Previously: The Inhumans took the Skrulls that were after Skye, but left the Coulson's team with the information that there were still Skrulls all over earth and the SHIELD team need to help the Inhumans round them up.

Back when Skye and Fitz were on the Skrull spaceship they were stuck in a cell with one cot for a week and underwent some psychological abuse.

Chapter Fifty Two

Being back on the BUS was strange.

SHIELD had fallen, really. The organization was never going to be what it had been again, or, it would take a very long time. The only things the team had been doing lately was merely helping keep Skye from killing an entire race with some ritual or working as vigilantes to get rid of the alien infestation.

But now it was all over.

Well, other than the new mission an Inhuman that plopped out of the sky handed to them.

But the past few weeks had been so on-the-go, moving from one thing to the next, it was incredibly strange to just have a breather. And now they had a big one. Finding all the Skrull cells on Earth wasn't going to be a one-day job. There was prep work and calling people and things that had to be spanned out, so there wasn't really an immediate threat. Heck, the Inhumans didn't even have a team on the way yet, and they were still expected to contain the Skrulls.

Bobbi had left. She'd gone to reconvene with her team and find out whatever mission Director Fury had next for her, Skye guessed. Skye was honestly curious, what with the man supposed to be dead and all… what would SHIELD become?

Hunter and Mack stayed behind, though. For now at least. Coulson wasn't too sure if he could use them, but for the moment they were around.

They'd gone back to the BUS. Chatted or debriefed or whatever would be the proper term. They created makeshift cots for Wolfe and the other newcomers.

And then everyone just… went to sleep. Like it was a normal day.

But it wasn't normal. Not to Skye. Not to her, when the last time she'd slept was as a prisoner on an alien spaceship. Same with Fitz. And her dad, only his stay had been for two years.

Which was probably why, despite having not slept in over a day and not getting very much sleep over the last week period, she laid awake in her bunk.

Plus, she realized, the absence of extra emotions in her head was really nice.

When she got away from people the feelings went away, for the most part. But when people were sleeping it was like her powers were completely turned off. Skye actually would have taken the time to do something thoughtless like browse her Reddit or something, but her laptop had been damaged by the Skrulls by the time they'd found it. Fitz had said it was pretty much beyond repair.

Not that Skye was entirely cool with that, her laptop was probably the best casualty if there had to be one.

So she just enjoyed the emptiness of her mind as she lay in bed, trying to lull herself into believing she was safe and ready to sleep.

Until she felt a quiet terror seep into her thoughts.

It was slow coming in, but it caused a shiver down her spine and despite her troubled memories she knew it wasn't from her. Because as of the moment, she was more relieved than anything else.

Then she heard a whimper come from next door. Fitz's bunk.

She whipped off the covers and bolted out of her room to head straight into his. She didn't bother knocking and barged right in, as something was obviously very wrong.

Except he was asleep.

Apparently she couldn't feel people's emotions when they were asleep unless they were dreaming. Or having a horrific nightmare.

Because that's what she realized was happening. His eyes screwed shut, sweaty forehead, small grunted noises slipping passed his lips. Not to mention he was doused in a dark purple, which she'd learnt to mean scared.

At least he'd managed to fall asleep, was the thought that preempted what she decided to do about Fitz's terrified mind.

Skye closed her eyes and reached for him through her powers, trying to grip the source of unease and fear. It was a little slippery to hold onto, but once she did, she tried to push in some happy thoughts.

She thought of Simmons first, because she figured that was what would make Fitz happy.

But Fitz's emotions were strong at the moment as they tainted her happy thoughts. She was brought back to the ship in her mind, back to the Skrulls, back to whatever was most likely causing Leo so much distress as well.

She tried to push back again with her Simmons thoughts and was shoved with more Skrulls. It became a tug of war, or sorts. In her brain.

Fitz shot up from bed all of a sudden, gasping. Maybe he felt the tugging as well.

"Skye?" he asked, obviously groggy from sleep as his adjusting eyes tried to find her. "What's going... is there a reason you're in my bunk?"

"Uh," Skye started, suddenly feeling embarrassed about what she'd just tried. And failed. Why hadn't she just woken him up like a normal person? "You were having a nightmare."

"Oh," he said, looking slightly started at the information, rubbing the sheets between his thumbs nervously. "I'm sorry I woke you."

Skye shook her head. "You didn't. I couldn't sleep."

"It's hard isn't it?" he asked quickly, as though knowing exactly her own feelings. Before she could answer, he scoffed and shook his head. "Eh, what am I saying? I know what you went through is really incomparable to what I did, being up for a sacrifice and all…"

"Hey, not that I did, but even if I had had worse problems it doesn't mean what you went through was cakewalk. And you were their prisoner for way longer than me."

"Yeah but I wasn't even awake for that part. Meanwhile, you were getting kidnapped and tricked and-"

"Want some hot chocolate?" Skye interrupted. It was amazing how quickly they'd flung into the conversation and been on the same page, as though they obviously needed to talk about it. Get it off their chests.

But Skye wasn't entirely comfortable with talking to Fitz in a bed as she loomed awkwardly over him. If they weren't going to sleep, they might as well have the conversation under more pleasant circumstances.

He smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

Skye made two mugs of the drink. She set one on the table in front of the couches before sitting down and tucking her feet underneath herself. It always struck Fitz as funny how girls did that when they sat cozily. He picked up the cup meant for him.

There was silence for a little while, but Skye finally heaved a heavy sigh.

"I don't even think I know what it's supposed to feel like, not wondering if I'm going to die in any given moment."

"Or tortured," Fitz said quietly, as that was what his mind had dwelt on in the past week. They'd needed Skye alive and they couldn't touch her, but he'd been fair game.

