The Avenger’s Soul

Skye's POV

"Ian Quinn." Coulson stated.

"You found him?" May asked eagerly.

"No, but we think we know how we can. Skye tracked down an invoice from one of his shell companies. He made a big purchase recently."

"10 million dollars big," I chimed in.

"Any idea what it is?" asked Simmons.

"No clue. But it was designed and built by Cybertek, Inc. A small firm that deals in advanced technology and research," I replied.

"Which is where this gets interesting," Coulson added. "They've hired a private-security outfit to transport the purchase, former military, ex-mercs."

"Lot of muscle to move one package," commented Ward.

"And they know Shield's got eyes on Quinn," Coulson pointed out.

"Which is why they're transporting it old school," I informed everyone.

"On a train, through the Italian countryside, from Verona to Zagreb – very rural, very isolated."

"And you think Quinn's on that train?" May clarified.

"No, but I believe that they're delivering the item to Quinn himself. We got our intel from Italian authorities who have been monitoring the situation."

"And they don't mind us taking over the op?" May said in surprise.

"I asked very nicely," Coulson answered with a grin. I rolled my eyes. "If everything goes as planned, Cybertek's security team won't even know we were on the train."

"So we're going in undercover," piped in Ward.

May let out a huffing sigh. "I hate undercover."

********************************************

I lead Fitz to a compartment at the back of the train where we would be running communications.

"Are you nervous?" Fitz asked me as we looked over maps.

"Just, ready for this to all be over. I'm ready to get Quinn," I replied.

"Me, too. So are we British or American?"

"Does that matter?" I asked, bewildered. I had a fairly decent British Accent thanks to Hydra but I didn't feel like going through all that. It was too much of a reminder of Hydra and their many many many lessons.

"Well, we're traveling together, we should at least be from the same Country. How's your Scottish accent?"

"I don't know. You tell me how great it is, Laddie," I said, purposefully butchering the job, hoping he would let the matter slide.

"American, then. That's a better idea," Fitz said with a frown.

I gave him a big smile. "Oh, that was really good."

"I used to watch a lot of American TV growing up. Some of it's quite good. Lots of nice teeth," he replied in his normal voice.

"Oh, here we go. Follow my lead!" I said noticing the conductor.

The conductor came closer and I picked up a map.

"Excuse me, do you speak English?"

"Of course. How may I be of service?"

"Can you recommend a restaurant in downtown Zagreb?"

Fitz jumped in speaking with his American accent.

"Someplace affordable, with big portions," I rolled my eyes at this, but sadly, it was a pretty accurate representation.

"You are looking for something romantic?"

"Yes. Please," I confirmed. I giggled and kissed Fitz on his cheek, not being able to help but think about Tony, Steve, Clint, and Natasha, as I did so.

"We are celebrating our six month anniversary with a whirlwind trip all over Europe. Well, technically, we met six months ago, but he didn't ask me out till last month, so our official one month anniversary isn't until next –"

"Sunday," Fitz finished.

"Saturday," I corrected.

"Saturday."

"Yeah. I think he found me intimidating," I said, suddenly leaning in close to the conductor and reaching forward to unclip the keys from his Conductor's belt.

"Young love, so...confusing," he stated.

"Is it?" I said smiling as he dashed off and we made our way to the end of the train. I used the keys to unlock the container that held all the luggage with Fitz right behind me.

"You, uh, got a little flustered back there," I said, smirking at Fitz.

"What, when you kissed me on the cheek like my grandmother? Good going. Really selling our relationship there," he responded.

I noticed a table in the train car and set down my stuff sitting on one of the chairs while Fitz did the same.

"I have a device that could've done those things broken the lock and all that."

"What? Why wouldn't you tell me that?" I asked in surprise.

"I'm always the gadget guy. Maybe sometimes I want to do things with my bare hands."

"You make the gadgets with your bare hands,"I pointed out as I worked on my computer.

"Just allow me the rare moments of self-pity, okay?"

I smiled as I looked at my laptop.

"You're the least supportive pretend girlfriend I've ever had."

I laughed.

"Comms are live. Coulson?" I asked. "Simmons? You in position?"

