Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer in Chapter One.

A.N- I'm taking a lot of liberties with Doom's back story here. I'm mish-mashing comics and movies and changing things around for my own convenience. Doom is the leader of Latveria and has diplomatic immunity, he is also one of the most notorious villains in the world and S.H.I.E.L.D has a file on him and the Avengers have tussled with him, but he remains at large and basically untouchable in Latveria. He was scarred by a college experiment and that was what had led him to be wearing the mask, but he has since had plastic surgery. He still wears the mask and armor when in public, keeping up the illusion. Only in Latveria does he allow his true self to show. He's still a super-villain, but he's also a politician, and this allows him to negotiate under cover at times. It's not traditional Doom, but it's one I like (and might explore more in a later fic) and it fits for this story.

Warning: There is the implied threat of rape in this chapter. No one actually gets raped, but there is mention of the possibility (or the fear).

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Hopeless Situation

When they arrived in the dining room, Doom was already seated at the table when they arrived in the formal dining room. You could easily fit 50 people in the room, but it was mostly empty, the only furniture being a small table set for 3.

Skye was still unsettled by the image of the real Victor von Doom. Like most people, her image of Doom was that of a terribly scarred man who hid behind a terrible mask and draped himself in body armor. If it wasn't for her access to S.H.I.E.L.D surveillance photos, Skye wouldn't have recognized him on the plane or now.

Instead of his familiar costume, he was wearing an expensive suit. There were light scars on his face, but nothing terrible or disfiguring as the stories would make you think.

Despite the scars, he was still incredibly handsome, but he left Skye cold. There was nothing warm or natural about him, everything about him radiated power and control. Even if Skye hadn't known who he was, she would know that this was a man you didn't want to cross, and that highlighted the hopelessness of her situation.

He stood as Skye and Ward entered.

"Miss Skye," He told her, "Thank you for joining us."

Skye just nodded and let Ward help her into her seat.

Doom didn't sit down until she was seated.

It was bizarre, they were both the picture of gentlemanly politeness; a casual obverse would never be able to guess that she was having dinner with a super-villain and a psychopath.

"Have you been enjoying your time in Latveria?" Doom asked politely as the first course was served. Skye was relieved to see that it looked like there were actual human servants and not just Doom's famous "Doom-bots".

"My quarters are lovely," Skye told him, "I haven't seen much of the castle yet." Or anything other than her room, a few hallways, and now the dining hall.

"Yes, Grant mentioned that," Doom told her and suddenly Skye had a feeling that the reason that she hadn't seen him this week, or been pressured to leave her quarters, was that he hadn't been around. But where had he been? "I hope that will change, you're not a prisoner Skye, you can wander to your heart's content and I sincerely hope you that will free to do so."
Skye knew that even though it was worded like a request, it was really an order. She had a feeling that Doom didn't make many requests.

As the men carried on polite chit chat and Skye forced herself to participate, she was still trying to solve the puzzle of why she was there. Oh, she knew why Ward had taken her, but was in it for Doom? What exactly did he want with her?

Things at the Avengers' Tower got bleaker as every day passed without even a hint of Skye's whereabouts.

Jemma was starting to get discouraged, wondering how Ward could have managed to disappear so completely. The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D were snapping at each other, neither side particularly comfortable with the fact that they had to work together.

Other teams had been brought in for information and in the last week Jemma had met members of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four along with a few solo superheroes such as Daredevil and Spider-Man. In normal circumstances it would be awe-inspiring, but Jemma was too concerned about Skye to even really notice.

The extra hands on deck would be helpful, if they had anything to do, but they didn't and in some ways the people coming and going just made the situation more stressful. All these super-heroes and there was nothing any of them could do to locate Skye.

Coulson was obsessed with finding information and he and Stark were driving each other crazy, trying to run the show, and driving everyone else crazy too. Everyone was on edge and Jemma knew it was only going to get worse.

Then there was poor Steve. He barely said a word to anyone, he was just so completely focused on getting Skye back, and Jemma was sure if it wasn't for James that he probably wouldn't remember to eat or rest or do anything other than go over the information again and again, trying to find some clue.

As for Jemma, she was trying to stay out of people way. She was a scientist, not a tactician or a computer genius, there was nothing she could contribute. So she stayed in the background and just tried not to think about what Ward might be doing to Skye.

That was the word part and Jemma was sure it was one of the reasons that they were all so on edge because they all knew that Skye was in the hands of a man who was psychotically obsessed with her. Would Ward's fixation with Skye cause him to cross that line? Jemma hoped not, but she'd never expected that Ward would try to kill her either, so she didn't have a lot of faith.

She expected that was what really driving Steve crazy, the thought of what Skye might be suffering and what shape she might be in, when (Jemma refused to think any other way) they did find her.

Jemma knew her friend wasn't helpless. She was well-trained in combat and she had some pretty spectacular powers, but after a week and no word, they had to assume that she was in a situation where her training and powers weren't able to help her and that was truly terrifying.

"Penny for your thoughts?" A male voice asked from behind her.

"My thoughts are worth much more than that." Jemma said without thinking and then turned around to see James standing there with a weird expression on his face.

"Skye told me the same thing once," He told her softly, "I guess great minds think alike."

"Yes." Jemma said softly. "If she were here Skye would laugh and tell you that we couldn't be mentioned in the same conversation. She doesn't think street smarts and computer knowledge was in the same class as conventional intelligence."

"But you do," James said quietly.

"I didn't always," Jemma admitted, "I used to hold myself as superior to people who weren't as academically gifted as Fitz and I. It was joining the team that changed than that and a lot of that was Skye. She has such a unique way of looking the world and getting to the heart of the problem and I came to understand that was a skill that couldn't be learnt in a book or measured by any test."

"She's a survivor," James agreed, "And that's how I know that she's holding her own, wherever she is. It's what I keep telling Steve."

"I hope so," Jemma said softly.

James put his good hand on her shoulder, almost tentatively. Jemma found his touch comforting. He was so steady, if very mysterious. He hadn't spoken much this past week, he'd been too focused on Steve, and, Jemma suspected, still untrusting of S.H.I.E.L.D. But she had been aware of his presence and while she knew the other members of her team were unsettled by it, she'd found it reassuring.

He might be a lethal weapon, but he was on their side now, and well, in this situation, having a dangerous killing machine on their side actually sounded pretty good. Jemma hoped he'd help her fulfill her promise that if she ever saw Ward again, he'd die.