They had arrived at the pit. Skye took a deep breath as Mack secured her into the harness. "Good luck, sis", Mack whispered. Skye looked up at him and could see how nervous he was, being back in the place where he'd lost his identity and nearly died less than a day ago. She squeezed his hand as he locked her in.

"Mack", Skye began quietly, "if something happens to me while I'm in there, I need you to–".

"Hush", Mack scolded her, "nothing is going to happen to you. Nothing". Skye forced a smile, "Well, then say 'hey' to Bobbi and Hunter for me, and let them know I'll see them soon, okay?"

"Will do, kid". Mack backed away as Coulson approached Skye with a communication device. "Listen to me", he said firmly, "Fitzsimmons will be monitoring you the whole time. If you need help, if you really need it, someone will come in after you, okay? We're not going to let anything happen to you, don't worry". Coulson looked like he was trying very hard to follow his own advice. "Now remember, as soon as you find Raina, shoot her with this ICEr, don't try to talk to her or anything, just–"

"I know, Coulson", Skye said softly, "I'll be fine". She embraced him tightly, and felt his arms wrap around her in return. They held each other tightly for a moment, then he released her and stepped back.

"Okay, Skye", May said gently, "we're lowering you down in 3…2…1"

Simmons and Fitz hovered over the screen back at The Bus as they watched Skye descend into the pit. "Alright", Fitz said, "it should take her about five minutes to reach the room where the obelisk was…umm… activated. Hopefully, Raina hasn't moved in the last couple hours. According to Skye, she didn't…didn't seem…umm–"

"Didn't seem to be good condition for moving, yes", Simmons finished. Fitz blushed and turned away, "Yeah, Simmons, I was getting there. You always just–"

"Fitz", Simmons said gently, putting a hand tentatively on his shoulder, "we need to talk".

"No." Fitz shrugged off her hand, "I can't".

"I'm sorry, Fitz, but we have to. You're my best friend; I need someone to work with, to talk to–"

"Simmons, I tried talking to you. Ever since you jumped out of the plane when you had that virus and I almost lost you, I knew how much you meant to me, and I wanted to tell you, I really did. But I was so scared that you wouldn't feel the same way…that you would leave me. But then when Ward…when he tried to…to kill us, I thought I was going to die, and I needed to tell you how I felt. And then what I was afraid of came true. You didn't feel the same way, and you left".

"I'm so sorry, Fitz. All I had time to think about was how to make sure both of us got out of there alive", Simmons whispered, "And there's something I should tell you too. I–"

"Jemma", Fitz interrupted, "What happened? The screen's gone dark. Where's Skye?!"

Skye had reached the room where she had last seen Raina, "I'm in, guys", she reported back to Coulson, "No sign of her". She called softly into the room, "Raina? You still in here?"

Skye jumped as she heard footsteps behind her. She whirled around, and found herself face to face with her father.

Cal smiled as he looked into his daughter's face. He could sense the power she radiated, and he loved it. Now, his daughter could be with him, she could be his...forever. "Welcome home, Daisy".