Chapter 2
This time when I wake up, I feel far from well rested. There’s a pounding in my head after staying up too late, and I really just need to sleep for at least another hour. I can hear someone moving around in the van, and since Skye is the only one who has a key, I assume it’s her
“Hey Skye, could you be a little quieter? I’m trying to sleep” my voice is scratchy and rough from just having woken up, and some of my words come out garbled. The sounds of movement stop, and I breathe out a nearly silent “thanks.” I start to drop off again, and I am almost asleep when something bangs against the wall. An unintelligible groan comes out of my mouth.
“Skye please, I spent the whole night looking for the van. My head hurts.” I complain
“Who are you?” a voice that definitely does not belong to Skye practically demands I answer the question.
“What the- “ I nearly smack my head on one of the shelves when I sit up. “Who am I? Who are you? And what are you doing in my house?” I exclaim. A balding middle-aged man who I have never seen before, is standing at the door of the van, blocking my only way out, and Skye is nowhere in sight. I look around frantically for a weapon to use. (I may be strong, but I have no idea how to fight) Unfortunately, the only things near me are Skye’s computers, which I really don’t want to break. Right well, fight isn’t an option, guess it’s time for flight. I am fast, very fast. And although I don’t know how to fight, running into someone at full speed doesn’t require much skill. I am also, unfortunately, very light. So, when I barrel into the man, he doesn’t move much, but it does distract him enough so that I am able to slip past him and out the van. As soon as I am outside, I stop short. This… Isn’t where I left the van. Instead of the parking lot at the train station, I seem to be in the hangar of the biggest plane I have ever seen.
In front of me, there is a group of people. They must have been waiting for something, because as soon as I step out of the van, they all turn their gazes towards me. I tense up, and take a second to evaluate the threat they pose to me. First off, There’s a basic looking angry white guy. He looks strong, and clearly has military training, but he’s also big, which would hopefully make him slow. Beside him, there’s a slightly shorter guy in a cardigan practically glued to the side of a girl who is also wearing a cardigan. Those two don’t look like they know how to fight, so I’m not too worried about them. Standing a little bit apart from them is a scary looking Asian woman. Something tells me that she’s not to be messed with. If I have to run, she will be the one to look out for. Beside the scary lady, is that… Skye? I immediately relax. Skye doesn’t seem to be in distress, and if she’s standing with these people, they’re probably safe.
So now I’m standing here awkwardly, in front of a group of people I don’t know, in a strange place. So, naturally, I do what I do best in social situations, and ignore the people I don’t know. I walk up to Skye, refusing to even look at the other people. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the cardigan wearers exchange confused looks, while Angry Guy continues to glare at everything, and Scary Lady just stands there, looking as terrifying as ever.
“Uh, who are you?” Cardigan Guy asks me. He has a Scottish accent. Nice.
“I would also like an answer to that question” I look back towards the van, where the middle aged guy from before just spoke. That’s such a broad question, I don’t know how to answer that. My side is pressed firmly against Skye, and I’m twisting my hands, trying to find a way to respond. After an uncomfortable silence, with everyone staring at me, I speak up.
“I’m Pan, I’m- uh” my brain can’t seem to compute. “I’m Skye’s sibling.” I wince at my statement. It is technically true, I do consider Skye my sister, however we are quite obviously not blood related. Skye is very visibly mixed, and I… am not. The middle aged guy raises an eyebrow. He definitely recognizes the absurdity of my statement. He turns to Skye.
“Skye, what is going on?” he asks. Skye has that same look on her face that she always has when she wants to do something that she knows Miles will tell her not to.
“You promised me that anything that was inside the van I could keep on the Bus. Pan was inside the van, so-” here she takes a quick glance at my wrist to check which bracelet I’m wearing. “-They get to stay on the Bus.” The guy brings his hand up to rub at his forehead. He is obviously not used to dealing with Skye.
“We can’t keep a child on the Bus” he explains
“I’m not a child” I interject, slightly offended. The scary lady looks at me.
“How old are you anyway?” she asks, as if making a point.
“Almost sixteen, probably” I mutter. I am technically legally a minor, but it’s not like I don’t have more life experience than most people. Plus, I’m responsible! I won’t be fucking stuff up (probably anyways). The angry looking guy steps in at this point.
“Look, we don’t have time for this, we should already be on our way to Peru. I don’t care if the kid stays or goes, but we have to decide soon” he says. He could have said that in a nicer way, but I would rather they decide quickly if I can stay.
“Please Coulson” Skye says to the middle aged guy. “I’ve been taking care of Pan for the last five years, if you don’t let them stay, they will be out on the streets alone, and they definitely can’t survive that” that’s honestly a fair assessment of my survival skills.
“Also,” I interject “if you call CPS on me I will run away from them.” I was not built for the American foster system. The middle aged guy who’s name I realize is Coulson, sighs. This is obviously a very trying day for him. He is about to speak when Cardigan Guy interrupts him.
“Well if we’re in such a rush, why don’t we bring Pan along on this mission-” he starts saying.
“Then we can decide what to do with them later.” Cardigan Girl, who has a British accent finishes his sentence. I am completely on board with this plan. Hopefully I can convince them that yes, I am useful, and even if they decide later that they don’t want me here, hopefully I’ll at least get a decent meal out of it. I have after all, not eaten in nearly three days, my stomach hurts and my head is starting to feel fuzzy. Coulson, who I have now deduced is probably the leader of this group, sighs again, but agrees.
