A/N: hello guys! how's it been? so i'm thinking i might actually deviate entirely from the show. i don't think i like having two shields in my story. after all, i've always planned to focus this story on skye and her origin story and her learning about her past and how these factors will affect her and the team. so yeah... i guess that's pretty much it.

also, i know it's been awhile since i last updated. I'm really slow now because of so many factors. But I am trying my best to write as much as possible. TO be honest, I was gonna upload this chapter last month but when i read it, there was something off about it so I had to rewrite the entire chapter. Sucks when you have so many plots that you want to incorporate to your story. and also, there was another story plot in my head that has been nagging me that i really want to publish but since it's taking me ages to update this one, i thought that maybe i'll do that some other time. (it's mostly post s2 finale) . Argh it's so hard to have so many ideas but so little time.

Disclaimer: i own nothing but this story.

CHAPTER 6:

Getting to Know You

They were all laughing. Laughing at Hunter and Bobbi's fail of a love story. Laughing at how the two kept trying to ridicule one another but only to make each other smile. Laughing at how Lance tried so hard to hate Bobbi but kept failing miserably because of how obvious that he's still got feelings for her.

It was a nice change. Even Fitz and Simmons were laughing and sometimes when they glanced at each other's direction, they exchanged smiles. But Jemma could still feel how distant Fitz had been since they arrived.

Simmons had planned to talk to him the moment she got to the headquarters but Coulson, with other plans in mind, made it difficult for her to find a time to talk to Fitz now that she's been assigned to keep an eye on Skye.

She glanced at Skye, the used-to-be consultant and now newest field agent had a big grin on her face. And sometimes she would send snarky remarks every time Hunter couldn't defend himself from something Bobbi had said he'd done.

Simmons didn't know what happened. She didn't get all the details from Coulson except for the fact that her friend went against protocol. And that was it. She was asked to keep an eye on her. She didn't like it. Skye's her friend after all, almost a sister. But she would do it even if Coulson gave her a very vague reason.

Though she was enjoying the spectacle, Skye was still a bit troubled. Not only did she feel betrayed with Coulson suspending her, but she also felt this strange sensation that somehow felt familiar. It was unnerving her - the familiarity of the sensation - but Skye couldn't understand why it disturbed her so much so she tried to ignore it instead.

Bobbi suddenly rose from her chair. "This has been really nice but Coulson asked me to do something." she then looked at Skye. "Could you take me to the cage?"

Skye shrugged her shoulders as she responded, "Yeah, sure." she stood up from her seat.

Jemma, who was given orders to keep an eye on Skye at all times, reacted. "Can I go with?"

"Sure." said Skye the same time Bobbi said "Maybe next time."

Jemma frowned at Bobbi. And so did Skye. The guys just stared at the girls, not sure of what just happened.

And just like that, because she was also not liking the gawking eyes and the awkward silence, Jemma slid further down her seat and murmured, "Maybe next time."

"...Okay." Skye said, still with a frown on her face.

The two girls left the room, the boys still clueless as to what just happened.

"I have all day, Raina." Coulson declared as he sat on a chair inside one of the rooms where they're holding people under custody.

Raina cocked her head and batted the lashes of her huge eyes, "Unlike you, Mr. Coulson, I have a bed right at my disposal." She said as she patted the bed she was currently sitting at. "If I ever choose to sleep right now, I don't think you'll have the entire day."

"I'm not playing games with you." Coulson said. "I can transfer you to a less pleasant room, and "You answer my questions now. What are those symbols? And what does it have to do with the obelisk?"

"For someone who claims he has all day, you awfully seem like you're in a hurry." she teased.

"Why can you and Skye touch it without incurring any damage?" Coulson ignored her.

Raina sighed. "Isn't it obvious? We are special."

"Special seems to be such a vague word to use at this situation." he said. "What exactly do you mean by special? Are you alien? Is that it?"

"Alien is such an ugly word." Raina pouted. "We are humans. We just happened to be capable of doing things."

Coulson narrowed his eyes. "Such as?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out."

"I'm not playing games here."

"And neither am I." Raina said exasperatedly.

Coulson's forehead creased. He didn't like how she kept evading answering the questions. It was frustrating. And the fact that he was trying to suppress writing those symbol wasn't helping his situation at all. And if Raina was going to keep answering him like that, Coulson thought that he might actually lose his mind sooner rather than later.

He sighed and leaned his back on the chair. He was exhausted. These past two days drained him more than they should have. He didn't even know if he could keep up with the stress. But he told himself that he had to get all his questions answered. He has to find what those symbol means, what Skye really is, and what their connection is to the obelisk.

"Tell me then, who are you really working for? And what exactly are you after?"

