i'm going numb, I've been hijacked
“Jemma?”
“mmm”
Skye could just see Jemma’s silhouette on the other side of the room. The only light came from their alarm clock and the room was so pitch that the red light seemed glaring. She squeezed her eyes shut willing her limbs to feel heavy but her consciousness remained stubbornly in place. Her mouth felt full of cotton balls and her head pounded dully.
There was a rustling of sheets from where Jemma lay, but no other noise.
“Jemma,” she said, louder than before.
“hmmm, what?” the other woman sighed, her vowels lazy in sleep.
“What do you know about Grant Ward?”
Jemma sighed again and curled deeper into the covers.
“Sleep now, talk later. Preferably with coffee. We’ll bully Fitz into making some.”
Skye a sudden affection for Fitz and Simmons enveloped her, like sinking into a hot bath after a long day. Their friendship had been the only thing that had soothed the raw loneliness that hung around the Freezer like a plague. The last time Skye recalled feeling that way about anyone, they had been adopted, never to be seen again and never to return her letters. Perhaps it was a bad thing to become attached, but there was a quiet sort of achievement in making friends. A wonder that she could make them at all. Besides, Grant Ward was dripping of shadows and ghosts; the best way to separate the man from his past was to force him into the light.
“Okay,” Skye whispered.
She might have imagined it, but she thought she saw Jemma smile.
.
“Okay, who is Grant Ward?” Jemma asked crisply while smothering a scone with Fitz’s special raspberry jam. Behind her, Fitz was rummaging for something in the refrigerator. They had a separate living area than that of the guards and Skye had never been more grateful.
“I was hoping-”
Fitz popped his head from the fridge and looked at Skye with wide eyes.
“Grant Ward?” he said, looking more frazzled than usual.
“You know him?” Jemma asked and Fitz made his way to sit with them, a small carton or half and half in hand. He slid onto his chair and stared intently into his mug.
“Yeah,” Fitz said quietly and fiddled with the string on his tea bag.
“He… Some other engineers and I were ambushed and Ward saved us. Afterwards he would stop by ask about what I was working on. Check up on me.”
Fitz took a hasty sip of his tea and let out a deep breath. Jemma looked caught between curiosity and hurt.
“Where was I during this? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were visiting your parents. I didn’t want to worry you. And by the time you came back he was already dead.”
“What?”
Skye nearly dropped her coffee. Jemma and Fitz both look at her, confused.
“Skye you look like death!” Jemma cried.
“Fitz, how did they saw he died?”
“That he’d been shot,” he told her with wide eyes.
“Why do you ask?”
“He’s-” Skye began, but stopped shot when she say that Dr. Pluto had entered the room.
“Sorry,” Raina said, (No she wasn’t) “But Agent Hand would like you review the new security measures to her.”
Skye gave a significant look to her two friends before saying her goodbyes. She glanced back to see a morose looking Fitz and a determined Simmons as she followed the other woman out of the living area and into the hallway.
“Hand wants me to talk to prisoner 86 again, doesn’t she?” Skye said, resignedly once the door had closed.
“We both do. You seemed upset when 86 called you Daisy. Why was that?”
(Why are you lying? Why does it feel like you’re smirking even though you’re not?)
“I don’t like the name Daisy,” Skye said flatly, and began to walk briskly down the hall. Unfortunately, Raina caught up quickly and kept pace, even though she was in heels.
“Why did SHEILD fake 86’s death?”
“They didn’t want to alert whoever he was working for. They hoped that whoever he was working for would try and help him escape.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before,” asked Skye, annoyed.
“Agent Hand and I wanted to see how you reacted. Congratulations. You passed.”
Skye stopped and turned to look and Pluto with narrowed eyes. She’s was in a perfect floral dress with perfect cat eyes and perfect composure and Skye doesn’t trust her anymore than the day they met.. She can’t help but think that Pluto’s just as shadowed and deceptive as Ward.
“Coming?” Pluto asked and it sounded like a dare.
.
“So we meet again.”
“Yes.”
“Those are some pretty heavy bags under your eyes. Trouble sleeping?”
Skye squashed the urge to stick out her tongue. She was always squashing, resisting urges here. Don’t fidget, don’t roll your eyes, don’t be a child, don’t jump, don’t be scared. What she needed was a full night’s sleep and more coffee. Or maybe what she really needed was fresh air; fresh air and a bustling city street and the clanging of the subway and the wind pulling at her jacket. Not poked and prodded by a grim reaper. Why had she wanted to go to the Freezer again?
Her lead hadn’t even been that solid. But a slight chance was more than no chance and like usual, she had rushed to chase it. May would be so disappointed. The thought sobered her thoughts and she frowned deeply at Ward.
“What made you so important that they sent you to the prison? You’re just the minion. Whoever you were working for isn’t going to get you out of here until it’s convenient for them and not a moment sooner. You’re just gonna rot in here. No matter how many pushups you do,” she added eyeing the bulk of his arms.