"Yes. Just waiting on May's signal," Coulson confirmed. - You think all that backstory's necessary?" I heard him asking Simmons when I zoned back in to the comms.

"Past events, like that unfortunate incident at The Hub, have shown me that I'm not good at improvisation. However, I excel at preparation," I heard Simmons reply. Amen, to that, sister! I mentally nodded in agreement, thinking back to the chaos she had caused back at the Hub.

I giggled as Simmon's undercover story played out.

"Prostitutes? Plural?" I heard Coulson complain towards the end. I tried to control a fit of laughter at this. The idea was preposterous.

"May, coming your way," Coulson informed the team.

"Copy that. Following the target to the package."

"Great," I commented as she activated her sunglasses. We see what you see."

"All right, May, Cybertek cases are usually lined with tungsten polymer to prevent scanning. It should appear black on your infrared," Fitz informed May. "Bingo! Uh, eye's on the package, fourth seat from the back."

As he finished his statement, there was a bell like sound as an announcement was made throughout the train.

"As we round the bend the passengers on the north side of the train can take in the views of the famous Tre Cime Di Lavaredo. Isn't it a wonder?"

"I wish we had more time to take in the scenery," Fitz commented as we listened to the announcement. "Three peaks of Lavaredo, supposed to be stunning."

"Any chance what's in there could be an 0-8-4?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me. I couldn't help remembering the news Coulson had given me about my own origin story.

"This? Now, we may not know what it is, but we do know that it came from Cybertek," Fitz answered as he pointed to the black box from May's feed that was plastered on the computer screen.

"Right. Unknown origin. And the one we found in Peru was a machine, but they don't always have to be, right?" I pressed. Wanting more answers since I myself was classified as one.

"No. No, I've read about all kinds – weapons, spacecraft, energy sources. I suppose the only thing they really do have in common is that they're dangerous."

"Right," I said, slowly. Not liking this at all, but he had a point. I was incredibly dangerous.

"Hey, whatever this package turns out to be, we'll deal with it, like we always do. We've faced worse and made it through."

"Fitz, have you ever head of an 0-8-4 being a person?" I fished.

"No. Although I – I suppose it's possible. Hate to meet the guy." I frowned at his assumption that it would be a guy, and then at his comment about not wanting to meet them.

Suddenly our tech started making static noises. We looked at the computers and read-outs and everything was scrambled.

"Whoa. May's goggles are offline. When did that happen?" Fitz commented.

I quickly put in my earpiece as I also used my super hearing to see if I could catch any news.

"May, do you copy?" Fitz called out into his earpiece.

"All comms and phones are dead. Someone's using some sort of electric scrambler," I informed him.

"Cybertek knows we're here."

"We have to warn our team!"

We both got out of our chairs and turned toward the door, right as it's kicked in and a man appeared aiming a gun at us.

"Fitz, get down!" I cried out.

We both ducked behind shelves holding luggage. Fitz got out the Night-night gun and blindly fires it around the corner of the shelves. I used the shooters distraction to push a large trunk at the man then punched him in the face.

We continued to fight accidentally knocking Fitz down as I went to aim a gun at our attacker. The man held up some sort of grenades right as Simmons ran into the luggage car.

"We've been made!" she exclaimed, stopping when the man turned and she saw the grenade. "Oh, bloody hell!"

The man turned toward her pushing into her as she tried to hold him back.

"Jemma!" Fitz and I cried.

She hugged herself to the man right as the grenade goes off, they both fell to the floor with Simmons still holding on to him.

"Oh, my God!"

I hurried to Simmons and checked her neck for a pulse. I saw some type of blue lines running out from her eyes that reminded me of the night night guns.

"She's okay," I said with a sigh of relief.

"Okay. Hold her up." Fitz brought over a couple of big bags. "There we go."

We propped her head up on the bag, as we did so, we saw the lines around her eyes fade. Fitz looked from the man to Simmons.

"I think this is some form of Dendrotoxin."

Fitz had the device in his hand and showed it to me.

"The same stuff that's in the Night-night gun?" I asked as he all but confirmed my suspicions.

