Chapter 56: Past InteractionsNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
It was one rainy night somewhere in Minnesota if I wasn't mistaken. I was slowly but surely making my way to Canada and I had found a pretty remote, small village near enough to the border with the other country so that if I wanted I could cross over, but far away so that my tremors wouldn't raise too many questions.
After I left the Academy I made some fast cash by using my technology and hacking skills, selling information, and fixing computer systems to people who asked and who were willing to pay good cash for it. Nothing too shady, I did have some ethics that I would never betray.
So, between checking what was going on inside S.H.I.E.L.D. and making some money, I bought myself my van, which was the one that I still had and was also the one that Tony's people found me in when I tried hacking into Stark Industries. Anyhow, with this means of transportation and living arrangements, since I did live in the van, I set myself to going somewhere remote so that I wouldn't bother anyone. And, in the best-case scenario, try to get the grips of my newfound powers which would make everything around me shake without my command.
I had just finished my shift from that nice little cafe that I was currently working at as a waitress. The owners were really kind, a married couple who wanted to raise a family and pass the family business of running the cafe to their children. Because they were really happy with the peaceful and quiet life that they had and they had no worries about the future. After all, nothing too exciting ever happened to that village.
So when I found out that they wanted a person to help out with the shop, I was the first in line to try and get the job. After I checked their background and made sure that everything checked out, of course.
I could tell that they were wondering how in the world did a 17-year-old girl ended up in a small town like theirs, asking for employment nonetheless. But they didn't ask any questions. In my hard drive, I had all the documents that I had gathered over the years about myself, one of which was my high school graduation paper. After I showed them this they just accepted me, probably thinking that I was running away from something, which was spot on. So, just like that, and I had become a part of their family. They always paid me in cash, more often than not giving me more than my weekly pay-check should be and I always thanked them for their generosity.
That was how I found myself walking towards my home-slash-van. As every time before I had parked it in the back of the cafe, hidden from plain view. I unlocked it and opened the back door to throw my backpack inside before making my way to the driver's seat. I was just about to jump in but as I checked the area around, a habit that I hadn't gotten rid of and I was sure glad for it, I saw a figure lying behind some dumpsters a few meters away.
The rain had really picked up at that moment and after having an argument with myself, I let out a breath and slammed the car door shut, making my way towards the stranger.
"Hey, man, you okay over there?" I asked only to get no reply. I tucked the hood of my jacket, securing it better over my head and I leaned on the edge to see what was going on. We didn't get any junkies in this place after all.
"Shit!" I exclaimed when I saw a person laying there, no t-shirt on and only some purple trousers on, and even those were roughly cut at his knees. I run up to him and kneeled next to him checking for a pulse and letting out a breath when I found one. "Can you hear me?" I didn't really expect any reply, not that I got any either way. I huffed and looked around. My shift from the coffee shop was the last of the day and the cafe was closed now. I ran my hand through my hair, as I was contemplating what I could do at the moment. I couldn't possibly leave the man there and I had no idea what had happened to him. He didn't have any bruises on and from a quick scan I couldn't find any needle marks, so I was fairly certain he wasn't drugged either. But that didn't solve any of my questions as he was clearly not sleeping but was unconscious. "I am so going to regret this" I muttered under my breath as I made up my mind.
I threw his arms over my neck, and then his whole upper body, picking him up with a fireman's carry as I made my way towards the van.
As I did every night, I drove off towards the forest close to the town, where there was no other soul in the near proximity other than myself. Well, myself and the mystery guy that was. I had placed him on the back of my van and onto my bed, after wrapping a towel on him to get as much water as possible before covering him with my blankets, making sure he was warm enough. After all, I had no idea for how long he had been under the harsh weather and if he didn't catch a cold after all of that I would be extremely grateful.
I sat on the shotgun seat, my knees brought up to my chest and my arms tightly hugging them. I would often check on the back, just to make sure that there was no change in the stranger's condition before I found myself too tired to continue like that and so I drifted off to a light sleep.
