AN: Hey! I hope you're all doing okay. Thanks again to MegaDiary123 for helping out. This is the last chapter related to the "The Well" episode. Next week some things more AU start to happen. So, until then...

All rights go to Marvel

Skye's POV

I was bone tired.

That was all that I could register as I slowly rose back to consciousness.

All I could do was stay motionless in the same laying position I woke up to, trying not to fall back to sleep. What happened? I thought, trying to recall the events that led to me feeling like I had just run several laps at Steve's speed.

Suddenly, the memories of the church and what I saw while I held the stuff came to the surface. My eyes snapped open, sweat already forming on my temples. It took me only a second to look at the ceiling to realise that I was in a bunk at the Bus. While that eased my uneasiness a little bit, it didn't really eradicate it, for I was not in the privacy of my own bunk, but someone else's.

A whoosh filled the room startling me, as I was still a little bit disoriented. Not knowing what happened after I passed out and before I woke up to whoever's bunk that was, well... it did not sit well with me.

My eyes moved to the door of the small room, which was now open and was the reason why that sound was created in the first place. I saw a figure, with their back towards me, making their way into the room. Out of instinct, I curled up on the head of the bed, back pressed tightly against the wall as I ignored the sparks of pain that that move sent through my torso. My hand was extended towards the figure, ready to send my vibrations should this be someone I didn't know.

However, as I let my powers slowly scan the vibrations that this person sent, along with the familiar light brown hair, I realised that this was Jemma and I relaxed. My hand fell heavy on my lap, my head rested on the wall behind me and I let out a breath. When I opened my eyes again, Jemma had turned around and had stopped dead at her tracks, as she noticed that I was awake. "Hey" I tried to say but my voice broke.

That seemed to bring her back to the present, as she hurried to place a tray with medical supplies that she was carrying to her desk and sat at the bottom of the bed.

"Hey," she said back softly. She placed a hand on my leg and smiled at me. "How are you feeling?"

I thought about it for a while before answering slowly. "Tired," that single word contained my whole world at that moment.

She hummed and nodded as if expecting that answer from me. Her eyes travelled towards my torso and her eyebrows furrowed. I looked in the same direction and only then did I notice two things. For starters, my arms had wrapped themselves around my middle protectively because of the pain waves that I received from that area, especially my ribs. And also, I was not in the same clothes I was before. I was just in some shorts and a bra, as my torso and arms were wrapped tightly with bandages. "Would you mind if I had a look? I need to change your bandages".

"Sure..." I said, and it was my turn to knit my brows. A little bit of the confusion I was feeling slipped into my tone. "How did this happen?" I asked as I unravelled myself for Jemma to have a better look and be able to do her job.

Her fingers started to move slowly and delicately to unwrap the material that was around my body. "What do you remember?", she asked instead of answering.

"I..." I started but stopped short, not wanting to relive what I saw soon after I touched the staff. "After I took down Nystrom and before Petra came in, it's kind of... blank" I lied instead. She immediately lifted her head and her eyes met mine, silently telling me to cut the bullshit. I let out a breath. "Nothing I wanna talk about now, but definitely not what happened in the church" I eventually added.

She seemed satisfied with that and she resumed her work. "Well, from where I was standing and watching... you took quite the beating" she gently pressed at several spots, assessing the situation and I did my best not to flinch but she must have picked up on my muscles tightening up every time she touched a sore or sensitive spot. "You gave plenty, but received some hard ones as well. I think you didn't really realise how hurt you were at the time because of the adrenaline rushing through your system because of the Berserker's staff influence". She finished her examination and started laying and wrapping the new set of bandages around me. "I think it was the staff's effects in combination with your peculiar physiology and advanced healing capabilities that allow you to be in such a good state now. You should have been much worse from what we witnessed. The tiredness is another symptom to you holding the staff. Randolph has been very helpful and provided us with some very useful information on what you should do in the next few days in order to properly restore your energy"

"Speaking of energy," I said as another wave of tiredness washed over me. "The fact that I used my powers mustn't have helped the situation". I watched as she finished and sat back down to the edge of the bed. I opened my palm to her direction and she, instantly, took a hold of it and squeezed. "How are you doing?" I asked.

