Hey everyone! Here is the next, and final chapter for Running. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read this story, reviewed, favorited, followed, whatever. Thank you. You guys are amazing.
Also, who saw that episode last night?! Holy crap! It was crazy. After the episode, i went on Tumblr and made a gifset post about my feelings. That's what i have been reduced to.
So, here's your chapter, enjoy!
"Michael," the older woman says happily to the young man entering her room.
"Hey Grandma," Michael smiles at his grandmother, bending down to press a kiss to her cheek.
"How are you doing, baby?" she asks him as he sits down in the chair next to her bed.
"I'm doing well. How are you doing?"
"I've had better days," she sighs, "I just wish that your grandfather was still here so I wouldn't be so bored every day."
Michael follows her gaze to look at the picture of his grandparents on their last wedding anniversary and then he grabs her hand in his own, "I know you do, Grandma, I do too. You were always so much happier when you were with him."
The older woman smiles somewhat sadly, remembering her late husband, "Yes, I suppose so." Things are quiet for a moment before she speaks up again. "Oh, I meant to ask you, how is that girlfriend of yours doing?"
Michael smiles brightly, "Jenny." He reminds his grandmother, "And she's doing great. Really great. We both are, actually."
"That's wonderful. I've always liked her."
"Me too." He smiles. "She's really great. I think I can really see a future with her."
"That's good, sweetheart. I'm glad. It's very important that when you find that one person you can see yourself with for the rest of your life, you stick with them and never let them go."
"Like you and Grandpa?" he questions.
She smiles at him, "Exactly. He never gave up on me, and I never stopped believing in him."
"Well, I hope that Maggie and I are like you and Grandpa; together forever, no matter what happens."
"That's great. Keep holding onto that, and I'm sure that it will come true." She smiles at him and he smiles back. "So, what's new with you? How are your classes at the Academy going? Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yes I'm enjoying myself and my classes are great. I'm actually doing my presentation tomorrow."
"Are you nervous?"
Michael chuckles, "No Grandma, I'm not nervous. But are you sure you're fine with me doing this?"
"It's been long enough," she says, "With your grandfather gone, and my time coming soon, no doubt, I figure that it's time people know the truth."
"Okay then," he smiles, "I'll make sure to tell them everything you told me."
"Thank you, Michael," she says, reaching for his hand, "I knew I could count on you to do this for me."
Michael smiles at his grandmother, "You're welcome, Grandma. I just hope that I do you justice."
"I'm sure you will," she smiles, "I have complete faith in you."
"Michael!"
Turning around at hearing his name, Michael sees his girlfriend, Jenny, walking towards him across the campus. "Hey Jen," he smiles at her, placing a kiss to her cheek. "How are you?"
"Good. You?"
"I'm pretty good myself. I went and saw Grandma yesterday."
"Really?" Jenny smiles, "that's great. How is she doing?"
"Not too good. She's getting a bit weaker. She said that she knows her time is coming soon."
"I'm sorry," she tells him, placing a hand gently on his shoulder, "I know how close you two always were."
"Yeah," he sighs, "but I can't really blame her for wanting to go. Without Grandpa, she feels like she isn't really herself anymore."
Jenny smiles softly, "He always did bring out the best in her. And vice versa. I always loved watching the two of them together."
"Me too. Oh, Grandma said to tell you hi."
Jenny smiles, "You know, sometimes I wish she was my grandma instead of yours."
"Well too bad," he smiles back, "I got the luck of the draw."
"Yes you did." She smiles, "Oh hey, you're doing your presentation this afternoon, right?"
"Yeah. I am. When I spoke with Grandma yesterday, she said she was completely okay with me telling everybody, so I'm going forward with it."
"Wow. That's great. I know how much she kept that story under wraps. She was even wary when telling me, and she's known me basically my whole life."
"Yeah, well, after what she went through, can you really blame her?"
"No. I guess not. But good luck with your presentation, baby. I know that you'll do her justice. Your Grandpa too, and all the rest of them."
"Thanks babe." He smiles at her and then gives her a quick kiss. "I have to go now, but I'll see you later, yeah?"
"Of course. I love you."
"Love you too."
"And our next presentation," the teacher says from the front of the room, "is by Michael. Michael?"
Taking a deep breath, Michael stands up from his seat in the back of the room, making his way to the front of the lecture hall. He inserts his flash drive into the side of the wooden podium and waits for a quick moment as his presentation loads onto the large screen in front of his fellow cadets. "Hello," he says as he turns around to face the rest of the classroom, "today I am going to be doing my presentation on a very mysterious figure, Electra."
