Previously: The team has just picked up Skye and Fitz after their escape from the Skrull spaceship. Now they're heading back to the BUS to work on something to take down Graviton, who is attacking Rome. Skye's struggling with her new powers as well as having who she thinks her real father is.
Chapter Thirty Seven
The ride back to the BUS was one filled with excitement, anxiety, and a lot of talking. And questions. Comments and inquiries and whatnot, directed at Skye and Fitz. Though the blunt of them went to the former (considering the whole new powers thing), any questions about their actual imprisonment went to the latter. It reminded Skye of the rescue mission ride after she'd been imprisoned by FakeWolfe, but there were a few differences.
Fitz was there now to take some of the heat off of her. Difference two held some similarities, as even with having to make an escape from Graviton the last time the team rescued her, they'd left the scientist behind. Now he was too big of a problem to ignore and they were speeding back to the BUS to actually deal with the problem, not move on from it. Another difference of course was that after that excursion she didn't have some new Terrigen whatever power to deal with.
In the similarity pile: the fact that they'd picked up Wolfe again. Skye had high hopes of this one being her real father, though.
"So you can see people's emotions, but with color?" Fitz inquired, definitely the one to be most interested in her new superhuman abilities. So as much as he was relieving her of questions about imprisonment, he was adding to the list as well.
The man seemed to have perked up quite a bit once she'd told him with utmost certainty that those around him weren't Skrulls, but his eyes lingered on Simmons' still unconscious form. The team – May most adamantly - assured she'd just been taken out with a sedative, but Skye understood the worry.
"And Skrulls look all… squiggly, so I can tell when it's actually them. But, yeah. You guys were all full out glowing before I got knocked out, and now you just kind of have this tint of color to you," she explained, witnessing it before her very eyes as she did. "Before Ward touched me I couldn't really feel anyone's emotions, and now I can. It's… how I can associate the colors with each emotion. They're just kind of in my head."
"But you can't read our minds," he conceded, looking just a tad too worried that she may disagree, making Skye nearly grin. She shook her head.
That tad bit of worry she saw, she could feel it too. In fact, the worry was circulating through the van and built up in Skye, along with all the other shared emotions that were now crammed inside of her from the multiple people.
"No mind reading. Yet, at least…" she mumbled off, pressing a hand into her head.
"Skye, you alright?" Coulson asked with concern. Great, more emotion.
"Yeah I just… you guys really feel a lot. Lots of stuff crammed in here. And then there are my own feelings of course… ones that include stupid stupidity," she mumbled, pulling at her hair a bit in irritation. "It was just so dumb to think they wouldn't go through with their threat if I made myself unusable!"
Skye was definitely pumped to get this guy taken care of now, but she was so frustrated for her actions. Though she had to admit, she was definitely grateful to be alive.
"You did the best thing you could think of," Ward said in attempted comfort, and she did feel a slight relief at his words, despite Coulson having made sure she should know this just a few minutes earlier.
Ward must have been just incredibly happy and satisfied to have found her, because every time he spoke she felt waves of pure warmth from his emotions. Of course, everyone had an air of relief along with their mountains of worry wafting on to her, at least to some extent. But Ward's was excessive.
No wonder she was getting headaches from this.
"And Skye, you have to remember," Coulson started, "if you had gone through with it, a whole race would have been exterminated along with yourself. With Mack working back at the BUS, we may be able to defeat Hall with minimal casualties. This was the best possible outcome."
She nodded quickly as to dismiss the subject. She hated when they tried to coddle her with reassurances when she was berating herself for doing something wrong. Like she was fishing for comfort, when in actuality she really just wanted to make sure they knew how much she regretted her actions that caused people pain. How much she'd really tried to take the high road.
But in this instance, they were right.
She pressed her hand to her forehead again.
"You sure you're alright, sweetheart?" asked an incredibly skeptical tone.
Skye gave a quick glare to Hunter. She wasn't exactly his biggest fan so far. The hacker knew she shouldn't be so quick to judge, but even in such a tense situation he almost made everything sound like a joke. Like he didn't really care what the answer was even as he asked the questions. Maybe he did but… sure didn't sound like it.
"I'm fine," she told him gruffly. "Headache."
"We can work on your powers to control them better, Skye," Wolfe said. "Later, when there's time."
Ah yes, her father. Her real father, and she was kind of confident he was real since she'd discovered her powers could tell Skrulls from humans. Or… other aliens, apparently.
She'd assured the team he was the real deal the first chance she got, and though they were skeptical at first, they were allowing him the luxury of a slight trust.
Still, Skye wasn't entirely mentally prepared just yet to have a reuniting with lost family. And despite how eager he seemed to talk to her, get to know her and maybe just try to catch up for lost time, Wolfe was respecting her space. He was waiting for her to ask the questions and talk to him.
