Chapter 35
Just a quick note before reading. In this chapter, Bobbi's pov is introduced for a flashback. That has been a slight trigger warning for self-harm and a little bit of abuse.
This was not how Skye believed her life would go. To find someone so accepting of her. To be wanted by someone. No one wanted her as a child. Everyone told her she was unfit for their home. They sent her back almost every time. He couldn't do that though. He was stuck with her until one or the other died. They said it in their vows and he didn't believe in divorce. He believed once he got married, he and his wife would work everything out. His secrets, her secrets, their lies. Everything would work out.
They had a blast on their honeymoon. Maria had really out done herself and got them a fantastic trip to France. Skye had never been out of the states before and her first trip was as Mrs. Skye Parker. Her husband on the other hand, he traveled the world. He was S.H.I.E.L.D.
Everything was amazing and the hacker loved every second of it. But as soon as it was over, Skye thought it would all be gone. No, it can't be because he can't send her back. This wasn't her childhood. She was married now. Skye was beginning to get the family she always dreamed of.
This was big deal to her. Skye got her best friend, Miles as her brother. A loving mother that loved her as much as she loved her son. A father that was still learning to be a father to her husband. Somehow even picking up an Avenger and a commander of S.H.I.E.L.D as an aunt and uncle. This wasn't what she imagined but the hacker loved it.
So when she wakes up with a tight grip around her, she knows it's still real. The hacker is sleeping with her husband in his boyhood room. Something she smiles at every time because his bedroom never seems to reflect him as a person.
There's posters covering the walls of his sports idols. Some old and some very new thanks to her. He's got action figures, well he wouldn't call it that, standing on his shelf. The one that sticks out the most to her is the Hawkeye figurine that is supposed to look like his uncle. His mom had picked that up for him and Clint as a joke. Surrounding the figure were models of his favorite players. A Jake Peavy in his Padres uniform and two separate Drew Brees each in a Chargers and Saints uniform. She loved too when he first saw the Brees super bowl autographed jersey that was now hanging proudly in a frame on the wall.
This was home.
Skye was finally home.
"ANDREW!" Skye screams out as the pieces break apart in her hands. "NO!"
This wasn't happening. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Both Raina and Whitehall said he was worthy of the obelisk. Why didn't he break out like she did? Sure they have been through rough patches before, but they were supposed to grow old together. He wasn't supposed to leave her so soon.
She killed him. The only true happiness she has ever found and it's been destroyed. Just like everything else she had ever had. The love of her life is gone. Andrew Parker is gone.
"Skye!" Coulson yells as he and Trip try to make their way over to her.
The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. tries his best to calm the hacker but he can't replace everything that has happened. He's lost an agent and a good one. He was going to have a tough time explaining everything that happened to Maria. Oh god, Maria. Their family was going to be torn.
"Trip, I need you to carry Skye out of here." He says just as the temple starts to rumble once more. "We have to do it quick."
"Yes, sir." The agent replies.
Both of them do their best to get Skye into Trip's arms. She's a little heavy but the agent can manage. When they do get her safely in his arms, Trip picks themselves off the ground and stands next to Coulson before they figure out a way out.
"Do you see an opening?" Trip asks.
Coulson nods his head. "It's the only one I see. We have to go now."
They begin their mission towards the opening and when they do make it out, FitzSimmons are there helping assist with Mack.
"Andrew, I love you." Trip hears from the girl in his arms.
"I'm sorry, girl." He says sadly before noticing that Skye has drifted off into a sleep.
How she managed to find Miles before everyone else kind of amazed her. But he was easy to spot and she knew his hints along the way. As she carefully followed him, she made sure no one from the team was following her. In the end, Miles led her to an apartment and she was greeted with a hug from her brother in-law.
"You seem to be getting better every time." He tells her. "I mean with the stalking part."
Skye laughs at the comment.
"Well I had a really great teacher." She tells him.
"Aww thank you."
The hacker shakes her head and then proceeds to slap him on the arm.
"Not you, asshole."
A smile creeps upon Miles' face and Skye can tell he's up to something.
"Speaking of that. I have a surprise for you."
"You know I'm not big on surprises, Miles."
"Yeah I know. But you'll love this one, I promise." He tells her before pointing. "It's right through those doors."
"It better not be a prank." She tells him walking to the two connecting bedroom doors.
"It's not Skye, I swear."
When the hacker finally opens the door, she's completely surprised when she sees someone sitting on the bed.
Miles wasn't joking this time.
"Drew!" Skye says excitedly running into his arms.
"Hey there, Skye. Did you miss me?"
The hacker doesn't answer his question but kisses him instead, both falling onto the bed.