Ward’s dark eyes were full of something ugly. His anger was dark and tempestuous as his eyes and it seemed to fill the cell with a crackling energy. He would be Ares, she thought. God of war and destruction. How much could he obliterate before he could be stopped? You can't imprison war, only calm it down. For a terrifying moment, Skye feared that he could see straight through her.
“Well, that makes two of us doesn’t it Daisy? Abandoned by your parents, abandoned by your SO. Why, we’re birds of a feather you and I.”
He stood up, and Skye was reminded just how tall 6’2 was as he made his way to where the plasma shield hummed quietly. He didn’t have to swagger; every step had the elegance of a massive jungle cat.
“We’re the same, Daisy.”
“If you’re trying to scare me, you are going to have to try harder,” Skye sneered.
“Then let the shields down,” he smiled widely, and it pulled at his face in a way that might have been charming if he had not become so pale and gaunt, “see what happens.”
As it was, the smile was filthy and the way her looked at her made her stiffen. How had Raina not tripped over those spindly heels when he attacked? Skye thought of Agent May and her breathing exercises.
“My name is Skye, Prisoner 86. My parents died before I could know them and I was sent here due to my skill set. I hope you’ll try to be more creative the next time I see you.”
Three steps away from the door, Ward spoke up and Skye turned to find his eyeing her thoughtfully.
“The Freezer isn’t just classified because of its prisoners you know. This prison’s got all sorts of secrets. Do ask Raina about them, won’t you?”
Without a word, Skye left the cell block with the feeling that she had never been so far in over her head.
.
“What did Ward mean, ‘this prison is full of secrets’?” Skye asked snidely when she exited the cell block.
She turned to see Pluto seated delicately on her chair, her pen poised to jot down a note on a sleek leather backed notebook.
“From what I understand, this prison contains artifacts and other suspicious recovered items from various seizes. For example, there was a prisoner who came in right before I did that was found with something alien. When he killed three SHIELD agents, they were forced to send him here.”
Skye mulled that over, but found there was little to make sense of it
“Was that your birth name? Daisy?” Pluto asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Skye muttered, “Stupid name.”
“And you chose your own name as a way of reclaiming your identity.”
Skye turned to stare dully at the other woman.
“Look, Dr. Pluto-”
“You can call me Raina you know.”
“And you asked me to call you Raina as a way of creating a false sense of camaraderie. Takes two to tango.”
Raina gave a bland smile, eyes sparkling with amusement.
Skye shuddered.
.
Somehow, she kept on just missing Fitz and Simmons. Eyes bleary, and hair pulled back in a severe ponytail, an exhausted looking Simmons muttered something about resistant and regenerative DNA. Fitz was only a little better, just managing to drink his coffee with her only morning without falling asleep on the table.
"What were you going to say about Grant Ward?"
She might have said "SHEILD faked his death," and "he's not the hero you think he is," but Fitz looked so worn down and tired that she bites her lip.
"I'll tell you later, promise."
.
Three days after her last interview with Ward, Agent Hand called her in for an evaluation.
Skye entered Hand’s bland office calmly and Hand gestured for her to take a seat, the older agent still busy reading a thick file. It was a heavy thunk and rapid clicking behind her that caused Skye to turn. The massive vault that acted as a door to Hand’s office had been closed and two guards stood on either side. She stared and turned to face the older agent. Hand was looking at her speculatively, as if she was expecting Skye to blurt out a confession of treason and Skye felt fury begin to simmer in the pit of her stomach making her blood run hot and skin itch for a fight.
“An evaluation.”
“Your birth name is Daisy Johnson, correct,” Hand said, her brutal efficiency more grating than usual.
“My name is Skye.”
“Yes or no answers only.”
Skye flexed her palms. She felt that dangerous urge to push Hand’s buttons. It would be so easy; ask her why the successful Victoria Hand was stuck in the middle of nowhere, playing babysitter while reckless agents like Phil Coulson where busy sending her their trash. Skye, May’s voice cautioned and Skye clenched the arm rests.
“Yes.”
“Where you, or where you not recommended to the Freezer by Agent John Garret.”
Skye narrowed her eyes in confusion.
“No.”
“No,” Hand intoned and the look of sheer skepticism on her face was infuriating.
“No. Agent May-”
“Yes or no-”
“-Tough shit. She said she wanted me to work on my patience. I thought this was what she meant.”
Hand stood up and looked down at Skye disdainfully. She opened her mouth to say something, but that was when the alarms went off. Hand’s mouth closed abruptly, and she gestured for the guards to reopen the vault. The phone on her desk began to ring shrilly, a hideous accompaniment to the blaring alarms.
Hand jammed the speaker button.
“What is it, Dr. Pluto?” Hand snapped.
“Someone has deactivated Prisoner 87’s cell. I need Agent Johnson to activate the backup shield. And she needs to be here to do it, someone broke the wiring.”
“Which means it wasn’t me, before you start pointing fingers,” Skye told Hand, aggravated. Hand glared coldly.
“Come,” she said, sweeping around her desk and striding out of the room, the guards and Skye trailing behind in her wake.
