Part two! Thanks for requesting. Will write the chapters in order of request so don't worry, I haven't forgotten about any of your suggestions :)
''Hey, it's okay. You're safe.''
It were the first words you heard, before you could even open your eyes. Of course you'd recognize that voice, you'd recognize it everywhere.
Slowly, your vision cleared and your girlfriend's face hang directly in front of yours, a smile on her lips that didn't completely reach her eyes. All events suddenly rushed back to you and with a jolt, you sat up. But it was too fast because the room spun and you swayed dangerously.
Skye sat down next to you, grabbing your upper arm to stabilize you. ''Hey, calm down. It's okay.''
You scooted a little further away, cringing at her hand on your arm. Hurt flashed behind Skye's eyes. You were still in just your tank top, but now you were freezing instead of sweating. ''Don't touch me. I don't want to hurt you.''
She shook her head but made no moves to touch you again. ''You won't. I trust you,'' she whispered, trying to catch your restless eyes with hers. By now, you had figured you were in the interrogation room slash cell on the Bus. It made sense. It was away from the others and the padding on all the walls made it the safest place to be.
''You shouldn't,'' you countered, lacing your shaking hands through your messy hair. It was still in a bun on your head, but more hair hang out of it than in it. ''Oh my god I set the hallway on fire. I did that.''
''Calm down,'' Skye said, seeing you beginning to panic. ''You need to keep breathing, keep your heartrate low, okay? It is somehow tied to our powers. If we panic, we lose control.''
You nodded faintly, concentrating on your breathing like May had taught you. Her lessons were very useful now, even if she probably didn't have this in mind while training you. Suddenly you looked at the woman next to you. You studied her pained eyes and the tired expression. Here you were, thinking only about yourself while she was also going through the same thing.
Without thinking about it, you lunged for her and threw your arms around her. She was surprised, to say the least, but chuckled and held you close. She needed this hug just as much as you did.
You rested your chin on her shoulder, the soft fabric of her sweater smelling like her, as she ran her fingers up and down your back. Every time they hit the edge of your top and continued on skin, you shivered slightly.
''You know this doesn't change anything, right?'' you murmured. ''Between us, I mean.''
You felt her stiffen so you pulled back, able to read her emotions better this way. ''You're still Skye and I'm still Y/N. DNA change or not, I still love you.''
Her heart skipped a beat. You meant it, with all your heart and soul. ''Are you sure? What if I don't like morning cuddles anymore?'' she asked, mischief shining in her brown eyes.
''Oh damn, that could be too drastic of a change. I take back what I said if that's the case.''
She shook her head, laughing. It was a nice change from the heavy topics and exhausting events. You enjoyed her smile and brushed some of her bangs out of her face. They were getting too long again, but you doubted going to a hairdresser would be an option any time soon.
''Stop looking at me like that,'' she blushed, which only made you look at her ''like that'' more.
You played dumb. ''Like what?'' But for the first time, you noticed the thick, bulky casts around her arms. How could you have missed those? You grabbed them with your hands and held them closer to your face. ''Wait, what are these?''
The smile dropped from her face and she looked at her arms. If you looked up close, you could see the purple bruises under the black casts. ''My powers, I thought I was controlling them but I was just directing them inwards. They shattered my bones.''
''What?'' you gasped anxiously, looking back up at her face. What happened while you were asleep? ''How long was I asleep for?''
''Almost twenty-four hours,'' she admitted, making your mouth drop open. ''At first we thought it was because of the sedative Fitz gave you, but your body burned through that within minutes. You were so exhausted you slept that long.''
You felt guilty for sleeping that long and not being able to help her. ''You needed me, why didn't you wake me up?''
''I'm fine.'' Skye waved away your worries, but she didn't look at you. ''You looked like you could use the sleep.''
You shook your head and grabbed her hands. Because of the casts you could only feel the tips of her fingers, but that was enough for now. ''You're not fine,'' you said softly. ''You don't have to act like you are. Not to me, not to Coulson, not to May. I'm not fine. But we're here together and I'll drag you through this if I have to.''
Her eyes started to water, which you didn't want. The last thing you wanted was to make her cry.
''How are you not freaking out right now?'' she chuckled, but it was a sad sound. At least she was looking at you again.
''I am freaking out, but it doesn't help with anything if I scream and yell and cry. It's happened, we can't go back, we can only learn to live with it.''
