better to burn than to fade away

The black matter cocooning her shattered violently, the force of the vibrations pulsing from her chest and radiating out; even her finger-tips shook and she felt as if her shoes would fall off. Whatever relief she might have felt was violently overpowered when the vibrations did not cease. They seemed to radiate out from her, yet never leave her body until it became almost numbing. Overwhelmed and overstimulated, the vibrations finally stopped. She fell to her knees then collapsed fully, shaking violently.

Never before, not even when she was a surly teenager, had she ever felt so uncomfortable in her skin. As it was, her skin felt like it had been peeled from her body dipped in hot oil before it had been plastered back over her muscles, raw and agonizing against the fabric of her clothes.  

“We need a new plan.”

It was Ward. Rather than feeling submerged, his voice was painfully sharp and clear, like needles in her eardrums. She clasped her palms over her ears, desperate.

“She’s magnificent, isn’t she? Earthquakes! Raina was not so fortunate it seems. The crystal can cause the strangest reactions.”

“You don’t know what you’ve done to her do you?”

A growl.

“I’ve let my daughter become what she’s always been meant to be. Just like her mother.”

“She could conceivably move a mountain, and she’s not going to be able to control whatever it is she can do,” Ward said furiously, then, softer, but with no less venom, “And you’ve condemned Raina to a life of scorn and hatred.”

“She chose this,” Cal told him, petulant.

“Besides, I thought you didn’t care for her.”

“Cruelty is cruelty, Cal.”

Agonizingly, Skye tucked her head between her knees and tried to calm her breathing. Someone tried to move toward her but was yanked backward.

“How dare you?” Cal snarled.

“I’d prefer she not destroy the building before we can get out of here,” Ward said coldly. “Something tells me you’re not going to help anything.”

A whimper came from the corner of the room and Skye slowly turned her head.

It couldn’t be Raina, and yet it must have been.

Gone was the alluring and mysterious woman Skye had met in Hand’s office, and in her place was something... else. Something demented and alien looking, covered in spikes like a mutant porcupine. Although her eyes were yellow and like that of an alligator, they were full of terror.

Karma, a spiteful part of her whispered. But if that was Raina, then what was she?

The vibrations started up again, organic this time, rapidly spreading through every molecule and the walls began to shake around them violently. Wait...was that...her?

“We need to get out of here, now,” Ward hissed. Cal made to move towards Skye again, but Ward beat him to the punch.

“You’ve done enough,” he said before scooping Skye up in his arms. “You can take the porcupine.”

.

Six, seven floors up, Ward had to brace himself when the building began to sway. Whatever had happened to her was still making her head spin and her blood run too hot and too fast, but Skye had started to acclimate somewhat. She focused the firm grip of Ward’s arms as the world began to stop spinning like a haywire top.

“Why did they build this thing like a skyscraper? What if there was a tsunami?” she mumbled.

“I doubt they ever expected you,” Ward huffed, jogging up the stairs. Skye got the distinct feeling that he didn’t want to be anywhere near her father.

“Fitz always said that the building was structurally unsound.”

“Fitz? With the drones?”

“n’ Simmons. He thought you were dead. Said you saved him once.”

His arms spasmed slightly around her.

“He’s a good kid. Him and the scientist girl together yet?”

“Simmons’ is so smart she can’t even tell he likes her.”

Abruptly, Ward laid her down in a supply closet and closed the door, careful not to hit her head. For a while there was silence. Then there were a few grunts and a man was cut off mid-yell before she heard a loud thunk. Several floors below them, Agent Hand’s body was probably still warm. With that sobering thought, Skye’s head finally began to clear.

Hauling herself off the dusty floor of the supply closet felt something like the way it did the day after May made her do back squats for the first time. But there had been something satisfying in the soreness, even if she’d hated stairs for a week. Now everything just burned and chafed, a raw ache that wouldn’t ease.

Skye pushed open the door in time to see Ward emerge from a room wearing a guard’s uniform and adjusting the collar. For a moment, she could see him as he was before; solemn and clean-shaven, his hair cropped close to his head and broad shoulders filling out a military uniform and she understood. His skin was too pale and his eyes too dark, but once upon a time, he might have been on recruiting posters for Shield. But then he grinned at her, a touch of madness in his eyes and the vision shattered.

“Did you kill them?”

Ward just looked her, unflinching.  

“I’m glad you can walk. Time to go.”

“No.”

“No?” He asked. Not mad, exactly. Curious, but dangerous too.

