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"Raina."

The girl in the flower dress sauntered up to Skye, her expression indulgent, "Skye. I didn't expect you to come alone."

"Yeah, well, can you really expect Coulson to be here with a basket of fruit after what you put him through?" Skye said scathingly but Raina only smiled sweetly.

"I was referring to Grant Ward. I thought he would have come with you."

Skye scoffed, "Right, like I would bring him here. He's a traitor." She caught herself at the last second, remembering that the world still thought him to be a traitor.

Raina gave the hacktivist a sympathetic look, "So he didn't come after you then?"

"He did but he got his butt kicked." Skye retorted.

Raina gave a tinkling laugh, "So you're not being monsters together then?"

"How did you-,"

"It would be unwise for someone to not ally themselves with you, especially now." Raina's eyes flashed and Skye had to fight the urge to ask her to explain.

Gathering herself, Skye brought the conversation back to the original subject of the meet, "Speaking of which, where is this dear father of mine?"

"You waste no time."

"I've been told that," Skye responded easily. Right before she had entered the building, Romanoff had told her not to linger, to go in, get what she wanted, and come immediately back out.

"He's in the back. Shall we?" Raina began walking back the way she came, not looking back to see if Skye followed her.

Romanoff's voice crackled in Skye's ear, "Go, I can still cover you from there."

So Skye followed, her heart pounding at anticipation for whatever lay behind the door Raina had just walked through. Taking a deep breath, Skye braced herself and opened the door, walking across the threshold.

And blacked out.

"Skye! Skye are you okay? Raise your left hand if you want extraction!" Romanoff barked over comms. Looking around her, the hacktivist kept both hands at her side.

"What happened? Where's my dad?" Skye croaked, catching sight of Raina standing over a sink in the corner.

The girl in the flower dress handed a damp rag to Skye and helped her sit up. Shakily running the cool cloth over her face, Skye looked back to Raina for answers.

"I believe that upon entering the room, you experienced an inflow of raw power from your father. Before today, you probably have never been exposed to so much potential before."

"I don't understand, I've been near Asgardian metals and other alien…stuff before."

"Yes, but this is different. This is power that you can take in and make your own."

Trying to mask her discomfort, Skye asked, "Where's my dad?"

Raina took the rag from Skye and walked it back to the sink, "I asked him to step out so we could talk."

Skye clutched at her pounding head, "So… I absorbed the power?"

Raina pursed her lips, her expression thoughtful, "I have reason to believe that the drug GH-325 has…halted your abilities to draw in the power. Or rather, release it from a hidden valve in your body."

"I don't understand." Skye gasped. Her mind felt like it was about to explode, her body like it was being torn apart, tissue by tissue, "The power is trapped inside me already?"

"Possibly." Raina conceded.

"So what makes me a monster then?"

Raina's constant smile was beginning to turn sickening, "Your heritage does. You've heard of what your parents did in China."

"So why are you so interested in studying me if you already know all of this about me?" Skye demanded, struggling to stay calm.

Raina smiled, but Skye felt herself wanting to throw up, "I told Agent Ward this-,"

"Ward is no agent." Skye corrected sharply.

"Of course. I believe that your species harbors a…characteristic if you will, for evolution." Obviously the words were intended to have a bigger effect than what Skye experienced but she was still really confused.

"Sure, but that's just the whole survival of the fittest thing. It's just nature." Skye said doubtfully.

"No. Not adaption. Evolution. That's why you are in this human form. You had to fit in so you changed." Raina explained and Skye noticed a gleam in her eyes, not unlike that of Garrett's when he was still alive.

"I was found as a human baby," Skye interjected stubbornly.

"Sure, but if you want to live by the survival of the fittest theory, then understand that you are the fittest. You evolve before and without having to go through adaption, a process that takes decades upon centuries."

Skye still wasn't so ready to give into Raina's theory, "If that were true, I would be in a lot better place now than I am today."

"You're forgetting. In order to do so, you must have access to your full potential. Somehow, that power was stripped away from you as a baby. But you can restore it. You can restore it right now, right here." Raina urged, walking closer. Skye back up against the wall, ignoring the growing pain in her body.

"I don't-,"

"Raina." A terrible voice rang out. The mere sound of it sent shivers down Skye's spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck tingle and her heart pound incessantly.