The door of the room suddenly opened, but you didn't drop her hands. In walked Coulson, that kind smile he always wore on his face. ''Sorry to barge in and interrupt this,'' he apologized, glancing down at your hands before looking at you. ''Y/N, good to see you're up.''
''I thought it was about time,'' you joked, which earned you an even wider smile. He was here with a purpose however, not for random talk.
He stepped forward, sighing before saying, ''You and I need to take a ride.''
Skye glanced at you for a moment. ''Okay. But why am I suddenly feeling like old yeller right now?''
Coulson furrowed his eyebrows. ''Kind of surprised you know the reference.''
Skye shrugged as she gently pulled her hands out of yours, uncrossed her legs and swung them off the side of the bed. ''I've had a lot of downtime lately. That and Fitz really wants a dog.''
You chuckled. ''Thought he wanted a monkey.''
She turned to look at you, her long hair swung over her shoulder. ''Guess he readjusted his expectations.'' Coulson watched the interaction, happy you had each other in this. Skye eyed him, narrowing her eyes slightly. ''You can't tell me where we're going, can you?''
''You're gonna want to pack a bag.''
Her smile dropped and so did yours. She sighed deeply and nodded. He left you alone to pack, which meant you had to walk back into the base to get your stuff. Somehow, it felt like a walk of shame, which was completely wrong. None of what happened was your fault. You didn't want this but you did feel guilty.
The stares of your friends and team mates were intense and you saw Skye cringe and her confidence shatter. Halfway through the long hallway your bedroom was located on, you grabbed her hand and squeezed it slightly. If only to make her feel less alone.
There wasn't much to say to each other. You knew you were going away from SHIELD for a little while, and when you walked over the uneven floor next to the lab, you understood all too well why. In fact, you were happy to get away. You needed it and Skye needed it.
~~~~~
In the Quinjet, Skye explained everything that had happened while you were out. Her father had let loose some crazy people from a prison, formed a group, tried getting her back while also taking revenge on Coulson for killing Whitehall before he could.
In conclusion, it was a whole mess you had missed. If you were sad about that, you weren't sure.
It was obvious Coulson didn't know what to say, which was understandable but also a new concept. He always knew what to say.
''I'm sorry about everything that's happening, Skye,'' he said eventually. It had been silent for a while, a tense silence. It was incredibly awkward so you did your best to ignore it.
Skye glanced to her left, where he sat next to her. You sat on her other side and had to lean forward a bit to see him. ''Not your fault. The blame begins and ends with my dad.'' She played with the loose threads on the inside of her casts.
''Well, you wouldn't be the first person to have parents with misguided intentions.''
She scoffed, trying to make a joke out of it. ''Nope, just the first whose crazy dad lured her and her girlfriend to an alien city to get powers.''
''Thing I remember most about my dad is he was a car guy. Always working on this junker he insisted I help him fix. While my friends were outside, playing ball, having fun, there I was, stuck at home with him, fixing that damn car. Wasn't till we finished that it hit me. That car was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. And all the time we'd spent together working on it gave me an appreciation I never would have had otherwise.''
''Hold on. Was that car a red 1962 Corvette?'' Skye guessed, smiling smugly. Coulson nodded proudly. ''Well, he'd be very proud. Your red Corvette flies. How cool is that?''
''It's pretty cool,'' he agreed, making everyone chuckle. ''But I think the thing he'd like most about it... at her core, she's still just a red '62 Corvette.''
Skye averted her eyes, as did you. It was obvious what he meant to say. ''Just to be clear, I-I'm the Corvette in this story. Right?'' Coulson nodded. ''Now you want to tell me where we're going?'' she tried.
''We're almost there.''
Not even ten minutes later, the jet began to descent. The sun shone through the window, which was a good sign. Maybe it would be a beach, some place tropical.
There was indeed water when you stepped out, but not the water you had hoped for. It was a small lake in the middle of a forest. To your right, along the edge, was a tiny wooden cabin. It was remote and silent, just as you had wished it would be.
Coulson walked ahead of you, carrying two paper bags with mysterious stuff in them he wouldn't show you before. You had a small bag slung over your shoulder with some clothes and toiletries, Skye did too.
You hoped your smile was believable as you stepped on the small porch. She was still sad about leaving SHIELD for a while.
''It's one of Fury's old retreats.'' Coulson sat the bags down on the floor. The whole inside of the cabin looked exactly like you would expect. It was all very woody and cozy. Plaids, warm colors and even a fireplace. You wouldn't get cold. But bored? Definitely. ''Haven't been in here in years.''