“I guess it’s a good thing that we have two extra bunks. FitzSimmons, please show Skye and Pan to their bunks.” The Cardigan Wearers nod in unison, then tell us to follow them. I stick close to Skye, nervously twisting my hands. On the way there, Cardigan Girl turns to me.
“I’m so sorry, I seem to have completely forgotten my manners. I’m Simmons, and that’s Fitz” she says. “The woman from before is Agent May and that other guy is Agent Ward” I startle and turn to her, not prepared for a conversation.
“Oh- um, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Pan” I say, then cringe, I already told everyone my name. I try to figure out if she’s going to want to shake my hand. She makes no move to do so, so I move on “my pronouns are they them right now” I say, getting quieter as I finish speaking. I nervously wait for her and Fitz’s reactions. After a pause so slight it’s barely noticeable, Fitz speaks.
“That’s good to know,” he says. “My pronouns are he him, and Simmons’ are she her” I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. It’s always nerve wracking, coming out to people, I never know how they are going to react. But Fitz and Simmons are thankfully very cool about it, and they don’t make a big deal, which is definitely my favourite type of reaction. We finally arrive at our destination, (honestly this must be the biggest plane in existence) and FitzSimmons show us to our doors, then leave us to settle in.
“This is definitely an upgrade.” Skye says after opening her door. I have to agree with her. The space is small, but it’s clean, and the bed looks soft. And considering we don’t have to share, it’s more than enough room. We tried our best to make the van as comfortable as possible, but it was small, and cramped, and any time we ate food in it the smell would linger for hours. Knowing that I have my own space for now, is a little overwhelming.
“Honestly” I emphasize. I haven’t opened my own door yet. I’m not ready to be alone again so soon, so I walk into Skye’s bunk and sit on her bed. We spend some time chatting, Skye tells me all that happened when she was away, and all the while I can feel myself getting more tired and hungry, but I don’t want to get up yet. Eventually, my stomach lets out the loudest sound I have ever heard. I look down, kind of impressed at the sheer volume. Skye raises an eyebrow, and I let out a short laugh.
“When was the last time you ate?” Skye asks me. My face flushes, and I look at the floor, mumbling my answer. “What?” she prods.
“The morning you left” I say quickly. “I was planning on eating, but then the van went missing and I was a little preoccupied” I try to justify myself. Skye’s eyebrow has not moved from its spot on her forehead.
“Come on,” Skye sighs while walking out of the bunk. “Let’s go to the kitchen.” It takes us a while to find said kitchen due to the size of the plane. (and also because I keep leading us down the wrong corridor. My sense of direction sucks.) So when we do find it, it feels like the past few days of worrying and little sleep have finally caught up to me, and I am nearly dead on my feet. I can tell that Skye is also tired. She’s started trying to stifle her yawns, (it isn’t working) so I tell her that I’m fine, and can find myself something to eat. She looks skeptical, but her exhaustion wins and she bids me goodnight, leaving me to fend for myself.
I go about opening the fridge, hoping to find something that doesn’t need any preparation. I spot a block of cheese. Score! I think to myself. I love cheese, and even though I know a block of cheese won't be enough to sate my advanced metabolism, I can’t resist eating it. I’m having a hard time trying to find a knife for the cheese, so I decide to just cut my losses and bite the block of cheese. It’s everything I was hoping for. The cheese is just the right amount of hard and soft, and it has a strong but not overwhelming flavour. I nearly moan in delight. And because of my extremely bad luck, it is at that exact moment that Agent May walks in. She pauses for a second, taking me in. I currently have a large block of cheese in my mouth so I probably look ridiculous.
“The knives are in that drawer” she says sternly, and nods towards one of the drawers that I had missed opening in my initial search. I finish my bite and chew quickly; I can feel my face heating up, and I know that it is bright red.
I finally swallow the cheese. “thanks” I say, trying to wipe my mouth as discreetly as possible and promptly failing. I get up from my chair and sidle over to the drawer, trying to not turn my back on her. Agent May continues to stare at me. It feels like she’s looking into my soul.
“So, Pan, that’s an interesting name” so this is when they interrogate me. To be fair, I can’t blame her. I am after all, a random person that she didn’t even know existed until a few hours ago.
“Thanks,” I say “I chose it myself, it’s short for Frying Pan.” Agent May’s reaction isn’t nearly as funny as I was hoping. Usually, when I say something about my name to adults, they always look confused, but May doesn’t even bat an eye, which is kind of disappointing.
“Where are you parents?” she demands more than asks. I am now extremely uncomfortable. I mean, I don’t even know if I have parents? I always just assumed I was made in a test tube, and it’s not like the scientists ever told me. My face, still red from before, now feels like it’s on fire. I desperately want to get up and shake my hands, to relieve some of the tension I feel, but I don’t want Agent May to think that I’m even more weird than she already does, so I settle for flicking my fingers underneath the table.
“I don’t have any” I admit. I really want her to just move on from this conversation, I can feel myself getting really overwhelmed.
As if she read my mind, May doesn’t push. “There are pop tarts in the pantry if you’re still hungry,” she points out “you might want to get some sleep, we land in seven hours.”