Surviving Maveth

Skye holds her breath as she waits to hear Jemma’s response.

“Oh.”

Her chest feels tight as she watches Fitz walk out of the lab with a bounce in his step. He makes his way down the hall without even noticing her.

Skye forces a smile on her face as she prepares herself to walk in. She knows she’s never stood a chance but it still hurts.

She’s used to swallowing her sorrow. So she does.

“Hey Jem.” She greets.

Jemma turns from the monolith and smiles warmly at Skye. “How are you feeling?”

Skye shrugs, “I’ve been worse. But I came to tell you that supper’s ready.”

“I’ll be up in a few.”

Skye nods and turns to leave. She hears a breathy noise come from Jemma and turns to see the look of horror on her face. Her breathe catches as she watches the monolith liquefy and surge toward Jemma.

Skye doesn’t think twice as she lunges forward. The liquid tackles Jemma and she falls to the floor. Sky manages to grab her before the thing swallows them whole.

…

The first thing that Skye notices when she wakes up is that it’s dark and her body feels heavy.

Slowly she starts to become more aware of all the aches in her body. She feels like she’s been ran over, her mouth is dry and her head is pounding.

She sits up, distinctly aware of the dirt beneath her palms.

“Skye.”

She turns to the voice recognizing it instantly.

“Jemma-”

She’s cut off as Jemma throws herself at her. She huffs being caught off guard but wraps her arms around her. She feels her shirt dampen where Jemma buries her face as she shakes in her arms.

“Hey what’s going on?” She whispers soothingly.

“That thing was chasing us and,” Jemma sniffles, “and I had to drag you here. You wouldn’t wake up.”

“What thing? Where are we?” She glances around and gasps when she looks at the sky and sees a planet.

“I’m not quite sure what galaxy considering the speed of light and distances between different planetary systems not to mention possibilities of other universes-”

“Galaxies. Are you saying we’re in another planet.”

“Yes.”

Skye releases a shaky breath as her arms tighten around Jemma.

…

She doesn’t know how long they sit there against the rock but Jemma has stopped sniffling for a while. At any other moment she would’ve been happy to be in this position, having Jemma in her arms. But right now all she feels is scared. She watches as Jemma goes through pictures in her phone, most of Fitz but some of the team.

She glances at her watch, they’ve been here for over twelve hours.

“We need to find food, water and shelter. We can’t hide behind this rock forever.” She sighs and she feels Jemma tense in her arms.

“No! We have to stay here.” She looks up at Skye with wide and pleading eyes.

She shakes her head, “Jemma-”

“How will Fitz find us?” Jemma whispers painfully and Skye’s heart hurts for so many reasons.

“If we don’t find water there will be no one to find.” She counters as Jemma drops her gaze.

“Besides don’t you want to explore this planet. Just imagine all the,” she pauses as she tries to think, “rocks you can study.”

“Fitz would be disappointment if you didn’t take the chance to explore the environment.”

Skye sees Jemma’s determination waver. “But that thing.”

Skye smiles softly to encourage Jemma, “I’ll protect you.”

She stands up slowly untangling herself from Jemma. She holds her hand out and breathes in relief when Jemma takes it.

…

They wander the territory doing there best to avoid the sand storms. The thing seems to come with them. Skye never manages to see but she catches colors, a vague silhouette that nears them and they run until there’s nothing left but silence.

It takes them two days before they find it. They stumble aimlessly, resting often. Skye feels weak, her mouth is dry and her muscles ache.

When she sees the glistening a few feet away she almost thinks it’s her mind playing tricks on her.

“Jemma.” She croaks and points in the direction.

Jemma looks and Skye begins to stagger towards the water source. She doesn’t care as she stumbles and lands partially in the water and begins gulping. She should be worried about the cleanliness but if she doesn’t drink she’ll die of dehydration.

Jemma soon follows.

When they finish, they lay next to each other, their bellies swelling with water and their deep breaths is the only thing heard.

“Skye?”

“Hmm?” Skye hums without turning. She keeps her eyes glued to the sky, it’s beautiful if it wasn’t simultaneously terrifying.

“Do you think we’ll get out?”

She knows her team will not stop until they do, most importantly she knows Fitz will not give up. “Fitz will find you.”

“Us.” Jemma frowns as she looks at Skye.

Skye turns her head and smiles at Jemma. She hopes that the sadness isn’t visible. “He’s gonna find you because you guys have a date to plan.”