"I'll be in the kitchen!" they hear Miles yell and they both laugh when they break apart.
"I take that as a yes." Drew tells her.
"That's like a huge yes in my book." His wife tells him.
The agent smiles taking in the look of his wife. It was the first time for them to see each other in six months since he had left for his mission.
"When did you get back?"
"Yesterday. I planned on going back to San Diego after I was finished briefing here in Texas. I contacted Miles and he told me you were visiting. So I guess that kind of worked out."
Skye kissed her husband again. "I missed you."
The couple seemed to enjoy being in each other's arms. The I missed you sex was great and it seemed that both of them needed it. It was going well until Miles barged in.
"Don't you ever learn to knock!?" Drew questions as he and Skye try to cover themselves.
Miles is cringing hard and trying to cover his eyes. "Now I need new bed sheets. Actually no a new mattress completely."
"Miles! Why are you in here?" Skye questions.
The other hacker keeps his eyes closed and then carefully explains. "Remember the guys in dark scary suits you told me about. Well I saw an older one with glasses on coming this way on the cameras outside."
Skye looks at her husband and then at her brother in-law.
"Coulson." She cringes as Drew looks at her questionably.
"Wait a minute. Coulson as in Agent Phil Coulson?" Drew asks.
"Yes."
"I thought he was dead. Uncle Clint told me he was killed by Loki."
"Yeah not so much." Skye tells him. "You might want to sneak out of here, sweetie."
Drew opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out.
"Why is S.H.I.E.L.D. after you?" he finally says. "Did you hack them again?"
Skye sits up and tries to find her clothes while Drew does the same. He's quicker to get dressed then she is.
"Not exactly. I mean I did hack them but also I kinda joined them."
"Skye!"
Miles who they forget is still standing there with his eyes closed and his head pointed to the ceiling finally speaks again.
"Can I open my eyes now?"
Skye looks at her husband and then at Miles.
"I have a plan." She says. "I need Miles to take off his clothes except for his boxers and then get in the bed."
Drew crinkles his nose. "Really?"
"Sweetie, I kind of need you to sneak out the window."
Drew relaxes his face and looks at his wife with a serious look.
"What? I can't get you in trouble."
"Fine." He says before kissing her and then starting to climb out the window towards the fire escape.
The agent sees his wife master her plan and he sees what looks to be Coulson and is that Agent May, come in to take both her and his step-brother.
When they all come out of the bedroom, Skye sees a glimpse of her husband before he climbs down the fire escape's window. All is well for now until she sees him later briefly at the Hub and Drew is telling her he's going on another mission. There's no time for a proper send off this time.
When Skye woke up again, she found herself lying on a bed in the quarantine area of the lab. There was a heart monitor attached to her arm that looked similar to their phones. Not that it was a surprise. You can do anything with phones now a days and when you know FitzSimmons, the possibilities are endless.
The hacker sat up on the bed and found the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. sitting in a chair outside. His hand was resting under his chin and he didn't look to have been sleeping.
"Coulson." She calls out.
The director perks his head up and looks over. There's still a worry in his eyes and she knows why.
"Skye." He says. "Have you been able to sleep a bit?"
The hacker shakes her head no. "I keep thinking that Drew's going to come back here. Tell me that everything is all right. That he is alright."
Coulson keeps silent.
"Every time I sleep, I keep dreaming of what we had. And when I would wake up from all that happiness." Skye pauses. "Coulson, I want this to be a dream."
"I'm sorry, Skye."
"We shouldn't have been down there."
"You both went down there for a reason. It made sense to both of you." Coulson explains. "You had to stop HYDRA from launching something bigger.
"Drew was trying to save me. He didn't care about the obelisk."
Coulson nods his head. "Parker was a hero. He was born to be one."
The director was right. Andrew did everything in his power to make sure she was safe. To make sure everyone else was too. When he learned the truth about his father, he made a vow to stop him. He never planned on going evil.
"Once medical clears you, we'll get you out."
Skye nods her head. She wanted to be out of there as soon as possible. She wanted to go back to her room that she shared with her husband and just feel safe in his shirts, his pillow, everything that was his.
"How is everyone doing with this?" she asks.
"Fitz is trying his best and Simmons, I'm not sure since she and Trip are still in the temple. I think Bobbi is taking it pretty hard. I'm guessing she and Parker were pretty close when he was away on missions."
"They were. She pulled him out of a tough time after I was shot."
"We'll get through this, together."
Fitz sat alone in the make shift garage that was in the Bus longing for it to be the lab once again that he and Simmons shared. He propped his legs up on the counter and began playing with the ICER that was left. He could still remember the blueprints that he had once came up with. He still see Andrew drawing on the first paper for him when they were at the academy. That seemed so long ago.