Skye wandered around, looking at the furniture and the books. You threw your bag on the small table next to the tiny kitchen. ''Fury's not the kind of guy who has a cabin just to relax. What is this place?''
''It's a safe house for people with powers. Rogers even spent a few weeks here after he defrosted.'' Coulson slowly started unpacking the bags he had brought. It was mostly food, since the fridge was empty. He stopped, turned around and looked at the two Agents. ''I'm afraid I have to pull you from active duty.''
You nodded, as did Skye, but she wasn't too happy about it. ''I get it. I do. I just didn't think that you'd lock us up like werewolves during full moon.''
Coulson wasn't intimidated by her. He answered calmly, gesturing to you. ''You're not alone here. There's a direct video link to the base, and May will keep dropping by every couple of days.''
''What are we supposed to do? Go fishing?''
''Well, if you do go outside, be careful. There's a laser fence around the perimeter.'' She rolled her eyes and he grabbed her shoulders. ''Look, this is a safe place. You can relax here. You can use this time to get a handle on your abilities.''
''Yeah, 'cause that's worked great so far.'' It knocked your morale down, how she seemed so hopeless she would ever learn to control it. You were sure she could, and you could, but it took time and she was impatient.
''Well, maybe it's time we give you a hand with that.'' You furrowed your eyebrows as Coulson opened a small box. Inside was a pair of gloves and a bracelet. Wasn't hard to guess which accessory was for who. ''Simmons has been working around the clock on these. She assures me they'll cut your recovery time in half. They decrease the magnitude of your powers to keep you from hurting yourself. Like I said, we want you to heal,'' he explained, giving them to the both of you.
The bracelet was silver and it was quite heavy for its size. You had no idea what it did, but it was probably something to control your temperature and stop you from setting the cabin on fire.
Skye twisted the gloves over in her hand. She was not happy with it and felt they were trying to take her powers away, but they were just trying to help. ''Are these gloves really my best option?'' she asked carefully.
''I can't answer that question for you, Skye.''
''Stop,'' she pleaded. ''Stop being this SHIELD guy for just one second, okay? Please. We've been through way too much together. I just need you to be my friend right now. What would you do if you were me?''
''I don't know. These are uncharted waters, but if anybody can find a way through them, it's you. Because you're one of the few people I know I can trust.''
His phone rang and you both gave him some space to answer. You pulled her to the side and gently took the gloves from her hand, putting them back in the box together with your bracelet. ''Listen, I don't like it either, but they want the best for us and they're just trying to help. They are just as in the dark as we are.''
Skye sighed, shaking her bangs out of her face. ''I know, but I can't push away the feeling they're scared of us. That they only see us as dangerous and want to get rid of our powers.''
''We are dangerous, whether we like to admit it or not. But so is May, and so is Mack. The difference is they can control when they are, and I melt the hallway and you quake the Bus,'' you joked, but she only gave you a half-smile back. ''The point is, they'll stop seeing us that way once we learn to control it. With those... tools, we can.''
You saw you were slowly convincing her, but not all the way. She valued your opinion, but her own believes were strong too.
''Thanks for the update, Mack,'' Coulson ended the call, causing you to turn back around. ''I'm afraid I have to get back.''
Skye sighed. ''I get it. Didn't expect you to stay and roast marshmallows.'' She had a much harder time with this than you.
''This is temporary, Skye. I'll be back in a couple days. If you need anything-''
She nodded, cutting him off. ''We'll let you know.''
He stepped closer, looking between the two of you. Suddenly and completely unexpected, he pulled you into a hug. It was a bit awkward with the three of you together, but it was warm and came from a good place. ''We'll figure this out. I promise,'' he muttered before he let you go. With one last smile, he walked to the door. ''Meanwhile, enjoy your alone time. But not too much.''
You and Skye groaned at the same time, but it was only you who blushed and covered your face with your hands. ''Oh my gosh.''
He laughed and pulled the door closed behind him. Without looking at your girlfriend, who was laughing at your face, you finished unpacking the paper bags Coulson had brought. They were full of food and snacks but also greens and potatoes. ''Gluten free biscuits?'' you said aloud as you took it out of the bag.