He took a step towards her and the something tightened in her gut. The air started to vibrate and Skye’s hands began to tremble. Ward paused and eyed her speculatively.

“What do you think will happen? If you stay? You’re a lab rat waiting to happen, Skye. You think your friends are going to care?”

“Why do you care?” Skye gasped, the vibrations slowing growing more intense, a tiger pulling restlessly at its leash.

“Because we’re the same,” he said quietly, dark eyes softening. For a moment she hesitated, then brought a roughened hand to her cheek and dragged it to her neck. His hand was cool against her skin, but Skye was the definition of sensory overload and nothing felt like it was supposed to. Skye’s hands clenched and her nails dug sharply into her palms.

“Bullshit,” she sneered. Ward’s eyes flashed, but removed his hand gently, letting his thumb drag against her jaw.

“Nuh-uh. You killed your parents via arson and got locked up in a super secret government prison. I got caught hacking into SHIELD from my van. No comparison jackass.”

There were a series of loud footsteps and then a loud gasp.

“Skye!”

“Ward?”

Skye turned to see Jemma and Fitz staring at her and Ward with slack jaws although Jemma was slightly more composed. Fitz looked her might be near tears as his eyes darted between a shaky-legged Skye and a hulking Ward who couldn’t look less like a guard even if he was wearing the right uniform. Quite suddenly, Fitz rushed forward and hugged Skye tightly. She gripped him tightly and tried to slow her breathing. Distantly, she registered Jemma was taking her pulse and had put a hand on her forehead.

“What did they do to you?” Jemma asked in a trembling voice.

“Time to go, kids. Or the person who did this to her will catch up.”

Jemma and Fitz exchanged a look brimming with meaning and Skye nodded at them. It wasn’t so hard to think anymore but she didn’t want to expend the energy needed to understand Ward’s motives. Fitz and Jemma both helped prop her up with Ward trailing behind them like a shadow.

“Did they drug you?” Jemma urged, but Skye ignored her.

“What’s going on? Where are the guards?”

“Evacuating,” Fitz said and adjusted his grip. “Prisoners are put on lockdown and agents are evacuated via helicopters.”

“We broke away to find you,” Jemma added quietly and shot a look behind them.

“Where’s Agent Hand?”

Skye wanted to lay down. Something to drink and damp compress would be nice too.

“Dead.”

Jemma gasped loudly and Fitz shushed her. Any other circumstance Jemma might have whomped him on the back of the head but settled for a withering glare.

“What do you mean?”

“He killed her,” Skye said dully. She focused on putting one foot in from of the other. The sooner they were out this miserable prison, the better. Fitz went pale beside her and Jemma pressed her lips together, hard.

“Who’s he-this Ward person? But what happened to you? And don’t say you’re fine!”

Skye swallowed thickly and saw that Jemma’s brown eyes were huge with fear. How do you explain that you are, quite literally, not the same person you were two hours before? Was she even human anymore? A phantom sob racked her chest. Skye looked at Jemma again and realized too late that she had scared her friend even more.

“SKYE!”

Cal.  She didn’t need to tell Fitz and Jemma what to do: They hauled Skye through the doorway and slammed it closed, locking it frantically locking it behind them. There was a shout followed by a loud crash but they didn’t look back.

Breaking into a dead sprint, the trio raced up the last set of stairs to the roof. Jemma broke away and fiddled with the lock and opened the door so they could burst onto the roof.

For a moment there was weightlessness and then a powerful gust of wind threw her to her knees, but Fitz held her in a vice grip.

“You’re stronger than you look,” Skye told him, half dazed.

“Why does everybody always say that?” Fitz said, sounding annoyed despite everything.  

In front of them, Jemma waved her hands frantically over her head.

“They’re leaving!” She yelled, distraught.

Skye searched the horizon to find the helicopters that had once been parked on the top of the Freezer were but black dots in the distance.

“Shit,” Skye gasped, hair whipping around her and eyes stinging- why hadn’t she worn a ponytail? Fitz seemed beyond words.

A loud crash sounded behind them and all three turned to see that Cal had ripped the door off its hinges. He stalked towards them, a malevolent looking Ward pushing past him. Skye’s stomach turned to lead. Jemma staggered over to them and clutched the back of Skye’s shirt.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“What are you doing?” Fitz hissed as Skye pushed him and Jemma behind her.

“Well, we were trying to get away from you and your murderous henchman.”

“I’m not his henchman.”

Skye rolled her eyes at Ward.

“It’s funny that’s what you take offense to.”

