May would be lying if she said she wasn't worried when Skye switched off her comms in Quinn's villa. As she had said to Coulson, she didn't trust her, and Skye's cavalier attitude towards training hadn't really helped her look any better in May's eyes.

She had assumed that Skye would be too tired to train the next day, and had risen for her usual tai chi when she heard noise coming from the gym.

Quietly, she moved out onto the area overlooking the cargo hold.

Huh.

Skye had dragged herself out of bed a full half hour before their usual time to train. She looked tired, but she was keeping her arms up and had wrapped her hands before she set into the punching bag.

Melinda watched her for a minute. Skye was a rogue element. She followed her heart, resisted orders. But she was lonely. May was seeing that more and more clearly over the last week. Even living with her cluster, she was still lonely. Scared. In need of validation.

Melinda sighed internally. She didn't trust Skye. She didn't even like Skye. Both of them were hiding things from the other. There was no way they could be friends. There was no point in telling her that she had done well on the mission.

A soft sigh came from beside her. "You don't think she would like to know?"

May glanced at Peggy. "No." She muttered. "If she did her best then she already knows. No need for me to say it."

Peggy shook her head. "Always hiding behind business."

Melinda narrowed her eyes. "It's my job to train her, not make her feel good about herself."

"People have been known to do both you know." Peggy reminded, but she could sense Melinda's resilience. "They'll find out eventually, whether you like it or not. Perhaps it would be better if they like you a little before they do."

May said nothing, and Peggy vanished with a sigh. She walked down the stairs. "I thought you'd be too tired for training."

Skye jumped. "Well I've lived with some pretty strict families." She said, letting May inspect the wrappings on her hands, "I can follow a routine if I want to."

May released her arm, satisfied. "Foster homes?"

Skye swallowed, turning back to the punching bag. "Yeah." She said, refusing to look at May as she held the bag still. "Never really fit in. I tried to do what they wanted, a couple of times, but that didn't work either."

Damnit. She didn't want to feel sorry for her."SHIELD doesn't work like that." May said. "We protect our own."

Skye hit the bag slightly harder. "I'm not a SHIELD agent."

"Not yet." May said, hating herself for saying it, "But you're shaping up."

Skye stopped, looking up. "Yeah?"

May rolled her eyes. "I don't say things I don't mean." She muttered, crossing her arms defensively.

Skye grinned a little. "Okay, sorry, didn't mean to thaw out that heart you've got buried somewhere in there." May glared and she backtracked. "Kidding!"

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

May watched Skye sit in the interrogation room with her boyfriend. She should have seen this coming. She did see this coming. She was angry though. Anger was okay, anger was the right reaction here. What she didn't expect was the hurt.

Melinda shook herself. Probably just Phil projecting.

She watched Fitzsimmons walk by, whispering to one another. Probably about Skye.

"I don't understand how she could do this! I thought we were friends, we have this connection!"

Jemma sighed. "She is our friend Fitz, I- just think that maybe he's more than that."

"No- Jemma, I mean- how did she lie to us? Block us out? She was doing this the whole time, how could she hide it from us?" He ducked his head, paranoid at being overheard. They stopped outside Jemma's bunk.

"I don't know Fitz!" She snapped, immediately quieting. "This whole situation is confusing. We still don't know anything about this connection, why is occurred, why to us, how it works. Skye might just be ahead of us in figuring out how to use it."

He shook his head, bracing himself against a wall. "So she figures out how to control this thing, and her first decision is to lie, and hide things from us?! What kind of person does that?"

Jemma groaned. "Fitz I think she was just scared! She didn't know about us, she- she already had her plan before we found out about this."

Fitz kicked at the ground. "Yeah, and now she's blocking us out." He muttered. "Doesn't that make you suspicious?"

"No." Jemma said. "It makes me think that she's scared we're angry with her, and doesn't know what to say."

"She could start with 'I'm sorry'."

"Fitz."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Coulson sighed, watching Skye from his office. He could hear Melinda approaching from a mile away. "Go ahead." He muttered. "Say it."

May paused. "I should have known."

The surprised him. "What?"

She leaned against the doorframe. "I've been training her for weeks now Phil. I should have seen it."

"Maybe." He acknowledged. "But she's not the only one hiding something." He grimaced. "We should have told her. Maybe then she'd have trusted us enough to tell us about this."

Melinda bristled. "We don't need to buy her trust. I'm her S.O. She should have told me."

He shrugged. "Why would she? You've been trying pretty hard to keep your relationship totally professional. Hard for a kid like Skye to trust someone who does that." When her anger became apparent, Coulson held up his hands. "I'm not saying that what she did was right." He said, "I'm just saying, it's understandable that she didn't trust us."