"Yeah. It's clearly evolved. I think they made it airborne."

"Is that why their eyes are open?"

"I suppose if they were in some sort of black sleep that would make sense." He reached out and shut Simmons eyes.

"We got to get out of here. Find the others and figure out what to do next!" I stated.

"Yeah, but help me move Simmons first. Can't just leave her like this. Look at her little face, she'd be so embarrassed."

"We should leave her with something to protect herself, just in case," I added as we shifted her into a hiding spot.

Fitz walked over with a Night-night gun. "Yeah. I have a spare." He loaded the gun and put it into Simmons' hand.

"What about him?" I said, looking over to our attacker. Fitz looked over and before I could say or do anything, fired two rounds of the Night Night gun.

"That's for Simmons," he said as I smirked.

We stuffed the man into a box and closed the lid with satisfaction. The wheels on the train suddenly squeaked as the train came to a stop, Fitz and I were thrown about.

"Train's stopped," Fitz said, pointing out the obvious.

"I know. And I looked everywhere, May, Ward and Coulson are gone," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"What about Cybertek?"

Just then, we heard something outside the train.

We clambered up to get a good look out of the upper window to see the man we had been tracking with the "ashes" as well as the woman we saw in the very beginning and another man walking towards a waiting SUV. Fitz and I hurried to the window in the luggage car and wiped it clean to get a look.

"They have the package, Fitz."

We watched as it got loaded into the back of one of the SUVs.

"What do we do? We're the only ones left."

"Do you have an extra tracker?"

"Of course."

"Then we follow them," I stated authoritatively.

********************************************

Fitz and I moved among some trees getting close to a fancy looking house a few hours later.

"Hey, look," I pointed out.

We could see the people from the train standing on the front steps waiting. A car pulled up and we looked at it expectantly. Fitz and I moved a bit closer keeping low to the ground. I hissed as I saw Quinn get out.

"Coulson was right. Cybertek led us to Quinn," said Fitz.

"Activate the tracker, let them know we're here," I told him as I watched Quinn shaking hands.

"You want to go in," Fitz stated as he looked at me and activated the tracker.

"We can't let Quinn get away again. If Coulson were here he wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't want us to let that happen."

Fitz nodded. "You're right." He took off his backpack and unzipped it. "Let's do it."

"Can you disable their cars?"

"With my bare hands," replied Fitz confidently.

He held up a little device and then threw it and caught it causing me to smile a little bit. He pulled the Night-night gun out of his bag handing it to me. "Take this."

I shook my head. "You'll need it out here."

"Just take it."

I looked up at him then took the gun.

"Be careful, okay?"

I grinned. "You, too."

I stuck close to the side of the house moving toward a door. I turned and saw a man on the porch. I surprised him and was able to shoot him with the Night-night gun. The first round didn't do much but then I shot him in the head knocking him out before he could sound an alarm or get his gun out. I hurried up the stairs, past his body and into the house.

I slowly walked down a hallway, hearing voices talking, so I inched quietly toward the sounds. A door further down the hallway opened and I ducked inside a doorway; watching as a blonde woman and a man exit.

"Find Mr. Quinn. Tell him his purchase is downstairs," the woman was saying.

"Si."

They turned down a hallway and I came out of my hiding spot when their voices grew distant. They had left open the door they just came out of, so I walked over and looked in - there were stairs leading down. I took a deep breath and went down the steps and found a door at the end.

I opened it up then slowly made my way inside. It looked like I was in some sort of wine cellar. There were bottles here and there and racks on the walls to hold them. I could also see a table and sitting on top of it was the package. What didn't belong in a wine cellar was the hyperbaric chamber set off to the side - not really a part of wine cellar motif if you ask me.

I made my way over to the package slowly looking over my shoulder from time to time. I reached the package and put my hand on it confirming it was what I was looking for. I then turned my attention to the chamber and walked towards it. I peered down into the window and felt my eyes go wide with shock.

"Mike!" I exclaimed in surprise as I stared down at the sleeping man.

"Hello."