“I never said yes.”

This time Skye frowns, “You never said no.”

Skye watches something flash on Jemma’s eyes and then it’s gone. Jemma stands up.

“I’m going for a swim.”

Skye feels odd. She’s not sure what happened but she feels like she should apologize. But whatever she was about to say dies in her throat when Jemma stands and pulls her shirt over her head.

Skye swallows as she’s met with pale freckled cover skin. She has to remind herself to breathe when Jemma begins to shimmy off her pants.

She feels guilty at the way she looks at Jemma but she can’t stop staring.

Jemma dives in floating lazily. Skye’s gaze never wavers.

And then Jemma’s gone, sucked into the water a look of horror etched on her face.

“Jemma!” Skye screams and stands up.

Her heart is beating wildly and she struggles to control her panic. She considers using her powers to propel her out of the water but she fears hurting her.

“Shit.” She murmurs.

She pulls out a small pocket knife she’s been carrying around, takes a deep breath and jumps in.

It takes a few seconds for her eyes to adjust but even then she can’t see. She catches a dark shadow moving rapidly but isn’t sure if it’s Jemma or something else.

She swims up when she needs more air, takes a deep breath but stops when she sees Jemma’s come up.

“Skye!” Jemma screams, wailing her arms.

“Jemma!” Skye throws the knife knowing she won’t make it in time.

Jemma catches it in the air before being drag down again. She swims down but only sees darkness.

Her heart beats wildly and she swims up.

Jemma comes up once more, gasping.

Skye swims over to her and helps her out. As soon as they are on land Skye wraps her arms around Jemma tightly finally letting herself feel the fear.

Jemma’s breath slowly evens out and she seems to relax but Skye’s on edge. Her stomach hurts with the thought that she almost lost Jemma.

“I got food.” Jemma smiles as she holds up a tentacle in one hand and the knife in the other.

Skye laughs only for it to turn into a sob. She almost lost Jemma. This time it’s Jemma comforting her.

That night they sleep next to each other as Skye’s clothes dry out by the fire. The stomachs are full with food and water this time but Skye’s feels empty. The emptiness doesn’t feel to bad when Jemma spoons Skye and mumbles something about body heat and temperatures dropping at night. Skye closes her eyes hoping to get more sleep tonight.

…

They spend days exploring the nearby area luckily they manage to avoid it. It is weeks of believing they are the only humans to have been on this planet when they see tent poles the floor. They find astronaut helmets and skulls. Skye feels her stomach drop. People have been here and people have died here.

Skye tries not to shudder. The storm catches them off guard. The roaring wind picks up and Skye feels like her ears are going to explode.

They hold hands as they begin to run but the storm is fast and Skye finally sees it for the first time.

The cloaked figure.

Skye stops and Jemma pulls at her arm. “Skye let’s go.” She’s able to read Jemma’s lip.

She turns and they begin running. They stumble again when it appears in front of them. Stoping suddenly, there momentum makes them tumble back and fall to the floor.

It swings a metal bar at them, Skye manages to dodge but the swing clips Jemma on her temple. Skye sees red in the form of blood and anger. She reacts, swing of her hand and the figure flies back. She rushes and helps Jemma stand with a hand around her waist.

They run until they stumble again. When Skye looks down she sees the metal and quickly identifies the latch. Opening it, she pushes Jemma in and falls in right after her.

…

It’s miracle to find supplies there. The place looks like it’s been abandon and Skye can deduce what happened to whoever lived here.

She watches as Jemma stitches herself up as Skye holds an old mirror in front of her.

She hasn’t said anything since they settled here.

“It’s not your fault.” Jemma murmurs as she pushes the needle through her skin a wince the only sign of pain she shows.

Skye swallows but remains silent. It’s her fault Jemma got hurt. It’s her fault she’s here. It’s all her fault.

Skye looks away, the guilt is too much.

Jemma puts the needle down as she finishes up. She lifts Skye’s chin up.

“Look at me.” Jemma orders but it’s gentle.

Skye looks up. Her stomach flutters and then Jemma is leaning in.

Skye stops breathing, she closes her eyes and it’s quick. A gentle press of lips and it’s gone.

She wishes it would have been longer. That she could remember it better. She breathes and opens her eyes.

Jemma smiles.

“It’s not your fault.”

Skye is confused.

…

The kiss goes unmentioned.

Skye does a sweep of the cave but finds no one. The place looks like it has been abandoned for some time. But she knows it must’ve belong to an astronaut due to the equipment with the NASA logo lying around.