Melinda scowled, but she knew that he was right. "So what do we do now?"

Coulson leaned back in his chair. "She's still hiding something."

"Yes."

"Something we don't know about."

Melinda nodded.

He paused. "But it's not a priority. What is a priority is Chan Ho Yin. We need to find him."

"I'll get Fitzsimmons on it."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"I'm sorry." Miles muttered. "I didn't know."

Skye couldn't help the rage coursing through her. "All our talks. Did you mean none of it? I gave everything for you and it turns out you were just lying to me the whole time!" She could feel Fitzsimmons' presence, pushing gently against her barriers. She pushed back. Hard.

"I could have funded us for years!" Miles defended, "Years, so you wouldn't have to join some corrupt institution to find what you're looking for, what's wrong with that?"

A pit opened in Skye's stomach, knowing that they were definitely being recorded. "I'll tell you, an innocent guy might die!" She shouted, "For money."

"You know I'd never intentionally hurt anyone." Miles didn't even look like the guy she used to know. "I'm just looking for answers. At least you know what you're looking for. I don't." Skye snorted internally. She knew what that meant. It meant that his life was fine. "For a long time I thought it was you. I guess I was wrong."

Jemma burst through her barrier, almost making Skye jump out of her chair. "Now that is just totally unfair!" She shouted at Miles, even knowing that he couldn't hear her. "It is not Skye's job to make your miserable life worth living, have you got that?!"

Skye blinked and saw that Miles was staring at her. "I- you're right, I'm sorry." He muttered.

Skye frowned. Had Jemma just...

Jemma.

In a moment she was with her. Skye stared. "You- you're not mad at me?"

Jemma jumped, "Oh lord, Skye, I'm sorry for that outburst." She said, "I don't know- I was just so angry."

"For me though." Skye bit her lip. "I- I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys."

Jemma smiled and took her hand. "It's quite alright. I understand. None of us asked for this... whatever it is. Even with it, well, we're not really friends."

Skye squeezed her hand. "Can we be?"

Jemma's smile widened. "I'd like that."

"Cool." Skye said shyly. "Oh, and by the way, you kind of... took over my body just then."

"Wait, what?!"

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Melinda had to admit, it was pretty cathartic to kick the hell out of the centipede guards. They were armed, she wasn't, but it didn't exactly matter. Coulson was giving her that tired look that she knew meant she was enjoying this too much, but she didn't care. He could tell her off later, she needed to vent a little.

It wasn't until someone hit the lockdown procedures that things got more complicated. May's head turned slightly hearing the different doors slam shut, locks activating. Her thoughts flickered to Tori and Izzy, but neither of them could be of much help getting them unlocked.

Phil typed at the computer that was in the lab, and both their sets of eyes widened in horror when they saw Chan.

Agent Kwan sank to the floor with a large scorched hole in his chest. "Chan." Coulson said, "What have you done?"

He smiled maniacally. "I've set myself free."

May fired a couple of shots at him, but they melted before they made contact.

Coulson dove for cover near her. "This isn't good."

"We've locked in, what are we supposed to do?"

"You're better at computers than me." He said quickly, "You try to get the doors open, I'll distract him."

"Phil this is dangerous."

"Then you'd better work fast."

Phil immediately started trying to talk Chan down, and May stealthily crept towards the computer, out of sight. She reached it and swore internally. Shit. She had no idea how to unlock the doors with this system. The whole thing got mixed up when the lockdown was put into place, probably to prevent people like her from opening the doors.

"Need a hand?"

May's head whipped around at the voice. "Skye?!"

She looked around, taking in the situation. "You need the lockdown override, right? I can do that."

May glanced at Chan, still talking to Coulson. "Tell me what to do."

Skye grimaced, "It'll be faster if I just-" She seized control of May's hands, hacking the doors in moments.

Something in Melinda froze. This was wrong. No one could do that, certainly not Skye, and certainly not to her. How-

"Stop." Tori's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Not isn't the time Melinda."

She shook herself. Tori was right. Not when there was an insane pyrokinetic in the room targeting her partner.

"Chan!" She called, getting his attention enough that Phil emptied his holster. Unfortunately, Chan stopped all of the night night gun's cartridges before they made contact. When they could see again after the flames had died down, Chan was gone.

Phil hurried to the table by her. "That was his last chance, you know that right?" May asked.

"Yeah. Time to minimise the damage." Coulson said grimly.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Taking down Chan wasn't hard. Escaping from the exploding building wasn't hard.

Taking the looks that Coulson was giving her on the ride back, that was hard. "What's up with you?" He asked as they drove the short distance to the Bus. "Is it being back in the field so fast? I told you, we can get another specialist to help you if you want."

