Something Incredibly Stupid
“Clint.” Natasha turned dramatically in her chair to look at her second in command,
“Yes, Cap’n?”
“Who is Skye’s contact in Tah-Reh?” She seemed to be looking straight past him, her eyes squinted slightly in concentration.
“She has a contact In Tah-Reh?” Clint popped his head up from his station and looked at her curiously,
“Of course she does, half of her income is going towards the rebels, she must have someone dealing with the transactions. I just don’t know who it is…”
“Yeah, sure, so I’ll do that, but why do you want to know.”
“Because Ward’s on her ass right now, she’s going to need all the help she can get.”
“Wh-What about us?” Clint continued to question and Natasha finally snapped herself out of her thoughts and she smiled at her second in command.
“We are. I promised May I wouldn’t interfere unless I had no other choice. Just find her contact and give me the coordinates when you find them. I’ll be in my room.” Natasha stood up and left.
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“Over here!” Skye pointed upwards to a small cave just inside of a waterfall, they were nearly to the coordinates which Helen was last located when the downpour started. Neither Skye or Jemma really cared that it was raining, and at first they were grateful for the shower since they were both sweaty and hot from the journey but it didn’t take long till they were nearly drowning in the sheets of rain.
It was a small depression in the rock that Skye was pointing to, hidden behind a water fall that fell over the side of a rock formation. It was a little smaller than a cave but it would do in a pinch.
“Where?!” Jemma called through the rain, attempting to shield her eyes from the water. She sputtered as a large gully of rain hit her and she nearly fell to the side.
“Here!” Skye reached back and Jemma took her hand. The Pirate began moving upwards on the natural rock formations leading Jemma by the hand.
“Skye!” jemma’s foot slid out from underneath her and she nearly fell down over the boulder that they were climbing.
Skye held on tight to her hand and braced herself on the crevasse next to the mountain, “I got you!” She pulled Jemma back up just as another wash came over the rocks, nearly toppling both of them. Jemma clung on to Skye’s side and they continued to move towards the little sanctuary.
They both fell forward as they reached the small cave and the rain was no longer beating against their faces. Jemma let go of Skye and crawled to the back of the cave, pulling off her pack and grunting, spitting out water. Skye let her pack pull her to the side and she just laid down coughing slightly.
They just sat there breathing hard for a few minutes, listening to the rain continuing to pour outside of the waterfall that created a wall of water, separating them from the jungle outside. It was like they were transported into a completly different situation, the only indication that they were still in the hot, humid jungle was the sound of rain on the trees but even that was muffled by the white noise from the waterfall
“This is truly a bloody mess.” Jemma lifted herself off of the wall and squeezed water out of her sleeve, she looked over through the water and sighed. The mood suddenly shifting to a more solemn pace. “I hope that Helen’s alright..” Jemma continued to stare out at the water as if it held the answer to what happened to Helen.
“I keep telling you that she’s going to be fine.” Skye said defiantly, sitting up finally and pulling her boots off, dumping water and some stray plants out of them.
“You keep saying that but I know you’re worried about her.”
Skye chuckled, “Yeah but that’s not going to stop me from being positive, we’re going to find her and she’s going to be fine. You know, one time she took on twenty Bouhk wrestlers?”
“Twenty?” Jemma asked skeptically, turning away from the water to smirk at Skye who was twistingthe water out of her socks.
“Well.. It was more like fifteen, but that’s still impressive. She took them all out and never moved two feet, just smacked them from corner to corner, like they were flies.
“It is so often looked down upon for androids to use their strength at full force, it’s good to see one that embraces her powers.” Jemma said methodically,
“And you know, Helen hates violence, she believes that her mind is all she needs to overpower and outwit opponents... Didn’t stop her from sending those dudes through a few walls to teach them a lesson.”
“What could have they possibly done to deserve that?”
“Well, I kinda wiped out their organization. I was super cocky and I wasn’t worried until they found me and then I really thought I was dead.” Skye laughed, “That was one of the first times I went off planet without my parents, I’m pretty sure my dad asked Helen to come and find me.”