He presses a button on his remote clicker and the screen changes to show a blurred image of a woman, her face not able to be recognized. "There are many different theories surrounding this unique individual. The only universal truth that anyone really knows, is that Electra is a woman.
"Legend says that this remarkable woman was once an Agent of SHIELD, like the rest of us are training to become, until she discovered she had some supernatural abilities, went berserk, and ran off. Many people are skeptical about this, but no one has the full story.
"Except for me. Which is why, right now, I am going to set the record straight about Electra.
"One other thing that everyone knows, is that Electra did not work alone. In many of the images and videos caught of this mysterious woman, a second figure can be seen with her." He presses a button, causing the screen to change. It shows the same woman from before, her face completely hidden. Near her, is a tall man with black hair, his face partially hidden from view of the camera.
"There has been a lot of speculation about who this man could be. Some people say that he's a man she met while traveling. Others, mainly those in SHIELD, believe him to be this man," he clicks the button and a photograph appears, "Agent Grant Ward, of SHIELD. This is also true.
"Many years ago, Agent Ward began fighting alongside Electra, not too long after the end of World War III.
"But before I get too much into that, I think that I should start from the beginning. And when I say the beginning, I mean this woman," he clicks the button and the screen changes to show a picture of a young, brunette woman, smiling at the screen, "Skye." There are a few murmurs within the group, but Michael ignores them and continues.
"Skye was just a baby when she was left on the doorstep of Saint Agnes Orphanage, without a single clue left as to who she belonged to or where she was from. Skye grew up in the system, being shifted around every few months, giving her the idea that no one wanted her, or that she wasn't good enough for a family.
"When she was 16, Skye became determined to find out the truth about who her parents really were, so she ran away from the orphanage, procured a van," the image switches to one of a teenage Skye standing in front of a beat up old van, "and then began to try and make it on her own in the world.
"Not too long after she ran off, she came across the radar of a particular group, The Rising Tide, an old group of 'hacktivists' as she liked to call them." Michael smiles.
"Skye came across their radar, because she herself was a hacker, and they were intrigued by her. The Rising Tide offered her a spot within their group, and she took it, realizing that she and The Rising Tide both shared the same beliefs about the accessibility of information, and how it shouldn't be kept from the public. She joined, and soon became one of their best hackers.
"During her time with The Rising Tide, Skye spent her time continuing to live out of her van, while also using her computer skills to continue her search for her parents. However, the one thing she did not expect to find during her search, was this," the image changes to a shot of a redacted SHIELD file, "The only document that could have been even a little bit close to revealing anything about her life, and most of it had been redacted. By SHIELD." There are more whispers and murmurs within the crowd, but Michael keeps talking.
"It was at that moment in her life that Skye discovered what she needed to do; hack into SHIELD, and search for the unredacted file. And so that's what she did. She kept an eye on SHIELD, keeping them close. But she always made sure that they wouldn't catch her in their system.
"And then, not too long after the Battle of New York, SHIELD found her. I won't get too much into that story, because it isn't relevant, but what I will tell you, is that it had to do with this man," the image changes again to show a tall, African-American man, "Mike Peterson.
"A special response team, put together by then-Director, Nick Fury, flew out to L.A. and picked her up from her van. Two of the men threw a bag over her head, and hauled her off to their secret base, according to Skye." He smiles again.
"This is that secret base," the image switches to an overhead shot of the Bus, "It's called the Bus, even though it's clearly a plane. The two men dragged Skye onto the Bus and began to interrogate her, wanting to know what she knew about Mike. Skye helped them with their mission to stop Mike from losing control and hurting those around him, and afterwards, Agent Phil Coulson," the picture switches to one of Coulson, smiling with his eyes, "gave her the opportunity to be a consultant with the team. And she took it.
"From then on, Skye stayed on as a consultant with the team, helping them find information using her skills, and occasionally, going out into the field as time went. But she didn't forget about her pursuit for information about her parents, even enlisting some of the members of her team to help her out. And despite a couple of hiccups along the way, this team became one of the best known teams throughout SHIELD." The picture switches to a shot of the entire team, all together and smiling.
"But then things changed for Skye. After an incident at the old SHIELD Sci-Tech Academy, Agent Coulson told Skye what she wanted to know, but was actually hard for her to hear.
"Skye was an 0-8-4. She was a baby that was found in China 24 years prior," the image switches to a map of China, a certain section highlighted. Michael points to it, "she was found here, in the Hunan Province. She was told that an entire village, as well as a large number of SHIELD Agents, had died trying to protect her from the people who were trying to hurt her.