She scoffed at that and shook her head. "You're unbelievable, you know that?", she said. I shrugged my shoulder as I played with her fingers. "Skye..." she said my name with such a heavy undertone that it spoke whole sentences on its own. "I had to watch you fight a group of people, holding an alien artefact that we know almost nothing about, then pass out from exhaustion while you had sustained some serious injuries and then taking care of you and waiting several hours for you to wake up. I didn't know in what state you'd be in when you awoke. I didn't know if you'd be as agitated as Ward was. Which was why I had you moved from the Lab to my bunk, so that you were both more comfortable and that I could keep a close eye on you no matter the time". Her eyes started filling with tears. "I'm not doing great, but I've been worse," she said and my mind flashed back to her jumping off the plane.

"I'm okay" I hurried to say. "I'm sorry I worried you" I smiled gently at her.

She blinked her tears away and looked at me with such a genuine expression that I felt she allowed me to look into her soul. She then bent over and kissed my forehead. "You're not okay, and we both know it. So, how about you start being honest with me and with yourself, hm?" She smiled and I could help but nod.

Happy from my non-verbal answer, she sat further back and squeezed my hand once more. "Now, we know for sure that the staff brings up memories" she explained. "You think you wanna talk about what you saw?"

The hopeful expression on her face would have made my answer a positive one even if I was about to decline. But, since this was Jemma, I felt like I could talk about anything with her and that this was a safe space for that.

"I think I remembered how I got my powers..."

"Mind if I sit?" I looked up from my drink to find Randolph standing next to me, pointing to the empty seat at my table.

I shrugged and moved over a bit for him to have more space. "Be my guest" I told him before I took a sip from my beer. I was in a little pub close to the hotel we were staying, trying to relax after Jemma cleared me. Despite that, she still instructed me to do nothing too strenuous or tiring for the next few days.

Randolph dragged the chair and sat quite heavily on it, placing his own beer on the table. I looked at the drink and then him. "Does alcohol even affect you?", I found myself asking.

The Asgardian, who was staring at the yellow liquid, had a contemplating expression on his face. "Does it affect you?", he asked instead of answering.

"I don't know…?" I eased back on my chair and threw my head back, my eyes trained at a random spot on the ceiling. "It definitely doesn't do anything to me in a small portion. I've never really tried to see how much I'd need to consume in order to actually get drunk, but I'd guess the answer to that would be a lot". The sounds of the pub filled the silence that followed. As he didn't give any indication he wanted to speak, I let out a sigh and turned to his direction, properly facing him. "What are you doing here?"

I watched as his hand wrapped around his glass, twisting it around almost like he was bored. But if he was bored, then why was he still sitting here? "Agent Coulson is a nice guy," he started. "He offered to let me stay in the hotel with you all and then drop me off wherever I wanted to tomorrow". He finally grabbed the glass and brought it closer to his lips. "I took his offer," and for the first time since sitting next to me, he drank.

I shook my head at his answer. "But what are you doing here?" I pointed at his chair. "You could have been anywhere in this town, and yet you chose to come sit with me. Why?" I was tired of him beating around the bush.

"You wanted to talk," he said as if it was obvious.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to decipher if he was fooling around, but he wasn't. I stood up and motioned for him to follow me to a table at the far corner. From there I would be able to see if we had any prying eyes or ears. Only when both of us had taken our seats did I speak. "What made you decide to talk? From what I remember, you weren't sure you wanted to when we last spoke".

"Well…" he moved his hands and pointed at me. "You happened. Or, to be more precise, you happened to hold the staff".

At that, I remember what the staff 'showed' me and I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "What did that have to do with anything?"

He took his time answering. "You see… unlike the others, I held the staff. I talked with the biochemist one. Simmons, was it? And while she understands, more than most, what happens to someone who holds it, she hasn't experienced it first-hand". He adjusted in his seat to better look at me and then his hand was pointing to himself. "I never wanted it, which is why I got rid of it as soon as I could. Others thrived from the power that the staff provides, but… Nah. Not me".

