Chapter Eleven:

"You look very peaceful sleeping." Fitz spoke softly as Jemma came to. "Didn't mean to wake you, but I'm glad you're up."

"What's happening?" Jemma sat up and looked around her.

Fitz had his arm in a sling, the pod was an absolute mess, and Selena was lying on the floor next her with cuts and bruises on her face.

They all had cuts and bruises on their faces.

And worst of all, they were underwater.

"I spent the last hour trying to figure out why we sank." Fitz motioned to the window. "We're at the bottom of the ocean. In case you missed that bit."

Jemma looked out the same window and her eyes widened when she saw nothing but blue water.

"These pods are built to be compatible with all S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft, submarines, spacecraft. On impact, the atmospheric adaptation must have tried to compensate. We slowly sank as it increased the density of the outer walls. I measured the rate the water rose on the glass." Fitz continued, looking at Selena once she stirred. "Did the math — we're at least ninety feet down. You can't see the surface."

"How did we survive the fall?" Jemma asked.

"The plane must have been in vertical flight mode, flying low. I managed to strap all of us to one of the backboards before we hit…...but that was after Selena hit the ceiling." He motioned to the slightly unconscious child. "And I broke my arm."

And as if she had heard her name, Selena's eyes fluttered open, but Fitz-Simmons were so focused on each other, they hadn't noticed.

"Same two places I broke it in the second grade…...which is strange." Fitz joked, getting a smile out of Jemma.

"I thought we were dead for sure, Fitz. We're so lucky. Now we just need to figure a way out of here." Jemma's smile dropped when she saw Fitz's face. "We'll find a way out of here, right?"

"And then we'd be in the middle of the ocean with the bends and no floatation, and no one looking for us. I already spent an hour trying to rig a wireless signal on the EKG to send out a weak distress call before remembering that it's a S.H.I.E.L.D. frequency and no one's listening. And that's not the problem, the problem is that there aren't many supplies left in here, so I've already done the math—"

"—Enough with the math. What are you saying?" Jemma cut him off and her heart dropped at his sad look. "There is no way out. We're going to die down here."

Selena blinked the sleep out of her eyes and slowly sat up, feeling the dull ache in her head slightly increase.

"Oh good, you're awake." Fitz commented. "You took quite a hit."

"How are you feeling?" Jemma smiled gently at her, as if she and Fitz hadn't just been talking about their pending demise a few seconds earlier.

"My head hurts and I heard you…...are we really gonna die?" She asked softly, her eyes wide with so much innocence, Fitz-Simmons weren't really sure how to respond at first.

So they didn't.

"Oh."

"Are you scared?" Jemma asked amidst the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah….." Fitz nodded. "And I'm hungry too."

'Me too." Jemma admitted. "Scared and hungry. What do you think it's like?"

"Death?" Fitz wondered. Well, it depends on the method, really. Drowning's supposed to be quite pleasant in the end. Apparently, once the water fills up your lungs—"

"—I meant after."

"Ah, yeah...…well, my mum always said that you shouldn't be afraid because it's just like the way life was before you were born…..which wasn't that bad, was it?" He sent the two girls a comforting smile.

"That's sweet…...though apparently I was miserable before I was born…...upside down, umbilical cord all wrapped around my neck."

"Yeah, well, she meant pre-conception, of course."

"I know, I'm joking."

"I know you're joking, that's fine."

Selena crawled over the window and watched as they gradually kept on sinking further and further down.

She wished she had never told May that Garrett was Hydra, or Skye that Ward was no good. Because maybe then they'd all be together and they would all be safe.

But that was selfish.

Under the circumstance though, Selena felt she had a right to be just that. Selfish.

"I like to think about the First Law of Thermodynamics, that no energy in the universe is created….."

"None is destroyed." Fitz-Simmons spoke at the same time before smiling at one another.

"That means that every bit of energy inside us, every particle...…" Jemma took a deep breath. "Will go on to be a part of something else. Maybe live as a dragonfish, a microbe, maybe burn in a supernova ten billion years from now. And every part of us now was once a part of some other thing.….a moon, a storm cloud, a mammoth."