“How old were you, then?” Jemma stared at Skye curiously, as if she were trying to figure her out, a determined yet amused smirk on her lips.
“I was sixteen.”
“Sixteen! Jemma rolled her eyes, “ When you stole from a Bouhk organization, Skye, you’re such a troublemaker.”
Skye cackled and threw a wet sock in the librarian’s direction, Jemma jumped backwards and flicked it way with loud “Hey!” before throwing it back.
“What has she gotten herself into this time...” Trip was staring out the window of his impressive cruiser, it was small but the enhancements he had placed on it made it worth three times as much. It was sleek and built for speed and remaining unseen. On the side of the ship, there was no name, just a printed out image of the badge of Jupiter. That had been a long time ago, when he was stationed as a doctor on his homeworld but now he used his power and his privilege to help the rebels while also advocating against the continued partnership between the Oh-Nah galaxy and the milky way.
Outside the window he saw the massive expanse of ships, most of them with illegal identifications or known bounties on their heads, moving about carefully. He shook his head, he liked Skye but that didn’t mean that she didn’t get herself into these situations way to much for his liking, however, this seemed worse that anything she had done before.
“These were her last known coordinates, any way to know which way she went after this?” Trip was worried about how close they were to the borders of the Oh-Nah empire. Skye had sailed this part of the void many times before but things happen in such unstable areas.
“No. Her signal disappears. I would assume that everyone else here is trying to do the same thing.”
Tripp sighed, “Thanks Lilly, I--”
Transmission coming in from “The Avenger.”
Tripp paused, his eyes were wide and he honestly had no response to the information he was just given except a dull “Uh..”
“She’s overriding the options, I cannot--” Lilly’s voice cut out and a second later a hologram formed close to Tripp’s face.
The Black Widow smiled a deceivingly innocent smile, “Antoine Tripplet, I presume?” She asked politely, as if he were doing a job interview.
“Uh...” Came his response, he continued to stare at her while attempting to input an override so that he could instruct Lilly to give him information and possibly prepare to run. His vessel was fast but it wasn’t a war ship.
The Black Widow chuckled, “She’s blocked out, Doctor Triplett, but don’t worry, I’m not here to kill you.” She said, obviously predicting his worries.
Tripp cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders, “Black Widow, I presume.” He said, copying her manner, “What gives me the pleasure of this encounter.”
“Don’t be so humble, Doctor, you’ve caused quite a stir within galactic alliances, and I know you’re banned in at least three different sectors, But--” She leaned back, “I digress, I have personal business with you.”
“Business I wasn’t aware of, apparently. Is this how you’ve taken such a large portion of control in neutral space? You just unnerve your opponents by catching them off guard? ‘Cause, I have to admit--” He explained chuckling nervously, “It’s a good tactic, kudos to you.”
She laughed, “It’s a start definitely. But, no, I’m here about Skye May.”
Tripp’s breath caught in his throat, a movement the Widow certainly saw, so she continued, “Do you know her?”
“Cut the bullshit, Captain Romanov, I know that you know that I know her, so what do you want.” He said, thereby executing a perfectly performed tongue twister.
“I know where she’s at.” The Widow complied,
“Oh really? And how much for this “Information””
“Don’t be so cynical, Doctor.” Natasha was tapping her fingers lightly on the arm of her chair, calmly.
“Pirate,” Tripp explained,
“A profession that you often associate yourself and your success with, whether you publicly do so or not. I don’t have time for this. I’m sending you the coordinates and the bounty information.”
“And am I to assume you’re doing this out of the kindness of your heart?”
The Black Widow grinned, “I do that quite a lot and yet nobody seems to believe me. Good Luck, Doctor.” She ended the transmission with a wink and a few seconds later Trip saw the edge of “The Avenger” leaving the sector.
“Lilly?” He glanced around the cabin, genuine concern for the AI in his expression.
“Yes, I am here, would you like to display the coordinates that she sent us?” Her calm tone sounded forced but, nonetheless, Tripp sent let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank God, I thought maybe you were gone there.”
“I did too, Antoine, but let’s get on with the mission.”
