Skye was sitting in the lab watching Fitz work quietly. She couldn't help but smile. It was kind of cute how he would mumble to himself, how she could sense him guessing the weight of the night night gun before actually testing it, how he questioned the scales rather than assume he was wrong.

"I can hear you you know."

Skye sat up, "I'm being quiet."

Fitz grinned. "Not here." He said, tapping his temple.

Skye blushed a little. "Sorry."

He shook his head, watching Jemma and Coulson leave the gym. "It's okay. I'm kind of getting used to it."

Skye smiled. "Yeah. I know what you mean." She paused. "Do you think there are- more, of us?"

Fitz cocked his head. "I mean, we know that Coulson and May are like us. And there's two more in their cluster, not to mention that other guy Coulson mentioned."

"No, I mean- us." Skye said earnestly. "In our cluster. Coulson said there used to be six in his, and the other one had seven. There are only three of us, isn't that... kind of small?"

"I guess." Fitz mumbled, fiddling with the mechanism. "But it's not unheard of."

"I know, I just-" Skye sighed. "Coulson said that our cluster was... interrupted. I didn't click with you guys until I saw you. What if there are others out there? That we just haven't found yet?"

Fitz rubbed his eyes. "Have you seen anything?" He asked, "Something different, someone new?"

"I-I don't know." Skye muttered. "Sometimes I think it's the cockpit of a plane, but I don't know, that could just be May."

"Thought you were trying to stay out of her business."

"I am!" Skye exclaimed, "It's just- harder than I thought."

Fitz looked up. "She training you again?"

Skye knew that he knew the answer, but she appreciated the sentiment behind the question. "No." She said softly. "I mean, I get it, but... no."

Fitz gave her a tight smile, "Well, she'll be really impressed when she does." He said, "With all the solo stuff you've been doing."

Skye snorted. "Pretty sure she'll say I've been doing it all wrong."

"Possibly." He conceded.

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

Skye hung back as May checked under the hood of the car, watching as Coulson headed towards the campsite the kids had been at.

"The battery blew straight up through the hood." May called.

"Landed over here." Fitz said, gesturing. "What could have done this? That distance..."

When May started to move towards where the others were, Skye took a few steps away. Melinda rolled her eyes. She knew that Skye was trying to do as she'd asked, but this was a little much. She might tell her to stop be so skittish. Later though.

"I don't get why they called us," Skye said, seemingly annoyed. Fitz grinned, knowing that she hated the outdoors. "It seems like this thing is some freak lightning strike, why- oh." She came to a halt, seeing the body floating five feet in the air. "Never mind."

She could feel Fitzsimmons' thoughts whirling, trying to figure out what could have caused something like this. Her head was spinning. She didn't know how they did it.

"Well?" Coulson asked after a moment, "Any idea what could cause something like this?"

"Hell if we know." Jemma muttered.

May looked to Coulson. "Could be a new weapon."

"Or a freak natural disaster." He placated.

Skye took a step closer. "Or could it be someone on your index?"

May shook her head. "Nothing like this on the index." She said, briefly meeting Skye's eyes.

Skye couldn't help but smile. May was talking to her. Kind of.

"That we know of." Coulson corrected. "We'll send it through to HQ, see what they can tell us."

Jemma inched closer. "The mark on his forehead is odd." She said, "Same as the marks on the truck." As she leaned closer to look at the mark, a spark leapt from the body to her, and the body fell to the ground.

The three of them jumped, Skye instinctively inching closer to May. She swallowed. "Freaky."

"Freaky." Jemma agreed, looking down with mild distaste.

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

Skye could feel Fitz and Jemma snapping at each other from upstairs, and couldn't help but grin. She wasn't sure how either of them hadn't noticed their feelings for the other. Or the other's feelings for them. It was weird. But maybe not. Sometimes that was just how it worked.

She looked up from her computer when she heard footsteps, but promptly looked down again when she saw that it was May.

Melinda sighed. Okay. Now then. "Skye."

"Hm!" Skye looked back up, her back straightening. "Yeah?"

Good god. Fitzsimmons weren't the only ones with that fresh faced optimism. The need to be wanted, to be helpful. "Look, I said stay out of my head." She said, "I didn't mean to act like I've got a restraining order against you."

Skye swallowed. "I just- it's hard." She admitted. "It's like I can't control it, so- until I can, I'm trying not to risk it."

"Look at me." May said softly. When Skye did, she continued. "You can't do that by accident. You can share by accident, you can visit by accident, but you can't see into my mind by accident."

Skye sighed. "But you- don't want me to do any of that."

"No."

Feeling bold, Skye asked. "Why not?"

Melinda bit her tongue, debating walking away. Instead she leaned against the other couch. "Because I don't trust easily. I don't connect easily. So when something like this is forced on me..."

Skye hesitated. "What are the others like? In your cluster."

"Izzy," May said with a soft smile, "And Tori. You'd like them. Especially Izzy. She's got a sense of humour, she's a good fighter. She doesn't lord over people because she's level seven."

Skye toyed with her hands. "I- is it hard, to keep blocking them out?"