I gasped and pulled up the Night-night gun pointing it at Quinn, who was grinning at me. I cursed myself silently for being snuck up on despite superhearing. Suddenly the gun was ripped from my hand as the man from the train suddenly appeared behind me. I cursed again, what was with me lately! I may not have appreciated Hydra's training methods, but they had certainly trained me better than this!

I glared as the man grabbed me by the throat and held the gun to my head.

"Skye. The Clairvoyant told me to expect you." I struggled in the man's grip as I tried to launch myself at Quinn.

"Signor Quinn, this is the same gun as the specs that you gave us," the man holding me said.

"Yeah, you guys have been looking at us while we've been looking at you." He tapped the gun to highlight his point. "And we found a handful of particularly interesting things."

I watched angrily as Quinn went to the head of the chamber and twisted the lock. As he did so, Train Guy as I decided to call him released me with a shove and went to stand near Quinn. I watched nervously as Mike was pulled put and started waking up.

“Mike,” I said, taking a step nearer. He grunted a bit as he sat up. “Oh, God. You're alive!” I said with relief.

“That's right, you two know each other,” Quinn commented as he clapped Mike on the shoulder. “Hey. Do you know who I am?”

I watched Mike nod his head.

“And you have your orders?” Orders, what orders? What is going on?

Mike nodded again as I looked on in confusion.

“Good, because I purchased something that's gonna help you complete them.”

Quinn walked to the Train Guy and took the Night-night gun out of his hand. I stepped back quickly as he proceeded to point the gun at me while Train Guy went over to the package. I kept an eye on Quinn; considering he had a fun pointed at me, but I turned my main focus towards Mike.

“Orders? Mike. What is happening here?”

Mike looked over at me but said nothing.

“Mike?” I repeated.

The man from the train turned from the open package and I saw that he had some sort of big bowl like device in his hands. There were lines of energy running along the inside of the "bowl". What the hell is that thing?

My eyes opened wide as I observed Mike taking the device and placing it on the stump of his missing leg. Train Guy then twisted the device and we heard a loud whirring sound.

“Stand, please,” Train Guy instructed.

Mike stood on his leg using his arm on the table to steady himself while Train Guy punched a bunch of buttons inside the package. Mike let out a yell of pain as the whirring increased and I grimaced as I imagined how much pain Mike must be in. Speaking as someone who had previously experienced the pain of losing a limb and having it grow back, I could relate.

We all watched on as the “bowl" suddenly spread out along his thigh, going up to his hip and eventually extending out to form a newly completed leg.

“Mancini, thank you,” Quinn said as he handed the gun back to Train Guy as I made a mental note to remember Train Guy’s name. “You will be receiving your payment shortly.”

Mancini exited and Quinn walked over to Mike and tapped his leg.

“That is the best money can buy, my friend. Every piece of technology in you is top-of-the-line. I just wonder if I'm getting my money's worth. I know you get your orders from the Clairvoyant, so that means you're not allowed to hurt me, right?” What? Since when is Mike under the Clairvoyant’s control? My brows furrowed as I tried to wrap my mind around this new piece of information. Was he willingly working for the Clairvoyant? Or did they have something on him?

“No,” Quinn answered for himself with a grin. He pulled out a small handgun and held it. “What if I tried to hurt you?” He cocked the gun and pointed it at Mike. “Would you stop me?”

I shifted on my feet, not liking where this was going.

Mike looked down at the gun then up to Quinn.

“No. I would not.”

“Mike, listen. I do not know what they're doing to you but we have to get out of here. Now!” I exclaimed desperately.

Mike looked at me but his face was blank. Quinn picked up Mike's hand and put the gun in it.

“And...if I wanted you to – to hurt her...” He pulled Mike's arm up pointing the gun at me. I gulped nervously as I forced my body to remain motionless, not wanting Quinn to see how scared I was. I briefly closed my eyes as I tried to calm myself with the knowledge that as bad as Quinn was, he couldn’t possible be any worse then any of the Hydra men I had dealt with in the past. Right?...

”You know, kill...will you? I mean, what would hurt Agent Coulson more than to lose his pet project?” I glared at Quinn as he smiled at me; knowing he had offended me with his pet comment.