"A monkey." That one got a little smile out Selena.

"A monkey." Jemma nodded. "Thousands and thousands of other beautiful things that were just as terrified to die as we are. We gave them a new life…...a good one, I hope. It's fitting we're down here together. This is where all life began on our planet, anyway…..Just outside that glass."

"Do you think Skye will be okay?" Selena asked, her voice sounding too defeated coming from a ten year old's mouth.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Jemma tried to offer her words of comfort, sitting behind her and resting one hand on the glass and one hand on her shoulder as they both looked out the window.

"Jemma?" Fitz tried to get her attention. "Jemma?"

"The glass, Fitz." She had just realized. "The glass."

"Yeah, it's bulletproof, pressure-resistant."

"But the seal is 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone, surely."

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but the flash point is too high for it to burn."

"But medical ethanol has a low flash point, and it burns—"

"—Hotter." Fitz caught onto what Jemma was trying to say. "If we could use the defibrillator as an ignition source….."

"And build a compressed explosive….." They both began to get very excited as Selena gave them a strange look.

"To ignite the seal, and the outside pressure will…..."

"Blow the window in!" The two started to laugh and hop up and down in time with one another.

"This really hurts my arm." Fitz continued smiling despite the pain.

"Okay, well now we know that. There's a whole new set of problems, but where do we start?"

"Coulson, we've found the dealer." Skye spoke into her walkie-talkie as she and May entered the building.

She strut right into a room, carrying a backpack, looking directly at everyone there.

"This is a bomb." She lifted up the bag. "You know what those do."

Everyone in the room scrambled for cover, cowering behind their desks and peering out behind them, still curious to see what was going on.

"And you've seen Agent May here through the eyes of your super soldiers, so you know what she does. You don't wanna mess with us, is my point." She stalked over to Zeller, the man behind the front desk, as May showed her weapon off to scare them.

"You're not going to be able to highjack our soldiers." He said. "We've thought through every emergency scenario, including this one."

"Don't tell me you've switched the soldiers to default directive." May tsked.

"Yeah, I did." Zeller answered confidently before sobering up. "And how did you know about that?"

Skye wasted no time in getting Zeller strapped up to a chair, completely at her mercy, while phoning Garrett as May got all the employees together and out of the room.

"Hi, John." She smirked into the phone. "Just calling to catch up."

"Skye. You sound different on the phone…..huskier."

"Are you curious why I'm calling you from your soldier control center?"

"No." Garrett smiled on the other side of the phone. "I'm not too concerned. You see, if anyone but the assigned handler gives a directive to one of my men, well, kaboom."

"Ah, darn it." Skye pretended to be affected by this. "Coulson didn't think of that. You outsmarted us, again."

"Phil's around? Great. We actually have a lot to talk about. Oh, and I wanted you to know..…your scientist friends? And you baby sister?" He chuckled before continuing. "They were brave until their last breath."

Skye's body tensed up and her fingers tightened around the phone as Garrett hung up, before she threw it on the ground.

He killed her friends and he killed her sister.

Her sister.

She fought the tears that threatened to escape her eyes and the rage that was making her body shake as she thought about how scared Selena must've been.

She was just a baby.

She didn't deserve any of this. None of it!

"Alright, we need to hurry." Fitz said, as they worked quickly to free themselves, turning on the defibrillator. "We have to do this soon. There has to be enough oxy—"

"—Oxygen to ignite. Yes." He and Jemma spoke in unison.

"Yeah, okay." Fitz made sure everything was ready. "Now, when I press that power button…."

"The window will blow in and water will rush inwards."

"Yeah, which is gonna be like 100 punches to the stomach, okay? The wind's gonna be knocked out of us." Fitz picked up an oxygen tank. "Now, this is near empty, but I've rigged it withstand high pressure. It has about two breaths of oxygen left in it." He handed it to Jemma. "Hold on tight. It should be enough to get you two up the ninety feet or so."

"But what about you?" Selena questioned.

"Two breaths? But there's three of us."

