She closed her eyes as the sound of shattering glass reached her ears. It was a deafening sound but she made no move to cover her ears. She can feel the blood flowing through her veins and the power escaping out of her body. She had never felt this alive and this scared before. She can hear the shouts of everyone in the room, panic evident in their voice. After the sound had died she opened her eyes and looked at her team. They were all wearing the same expressions: fear. Even May, who is the most stoic person Skye has ever met, took a step back and pointed a gun at her. Fear was evident in their eyes and Skye knew she had placed them there, even if she didn’t mean to.
Skye couldn’t believe it when Coulson, someone who’s close to her as a father, also pointed a gun at her and yelled at everyone to get in the room where they’re at. SHIELD agents immediately filled the room, guns raised. They left no spaces for an escape. Lady Sif and the Kree stood by either of Coulson’s side, ready to kill. Unable to control her emotions again, the Playground started to shake violently and everyone dropped to the ground, even Sif and the Kree. The place was still shaking when Skye made her move to escape. She ran as fast as she can, leaving debris in her trail and trying so hard to keep the tears from falling. No, not here, she thought. She needed to get out of the place as soon as she can so the shaking could stop. She could hear someone calling out to her but she ignored them. She focused on putting herself at a safe distance from the Playground, especially from her team. She ran and ran until she can’t feel her feet and collapsed in the middle of nowhere. At least the shaking stopped, she thought. She cried, on the sandy terrain in the middle of nowhere. She cried for her team, for everyone, and for herself.
The reason why she kept her powers from the team, except for Fitz, was that she’s afraid of what they will think and do to her. SHIELD was the closest thing she has to a real family and she doesn’t want to mess that up. She can’t help but feel like she never left the foster system at all because just as she found the family she’s been searching for, unfortunate circumstances happen, being the reasons why she can’t be with them. A part of her already knew what would happen if they found out but still, it hurt a lot than she expected. Having the only family you have your whole life turn their backs on you is more painful than being rejected by every foster home you’ve grown comfortable with.
She walked and walked until she found a motel she knows that’s not very far from where she stopped but very far enough from the location of the Playground. She checked her pockets and found nothing except for the ICER she had earlier. She sighed. She doesn't want to do what she was thinking but she has to. She went inside and pointed the gun at the guy who was working the front desk. The guy looked like he was in his twenties, his hair was messy and his eyes looked tired. When Skye aimed the gun at him, his eyes went wide and immediately put his hands up.
“Okay listen here buddy, I need a place to crash for the night. Just one and I’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow morning. Also, I need some cash so if you could please open the cash register and hand me all of the money inside, things won’t get messy.” Skye said, smiling sweetly at the boy. He was too shocked and most likely scared to say something to her so he just followed her orders. Soon enough there’s a room key and a wad of cash, more than enough of what she expected judging by the look of the motel, on Skye’s hand. She put them inside her jacket but she remained the gun pointed at him.
“Atta boy. Now, if you decided to report this little incident to the police, I’m going to shoot you. Understood?” The boy nodded as he shook with fear.
Skye made her way to the room and slipped inside. She was too tired and her body was aching so she flopped down on the bed, face first and allowed to cry herself to sleep.
________________________________________
As promised, Skye left the motel as soon as the sun rose. She used the front door and stopped only to look at the boy on the front desk. Before she left she had snuck into the supply room where she suspected that they keep the telephone box and security wires. She cut all the wires just to make sure the kid won’t find anything useful if he rat her out to the police. She put a finger up on her mouth and made a shushing sound and stepped outside.
For the past week, all Skye did was walk and stop at a diner to get some food and then walk again until she found another motel. She still had enough cash on her so she didn’t have to point a gun at someone again. She felt really bad at the boy but she had no choice at that time. It was stupid of her to run away without bringing anything but really could you blame her? The building was crumbling and even though most SHIELD agents were on the ground inside the room where had been, there were still a few of them just in the halls and were probably on her tail when they saw her running away. There was no time to make a pit stop.
She checked into her third motel and went straight to her room. It has been a week since she ran away. A week since everyone found out about her secret, of who she is and what she’s capable of. The pain of their betrayal and rejection was still a raw wound and it wouldn’t stop bleeding, no matter how hard she tried to not think about it. She closed her eyes and tried to stop her mind from replaying the events.
A few hours later, she heard a knock on her door. Her first thought was that they had found her. They we’re going to bring her in and test her, or whatever SHIELD does to people like her. She grabbed her gun and walked slowly the door. The person on the other side knocked again as Skye stood against the door.
“Skye, please open the door!”