They find two cots which Skye is the most grateful for, no more aching back.

Jemma takes a quick interest to the equipment determined to get it to work. She enjoys seeing Jemma immerse herself in the project.

Skye finds interest in the journals. It’s both captivating and terrifying to read the journal of Captain Will Daniels. The man had been stuck there since 2001 and lost track of time so Skye’s not sure how long he survived. But it terrifies her to know that people have been getting sucked into this hellhole for years.

Skye wonders of they’ll ever make it home.

…

The place slowly becomes home.

They can sleep without worrying about being attack. They only leave to gather food and water and then get back. But always together.

Skye makes nothing of it until one day when she can’t sleep and decides to go out by herself.

She considers herself successful. She finds an old sword and a bottle of wine. She heads back expecting Jemma to still be asleep.

As soon as she sets foot into their abode, she sets the items down and is tackled to the ground. She huffs in pain as her back takes the impact.

She’s about to question Jemma when the she becomes aware the dampness on her shirt where Jemma has buried her face near the crook of her neck. Instead she wraps her arms tightly around Jemma’s warm body.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Skye asks in a soothing tone.

“What’s wrong?” Jemma practically screeches as she stands with rapidness that surprises Skye.

Skye follows hastily, confused with the sudden change in mood.

“How could you leave like that?” Jemma asks hysterically and Skye feels guilty for not thinking about how Jemma would feel waking up alone in a strange planet.

“Jemma, I was only going for-”

It happens quickly, Jemma crashes her lips against hers and Skye stumbles as her hands shoot out to Jemma’s hips to steady herself. She barely has time to process what’s happening when Jemma leads her to a cot.

She falls into it with Jemma on top. Her heart is thundering in her chest. It’s surreal and it shouldn’t be happening but Skye needs to feel good. Jemma does too.

Her fingers move from the curve of Jemma hip to the front of her pants. Lips still attached in a fervent kiss Skye undoes the zipper. Jemma lifts her hips up and Skye pulls the down until Jemma shimmies out of them.

Skye doesn’t waste time, she sits up, lips still attached moving roughly with need and she pulls Jemma’s top over her head. This time as they pull away Skye sees the desire pool in Jemma’s eyes. Skye feels her center throb with the look.

She wants to feels Jemma’s skin.

With expert ease she unhooks Jemma’s bra staring the luscious, soft flesh before her. Her hands reach out gently caressing Jemma. Jemma releases a shaky breath back arching, begging for more. Skye grins hands gliding down Jemma’s sides, moving them back up stopping right under Jemma’s breast, teasing.

“Skye…” Jemma growls.

Skye brushes her hands over Jemma’s breast before running her thumbs over the nipples. Jemma gives a breathy moan and shifts her hips causing Skye to stifle a groan at the action. Skye flips them over as quickly and careful as possible.

She wastes no time in latching her mouth unto a pink nipple.

“Ugh.” Jemma moans and Skye swears that is the sexiest sound she’s ever heard.

She swirls her tongue over the tip and sucks gently. She switches, running her tongue over the valley of her breast, biting the fleshy underside before gently scarping the other nipple with her teeth. Jemma’s chest is heaving and Skye feels delight knowing she’s causing that reaction. She kisses her way up biting at Jemma’s neck knowing a mark will be left behind.

Their lips meet again and this time Skye relishes in the softness of Jemma’s lips. She nips at Jemma’s bottom lip before pulling away.

She wants to touch Jemma.

Her fingers stroke the area above her underwear and as much as she wants this she needs to know that Jemma does to.

“Tell me what you want?” Skye demands.

Jemma’s hand wrap around Skye’s wrist and guide them towards the top of her underwear.

“Touch me.” Jemma pleads

Skye dips her hand inside the clothing, her middle finger quickly finding Jemma’s clit. Her nail scarpes the bundle gently before sliding through the labia coating her finger in wetness.

Jemma thrusts her hips forward and Skye fingers gently pushes at the opening of Jemma’s vagina but Skye quickly pulls back. She reminds herself to breathe getting lost in the reactions of the body beneath her.

“Skye.” Jemma whimpers.

Skye repeats the action, sliding her finger through Jemma’s folds, flicking her clit and teasing the opening. Jemma groans, back arching as Skye teases her a few more times. She’s captivated by how Jemma’s body reacts to her, trying to suck her fingers in. This time she stops feeling the ring of muscles grip and draw her in.