Fitz looked at both of them with unshed tears. "Yeah, I've done the math. That's why you're taking it. You're a better swimmer anyway. And Selena, you had Trip teach you how to swim, I watched you the whole time, you're going to be fine."

"No." Jemma shook her head.

"Jemma."

"No. I'm not leaving you here! That's ridiculous. We need a new plan."

"We're not discussing it, okay? You two are taking it, end of story. I couldn't live if you didn't."

"I'm not gonna let you do this for me." Selena shook her head. "You take it. I'll be okay."

"No!" Fitz-Simmons protested, shutting her down.

"I feel the same way! There has to be another way!"

"You're taking it."

"Why? Why would you make me do this?" Jemma began to sob. "You're my best friend in the world!"

"Yeah, and you're more than that, Jemma." Fitz admitted. "I couldn't find the courage to tell you. So please…..let me show you. It's okay."

Jemma flew into his arms, wanting nothing more than to find a way that they would all survive. "No." She began to tenderly kiss him across his face and Selena couldn't help but feel guilty as she watched the two.

If she wasn't here, they both would survive.

"Jemma, Jemma, we have to hurry." He tried to push her away, but she stayed clinging to him and this time, Selena threw herself at him, squeezing him tightly. "It's okay Selena. It's okay. Take it." He managed to push the both of them away and pushed the oxygen into Jemma's hands.

"No, no, no." Selena shook her head as he turned to the defibrillator. "Fitz, please?!"

"NO!" She and Jemma screamed in agony as he pressed the button and caused the explosion.

Jemma forced Selena to take a breath of air, before taking one herself, swimming out of the pod, pulling Fitz along with them.

Selena was by no means a strong swimmer. She wasn't any kind of swimmer, but she watched Jemma and mimicked her movements, trying to swim to the surface as quickly as possible.

She didn't like the all too familiar feeling of water rushing into her nose and her ears. And she had to stop her feet from searching for something to rest themselves on, because there was absolutely nothing to stand on. She kept a firm grip on Fitz's shirt and she and Jemma finally made it to the surface.

Their heads popped up as they took in a huge gulp of much needed oxygen.

Selena coughed and spat out some water as she struggled to tread. It was honestly harder than she remembered. Maybe it was because she wasn't in a swimming pool this time. She was in the middle of the ocean.

The two girls looked around, hoping to see if there was anyone around to help them. Because all of this would be pointless if no one came.

And being a complete beginner when it came to swimming, Selena fell back below the surface, losing her rhythm. But Jemma took notice and yanked her back up, coughing up more water. "Hold my neck and kick!" The British woman instructed her to lessen the struggle.

Sure, it was working for now, but what would happen to them once Jemma got tired?

And fortunately for them, they wouldn't have to find out. A helicopter just so happened to be flying by, and a man leaned out of the side, grabbing Jemma's hand before they all sank.

"Romanoff! Grab the kid!" He called a redheaded who leaned forward and lifted Selena into the helicopter, just in time for her to black out again.

Selena woke up with a start, breathing heavily as her eyes shot open, revealing that she was in some kind of incubator.

"Relax." A voice that Selena swore she knew, said. "You're going to be fine."

"Ms. Rushman?" Selena turned to look at her.

"Not really. Natasha Romanoff." The redhead smiled gently. "But I think you knew that already. You three had quite an adventure."

Selena gasped and tried to get out of the little chamber she was in, remembering Fitz and Jemma.

Were they okay? Where were they? What happened?

"Woah, you need to stay in there for now. It's okay."

"No." Selena shook her head. "Fitz-Simmons?"

"Jemma is fine. She's with Fury." Natasha explained. "And Fitz is alive. The medical team is with him. But you, need to rest."

"Who was that man you were with earlier?"

"Nick Fury."

"I thought Coulson said he was dead."

At the mention of Coulson, Natasha's eyes darkened. She had been told that he was dead.

"Miss Natasha? What's wrong?" Selena noticed the change in her features and hoped she hadn't said anything to offend her.

"Nothing." Natasha's face softened. "You get some rest, okay?"