“Who is prisoner 87 anyways?” Skye asked, but Hand didn’t even turn to look at her.
Raina met them in the hallway, breathless.
“I’ve been able to contain him, but I need your help.”
“Where?”
“In the breaker room.”
Hand started jogging and Raina struggled to keep up behind them, almost tripping on her heels. For a moment, Skye though of Ward’s hulking frame, lean with muscle, and again wondered how Raina had managed not to trip over her heels and broken an ankle when Ward attacked.
Down the hall, clatter down a level of stairs and strait into the breaker room for the fourth floor- the floor for the most dangerous prisoners, Ward's floor. A guard lay slummed on the ground, unnaturally still. One of Hand’s guards checked for a pulse and shook his head. Swallowing hard, Skye threw open the third breaker box and immediately began to survey the damage.
“Check the security footage,” Hand commanded and proceeded to breath over Skye’s shoulder.
“Could you not?”
“Tough shit.”
They glared at each other for a second, Hand’s eyes flashing with righteous venom and Skye found her respect for the other woman rising. If only just a little.
Skye rummaged through the wires, but something was off. Whoever did this was trying to hide their true purpose, and Skye knew instinctively that she would need much more time, maybe even Fitz's help. Everything seemed to be cut at random, and not even effectively. In order to disable some plasma shields, you had to cut up to eight different wires, while only four or five were cut.
Confused, Skye glanced back at Hand just in time to see Grant Ward snap her neck.
For a moment, Skye just stared at Hand’s body. She just lay there and Skye tried to will the older agent to move, to twitch her finger. Ward placed a rough hand on Skye’s shoulder and her whole body felt disjointed from her brain, like it had been unplugged. She didn't even think before she rammed her fist into his kidney (“be efficient as possible” May said “knock them down fast so you can save energy”). She would have followed it up with a knee to the balls, but Ward had already slammed her against the wall.
Skye gasped and fell on her knees. Her brain had quite suddenly reconnected with her body, but now it was impeded by sensory overload. The lights were blinding, her head throbbing and limbs weak as she struggled to get up. Through the black spots in her vision, she couldn’t see the guards, only strange black pieces of rubble. Ward scooped her up with ease and moments later laid her down on a cold concrete floor.
She groaned, clutching her head.
“I said to play nice.”
Raina. Skye rolled on her side to see the other woman standing beside Ward, a strange crystal held reverently in her hands.
“And I said I would within reason. You didn’t tell me May was training her. She used her signature move without even thinking.”
Skye tried to stand, but nausea overtook her and she decided to focus on breathing instead. Raina walked rapidly toward her in barely contained excitement. The plasma shields hummed to life trapping her and Raina together. The crystal caught the light and Skye felt feverish.
“What is that thing?”
“That thing,” a man said as her entered the room, “is your destiny.”
Skye didn’t feel like the air had left her lungs. She felt like the world had simply dropped out underneath her. Prisoner 87. Calvin Zebo. Her father.
She had memorized his picture of course. The only proof of his existence, grainy and insignificant as it was. For all of her research, her thrill of finally finding proof of her father's existence, it had never occurred to her that her father was insane. His beady eyes darted around in pure excitement, examining every inch of the daughter he hadn’t seen since infancy.
“Did you ever wonder why you were sent here?” Ward added, looking at her with something that looked like pity.
Skye didn’t answer- couldn’t answer, barely managing to tear her eyes away from her father.
“HYDRA knows your father you know. In exchange for giving him his daughter, he would break me out.”
“I’m different from you,” Cal said hurriedly, eagerness lighting up his face. “Different from how you will be, but I have abilities of my own. I’m very strong.”
“Fitzsimmons,” Skye breathed.
“Pardon?” Cal asked politely.
“That’s why they were sent here. To contain you.”
Cal shrugged.
“No one will ever contain me again. Not after I can finally get to know my daughter.”
His eyes softened, and Skye began to shake her head. Revulsion rose within her like an atomic smoke plum.
“You’re already perfect and you haven’t even transformed yet. Raina? Do it now. I want to see her change.”
“My pleasure,” Raina said softly and Skye realized that this was the first time Raina had ever looked genuine.
Maybe it was stamped into her genetic sequence, or maybe it was just gut intuition, but Skye knew that once that crystal was crushed, she was going to be obliterated.
Too late.
The crystal had already shattered into a thousand pieces.
.
Have you ever been unmade?
Skye thinks she might be melting. In chemistry, change requires energy and energy causes heat. And that’s what is changing isn’t it? Her body, her fundamental chemistry is being torn apart. Her DNA is being rewritten, it must be. Her bones are splintering and she must be screaming, she must be, but she’s immobile, cocooned in some strange black matter.
For the final few stretches of her transformation, there is Nothing. Skye’s heart stops beating, her lungs deflate and her blood stills.
And then…
The earth quakes beneath her feet, her cocoon shatters, her lungs fill and all she can hear is the steady boom boom boom of her heart.