He wished he could take it back though, because she looked at him with heartbreak in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Fitz. None of that would have happened if it weren't for me."

"Hey c'mon, we don't have to go over this again. It wasn't your fault."

She took a deep breath. "I know. Or I guess I know." She sighed in frustration. "I just can't get over the fact that you'd never have even been in that situation-"

"Skye," he said firmly, stopping her ramble. "You can't look at things like that. You've done plenty for this team and stopping Hydra, that maybe if you weren't here we'd all be dead. But we can't know how things would or wouldn't be. We know what is: you're here and that wasn't your fault."

She sniffled. He hoped he hadn't just made her cry.

"Ok," she said, wiping her eyes a bit. But they'd already been so red, maybe it wasn't from tears. "God, I'm so tired. It doesn't make any sense that I can't sleep…"

"Ah, sure it does," Fitz told her, making sure she knew such a thing was normal. "Anyone who goes through such a great amount of stress would have a rough time."

"I guess you're right. I actually was staying up a while just to hear the nothingness of people's thoughts… it was so nice for things to be quiet up here," she said peacefully, then shook her head with a scoff. "God, I'm such a freak…"

"Hey, no you're not," Ftiz cooed gently. "You're just different now, and there's nothing wrong with that."

Skye stared at him warily. "I tried to push the nightmare out of your head with my weirdo mind powers," she said bluntly. "I think I'm a little more than just 'different'."

Ok, so Fitz hadn't exactly been expecting that.

"Did it work?" he asked. "I don't really remember…"

"Uh, I don't think so. You woke up when I started having a hard time with it." She shrugged.

"Well… thanks for trying."

She scoffed a laugh. "Yeah, because I couldn't have just tapped you on the shoulder or anything."

"Well it was hard for me to fall asleep in the first place," he admitted. "So it was kind of nice of you to try to not wake me."

"It's weird. It's like I don't feel… safe anymore. And I know it's ridiculous cause that's my bunk and I've always slept there but… that's just how I feel."

Fitz nodded in understand. "Yeah, I feel the same. Plus it's strange not sleeping with you." Fitz caught a small smile creeping onto Skye's face, and his cheeks immediately reddened. "I mean, sleeping with you around, not with you, or in the same bed, even if there was only one cot-"

"I got it, Fitz," she said, laughing a bit. It was a nice sound. "I feel the same."

It wasn't that he even liked Skye in that way, but girls always made him flustered. Even his best friends.

His other best friend just turned out to be more anyway.

"Do you think we should try getting back to bed?" he suggested as Skye yawned, her tired eyes looking like they'd love nothing more. But the way she stiffened seemed the opposite.

"Yeah, I guess it's worth a shot."

"Right, worth a shot…" he mumbled, the prospect not entirely enticing for him either. He took her empty mug and his, planning to drop them in the sink on the way to his bunk. "Well, good night."

"Hey Fitz?"

He turned about. "Yeah?"

"Do you think… maybe we could- mm, nevermind, it's stupid."

"You can ask me. It's ok," he prompted.

She was looking down, but quickly brought her eyes right into his. "Would you… would you maybe want to sleep on the couches tonight? Just tonight."

He wasn't exactly sure if she heard it, but Fitz exhaled a sigh of relief at that question. "I think that would be lovely, Skye."

The edges of her mouth turned up in a smile. "I'll go get some blankets."

May watched the agents carefully as they lay down. Fitz stretched out on the couch, while Skye curled up into a chair and they each closed their eyes. It was barely a minute before both the sounds of their breathing increased to low, drawn out breaths and she concluded them to have already fallen asleep.

"You heard them too?"

May had sensed Coulson behind her before he said anything, but waited to turn around until he made himself known. She looked back just as he stopped to stand next to her, glancing at the two on the couch.

"I heard Fitz first," she said. "By the time I got here though, Skye was handling it."

"But you would have if she weren't," Coulson said, and May didn't have to answer because it wasn't a question. She might not have done much, but no one knew as well as her the way traumatic experiences could affect the mind. She'd have given him the support he needed if it came to that.

"I heard them both up and talking," Coulson continued. "It's odd for people to be awake at this hour, but I wouldn't have bothered coming down if it had been anyone else…"

"They'll be ok," May assured him. "We got them back."

"We still don't know what happened."

"And they may never tell us," May said, thinking it was most likely the truth. "But we'll know when they need support and we'll be there to give it to them."

Coulson grinned. That grin was never good. "You're a secret sentimentalist, aren't you?"

May just rolled her eyes.

"Well, I don't think I'm sleeping anymore tonight," Coulson said. "You?"

"Probably not."

"That's not really saying much though. Your alarm's about to go off soon anyway, isn't it?"

"I was actually planning on sleeping in."

"What, 'til dawn?" Coulson gave her that grin again and she felt a quirk in her lip.

"If we're not sleeping, we might as well work on Simmons' project," May said. "She wanted it ready by tomorrow afternoon, but maybe we could set it up for the morning."

Phil sighed. "Ok, maybe you're just a secret workaholic," he said cheekily. "But I agree."

They headed downstairs towards the lab, Coulson leading the way. Melinda was happy of the fact. It was easier to hide the smirk the man had left on her face.

A/n: Fluffy and unnecessary, but as is the rest of this story! And I wrote this just after 2x11 aired while my love for the Fitz and Skye relationship was renewed. (I just want to give Fitz 3023094832 hugs. Please.)

There's one chapter left and a short epilogue (the next chapter is still not done and I have been working on it the last month, it's over 7000 words) but really it's just wrapping everything up. Thank you for reading and all your feedback!