May shrugged. "You get used to it."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." May said tiredly. "And it's not your problem. Just let me deal with it."

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

It didn't take Skye long to track down the firefighters. She was actually pretty proud of herself. May and Coulson were looking around the firehouse while Jemma examined the second body. Skye approached, amused that Fitz was frantically blocking them both. "What are you looking for?"

"It's just odd." Jemma murmured. "I thought these were entry wounds, but they're not. They're exit wounds."

"What?" Fitz seemed to overcome his disgust in the face of curiosity. "Exit wounds, but- how is that possible? Oh, oh, what if the weapon made their brains overload, and let out the pulse?"

"Or it could be that it isn't a weapon at all!"

"Guys, I found it." May's voice sounded. "It's a chitauri helmet."

Jemma appeared beside May, looking at it. "It's not a weapon." She said softly, looking closely. "Yet it caused a cranial discharge."

Skye went to Coulson, who had his gun on their assumed killer. "What are you doing with the helmet!" He demanded.

Skye took in the floating pan, the sweat on him, how tired he looked. "What, the- the alien thing? That's a souvenir!" The pan dropped and they both jumped. "Damnit. Look, the first time anyone touched it was a couple of nights ago."

"Why." Coulson demanded.

"It had rust all over it, we were cleaning it!"

The implications hit Skye a moment after they hit Jemma, and she seized control of May's arms just before she touched it, pulling away. Both froze. "Oh god, I'm sorry!" Skye exclaimed, withdrawing, "I- it just happened, I-"

There was no answer.

May hurried towards Coulson, looking in. Diaz didn't look any better. Some feeling in her gut said that he wasn't going to get better.

"Clear everybody out." He said softly. "Now."

She did. Melinda let go of every instinct she had telling her to drag Coulson away kicking and screaming if necessary. She cleared out the firefighters. She listened to him talking to this man who was about to die, taking in how much his death had affected him as well as the rest of them.

May resolved to talk to him about it. Later though. For now she would just listen to Coulson lie about an afterlife she knew he couldn't remember, to ease this man's mind in his final moments. The firehouse was glowing blue, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. Phil.

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

Skye could sense Jemma's apprehension at the task. Finding a cure for an alien virus couldn't be easy. She tried to imagine finding a fix for an alien computer virus and it just hurt her head.

"Skye." May found her at the bar as she left the cockpit, Coulson following to walk down to the lab.

Skye bit her lip. "I-I'm so sorry, May, I didn't mean to- I just..."

"Saved me from a deadly alien virus?"

Skye swallowed. "Is this you saying thank you?"

May's eyes narrowed, but she sat on a stool. "This is me saying it's okay." She said. "It was an emergency. You acted on instinct."

"Is that a good thing?"

Melinda rolled her eyes. "You have good instincts."

Both stiffened, feeling the panic from their relative clusters. What it meant. Why they were scared.

"Oh no."

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

"We can't just sit here and watch her die, we have to do something!" Skye protested, heart pounding. She couldn't do this. Not now.

Coulson seemed overly calm by comparison. "There's only one person on this plane who can find a solution for this." He said, "And I'm willing to bet my life that she will."

May watched Fitz and Simmons working on opposite sides of the glass. They were so young. "She's just a kid."

Skye hurried up the stairs, away from them. She couldn't help. She wished she could help, but there was nothing she could do, and that killed her. Jemma could die, and it was totally out of her hands. There was nothing. She dove into her bunk, keeping her panic insulated inside her, crushing her pillow against her chest. She couldn't do this.

"Hey." Coulson said, standing by the door. "It's going to be okay."

Skye gasped a breath. "You think that." She said, "You don't know. Jemma could-could..." She couldn't say it.

Coulson sighed. "You're right." He said, "But sitting here isn't going to help."

"I can't do anything!" Skye snapped. "I can't find a cure, I don't even understand this thing! I-I can't hack the virus, Coulson!"

He waited a moment for her to calm down. "No." He agreed, "You can't. But you can hack them. Skye, they're scared. We're all scared, but they need to find a cure, and you know that neither of them work well under pressure."

Skye swallowed. "How am I supposed to fix it? Lend them some incense?"

Coulson sat down on the edge of her bed when Skye sat up. "Look. I know it's gotta be tough being in a cluster with those two. They're geniuses, and people called them by one name even before your cluster existed. But you can help. You can control your connection in a way they can't. You've done it before, do it now. I know that it can feel twisted in times like these. You just need to untwist it."

Skye closed her eyes briefly. "That easy?"

Coulson shrugged. "Easy for some. Not for others. May was always terrible at it."

Skye took a breath. "Okay." She said. She could feel their anxiety and fear. She had it too. And maybe she couldn't get rid of her own, but she could help ease theirs. "Come on guys." She murmured, "You can do this. We can do this."

Jemma and Fitz felt themselves calm, regaining their initiative.

Fitz swallowed. "You have to fix this." He said quietly.

Jemma fought back tears. "I don't know how Fitz. I can't-" She caught herself. "There's no one- to make an anti serum from," She said softly, "Because no one's actually survived this. Except..."