I glanced over at Mike worriedly, unsure of his answer. It was slightly reassuring to see that he looked to be barely holding in his anger though, since at the very least, that meant he wasn’t thrilled by the suggestion.

”Those aren't my orders,” he said stonily.

Quinn looked at him sharply as Mike lowered the gun and pressed it against Quinn's chest.

“She's not who I'm supposed to kill.” While I was pleased that Mike wasn’t going to kill me, his words worried me greatly. If not me, then who is he here to kill?!

Mike walked out of the room and I darted after him. What the hell, is he seriously about to leave me alone with this maniac?!

”Wait. Wait. Wait!” I cried out. My words fell on deaf ears though as he headed out the door. I stopped in the doorway and looked at Quinn suspiciously before deciding for some crazy reason to walk back in to the room rather than taking the chance to escape.

“What the hell did you do to him?” I hissed at the man before me - more worried about Mike then myself at the moment.

A gunshot echoed throughout the room as I stepped towards him; freezing me in my tracks as I clutched my abdomen in shock.

I looked up at Quinn in surprise as he stood looking at me and pointing the gun. I gasped slightly as my blood started to flow in and around my hand.

I gasped again as Quinn came in closer to me and wrapped his arm around my body as I started to fall.

“Shh, shh,” he said tenderly as I shuddered and gasped once more as a second gunshot went off.

He gently cradled my head and lowered me to the ground, stroking the side of my face as he did so. I glared at him as I fought for breath; blood filling my mouth.

“I'm sorry,” Quinn whispered as he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped down the gun. “But I have my orders, too.”

He started to get back to his feet but suddenly paused. “It’d be a shame to let such a beauty go to waste though...” I managed to hear him mumble to himself. I coughed as I struggled to back away from him, recognizing the gleam in his eyes and the tone of his voice. Not again...

I closed my eyes as Quinn reached down to unbutton his slacks. This wasn’t going to end well for me, nor would it be painless; as evident from the searing agony that already was flowing through me. I mentally double checked that my magical blocks were still in place so that at the very least, I could die knowing that Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Clint wouldn’t be dragged along for the ride. I had realized recently that they could feel what I felt and I could feel what they were. It still confused me how and why they had been able to in the first place - but figured it was yet another negative side affect of my powers.

As Quinn removed my shoes, quickly followed by my pants, I tried to focus on something else to distract myself. My thoughts gravitated towards Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Clint. They had made me laugh harder then I ever had when I called them all up and ran my tests with them on the phone while I had tested to make sure my blocks worked properly. When I noticed that they seemed to know how I was feeling and vice versa it had worried me since I didn’t want them to be in any pain just because I was!

Tony had cracked me up as he spent the entire time grumbling and questioning everything - but in his defense, he was the only one who didn’t know it was me on the other end of the call. I had pretended to be someone from his company’s IT department; not wanting to reveal myself to him just yet.

I tried to picture their faces, but as Quinn lowered himself down on top of me I couldn’t help but wince as his weight put pressure on my wounds.

Since I was no longer able to keep my mind on happier thoughts, I concentrated on what the best course of action should be moving forward. The Clairvoyant needed to be stopped but the only way we were going to catch him was if we figured out what his end game was.

A plan started formulating in my mind as Quinn finished up and finally left the room.

I gasped in relief once he was gone and lifted my head a bit to look down at my stomach. I tried to sit up but could not manage it, so instead, I did my best to drag myself slowly across the floor and towards the door, leaving a heavy trail of blood behind me.

It took me a while but I finally reached it and managed to open it a crack. Through the crack I was able to hear the faint sound of Coulson’s voice and shuddered in relief as my vision began to swim.

********************************************

Coulson’s POV

I was busy kicking the crap out of Quinn - which gave me immense joy to do, but as I shoved him down against a table I noticed his blood spattered hands. I picked him back up and placed the barrel of my gun under Quinn's chin.

“Where's Skye?” I growled angrily.

“You know, Agent Coulson, it's dangerous...to keep sending her in like that, all alone...when she means so much to you.”

He had a grin on his face which I hit away with the butt of my gun before letting Ward slam him back on the table.

“Search the house. Find her! Now!” I exclaimed frantically.

