A/N: In which the author can't let anyone be happy and so introduces seeds of terrible plotlines to come.
Or... sorry, I wanted to make this longer, but I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going with this.
Thanks to everyone who reads/reviews/follows/favorites - you are awesome! Enjoy!
Simmons finds that she can't keep her eyes open, especially not with the white-noise hum of the plane surrounding her. She tries every trick she knows to stay awake, and they all come up lacking. Instead she wraps one arm around the ventilator, so she'll be able to feel and hear the alarms should they sound, puts one foot on the pulse ox and the other on the IV pump (for the same reason), and slips her free hand into Skye's, hoping she hasn't lost the ability to feel a fever through someone's palm. It's not a perfect system, but Simmons finds that she's so tired she doesn't really care. Anyway, she figures Jiaying will wake her if there's any serious crisis with Skye.
She awakens sometime later, the plane still humming beneath her. She realizes she can hear Jiaying and Gordon speaking quietly, and since she has no frame of reference for most of their discussion, she keeps her eyes closed, hoping she'll drift back into sleep.
That release into sleep never happens, because her keen ears pick up fragments of Jiaying and Gordon's conversation, and Simmons turns her head to hear it better.
"… you didn't tell the director everything," Gordon says.
"How could I?" Jiaying demands. "He never would have let us leave with her if I'd told him who I am."
"I just hope this is all worth it for you."
"You think I wanted to take her out of there like this? She's basically comatose, we've got no way of making sure she'll wake up."
A cold knot of fear plants itself in Simmons' stomach. Coulson had made it seem like Jiaying and Gordon had a cure for Skye.
"We'll continue her transition process," Gordon says. "After that, we've got nothing else."
The knot of fear expands into a grabby hand of fear. The man without eyes basically confirmed that she, Simmons, is the only thing standing between Skye and death. It wasn't a bad situation when they were at the base, when Simmons had Fitz to bounce ideas off and trained medical personnel a short distance or a short phone call away, but now she and Skye are on a plane headed God knows where and their backup, their rock, their family is falling farther and farther behind every second.
"I didn't want it this way," Jiaying says.
"No, you wanted her home any way you could force it to happen," Gordon replies. "Sometimes I wonder if you're just as impulsive as your husband."
"Never think that!" Jiaying snaps at him, obviously trying very hard to keep her voice low. "We are nothing alike. Beyond his physical strength he is emotionally defective – you know that. Someone has to be the brains in our partnership."
"Do you think he's going to be happy to see Daisy back with you? Like this?"
"He'll be happy to see Daisy away from SHIELD," Jiaying answers.
Daisy. Skye's real name. But how did these people know that? The conversation was quickly giving Simmons more questions than answers.
"Didn't like they were doing too badly with her," Gordon remarks.
"We waltzed in there, told them she had an Inhuman sickness, and walked out with her," Jiaying says. "Not very smart for secret agents, are they?"
"When you teleport into their secret base, I guess they'll believe almost anything you tell them," Gordon says. "And you heard the British science girl – all of the treatments they've been using on Skye haven't been working. Who's to say it's not an Inhuman thing?"
"Because there is no Inhuman sickness," Jiaying mutters, as though Gordon is a slow child she doesn't want to deal with anymore.
Gordon seems offended, because he doesn't say anything for a few minutes. Simmons wonders if she's going crazy.
Finally he speaks, sounding defeated and subservient. "What's the plan?"
"The same as it ever was. Get her back and assess her condition. Work on her gifts – obviously she's lacking control and direction. She's very powerful, but it's all formless and aimless at this point."
"And after that?"
"Get her on our side. Move against SHIELD. Everything we've planned for and worked for."
The grabby hand of fear in Simmons' stomach turns into an entire Blue Man Group of terror and she thinks she might vomit. She carefully reaches down to the bag between her feet, her fingers brushing the sat phone Coulson had insisted she take. It's looking more and more useful, even though their situation has just gone from not-that-great to OH SHIT THIS IS BAD. She gently pulls it from the backpack and slips it into her jeans pocket, thankful for the pile of equipment blocking Gordon and Jiaying from seeing her lower body.