Fitz sighed at the thought before remembering how they first met. They were so young then.
Leo Fitz was early. He knew that from the emptiness of the room he had received. The two beds that formed a bunk bed reminded that he would have a roommate. He was told when he first received the key card to his room.
Fitz didn't come with much, not in his opinion. There was a couple of boxes and he used the cart that they supplied to him to help carry them all to the floor he was on. He pushed the cart into the middle of the room before claiming which desk he wanted. The one closest to the wall, he didn't want to deal with the curtain that was behind the other one.
In an hour, he was all set up and ready to go. Now all the waiting was for his roommate to show up.
Fitz was reading his book on engineering and physics when he noticed someone standing in the doorway. They were still reading a piece of paper that was still in their hands.
"Do I have the right room number?" the boy asks.
"Uh, 235." Fitz responds.
"Okay, that's what my paper says but I thought I wasn't supposed to have a roommate."
Fitz is taken aback a bit.
"Well you do now. I'm supposed to be in this room."
The boy looks at him carefully and then sets the cart he brought by the doorway. He, like Fitz doesn't have that many items either.
"Let me run downstairs and make sure this right. My aunt might be able to clear this up. She's a full agent already." He tells Fitz.
The boy turns and exits the room. It kind of makes the engineer wonder who the boy's aunt was. It probably explained why he was here.
A half hour later, the boy came back after Fitz wondered what was taking so long. He starts moving the cart a little bit away from the door and closer to the empty desk that wasn't taken yet.
"Guess everything is right." He tells the engineer. "From what my aunt and everyone was describing, I was under a different imprecation."
Fitz nods and watches the boy as he sets a few of his things down on the desk. From all the sports items that he pulled out, the engineer kind of wondered how he made it into the science division of the academy.
"I'm Andrew Parker by the way." The boy now known as Andrew told him.
"Leo Fitz."
Fitz put down the ICER in frustration. He couldn't actually believe that this was happening. That he lost friend, his brother. It just couldn't be real. They had plans for the future. Fitz was supposed to be Andrew's best man when he planned to remarry Skye.
The engineer ran his hands through his hair. Andrew Parker, why did you leave me?
Bobbi stared at the door of Andrew and Skye's room. Hers was right across from them. She had chosen it carefully knowing what could happen but also she wanted to be there for both of them just in case.
It wasn't the first time that she ended up having a room right across the hall from Andrew. Their second mission together ended up having that happen. Right before the battle against HYDRA. Right when Andrew learned that Skye was shot.
Bobbi closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears as she thought about him. How he had been intimidated by her when they first met but he didn't admit that until later on. Andrew was that shy kid just out of the academy when she met him. He couldn't be gone.
"Parker!" she called out as she began to beat on the door of his hotel room.
They were stationed off base after coming back from another location before they had to head back to S.H.I.E.L.D.
No answer.
"Andrew!" Bobbi calls again.
She beats on the door one more time and there still isn't an answer.
"If you don't open this door, I'm going to break it down!"
Still no answer.
Bobbi who still had her hair up from yoga in her room had come to see what was happening. There was a sound of something breaking that broke her silence.
"Parker, I'm breaking in!"
If there was an answer this time, she wouldn't know. She went back to her room quickly and grabbed her batons to open the jammed door. What was on the other side, she didn't expect.
Blankets thrown everywhere, the bed flipped around, beer bottles smashed.
Everything was trashed.
"Parker." She says walking carefully through the rumble.
He was nowhere in sight. Parker wasn't in the mess that had been unfolded in front of her. It wasn't until she noticed the balcony's door open that she knew something was wrong.
There sitting on the ledge with a bottle in his hands was the agent Bobbi was looking for. She could see the fresh cuts on his arms along with old ones. Some large, some small. Bobbi could only assume that it was from the bottles and throwing everything around. Possibly this wasn't the first time he's done something like this.
"Andrew." She tried calling out.
"Go away."
"Drew, let me help you."
"I don't want help."
Bobbi inches closer as slow as she can without harming him more. She wanted to help him, he needed help.
"Andrew, please." She says reaching out eventually.
What she doesn't expect is when he fights back. Parker pins her to the floor of the hotel room. He takes a punch at her and suddenly her lip is bleeding. She knows he's drunk and for some reason now angry. Not like how before when he went back to his room. The only thing she can think of is it's because of the visit from Maria Hill but that was this morning. He was fine during the day.
Bobbi dodges the next punch and wrestles with him to where she is on top. She takes a slap to his face giving Parker a taste of what he did to her.