Because for now, all she was giving him were one word answers and nods.
So she nodded.
After a few more choice questions about their imprisonment from mainly Trip, Coulson, and quite a bit from the new guy Hunter, they got back to the BUS to meet the other new man, Mack.
He came out of the lab wiping his hands, having obviously been working on something. He took in Fitz and Skye's appearance without trying to hide the appraising, though Skye supposed she was doing the same thing to him.
"Name's Mack," he told them, holding out a hand to each of the agents to give them a hardy shake. He seemed incredibly nonchalant, as though there weren't a gravity-altering man throwing around Rome at the moment.
"I'm Skye and this is Fitz."
He put his hands on his hips. "Nice to meet you guys. And nice jumpsuits."
Skye and Fitz shared a look at the reminder. She couldn't believe she could keep forgetting that she was wearing the clothing, seeing as Fitz had one on as well and that was staring her right in the face. But she supposed she'd gotten used to him in the apparel.
That was most likely also why the two seemed to gravitate towards one another, the sheer familiarity of it. After going through a week of imprisonment and staying in line for one another's safety, it was hard to leave each other's side. Almost like the feeling of protectiveness had become habit.
At least, that's how Skye felt. And by the way Fitz stayed near her, she guessed he felt the same way. Plus, even with her somewhat shottie powers, as she was still getting used to them, she could feel the protectiveness from him in her own head, too. And the worry for her.
It wasn't that Skye couldn't be sure she felt the protectiveness and worry, because she definitely could. But to know for a certainty they were coming off of Fitz… it was just hard to keep track of.
Skye saw him glance sideways as Triplett carried Simmons out of the van. His eyes lingered on the scientist as though he wanted to go to her. The only reason he wasn't, Skye guessed, was because Coulson had told Fitz the new mechanic could use some help figuring out how to defeat Graviton.
"So, you're the engineer, right?" asked Mack.
"Uh, yes. That's me."
"I could use a hand with these specs. Come take a look," Mack said with a beckoning wave of one large arm. Seriously, the guy was pretty jacked.
He was also sporting a dark blue tint at the moment, and Skye could feel he was in serious mission mode to get his work done, despite a rather casual attitude. Maybe he was trying to not scare people who'd just been held hostage, in case they'd have a defensive attitude. But still, not coddle. It was nice.
Fitz nodded quickly. "Oh good, yeah."
Fitz followed Mack into the lab and Skye watched him go with a feeling of sudden emptiness. Turning around, she saw Coulson, Ward, May, Triplett, and Wolfe – who was definitely off to the side, as he seemed to be wanting to give them a fair bit of space – staring at her.
Skye didn't know where to start. There were all the reassurances and hugs and comfort that she knew they wanted to shower her in. Then of course she needed to talk to her father, her real father, but she didn't just want to interrogate him. This man never kidnapped her or gave her a reason to distrust him. She honestly just wanted to talk and get to know him.
But with such a dire situation, that would have to be later. Right now, she needed facts. Like where in world he just popped up from. (She could get facts without interrogating, right?)
Still, she didn't do that either.
"I'm going change really quick. This isn't really my color," she added to try and lighten the mood, as they were all feeling the threat of Graviton. And were still definitely concerned with her and Fitz's well-being, the light blue tinged around them proving it.
Plus, she could feel their feelings.
It was bizarre. That was the best word for it. These new emotions shoved into her head that somehow had a different place in her mind than her own, as well as the new hues she saw people in. She wondered if she would be able to turn it off or control it, or if her friends would always look like painted Easter eggs to her from now on. She definitely wouldn't be able to give her opinion on outfits anytime soon.
Yep, her fresh powers were definitely going to take some getting used to. Maybe her father could help her out with that.
Again, not now.
"Take your time Skye," Coulson told her.
Skye gave him a mildly confused look at the statement, considering there was a super-villain out there destroying the capital of Italy. Still, she nodded and made her way to her bunk, eager to get out of the jumpsuit.
Coulson knew Skye would probably be feeling the need to help, but honestly, there wasn't much a hacker could do in their current situation, despite how urgent it may be. The field agents could, though.
Problem was, Coulson didn't feel too comfortable talking about plans in front of Wolfe.
Sure, Skye had said he wasn't a Skrull. And he trusted that. If she was so sure, even if the powers were new, he would trust her judgment. What he didn't trust was that her father didn't have another agenda. He had infiltrated SHIELD for over twenty years, and though there was the motivation of finding his daughter, that was quite a commitment.
But Coulson may have been biased, as the man looked like someone he'd come to think of as the picture of despite in his head these past weeks.
"You know, I may be able to help your engineers, now that I think about it," said Wolfe, seeming to sense Coulson's thoughts. "Inhuman technology is pretty advanced."
"Yeah. Why don't you go do that?" Coulson told him firmly.