Jiaying and Gordon fall silent, and Simmons turns her head again, looking down at Skye. Under the mask Skye's face is loose and expressionless, her eyelids jerking like she's dreaming.
"Wake up," Simmons whispers to her friend. "Please, wake up. Something bad's going to happen."
"You're not my mother," Skye says to the woman who has joined in her in her terrifying headspace. "You can't be my mother."
"And you know this because…?" The scarred woman gives her a sly smile. It remains Skye of a snake. Or Raina.
Skye's stomach twists. She doesn't want this woman to be her mother, but at the same time she doesn't want to tell this woman that. This woman seems like she'd tear Skye into pieces.
"I just do," Skye answers lamely. She'd been about to say that after meeting her father, she was pretty sure she'd given up on finding her "real" parents. About to say that she'd decided who her family was, and it didn't involve Crazy In a Suit (her father) or this woman, claiming to be her mother.
"I saw them," the woman says. "I saw how much they care about you."
Skye realizes she's talking about Coulson and the rest of the team.
"I also saw how afraid they are of you."
"I'm afraid too," Skye says.
"You don't have to be afraid."
"Really? Because I fractured all the bones in my arms, ruptured a whole bunch of capillaries, and then ended up in a SHIELD hospital nearly dead."
"None of those things were your fault."
"God, lady, you don't know anything." Skye tries to walk away and then belatedly remembers she's in some sort of hallucination, which doesn't lend itself well to walk-offs or escapes.
"I know that you're not the first person to be scared after their transformation."
"Yeah. Anyone who's not terrified and pissed off after this is crazy."
"I know you blame yourself for what happened to your friend."
"He followed me in there to save me, I earthquaked him to death. Yeah, of course I blame myself."
"I know you think this sarcasm and anger will push me away."
"Why not? You've been with me for exactly none of my life – what's calling you to try to give me a pep talk now?"
"I'm taking you home."
Skye lets out a sarcastic laugh. "Well, when you figure out where that is, let me know. I haven't had a home ever, unless you count the van I lived in for a couple of years."
"I know, and I'm sorry about that."
"Everybody's sorry," Skye mutters. "Nobody fixes anything."
"Well, maybe it's time that changed."
Skye opens her eyes and sees Simmons' face bobbing over her. Her throat feels raw and she can't figure out how to get her mouth to work for a few long seconds.
"Hi," Simmons says softly. "If you feel like garbage, squeeze my hand."
All Skye knows is that her body hasn't felt like hers for days. She squeezes Simmons' hand.
"Okay. I'm working on it," Simmons whispers. "And I know this is going to sound trite, but I think we have bigger issues."
Skye raises an eyebrow.
"Do you remember what happened the last time you were awake?"
Skye thinks. Mack, Bobbi, and an old guy; May, an eyeless guy, and a bunch of blue light… and then, nothing. She shakes her head minutely.
"Well, two people claiming they could help you teleported into Coulson's office and somehow charmed him into letting us go with them," Simmons says. "We were on a plane for several hours, and now we're here. I don't know where here is, and that's not the only terrifying thing about this situation."
Skye coughs, and Simmons removes the mask over her face and pulls her upright, whacking her on the back to get out anything she might cough up. The coughing makes Skye's chest ache and for a moment she thinks she's seeing stars. Then the room settles, and she realizes Simmons is right – she has no idea where they are.
After Simmons suctions out her mouth and gives Skye a drink of water, she replaces the mask and Skye lays back.
"I heard them talking on the plane," Simmons goes on, getting close to Skye so her voice stays low. "They don't have any cure for you, and they've got some sort of plan against SHIELD and the woman knew your real name and…"
She looks close to tears, and Skye reaches up and squeezes her hand. "Shh, it'll be okay. We'll figure it out."
Simmons lets out a chuckle and wipes tears from her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder about you, Skye. You've been nearly dead more times than not in the past few days, you've still got a fever of a hundred and three, and for the last several hours you weren't even breathing on your own – and yet you've still managed to make me feel like things will work out."
"They will," Skye says. "We're together. You're a genius… and I'm good at stuff too."