Fitz-Simmons hurried up the stairs as Ward and I went in separate directions; leaving May to stay behind with Quinn.

I yanked open the door to what looked like the wine cellar and gasped as I spotted Skye, looking very pale with a lot of blood around her, sitting by the door.

“Ohh. No. Oh, no. Oh, God. Simmons! Get down here!” I called out, gently moving Skye and cradling her body against mine as I looked her over.

“Oh. Oh, God. Hang on. Just hang on, okay?”

I froze as I suddenly noticed that she wasn’t wearing her shoes...or her pants...they were scattered around the room.

“Skye...did Quinn...” I couldn’t get the question out but she must have seen where I was looking and what I was asking because she shuddered as she nodded her head slowly. I’m gonna kill him I thought furiously.

She was clearly fading fast, so I was surprised when she managed to grasp my arm and pull me towards her.

“Coulson, I’m g-going to d-die” she struggled to say, coughing several times to clear her throat.

“No, no you’re not!” I declared.

She rolled her eyes and repeated herself.

“I’m going t-to die, but I’ll heal within a day or two once the bullets are removed...b-but d-don’t remove them!”

“What?!” I exclaimed not quite sure what she was getting at.

“Q-Quinn said he h-had orders t-to s-shoot me, I think the Clairvoyant w-wanted this to happen,” she mumbled.

“But why?!” I asked, bewildered and confused.

“I d-don’t k-know but I t-think it has something to d-do with you and how you died and were brought back. T-that’s what you said Raina and Po were asking questions about, r-right? I d-don’t think he knows that I c-can heal on my own, so whatever you do, don’t let Fitz or Simmons take the bullets o-out, not until we figure out who the Clairvoyant is...let him th-think he has the upper h-hand!” I listened wide eyed as she struggled to explain her plan.

It made sense, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of letting her suffer like that. Some of my thoughts must have been written on my face because the next thing I knew she was comforting me and telling me she could handle it and how she had been through much worse, which after having looked at her Hydra files, I knew to be true, but still...

“J-just d-dont let Simmons ex-experi-experiment on me!” she gasped out.

I looked up when Ward entered the room, quickly followed by Fitz-Simmons. Simmons hurried around to the other side of Skye.

“She's been shot!” I informed her as I fearfully watched as Skye’s eyes closed.

“Keep her upright,” Simmons instructed as she checked her out all over.

“I got no pulse,” I called out anxiously as I noticed everyone in the room spot Skye’s lack of dress and reach the same conclusion that I had. Ward clenched his jaw and looked like he was about to punch the wall and Fit-Simmons looked appalled, but I needed my team focused.

“Uh...she's lost too much blood. I don't...” Simmons started to say, until she spotted some sort of chamber that was in the room. “Put her in there!” She shouted.

“Do you even know what that thing is?” Ward asked.

“It's a hyperbaric chamber, and I said put her in there, now!”

“Okay,” May said as she entered the room. Fitz, Ward, and I worked together to lift Skye’s frail body up and into the chamber.

“All right, come on,” said Ward.

“All right, gentle,” Simmons warned. “I need to get her temperature down. Fitz,” she added as we laid Skye down.

“Yeah, I got it, I got it.”

I watched nervously as Simmons slid the table in as Fitz worked at the controls; inputing directions to the terminal on the chamber.

“Temperature's dropping,” he informed us.

“Pressure's stabilizing,” added Simmons, hurrying to the window and looking in.

“Is it working?” asked May.

There appeared to be no change in Skye as we looked at her.

“Is it working?!?” I repeated May’s question, unable to mask the panic in my voice.

We stared at Skye, whose lips suddenly parted as she took a breath.

“For now,” Simmons said with a sigh of relief.

********************************************

Author’s Note

Let me know what y’all thought of this latest chapter! Hope I explained well enough the whole her blocking her soulmates from being able to sense her pain since I have plans for later on in the story that involve them feeling her die for the “first time” so yeah. And def wanna clarify again that if anyone has any requests for additional soulmates to just let me know; thor and loki are a definite already but dont come in till later and then still figuring out the rest so suggestions are welcome!