"Isn't obvious?" Raina leaned forward, as if she was about to reveal something top secret.

"I wouldn't be asking the question if I knew the answer to that." Coulson snapped. "Now answer me."

Raina sighed. "You just want me to confirm what you already suspected." She paused. "Mr. Zabo, Skye's father - that's who I work for. And if it isn't obvious enough, or if you're just really trying to act dumb then I will tell you what he's after. He's after SHIELD, and he will do anything to bring you down."

"Why?"

Raina stared at Coulson, all signs of playfulness left her face. "Because SHIELD took everything from him." she said, her tone void from any emotion. "SHIELD took his family away from him."

Coulson clenched his jaw. "SHIELD wouldn't-"

"Stop denying it." Raina said in that teasing tone again. "You know what SHIELD is capable of doing and of the extremes they're willing to go just to get whatever they want." she paused again. "I know you know what really happened that day in that village in China. You know why. You're just too scared to admit to yourself that you're working for something that pretends to be good when in fact it's just the lesser evil in this big picture."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Coulson replied but it only made Raina smirk at him.

"You're so scared to accept the truth and yet the only thing you're good at is lying." Raina said. She studied Coulson for a whole minute. She straightened herself before exhaling. "I have a proposition for you, Mr. Coulson."

"You are in no position to make a deal with me."

"Oh, but you'll want to listen to this one." Coulson didn't response so she continued. "I will tell you everything that I know."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

Coulson thought about it long and hard. Raina almost thought that he'd never agree to her. But after a long silence, he spoke. "What are your conditions?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Condition." Raina answered. "Just one."

"Name it. But if I don't think it will benefit my team, I won't agree to it."

"Oh, you will." She smirked.

Coulson didn't like this game she was playing with him. He was smart and he had the upper hand but Raina was clever. Too clever for him. And he knew if he'd make the wrong move, he would fall right where she planned him to be.

Coulson raised his chin as a sign for her to continue. Raina's smirk grew.

"Tell me, where is Skye right now?"

Coulson's forehead creased. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because..." she trailed off. "I want her to hear everything I'm going to tell you."

"That's not going to happen."

"She'll eventually learn the truth. She might as well be here for this."

"No."

"Then I won't answer any of your questions."

Coulson stood up. "You never planned to."

"True, but I would have if you agreed to my condition."

"We're done for today. And tomorrow, I hope you'll cooperate or I will send one of my agents and you won't like her."

"I'm not afraid of Agent May." She said and lied to her bed slowly. "However, I'm more concerned about Skye. How is she by the way? Touching the obelisk can affect people in different ways."

Coulson wasn't sure if she was trying to bait him, but he chose not to fall for it even if it wasn't.

"See you tomorrow, Raina." He said and turned his back. He did not see Raina's smile at that very moment. It was a winning smile and she wore it even after Coulson left the room.

"We don't sleep in the Bus now but sometimes I like to escape here just for old time's sake. It's kind of nice too." Skye said as she led Bobbi to the Cage. "Maybe you'll get a bunkbed assignment too if we ever get to go somewhere that will require the bus. May is itching to find a reason to fly it."

Bobbi nodded her head as she listened to everything Skye was telling her. She was trying to read the younger agent, and aside from the obvious - that Skye is a very talkative person - Bobbi could tell that she was a good person. A little stubborn with a weird sense of humor, but good nonetheless. She seemed nice, too, Bobbi thought. And base from what Jemma had told her, she seemed like a person Bobbi would like to befriend if only she didn't have to do what she had to do. And for some reason, Bobbi could tell that the young woman was very important to Coulson and May. She must have done something that upset the two for them to be acting like such disappointed parents after finding out that their child was off the honor list.

"And here we have the one and only, the Cage" Skye smiled when they approached the Cage. "Sometimes I call it the honeycomb room. You'll know why once we get inside."

As she opened the door, Skye immediately walked towards one of the chairs in the room and flopped down like a child. She noticed immediately how the room was set up but tried to delay the obvious reason why they were here.

"The cell is made of silicon-carbide vibranium. I don't know exactly those elements - I just know that Fitz and Simmons kept saying that whenever I said that this room is made out of honey. Seriously those two can't take a joke." she puffed. "But I do know that this room is quite tough. We once locked Lady Sif here - she's an Asgardian, but I bet you know that - and she couldn't get out of here. And she's super strong."

Bobbi couldn't help but smile at that as she sat down to the chair opposite to Skye. The only thing dividing them was the desk between them.

"You talk a lot, don't you?" Bobbi asked but it was more like a statement.

Skye smiled back. "Well, yeah." she said and then added, "Which I think would be very convenient for you because I like to share."

Bobbi tried to pretend that she didn't know what she meant by that.