Raina cast Skye a searching look before excusing herself from the room, "Think about it." She implored.

Skye pressed a trembling hand to her face.

"Skye," Romanoff's gently voice was a welcome sound in her ears.

"Oh…my god," Skye whispered, the awful ripping apart sensation had disappeared but her head was still spinning.

The Black Widow's voice was quiet and Skye knew it had nothing to do with the technology in her ear. "Skye, I heard everything. Give me the word and I'll have us out of here-."

Skye heard raised voices and evidently, so did Romanoff judging by the way she cut herself off to listen in. Suddenly, there was a horrible sound somewhere between a crunch and a splatter followed by and anguished yell. Then the feeling returned and Skye gasped in pain. It was more intense this time, like someone was grasping her insides and twisting them before yanking them apart.

"No, please, please stop!" She begged, scrambling to the other side of the small room.

"Skye." The voice said monotonously.

"Where's Raina?" She demanded, biting back a sob as pain wracked her body. Being shot could not hold a candle to this amount of agony.

"She's temporarily detained. She does not know all." Not waiting for Skye's answer, the voice continued, "You must have to want the power to absorb it. The body does not change itself without the mind."

"Make it stop!" Skye moaned, blinking back tears.

"I cannot. What you're experiencing is a struggle between the mind, body and power. Only you can stop it by accepting your true potential."

"Usually when a father says that, he's talking about his daughter's work in school," Skye gasped, "Just tell me, is there really a secret valve full of power in me?"

"I do not sense it. It is possible it was expelled due to an injury to your torso."

Quinn's shots to my stomach. I guess there was a silver lining in that after all. Skye thought bitterly.

"Dad…" Skye shuddered violently as the word left her lips, "I choose not to accept." She raise her left hand and before it could pass three inches above her head, an explosion shook the floor and Skye felt herself being yanked upwards. The agony subsided as Romanoff lightly slapped her face, bringing her out of her state of shock.

"You still with me? Okay, let's get the hell out of here." The Black Widow all but dragged Skye along behind her as they raced down the hallway. When the approached the stairs to go down, Skye screamed as the pain returned.

"he's down there!"

Romanoff changed course and bounded up the stairs, Skye still in tow.

"How're we going to get out of here by going up?" Skye asked, panting.

"You're welcome to go have a showdown with your father downstairs if you'd like," Romanoff shouted, "otherwise up is our best chance."

Skye nodded thought the agent in front of her couldn't see, "Is Spiderman going to rescue us from there?"

"Don't be ridiculous, he doesn't exist," Natasha Romanoff scorned and Skye couldn't help but smile a bit. Until another scream ripped from her mouth and her knees buckled.

Romanoff whipped around, "Skye!"

The hacktivist recovered quickly, "Go! I'm fine but he's getting closer!"

Tumbling out onto the rooftop, Skye's watery eyes saw nothing but the Hong Kong city lights. Normally, they would have appeared beautiful but tonight, they were eerie.

Romanoff strode to the edge of the building and looked down while Skye bent over, trying to catch her breath.

"On second thought, do you have Spiderman's number?" The Black Widow asked and Skye shot her a look, unable to speak.

A gust of wind drew their attention to the sky above them and a dark shadow hovered overhead, slowly lowering itself down until it was fifteen feet above them. Romanoff was at Skye's side in an instant, ready to fight.

"Don't attack!" A voice shouted down from the aircraft's speakers.

"Coulson," Romanoff muttered, easing up, Skye gasped again, the pain returning.

"He's com-," But her own scream cut her off.

She barely heard Romanoff's voice over the gusting air and slam of the door to the rooftop as it opened, "Take her. Now!"

A hand closed around her wrist and spun her around so she was facing a dark tactical vest. An arm wrapped around her middle and suddenly, they were moving upwards. She grasped the straps of the vest and pressed her forehead to the rough material, breathing in deeply as the pain started to fade in waves. Ward.

She remembered being pulled into the aircraft by Coulson and Simmons, remembered Romanoff clambering in seconds after them, heading to the front to co-piolet. She remembered resting her head on Ward's lap as Simmons ripped her shirt up, attaching sensors to her chest, immediately beginning to run tests. She remembered seeing a tear leak out of Coulson's eye before she finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

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