Or so I wanted to believe, because just as many nights after I left the Academy, my sleep ended up being a restless one as I couldn't keep control of my powers when I entered unconsciousness. And, just as many nights before, I woke up to be met with my quakes. Only this time I jumped from my sitting position from the light touch of someone tapping me on the shoulder.
It didn't take more than one touch from him before my instincts took over. Without really thinking what I was doing I had the person who was tapping me in a tight hold, his hand twisted behind his back and his face on the driver's seat. I actually had to blink a couple of times before my eyes cleared from the sleep haze and I realized what I was doing. Recognizing the guy that I was holding down, and was struggling to escape, as the man who I had picked up a few hours prior was enough to make me release my hold and for him to let out a hiss as he rubbed his wrist.
I watched as he carefully backed off towards the far end of the van, getting his breathing under control. This was totally not the way that I wanted this to turn out.
I registered that the shaking had yet to stop. From the moment that I woke I knew that this was not like some of my worse episodes, and I should have been able to stop it by now without any problems. But, as it turned out, it was not that easy because of my high alert when I was abruptly woken up by a stranger. And I needed space and privacy to try and take the quake in because it wouldn't stop on its own.
"You need to leave," I said to the guy and properly stood up, going to the back of the van. I picked up a really large t-shirt that I had as a spare and threw it on his chest.
He looked at it questionably and then I turned around as I felt the buzzing in my arms grow stronger and stronger by the second. I tightly closed my eyes, taking deep breaths, trying to take everything in. I knew the van like the back of my hand, so when I reached for the door handle and opened the back door I didn't even need to look at what I was doing.
"Go," I told him and made to step away from the door, my forehead resting on the side of the van as it was not the biggest vehicle in the market.
I didn't hear him say anything else, nor did I detect him making any move to exit. The buzzing had, by that time, reached my shoulders and I knew that I wouldn't be able to contain it for much longer and that I needed to release it. Soon. "Leave!" I yelled at him only to get a really quiet, one-word reply.
"No"
Oh, you're got to be kidding me! I thought and took another deep breath just as May and Natasha had taught me. "What?" I managed to phrase with difficulty.
"Despite the fact that you almost broke my arm there is no way that I am leaving you here in the middle of an earthquake. It's not safe to drive and if I am to go, then you are coming with" he spoke and from the volume of his voice, I could tell that he was carefully coming closer to me.
I felt him touch my shoulder, trying to turn me around so that I would follow him out of the van, and whatever control I had disappeared as my focus shattered. I did turn around, and he tried to get my hand to pull me out, only for me to escape his light grip and to extend both hands to his chest and let loose. My powers surged through my hands and to his torso as he was sent flying from the open door of the van and crushed at the neared tree trunks, completely destroying it and continuing to fly until I lost him from my sight, which was not that hard given that all of that was happening in the middle of the night.
I cursed loudly as I looked down at my arms, only to see that all the buzzing had subsided and almost completely disappeared, the quake that I was creating to the surrounding area also dispersing.
I knew that something was going to happen and that I would need to leave this place. Nothing so good lasted for as long as it did without something destroying it. I closed the open back door and climbed to the driver's seat. I would have to go to the cafe to leave the keys and a letter before disappearing once again, first making sure that I had erased all my digital presence, and–
A sound that came from the woods made me stop short before I turned the keys and turned the car on. I furrowed my brows as I heard it again. It almost sounded like a… scream? Howl?
My curiosity got the better of me, given that this was the first time that I registered this sound ever since I started coming to this part of the forest. I got out of my van. Closing the door behind me and looking questionably at the direction where the stranger whose name I didn't even learn, and whom I had just killed, had moments before disappear to. I started walking towards there and made it to the first destroyed trunk before my ear picked up the sound of thundering steps, closing in on my location at a rapid speed.
Without thinking twice about it, I bolted back to my van, trying to get there as fast as I could and drive away. I didn't even manage to cover half the distance before the heavy steps were right on me and I turned around to see what was happening and prepare myself for what was coming.