Fitz. Fitz has found her. She’s not sure whether to feel happy or afraid that Fitz is here. He was the only one who knew about what happened to her. At first, he ran off, scared of her but a few minutes later, he came back with medical supplies under his arm and went inside Skye’s containment unit and treated her wounds. She was sure he will tell Coulson and the team sooner or later but he didn’t. Instead, he helped Skye control her emotions and reassure her that it was going to be okay. He had been nothing but supportive of Skye despite of the fear and worry she can see in his features every time she looks at him. He had been her rock in those difficult situations.
“Skye please open the door! I’m not going to hurt you I swear!” Fitz’s tone was desperate and it almost sounded like he was pleading. Skye sighed and opened the door slowly but she held her gun up, just in case.
Fitz’s hand shot up as he saw the gun pointed at him. Skye looked at the Scottish man. He was wearing a blue cardigan over a button-down shirt, black pants and combat boots. Two duffel bags rested on the floor on his sides. His face was unshaved and his expression looked tired, like hasn’t slept for days.
“Why are you here?” Skye asked, still not lowering the gun.
“Can I please come inside first?” he asked.
Skye lowered her gun, reassured that there wasn’t any threat and moved aside so Fitz can come in. She closed the door and locked it after. Fitz sat on the bed while Skye remained standing.
“Why are you here? Who sent you? How did you find me?”
“Relax, Skye. No one sent me. The ICER I gave you, it’s one of the latest models I have and it has a tracker embedded to it. Don’t worry, I only have two and the other one’s with me. The tracker is connected only to my phone that’s why I found you. I have also disabled our phone’s tracking before I went out so they can’t follow us.”
“Why are you here? And why do you have two duffel bags with you?”
“I brought your things."
Skye stared at him. She can’t help but feel warm inside because Fitz cared enough to bring her stuff with him. But she can’t help but wonder why he brought two. She didn’t have that many things since was taken in by SHIELD and most of her possessions were gone when they lost The Bus.
“The other bag contains my things.” Fitz said, as if he read her mind.
Skye said nothing, the silence filling the space. She has so many questions she wants to ask him. Is the team okay? How are they holding up? Are they still trying to find me? What are you doing out here? Out of all the questions she has on her mind, she only asked one.
“Why?”
Fitz was silent for a while but he stood up and looked at her. She wants to know why he did this. Why go through all the trouble for her? She’s not the same person she used to be. She’s very far from the person she was. She doesn’t know who she is anymore or what she’s capable of and yet he’s still here, being kind and supportive as always but this time his eyes showed no traces of fear.
“The first time I saw you, I already got the impression that you’re a tough lass. You’re the life of the party and you desperately try to make everyone happy. You strive to be everyone’s rock. As the time went by and as we face the challenges, physically and emotionally of being a SHIELD agent, I saw through you. People say that it’s always the happiest who wears a mask to hide what they are really feeling. Probably because they don’t want the people around them to experience what they had. Your walls were breaking down and your mask was wearing thin but you pretend like it’s nothing and you continue being you happy self. You think no one sees you putting up this charade but I do. It is true that the same girl who makes everyone smile and laugh is the same girl who cries herself to sleep every night. “
“When I found out about what you have done, about what happened in the temple, I was so scared that I ran away from you. I have never felt so afraid since that day we got dropped off and left for dead in the bottom of the ocean. I was shaking and my mind was going a thousand thoughts per second. But then I remembered the times you were there for me. You helped me get better, Skye. You were my rock in those difficult situations. You set aside your own feelings just to make everyone feel better, to make me feel better. You made me believe that everything will be okay and that I will get better and I did. You never gave up on me and I’m sure as hell that I won’t give up on you, even if it means turning my back on Jemma and SHIELD.”
“I made a promise to myself that day that I will protect you no matter what. I will help you as you helped me. I will do to you what you have done for me. It’s time to stop being the rock, Skye. I’m here for you and it is okay to let go, to pull away that mask of yours. “
After Fitz’s speech, she collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Everything Fitz had said were true. She was crumbling in front of him and she felt exposed. Skye vowed to herself that days when she ran away from the system that she will never let other people see her as vulnerable as she is right now. She also made a silent promise that if she can’t be happy, she will make others feel happy because she doesn’t want them to feel what she’s feeling. At least this is the one thing she can do good at. Fitz kneeled down at her, and placed a hand on her back.
“I will be strong for the both of us. It’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to be different. There’s nothing wrong with you Skye. You’re just different now and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
He pulled her into a hug and sobbed on his shoulder. The hand that was on her back started to move up and down. Fitz held her as she cried and she held on to him like her life was defended on it. She could feel Fitz’s arm that was hugging her tighten, feeling very protective of her. Skye’s hold on him also tightened and they stayed like that until the sobbing stopped and Skye fell asleep, holding on to Fitz. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, a comforting gesture he got from his mum, and lifted Skye’s sleeping form on the bed. Fearing that Skye might break down again if he removed himself from her hold, he lied down on his side so he’s facing Skye, He pulled the covers over them and returned to holding the girl tight in his arms.