disclaimer; don't own, never did, never will

An; i thought i would try my hand at getting them talking to one another. Ensia

Never Leave, Never Let Go

Fitz lost track of how long he had been standing outside the door to the cage. But whether it was a few minutes or a few hours, it didn't register to Fitz. He had come to make certain himself that she was okay, but deep down, he knew she wasn't. Who would be? Still, for all of his conviction, the moment there was only a door, no matter how thick, between him and her, he hesitated. And he wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it was that he wasn't sure if he could really help her. He didn't have some magic that would make her pain go away and bring back the light in her eyes. He wished they could go back to where they were before the world fell apart but it was not to be. And they were left to pick up the pieces no matter how jagged or heavy they were. Would she even want to see anybody, let alone him? Could he help her? This was all unfamiliar territory and Fitz didn't want to make things worse.

Fitz pushed his fears aside as best he could. Skye was his friend and she was hurting. He would figure out some way to help her. And if she wanted to be left alone? Honestly, Fitz felt Skye had be alone enough. He knocked on the door and called to the girl inside, "Skye? It's me." Fitz shook his head, "Well, I mean, it's Fitz, which is me, but you know that so…" He rubbed the back of his head and decided to quit while he was ahead, "Can I come in?" Not that he was really going to take no for an answer, he intended to give her some semblance of control of her life and give her the chance to deny him entry.

There was silence on the other end for a moment, but Fitz didn't let that deter him. A soft "Yeah" came from the other side of the door and Fitz wasn't sure he hadn't just imagined it. But he opened the door anyway and carefully walked inside. As he stepped in, Skye was awkwardly pulling herself to a seated position on her bed without using her arms. She managed it, but started blinking rapidly and shaking her head. Fitz waited for her, meanwhile he took in her appearance. Short version, she looked exhausted and Fitz had a sinking suspicion that he hadn't woken her up. Skye seemed to gather her bearings and looked in his direction and smiled lightly, but it didn't reach her eyes, "Hey Fitz, what brings you here?" She sounded meek and tired, her eyes dipped but she seemed to keep them open out of sheer will power.

Fitz wondered how to start, the basic, "Are you okay?", "How are you?" and "Are you in pain?" seemed stupid as he knew. She wasn't okay, she was terrible and yes. Besides, it all ended the same anyway, so he started there, "What do you need me to do?"

Skye took a few seconds to process and then raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What? What do yah mean Fitz?"

Fitz looked around the cage turned living quarters, "I mean," he swallowed, "your my friend, and you're…you're hurting and I" he took a deep breath, "and I want to, I want to help." Skye looked at him for the longest moment of his life and he fidgeted under the gaze. Then she smiled softly, but it faded just as quickly as it had come and he followed her eyes down to her casted arms resting carefully in her lap. "J-just tell me what I can do."

"Thanks Fitz," And she did sound grateful, even if she was fighting through a haze of exhaustion, "But really I just want to be a…"

"Bullshit." She looked up surprised to hear him say it and he was actually surprised he had said it. Didn't mean he regretted it. Freudian slip, he supposed. Still, this wasn't the approach he wanted to go for, especially when her eyes fell back her damaged limbs. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry, but Skye," He closed his eyes and started gesticulating as he tried to figure out the right way to phrase this, "that's bullshit." He could have done worse. He walked forward a few steps and lowered himself to his knees at the end of her bed. "Skye…" He wanted to take her hands in his but held back. Instead he waited for her to look at him, "I know you, and, and I know the last thing you want is to be alone." He looked desperately in her eyes, searching for the spark that could tell him she was still fighting.

"I…"

"Please, let me in." It was barely over a whisper but he needed her to hear it.

Skye closed her eyes and her breathing deepened slightly. Fitz almost thought she had fallen asleep sitting up until she spoke, "It's on the desk."

Fitz honestly was expecting more of a challenge from their resident hacker, but then again he wasn't entirely sure she was awake. He looked over to the small desk on the other wall. From his position, there didn't seem to be anything on it. Fitz rose to his feet anyway and went over to the desk. Only when he was right next to it did he see what Skye had wanted him to see. Dr. Garner's evaluation. "Skye this is… are you sure?" It was supposed to be private. Also, the sight of the papers sent chills down his spine as hundreds of possibilities appeared in his mind as to what they could contain.

He turned back toward her and found she had maneuvered herself so she was sitting up with her back to the wall. She wouldn't meet his eyes but shrugged, "Why not? Coulson will probably tell you before anyway. "

Feeling trepidation, Fitz picked up the evaluation and scanned through it. "No." He threw the papers down on the desk. He felt himself shake at the anger of the suggestion registered. He turned back to Skye who was looking at him like a scared puppy. Fitz took a deep breath, but it didn't help. He started to pace the small space, "No, you can't just, you can't leave. You belong here."

"It may not be my choice, Fitz." She sounded like she had already had been kicked out.

"Stop doing that. You can't just give, give up. That's not," He took a breath, "It's not you."

"Fitz, I'm dangerous."

"You're you!" Fitz knelt in front of the bed again, "You're you, and I love you. Nothing is going to change that. I don't care what you can do, where you come from, or even what you are." He took a deep breath to try and make sure he could get his point across, "Y-You're still Skye, and whether or not you believe it, you, you are loved, I love you." His heart broke for her and while he knew she wanted to believe him, he also knew how often her trust was shattered. He would be patient with her, but he also needed her to understand, to believe. "That's not going to change, um, well there is one uh exception." She looked at him warily, "I could never love you the same if you turned into a monkey." He smiled at her, "I, I could only love you more." She smiled lightly and let out a snort. She rolled her eyes at him, and he smiled brighter, "Now that's a sound I haven't heard in a while. Just think about it, little monkey Skye typing away with her adorable little monkey hands. You would be so cute as a monkey." And for a moment, Fitz thought he saw his Skye and he knew he saw her desire to keep this going, but it faded and her shoulders sagged, her head dropped, and her smile faded.