He's bleeding from his lip as well and she almost looks as equally beaten as he is. She's about to hit him again on impulse when she sees actual tears coming from his eyes.
"Bobbi, stop." He tells her. "I'm sorry."
The mockingbird listens and sits up on her knees before reaching her hand out for Parker to grab. When he does grab it, Bobbi pulls him into her side and just holds onto him. He's still crying and it takes him awhile to stop.
"Shh. I got you now." Bobbi tells him trying to calm him.
Andrew hears her and grips onto her shirt. Part of her shirt begins to get wet. This was the first time she had ever seen this happen to him. He wasn't like this when he had told her that he had split from his ex-girlfriend and lost the baby after they had first met when he was done with the academy.
"Everything is going to be okay."
That makes Andrew cry just a little bit harder and Bobbi is taken aback just slightly. Okay maybe that wasn't the right thing to say.
"Shh. I got you." Bobbi repeats.
They sit there in the middle of the room, just waiting everything out. When it was the right time, Andrew would tell Bobbi. Right now they just had each other.
"Bob, she's dead." He tells her suddenly when they hear nothing but silence after waiting for a while.
The mockingbird takes a breath before questioning because she has no idea who he is referring to.
"Who?" she asks carefully.
"Skye. Maria told me she was killed."
Who was Skye? His sister? No, he didn't have any siblings except for Miles and he was his step-brother. Last time she checked, she was the only one he called his sister, his big sister. Must be a girlfriend or if Bobbi was wrong, just a friend.
"Who is Skye?"
She sees Andrew close his eyes before answering. Whoever she was, Skye was hitting him hard enough to where he thought he could drink himself to a possible death.
"My wife. No one but Maria knows."
Okay Bobbi wasn't expecting that one. When did he have time to go and get married? They talked all the time, how did he not mention her?
"I'm so sorry, Drew."
She gets it now. Why he was like this. She was his wife and he couldn't possibly live with himself.
"I don't want to be here anymore." She eventually hears.
"In the room or on the floor?"
"No, here in the world. I'm not going to be able to live without her."
Bobbi shook her head. She wasn't going to let him hurt himself anymore. The mockingbird was going to protect her baby brother.
"Don't say that. You can do this." She tells him. "I don't think I could live with myself knowing that you did."
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this."
"I know." Bobbi whispers. "I know."
Andrew had eventually fallen asleep in her arms while they were on the floor. She was lucky when Mack had come past the door.
"What happened here?" he asks when she sees him standing in the door.
"Shh." She answers. "Can you help me out and carry him to my room."
Mack notices the sleeping agent curled into Bobbi's side and he kind of understands what is going on but not completely. He does what is asked and carefully picks up Andrew in his arms taking him across the hall to Bobbi's room.
"Where do you want me to put him at?" Mack asks softly.
"Just on my bed." Bobbi tells him. "I'll get him some aspirin. He's had a tough day."
Mack carefully sets the sleeping agent onto the bed and watches just slightly to make sure everything is alright. They see Andrew sleepily fix his head on the pillow before drifting back into dream stages.
"What happened, Barbara?" Mack calmly asks.
"It's kind of classified." Bobbi tells him as she sets down the aspirin and water after scribbling a note on a piece of paper.
"That's a new one coming from you."
Bobbi points towards the door and Mack takes that as a hint for them to leave so Andrew can get some form of sleep. They turn off the light and shut the door slightly.
"It's not my place to say, but he had a rough day." Bobbi says.
Mack nods. "Anything I can do to help?"
"We need to fix his room before S.H.I.E.L.D. and Gonzales finds out."
"Stay with him, Barbara. I'll take care of it."
Bobbi is sitting in the sofa chair reading when she hears her room door open. It's been a few days since she has found Andrew in his room with it trashed. Since then, he's been staying her room partly because Bobbi wanted make sure he was still alright.
When she looks up, she sees her little brother walking back in with his phone in his hand. Andrew had spent the last fifteen minutes out in the hallway after promising to her that he'd be fine out there.
"That was Maria." He tells her with a smile and Bobbi wonders what has changed his mood.
"She said Skye is alive. The S.H.I.E.L.D team that's with her saved her life."
With that Bobbi is too smiling as she marks the page in her book before standing up to hug Andrew as he comes closer.
"That's fantastic news." She says into his shoulder.
"Everything's going to be okay." Comes the reply.
Except now it wasn't. Nothing was okay. Andrew was gone this time and she couldn't do anything about it. There wasn't a way to save her baby brother now.
Jemma Simmons was stunned out of belief as she watched Trip pick up the pieces that he said that Skye was once holding. She couldn't believe that the man that she once loved was gone in all of a matter of seconds. It couldn't be possible.