"It was then that she realized that SHIELD had always been a part of her life, from the time she was just an innocent child, who didn't know what was even happening. It was SHIELD who had taken her to that orphanage, and SHIELD who had ordered her to be moved around periodically, so that she would not be found by those who were out to get her.
"Right after all of this was revealed, she began working as hard as she could to prove that she really did deserve to be there at SHIELD, and that she wouldn't let the deaths of those agents be in vain." The image switches again to a few different shots of Skye training on the Bus, working hard.
"Not long after that, after taking multiple tests, Skye was granted Agent status, at Level 1," the screen switches to a slightly grainy picture of Skye's first ever SHIELD badge. "Their entire team celebrated, congratulating Skye on her achievement." The screen changes to a few different pictures all taken on the day that Skye received her badge.
"But that joy that she felt from finally receiving her badge, and becoming an official SHIELD Agent, was very short lived. The very same day that she got her badge, they team was called away on a mission. Skye was excited to finally be going on her first mission as a SHIELD Agent, but that excitement quickly died down once actually on the mission.
"Skye went into a warehouse, along with one of her fellow teammates, Agent Grant Ward," the screen changes to a picture of Grant, smiling slightly. "Grant was meant to be the lookout for Skye, while she hacked into the servers and retrieved crucial information that was needed.
"Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse, when Grant was attacked by some men who were there to also get the information. They managed to take the men down, and escape, but Grant was injured in the process," the image changes to one of Grant sitting on the couch in the lounge room, his broken knee elevated up on the table in front of him.
"When they had gotten back to the Bus, and started explaining everything that had happened, it was then that Skye realized why she had been classified as an 0-8-4 China. She had abilities. Supernatural abilities.
"After this realization, Skye began working closely with Bio-chem specialist, and fellow teammate, Agents Jemma Simmons," the image changes to a picture of Jemma, in the lab, working, "and they began to work to try and figure out what exactly Skye was capable of.
"6 months later, and they had still barely made any progress. They tried everything they could think of, but nothing worked.
"That's when some men showed up, mid flight. The Bus was in the air, flying, when some men docked without authorization, and boarded the plane.
"Agent Coulson asked the men why they were there, because he wanted to know why these random men, men he had never seen before, who claimed to be SHIELD Agents, just showed up without permission to board his plane. The front man of the other group, Donovan, said that they were there for one thing, and one thing only. Skye. They had somehow found out that she was an 0-8-4, and wanted to take her in. But her team wouldn't allow it.
"Coulson took Skye and Grant aside and told them to run. He told them to run as fast and as far as they could. So that's what they did." The image switches to a plain grey screen as he continues, "They jumped out of the plane using a parachute, and landing near a small town. They found a car, and Skye hacked into the DMV database to get the code to unlock the car, allowing the two of them to get in and drive away. At least, that was the plan.
"Because once they left the small town and got onto the freeway, they then realized that they were being tailed by a black SUV. There was a lot gunfire coming from the SUV, until the car that Grant and Skye were in, flipped over.
"Their car flipped over multiple times, until it finally landed upside down, in the middle of the freeway." He clicks a button, and the screen changes, showing the paused beginning of a small video clip. "This video was taken by someone's cell phone, who had pulled over to get out of the way of what was happening," he hits play and the video begins.
The video starts out, showing a car already half way to the camera, getting closer by the second. In the background, people can be heard talking, and cars screeching to get out of the way. A second later, when the car is almost in full view of the camera, it flips, the back end flipping over the front end. The video is somewhat shaky as the person filming it runs to where the car is now lying on its top. The next thing that can be seen is four men, dressed all in black, stepping out of the large, black SUV, and approaching the other car. The video zooms in to show two of the men approaching what looks to be the passenger side of the car, reaching in and pulling a person out of the vehicle. It's hard to see who the person is from the shaky video, but two men are holding the person, while that person struggles to try and break free. The person manages to break free somehow, and then all of a sudden, they are struck across the back of the head by something, and then dragged off to the SUV. The four men shove the person into the car, and then climb in themselves, driving off, not caring about the other person still in the car. The video shakes and then cuts out, the screen going to black.
Michael steps back up to the podium and continues to speak, "The person that was taken from the vehicle was Skye, while Grant was left behind, cut up, bruised, and bleeding. Luckily for him, he was found a short while later by Deputy Director Maria Hill," he hits a button, and the screen changes to show a picture of Maria. "He was taken to get the help that he needed."
"However, Skye was not as lucky. The men that kidnapped her, they took her to a place, an unknown place, out in the middle of nowhere. She was held there for weeks. She was tortured. Every day for weeks on end, almost every waking moment, she was tortured. Mainly by this device here," he clicks a button and the screen changes to show a sketch of the machine that was to torture Skye. "This machine was hooked up to a few different parts of Skye's body, and when turned on, it would send an electrical shock throughout her entire body. The pain was excruciating. But Skye never talked. She couldn't. The man who tortured her, he wanted information on her abilities. What she could do, how she could do it, why she could do it. But Skye herself didn't even really know the answers to those questions.
