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I'll be Bill Haley if You'll be My Comet
Title: I'll be Bill Haley if You'll be My Comet
Genre: Gen, Friendship
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~1,450 words
Spoilers: Major spoilers for episode 2.11.
Synopsis: She's shook, she's been rattled, and now maybe it's time for her to roll.
Author's Notes: Like all things with an ongoing series, likely to be Jossed. But, hey, I broke through my writer's block, so there's that?
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and am making no profit from this.
Also available on AO3.
"You put us all in danger, every single one of us at this base!"
"I looked out for a friend! While you- you were on this witch hunt, trying to track down and eradicate anything different, anything you didn't understand. I saw the person and not- not some phantom wrongness you are determined to find in anything that's not how you want it to be!"
The words still echoed in Skye's head as they drove, the stolen SUV blending in with thousands of others on the roads, especially since Fitz had disabled any trackers that likely only he would have found in the first place. It was just as well because she probably would have blown them both up by triggering some hidden self-destruct or another ridiculous yet undoubtedly potentially useful enhancement like that if she had tried. Instead, she drove and he fiddled with something on the console that was most definitely not just a glovebox. They were relatively quiet, at least for now, but that was fine as she had plenty of noise going on internally anyway.
Jemma had found what they knew she eventually would, that Leo had switched the blood samples. One rampage of a tiny biochemist later, and the truth was out there for all to see. May tried to reason, find a common ground between Fitz and Simmons and maybe even hint at some protection of Skye herself, but Simmons was not about to budge. Morse suggested Skye go back into quarantine until they worked things out, ignoring the fact she had been free to spread her "contagion" to others for days. Mack backed up Simmons, only relenting slightly with the choice of physically manhandling Skye onto the bay. Hunter was silent, a rarity for him, probably trying to figure out which side had the higher probability for a larger payout, or at least victory.
Coulson just frowned.
It was Skye herself who brought things to an end. As calmly as she could, which wasn't much since she could see the overhead lights already flickering and swaying, she had asked, "Would you put me in a cage? Would you put me in that damned Index of yours?"
Jemma had faltered, finding her footing again only when Mack answered, "Yes. All that and more, sweetheart."
Jemma argued it would only be temporary, only until they found a cure, for whatever that was to mean. Skye saw the truth though, saw who was already armed with sleepers and tranqs. She stepped back and away, head shaking in counterpoint to the walls. "I'm sorry," she had whispered, and let them fall.
It would take the team precious minutes to dig themselves out of the barricade she had created, especially since the act was far from an exact science and she really hoped that pillar wasn't a load-bearing one. She and Fitz used those minutes to grab anything and everything they could, shove it into the back of one of the SUVs and get the hell out of Dodge. It wasn't until later, after she wove neatly in and out of traffic, speed carefully kept to avoid any obvious detection from any authorities and their respective allegiances, that she dared to ask, "Where do you want me to go?"
"I was kind of hoping that you had a place in mind," Leo admitted with a lopsided grin. He had a smear of dust on his cheek and more in his no longer curly curls, but seemed otherwise unfazed by the whole ordeal.
Her mind instantly thought of the Rising Tide, knew they would find a place for her, a place for them both, if she dared to ask. She suspected leaks there though, the remnants of both SHIELD and Hydra knowing far too much about things that were supposedly private, internal matters. Coulson had found her once when she was under their supposed protection, and likely could again. It'd be a start though, a chance. They sure as hell didn't have a lot of those.
"I- I have people," Fitz said hesitantly. His hands stilled for a moment, whatever task he had given himself set aside. "Private companies that wanted me almost as much as SHIELD. They're vetted, as clear from Hydra as anything can be I guess. Some more than others, but... We could start there?"
Skye blinked. The thought of sweet innocent Fitz having hidden contacts felt wrong, even as it made perfect sense that multiple people would've wanted that shining star of a brain of his, even with his current limitations. That he was willing to go there though, that he was willing to try, spoke volumes about both the man and the situation they currently found themselves in.
She took as deep of breath as she dared and let it out slowly, a rough attempt at settling her mind. "Okay," she said. "Name a place and we'll try 'em."
She dared to look at him and found him smiling. His eyes were still lined with worry, he'd be stupid not to be afraid at this point, but he honestly looked like a burden had been lifted. It warmed her to know she could do that, even now.
"New York. Manhattan," he announced with far more determination that she could have hoped for. "There was a woman who attended my second dissertation, tried to get me then. I think we'll find Ms. Potts sympathetic to our cause."
