A/N: I know these are coming more frequently now, and some of you may be wondering when I'm going to update my other fics, and my answer is soon. But I have some other stuff in the way and this fic only requires short scenes at a time, so it's more or less of a break for me. :)

Also, this is the twentieth chapter, and I just want to say thank you to the 56 followers and 36 favourites :D Plus, 54 reviews is pretty awesome!

Thank you to changingdestiny40 and annavale23 for your reviews! :3

DISCLAIMER: I only own this story.

Skye sat in the hospital bed, struggling not to hyperventilate and cause tremors to rock the building. There was no way she wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. to find her. She'd rather die. Although the hospital situation wasn't helping at all. It reminded her too much of the lab.

Breathe, Skye. Nice and slowly. She closed her eyes, and focused on utilising the technique that May taught her to control her heart rate. The monitor that she was hooked up to helped her aim for an appropriate pulse. Relax, Skye. S.H.I.E.L.D. won't find you here. Grant and Kara are here as well. You'll be fine. Just relax. She repeated the monologue over and over until she felt the tension in her muscles slip away. A knock on her door caused them to tense up again, but then she relaxed when she heard his voice.

"Skye? Can I come in?" Grant spoke from behind the door, sounding like he was worried that she would say no.

"Of course." She said softly. Grant must've heard something, but was unable to distinguish what was said because he poked his head around the door and frowned. Skye smiled and beckoned him in by waving her hand.

"You feeling okay?" he asked, striding over to the bed. He took her hand in both of his and began rubbing it gently.

"Yeah." She whispered, moving her other hand to meet his. "Painkillers are working, but this place gives me the creeps."

Grant glanced down with an expression of worry. "We'll be out of here as soon as we can. It's these people's job to help you heal." He was careful not to trigger a memory, particularly by saying she'll be 'fixed'.

"I know." Skye frowned as a thought came to her. "What did you register me in as? I don't have a last name."

"Well, Kara suggested we use 'Ward', but we didn't have any wedding rings handy." Skye snorted at that, causing Grant half-laughed in embarrassment. "And I thought using 'Daisy' or 'Skye Zabo' might alert S.H.I.E.L.D." She stiffened and Grant hastily tried to sooth her. "We didn't use those, so S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't know we're here. You're safe, don't worry." A hopeful smile graced his face as he tried to put Skye's mind at ease.

Skye took a deep, slow breath, not looking at him. Grant thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest. "So what did you use as my name?" she asked, trying to put it behind her for now. I'll deal with the panic when I feel safe.

"You mentioned to me once the name that was given to you at the orphanage, remember?" he had a small smile on his face, threatening to break out into a smirk. Which it did at her reaction.

"You put down 'Mary Sue Poots'?" she stage-whispered, her tone and face registering disgust. "Why?"

Grant scrambled to answer her steadily under her penetrating gaze. "Well, it's not amongst the list of names that S.H.I.E.L.D. will have for you. Either they don't know about it, or they're dismissive of it. They know you hate it and so will avoid it at all costs." His mouth was now stretched into a grimace. "You're not mad are you?"

"Apparently not all costs." Skye muttered under her breath, still glaring at Grant. It surprised her that she felt comfortable enough with him that she could do this and not be so worried that he was just going to walk out. The feeling was still there, but in her anger, she suppressed it. Pursing her lips, she focused on answering Grant's last question. "I understand why you did it. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it."

His face flickered with multiple emotions. There was relief, hope and joy at her saying that she understood, but that was overshadowed by hurt, guilt and resignation at her next line. He'd underestimated the implications the name brought, and that strengthened his resolve to get her out as soon as possible.