Happy New Year, everyone! This chapter is quite a bit longer than previous ones, and I considered breaking it into two, then decided against it. I hope you enjoy!
"No. No, no, no", Skye screamed, backing away from her father. She put her hand up to her earpiece, "Coulson, I need help. Now." No response. "Coulson?...Coulson!" Skye took several deep breaths. Where were they? She could not deal with this on her own right now.
"The connection has been cut, Daisy", Cal said, reaching out towards her, "They can't hear you".
"No", Skye snarled, pulling out her ICEr, "You leave me alone, now, or I shoot you. I swear to God, I will do it".
"No, my love, you won't", Cal replied, without a trace of fear in his voice, "Besides, I'm here to help you. You want to find Raina. I have her. You need someone to help you understand your powers. I can do that. You need me, Daisy."
"Actually, I think I can figure out my 'powers' on my own, thanks". Skye closed her eyes, and concentrated on vibrating the ground. The entire cave shook, and chunks of rock came raining down from the ceiling and walls, piling on top of her father. Skye turned and ran. She made it about 50 steps before she hit a dead end, and turning around, saw Cal blocking her path.
"That was impressive, Daisy". Skye's father could hardly keep the pride out of his voice, "but I know you can be so much more. Let me help you. Please. I'm asking nicely, dear, but there's really no other option for you".
"I could shoot you", Skye snapped angrily, but Cal just kept smiling at her. They both knew she couldn't kill him. Skye closed her eyes. She was thinking a million miles an hour. How can I get myself out of this? I swear, he's as bad as Ward…they just won't leave me alone! She took a deep breath, then looked her father in the eyes, glaring at him, "Okay. Since I have no other option, and because I need to find Raina, I'll come with you". Cal grinned at her, and opened his mouth to speak. "Wait", Skye held up her hand to silence him, "First, you will let me return to the team to say goodbye". Cal tried to protest, but she cut him off again, "I won't tell them where I'm going, or even mention you, but you will let me say goodbye to them, or else I will crumble this cave on top of you, I don't care if it kills both of us. Do you understand?"
Cal looked into his daughter's face, "Okay, Daisy, as you wish. You have one hour. I'll be here, waiting for you".
Skye turned and sprinted back to the entrance of the tunnel. She had one hour left with the people she loved, and she was going to use it.
Back in the tunnel, Cal spoke into his earpiece, "I've got her. I've given her one hour to say her goodbyes, then she's off to discover herself with daddy dearest". Cal reached up to his face, and pulled off the mask, revealing the distorted face of Agent May.
"Well done", Ward said to Agent 33 through his earpiece. He smiled to himself and whispered "We'll be together again, Skye. I'll make you love me, just wait and see".
Coulson was panicking. "What do you mean, you lost her?" Coulson shouted to Fitzsimmons, "Where could she have gone?" He looked wildly around the room at the other agents. Bobbi and Hunter had just rejoined the team, and Mack and May were filling them in. They froze as they heard Coulson's frantic shouting.
"We don't know, sir", Simmons said timidly, "one minute she was walking down the tunnel, and the next, the screen went dark. She's not responding to any of our attempts at communication."
"You guys had one job!" Coulson yelled, "How could you let this happen? I'm going in after her. May, get me a –" Coulson paused as he heard a faint screaming.
"Coulson! Mack! Lift me up! Quickly!" Skye's voice rose from the entrance of the tunnel. Mack ran over to the opening and began hoisting her up. When he had completely lifted her out, Skye sunk to the ground, exhausted. Coulson approached her, looking concerned. He helped her up, then motioned for May to grab her something to drink.
"No", Skye gasped, "no time. I came to tell you…that I have to…have to go back soon. I found Raina", she lied, "but the communication system was broken, so I thought I should come back to fill you in. It might take me a while to bring her back, so I wanted to say…goodbye for now. I'll see you in a little bit, of course", she added hastily, "but just in case bringing her in takes a really long time, I wanted to see you for a bit." Skye stared at the ground after she finished speaking, her eyes filling with tears. She hated lying to her team, but if Cal found out she had told them about him, he could attack them.
Coulson and May glanced at each other questioningly. They were used to Skye's rambling, but her story didn't quite make sense. Skye embraced Hunter and Bobbi as Mack relayed the news to Fitzsimmons. Skye looked at Mack. "Could you ask them to come down for a bit, Mack? I'm only going to stay for about 45 minutes, and I'd like to see them."
Mack nodded, and passed on the message to Fitzsimmons. Skye sat down on the floor between May and Coulson and leaned her head on Coulson's shoulder. Her eyes started watering again and she began to tremble.
"Skye", Coulson began tentatively, "Is there anything you want to talk about?" She shook her head and didn't say anything. "We can send in someone with you if you want, Skye. I don't want you to get hurt". Skye shook her head firmly and said with false bravado "I'm fine, Coulson, I just want to rest a bit with you guys before I go back in. I can handle it." She turned to smile at Hunter and Bobbi, "I missed you guys, what've you been up to?"
Hunter winked at her. "It's a long story, Skye. It can wait until you get back." Skye's smile faltered, but she nodded and rested her head back on Coulson's shoulder.
Within the next half hour, Fitzsimmons arrived and joined the circle of agents around the opening of the cave. They sat on opposite sides of the circle. Coulson quietly apologized for getting angry at them earlier, and they shrugged it off, murmuring that they were just glad that Skye was alright.
Skye finally looked at her watch, and realizing that she only had ten minutes to get back to her father, rose and said "I'd better get going everyone".
All of the agents stood, and she embraced them one by one. Simmons stroked Skye's hair, and whispered for her to be careful. Bobbi and Hunter both gave her a reassuring squeeze and smiled at her confidently. Once again, Mack wished her luck and started fixing her harness. Fitz hugged her as well, and mumbled something about sending a monkey instead. Skye laughed weakly and he blushed. Next, Skye was embraced briefly by May, who then held her at arm's length, looking into her eyes for a clue of what was really going on. Skye held her gaze, willing herself not to betray any weakness, then moved toward Coulson once May released her. She hugged Coulson tightly, then whispered, just soft enough where he wouldn't be able to hear it "Goodbye, Dad". Even though she was about to go rejoin her birth father, she knew that Coulson was the one who loved and cared for her like a true father, and she loved him back. Her eyes filled with tears when he finally let go of her. "Okay", she said, trying not to whimper, "Time to go".