Skye nodded and neatly changed lanes. They had a destination. It may not be an endpoint, but that's not what they were looking for, not yet. For the first time since Raina put the damned obelisk on the damn pedestal, she finally felt steady on her feet.
A slight beeping off to the side caught her attention, and she dared to look away from the road. Fitz had returned his own attention to whatever he was working on, and showed no sign that he even heard the thing. She turned back to find night had fallen, and far too quickly at that. Her eyes were gritty and tired, but she knew she had to keep going.
The beeping was annoying though, and she finally tracked down its source: the biometric watch she wore, new and improved and gifted to her only the day before. The numbers were high, higher than they should be for the simple task of driving, but at least they were falling steadily now, the feedback allowing her to calm and control her internal responses through the techniques May had taught her a lifetime ago.
"Skye? Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she replied absently, intent on focusing on the road ahead. A road that was no longer there.
"Oh, good," Jemma sighed happily with obvious relief. But that was wrong. Jemma wasn't supposed to be there. Wasn't supposed to be carefully picking her way through some fallen books to sit down on the edge of her bed. "We had another tremor. I didn't even know this place was on a fault line."
Skye blinked and reoriented herself, the bright light of the hallway spilling through her doorway to highlight the mess that was her room. Shelves were slanted, the few clothes that had been hanging were in heaps on he floor, and dust drifted down to settle in her eyelashes and tickle her nose.
"Are you coming to breakfast?" Bobbi asked from the doorway, ignoring the mess. "I promise Hunter isn't cooking."
"We'll be right there," Jemma promised for her when she found no words of her own forthcoming. There was a pat to her hand and then a tug on her blankets. "Come on then, we can clean up after," she announced as she stood. There was a pause, and then, "Actually, I was wondering if I could run one more test this afternoon. Fitz says it's entirely unnecessary and he's probably right, but I just want to make sure you're safe. I mean, if you're okay with that?"
Skye closed her eyes and wondered which reality she wanted to be a dream. Maybe the one where none of this had ever happened? There was a rumble, faint but definitely there, just enough for her to feel it through the softness of her mattress.
"Oh dear," Jemma tsked. "Hopefully that was an aftershock and not a sign of what's to come."
Skye held on to the edge of her mattress, to the only thing grounding her at the moment, and dared to look at the dust and darkness and sliver of light. Weakly, and hating herself a little for it, she nodded and agreed, "Yeah, hopefully."
End.
Feedback is always welcomed.
Genre: Gen, Friendship
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~1,450 words
Spoilers: Major spoilers for episode 2.11.
Synopsis: She's shook, she's been rattled, and now maybe it's time for her to roll.
Author's Notes: Like all things with an ongoing series, likely to be Jossed. But, hey, I broke through my writer's block, so there's that?
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and am making no profit from this.
Also available on AO3.
"You put us all in danger, every single one of us at this base!"
"I looked out for a friend! While you- you were on this witch hunt, trying to track down and eradicate anything different, anything you didn't understand. I saw the person and not- not some phantom wrongness you are determined to find in anything that's not how you want it to be!"
The words still echoed in Skye's head as they drove, the stolen SUV blending in with thousands of others on the roads, especially since Fitz had disabled any trackers that likely only he would have found in the first place. It was just as well because she probably would have blown them both up by triggering some hidden self-destruct or another ridiculous yet undoubtedly potentially useful enhancement like that if she had tried. Instead, she drove and he fiddled with something on the console that was most definitely not just a glovebox. They were relatively quiet, at least for now, but that was fine as she had plenty of noise going on internally anyway.
Jemma had found what they knew she eventually would, that Leo had switched the blood samples. One rampage of a tiny biochemist later, and the truth was out there for all to see. May tried to reason, find a common ground between Fitz and Simmons and maybe even hint at some protection of Skye herself, but Simmons was not about to budge. Morse suggested Skye go back into quarantine until they worked things out, ignoring the fact she had been free to spread her "contagion" to others for days. Mack backed up Simmons, only relenting slightly with the choice of physically manhandling Skye onto the bay. Hunter was silent, a rarity for him, probably trying to figure out which side had the higher probability for a larger payout, or at least victory.
Coulson just frowned.
It was Skye herself who brought things to an end. As calmly as she could, which wasn't much since she could see the overhead lights already flickering and swaying, she had asked, "Would you put me in a cage? Would you put me in that damned Index of yours?"
Jemma had faltered, finding her footing again only when Mack answered, "Yes. All that and more, sweetheart."
Jemma argued it would only be temporary, only until they found a cure, for whatever that was to mean. Skye saw the truth though, saw who was already armed with sleepers and tranqs. She stepped back and away, head shaking in counterpoint to the walls. "I'm sorry," she had whispered, and let them fall.
