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Bobbi walked down the corridor to Coulson’s office, stopping in the open doorway with her hand raised to knock on the frame. The Director and his Deputy were conversing rapidly; evidently, something had gone their way.

“I don’t know how long we have the advantage on this, Coulson, but if we could just try to contact Skye–” May was saying, brandishing a file as she paced in front of the desk.

Coulson cut her off. “Contact her how? They’ve dropped off the radar.”

“Then we should look in any of the places we don’t have radar!”

Coulson sighed, causing May to halt impatiently. “That could be anywhere around the globe, and requires more manpower and resources than we can afford right now. Especially considering the fact that Hydra has legions more soldiers and billions more in most of the world’s currencies.”

“We have the upper hand!” she protested, then at Coulson’s resolute expression, pursed her lips and turned to face Bobbi. “How are FitzSimmons getting along, Agent Morse?”

“They found some of the documents were written in a sort of code.” Bobbi switched to her report with ease, straightening her spine as she entered the room. “Directly translated into English from whatever the original language was, and many of the words are misspelled. Fitz reckons they’ll have the first done by two this afternoon. After that, it’s just a matter of creating the right computer programme to sort through the rest.”

Coulson and May shared a look. “Do you know how long that will take?” he asked, folding his hands neatly together in front of him.

“Not exactly. It’s estimated by the end of tomorrow, but Simmons mentioned the possibility that the documents are all from different sources, so that’s many different languages to translate to and back again.”

“Directly translated?” May asked. “So it’s not necessarily what makes sense?”

“No. But the way that the sentences are arranged should make it easier to find the language that does.” Bobbi replied, holding her hands together in front of her.

“But what good would finding the original languages do? It’s not like we can pinpoint a specific location.”

“Maybe not us.” Bobbi clarified. “As soon as we have contact with Skye again, I’ll ask her to follow the trail with the specifics, making it easier.”

May nodded. “Then go and tell FitzSimmons to save a copy of each and every document.”

Bobbi frowned in confusion. “Why?”

“Files I checked half an hour ago have been changed since then.” Coulson answered her, standing up and walking around the desk. “It seems that Skye’s Trojan Horse has given us a live stream of Hydra’s database.” He smiled as Bobbi’s jaw dropped open in surprise. “Yeah. I’m impressed, too. But that’s why we need to keep a strict day-to-day record of their communications. Perhaps even hourly.”

“That’s a lot to check on.”

“And there’s a lot that can change.” Coulson pointed out. “So get to it.”

Bobbi nodded, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Copy that, sir.”

Skye shrugged on her jacket, grateful to be wearing a decent amount of clothes. As she pulled her hair out from between the layers of clothing, she felt Grant walk up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Hey.” She grinned, closing her eyes. He dipped his head to rest it in the crook of her neck and she felt him smile against her skin.

“Hey.” He replied, his voice a deep, husky tone. “Feel better?”

“Loads.” She sighed, relieved. “It doesn’t feel like there’s a swarm of bees inside me anymore.” He hummed in response, tightening his grip and kissing her neck languidly. Enjoying the attention, she tipped her head, allowing him better access.

“A-hem.” Jiaying’s voice from the doorway popped their bubble. They quickly looked over to her, wide-eyed and a bit embarrassed. Jiaying just smiled fondly. “Perhaps you can save that for when you’re in a private room.” Amused, she bit back a grin at Skye and Grant’s awkward shuffling. “Skye, the elders have decreed that I should be your guide while you learn to further control your gift.”

Skye raised her eyebrows, surprised. “Oh.”

“And I would like to start now.” Not waiting for an answer, she turned and left the room, the door sitting slightly ajar.

“Oh.” Skye repeated, but she was less than impressed. “I was wanting to explore with you.” She moaned, turning in Grant’s arms and pressing her face into his chest.

“We can explore after.” He replied in a murmur. “And you probably shouldn’t keep your mother waiting.”

She grinned and lifted her face to gaze at him. “My mother.” She said softly. “I’m still finding it hard to believe.”

“Maybe you should tell her. Get the family reunion you’ve always wanted.” He suggested. Taking a deep breath, Skye nodded, kissed him quickly, and hurried after Jiaying.

Wanting to wait until Skye was finished with her time with Jiaying, Grant made his way to their bedroom. Cal was waiting outside, to his surprise, and his posture bespoke both anxiousness and boredom.

“Ward!” Cal called out jovially as soon as he spotted the specialist. “Just the man I was looking for!”

Grant raised an eyebrow as he approached. “What for?”

“I need to talk to you.” Cal said urgently, taking hold of Grant’s elbow and pulling him away from the room. “I take it Daisy is with her mother?”

“Yeah, and I was gonna wait in our room til they were done.” Grant gestured towards the building, still being dragged away by his potential father-in-law.

“Oh, this won’t take long, but we need to be somewhere private.” He insisted, glancing around and choosing a path on his right. He was still gripping Grant’s elbow tightly.

Grant was getting a little nervous. “What kind of talk are you wanting to have?”

“The fatherly kind.”

“…okay.”

His answer had Cal stop and look at him with a frown. “You’ve never had the fatherly talk before?”

“…no?”

Cal’s frown deepened, causing ridges and valleys to form on his forehead. “Have you ever had a girlfriend before?”

“No. I never had the time or inclination at the same instance before.”

“…oh.” Now Cal looked sorry for him. “Coulson never gave you the talk? He’s been a sort of fatherly figure to Daisy.”

“No…I, uh…we haven’t really gotten along well since…you know.” Uncomfortable, Grant scratched back of his head.

“Oh, yeah, right.” Cal nodded along reassuringly. “Well, you’re about to find out!” he perked up with a smile, and continued on his way, still pulling Grant along by his elbow.

“What a view!” Skye exclaimed, impressed. “I mean, I’m used to the horizons we’d get on the Bus, but they were never anything like this.”

Smiling broadly, Jiaying stepped up beside her. “Our people have been here for generations. Not many of us are born here, usually we try for careers around the world, find people we love and settle down. Then our children are found and brought here for evaluation if they wish to transform.”

Skye nodded and glanced down at her feet. “I wish Raina had given me that choice. I never understood what ‘our destinies’ meant until I couldn’t control what I was doing.”

Jiaying turned her gaze on her, silent for a while. “If you had developed a less destructive gift,” she began quietly. "Would you have been happier with your heritage?”

Her eyes screaming her uncertainty, Skye looked at her mother. “I don’t know. ‘Less destructive’?” she frowned. “In my world, anything can just be as devastating, depending on how it’s used.”

Jiaying smiled as she nodded, proud of the answer she had gotten. “And just as your gift can be destructive, so can it create.”

Skye frowned at her like she’d lost her mind. “How? Is there someone else here with these sorts of powers?”

“No.” Jiaying laughed softly. “But consider something else – Thor’s hammer, for example. It’s a weapon of war, as you saw in the Battle of New York. But a hammer can also build. And Thor’s decrees that only those who are worthy may pick it up.” She moved closer in earnest. “You have this incredible ability. Only you have it, and only you have the power to control it.”

Skye was smiling at the comparison, but changed the topic. “You said ‘our children’.” Jiaying stiffened. “Whitehall said you didn’t age.” Skye continued. “Your scars…” she reached out tentatively to touch them, afraid that the other woman would pull away. She didn’t, just gazed at Skye, wide-eyed. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

Jiaying didn’t answer.

“Are you my mother?”