"Stop it." Jemma says as she slaps a hand that picks up the shredded cheese out of the bowl for their salad.
It was that rare time that they could go home for the holidays while they were at S.H.I.E.L.D. Jemma's S.O. had granted her time off to spend with Andrew in San Diego. The same with Andrew who's S.O for now was his aunt Maria.
"Why?" Andrew whines with his mouth full of cheese.
"Because." She states. "If you keep eating it then we aren't going to have enough for everyone."
"But it's so good."
The biochemist chuckles and looks over her shoulder at her boyfriend with a smile.
"The baby needs to eat too." She whispers.
The comment leads to Andrew smiling too after he is done. He wraps his arms around her back and it prompts Jemma to put the knife down that she was using to cut up a carrot. She embraces his warmth and sighs slightly.
"This is nice." Andrew tells her after a while.
It was until the agent decided to jinx it. A few seconds after Andrew had made the comment, Miles came into the kitchen.
"Okay you two, break it up."
Jemma can feel when her boyfriend groans but she just laughs. The biochemist knows that Andrew is still getting used to having a sibling as he never had one before. Besides it had only been a few months. His mom had gotten remarried in August.
The next two days had been a big deal for the two of them. Christmas Eve, both agents had prepared to tell Sara and James that they were going to be grandparents. They wanted them to be one of the first ones to know along with Jemma's parents. Both of them tried hard to figure out what to say when Sara and James would open the gift the following morning.
Both of agents ended up yelling surprise after Sara and James opened the gift. A small pair of shoes indicated that they were having a baby and Sara couldn't believe her eyes.
All of that went downhill in the next few weeks. Everything was lost. Jemma had lost the baby and both agents couldn't live with themselves any longer. The split had caused Fitz to become moderator a few times.
Jemma self-consciously rubbed her stomach even though she wore a hazmat suit and then leaned down when she saw something sparkle on the ground in front of her. A ring that was what was in her hand after she picked it up. The biochemist carefully examined it before noticing the writing inside.
Skye 5/25/13
Andrew's ring! Jemma had found Andrew's ring.
She was about to get up and show Trip but instead she found him pointing a gun toward her.
"Simmons, stay down!" he yells as he begins to fire a few shots.
He's frustrated when whatever he was shooting at gets away.
"What was that!?" Jemma questions.
"I think it was Raina but if it was she had like thorns or something." Trip explains.
Both agents stand there in silence looking around at the mess, hoping that Raina didn't come back and finish them off.
"Let's get out of here. I kind of don't want to be here anymore." Jemma says.
"You said, girl. This place gives me the heebie-jeebies."
Bobbi walked through the hallway carrying a bag of items to take to Skye. There was no way that the hacker could be surviving right now. Especially with how much the mockingbird herself was trying to. Everything just didn't seem right anymore.
The lab was empty when she walked in. There was no on in sight but Skye who was lying down on the bed. She was on her side and had headphones on. Probably just to drown out her thoughts.
"Hey." Bobbi says and then waves to make sure she has Skye's attention.
The hacker sits up and smiles. Bobbi knows it's a sad one. Loosing someone so close like this always hurts.
"Hey." Skye says back quietly.
"I brought a survivor kit for you. I know what it's like to be in quarantine. It kind of sucks."
Skye nods her head.
"Brought a couple books and magazines. Some of the books were Drew's favorites, don't know if you've ever read them?"
"I was never much of a book reader. I'd be on the computer when he would read." Skye tries to explain. "He used to say that me typing used to calm him."
Bobbi looks away for a moment.
"I also brought a few cactus coolers for you. I keep a stash."
"What are those?"
"It's a drink from California. Drew and I used to drink them all the time on missions."
"Never had it before."
"He said the same when I first introduced it to him. You're both from California like I am, right?"
Skye shakes her head no.
"Just him. I relocated there shortly before we met."
Well that made sense why Skye hadn't heard of a cactus cooler. Bobbi took a deep breath and pulled out the last thing from the bag.
"I know you shouldn't have outside clothing but I brought this for you." The mockingbird says revealing the San Diego Chargers sweatshirt.
She opens the slot and sets it in the metal basket so Skye can have it. When the hacker reaches for it, she immediately hugs the sweatshirt. It still smelled like her husband.
"Thanks for everything. It kind of helps."
"I know."
Skye looks up at the agent and sighs before asking her question. "How are you doing exactly? Coulson said you were taking it hard."
"Probably as hard as you are. I miss him."
"We shouldn't have been there."
"Drew risked his life for you. He'd do anything for you."
Skye rubs her face with her hand, closing her eyes trying to keep herself composed.