Its then that Skye becomes aware of the nails digging into her back, urging her. Skye complies. She pushes a finger in slowly feeling the warmth that surrounds her. She pumps slowly watching Jemma for any signs of discomfort. Jemma’s face is scrunched up but Skye is sure that it’s pleasure. She pumps slowly meeting Jemma’s thrust.

“Don’t stop.” Jemma whines.

That’s all the confirmation Skye needs as she starts to pump faster. She stares at Jemma’s lips, watching as they quiver slightly. She leans down wanting to taste them again, it’s a taste she'll never get tired of. There lips slide together and Jemma bites her hard when her palm brushes against her clit. She continues pumping, feeling the heat and tightness.

Jemma’s thrust became erratic which signals to Skye that she’s close. She removes her lips and makes her way down. Keeping her pace she attaches her mouth to the swollen bundle of nerve between Jemma’s legs. She swirls her tongue and then gently sucks. Jemma’s body tenses and gives two sporadic thrusts, she tightens around Skye’s finger and Skye moves up to look at Jemma’s face. She continues to pump helping her ride the aftershocks.

Lips slightly parted, eyes squeezed shut, small breathy sounds, Jemma trembles, tenses and slumps. Skye retracts her previous thought, this is the most sexiest thing she’s ever seen and if Jemma lets her she wants to see that face many more times.

“Fuck.” Skye groans, feeling her core throb.

She contemplates putting her own hand inside her pants and just getting rid of the tension but then Jemma opens her eyes. Jemma looks satisfied with a dopey grin and Skye feels proud. Jemma’s hand slide under Skye’s shirt and she smile salaciously.

“Your turn.”

…

Hours later they lay squeezed together into the cot, their bodies bare and heated skin touching. Jemma has a leg swung over Skye’s and her hand draws patterns on Skye’s stomach. Skye chest is still bubbling with joy. She never would’ve thought that she would have Jemma in her arms like this. She thinks of all they’ve been through; with S.H.I.E.L.D. and on this planet.

They’ve grown so much, they’ve changed.

“I don’t want to be Skye anymore.” The hand that is tracing non-existent patterns onto her stomach stops.

“Why?” Jemma asks curiously.

Skye sighs, thinking of her life since she met S.H.I.E.L.D. All of those she’s lost including her own humanity.

“Skye was the hacker, Skye was the girl searching for her identity, for her parents and,” she takes deep breath and smiles, “I never liked Mary anyway.”

“Then who do you want to be?”

She thinks of Calvin who loved her despite his flaws. He killed her mother to save her. She thinks of her mother who died fighting for what she believed in. She thinks of finally knowing her real birthday.

“Daisy Johnson.”

…

Daisy wakes up with Jemma’s bare body pressed to her side. The feeling of Jemma’s breast touching her own naked skin stirs something within her. Though it’s a common occurrence to wake up like this she still feels like it’s a dream. At times a nightmare when she wakes up disoriented and realizes where they are but she so grateful have Jemma with her. She still hopes she’s not a replacement for someone else.

“Daisy, I can hear you thinking.” Jemma murmurs, eyes still closed.

Daisy grins knowing the effort put into making Jemma call her by her new name, the nights she spent making Jemma scream Daisy. “Do you miss Fitz?” Daisy asks.

“Of course I do. I miss all my friends.” Jemma leans up to look at Daisy.

Daisy ponders what will happen to their relationship if they return. but she still hopes they return even if she loses Jemma. As long as Jemma’s happy, she can live with that.

…

They go for food. It’s like any other day. They avoid the no-fly areas mentioned in the journal but then they see it, a flare.

“It’s Fitz.” Jemma says and she springs toward the ridge where she saw it come from.

Daisy follows immediately after her. Her heart is beating wildly in her chest, they’re going home. They’re almost there when the storm hits. Jemma halts when the path is no longer visible. Daisy can sense another presence her body immediately going into alert.

“It’s here.” Daisy whispers.

“Jemma!” Fitz voice echoes through the wind. They push forward hoping they are heading in the right direction when Daisy fells to the floor with pain shooting up her leg. She sees an axe being wielded their way the cloaked figure is so close that Daisy can see its eyes for the first time.

Eyes physically human but missing any human like quality in them. Daisy shutters but uses her powers to throw the figure off its feet. She glances down to see the blood flowing from her leg.

“Fuck.”