"Eventually, she escaped. By some miracle, she was able to activate her ability, and made the man who was torturing her, set her free. She made him forget who she was, and then she ran out of there as fast as she could, searching for the exit. She took out a guard while she was on her way, and soon enough, she found the exit to the building.
"And when she got out of the building, all she saw was dirt, and desert, and dust. She couldn't see anything for miles. So she did the only thing that she could do. She started running. She didn't know where she was running to, all she knew was that she needed to get as far away from there as she possibly could.
"She ran for days, until she finally found a small town where she could hide away for a while and recover from what happened to her while in that building. But while she recovered, she barely slept, not because she didn't want to sleep, but because she couldn't sleep. Her mind wasn't letting get the rest that she needed to recover. Instead, she'd wake up in the middle of the night, completely shaken from memories of what happened to her.
"Over time, she learned to deal with her nightmares, and they showed up less and less. She also figured out what she could do; which she then spent as much time as she could, figuring out how to trigger her abilities.
"After she had escaped, she spent the next two years running; running and hiding and surviving. She completely wiped every trace of the fact that she ever existed, using a computer in a coffee shop somewhere. And then, she kept running.
"She used every bit of training she had, everything that she had learned from SHIELD, to survive, and take down the people who were after her. And at the time, she didn't really care who she hurt in the process. All she knew was that she needed to stay alive." Michael pauses in his talking, looking out at the crowd to gauge where the crowd was at in regards to his presentation. Seeing that everyone is still paying attention very intently, he decides to continue.
"So, two years after she escaped, Skye found her way to a somewhat abandoned warehouse, where she had believed some men were hiding out that were going to try and kill her. When she arrived there, she made her way into the warehouse, barefoot, because according to her, it made things easier. She got into the main part of the warehouse, and took out two of the three guys in there, the last one getting away.
"She didn't want to sit around and wait for him to try and get her, and the warehouse was too big, so she decided to run again. She slowly made her way back out the same way she came in, and made her way towards the exit.
"When she reached the entrance of the warehouse, that's when she saw him. He was standing in the doorway, and as she put it, 'the sunset behind him illuminated his figure, making him look even more handsome than I remember'. That man, was Grant Ward.
"Once she realized who he was, she grabbed his hand in hers and the two of them ran off. She took the lead, guiding him away from the warehouse and towards the underside of an old bridge nearby. Skye confronted Grant about why he was there, and how he found out where she was. He told her that he never stopped looking for her. He told her everything that happened to him since they got separated on that freeway two years prior.
"It was under that bridge that Grant revealed to her something that happened, something she didn't know about. HYDRA had resurfaced. Many of us know the story about HYDRA; a group back in the 1940's, led by the Red Skull, taken down by Captain America. Or so everyone thought. HYDRA had secretly been growing within SHIELD for 70 years, waiting for the right time to strike.
"So, Skye filled Grant in on how she had been surviving for the last two years, and he begged her to go with him to where the rest of the team was. She was hesitant at first, not wanting to put her friends in danger, but he told her that it didn't matter. They were already damaged.
"According to Grant, the rest of the team had been captured, and tortured. The people doing it were trying to get information from them; information on where Skye was. But they wouldn't give the information away, because they didn't know where Skye was.
"It was under that bridge where, after a long discussion, Skye made the decision to go back with him, and return to their team. It was also at that time, that Skye and Grant gave in to their feelings for one another, sharing their first kiss.
"And so, Grant took Skye with him to an old, run down warehouse, where everyone who was still loyal to SHIELD, and willing to help out, was meeting up. They went in, and Skye reunited with all of her old friends, as well as getting to meet The Avengers and some of their associates.
"She told them about her abilities, and that she had learned how to control them. Skye's abilities were as follows, she could shoot a sort of electric current from her body and either stun someone, control them, or kill them. She was also able to control technology, or 'talk' to it, as she liked to say, without physically touching it. She could also sense certain emotions from certain people. She wouldn't sense things from everyone, and luckily, it wasn't overpowering.
"Once everyone was caught up on everything, they began forming a plan to take out this man," the screen changes to show a picture, "John Garret, and from there, they hoped to be able to take out as many of the remaining HYDRA operatives as they could to weaken the entire organization. So they talked, and they planned, and they strategized, and then they began the biggest mission of their lives.