The man kept a friendly smile on his face, true to his character, as he walked over towards the lab to meet with the others.
Coulson turned to the group of field agents.
"We don't have much time," he informed them.
"What are our orders?" asked Trip eagerly. "We can't really just sit here and wait for the guy to destroy the city, can we?"
"Nope. We're going to have to try and deter him," said Coulson.
"Using those guns we did before, sir?" asked Ward.
"To be honest, I wouldn't feel comfortable using those again as it wasn't really Fitz who made them. I actually got rid of them when I realized he'd been a Skrull."
Hunter blew air from his lips and shook his head, as though trying to clear it. "What kind of madness did I get myself into here…"
"The ridiculous kind," said Coulson.
"It's definitely a ride," added Trip.
Hunter agreed whole-heartedly with his exasperated nod with widened eyes, though May didn't look too pleased with the lightheartedness, as her face was a stone mask. Given the dire situation, she was probably right.
"If we don't have the guns, what are we planning on doing?" she asked, getting them back on track. "Last time we faced Garrett with this stuff we were thrown around like ragdolls. And this man is actually made up of the element."
"And he can fly," added Ward.
"Well, that's because he's made of Gravitanium, right?" asked Hunter.
"Yes…" said Ward.
"Just clarifying." Hunter shrugged.
"Gravitonium," mumbled Trip.
Hunter scoffed. "Oh, sorry. It's not like it's on the periodic table of elements just yet."
Triplett smiled amusedly. "Because you definitely have that science mumbo jumbo down, I bet."
Coulson pressed his fingers into his forehead. "Alright enough with the games. We need to grab some weapons and get out there, at least distract him for a little while to buy Fitz and Mack more time."
"Whoa, whoa," said Hunter. "Is this a suicide mission? Because going in guns blazing when the blazing guns probably won't even have any effect on the man does not sound too promising."
"It won't be a requirement to come with us, Hunter," Coulson told him, basically answering the man's question without voicing it. It wasn't a one hundred percent suicide mission, but odds of not getting out were definitely higher than other times.
"Well if you do die out there, as in all of you, how will I go about getting my payment?"
Coulson frowned.
"Not cool, man," said Trip.
"It's a legitimate concern in this business!" protested Hunter. He gave Coulson a pointed look of lifted eyebrows, showing him the question was still raised.
"You'll get it," Coulson said shortly. Now was not the time to be dealing with mercenaries, but he honestly needed him. "We should have someone field ready stay here with the rest of the agents anyway. You'll have to deliver them as soon as they're ready with the device."
"Babysit and then make sure the kids get to school, got it," said Hunter. Coulson just rolled his eyes; he didn't even have the patience to give him a look.
May took the time, though.
It was an upsetting thought to be putting so many of his agents in life-threatening jeopardy after just getting two back. But these were field agents, and that was their job; their duty. If they were captured as opposed to killed, Coulson would put just as much manpower into getting them back as he had with Fitz and Skye. It could sometimes be the worse fate. Anything can happen to you in the hands of the enemy, and torture isn't exactly fun. Phil knew from experience.
What he didn't know was if Skye and Fitz were tortured, or how they'd spent their week in captivity in general. Fitz didn't exactly go into detail when questions were asked. He told them necessary facts and what had happened when he'd first woken up, and the rest of the time he said they'd spent in a cell together. The way Fitz shifted uneasily, glanced at Skye with something like askance, made it seem like more had happened than he was letting on.
They looked fine enough physically, but something was… off.
Skye had been enthusiastic about taking down Graviton when they left the random abandoned barn, but the same as when they picked her up from Wolfe, bringing up her situation in the car had seemed to bring her mood crashing down.
That, and she appeared to be getting headaches from her new powers.
Skye had looked like a mere shell of herself when they found her at the nightclub. Carrying Fitz around, nervous and jittery like a frantic abused animal, but how could she have been anything less? She must have been terrified they'd find her, and their shape shifting abilities had made trusting even her own senses difficult. Not to mention having just gone through whatever the process was to get her powers.
Fitz was skeptical as well when he'd woken up, but they'd been more prepared for the reaction after experiencing Skye's fear. And since they'd been confident he'd be fine physically, they were slightly more concerned with Skye's well-being in her sick state.
Coulson just hoped they were ok. He knew May had noticed too, from the way she looked at the team leader when Fitz started acting like he was withholding information. She of all people knew what emotional stress could do to a person, and without physical marring, the two seasoned agents were worried that's what had gone on. Of course, being held against your will for a week in the best conditions would be cause for emotional duress.
Coulson worried for his whole team. But that was what it was to be the leader of a SHIELD unit. To order his comrades to put their lives and well being on the line, in order to save the greater good.
And that was exactly what they were going to do.
A/n: Ah. This chapter seems like so much babble. Skye and them need to buck up a bit as well. We'll see...