Chapter Text
"Only an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart."
"Shut up, Fitz, this is no time for your childish nonsense!"
"It's not nonsense, it's a Disney quote!"
Jemma rolled her eyes with exasperation, and then flinched when she realized that the table she had been holding on to was now covered in ice.
"Stop making her nervous, it's not helping," Skye said from the safety of her corner as she glared at Fitz. It was not as if she'd chosen to be there, really, but Jemma wouldn't let anyone get anywhere near her and that was as close as Skye was able to get to her without making her freak out.
Jemma was terrified. Skye could see it written all over her face, and quite honestly, she couldn't blame her. What had started as a typical, run-of-the-mill mission, had turned into one hell of a nightmare.
Their job was relatively easy. They were supposed to infiltrate the compound, retrieve the artifact and bring it back to the safety of the BUS so they could take it to the Hub for further investigation. Easy as pie, Skye had thought.
She should have known better.
What neither of them had suspected was that said artifact had the unusual property of giving its owner the power to create and control ice and snow. And what they also hadn't foreseen was that the damn thing would go off and shoot some sort of weird-looking blue ray that would hit Jemma directly.
And now, there they were.
Jemma had locked herself in the lab, and despite her protests, both Skye and Fitz had stayed with her.
"It's not safe!" Jemma had said, her voice a plea. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Simmons, relax. Just… keep your hands to yourself and we'll be okay," Skye said, trying to reassure her, and watching from the corner of her eye as Fitz silently began to move the expensive equipment as far away from Jemma's reach as he could.
"Oh, this is not good, not good at all," Jemma muttered, her eyes widening in horror as the floor of the lab began to freeze with every step she took, until it was completely covered in ice.
"What the hell!" Skye heard Fitz yelp as he slipped, almost dropping one of his precious microscopes to the floor.
Skye's eyes darted to Jemma, who had retreated to the farthest corner of the lab in an attempt to keep her distance. When Jemma felt Skye's eyes on her, she looked up, and the sheer terror that she could see in her eyes was enough to make Skye move closer to her.
"Simmons… Jemma… It's okay, I'm right here. Breathe, try to calm down."
"Just… Just stay away. Please."
"No, I'm not going anywhere."
Jemma squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms tightly around her middle, trying to keep herself together, trying to keep the cold from taking over.
"Jemma, look at me," Skye said, taking a few steps closer to where Jemma had barricaded herself. "Open your eyes and look at me. You don't have to be scared."
"Skye, please, you'll only make it worse."
"Don't panic..."
"You're not safe here."
"We can work this out, together," Skye insisted, closing the distance between her and Jemma, and slowly reaching out to take her hand.
"Stay away!"
It all happened so fast, that no one had time to react. One moment, Skye had gotten close enough to let her fingertips brush against the skin of Jemma's hand, and the next, Jemma had jumped away from her touch, holding her hands up and accidentally hitting Skye right on the chest with an icy blast that came straight from her palms.
"Skye!" Fitz ran to Skye's side when he saw her fall down from the impact. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay, I'm fine," Skye answered firmly, as Fitz helped her up to her feet. She was mostly just shaken up, but it seemed as if no physical damage had been done to her.
"You have to go!" Jemma said, her voice laced with fear and desperation.
"No, I know we can figure this out together."
"How?! What power do you have to stop this? To stop me?!" Jemma's voice trembled as her eyes locked with Skye's, snowflakes now swirling around them.
"Skye, I think we should go…" Fitz whispered to her, trying to push Skye towards the lab's doors and away from Jemma.
"No!" Skye shook her head, stubbornly. "I'm not leaving you alone, Jemma."
"Yes, you are!" And with that, Jemma once again held her hands up and deliberately used her new power to throw both Skye and Fitz out of the lab, effectively freezing the doors after and locking herself in.
"Well, that went well," Fitz muttered angrily as he slowly stood up from the floor, rubbing the back of his head. "Are you hurt?" He asked, offering his hand to help Skye get up.
Skye shook her head no and then bit her lip as she stared at the lab's doors, now covered in ice, making it impossible for them to see what was happening inside.
"Where is Coulson?" Skye turned to face Fitz, her voice etched with worry and fear. "He and Ward and May have been gone for hours."
"Debriefing meeting at the Hub," Fitz answered nervously. "You don't think… No, you don't think they would take her to the Fridge, right?"
Skye swallowed thickly, and after glancing over at the lab one more time, she began to make her way towards the stairs. "We have to fix this before they get back."