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“How are you feeling, Fitz?” Simmons asked as she entered the lab with two cups of tea. Setting one down next to Fitz, who was staring dejectedly at the screen in front of him, she got a grateful smile in return.

“Uh, good, thanks.” He mumbled into the mug. Closing his eyes as he took a sip, he sighed in content. Simmons stopped just past him, turning back to give him an unimpressed look.

“Really.” She said, not believing him for a second. “And that’s the reason you were looking forlorn?”

“Yeah.” He answered, too quickly. When Simmons didn’t move, he sighed. “There’s this collection of documents. They make absolutely no sense!”

“No sense in what way?”

“As in it’s mumbo jumbo!” Frustrated, Fitz pushed away from the desk, twirling around on the chair while being careful not to spill his tea. Frowning, because she hadn’t seen him this worked up since his injury was more of a hindrance, Simmons turned her attention to the monitor. As Fitz had said, the mixture of misspelt words and fractured phrases made the entire text seem haphazard. Her frown deepened as she studied the document while Fitz watched, trying not to hope too much that she could crack it.

“Some of these words…” she murmured, thinking out loud. “…hmm.”

“The words?” Poor Fitz was absolutely confused. “They’re misspelt… What about them?”

Simmons was already nodding before he finished his question. “Yes, they’re misspelt. But you can tell they are, and not just made up. Look here.” She glanced back at him before pointing to a particular word on the screen. “’Meathud’.”

“Method?” he asked, walking over to stand next to her.

“Yes!” she beamed at him. “The words are spelt phonetically! And it’s as though they’re pronounced, or perceived, by a speaker of another language.”

“That’s brilliant.” Fitz begrudgingly admitted. “So the way that the phrases are structured are based on the language of where the document came from?”

“Quite possibly.” Simmons returned for focus to the screen. “And if it’s a widely spoken language like Spanish or French, the local quirks should help us pinpoint the location.”

“I don’t suppose they put the sender’s ad-dress on these?” Fitz mused.

“No…” Simmons tapped away on both the screen and the keyboard, but came up empty handed. “Hydra kept a lot of secrets from its own members, it seems.”

“It’s not really surprising.” When she looked at him with an amused smile and raised eyebrow, he smirked. “Secrets within secrets is Hydra’s motto.”

“Agreed.”

“Hey guys.” Bobbi greeted, causing both scientists to simultaneously whip their heads around to look at her as she walked in. “Whoa, they weren’t kidding when they said you two were in sync.” She more so muttered to herself, but they heard her.

Chuckling softly, FitzSimmons looked at each other before answering. “Hi Bobbi.”

Rolling her eyes fondly, Bobbi dropped down into the seat Fitz had vacated. “So have you gotten anything new from those mountains of files?”

“Yep.” Fitz replied.

“These particular ones are coded.” Simmons continued. “It’s quite genius, actually. At first, they would appear to be rubbish, like someone doesn’t know how to speak English properly.”

“They’re using grammar and…punctuation of another language, as well as misspelling words.”

“Okay.” Bobbi frowned. “Are they all separate documents with the same code, or are they all part of one file?”

“Can’t tell.” Fitz answered.

“They could be either.” Simmons added, nodding along as she contemplated the complexity of the puzzle. “Or they could all be from different places, likely meaning that they’re all translated from different languages.”

Bobbi sighed. “Any idea how long it’s gonna take?”

“Give us til two o’clock.” Fitz suggested with a shrug.

“You’ll have them all done by then?” Bobbi raised her eyebrows, impressed.

“Oh, gosh, no.” Simmons laughed. “But we’ll definitely have one done by then. And once we’ve figured out the most efficient way of decoding them–”

“I’ll adjust an algorithm to sort through the rest.” Fitz finished for her.

“And how long will that take?” The weapons expert leaned forward in her seat, resting her elbows on her knees.

“End of tomorrow, tops.”

“Maybe longer, depending on whether or not more turn up.” Simmons turned to face Bobbi, folding her arms as a frown pulled the corners of her lips down, matching the creases on her forehead. “Then we have to track down the exact location that these were sent from.”

Bobbi nodded and stood up. “Well I’ll tell Coulson what you’ve found, and check in with you this afternoon.” FitzSimmons nodded simultaneously again, causing the blonde agent to crack a smile as she left.

“Are you ready?” Gordon asked through the door to the transition room.

“Almost.” Skye called back in a slightly wavering voice. Grant cast her a worried look as he adjusted the pieces of cloth covering her most private parts before standing resolutely by her side.