I barely managed to bring my hands up to cover my face before I saw a flash of green and I was sent flying. My back crashed on the side of the van, and the back of my head soon followed and I was engulfed in darkness.
My coming back to consciousness was really fast. One moment I was surrounded by darkness and in the next, I had this splitting headache that made me grunt. I squished my eyes before really slowly opening them up, only to see the side of my van.
It took a second for my mind to catch up to what was happening, or to be more precise what had happened, and I immediately rolled on my back, as I was lying on my chest by that time. Before I managed to complete my action though I came to a stop as someone gripped my shoulder, not allowing me to roll any further. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, you have a very nasty cut in the back of your head. Here let me help you" the voice said and the hands moved to my back to help me up.
Before he managed to do anything else though, I had pushed the hand aside and had kicked the person with what little strength I had, as I pushed myself in a sitting position.
"Hey, hey" the guy who I had found last night raised his hands in a surrendering manner. The guy who had flown off my van and there was no way he had survived. Flown in the same direction as whatever had just moments later attacked me…
"Who are you?" I asked as my mind caught up to what was happening.
"I am a doctor. I am only trying to help" he said but made no move to come closer. "You should be really careful with that" he said and pointed at the back of his own head. "You have a severe concussion, okay?", he continued speaking when I didn't say anything. "Can you tell me your name?"
I knew that I shouldn't, it made absolutely no sense for me to tell him my name. Not even the owners of the cafe knew my real name, they thought my name was Daisy. It still surprised me to that day that they actually believed it. And I would later on blame it on the possible concussion that I had, because there was no other explanation for what came out of my mouth. "Skye" I said and found my voice more hoarse than I expected.
"It's nice to meet you Skye" the man said with a smile as he brought his hands down. "I am Bruce"
Notes:One to go!
Chapter 57: Rising TideNotes:That's it, folks! At least for Book 1, that is. Thanks for joining in the ride and for reading and supporting this story :) I hope you have all enjoyed it so far.
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
"Well, that's one Hell of a way to meet" Tony's voice echoed through the room.
Bruce laughed at his surprise. "You think?", he questioned the billionaire. "But I think this introductory story pretty much sums up our whole journey together. We both had issues, obviously, and they all were similar as well" he looked over at me and I simply gave him a nod.
After all that we went through together at that point in our lives, it was easy for both of us to understand what the other person was thinking just by looking at the other's eyes. So the silent permission that Bruce was asking didn't go unnoticed. After all, he didn't really know what my relationship with Pepper and Tony was and how much they knew about me and my past. And I did truly appreciate the fact that he wanted to make sure we were on the same page about disclosing how the two of us met and what had happened at that period. I had let him know that the pair sitting across from us knew about me, but he still didn't know how much they knew.
"We were running from people, and as I found out recently it turned out that we both were running from S.H.I.E.L.D. We didn't have much control over what was happening to us and from what I have gathered neither wanted to hurt anyone. So, I guess you could say that despite starting off on the wrong foot, we developed an understanding and we did grow quite close" he shot me a smile and I returned it wholeheartedly.
The comfortable silence that filled the room was soon broken by Pepper's voice. "Well, let me thank you for being there for Skye when she needed someone". Her words were so genuine that it could only fill my chest with a warm feeling.
"Oh, it was nothing, Ms. Potts. We were there for each other, it was pure luck that brought us together" Bruce countered.
"Well, I do not believe in such things as luck," she said in her matter-of-fact voice. "And if I am to call you Bruce…"
"Pepper it is" he finished her sentence with a small nod and a smile plastered on his face.
This was nice, I concluded. Just being in a room with people I trusted and just talking, relaxing. Not having any training to go to the next day and basically taking a day off. I could suddenly tell why the pirate insisted so much on this and I made a mental note to thank him for that at some point.