His eyes were examining me, like back at the Bus. His pause also indicated that it was my turn to say something.

I looked down at my hands and flipped them over a few times, my eyes travelling all over my forearms and palms. "I know that any kind of power comes with a price one has to be willing to pay" I eventually said. I wasn't speaking exclusively about the staff and he knew it. "I didn't ask for this, you know. I think it was forced upon me"

"You think?", he interrupted quickly, a spark in his eyes due to this piece of new information.

I nodded, carefully recalling what I saw only a few hours ago. "About half of my life's memories are missing. I just woke up in a… hospital, not knowing anything but my name. There are only a couple of memories that I have from before that day, the second one was just brought up yesterday. There was a Doctor who wanted me to be someone I was not, so he kept testing me. That was until he sealed me in a room and did something that turned me into stone. The last thing I remember feeling is the same thing that I feel constantly ever since I got my powers". I left out a lot of details. He didn't need to know the whole story after all.

"And what is that?", he clearly couldn't help himself. He was intrigued as hell.

I placed my hand down on the table and send vibrations, through the wood surface, to his beer glass that he was still holding. Just enough for him to feel it, but not enough to be noticed by anyone in our surrounding areas.

"It's a constant buzzing under my skin and all over my body" I explained. "I've learned to tune it down with practice, but it's always there".

He gasped a little bit at the glass gently shaking in his hand and lifted it closer to his face to examine it. "Magnificent" he quietly exclaimed. His eyes were wide as a smile spread on his face. "I figured you could create earthquakes after what I witnessed back in the church, but this… oh, this is something else"

I scoffed, pulling my powers back. "It sure is something". I watched as he placed the, now still, beer back to where it was before. "But to answer your initial, silent question: No. As long as it's a power I can get rid of, I will do so"

His head snapped at my direction, an eyebrow raising in question. "You mean to tell me, if there was a way to get rid of your powers, you'd take it?"

"No" I spoke immediately.

There was now more suspicion flashing in his eyes. "But how does—"

"I know it sounds hypocritical" I cut him off before he said anything else. "Trust me, I know. I didn't want these powers when they first appeared. And if, back then, you had offered me a way out, I would have taken it without giving it a second thought. But I have come to accept them. They are a part of me just as any other part of my body is. I wouldn't be who I was today without them. I paused and pressed my finger hard on the table, leaning forwards to further emphasise my point. "But the kind of power that comes from the likes of the staff? I want nothing to do with it" and with that I sat back on my chair and stared at him, daring him to question me.

Neither of us broke the eye contact for a while. And, at last, the first one to do so was Randolph who spoke before smiling. "And that is why I decided to talk with you". He backed down and drank some more of his beer, slowly enjoying the taste of it.

I, tentatively, mimicked him, trying to relax. "I've spent years holding it. By the end I could tell who enjoyed the power of it, and who didn't" he further elaborated. "For me, it was obvious you didn't. And yet you chose to hold it more than once in order to spare agent May of reliving a painful memory you obviously know about". At my raised eyebrow he added, "Enhanced hearing compared to humans"

"So…" I spoke in order to properly understand. "You waited to see what would happen if I held it?" He couldn't have possibly known that I would get anywhere near the staff, so there must have been another reason behind his actions.

He scratched his chin with one finger while making a face. "Truth is, I wanted to see how you'd act in a pressured situation that we were surely walking in. I knew that there was a high chance that those you hunted would get there before us". He then turned to look at me and his expression turned more serious, which in turn made me more alert. "See… your kind… from what I've heard, they were called monsters"

I was not sure how to process that bit of information. "What do you…?", I let the question hanging.