She shook her head stiffly. "No."

Phil sighed. "May I can't read your mind. Well, I can, but you won't let me." Even that didn't get it's usual glare. "Melinda."

Tori and Izzy appeared, and May's hands on the steering wheel tightened. "It's Skye."

"Look, we can deal with her when we get back."

Tori shook her head. "No. She unlocked the doors."

Phil nodded. "I thought that was faster than you usually can. Fitzsimmons must have let her out to get remote access."

"No." May muttered. "They didn't." She took a breath. "She- Phil she visited me. She knows. Maybe she always has."

"Okay." He said, processing. "That's okay, they were going to find out eventually."

"Phil, she shared, with me."

"What?!" Three voices cried out incredulously. "But-but- how?!"

"Do you think I know?!"

"But you can't share with anyone outside your cluster!"

"Thanks Izzy, I'd totally forgotten!"

"How did this happen?"

"I don't know! She just- took over!"

"Guys, calm down!" Phil cried, projecting calm strongly enough that they could all take a breath. "We'll talk to Skye. Maybe she's up to something, maybe she just doesn't know what she's meant to be able to do."

Melinda swallowed and Izzy put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" She asked.

"No." May said flatly. No one had shared with her since...

"It'll be okay." Izzy said earnestly, blocking out the other two. "The kid didn't see anything. You know she didn't."

"But she could." Melinda said quietly, scared. "Izzy, it was so easy for her to get in. Like I- like she was never blocked out."

"You'll manage it." Izzy murmured. "Maybe letting her in isn't the worst thing. Just think about it."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Skye watched Miles walk down the ramp and was surprised to find that she wasn't sad to see him go. The strongest emotion she could feel was relief. If that was hers at all. She walked quietly up to Coulson's office, wondering if she was going to face the same fate. Or worse.

She passed through the common area just in time to see May slip away. She was mad at her, and Skye knew that she deserved it.

Jemma and Fitz were noticeably silent, probably also not sure what was going to happen to her. She wondered if they would miss her when she was gone.

She moved slowly into Coulson's office, sitting down in the chair even though every instinct told her to run. Skye swallowed, her heart hammering in her chest. "I- never wanted anyone to-"

"Stop lying." Coulson interrupted her, his voice far from the casual warmth it usually held. "All you've been doing since you got here is lying. I stood up for you, in front of the Director, and our team. Hell, we even started to believe in you, and all you've done in return is lie."

The cold feeling of shame had a grip on her heart. Skye was okay getting kicked out. She didn't need Coulson reminding her what a terrible person she was while he did it.

"We fought for you, risked our lives for you." Skye looked down. "Why are you here?! You've been keeping something from us, and it's not just Miles, you have a secret Skye."

Suddenly she felt angry. "I have a secret?!" Skye burst out, standing up, "You think acting like I'm the only person on this plane who's been keeping secrets will mean that I just forget?! We've been trying to work out what the hell we are ever since we got here, and this whole time, you knew! But it's all my fault?Just because I wanted answers?!"

"Answers to what?"

Skye scowled, and Coulson leaned against his desk. "Okay." He said. "You tell me your answers, and I'll tell you mine, then we'll figure out what we're going to do. Okay?" He felt May appear behind him, watching silently. Knowing that Skye couldn't see her. The steel returned for a moment. "If you don't want to tell me anything then you know where the door is."

She continued to glare, but after a moment pulled the micro card out of her bra and put it on his desk.

Coulson looked at it, not picking it up. "What is that?"

Skye gritted her teeth, forcing the tears back. "It's everything I have."

"On us."

"On me." She ground out. "That's why I learned to hack systems, why I joined the rising tide. To find any information I could on my family." Coulson booted up the drive, seeing the files flicker up on his office screen. May shifted to see better. Skye wiped her nose. "There's nothing." She said, "No records, no trace. My whole life I've been looking, and all I got was one file. Redacted."

Coulson looked at the final file, suddenly feeling guilty. "By SHIELD."

Skye glared at the floor. "It doesn't matter what you do." She said, "I'll never stop looking."

Melinda sighed. They couldn't kick her out for this. They both knew it. Phil reached for the tissue box on his desk, offering it. "If you wanna stay," He said, "I think we can help. But there are conditions."

"Like what?"

He pulled out a box like the one he had given Miles. "You need to wear this for the conceivable future. Prove you're trustworthy."

Skye looked at it. She swallowed. "What hand?"

Coulson raised an eyebrow. "Either."

She nodded, taking a breath to calm down, then clicking the bracelet around her right wrist.

He didn't need to hear May's emotions to know that she was impressed with Skye's actions too. Phil stood. "I'm going to get you some water. Try to calm down."