This time Simmons really does cry, and she leans in and kisses Skye on the forehead. "Thank you," she whispers.
They've both fallen asleep when the doors open, revealing the Asian woman and the eyeless man, along with a young man with sandy hair. Skye's been drifting in and out of a doze, awakening mostly when she and the machine stop breathing in tandem, which makes her gasp and choke like she's forgotten she's above water, so she sees them first.
She pushes herself upright and pulls off the mask, ignoring the nearly-immediate tightening in her chest that suggests it might have been a bad idea. The machine lets out a protesting beep and Simmons jerks upright.
"Good evening," the woman says, and she smiles.
Skye nearly passes out, and she grips Simmons' hand very tightly.
"What is it?" Simmons whispers.
"That's… no… that's not…" Skye can't get a sentence together. She feels like she's going to suffocate.
"We're glad to have you here," the woman goes on, either not noticing or not caring about Skye's obvious discomfort. "I'm Jiaying, and these are my associates Gordon and Lincoln."
"That's my…" Skye forces the words out. "In my head. She said. She was my mother."
Simmons looks at her strangely. "I thought your mother was…"
"Yeah, me too," Skye says, "but the events that have transpired in my life recently have shown me that nothing's really what I think."
The woman and the younger man step a bit closer. "Hi, I'm Lincoln," the young man says. "We came to see if you were hungry. We're about to start dinner, and I thought I could bring you two some meals."
Skye can't remember the last time she ate solid food, or what that food was, and her stomach is so twisty that she thinks even the sight of food would cause her to react negatively. But she knows Simmons has been awake nearly constantly over the last week and has probably not been eating, so she turns her head. "We could eat," she says to Lincoln.
"Great," he says, and he smiles. "I'll get you some food."
"Gordon, go with him," Jiaying says.
Gordon looks like he's going to protest, but Jiaying glares at him and he follows Lincoln out without a word.
When they've gone Jiaying sits down on a stool at the foot of Skye's bed. "You must have a lot of questions," she says.
Skye squares her shoulders. She hadn't gotten a chance to deal with Gonzales, couldn't be back at base helping Coulson and May, but she has Simmons to protect, and besides, no matter what anyone says, sarcasm has been her super-power a lot longer than earthquakes. "Sure," she says.
"And I will be glad to answer them all in time."
"Let's cut to the chase," Skye says. "I hear you have a cure – at least, that's what you told Agent Coulson – and I'm pretty sick of being sick. So… this cure?"
Something like anger and hatred flashes over Jiaying's face, but so quickly that Skye thinks she's just projecting. Then she notices how the woman's hands are clenched, and she changes her mind.
Jiaying pulls herself together. "We'll need to have you assessed by our medical team."
"Sure. Assess away. Like, now. Or sooner."
"Has anyone ever told you you're very impatient?"
"You would be too if your body was pretty much on fire. Or if you had that thing attached to your face," Skye says, jerking her thumb towards the breathing machine.
"They're at dinner," Jiaying says smoothly.
"This kind of thing never happens at real hospitals. Like, when I got shot …"
"You weren't conscious for this part, don't kid yourself," Simmons mutters.
"… they didn't have to wait for the doctors to finish their tea and crumpets…"
"It was not a British hospital," Simmons puts in.
"… before they fixed it."
Any traces of any other emotion fall from Jiaying's face. Skye's words have clearly horrified her. "You were… shot?"
"Twice," Skye confirms.
"And you were… all right afterwards?"
"Oh, hell no," Skye says. "Things got pretty crazy, but…"
She trails off, looking at Jiaying suspiciously. "Why am I telling you all this?"
"I have a trustworthy face," Jiaying says.
Simmons turns her head and rolls her eyes.
"I'd trust you a little more if you made me less sick," Skye points out.
"I'll see what we can do," Jiaying says.
Skye's tired of the run-around and she pushes herself up further, crossing her legs. Her whole body screams, but she leans forward and looks seriously at the older woman. "If you can't help me, take us home."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Jiaying says, the anger and hatred reappearing on her face, and without another word she stands and leaves the room.
Skye and Simmons hear the doors lock behind her.