Skye rolled her eyes as she placed her arms on the desk and leaned forward as if she was going to share some gossip with the other agent. "No one is that interested to see the cage." she then grinned. But was soon gone and was replaced by a small frown. "So..." she started, her childish tone replaced by one that Bobbi detected as hurt. "Is this a debriefing or more like an interrogation?" Skye almost choked at the last word.

Bobbi sensed the discomfort from the girl, but this was why she was here and the time to be nice was over. "More of an interrogation." she said honestly.

Skye nodded her head while looking down. She knew that she had to debrief the team about what happened, but never had she thought that Coulson would actually get someone else to interrogate her instead.

Interrogate her. Skye felt that burning pang in her chest again. She was willing to tell everything. She owed them that after all. But not like this: inside the cage with an agent that she just met. She was upset at Coulson, at May, and even at Bobbi right now. If they wanted to know what happened they could've just asked her in front of everyone.

She sighed, defeated. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Coulson showed me the footage of when Grant Ward first told you about your father, and other related videos. Basically, we know when this started. What we don't know, however, is your conversation with the man that claims to be your father."

That's when Skye glanced at her. There was a look on her face that if Bobbi didn't know better she would've thought that the young agent was hurting. But Skye was hurting and though as much as she tried not to show it, she failed at it miserably.

"So this is basically about me and that man."

"You don't know his name?" Bobbi noted.

"He didn't tell me. I asked, but he was evading all my questions." Skye answered. "Didn't even bother to call me by my name."

Bobbi studied her at that. "You were hoping to learn what your real name is?"

"I was hoping to learn everything about my identity, about him and my mother, and about how I ended up in an orphanage. Well, I know how I ended up in an orphanage - Coulson told me. But I wanted to hear his side of the story. But, like I said, he kept evading my questions. While he tried so hard to make me touch that diviner."

"Diviner?" Bobbi asked in confusion.

Skye shrugged. "That's what he called the obelisk."

Bobbi nodded. "Coulson told me he, Hunter and May found you holding the, um, diviner, unharmed, is that correct?"

Skye shrugged again. "Yeah." she said and as soon as she saw how weird of an expression Bobbi had on her face, Skye immediately added "I didn't know though that I could touch it. He basically tricked me into holding it. He said something that caught me off guard and something about a city. And then we heard Coulson and the team, and then everything went so fast. The next thing I knew I was holding the diviner and... and then everything went dark after that."

"A city?"

Skye shook her head once again. "He just mentioned a city. He was very cryptic."

Bobbi nodded her head as if trying to keep that information in mind for later. "You said that he caught you off guard by saying something. Can you tell me what it is?" she asked.

Skye froze at that. She didn't know exactly how to say it without creeping the woman, but Skye didn't want to keep it all to herself. Just the thought of it scared her.

"He kept saying that I was special and... " she trailed off.

Bobbi watched the girl intently. She realized that Skye was clenching her jaws - a sign that the girl was becoming upset by every passing second.

"We can stop here for now if you want."

Skye shook her head. "No... I'm almost done anyway." she said as she bowed her head. "It's just that... I don't know if Coulson told you about my past or of my being an 0-8-4 but... but I think the reason why I can touch it is because I may not be entirely human..."

"Are you saying you may be... an alien?" Bobbi asked as she tried to hide the surprise in her voice.

Skye shook her head, and only then did Bobbi realize that the young agent was on the verge of crying but she knew that Skye was trying her best not to let any tears fall.

"I don't know what I am, is what I'm saying!" she said through gritted teeth. "I don't even know who I am or who my parents are. I was so close. But I.. now it just feels like I'm back to the start again... And this time with even more questions."

Bobbi took note of all the things that Skye said as she studied her. After a few moments of complete silence, she stood up. Skye looked at her, confused.

"Thank you so much for your cooperation, Skye." Bobbi said, and then smiled sympathetically at her. "I wish this wasn't how we got to spend out first day as colleagues."

Skye could only nod. Bobbi was on her way out the door when Skye suddenly remembered to ask something important.

"Where is the diviner?" she asked, making Bobbi look back at her.

Bobbi shook her head weakly. "I honestly have no idea. And even if I knew, it would be classified information."

"I know... I just hope it's hidden somewhere far away from me- I mean here."

"Why?" Bobbi asked, curious, as she pretended not to catch Skye's slip up.

"This might not make sense but I think it's a key of some sort." Skye said. "I don't know what it unlocks, but whatever it is, I don't think it's good."

"I will tell Coulson everything you told me. Thank you." Bobbi said, and with that she left the cage, leaving Skye alone with her troubling thoughts.

sooo... how was it? kinda meh but i promise that my story is soon going to reach a turning point. thanks for reading this fic!