After a longer break, here comes another longer chapter.
Finally some glimpses into the changes that have happened to Xandra - not all seem to be gifts.
I realized I made a mistake earlier with the timeline, so I had to change Xandra's age from 20 to 26.

Thank you for the reviews,
Guest: I love Peggy as well and indeed there is a strong conenction of some sorts between her and Xandra, but they are not, in fact, related.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Marvel.

Chapter 18: Extraction

Where Tripp had been moments before, now only pieces of rock remained, dead material, not even a body. A friend was gone, just gone, and not a word came past Xandra's lips. Suddenly, something in her clicked, as if a switch had been turned. Calm washed over her, she felt more focussed, more composed than she ever had before. Her eyes snapped back to Skye who was still standing across the room, tears in her eyes, her muscles tight and she knew.

She knew there was nothing she could do for Tripp.
She knew the combined impact of the exploding crystals and Skyes reaction to them would bring the tunnels down.
She knew they had exactly 4 minutes and 32 seconds.
She knew Raina was gone - for now - and would not reappear anytime soon.
She knew she needed to get Skye out and make sure the others were safe.

She knew by the look on Skye's face that something must have happened to her, too, probably also a reaction to the crystals. This was very likely the reason why she could see perfectly fine without glasses and despite the dimm light, and why she didn't seem to be able to get a word out. And why, now that she thought about it, she seemed to feel every little cell in her body and hear things she had never heard before - like the breath of air in Skye's hair - and why her brain seemed to know these things and seemed to keep up with everything so quickly but this could also be the shock and oh no now it was all getting too much and starting swish in her ears

- STOP! she told herself firmly, she could freak out later, now she had to survive. The wave of calm returned, chilling her, and as much Xandra was relieved to be able to think straight, this eerie calm was also a tad unsettling.

Pushing herself up, she shook the rest of the sapphire material off her legs in the process, then she ran over to Skye, grabing her by the hand and pulling. Shaken out of her stupor, the other woman followed willingly. Thankfully, the entrance of the temple had opened again, at least partly, probably due to the explosions, so the two of them could squeeze through. The walls were already starting to crumble and debris was coming down from the ceiling while they were sprinting down the tunnel, lead by Xandra's inner compass. Mack was nowhere to be seen - maybe that was a good sign but they couldn't be sure.

"Xandra, do you know where we are going?" Skye called out.

The other woman simply nodded and that seemed to be enough for her companion. After two more turns, they could see light above them, a circular hole that seemed to have been shaped by a giant cookie cutter gaped in the ceiling. It was about time, more and more debris was crumbling from all round them, making it really uncomfortable.

"Coulson? May?" Skye called out.

A face appeared above them.

"Skye? Xandra? Where is Tripp?" May called.

"Not coming," Skye sobbed, making the older woman's face turn hard.

"Then let's get you up here!" she called out, throwing down two harnesses.

As quickly as possible the two women got into gear, Xandra pushing Skye towards the rope. She could see the young woman being lifted up by the technical gadgets and could only pray that HYDRA had invested into appropriate equipment. A short time later she felt a tugging on the line.

"Come up!" May called out, "this place is crashing any second."

'12 seconds to be precise', Xandra thought by herself as she was lifted up. Just when she was halfway up, she heard a rumbling sound to her left. Her head wipped around just the moment a part of the ceiling came down, the change making the rope swing like a pendulum. The woman covered her head to keep it sheltered from rocks as she swung violently. Distantly she wondered whether she was going to be sick but soon realized she was not getting the least bit nauseous - that one was new.

"Xandra, head up," May commanded from above her, and she looked up to blink into the light before she could lower herself onto the still intact edge of the cut-out.

The dark-haired woman looked at her curiously and seemed on the brink of saying something when she seemed to think better of it and simply nodded.

"Keep the harnesses on, car is in front of the house, according to Hunter."

Indeed, there were several black vans in front of the door and several HYDRA agents lying on the floor. May ran to the closest one, ripping open the driver's door.