"Will you stay here?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

That answer seemed to be enough for Selena as she allowed her eyes to flutter closed and sleep overtook her once more.

"Looks like the back entrance to the factory floor is on the south side." Skye communicated with Coulson.

"Roger that."

"I have to hit snooze on this every minute to keep that from blowing." Skye motioned to the backpack that she had strapped onto Zeller.

"I will die before talking, but there's nothing to tell. There's no way of controlling the soldiers unless there's an actual handler at the machine."

"I'm not interested in that. I'm more interested in why you're willing to die for Hydra." Skye gave him a look. "Are you a true believer? Is Hydra the plucky little family you never had? Or are you here because of the incentives program?"

That seemed to get Zeller's full attention.

"She's not gonna kill you." Ward interrupted. "She had a chance to kill me before, and couldn't do it. And she hates me…..a lot."

"I feel sorry for you." Skye addressed him. "Betraying the only people who gave you a chance at being a decent human being. Fitz was a hero because he still wanted to give you that chance after everything. But some people are just born evil, I guess."

"Yeah." Ward began to walk towards her nonchalantly. "Yeah, maybe they are. I've learned things about you, Skye. History, things you'll want to know. You and I, aren't that different."

"You're not the evil I was referring to. Garrett is evil. You're just..…weak. Doing anything you're told. I hope Garret orders you to walk into traffic."

"You're right, Skye. You woke up a weakness inside me. And for the first time in a while, I wanted something for myself. Maybe I'll just take what I want, wake up something inside of you."

"I'm not afraid of you, Ward." The two were now face to face and Skye was not backing down.

She was doing this for Fitz-Simmons and her sister.

"You're not going to kill us with the bomb. You'd go too."

"Doesn't matter. You've already killed my sister." Skye shrugged, not at all effected by the thought of dying right along with Ward and his goons to get her revenge. "But I have a weapon much better than a bomb, that will absolutely destroy you."

"And why's that?" Ward smirk, not actually taking her seriously.

"Because you two had a thing, and she's really really upset."

Ward didn't even know what hit him when May came flying off from the side and punched him right in the jaw. She managed to knock him off balance and used that to help her kick him through a door.

"Let's talk about incentives." Skye turned back to Zeller, who was still cowering in his seat, and pulled him out of the chair, forcing him to the front of a doorway. She had knocked the security guard, that had been guarding the room, out and grabbed his keys to open the door. And when Zeller saw who was inside, he lit up.

"I'm so sorry for what they did to you." He embraced a woman.

While they were in the middle of their reunion, Skye began to open another door and stepped inside.

"What are you looking for?"

"Our Ace is in the hole." Skye spoke once she found Mike Peterson's son in that room. She turned and opened the backpack that Zeller was still carrying and dug through it.

"No, come on, please, I—" Poor Zeller had no idea that there was no bomb and Skye was just digging through the bag to find a toy Hulk figurine.

Skye gave the figurine to Ace and knelt down in front him. "Here. Okay, Ace, I need you to give me a message, okay? Something your father would know could only come from you."

"It won't matter. I've already told you, there's no way to communicate with Deathlok from in here." Zeller scoffed.

"I don't need to." Skye held up her phone, showing him a visual of Mike's point of view. "I've been communicating with him the whole time."

Skye knew she couldn't get her sister back, but if she could reunite a father and son, she would do everything in her power to make that happen.

"Again!" Selena giggled, laying down on a couch with Natasha sitting by her. "Do it again!"

"Again?" Natasha pretended to be annoyed. "Okay. Los pollitos dicen….." She began to sing.

"Pillo! Pillo! Pillo!" Selena sang along with her.

"Cuándo tiene….."

"Hambre!"

"Cuándo tiene?"

"Frío!" Selena's giggling reduced to a sad smile when she realized that Natasha would soon have to leave again. "Will you come see me again? I don't wanna never see you again."

"Remember what I told you?" Natasha brushed some hair away from the child's face. "I'll always be here when you need me."

"But I don't wanna just see you when I need you." Selena insisted. "I wanna see you…...just cause!"