True, I had been keeping in touch with Pepper throughout the whole year I was in training with Clint, but being close to her and talking face-to-face was not something to be compared with simple phone calls or texts. Also true, Tony still had that arrogance on him but he had tuned it down a lot since everything that happened in the Stark Expo. And I could also tell that he and Pepper were getting closer with him respecting her and her thoughts more, so that was a nice change. And finally, there was Bruce, a person who I had not seen in many years and who I couldn't help but feel close to. But at the same time, when I thought of him and the other guy, as this was how the doc was referring to the Hulk, I thought of how I exploited our relationship.
"You okay there?" My head snapped to Pepper as her voice brought me back to reality. Looking around I saw all three occupants of the room looking at me with concern-filled eyes. I hadn't even realized that I was so lost in my thoughts that the room had grown quiet.
"Yeah, yeah" I tried to brush it off only for Pepper to see right through my lie.
"Skye…" she said with her 'you better tell me what's wrong, or else…' tone that I knew meant business.
I smiled kindly at her and turned to look at Bruce who was sitting next to me. "I am sorry," I told him.
"What for?"
"I told Loki all about you. Everything that happened in the Helicarrer was my fault, my plan" I simply said but didn't avert my eyes as I usually did when feeling guilty about something. With Bruce it was different. It was like an unspoken agreement that we had, to be honest with each other. And it would feel like a betrayal to that agreement was I not to see his end of the conversation.
It took him a good few seconds, which seemed to drag out from my point of view, but he eventually answered. "It's okay" and I could tell he meant it, the unspoken agreement still holding strong.
"Really?"
"Yeah" he placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "I figured that Loki wanted to make me lose control and after I found out that you were under his control, I knew that I would be in a delicate situation"
This made me furrow my brows as I took in what he said. "Natasha told me how she brought you in. If you knew, if you expected, something like that to happen, why come in? Why risk it?"
"I figured it was worth it" our 'staring contest' of shorts never broken. "I hadn't heard from you in years, Skye, let alone see you. I'd been hiding in India for a fair amount of time and one night agent Romanoff comes in and tells me what was going on. I can't say that I wasn't hurt when she told me that you were with S.H.I.E.L.D. I am even going to admit that I briefly thought you were playing me all along, that you were working with them since the beginning. But she explained that this was not the case. And the way she spoke about you let me know she was telling the truth.
"So if I was indeed the only person who could track down the Tesseract, and subsequently you, and I had not accepted the responsibility in fear of the other guy coming out then what would that make me? Whether you want to admit it or not Skye, we share a past. After what I was told, I knew that the chances were that you would use what you knew against me but all of it would be worth it if I could find you and bring you back to people who clearly cared about you. Plus, I have a feeling that you would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes and you were asked to help out, even with the risk of losing control"
With that he sat back on the sofa, linking his hands on the back of his head and leaning onto the cushions. "But from what I've gathered, you losing control would not be as easy now would it? Especially given that New York still stands still after all that happened" he playfully winked and I answered by punching him lightly on his upper arm.
"Shut it Greeny" I called him with the nickname I used to all those years ago.
His brows almost met his hairline when he heard me calling him like that and he didn't miss a bit to retaliate. "Whatever you say, Shaky"
At that Tony scoffed and when I turned to look at him with narrow eyes I saw him covering his mouth in a failing try to not laugh. "I am sorry," he said but clearly not meant it. "It's just, Skaky?", and with that he let his laughter echo in the room without holding back.
"Oh, I dare you, Tony," I told him but he kept on without stopping. "Now that I am here I think I am going to spend a lot of time talking with my best pal Jar" at that he suddenly sobered. "And who knows… maybe he will help me plan something special for you" I finished with a playful glimpse in my eye.
"J.A.R.V.I.S. would never allow it" he challenged but I could hear the dread in his voice nonetheless.
"Wouldn't he now? We both know that he likes me the best, isn't that right, Jar?" I asked in the air and waited for the A.I. to reply.