Their eyes met, and it was like it all came together. "The chitauri."

Fitz swallowed. "If the bastard who wore the helmet had the virus-"

"But managed to wear it for the entire time without emitting a charge-"

"Because he was immune!"

"Yes!" Jemma exclaimed, moving closer to the doors, "She was just the carrier! Like typhoid Mary!"

Before Fitz could open his mouth to reply, Skye crashed down the stairs, case in hand. "You guys done? This is what you need, right? Can you get on with it?"

Fitz stared, breathless, before taking the case from her and opening the lab doors.

"What, no!" Jemma protested. "You can't be in here!"

"Too late." Fitz said as the doors shut behind him. "It's done. Just try to keep your hands off me, yeah?"

Skye fought to keep calm as Coulson and May hurried down the stairs. She could lose both of them now. She would be alone. She could be, in less than an hour. "We're gonna fix this." Fitz said, catching Skye's eye through the glass. "Together."

Skye smiled tightly. She could feel Fitz's faith. They believed in her. The least she could do was believe in them too. She watched with bated breath as the two synthesised their vaccine. She fought to keep their joined emotions stable, burying her uncertainty and panic. She could do this.

She watched as Fitz caught the vaccine after Jemma made it float, she watched as they shocked it into the only remaining lab rat, and for a moment, one fleeting moment, she felt like they had done it. That as a team, they'd saved the day.

Then she saw the rat start to float, and it was like the floor had given out from under her.

"No." Fitz moved to examine it, and Jemma looked to Coulson.

She forced a smile. Her face was pallid and scared. But accepting. "Sir, I know the protocol in these situations." She said, "But could you please tell my dad first?" A couple of tears escaped her eyes. "I just think my mum would take it better coming from him."

Coulson's throat worked. "There's still time." He said.

Jemma swallowed the lump in her throat. "Sir please."

Skye felt a stab of denial when Coulson gave a simple nod. A moment later, two weak arms had wrapped around her, but at the same time, hadn't. Skye clung to Jemma back, trying not to cry, to be strong for her.

Jemma gasped. "I'm so sorry Skye." She murmured. "I-I know you think you need me, but you're brilliant, I mean that."

Skye couldn't stop the tears. "Don't go Jemma."

Jemma buried her face in her shoulder. "I don't want to." She said, "These last months with you, on this plane, they've been the best of my life, truly, and I wouldn't have missed it." She sniffed. "Look after Fitz for me."

"Jemma come on."

But she was gone, back behind the glass. "Would you mind if I had a brief moment alone with Fitz?"

Coulson nodded, and Skye continued to cry quietly when May's hand wrapped around her shoulder, gently pulling her away. She wanted to stay. She wanted to see Jemma one more time, hug her, joke with her. But she couldn't. All Skye could do was block off her grief from them. Fall apart alone. That was all she could ever do.

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

It wasn't the blow to Fitz's head that told Skye that something was off. Nor was it Jemma's combination of despair and determination, or Fitz's screaming at her to stop.

No. What told Skye that something was wrong was the feeling of being thrown off balance.

The lack of a plane beneath her feet.

Wind howling in her ears.

It wasn't until Skye fell over, Coulson and May hurrying to her, that she opened the connection again, and Fitz's panic claimed her. "Oh no."

"Skye!" Their tense voices pulled her back. "What is it, what's happening?"

She gasped for air. "Jemma- she- no, Fitz- don't!" It was too late. They were spinning through the air with a parachute badly strapped to Fitz's back as he haphazardly tried to find Jemma.

"Skye!" May's voice brought her back to reality. "What happened?"

She shook violently. "They- they jumped, both of them. F-Fitz has a parachute, the- it worked, the vaccine works."

May took her hand. "Okay. This will be rough, but we can do it."

Skye blinked. "We?"

The next thing she knew, she was there, with Fitz, no, in Fitz, but she wasn't controlling him. Someone else was. Someone who was neither her, nor Fitz.

May spread Fitz's limbs, eyes scanning for Jemma in the air. Her arms closed when she saw her, diving closer until she managed to wrap Fitz's limbs around her. She seized the anti serum, pressing it firmly against Jemma's thigh.

An electrical discharge had never felt so satisfying.

The sudden jerk of a parachute was something Skye would think was a relief, but never this much. She stayed with them even after May left, holding them both close.

They were her cluster.

They were made to be together.

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

Although Skye was exhausted, she woke at five as usual. It seemed that she'd successfully reset her body clock. She didn't get up though. She was tired and emotionally drained. She'd just lay in her bunk until the others started to get up too.

After ten minutes there was a knock on her bunk door. Skye stared as it slid open. May. Of course. No one else would be up at this time.

May raised an eyebrow. "Training started ten minutes ago."

Skye blinked, realising what she was saying. Training. With May. Again. She felt that pang in her chest, and pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Okay, sorry, I- guess I forgot." If May wasn't going to mention the elephant in the room, she wasn't either.

"Hm." She hummed, "Don't do it again."

Skye nodded. "Yeah, I won't." She gnawed on her lip. "Thanks."

Melinda nodded quietly.