“Sweetheart,” Cal tried, but Skye recoiled. Ward pushed past the other man and offered a hand to Skye.

“If all three of you want to get out of this prison, you need to listen.”

“I can help you!” Cal yelled into the wind and Skye felt fury like she’d never known begin to burn in her chest. It was too much. This time, Skye let the vibrations build and focused all her fury on the two men in front of her.

If Skye had known how to use her newfound abilities, it might have worked. As if body slammed, Fitz and Simmons were forced back, skidding with frightening quickness towards the edges of the helipad. Horrified, Skye felt herself fall backward.

A moment later, the wind had finally succeeded what it had been trying to do the when she first arrived at the Freezer.

She fell.

Tumbled really. Right off the helipad, and plunged into the open air.

The weightlessness stole her breath, but it also stole the pain of the transformation. For the first time in what felt like eons, Skye could think clearly. Maybe it was better she was dead. People weren’t supposed to be able to move mountains after all.

The sky stretched out, cloudless over her head. To think her name would be the last thing she saw as if she had predicted her own demise when she was fourteen.

She was falling to her death. And then quite suddenly she wasn’t. She caught a flash of blond hair, felt something grip her harshly and then the solid weight of the helipad beneath her. Dazed, she opened her eyes to see a blond man with no eyes. Faintly, she thought she could hear Fitz and Simmon’s cry her name.

The wind tugged rough and cold like it had during the fall, and suddenly Skye felt numb. The adrenalin that had kept her moving had depleted. For the second time that day she felt herself slump to the ground and her sight darkened.

I’m rebooting, she thought wildly. Then the world went black.

.

There was a flash of gravel road, sharp sunshine, Jemma’s worried face, and then blissful darkness. When Skye finally did come to, the relief was palpable. Not like the adrenaline-fueled numbness of the fall, but the intense discomfort of the transformation had faded to the point of being manageable rather than overwhelming. Cautiously, she rolled her head and let her eyes fall open.

She was in a wood paneled room, resembling something between a sauna and a hotel room. Natural light fell in through high glass windows and numerous candles added more light without being overpowering to her sensitive eyes. Fitz sat by her feet, hands clasped behind the back of his head and staring at the ground. Jemma was pacing the rooms, deep in thought.

“You sure she’s gonna wake up soon?” Fitz asked in a muffled voice.

Skye meant to say something comforting, but all that came out was: “Mmph.”

Jemma walked briskly over to check her pulse.

“How are you?”

“Uhh…” Skye rubbed her eyes. The bed she was laying on was far more comfortable than her bed at the freezer and she had no intention of getting up if she didn’t have to.

“What happened?” she croaked.

“You passed out.”

Skye gave Fitz a limp kick in the knee.

“No, Duh. After that. Where are we?”

“You fell. And then that guy rescued you?” Fitz told her with wide eyes.

“Apparently he can teleport,” Simmons finishes.

“As for location, who knows. They wouldn’t tell us. We’re not even sure where they put Ward and Cal. Some sort of facility for people like the teleporter though,” she added pressing her lips together.

“Someone like me you mean?” Skye said, sinking into the bed.

Fitz and Simmons had no answer to that. Skye didn’t expect them to- she didn’t have one either. After a long moment, Fitz scooted his chair over and grabbed her hand.

“You’re still one of us. We’re a team, we’ll figure it out,” he told her earnestly and squeezed her hand. On her other side, Simmons looked perturbed but when she met Skye’s eyes, there was only determination in her gaze.

Skye felt her chest expand with warmth, the vibrations in her chest dying down to a gentle hum.

“We also saw Raina,” Fitz paused and exchanged a nervous look with Simmons, “What happened to her?”

“Same thing that happened to me,” Skye said, resigned.

“We just reacted differently to the same stimuli I guess.”

“Stimuli? You’ve been spending too much time with us,” Fitz said with a weak grin.

“What happened down there?”

Skye slowly met Jemma’s wide brown eyes and felt the sudden inexplicable urge to cry.

“Raina told Hand there had been a breach. Hand took me down to fix it. Raina, Ward, and Cal were all in on it. After he killed Hand, they took me to a cell and smashed this crystal… thing,” She finished lamely.

“I don’t know what I am,” she whispered thickly.

Fitz squeezed her shoulder.

Skye looked up to see Jemma was off in her own world where genetic sequences materialized and chemistry equations balanced themselves before her eyes.

“I wonder-”

“Good,” A woman’s voice sounded from the doorway. “You’re awake.”