"I don't know what to do anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"Honestly I don't know. We had so many plans that all of a sudden disappeared."
Bobbi stepped a little bit closer to the glass and put a hand on it.
"I can't go through everything again like I did with him." she quietly says. "It's just going to hurt me even worse in the process."
The hacker watches as Bobbi takes a deep breath and looks her carefully.
"You're a rock star, Skye. We have to get through this."
"I know."
"What are you thinking about, Turbo?" Fitz hears taking him from his thoughts.
The engineer looks at the mechanic like he's been caught.
"The academy."
"That was a while ago."
"Parker and I were bunk mates. I was just thinking our adventures."
"He was a tough kid. Kind of heavy to carry also."
Fitz put down the piece of metal that he was previously looking at and looks at Mack curiously.
"You knew him before too. Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"It was for a brief time, Turbo. He was going through a rough patch and Bobbi was keeping a close guard on him."
Fitz picked the metal back up and started to play with it, hoping he could fix it.
"What are you working on?" Mack asks.
"It's uh, Skye's bio-meter. It was damaged in the cave in."
"Records her heart rate, doesn't it?"
"And skin temp. A lot of things actually."
"Do you want any help?"
"Can't make any sense of it anyway. Don't know if you would be able to do anything. The data in my brain in jumbled right now."
"I'll get my small electronics kit and we can see what we come up with." Mack tells him before walking away.
"What's going on?" Bobbi says when everyone comes into the lab.
She's still talking to Skye, trying to keep her company so the hacker doesn't feel lonely.
"Team meeting." Coulson says. "We're going after HYDRA."
"Are we using Bakshi?" May asks coming into the lab finally.
"We need to make a prisoner transfer."
"Isn't that kind of soon, sir?" Bobbi questioned. "We just lost an important agent."
"I know it's high-risk, but we have a small window to take advantage of HYDRA's lack of leadership." Coulson explains. "This is a chance to send a word to those who are responsible with Agent Parker's death."
"Responsible huh?" everyone hears Mack say.
"Do you have something to say, Mack?" May asks.
"Plenty, but I'll keep it to myself."
"No, go ahead." Coulson instructs.
"Don't mind him actually." Hunter speaks up. "He's just recovering from that alien acid take over."
"That's not funny." Fitz comments.
"Just trying to lighten the mood, mate."
"Mack didn't ask for it to happen. None of us asked for this to happen."
"Fitz is right." Coulson comments.
"HYDRA forced our hands and now we plan to force theirs." May explains.
"Did they though!? Mack argues. "Did HYDRA force our hands!?
Bobbi looks over at Mack as the team starts to argue with each other. She then looks over at Skye who looks extremely uncomfortable now.
"Bobbi make it stop." she says.
Confused by the comment, the mockingbird walks over to the heated argument.
"Enough." She tells Mack before attempting to push him towards the door.
"Coulson, take this out in the hallway." She tells to the director who gives her a look.
When everyone is out, Skye can feel everything go back to normal. There isn't a rumble now that she felt before. The hacker isn't even sure if the rest of the team felt when she did.
Bobbi doesn't come back and the hacker is alone once more.
Jemma had never been so happy to be back on base. Probably because of the security of safety that was all over the Playground. Trip had assured her that everything was going to be okay. But she knew that wasn't going to be the case.
Andrew's death had effected most of the team. She could tell based on what the others were doing that it had. Mack in the garage, working on one of the SUVs. Hunter obviously doing what he does best. They had only missed the huge argument a half hour before.
The biochemist grabbed herself a cup of tea and then headed towards the lab. She wanted to check on Skye and make sure she was still doing okay. If she was anything like Jemma herself, Skye was still not herself.
When Jemma arrives in the lab, she finds Skye curled up in Andrew's Chargers sweatshirt. It was a scene she had seen with herself many of times. Especially after her own break up with the agent. But this time was different. It wasn't like she could ever see him again.
"Thank goodness nothing happened to you." The biochemist states when Skye sees her. "Wouldn't want you to stay in there forever."
"Did you find anything?" Skye asks. "There isn't any hope is there?"
Jemma looks at the paperwork sitting on the lab table and then at the hacker.
"We did see Raina. She was almost unrecognizable. Trip tried to shoot her but I'm not sure if he got her."
"She's not dead?"
"It doesn't seem like it. Possibly hurt." Jemma explains. "But Skye, she had thorns everywhere."
"I didn't think that was possible."
"It's horrific! We need to make sure that you're not contaminated or infected in any way."
"What's the worst thing that could happen?"
"An epidemic."
Skye looks at the biochemist and tilts her head to the side. Whatever Jemma was referring to didn't sound too good.