When a few seconds passed and he didn't, Tony saw it as a bad sign. "Answer the question J.A.R.V.I.S.," he said while looking at me straight in the eye.
The playful smile didn't leave my lips, only grew larger when the English accent came through the speakers in the room. "Both of you hold a different place in my programming. I am also programmed to help you should you ask my assistance. I am programmed by Mr. Stark, but I have also spent many hours helping Skye in building better security walls in our systems and I have to admit her help has been dire"
"See," I told Tony and then mouthed 'he likes me best'
And what did Tony do in return? Being the 5-year-old he is he grunted and simply said "We will talk about this later J.A.R.V.I.S."
"Oh, don't be so hard on him. He's being honest that's all. After all, it was your programming that doesn't allow him to lie, you can't really blame him for that, can you?" I could almost see the billionaire's head glowing red from how upset he was about the whole situation and Pepper saw it too, as she turned to me with a pointed look as if to demand to defuse the situation. I let out a sigh, as after all this time I still couldn't say no to her. "Hey, Tony" I spoke, and from the look that he gave me he definitely wanted to say 'Now what?', but just stared daggers at me. "I've been meaning to ask. How come and you have yet to bring up the whole S.H.I.E.L.D. and powers situation?"
This had him change his features to that of confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you know. After what had happened in Monaco, you didn't mention my powers again and then after I disappeared from the Expo you did the same. You know I'd been talking with Pepper and I am sure she had let you know that I was in S.H.I.E.L.D. And, well, with the history you have with the organization I guess it surprised me that you never asked, or even mentioned it for that matter"
"I never did, did I?", he questioned and rubbed the back of his neck. "You see, after Monaco, you were really hurt in case you've forgotten. And, despite how much I hate to admit it, you might have had just saved my life. And when I did question you in the hospital, you got upset and then I had Pepper here taking your side. Oh, I had planned to ask you, believe me, I did. Only before I got the chance the mansion in Malibu was destroyed…" at that Pepper hit him in the shoulder and then proceeded at glaring at him. "Fine, fine. Then I sorta destroyed the mansion and you left again with this lady here" he pointed next to him as said lady rolled her eyes.
"But that wouldn't have stopped you" I stated. I knew him and his attitude, especially at that time. And if he wanted to ask something, not even a threat about the end of the world would have stopped him from asking it.
"Nah, it wouldn't. What did was One-Eye. He came in, told me that Natalie or Natasha worked at S.H.I.E.L.D. and practically threatened to end me were I to even talk to anyone, and that included you, about your powers" he simply explained.
That was a detail that no one had told me about. In my mental note to thank Fury for the time off, I also added thanking him for talking with Tony and keeping my secret. It appeared that this guy was doing way too much and he got credit for only a small portion of his actions. "Fair enough. I just never had you for someone who wouldn't ask when someone told you not to" I honestly said.
"Me neither!", he exclaimed. "And if anyone else had told me so, first thing in the morning and I would have you tell me everything, but this guy is scary"
"That's true," I said and couldn't resist the yawn that escaped my lips. I hadn't noticed how late it was until that moment. The sun had properly set on the horizon and the room was lit by the roof lights that were powered by Stark Industries' newest clean energy source, which Loki had taken advantage of the power to open the portal.
"How about we call it a night?" Pepper was quick to add when she noticed my tiredness.
Everyone instantly agreed with her and we all got up to head to our rooms. Jar was directing Bruce to the room he would stay in while in the Stark Tower and I was about to ask for directions myself when Pepper linked her arm to mine and rushed me away.
"I was guessing you would go to bed with Tony?" I questioned while we roamed through the corridors.
"Oh, he knows the way. Our bedroom was not destroyed after all" she brushed off my question. We continued walking in silence until we reached the floor that I was staying in and was surprised to find that it was the same one that I was living in while I was working in the building. "I made sure your room remained intact" she explained as I crossed the doorframe and took everything in.