"Not much" he quickly said. "But I can tell you the little bit that I know"

"You called me an experiment" I recalled back to our initial meeting at the crypt. "Now, you're calling me a monster"

He nodded at that. "I needed to make sure you are not one" he tried to explain. Then shook his head and took a deep breath before continuing. "Let's go about this in another way. Do you know of the Kree?" I flinched a bit at that as the same word was spoken by Loki. "Oh, you do know of them"

"Actually I don't" I supplied. "But you are not the first Asgardian I have met. You're actually the third. And the first one, well he wasn't nice. We didn't 'get along', you could say. He's the one I heard that name from"

He saw that I didn't want to further elaborate and thankfully didn't press the issue. Instead, he shook his head once more and continued. "The Kree, they're not a peaceful race. We have fought them on numerous occasions in the past centuries. From what I have heard, they were trying to create weapons to help them win the war. They travelled to many planets and as their efforts were unsuccessful, they found their way to Earth. They experimented on humans, trying to create monsters with superhuman powers by genetically altering their DNA. But, once again, their experiments were not successful. So, another fraction of the Kree came to shut the whole thing down" he finished talking and looked at me.

I blinked several times, taking in the information. "That's it?" He nodded. I pinched the base of my nose, trying to muster more strength. "That can't be it. There has to be more"

"I'm sorry," he said and I could tell he really meant it. "This is all that I know. I know it's not a lot, and you probably have more questions"

After I calmed down a little bit I lifted my head back up and smiled at him. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. Thank you for telling me all that, I will have to do some research on what you've told me. Maybe I'll find something more. I can always ask Thor if he decides to turn up". I saw his eyes widen at the mention of the other Asgardian.

"You've met him?" He asked in disbelief.

I rubbed my neck. "Technically we fought together. But we haven't spoken much. He had to quickly go back to Asgard with his brother. I don't like that one as much" I spit out in the end.

"And you've also met Loki". He leaned back on his chair. "I'm gonna take a wild guess, but I'm gonna say that he's the one Agsardian you didn't 'get along with'"

"Bingo," I said and actually found myself smiling at this more lighthearted conversation we had. And just as my mood had slightly improved, I picked up someone walking towards the table. I looked to their direction to see Ward closing in.

Randolph picked up the change in the air immediately and looked at the other agent's direction as well, his mouth forming a silent 'o'. "I will leave you to it," he said and got up to leave. But before he disappeared he offered me a piece of paper. "It was nice talking to you, Skye. I wouldn't mind staying in contact"

I nodded. Taken back by the gesture, as I stored the paper in my jacket, it took me an extra second to realise that Ward was practically next to me. As I was left alone with him, I took another large sip from my beer. "What do you want, Ward?", I asked, not even bothering to pretend to be okay with him being here.

"I came to apologise," he said. "Can I sit?"

I clenched my jaw, not believing him. "No," I firmly told him.

He nodded his head. "I deserve that"

Oh, you deserve so much more than just that, I thought to myself but didn't actually say it. "Just say your piece and go, okay?"

Thankfully he still refrained from coming any closer. "Look, I'm really sorry. I know we bump heads all the time and don't agree on a lot of things. But you didn't deserve what you got and that's my fault. The staff, it messed with my head. I remembered something I hadn't thought about in a very long time" his eyes glazed over a little bit at the memory he was talking about but quickly turned back to normal. "I'm not that guy" he finished.

"You know what I believe, Ward? I believe that touching that staff made you show your true colours" I answered as I stood up. "I held it. I know you know. I held all three of them" my palms pressed on the wooden table. "What you felt? I felt it. But you don't see me going around snapping at people and demanding answers to things I have no idea about". I fixed my posture and my jacket as I was getting ready to get out of there and towards the hotel. Suddenly I didn't feel like staying at that pub any second longer. "So, no. When you say you're not that guy. I'm not entirely sure I believe you. And trust me when I tell you, I'll keep my eye on you"

I moved to get around him but I saw him moving as well and paused, tilting my head at him. Daring him to stop me by touching me. He, thankfully, took the signal and just stepped back, raising both of his hands. "If that's true, how did you hold all of them? Does everything just roll off your back?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Of course not. If it helped, I would rage all the time. I learned a long time ago that it doesn't" I finished the conversation and headed off, not giving him another second of my time.