Tripp grinned, “Always the determined one.”
“As are you, Antoine, here is the information that she sent.”
A holographic map materialized in front of him, a red are circled on one corner, he studied the map, it was a vague area and he was hoping for something more concrete but at least it was a start.
“Set a course for this area--” He said, pulling out and zooming in on a piece of the map, “This is where I would go if I needed to hide.”
“Course set.”
“Thanks Lil’, let me know when we get there? I’m going to catch some shut eye.”
“Sweet dreams, Doctor.”
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“What are you doing?” Skye asked, slightly taken aback.
Jemma turned to look at Skye over the small artificial fire that they had built in the cave after about ten minutes. They had quickly realized that the rain wasn’t going anywhere any time soon and it was nearly impossible to move or travel in the downpour.
Jemma was half way through pulling her shirt off, when Skye asked her what she was doing, “I’m cold, and my clothes need to dry.” She said, as if it were obvious, “You need to do the same or you’re going to become ill.”
“Oh, yeah, Um, sorry..” Skye turned her head away uncomfortably as Jemma de-clothed next to her.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Skye, get your clothes off so they can dry!” Jemma scorned her, already laying her own clothes flat on the ground to dry.
“You know when I thought about somebody saying that to me I didn’t expect it in this context.” Skye quipped but began pulling her own suit off obediently. When she was finished, Jemma was already in her underwear, sitting close to the fire with her knees pulled up to her chin, shivering slightly in the cool breeze coming through the edges of the cave.
“Here, this’ll help--” Skye handed her a thin, grey blanket that had a crinkly and almost plastic like texture to it, “They hold in heat, they’re not meant for comfort.” Skye explained as Jemma grimaced, taking the crinkling blanket from the Captain.
They sat in silence for several moments, the sounds of the waterfall and storms outside along with the awkward crinkling of the blankets filled the space. The fire was made out of artificial wood that was designed to light immediately and give out warmth, it didn’t look like a real fire, more like stiff glowing logs on the ground.
“I hope this rain stops soon, we need to find Helen.” Skye sounded worried, she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. The two of them were sitting on the same side of the “fire” the side that put out the most heat and they stared awkwardly at the ground.
“Perhaps she was farther south than we though? She may have run into this storm and it washed something loose?” Jemma offered.
“Maybe.. But she would have come back if that were the case.”
Jemma nodded sadly at the point and looked back to the orange glow, “So do you do a lot of good?” She asked suddenly, not looking at the captain.
“Excuse me?”
“Like your mum, I mean, what do you do with the things that you steal? I’m just curious as to what would cause a person to live this life if it isn’t for greed.”
Skye huffed out a small laugh at that, “Well, pirate is an umbrella term, for anyone who opposes the galactic alliances.”
“Is that what you do?” Jemma stared at Skye curiously,
“Well, I mean, I’m not political, I just like being a pain in the ass for the empires that try to “Control” the void and I try to make money to survive while I do that. It’s a pretty simple philosophy, actually.”
“So what do you do with the money that you collect? Like the money you’re going to get from the “Mockingbird” Raid?”
“Lot’s of questions today, “ Skye chuckled, and Jemma looked down, a small blush under her jaw,
“I’m just curious, and you’re the only pirate that I’ve ever met.” Jemma explained,
Skye seemed content with that answer and continued, “Well, I give a lot of it to the rebel cause on Tah-Reh, for weapons, food, water, and most importantly medicine. One of my best friends, Trip, he’s a doctor on Tah-Reh and he stays in the camps and villages, helping and fighting whenever he can. They haven’t been able to kick him out yet because he’s “representing the good-will of Jupiter”” Skye laughed and shook her head, “I don’t know how he charmed his way into those permits but as of right now, he’s got diplomatic immunity.”
Jemma didn’t react but she kept questioning, “I thought you weren’t political?”
“I’m not but you don’t have to be political to sympathize with the rebels on Tah-Reh, I mean and they’re hiding the whole thing trying to keep negotiations good with the Milky way and her sister galaxies.” Jemma looked at her questioningly and she continued, “You see, most of the things living in this part of the universe are telepathic and sometimes even telekenetic but not everyone, a lot of times people are born without telepathic abilities.. It’s genetic and they’re hated for it. If you know about the genocide and atrocities that happened in the Milky way in the past then you can understand what’s happening.”
