent Morse, is your leg up for field duty yet?"
Off-camera, Bobbi cleared her throat. "Of course."
"Okay. Hunter, Morse, and May will be our away team for that mission. We'll depart at 2100 tonight, after I've had a chance to gather additional logistics. May, you'll be working with me this afternoon on designing that op."
Agent May nodded.
"Now, where are we on Brazil?" Coulson turned to Fitz.
The engineer looked a bit ill at ease about being thrust into the role of resident biochem expert. Skye remembered that after San Juan, Simmons had mentioned something about Fitz wanting to leave the lab to work in the garage with Mack. With Simmons out of commission for a while, that definitely wasn't going to be possible.
Maybe something good would come from all of this.
Fitz tapped his fingers on the tabletop. "So far, test results have been inconclusive," he began. "No foreign substances, no radiation, no abnormalities detected on any of the tests we were able to run."
"Have you exhausted all the possibilities?" Coulson's question was sharp, not with frustration, but with concern.
"Well, we lost the, uh..." - Fitz's gaze flicked nervously over toward Skye - "...the samples, so there were some results that we weren't able to get. We could try again with new samples, but Simmons says the results won't be as conclusive, since too much time will have passed between the incident and the blood draw; any foreign substances could already be working their way out of the bloodstream."
Skye winced, trying not to keep a mental tally of all the things she was screwing up.
Coulson was quiet at first. "I'll have Agent Ferreira send another round of samples," he decided firmly. "The least we can do is try."
Fitz nodded. "I'll touch base with Jemma and see what her plans were for the remainder of the testing."
Coulson hesitated before asking the next question. "How's the tech recovery process going?"
Fitz shot another anxious glance in Skye's direction, and Skye cast her eyes upward, wishing she could disappear into the hard plastic chair on which she was sitting. Tears were stinging her eyes again.
"Well, we lost a good deal of it, sir. But I have teams still working on what can be scavenged, and even the things that are broken, we should be able to disassemble them and at least learn what Hydra was up to. There may be some components that we can repurpose."
"Good. Let's keep your lab team on that. That tech has been sitting in boxes for too long. This is a good excuse to have to do something with it."
"Yes, sir." Fitz looked relieved that his turn at debrief was over.
"Morse? Skye? Any luck tracking down our suspects?"
Coulson's grim expression told Skye that Bobbi was shaking her head, too.
"These guys are ghosts," came Bobbi's voice from somewhere behind the laptop.
"Definitely," Skye agreed. "This is the most complicated trail I think I've ever seen. Whoever these people are, they don't want to be found, and they know how to keep that from happening."
Coulson was looking at her. "Do you think you can crack it?"
Skye inhaled and exhaled deeply before answering. "Give me some time. I still have a few ideas. And I might be able to call in some favors."
"All right," Coulson replied. "So we're thirty-six hours out and still at square one," he summarized, looking around at the team. "Let's try to get to square two. You're all dismissed. Field team, I'll see you at 2100."
The breath caught in Skye's throat as Coulson turned to talk quietly with May and Fitz disappeared off her screen in the direction of the lab. Mack, Bobbi, Hunter, and Koenig walked into and out of the frame as they left the room, and suddenly an aching sense of disconnection closed in around her.
Skye blinked away the tears that had been hovering in her eyes and ended the transmission. This was no different from any other day around the base. If she'd been at that briefing in person, she'd have picked up her laptop and hightailed it to the nearest empty room to work in peace. That's exactly what she was doing now.
Except - crap. She was thirsty.
Skye had just buried her face in her elbows on the table when there was a knock. "Room service!"
A quick, incredulous laugh slipped from her lips. "Come on in."
Hunter was holding a bottle of water. "A little birdie told me you might need this," he explained.
"Your timing is perfect," she replied quietly, accepting the water.
"I'll be in the lab," Hunter went on with an ironic expression, "doing whatever unskilled tasks Fitz assigns me, but I'll have an eye on the video feed. Wave or FACE if you need anything."
"FAFCAE," Skye muttered under her breath.
Hunter's jaw slackened. "Exactly!" he burst out triumphantly. "I've been telling Bobbi that for years. These SHIELD acronyms are ridiculous. It's a daft name anyway."
Skye couldn't help but laugh. It figured that of everyone, the person who finally agreed with her would be Hunter.
A moment of companionable amusement enveloped them. They had never been close, but Skye appreciated how great Hunter had been over the last few days. And since it seemed like she was going to be seeing a lot of him, it was nice that their working relationship was starting to feel a little more like a friendship. "Thank you," she said frankly, and she meant for more than just the water.
"No problem," he replied, studying her soberly, with a hint of the concern he'd expressed over the last few days. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then seemed to think better of it - maybe, thought Skye, remembering that he was supposed to be acting as if things were normal. "See you in a few hours," he said instead. He started to pull the door closed, then turned back toward Skye, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "Any chance there'll be tip money forthcoming?"
Skye rolled her eyes, and Hunter flashed a cheeky grin before locking her back in.
A/N: Thanks to Nascent Narrator for helping me clarify my thoughts on the last scene of this chapter! :)