Skye wouldn't look him in the eye and her gaze fell back to her broken arms. Fitz watched her experimentally flex her fingers only to wince slightly and let them fall back, "I thought I had control." Fitz tensed at how small she sounded, but nodded regardless of whether or not she saw. Skye scoffed, "Guess, it's just another thing I got wrong."

"You'll, you will get control; we're going to figure this out."

She looked at him, eyes broken and pleading, "And how many people will get hurt along the way? Please Fitz, I can't be responsible for that."

Fitz saw the tears at the corners of her eyes, the tears she was trying so hard to stop from falling. Taking a deep breath, not really sure about what he was doing, but knew it needed to be done, Fitz climbed onto the cot beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He felt her flinch at first but then lean into him. He could feel her trembling, but he knew it wasn't from cold. He took a deep breath, "We're going to figure this out. Together. You're not leaving us and I swear we're not leaving you."

She tensed for a moment, but then relaxed slightly against him, "I feel lost."

"I know, but I'm out looking for you, and we're going to find each other. And then I'm going to bring you home. Trust me." Please.

Fitz felt her burrow deeper into him, "I can't type, I can't fight," he felt her tense again, "I can't control this."

He pulled her closer to him, "Can't and impossible have never stopped you before, and" he took a breath to focus himself again, "we're not done yet, and I'm not going to let you give up on yourself because you believe you can't do something." He felt her jerk in his arms, he looked down at her and through the curtain of dark hair he could see her weary eyes trying to remain open, "When was the last time you slept?" He felt her shrug against him, he sighed, "Skye…"

"I can't sleep."

He squeezed her shoulder, "I'm sure Jemma can give…"

"No." He felt her shaking increase, but after a quick look around he was assured it wasn't her powers, "Please no more sedatives. Dosing me up seems to be Simmons answer to everything and I just, I don't know."

Fitz swallowed an uncomfortable lump in his throat, he knew about Simmons' sedative happy streak, and it infuriated him. "Yeah, well, Jemma doesn't handle change well."

"I can't really blame her." Skye turned and looked at the far wall, "I love that girl, I do, but she's been scaring me."

Any other time Fitz might have laughed at the idea of Skye being afraid of Simmons, but here it only reminded him how bad things had become. He wished he could stop her from being afraid of everything that frightened her, but he also knew how deep some scars run. "Don't worry, she'll come, come around." He didn't feel the need to mention that she still hadn't come around to his change.

She looked back at the floor, "I'm sorry."

Fitz rose an eyebrow and turned more fully toward her, "What for?"

Skye shrugged, "A lot of things, but mostly making you choose a side. I didn't want that."

"You didn't make me choose a side. I saw my friend was hurting and I decided to do everything in my power to stop it." Fitz said in a tone that indicated no argument would be tolerated.

Skye pulled her knees closer to her as she curled in on herself, "I don't want another family to break apart because of me."

Fitz expression softened and he rubbed her shoulder, the pain in his chest only getting worse as time went on, "I don't believe it was ever your fault, Skye, and this, this certainly isn't. We are not going to break apart, and to be honest, I don't think this family exists without you."

"Things are bad."

There was no argument there, "Yeah, they are."

"My crazy father's MIA, S.H.I.E.L.D. barely exists, my teammates are afraid me, the control I thought I had turned out to be a lie, my arms are broken, my psychologist is suggesting I leave the only family I ever known, my mom put a loaded gun to my head..." Fitz said nothing as Skye stopped to think about what she had said. Tears leaked from her eyes and she bit her lip and sighed, "I know it was fake and she would never… it was even my idea, but there, for a moment, I wondered if, maybe…"

Fitz pulled her fully into his arms, and ran a hand through her hair, "It will never happen." And he prayed she believed him.

He felt her reach up and grab onto the front of his shirt and tears soak through the material, "I see it every time I close my eyes." She said it so quietly that Fitz wondered if she had meant for him to hear.

Fitz just continued to hold her, there was nothing he could say that would make her forget, "I'm here, I'm real, and I'm not leaving you."

"I'm so tired."

"Sleep, I'll be here. I'll wake you if anything happens."

Maybe it was because she really trusted him, maybe it was because she simply couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, but Fitz felt her sag against him and her trembling slow to a stop. He counted her breaths as they became deeper and evened out. Fitz continued to run his head through her hair. She felt so fragile, so broken, and Fitz wasn't sure if he could leave her even if he wanted to. He put his other hand to her back and felt her heartbeat underneath his fingertips. She was real, she was here, and he was going to do everything in his power to keep it that way. His eyes stung as he held her and he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. Then he whispered, more to himself than anything else, "I'm not leaving you, and I'm not letting you go." He leaned further against the wall and rested his eyes and hours later that was how May found them. She smiled lightly at the sleeping pair and turned off the lights in the cage before leaving.

And the next day, if Fitz seemed more clingy than necessary and floated around Skye as much as possible. Well, it was just him proving that he was serious about keeping his promise and Skye didn't seem to mind. Skye belonged with S.H.I.E.L.D., she belonged with her family, she belonged with him. Dr. Andrew Garner made a drastic mistake by suggesting different. And Fitz was going to make sure Skye knew it. He was going to make sure everyone knew it.