Natasha mirrored her smile and sighed. She was so used to people needing her all the time, that she had forgotten what it was like to be wanted sometimes.

It felt nice.

"Tell you what?" She tapped Selena's nose gently. "I'll come see you from time to time and when you're older, you'll come and see me. And I will always be looking out for you, deal?"

"Deal. Thank you for saving Fitz-Simmons and me."

"Don't mention it."

Their conversation was cut short when Fury walked in to speak with them. "There are some people here to see you."

Selena had originally thought that Fury was the scariest person she had ever seen, but once she spent more and more time with him, she began to realize that he was all bark and no bite.

He was actually really, really nice and Selena liked having him around, even if he was kind of grumpy.

"Solnyshko." Natasha stood up. "That's my cue to leave, but remember, you'll see me again, okay?"

"Okay, Bol'shoy Pauk. Are you gonna say hi to Captain America for me?"

"I'm still your favorite?"

"Always."

"Then yes, I will. Now go."

Selena waved at the both of them and ran to the hangar that had previously been lowered. She watched as the team greeted Jemma, who had been waiting for them to arrive. They were so happy she was alive. Skye immediately ran and embraced her tightly, before pulling away. "Fitz, is he okay? Please tell me he's okay."

"He's alive." Jemma was teary eyed, making them all sigh with relief.

"And Selena?" Skye nearly hesitated to ask. "Is she—"

She didn't want to think of the worst, but she didn't see Selena anywhere around, and the child was definitely not the strongest swimmer. Skye wanted nothing more than to hold the girl in her arms and squeeze her, but the odds were really—

"—Hi." Selena came out of her hiding place. "I — oof!" She didn't get to finish her thought because Skye rushed right at her, and pulled her into one of the tightest hugs she had ever received.

It was nice. She felt safer than she had for the past few days. She supposed that that was what sisters were for.

"I was so worried!" Selena hadn't even realized that Skye was crying until she felt something wet pooling on her shoulder. "I thought I lost you!"

"It's okay." The younger of the two stroked her hair to comfort her. "I'm okay."

She was really tired out from the whole experience and she knew that she was safe now. There was no reason to cry.

Skye just continued to cry and hold Selena, not ever wanting to let her go. She had searched years and years for a family and was lucky enough to gain a sister. One that looked up to her and loved her..…one that always wanted to do what she was doing because she admired her. One that she wasn't going to lose again. "I love you. So much."

Selena froze at those words. She had never heard them directed at her. Ever.

Not from anyone.

She didn't know how to feel about that. It was one thing to accept a hug. It was another to accept an 'I love you'.

"What?" Skye sniffled when she felt her sister tense and pulled away from her. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Do you need anything?—"

"—Nobody's said that to me before." Selena shrugged, still kind of in shock. "Why'd you say that?"

The entire room's heart broke at the ten year old's words, and even May turned away for a moment. A decade on the earth and she had never heard those three simple words.

"What? That I love you?" Skye questioned. "I said it because I do."

"Do you know what it means when you love someone?" Coulson asked, breaking his silence.

"No."

"It means that you like to be around them, you like to see them smile and it hurts when that someone hurts. Love is those little notes you leave in places for everyone to find when we have a hard day." He referred to Selena's funny little post-it notes she periodically leaves in his desk. "It's when we yell and scream at each other because we're getting under one another's skin." Coulson glanced at May. "It's hugs and kisses and so much more."

"It's giving up the last breath of oxygen." Jemma smiled sadly, thinking of Fitz.

"And sometimes, it's as easy as letting someone know that you believe in them." May winked.

"Oh." Selena looked back at her sister. "That's a lot."

It was a lot. Love sounded nice. But it also sounded complicated and confusing.

Skye let out a laugh through her tears and stood up. She wasn't expecting her sister to return the sentiment. She just wanted to get that out in the open. "I'm so glad you're alright."

But Selena didn't want to let go of her, she reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it tighter than she probably intended to.

"What is this place?" May asked, suddenly looking around.

"First thing I found in that box, was these coordinates." Coulson turned to Simmons. "Another secret base?"