It would take the team precious minutes to dig themselves out of the barricade she had created, especially since the act was far from an exact science and she really hoped that pillar wasn't a load-bearing one. She and Fitz used those minutes to grab anything and everything they could, shove it into the back of one of the SUVs and get the hell out of Dodge. It wasn't until later, after she wove neatly in and out of traffic, speed carefully kept to avoid any obvious detection from any authorities and their respective allegiances, that she dared to ask, "Where do you want me to go?"
"I was kind of hoping that you had a place in mind," Leo admitted with a lopsided grin. He had a smear of dust on his cheek and more in his no longer curly curls, but seemed otherwise unfazed by the whole ordeal.
Her mind instantly thought of the Rising Tide, knew they would find a place for her, a place for them both, if she dared to ask. She suspected leaks there though, the remnants of both SHIELD and Hydra knowing far too much about things that were supposedly private, internal matters. Coulson had found her once when she was under their supposed protection, and likely could again. It'd be a start though, a chance. They sure as hell didn't have a lot of those.
"I- I have people," Fitz said hesitantly. His hands stilled for a moment, whatever task he had given himself set aside. "Private companies that wanted me almost as much as SHIELD. They're vetted, as clear from Hydra as anything can be I guess. Some more than others, but... We could start there?"
Skye blinked. The thought of sweet innocent Fitz having hidden contacts felt wrong, even as it made perfect sense that multiple people would've wanted that shining star of a brain of his, even with his current limitations. That he was willing to go there though, that he was willing to try, spoke volumes about both the man and the situation they currently found themselves in.
She took as deep of breath as she dared and let it out slowly, a rough attempt at settling her mind. "Okay," she said. "Name a place and we'll try 'em."
She dared to look at him and found him smiling. His eyes were still lined with worry, he'd be stupid not to be afraid at this point, but he honestly looked like a burden had been lifted. It warmed her to know she could do that, even now.
"New York. Manhattan," he announced with far more determination that she could have hoped for. "There was a woman who attended my second dissertation, tried to get me then. I think we'll find Ms. Potts sympathetic to our cause."
Skye nodded and neatly changed lanes. They had a destination. It may not be an endpoint, but that's not what they were looking for, not yet. For the first time since Raina put the damned obelisk on the damn pedestal, she finally felt steady on her feet.
A slight beeping off to the side caught her attention, and she dared to look away from the road. Fitz had returned his own attention to whatever he was working on, and showed no sign that he even heard the thing. She turned back to find night had fallen, and far too quickly at that. Her eyes were gritty and tired, but she knew she had to keep going.
The beeping was annoying though, and she finally tracked down its source: the biometric watch she wore, new and improved and gifted to her only the day before. The numbers were high, higher than they should be for the simple task of driving, but at least they were falling steadily now, the feedback allowing her to calm and control her internal responses through the techniques May had taught her a lifetime ago.
"Skye? Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she replied absently, intent on focusing on the road ahead. A road that was no longer there.
"Oh, good," Jemma sighed happily with obvious relief. But that was wrong. Jemma wasn't supposed to be there. Wasn't supposed to be carefully picking her way through some fallen books to sit down on the edge of her bed. "We had another tremor. I didn't even know this place was on a fault line."
Skye blinked and reoriented herself, the bright light of the hallway spilling through her doorway to highlight the mess that was her room. Shelves were slanted, the few clothes that had been hanging were in heaps on he floor, and dust drifted down to settle in her eyelashes and tickle her nose.
"Are you coming to breakfast?" Bobbi asked from the doorway, ignoring the mess. "I promise Hunter isn't cooking."
"We'll be right there," Jemma promised for her when she found no words of her own forthcoming. There was a pat to her hand and then a tug on her blankets. "Come on then, we can clean up after," she announced as she stood. There was a pause, and then, "Actually, I was wondering if I could run one more test this afternoon. Fitz says it's entirely unnecessary and he's probably right, but I just want to make sure you're safe. I mean, if you're okay with that?"
Skye closed her eyes and wondered which reality she wanted to be a dream. Maybe the one where none of this had ever happened? There was a rumble, faint but definitely there, just enough for her to feel it through the softness of her mattress.
"Oh dear," Jemma tsked. "Hopefully that was an aftershock and not a sign of what's to come."
Skye held on to the edge of her mattress, to the only thing grounding her at the moment, and dared to look at the dust and darkness and sliver of light. Weakly, and hating herself a little for it, she nodded and agreed, "Yeah, hopefully."
End.
Feedback is always welcomed.