She paused, thinking, “My mom’s been fighting against the O-Nah’s government for years and the only way to help a lot of the time is to become a criminal. So a lot of us just ran with that and became pirates. Why? are you thinking about becoming a pirate?” Skye asked jokingly.
Jemma didn’t say anything and simply responded with a small and impressed “Huh”
Skye, who had turned her head, did a double take of Jemma, shocked, “Wait. You are?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Yeah but you went ‘huh’,” Skye imitated her expression and sound, “That means you’re thinking about it.”
Jemma scoffed, “It does not!”
“Yeah it does! People go ‘Hmph’ when they’re considering something.”
“Do they?” Jemma asked, innocently
“Yeah they do!” Skye insisted, Jemma rolled her eyes and found a great interest in the ceiling of the cave, Skye continued to stare at her, silently willing her to answer.
A few moments later and Jemma gave in, “I’m just trying to live in the moment here, keeping my mind open. Something I’ve had to do quite a lot since you kidnapped me.”
“That’s a good thing, though, right?”
“Well, yes, I mean, of course, but honestly I’ve always known exactly who I was, what I was capable of, and now..” She paused, her words becoming quieter, “I don’t know anymore...” She trailed off, turning away from the captain.
Skye remained silent for a few minutes until she said, “Hey, I mean, I think that’s pretty cool. I’ve never really known what I wanted, not really anyway.”
Jemma looked back over at Skye who smiled when their eyes met, “But that’s what’s so—fascinating about you and your lifestyle, the idea of being completely free. I won’t lie, Skye, even in books or in my research, I could have never imagined a world like this, I mean, the sunsets here, they’ve never been documented, studied, I’ve witnessed something unique and amazing. Every morning for the past month, I haven’t known what I was doing for the rest of the day, in fact, I didn’t even know If I was going to live to see the next morning.. I don’t know if I’m suffering from some kind of shock or Stockholm syndrome but I—“
She paused and made a frustrated gesture in the air, “I don’t think I’ve ever felt more alive in my life and as much as I want to go home, I feel as if I will never be satisfied with who I was and it’s---“ She sighed, “It’s almost as if the person who I was has died, I feel as if I’m grieving something and celebrating something that's not here anymore. I don’t even know if that makes any sense…”
Skye said nothing, and neither did Jemma as her words hung heavy in the air, the moment heavier than the rain pouring down outside. Both of them wanted to say more but they felt content for the silence until they could form words and when they could, it was Skye who spoke first.
“You know.. Ever since you showed up, I think I’ve realized that I’m either the most unlucky thief in the universe or I’m just the dumbest smart person I know and I think it’s the latter…” Skye twiddled with her thumbs as she spoke, looking like a shy child.
“I think I’ve been a rather good hostage, thank you very much.” Skye laughed and so did Jemma,
“No, I mean, you’ve always been out there, and when I finally get to meet you I’m kidnapping you… I could have handled that so much better.” She chuckled, “Maybe things could have been different, between us, I mean.”
“What about us?”
“Well, it’s like you said, no matter what happens, I’m always the kidnapper and you’re the hostage, there will always be an imbalance no matter how much I don’t want that, I ruined any chance of what we could have been if we had met under different circumstances. You could’ve met the better part of me…” Then she added with forced humor, “And I’m obviously the worst hostage taker ever!” She threw her hands up and smiled over at Jemma who wasn’t smiling but was staring at the captain with wide eyes.
Skye looked away embarrassed, Jemma didn’t take her eyes off of her and a second later she had closed the space between them. Skye glanced up, “What are you—“ She was interrupted as Jemma placed a soft and chaste kiss on her lips. Jemma closed her eyes and kissed her again as Skye returned the soft kiss nervously.
They remained close moments after, feeling each others warm breath on their faces, “What was that for?”
“I just wanted to see what it felt like to do something incredibly stupid.”