Chapter Text
Skye was sitting on the BUS, while Jemma inspected her arms. Fitz was hovering nearby, wringing out his hands like a mother hen.
Her new powers, powers she hadn’t asked for, were dangerous. During the last mission, she’d gone with May and Andrew Garner to try helping Coulson, but the situation had escalated into a fight. Skye’s biological father Calvin Zabo, had recruited a small number of enhanced allies to help him get vengeance on Coulson.
In a move she hadn’t completely thought through, Skye had decided to have May pretend to use her as a hostage, guessing Calvin would surrender to keep her safe. Unfortunately, Calvin had seen this as proof of his claims on Shield’s treatment of enhanced individuals and almost played a nuclear option. Thankfully, a mysterious man appeared out of nowhere surrounded by blue energy and taken Calvin away.
Her father removed, the stadium they were in had erupted into chaos. Coulson and May had fought most of the enhanced people, with Bobbi taking on a woman who tried to escape. Coulson had been surprisingly brutal when fighting, even bashing a pleading man in the face with a briefcase.
Terrified, her mind once again placing her in the place of the gifted man, Skye’s powers had triggered an earthquake that shook the entire stadium. Calvin’s allies had stared at her in awe of her power. Desperate to control the situation, Skye had tried to stop the earthquake, only to direct her powers inward, causing bruising due to a multitude of capillary ruptures and over seventy-five hairline fractures throughout her entire arms.
The strain from this had caused her to pass out, though thankfully she hadn’t had a chance to feel the pain. She’d woken up in the Cage, which was her new bedroom for the foreseeable future. Jemma had made special braces for her arms which would hopefully contain the shaking in her arms and minimize any extra injuries.
“Well, the bruising has started to fade,” Jemma mused. She’d pulled one of the braces up onto Skye’s hand so she could examine the injuries. It definitely seemed more efficient than casts would have been. “Though I’m afraid these stress fractures will take a bit more time to heal.”
“Great.” Skye scowled. “Tried to go zen to keep my powers in check only to find myself – aah! – back on the D.L.” She helped tug the braces back onto her wrists but turned away from Jemma to hide the wince on her face.
Fitz turned towards her in confusion. “The Down Low?”
“The Disabled List.”
“Oh.” His confusion faded as he shook his head in understanding. “Oh, yeah. That makes more sense.”
Holding up her semi-immobilized arms, Skye moved her wrists up and down a little. “Yeah, and now I’m all…”
Fitz moved behind her as he continued to pace. “You know, it could just be growing pains – from the new powers.”
“It’s okay, Fitz,” Skye assured him. “You don’t have to put a positive spin on this.” She turned her hands over to examine the bruising on her fingers, flatly ignoring Jemma’s sympathetic expression.
“I’m not doing that. I would never patronize the–” He paused as both Skye and Jemma looked over at him. “Well, the – Things change. That’s what I’m saying. So maybe if you learn to control this, then…you could have Avengers-level powers, something like Captain America, even.”
Skye snorted. “That’s being generous.” She scowled down at her hands. “If you really want to compare me to the Avengers, then I’m the Hulk…or Loki, since Trip trusted me and I got him killed.”
Jemma inhaled sharply. “That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is,” Skye insisted. “Trip only went into the chamber because I had gone in. He’s dead because of me.”
“It’s not your fault,” Fitz told her. He placed a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off.
“How can it not be?” Skye asked softly. “Jemma said it herself: we’re a plague. We need to be eradicate-”
“I was wrong!” Jemma interjected. Skye looked at her in surprise. “It’s not the people with powers who are ruining everything: it’s Hydra and Ward and everyone else who’s trying to manipulate and use powered people as scapegoats.”
Fitz nodded agreement. “Yeah, Donnie wasn’t a bad kid. He made mistakes, but he was tricked and manipulated by Quinn and then later by Hydra.”
“That teleporting man got Calvin away from the stadium,” Jemma added. “He most likely saved everyone there because he came when he did. And you,” she made eye contact with Skye, “you were so desperate to protect our people that you injured yourself instead.”
Skye shrugged. “It’s the least I deserve for killing Trip.”
“You didn’t kill him!” Jemma exclaimed. “He knew the risks, but he chose to go in because that’s what Shield does. That’s what you did in the stadium when you let May put a gun to your head, and before that when you ICEd yourself.” She took Skye’s less injured hand gently. “I was wrong in what I said and I am so sorry.”
Shrugging again, Skye muttered, “It won’t matter when you find a way to get rid of these powers.”
“What do you mean, ‘Get rid of them’?” Fitz gave her a wary look.
“I mean that you, science twins, need to find a way to get rid of them – soon,” Skye explained.
Jemma shook her head. “These powers are part of you – an integral part of you from my tests. You can learn to master them…I know it.”
The room began to shake. “No!” Skye shouted. “I need these powers gone!” Everything shook harder as Skye’s determination increased.
An unexpected whine sounded from the countertop a few feet away. Everyone looked over to see the 084 device from their first mission sitting there, starting to glow.
“What is that doing there?” Fitz asked.
Jemma shrugged. “I left it in the lab,” she replied. The three of them walked towards the device, curious.
“Guys, maybe we should-” Skye didn’t get a chance to finish, as the device made a strange humming noise, one that pierced through her mind like a needle. She reached for her head.
Before anyone could do anything else, the device let out another fierce noise and the laser fired at them, hitting Skye first and covering her with a bright blue energy that encompassed Jemma and Fitz as well. Then they disappeared from the BUS.