“Daisy!” She turns to Jemma a few feet away from her on the ground.

Jemma tries to crawl her way over to Daisy but against the wind it proves futile.

“Jemma go!” Daisy urges she moves towards Jemma.

Jemma shakes her head, “I can’t leave you Daisy.”

Daisy knows they wont make it out of here together. Her leg is a setback and someone needs to fight this thing.

“If anyone can find a way to get me out it’s you. If not we’ll both be stuck here for who knows how long.” Daisy tells her. She spots a shadow in the dust cloud and her hand shoots out and rocks fly into the air. She turns to Jemma.

“Go, I’ll hold this thing back.” Jemma looks conflicted and Skye gives hugs her an awkward hug from the ground.

Jemma grabs her face with both palms and pulls her in for a chaste and hard kiss.

“Jemma, the portal’s closing!” Fitz shouts. She catches sight of Fitz crawling against the wind wrapped to a harness.

“I’ll come back for you.” Jemma promises as she grabs Fitz hand and then they’re being pulled away.

“I know.”

She sees a faint light fade away a few feet from her. The portal closes.

Daisy just hopes that she can survive that long.

…

Daisy is not a doctor but she knows that the itching on her wound is not a good sign. She pours alcohol on the wound but the uneasy feeling in here stomach doesn’t ease. She’s not sure how she survived the storm with a bloody leg. She just hopes the stitches she gave herself will hold up.

She’s worried and she’s pissed that she’ll probably die of an infection instead of the murderer that’s been chasing her.

She pushes herself though. She needs to be alive for when Jemma comes back for her. Hobbling around she brings back enough water and food to last her a few days.

And she lays, she waits.

She feels tired and weak and she can’t help but think that the last time she sweated on this bed it was for a completely different reason. Jemma was here.

She wishes Jemma was here to tell her what to do. She begins to tremble as a cold sheen of sweat covers her body. She pulls the covers up despite knowing that her body temperature is probably high.

It feels like forever, her ears are drumming when she sees her run in. Brown wavy locks and caramel colored eyes.

“Jemma.” She whispers.

She can’t hear her voice but she can feel her heart pounding wildly. She sees a hand reach out and closes her eyes before it can reach her.

Exhaustion takes over.

…

She wakes up startled and sits up on the bed. Her breathing is heavy and she feels drained.

She glances around as her mind catches up.

“Jemma.” She calls out, her voice hoarse.

Silence.

She breaks. Her body shakes for a completely different reason this time.

It was all a hallucination.

She is still alone.

…

It becomes repetitive. Wake up, find food and water, workout, and draw. She’s running out of will, strength and pages.

But she continues, for Jemma.

Her pictures are getting better but she’s still scared that one day she’ll wake up and forget how her face looks. That she’ll no longer be able to draw Jemma.

She looks at her watch.

3 months. The first month though scary was easier, she still had hope. But lately it’s been weaning down.

Some days she won’t go out or she’ll skip a meal. But still she draws. She fills out every blank spot with something: thoughts, pictures.

It’s when the fourth month of being a alone comes that she starts to worry. She can’t take the silence anymore.

She screams until her throat feels raw. She begs for mercy, to God, anyone, to help her or find her. Her eyes are red by the time she’s done.

She can’t stand it anymore, the fear of walking out of her shelter. She can’t stand the thoughts that go through her head or how her eyes linger on the last bullet left in the gun she found belonging to Captain Will Daniels.

She prays for a miracle.

The fifth month comes and it’s rare when she gets out. She’ll go a few days without eating. All she wants to do is sleep. All she wants to do is dream and see Jemma one more time even if it’s not really her.

She dreams for days not sure when she’s awake.

Then her watch changes again. 12 months here, 6 without Jemma.

She feels empty. So empty it hurts.

That morning she reaches for the gun. Her hands are steady as she checks the final bullet. She takes off the safety. She looks at the journal that no longer has any space left in it.

Grabbing a pocket knife she carves the words I’m sorry into the cover. She flips through the pages; she wants the last image in her mind to be of Jemma. Setting the book down, she grabs the gun again.

This time her hands do shake. She glances at the entrance of her home in the last 6 months, silently hoping, begging for Jemma to walk through.

She doesn’t.

She closes her eyes tightly, her jaw set, she brings the gun to her temple feeling the cool metal against her skin.

Her hand shakes, the bed shakes and she’s sure that her powers are causing a rumbling.

She breathes in and holds her breath.

She pulls the trigger.