She didn't even exaggerate when she said so. The whole floor had remained exactly the same as I remembered. Only cleaner, if I were to be honest. Even the closet that had fallen during my quake episode during one of the first nights in had been replaced with a new one and was placed at exactly the same spot that the broken one used to be. "Thank you" was the only words that would suffice to what I was feeling. Then I turned back at Pepper who was standing at the entrance and walked up to her, giving her a hug. She carefully placed her hands around me, not squishing as much as she would like to, and I knew that she was afraid of hurting me again just as she accidentally had when she first saw me the same afternoon. "It's nice to be back" I offered.
"We are glad to have you back" she pulled away and brushed some hair out of my face, carefully placing them behind my ear. "I've missed you" her tone had dropped significantly, as she spoke so quietly that I had to strain my ears to actually pick up what she was saying.
"I've missed you too. You know that I'll have to go back at some point, but for now, I am here" I tried to comfort her.
"I know. And you will be staying here until you are asked to go back, which I hope won't be for quite a while. From what I've heard you deserve a break. And we definitely have a lot to talk about, too much have happened since I last spoke with you" she said with her motherly tone leaving an underlying question that was always there every time we spoke on the phone.
I grip her hand firmer in mine, making sure that she believed me when I said, "I am fine".
She squeezed back and looked me in the eye. "You are not" she enquired. "But that's okay, you will be. I am here if you need anything, no matter the time. You promise that you will let me know if you need me? Whatever that would be, from talking to just sitting and enjoying a cup of tea in silence?"
"Sure" I kindly smiled and fought back another yawn, not so successfully.
"Sleep well Skye, see you tomorrow" she leaned down and placed a kiss on my forehead before retreating and leaving me alone to my floor.
~ About 1.5 year later ~
That day had started like every day before that, and I started my routine like usual. That was until something changed. I was about to go out for my morning run, having finished my early Tai Chi routine when I heard my phone ringing.
Only when I turned around, my phone was not ringing but had its screen black, as it was turned off. I walked towards the sound that echoed through my room and walked into the room closet. The sound led me to the safe, which I unlocked and took the buzzing device in my palm, looking at the unknown number that was calling me.
"Agent Skye" I answered as I brought the phone to my ear.
"Morning agent" a voice that I had to hear for quite some time came from the device. "I need you to come in"
I balanced the phone on my shoulder and looked further into the safe and took out a black case with a 'Q' engraved on top. I walked back into my room and opened the case, only to reveal the latest model of gauntlets that we had been working on with Tony for at least a year after the New York Battle.
"What is my mission, sir?" I asked as I walked back into the room closet and took out the bag that I had always prepared in case of an emergency.
"I need you to go undercover to an organization that has made its purpose to uncover S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets and make them public. I would ask for someone else, but I trust you. Plus, this mission will require your skills"
My eyebrows furrowed questionably at that. "My skills? Is this threat so great that I will need to quake my way out of there, pirate?"
I could swear that I heard him laugh from the other end of the line. "No" he replied. "No. I don't mean those skills. You are going undercover as a normal, non-powered individual who hates secrets and believes that the government and organizations cover everything up. You are going back to your roots…" he trailed off as if to create suspense. "You are going in as a hacker"
"Huh," I scoffed and laughed at the same time. "I like that. I will set up my computer so that you can send me the instructions on a secure line and I'll get back to you" I felt that this conversation was coming to an end so I added quickly. "Nick, one last question" I could tell he didn't particularly appreciate me calling him Nick, but it was safer than using the surname of the director of an organization such as S.H.I.E.L.D., plus I got to have my fun with it. "Who am I infiltrating?"
"The Rising Tide"
Notes:So... As I mentioned, I might not have the summary for Book 2 yet ^^' My fault. I have something written, but I want to twitch it a bit more so that it's better. I also have a few things and a busy schedule until Sunday, and my Internet connection will be on and off the whole time. So, I thought I would start posting on Book 2 from Monday, August 2nd.
So, until then, have a nice rest of the week :)
Series this work belongs to:Part 1 of Coming Up Empty Next Work →