"That's pretty harsh. I mean I already feel responsible."
"I should have prevented this. I was so curious about powers and unearthly biology. Instead of trying to understand and control it. We should have been trying to erase it, terminate."
"Jemma, we live in the world of superheroes. There's no way to prevent that now."
"It's a plague Skye. Andrew was in nothing but pieces!" there's tears coming from the biochemist's eyes now. "We can't even give him a proper burial."
Skye closed her eyes and tried her best to keep herself contained. She already had a feeling something was happening with her.
"I know. Jemma it hurts."
The biochemist walked closer to the quarantine unit with a sad look on her face before reaching into her pocket.
"I don't know how, but I found this." She says holding up something shiny that Skye couldn't see what it was all the way.
"Is that?" Skye questions as Jemma shifts her hand around it. "Is that what I think it is?"
Jemma nods her head. "It's the only thing I could find in his fragments."
"Can I hold it?"
"Yes."
Jemma opens up the compartment door and sets in there carefully. When it's out of the biochemists, Skye picks it up, studying it for a moment before slipping it onto one of her fingers.
"Thank you Jemma."
The biochemist nods. "I'm going to go compare your samples to your samples on file. Hopefully everything is alright."
It didn't seem like Skye was alone for a long time again. Only a few minutes after Jemma had left, Fitz came in cautiously.
"Fitz, is something wrong?"
The engineer looks around the lab before looking at Skye.
"Bobbi and Hunter left to go after Bakshi. But uh… uh Mack and I fixed your bio-meter." He states.
"Is that good? For the bio-meter I mean?" Skye asks.
"Your heart rate almost reached 300 bpm."
"Okay that's very fast."
Fitz shakes his head and by the actions of it, his motions don't indicate something good happening.
"No. That's inhuman." He says only for Skye to be confused just slightly. "I thought maybe my readings were wrong and possibly Mack and I put the bio-meter together wrong."
"What are you saying Fitz?"
"So, I was thinking how the heart monitor seemed to shatter from the inside out, but it was still on your wrist when we found you... that doesn't make sense."
Skye picks up Drew's sweatshirt and tries to calm herself as Fitz explains. She feels that there is something going on with her body but she can't explain it exactly when the floor begins to rumble.
"Skye, in the temple, Coulson and Trip found you almost unharmed. Like something or maybe someone covered you." Fitz continues.
There's heavy breathing now coming from Skye and she tries to control it but nothing seems to slow it down.
"There was destruction all around you! My only explanation was that Parker somehow covered you."
Tears began to come down harder against Skye's face, the rumble harder.
"I thought I was losing my mind all over again... that there was something wrong. So it took a while to dawn on me... or maybe I was just afraid to think it... that you survived the destruction" Fitz's voice begins to tremble. "Because... you caused it. You killed Andrew!"
Glass begins to crack as Skye tries to pace herself but it isn't working. The hacker drops the sweatshirt she was holding to hold her hands against her head.
"No! No! No!" she screams out as glass breaks behind her.
"There's nothing wrong with the data in my head, Skye!"
"No!"
More glass breaks around the hacker.
"There's something wrong with you!"
Skye doesn't notice but Fitz runs out of the room leaving her to deal with the destruction she just caused. Somehow she gets herself calmed down enough to make it stop eventually.
The hacker takes a breather before picking up the sweatshirt, placing it on the bed. There's glass all over the place and she has to be careful where she walks.
Reaching over for one of the blankets on the bed, Skye uses it to pick up some of the glass before slicing part of her hand.
"F-uck" she hisses as she feels it.
The hacker wraps some of the glass around the blanket and carefully sets it on the bed when she sees May come into the lab.
"Feeling like you've been stuck in a fish tank your whole life?" the agent questions.
Skye smiles at the comment. "Kind of."
"You doing okay? I know it's been a tough one lately."
"I'm not sure. I guess I'm still trying to get used to Drew actually being gone for real now instead of out on a mission."
"I know. I guess you could say it's a much longer mission."
Skye moves away from the end of the bed and walks closer to the glass wall. What she doesn't realize is that May sees the blood spot on the bed.
"I kind of just wish I had a hug." The hacker tells May.
"Yeah, I think the whole team could use one too."
Skye nods her head.
"Are you bleeding?" May eventually asks as they hear Jemma and Trip come in.
"We should have your DNA results back in anytime now." Jemma says.
Both the agents look at the biochemist and Jemma can sense that there is something wrong.
"Is everything alright?" Trip comments.
May sighs and then looks back at the hacker.
"Skye, you want to explain why you're bleeding?"
The hacker looks between all three of the other agents and immediately gets a scared look on her face.