“Now?” he asked softly, taking a hold of her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Acupuncture.” She replied with a false cheer. “It’s therapeutic, I should be fine.” She rambled out, focusing on the ceiling and not the feeling of bile pushing its way up her throat.

“Hey, I’ll be right here beside you.” He smiled, then lent over and brushed a kiss against her lips.

“Skye?” Gordon called out again.

“Oh, what the hell. I should get it over with.” Skye gushed out in a breathless whisper. Raising her voice, she answered him. “Ready!”

Gordon quickly entered, closing the door behind him, and moved over to the table between them. Glancing at Grant, he picked up a box which no doubt held the needles for the transition. “I’m afraid that you will have to leave.” He said to Grant as he placed the box beside Skye. “This process is to be knowledge of Inhumans only.”

Skye sent Grant a panicked look as the man in question stiffened, his gaze hardening. “You want me to leave my girlfriend alone in a room with a man she barely knows, covered only in two scraps of linen?” he demanded, his jaw clenching over and over.

Skye turned her gaze onto Gordon as well. “And what if he is Inhuman?”

“We don’t know that for certain.” Gordon replied patiently, looking down at her face.

“In any case, you’ve already explained the process to us.” She retorted. “So what difference does it make?”

“Comfort.”

“Well, I feel more comfortable with him here, not on the other side of the door.”

Gordon sighed. “I don’t feel comfortable sharing our people’s secrets. They’re sacred.”

Skye snorted. “I’m the one being analysed here.”

“Skye–”

“Enough.”

All three heads turned to face the newcomer, shutting the door behind herself. Jiaying moved forward and spoke to Gordon firmly.

“If Skye wishes for Grant Ward to stay, then he may stay.”

“But Jiaying, he’s human!”

“Hey!” Grant protested, offended at the comment. Jiaying ignored him.

“As a life partner, he has a right and a responsibility to understand every part of what it means to be Inhuman. If they have children, it is best for both parents to be supportive of their children’s potential.” Jiaying kept her gaze on Gordon as she spoke, moving closer to the bed. Skye felt more relaxed as the leader drew near, but she kept quiet as to why, wanting to save the reveal for a more private moment. After a few moments Gordon nodded and reached into the box on the bed, pulling out a needle.

“This may hurt a little, but you’ll have to remain still until the transition is complete.” He informed Skye, and waited for her to nod before placing the needle in her arm. She winced and sucked in air as the point pricked her skin. Grant squeezed her hand tighter, grasping it with his other and rubbing his thumb over hers.

“I’ll assist.” Jiaying announced, moving to stand beside Grant, and picked out another needle. This one she put in Skye’s stomach, the girl having the same response to the intrusion. They continued for several minutes, placing dozens of needles into Skye’s body with precision and care that bespoke experience. Jiaying appeared to have spent more time as a transitioner, inserting the needles much more quickly and surely than Gordon. Grant had to let go of Skye’s hand once the rest of her body had been covered, save for her neck and face, but he remained close.

When the last of the needles had been slotted into place, the ends of them glowed red, giving them an eerie effect – like weird sparklers, Skye thought. Grant’s eyes widened a little, and looked quickly up at the monitor, which was forming live readings of Skye’s DNA.

He whistled lowly, impressed. “Wouldn’t Simmons love to able to do this?” Both Jiaying and Gordon shot him sharp looks, and even Skye narrowed her eyes at him.

“If she could get over her aversion to anything alien.” She responded sternly.

“Not specifically for Inhumans.” He hurried to clarify. “But for anyone. She’s the resident doctor at S.H.I.E.L.D., right? So she could do a full physical like this after missions.” Skye was contemplating this with interest, nodding along to his suggestion.

“There’s the factor of needles, though. Some people really don’t like them.” She pointed out.

“Transitioning doesn’t have to happen while the subject is awake.” Gordon spoke up from his position in front of the computer. He glanced round at Grant and Skye to see their reactions before facing the screen again.

“Um.” Skye looked down at her mostly naked body. “Creepy?” Nervous, she glanced at Grant. She noticed that Jiaying shifted uncomfortably, but tamped down the urge to say something.

“Just a bit.” Grant muttered in agreement, his eyes narrowed at the other man.

“We usually have far less of an audience for those who go through the Mist.” Jiaying said, drawing Skye and Grant’s attention. Gordon continued with his work. “Just the subject and transitioner. Usually, the one who change have been here for some time, so their transitioner would be someone they know well. At your S.H.I.E.L.D., if you develop this technology for this purpose, the subject can wear underwear if it makes them more comfortable.”

“That might work.” Grant nodded.

“Oh, won’t Bobbi be pleased.” Skye chortled, her eyes shining with mirth.