"I call it, The Playground." A man turned a corner and made his way over with a smile. "Although, technically it doesn't have a name because, technically, it doesn't exist it being a secret base and all."

"Eric?" Skye raised an eyebrow. Eric was supposed to be dead. How was he here?

"Billy." He corrected. "Koenig...…Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." He lifted up a lanyard. "Although I totally understand the confusion. Eric passed away, sadly, but it's great to have company, finally, and I did not mind minding the place."

"Agent Coulson."

"I know. I know. And it is an honor to meet you, sir." He shook Coulson's hand. "I'll get your lanyard shortly. For the rest of you, lanyards will be handed out on a case by case basis. Can't be too careful with all those Hydra threats still out there causing trouble. That's why we're here. Get you up and running and back fighting the good fight, which is gonna be cool. I know we don't have much, but what we have is yours, sir."

"Thank you."

"Where would you like to start?"

"I heard you met the Black Widow." Skye made some small talk with Selena as she helped the child get ready for bed. "That must've been cool."

"She saved me before…...with Miss Maria. She's nice." Selena nodded. "Can I go see Fitz?"

"No." Skye shook her head. "It's too late, you can see him tomorrow. Hop in." She pulled the covers back and waited for Selena to climb in like she usually did, but the child refused.

"No."

"Come on, Selena. It's late. I know you're tired."

"I'm not tired." Selena shook her head.

She didn't want to lie down and close her eyes, because that meant that when she woke up, she'd be under the water again.

"Selena—"

Selena shook her head and crossed her arms, refusing. "No. I'm not tired."

"Selena." Skye inhaled deeply. "Go to bed."

Selena just shook her head and tried to walk away, but her sister lifted her up and tucked her in.

"I'm not tired."

"Selena, can you tell me why you won't sleep?"

"Cause of the water." Selena shrugged like it was obvious.

"You're not in the water anymore, Munchie." Skye sighed sadly, wishing she could take all of this away from her sister. "You're safe and I'm never gonna let anything happen to you again. I'm so sorry, I let this happen. I'm so sorry." More tears flew down her face.

"It wasn't your fault." Selena sat up. "I know you'd never let anything bad happen to me." Her small fingers reached up and rested on Skye's cheek. "I'm okay now…..but I was really scared, 'cause I didn't think I was ever gonna see you again and I thought you'd be sad without me."

Skye just continued to cry as she listened to her sister speak. She knew the child needed to get all of this off of her chest before she even thought of responding. She needed to hear this, no matter how painful it was.

"And I didn't wanna never see you again." Selena added, pulling her hand down and kneeling on her knees. "I just got you and I never had anyone before." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "And Skye?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry that sometimes I bother you and I make you mad at me….I never had a sister before and I….." Selena had begun to lose control over her bottom lip and it trembled ferociously. "I love you. I'm sorry…..I didn't tell you before, but I…..I do."

Their connection grew so much stronger, that they both broke down at the very same time. Skye snatched Selena and pulled her into her arms as they sobbed on each other without restraint. Every single burden they had been carrying was being released through their joined tears. The horrible foster homes, the loneliness, the neglect, the anger, the hurt, the fear — all of it.

Their shoulders shook and their breathing was choppy. If anyone was walking by the bunk, they probably would've thought that something was wrong.

But something wasn't wrong. Something was very right. There was nothing stopping them from loving each other anymore. Not distance, not ignorance, not even fear.

And despite the trauma of the past few days, they began to heal.

By hanging on to each other.

Los Pollitos - A Spanish nursery rhyme/ditty sung to children. It's a song about little chick and the sounds they make (pillo, pillo) when they're feeling a certain way (hungry, cold).

Solnyshko - Little Sunshine

Bol'shoy Pauk - Big Spider

A/N: This chapter went from intense to fluffy. I didn't have Selena say much in the containment module, because I didn't want her intruding on Fitz-Simmons' moment. Because, who doesn't love Fitz-Simmons, am I right? And I tried my best not to make that reunion too mushy, but, you know, things happen ;). XOXOXOXO.