"Skye, Xandra, backseats!"

Her comment did not leave room for arguments.
'I must look really bad' Xandra thought, very well aware that keeping distance might be the smartest move right now. However, as soon as they were in and the car was on the road, she could feel Skye's hand on her arm, holding on so tight it would have hurt under normal circumstances. When the blonde-haired woman looked at her companion, she saw that her eyes were wide with terror and in a split second made a decision - whatever had happened down there, they had both been subjected to it anyway, even though Xandra's "crust" had been blue. So she wrapped her arms around Skye, holding on to her as tightly as possible, feeling how that weird calmness slowly ebbed off. Now she felt close to panicking again, but at least it felt natural.

May drove as if the devil was behind them and maybe it was, ignoring the honking of enraged drivers. From time to time, Xandra caught her eyes in the backmirror, but the older woman's look only grew more and more concerned.

"Are you ok?" Skye asked after a while, sounding utterly exhausted.

Xandra shrugged her shoulders a bit helplessly, her voice had still not returned but other than that, she felt alright. Quite buzzig with energy actually and not the least bit tired out, even after the sprint through the tunnels, but also uncomfortable in a way she couldn't quite explain.

"I am sure they will be able to fix your throat," the dark-haired woman tried to reasure her.

She seemed to be at the brink of saying more, but seemed to think better of it. Suddenly, Xandra caught a glimpse of her reflection in the car window and her blood ran cold. The face that was staring back at her was her own, so utterly familiar, but still different and painfully strange at the same time.
Her eyes the same blue colour as always, framed by dark lashes, the lips still a bit pouty. However, she could now recognize any small unevenness in her skin, any colour particle her teint was made of, any slight shadow under her cheeckbones. It was like a landscape you had looked at a thousand times but you were now seeing for the first time. And her hair. The straight, honey blonde strands in her ponytail seemed to have changed colour, seemed to have lightened into something akin to platinum from what she could see in her makeshift mirror. This must be a reaction to the chrystals as well, but weirdly enough, she could see no such lightening in Skye's hair.

About an hour later they had left the city behind them, driving towards the plain area where Xandra knew the bus had been parked. Suddenly, the aircraft came into sight, lowering the ramp to let May drive in.

"You stay here until I come and get you!" she explained before jumping out of the car.

Xandra noticed that the two young women were now locked in, apparently one did not want to take any chances. Sensible, she would do exactly the same. A couple of minutes later, a few people who must be the medical team cam towards the car, all in hazard suits as if they were nearing a dangerous object. Well, maybe they were, who knew. They motioned for them to come out and then quickly ussered them towards two separate containment facilities. The door was closed behind her, locked, but at least there were glass walls so it didn't feel claustrophobic. Apparently they were dealing with Syke first, but Xandra didn't have to wait for long until she had company.

"Hey Fitz," she wanted to say, but when it didn't work, she only smiled tiredly.

"Hey you," he answered, apparently unsure what to say, "Skye already told us you had problems... spreaking. But I am sure they will be able to fix it."

The woman shrugged her shoulders a bit helplessly, suddenly feeling very alone and very scared. Her distress seemed to be visible, as Fitz looked at her in concern.

"Do you want to come here?" he offered, motioned her towards the glass with his head.

Xandra nodded, getting up from the bed and walking the few steps to stand in front of her friend. Their hands met, in a way, palm against palm, only separated by glass, still, she had the imperssion as if she could feel his warmth, hear his heartbeat even.

"Skye will have to remain in quarantine for a bit," he informed her, "and May also, but not for so long. Whatever affected you and probably Skye as well doesn't seem to be contagient, but they want to be sure. Mack is already cleared, the virus or whatever... whatever it was seemes to be gone. Simmons is still in the tunnels, trying to do - to do research."

Suddenly, two women and a man in white suits were coming towrds them.

"I guess you have visitors," Fitz said, "don't worry, you will be ok."

Xandra however wasn't so sure.

Happy new year!