Here's the next chapter, everyone! Thanks everyone for the hits, reviews, favorites - both story and author-wise - views! Not sure entirely how I feel about this chapter...to me it doesn't have that same suck-you-in type of writing like the first chapter. I guess I'm better at writing Coulson's POV, rather than Skye's, but it's ultimately up to you guys! Also I was recently told about a video on youtube by CoulsyeProductions (Skye Coulson, I'm mentioning it because it's an awesome vid!) and Bobby McGriffin labeled "AoC||Skye/Coulson||Mirrors (Part 2) - go check that video and the others out! When I began writing this, I really didn't have that video in mind, but still check it out.
And sorry for not posting earlier...I've had a nasty cold/sinus infection. My apologies!
Please enjoy this next chapter and keep reviewing. It totally makes my day!
"Just Put Your Hand On The Glass"
"Fight for me, Skye."
The mirror separated them. Skye could see him watching her and hear his voice echoing around her, but all he saw was the still form of his hacktivist, willing her to come back to them, to him.
The emotional, broken sentence tugged at her already racing heart. Her heart sunk as she watched him try to keep it together. All she wanted to do was touch his cheek, tell him she was okay, that they would be okay. Seeing him so upset sucked her back to the Mojave Desert.
"Please let me die!"
Her eyes snapped shut, trapping the hot tears from falling. The tears from this moment blurred with the same tears that had been shed in that moment.
His desperate pleas to die, his panting, and the jerking movements against the restraints as he lay helplessly on that devilish machine – one she wanted Ward and May to physically break apart piece-by-piece – echoed in her mind. She could still hear herself pleading him to come back – to her, she thought – the way he said her name in between panting and seeing the depleted energy his entire body seemed to succumb to.
The first time she actually gets to touch him, it's under dire circumstances. How fitting. It seemed she'd never get to touch him in pleasant moments. Even the moment after he'd emotionally given her earth-shattering news, wiped her tears away and lightly squeezed her shoulder or the moment he grasped her hand to tug her emotionally back to him hadn't been under ideal circumstances.
"They prey on fear, loneliness, and desperation. Someone with no family."
Skye had come to realize in regards to her that Quinn was wrong, sort of. Yes, at one time, she felt all three of those emotions; but she hadn't been alone. Not really, anyway. S.H.I.E.L.D. had always been behind her in the background. She did have a family, a very large extended family.
Banging on the Plexiglas mirror with both hands, she yelled at him to no avail, allowing the tears to fall. Okay, so maybe she still had desperation, but the other two were long gone. Desperate to show him some kind of sign she was with him, she found nothing helpful. The space in which she stood was a black abyss; the only source of light came from the other side of the mirror.
Where her knight-in-shining-armor currently was.
God, if only she could force her way through the mirror, pull him into her awaiting arms; bury her head in the junction of his neck and collar bone.
"All you need to join is a dedication to the greater good. Coulson saw that the moment he met you."
Leaving one hand on the Plexiglas, she thought back on what Ward had told her. He was right. Coulson saw her dedication to the greater good even before their comrades could.
He's known from the beginning, even if the whole romance thing on my part developed later. She realized. Closing her eyes and dipping her head, she lifted her free hand to wipe away the lingering tears.
"There's always room for AC."
A laugh bubbled from deep within and came out all choked up. She remembered the surprised look and fixed smile that he reserved for her when she looked up, testing the spontaneous nickname for the man who had in a round about way saved her life.
But the look he was giving now was anything but surprise or a smile. It was fear and desperation – two out of the three things Ian Quinn seemed to think S.H.I.E.L.D. preyed upon – a man who looked every bit worried about his loved one.
Watching from the sidelines, the scenery shifted to a waiting room where all five remaining members sat or stood waiting impatiently for any news on their youngest team member. Skye couldn't ignore the disheveled appearance of them.
Coulson looked the worst of them. Suit jacket missing; top two buttons of his dress shirt unbuttoned and shirttails impatiently pulled out of his dress pants, the senior agent for once didn't seem to give the slightly damn about appearances. His normal meticulous stance was currently sitting on the uncomfortable chair, arms folded at the elbows and resting on his thighs, hands cradling his chin.
Skye noted the whole being in control; whole authoritative aura was completely gone. Hum. He's inwardly freaking out even more than when Simmons was sick or when Fitz and Ward was on that no extraction plan two-man mission.
Smacking her hand on the Plexiglas, she groaned. At this point, she'll never get back to him, to them. What was her hold up?
"What better way to hurt Agent Coulson than kill his pet project."
Quinn's words echoed in her mind, making her heart heavy. They knew right where to hit him. Who was this Clairvoyant? What the hell did they want with Coulson and her?
"'Cause you are…cool."
The mirror blurred for a moment, prompting Skye to pull her hand back like it was touching fire. Then, it cleared just as abruptly as it had blurred.
She was in an isolation room standing just beside the lone bed, looking down at her stilled body that relied on machines to keep her alive. Turning her head, she saw Coulson alone, standing with folded hands in front, looking like he'd had a shower and change of clothes – back to his meticulous apparel – and head bowed. He reminded her of a bodyguard. Raking her eyes up his body – bottom to top – she took in what she'd not been privy to.
A very hot bodyguard, might I add? She mused, smiling.
She came toward the glass sliding door, placing her hand on it, almost trying to reach out to him. Frustrated by the lack of response from not only him but also the real her, she withdrew her hand only to bang it back on the glass.
To her surprise, it actually shook in real time, startling Coulson. Raising his head just a fraction, she could tell his curiosity had been piqued but soon his attention diverted to drown in his own ocean of regrets.
Skye took another shot, and it shook a little harder this time. Her AC's attention had definitely been caught, if his head snapping up and stepping closer to her door was anything to go by. She watched him investigate the shaking of the door. When he failed to come up with a reason, he stared passed her to her limp body, a longing expression settling in his features.
The hacktivist rested her hand against the glass separating them, willing him to mirror her. It didn't take long before he tentatively placed his hand unsuspectingly in front of hers.
She smiled, relaxing now that he inadvertently touched her – through a damn mirror nonetheless. "I'll always fight for you, AC. I love you."
TBC..currently writing the sixth chapter.