"It took them many long months to finally take down enough of HYDRA to really damage them. They incarcerated most of them, a few of them vowed they would change and were given the chance to do so, seeing as they were mainly the younger recruits who only did it because their family was a part of it. And some of them died. Killing them was the last option. And even then, they did it quick and painlessly.
"Once they had successfully taken down a significant number of HYDRA operatives, they began slowly building SHIELD back up from the bottom, starting small, and slowly growing it bigger and bigger, carefully choosing the people they wanted as agents.
"With the rebirth of SHIELD, everyone gained new roles in the organization. Agent Coulson became the Director, with Agent Melinda May as his Deputy Director, but she would also help in different aspects of training new recruits to SHIELD. Luckily, Agent Leo Fitz recovered from his very traumatic experience and slowly got back to who he always was, though there was a slight change in his demeanor. He and Jemma Simmons took on a much larger role in the science and technology division; they would sometimes teach extra classes at the Academy for those who wanted to delve deeper into different topics. They were also Director Coulson's go-to pair for any new science stuff that he didn't quite understand.
"As for Skye and Grant, well, their story is a bit more interesting. When SHIELD was rebuilt, Grant stayed on as a Specialist, and he also helped in training the new recruits in his spare time. And Skye, well, she joined back on with SHIELD, and regained her Agent status, even moving up a few notches in the ranking. However, she didn't use her abilities as often as one might think. The only time she ever used them, was when she was out in the field, and only when it was absolutely necessary. She didn't want anyone who saw her use her abilities, to know who she really was. She also became the head of the computer science division, assisting in classes here and there, as well as missions. Her and Grant went on many mission together, because when they were together, they worked so flawlessly.
"One other, very important aspect of Skye and Grant's life, that should be known, is that they did what not many other SHIELD agents did. They had a family.
"After a year and a half together, Grant proposed to Skye underneath of that very same bridge where they first gave in to their feelings," he clicks a button that makes the screen change to show a picture of Skye and Grant underneath of the bridge, Grant down on one knee.
"Six months, and a couple near death experiences later, they were married," the picture switches to a photo and Grant and Skye on their wedding day, looking at each loving, ignoring the camera. "Those who were there say it was a beautiful ceremony, and that the couple was more in love than anyone they had ever known before.
"Throughout the following years, Skye gave birth to three children; a daughter, a son, and then another daughter," the screen changes, showing three different pictures, each one on the day each child was born. "Each of those children had their own children, making Skye and Grant grandparents. The two oldest grandchildren each had a child of their own, making Skye and Grant great-grandparents.
"You might be wondering if the children carried on Skye's abilities, and that answer is, not all of them. Seeing as how Grant was not like Skye, only the girls in their family carried Skye's abilities. And even then, they weren't as powerful, because they weren't full, like Skye was. But that didn't matter to them. Because as they grew older, Skye and Grant's children, grand children, and even great-grandchildren continued on the SHIELD legacy.
"Many of the people who knew Grant and Skye, will say that they had a very special type of bond, and I can confirm that this is true. I've seen it with my own eyes. It's a bond unlike any other. They were so much in love, they made each other better, and they were the happiest when they were with one another. And they always said that if one of them died before the other, the other probably wouldn't last longer than a year without them.
"Well, as it so happens, one year ago today, Grant Ward passed away in his sleep," the screen changes to show a picture of Skye standing at Grant's gravesite, mourning the loss of her true love. "And just like they always said, Skye didn't last past a year without her other half. Because earlier today, on the anniversary of her husband's death, Skye too, passed away in her sleep, a picture of her love tucked in her arms." He pauses to wipe away a single tear that had fallen from his eye.
"All her life, Skye never felt like she belonged anywhere, she was always trying to find out who her family was, where she came from, who she really was. It wasn't until she found her SHIELD team, and more importantly, Grant Ward, that she realized something. It didn't matter what her origins were, because she finally found something that she had always wanted, and longed for. A family.
"Now, everyone is probably wondering how I know that all of this is true, and what my credible sources were for this. Well, I only had one source, the only source that I really needed. Someone who was there when all of this happened. Skye Ward. Though I know her by another name," he clicks a button and the screen changes to show its final picture. A picture of Michael and an older looking version of Skye. "Grandma. And if there's one thing I know right now, it's that she may have spent all her life running, but today, she no longer has to."
Okay. What did you guys think? Did you like it? How was the ending. I'm not too sure how i felt, but i tried to make it a good ending. Let me know your thoughts down below.
And for those of you reading RWIWTB, I am working on the next chapter, i'm just, sorta busy. Parents are bugging me about finding a job. So yeah. I have not forgotten about that story though. Trust me.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!