Hear (Skye's POV)
Mike is alive. Yeah, he has a gun to her head, but he is alive. She can see in his eyes that he doesn't want to hurt her. Then again, he might not have a choice the way Quinn is talking to him. Quinn is testing him, but Mike is a good person so she trusts him. Rightly, as in the next moment he lowers the gun, handing it to Quinn, before leaving. If her heart beats a little faster with the knowledge that he is on a mission to kill someone, she tries to ignore it. She has a mission of her own.
Mission: Stop Quinn.
She thinks she has bought some time. She thinks maybe she can talk long enough for the team to rush in and take him into custody. She thinks that she made the right decision rushing in without back up, right up until she hears the gun fire.
Unbelievable pain ripples through her. She gasps in shock. Her mind is muddled in disbelief, as Quinn moves toward her. This isn't happening. She was supposed to stop him. She tries to keep talking like she isn't about to pass out, but then he takes her in his arms.
"Did…" she starts to question as he pulls her toward him to fire another round.
Her ears start to ring as he eases her to the ground. The last thing she hears him whisper, I'm sorry I have my orders, too. Then nothing, the world is swallowed in black and it takes her a while to realize that she is unconscious. This can't be real. She has to get out of this room. How will anyone know where to look for her, if she stays in this stupid room? She is using all the strength and focus that Ward taught her, she drags herself back to the land of the living. She has to make it to the door. She needs to warn them. She needs their help. What is taking them so long, she wonders. When she decided to come into the house, she thought they would be right behind her like they always are, but it feels like a lifetime has gone by and no one has come.
What if they never made it off the train? What if someone got to Simmons? They had just left her there on the train, completely unconscious. What about Fitz? What if he heard the gun fire and tried to be a hero? Sure, Ward had claimed that Fitz was more capable than most people thought, but she needs more than capable. She needs her S.O. And if he isn't here yet, there must be something horribly wrong.
When she finally gets the door open, she can't even breathe. Her chest feels so heavy. The smell of blood covering her, makes her stomach turn. Squeaking out help, costs the last bit of strength she has, but it doesn't matter, because no one is coming. She is going to die like she lived, all alone.
The next thing she is aware of is Coulson's voice. He is panicked, shaking her as he begs her to hang on, but it is too hard. The waves of black are too strong. Every time she feels close to opening her eyes, another wave drags her back down. She hears him calling for Simmons. Good, that means that she got off the train.
Soon though, the added voices start becoming harder to identify. She can't distinguish them. They are all speaking at once, making it hard to hear anything. She wants to ask them to slow down. She wants to warn them that Quinn is running around shooting people and that Mike is now some sort of robot hybrid. These are things they need to know, but she can't even open her eyes. She tries to focus on their voices, safe around her. She feels the pressure around her changing, making it that much harder to hold on to the little awareness she has left, but she keeps fighting. Until the air around her is silent.
The Silence is worse than anything thus far, because now there is nothing to distract from the pain. More than that, now everything is cold. The cold makes everything from the tips of her toes to her hair feel like she is on pins and needles, but she can't move. Her whole body is aching to shake off the never-ending tingling and cold, but she can't even open her eyes. The world drifts away.
The black turns to light. She becomes aware of a scene around her. Like vision after staring at the sun, images slowly drift into focus, but she knows it is a dream or maybe Heaven. Either way as she sits on the porch swing, warm breeze gently brushing her cheeks, she feels at peace. Time is stops as she stares at the everlasting sunset dipping down into the water.
Her haven is interrupted sometime later, by another change in pressure. She feels tears running across her cheeks, as new waves of pain become the only thing she knows. Her muscles are so heavy and yet she feels like her skin is on fire, burning like a swarm of a million fire ants have decided to have her as their meal. Nothing makes sense. All she wants is to go back to the sunset, until she hears Coulson reminding her to fight.
She hears the brokenness in his voice. He cares about her, but as she remembers Quinn taunting Mike, she wonders if he cares a little too much. She wishes she could tell him not to worry about her. The last few months have been the best of her life. She almost knows where she came from. Coulson has given her a family. He has proved that she was always wanted and cared for, but she wonders if the cost has become too high. She has friends, and a father figure and people who care. If today is her last day, then at least she can take comfort in the fact that no one else will ever die for her.
Her thoughts are disrupted by a new stream of unknown voices, and for a moment she is terrified. She wonders where her family has gone. Who has taken her now? Her heart feels like it will beat out of her chest, until she hears Jemma's voice. She is whispering quietly in Skye's ear. Jemma promises that they are safe now. Skye feels herself relax a little. She is vaguely aware of light flashing in her eyes and needles pricking her arms, before the blackness transforms back to her refuge. Her consciousness slips away again, this time with the help of an anesthesiologist.
She is beginning to wonder how much time has passed when she feels it. Quite literally a hand pulling her back to reality. She can feel someone holding her hand. She assumes it is Jemma, but she is too tired to open her eyes.