"You said you'd give me answers." Skye said flatly. "Or is lying okay when it's you?"

Coulson chalked the attitude up to how upset she was, and tried not to snap. "I'm still going to explain." He said. "I just want to make sure you don't have a panic attack before them. Fitz and Simmons wouldn't appreciate that."

Skye stared. "You know about-"

He raised an eyebrow, indicating for her to breathe. Skye glared poisonously, but did as she was asked. When Coulson returned with water she did seem a lot calmer.

"Are they here?" He asked softly.

Skye frowned. "What, you can't tell?"

He shook his head. "Not without visiting. And I wouldn't want to do that without asking. Unless it was an emergency."

Skye swallowed. "What's visiting?"

Oh boy. He sat down. "When others appear near you without actually being there. We call that visiting."

Skye fiddled with the bracelet. "What are we?"

Coulson laced his fingers. Melinda was gone now. Probably hiding somewhere. He could tell that the incident with Skye had unnerved her. "We call ourselves sensate."

"Great name." Skye rolled her eyes. "What does it mean?"

"I think you've probably noticed." He said. "Your minds are expanding, joining together. You're part of a cluster of other minds, and you can draw on each other's experience and skills, feel what they're feeling, see what they're seeing."

"So... Me and Fitzsimmons, we're a cluster?"

"Yes."

Skye hesitated. "Are you and May?"

"Yes. And two others."

Skye frowned, absorbing the information. Coulson's eyes narrowed. "You really don't know anything about this, do you?"

Skye set her jaw. "I said I wasn't gonna lie." She muttered. "I don't say things I don't mean." Coulson held up his hands in a sign of peace, and she took a sip of water. "Why?"

"You're taking to it very well." Coulson said. "You visited someone outside of your cluster, that usually takes a while to develop."

Skye sighed. "Why didn't you just tell us?" She asked, "We're on the same plane."

"I- we, decided that you should figure some of this out by yourselves." He didn't want to place the blame for this on May. They'd all agreed to it too.

Skye swallowed another gulp of water. "How did this even happen?" Fitzsimmons appeared behind her. Fitz put a hand on her shoulder.

Coulson stood. "I'm getting a drink." He declared abruptly, going to the bar to pour himself a scotch.

Tori appeared beside him. "This is hard enough to explain sober Phil."

He snorted. "Well I'd say you could do it, but... they haven't made eye contact."

"What a shame."

He glared. When Coulson walked back to his office, it was to Skye watching him curiously. "Were you visiting one of your... cluster?"

He frowned, then realised some of his reaction must have shown on his face. "Yeah." He grinned, "Well technically she was visiting me. I was never any good at hiding it."

Izzy snorted. "That's an understatement."

"Shut up Izzy."

The kids were all smiling. "Izzy?"

Coulson rolled his eyes. "We'll get you guys synched up as soon as we can." He said, "Next trip to the Hub maybe."

Skye frowned. "What, we have to get some kind of surgery?"

Izzy snickered and Coulson shook his head. "Direct eye contact with another sensate will mean you can visit them any time, even if they're not in your cluster. The only exception is parents. Each cluster is made by a member of an existing cluster."

Skye looked down. "It's May isn't it? She's our..." She couldn't say it.

"Yes." Coulson said softly, feeling Izzy leave. "She made your cluster, and between Loki and I, it got pretty messed up." When Skye looked confused he continued. "You were formed as I got stabbed. Mel- May felt it, and it interrupted your cluster being formed. She should have known who you all were right away, been able to visit you from that moment, but it was cut."

Fitz spoke up. "Is that why there's three of us, but four of you?" He asked.

Skye repeated the question.

"Yes." He said, "But a cluster can be anywhere from three to twelve members. We don't know how many there are in your cluster since you got broken up like you did."

A knock on the door interrupted. "Sorry sir," Jemma apologised, "This just seemed easier."

He waved them in tiredly. "Have I missed anything?"

Tori and Izzy shook their heads, "Other than sharing and telepathy... no."

"Good."

"And Skye's connection to May. Should probably mention that."

Phil groaned. "Tomorrow."

He looked back to the kids. "Well?"

Jemma smiled politely. "Well, sir, we were wondering if there may be others in our- cluster, that we simply haven't connected with yet."

"Entirely possible." He said. "Why, have you been seeing something?"

Jemma and Fitz looked at each other. "Just- flashes." He admitted. "But nothing that makes any sense."

Coulson sighed. "Well hopefully it'll become clearer. The three of you seem to be connecting fine, so there are no problems with that. Let me know if any of you see anything else."

"Yes sir."

"And don't tell anyone. It's hard enough to keep ourselves safe without the world knowing."