"Fitz. He um." She starts before being cut off by the engineer who was walking in now.
"Fitz was a klutz again. Skye's cleaning up the mess I accidently made when I was taking a sample of her blood with those ridiculous hazmat suits."
There's a loud sigh of relief that goes around the room and Skye is somehow relieved that Fitz lied for her sake.
"I did double check the samples though. Everything seems to be fine. It's an exact match from before." Fitz says.
Skye smiles at the comment. She knows something is wrong but Fitz is helping her. They can possibly control it somehow without the rest of the team knowing.
"That's great Fitz." May says happily. "I'm going to tell Coulson. He could use some good news."
She leaves the lab taking Trip with her and Jemma is still standing there taking a breather as well.
"Skye is your bunk made?" Fitz asks.
"It's as what Drew and I left it as. Kind of a mess." Skye comments as Fitz begins to open the quarantine unit.
"Jem, could you make sure that is set. Skye could use a few new sheets and stuff." Fitz says towards the biochemist.
"Of course."
Before Jemma could leave the room, Skye is calling back out to her.
"Could you actually just set them in there? I kind of like when the sheets still smell like him."
The biochemist nods telling her that she gets it. Andrew is gone but the scent of him still lingers a bit on the sheets. It's a comfort thing, it makes her feel safe. Jemma knew all about that.
When Jemma does leave, Fitz begins to bandage Skye's hand, carefully not to hurt her even more.
"What did you do?" Skye asks.
"I changed your samples with old ones."
"So the new ones are different?"
"Drastically. But until everyone calms down, especially with how Simmons is acting, we can keep it a secret."
"Okay." Skye begins to sniffles before dropping into Fitz's arms after he moved to floor to push some of the extra glass under the bed.
The engineer takes his arms and wraps them around her, keeping them steady.
"This is my fault." Skye tells him.
"No not at all. Andrew, he saved you. I don't know what I'd do if I lost both of you."
"You said I killed him."
"I didn't mean to say that." Fitz tells her. "I admit that I was a little angry but I had to provoke you somehow. His death isn't your fault."
"He's a hero." Skye whispers.
"Yes. Yes he is."
"Fitz, I think there's something wrong with me now."
The engineer holds her a little bit longer.
"No, you're just different now and there's nothing wrong with that."
35AOS35
It was late when the whole team finally got around to eating some form of dinner. Bobbi and Hunter had made it back from trying to figure out all of Bakshi's motives and moves. Coulson even came back out of his office after hiding there after making Bakshi believe they were attacked.
After Skye was released from quarantine and crying into Fitz's arms, she spent a lot of time with Trip who tried his best to keep her distracted with anything he could think of. The most successful thing he could think of was video games.
Fitz had kept an eye on the hacker as well as Simmons. They had lost their best friend, one that helped coin the name FitzSimmons while they were at the academy. Both scientists sat together on the couch, both drinking a beer while Skye and Trip did the same.
Mack was off in his own little world for a bit, washing dishes when Bobbi approached him, helping to dry a few.
"Fury's toolbox is locked in Coulson's office." Mack says quietly.
"Did you manage to get any of the blueprints?" Bobbi asks.
"Thanks to Parker with that thumb drive. He seemed to of recovered more data before he handed it back over to you."
"Then I guess it was good, we sent him off to Coulson's team when we did."
"I'll make contact soon, Barbara."
"Good." Bobbi says as she looks over at the rest of the team. FitzSimmons were telling their favorite story about Andrew from the academy while Skye curled into Trip's side. "I miss my baby brother."
"I know, Barbara. We all do." Mack answers.
Its a couple minutes later that Coulson is calling the mockingbird into the hallway. She's kind of worried that he might have found out her and Mack's true motive but it's not.
"Bobbi, I need you and FitzSimmons to go to San Diego. Agent Parker's mother should know what happened." He says.
The mockingbird nods. "What about Skye?"
"I need to keep her here as the pain might be too much to handle."
"Of course, sir. I understand."
Coulson dismisses her and they both go back into the common room. Bobbi takes a seat next to Hunter who is lying on the small side couch and she begins to listen to some of the other stories before she shares her own.
The only thing they didn't know was that there was someone out there currently battling their own demons. It was just a matter of time until the team realized who it was.
Wow and that is the chapter. It was a long emotional ride as I wrote it and this is now the longest chapter I have written for this story at about 7886 before I wrote this part. So I hope everyone enjoys the chapter.
Be sure to leave me a review and tell me what you think or what you would like to see.
Also there were two songs that inspired me for the flashbacks, Dream and Hear Me. Both being by Imagine Dragons. So if you want to check those while reading, I would recommend doing so.
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