"You know kid, I am getting really tired of all these stunts of yours," May's voice breaks through the quiet. Skye is shocked. Of all the people she thought might visit her while she is unconscious, May would be the last one she would expect. She wants to make a smart ass comment about not planning on taking two to the chest, but she can't do anything but listen to the older woman.
"Those boys are going out of their minds," May notes. Skye wants to smile. She wants to tease, but May is serious. She sounds worried, which is scary, because May is supposed to be the one without fear. If she is scared, then things are really bad.
"You have to be strong for them, Skye. Be strong, because without you, I don't know how our team would survive. We all need you," she whispered, squeezing Skye's hand, before letting it go. There is distant whispering, before the room is eerily quiet. It's like she can feel someone looking at her, but she has no way of knowing who it is, until he takes her hand.
She knows exactly what his hands feel like. Spending everyday boxing and grappling and sparing with someone makes a little thing like the brushing of hands memorable. She wishes he would say something, but instead he begins to rub her hand. Ordinarily, she would be irritated by his silence, but as his warmth works the chill from her skin, she can't be anything but glad that he is here with her.
"Everything is going to be okay, Skye. I am going to go get you some medicine and everything is gone to go back to normal," he promises, but she knows it isn't true. They will never go back, because she will never forget what it felt like to almost die waiting for him. She doesn't blame him though. It isn't that. She just knows that someday she will run out of luck, and he won't find her in time. And she is terrified of what will happen to him the day he fails to be the hero.
Coulson voice comes through the comm, "Agent Ward, one minute to drop time."
"I have to go now," Ward says. "Just try not to die while I'm gone."
She chuckles in her mind. The tin man's got jokes. She wants to tell him to be safe, but she can't even hold his hand when he puts hers back down on the blanket.
A long time goes by where Skye is bored. Without the pain, she is just trapped with her thoughts in endless darkness. At some point she falls asleep, dreaming of the first night on the bus, watching the sunset with the team. It is a nice dream. She is sipping a beer, listening to Fitz and Jem arguing about a better name for the Night-night pistol, when Ward takes her hand. He is rubbing intricate patterns it her skin making her feel like she might melt, when she realizes that this isn't a normal part of the dream.
She blinks. I can blink! She thinks. There is Ward, sitting next to her, head down, completely absorbed in her hand, so she tries to wiggle her fingers to get his attention.
"I think you missed your calling, Robot," she teases. She sees his shoulders tense, but he doesn't look up.
"I… I was just…"he mumbles dropping her hand.
She doesn't like how lost he sounds, so she tries to instigate their usual argument, "So, do I get out of PT now?"
"I think it is fair to say you won't be working out anytime soon," he answers, looking out the door.
"Yay! Ow, son of a Winchester, you lied Ward. Getting shot hurts like hell," she whines, wondering how the hell he just sat there on the couch completely normal after getting shot in Peru.
"I had a skin dead graze, Skye. You… you almost…" he looks at the ground.
"Go on, you can say it, I almost died. But I didn't, so what now?" she is trying to brush it off, because if she really thinks about it, she thinks she might panic, and she can't afford to panic
"Now, I go let the team know you are awake," he stands, eyes on door again, she knows she has to stop him. She can't let him leave things like this.
"But I'm in pain," she whines, because she knows that he is a hero at heart. "You can't just leave me here."
"Simmons would be the one to talk to about pain meds," he returns as he walks toward the door.
"Ward," she calls in a last ditch effort to get him to look at her. It's no good, so she plays the only card she has left. She knows saying his name is crossing a line, but she doesn't care anymore, "Grant!"
He stops, hackles up.
She is going to have to put it all out there if she wants him to come back.
"Will you please just look at me for minute? I was laying there dying, and I was trying so hard to call for help, and all I could think was what if no one was coming, because you were already dead. I just need you to look at me so I know you are still here," she whispers the last bit, because honestly she has never really needed anyone before, and she is not sure if she likes the feeling.
He turns slowly, his eyes staring at the foot of the bed, before reluctantly making their way to her face. He looks nervous, so she smiles at him. For a moment she wonders if they will ever get passed this, but then he gives her that look. The look that says that despite his best efforts, he cares about her.
Before they can says anything else, Jemma arrives, immediately going to hug Skye.
"Oh it is so good to see you wake, darling! Maybe now this silly man will get some sleep," she rambles, continuing to talk while Skye looks over at the man in question. She raises a brow as if to question Simmons statement. He shrugs, not even trying to deny that he sat by her most of the time she was out. She grins. He returns a smirk.
Get some sleep, she mouths.
He solutes and then disappears.
"Are you even listening?" Jemma pulls back from the hug to look into Skye's eyes.
"I'm sorry Jemma, I didn't hear you," Skye replies apologetically, focusing her attention on the scientist. She can always talk to her S.O. tomorrow.