''That can only be from Jemma,'' Skye joked behind you. When you turned around, you saw her testing out the couch. She looked very cute with the disapproving look on her face. ''This couch is very uncomfortable.'' It looked fine, but it had been sitting there for years so who knew?
You chuckled, abandoning your groceries. You climbed on her lap and hooked your arms around her neck. ''You won't have to sleep on it anyway, there is a double bed in the bedroom over there. Unless you were planning on doing... other activities on this couch,'' you said suggestively.
Her arms snaked around your waist as she pulled a thoughtful face, playing innocent. ''Eating gluten free biscuits? Reading a book? Playing cards?''
You sent her a dry look. ''Really?''
She chuckled again, looking up. ''What if I quake you, or you set me on fire, or you set yourself on fire?''
You hummed, leaning in with a smirk. ''Only one way to find out.''
Right before your lips touched hers, she pulled back, making you whine. ''You do know there's cameras in here, right?'' she smiled, one eyebrow raised.
You groaned and sat back. You'd rather not have a SHIELD Agent watch the footage and find you getting busy on the couch.
Skye laughed again, something she did a lot at your expense. ''You're the worst. We've been here, what, five minutes? And you already jump my bones.''
''Hey! I can't help that you look amazing and the fact we're here alone in the middle of nowhere makes me go places,'' you defended yourself, which only made her laugh louder.
''Why don't we make dinner first, hmm? Then we call Jemma so she can explain our little trinkets and then...'' she trailed off, pulling you closer.
Your eyes flickered from her lips to her eyes. ''And then?'' you breathed. You felt your heartbeat going up fast, which was probably not a good idea. Maybe she was right and you needed to take it easy for a couple days.
The fact she had you so enchanted so easily made her smirk. ''And then...maybe there is some time left for fun things.''
''I love fun things,'' you quickly answered before finally kissing her. After days of being quarantined in the base, with a glass wall separating you, then being knocked out for a whole day, and flying here with Coulson, you had missed her holding you like this, touching you like this. Not only on a romantic level, but also the hugs and the simple things like brushing your hand through her hair or laying your head on her shoulder.
Skye felt her face warm up as your hands started getting warmer and warmer in her neck, and the lamp on the table next to you started shaking softly. It rattled only a little bit, but it was enough for you to break away and look at it. ''Huh, good to know I still have that effect on you babe,'' you joked, staring back into those brown irises.
''I really need to get a handle on that soon. If I can't even kiss you without making things shake, it will be a long few weeks in isolation.'' She was joking about it, but it did bother her.
You sat back, running a hand through her hair. ''How about this: we take things slow, okay? In general. We don't force our powers. We try them out, slowly, until you don't push them inwards anymore and I don't melt anything. Hopefully, but only if you want, the gloves and the bracelet will help. I help you, you help me?''
''Sounds good.'' She patted your hips, a sign this topic was over for now. ''Now, I have been intrigued with those gluten free biscuits ever since you held them up. I really wanna know what they taste like.''
You shook your head with a laugh and climbed off her lap, trailing back to the kitchen to find them. ''I bet they're disgusting.''
''Oh I know they're disgusting.''
You sank down on the couch, which was indeed quite uncomfortable, and handed her one of the brown things. At the same time, you tried them. To your surprise, they weren't that bad. It wasn't smart to eat them before dinner, but you couldn't resist.
You crept closer to her body and laid your head on her shoulder. Automatically, her arm pulled you closer by your waist and her head rested on yours. You listened to her heart beating and her steady breathing. She always calmed you down and the opposite was true too.
''You know what I miss?'' Skye suddenly asked after a couple minutes of silence.
You had started to doze off a little but you forced your eyes to stay open. You had just slept for twenty-four hours, for god's sake. ''What?'' you muttered, somehow feeling the need to be as silent as possible. It hadn't been silent like this for years. The base was always busy.
''A TV.''
You looked around but indeed didn't find one. ''You're right. How do we keep up with our shows if we don't have a TV?''
Skye shrugged, grabbing another biscuit from the pack. ''We have a computer, I'll figure something out.''
You chuckled, closing your eyes and inhaling her perfume. ''Sometimes it's great to have a hacker as my girlfriend.''
She almost gasped. ''Only sometimes?''
''No, you're amazing.''
''That's better.''
You relaxed further as she held you tighter. It wasn't the break you had pictured you two would ever go on someday, but it was what you needed right now. Just the two of you in this abandoned cabin, away from the outside world.
You were going to enjoy it while it lasted, because with everything going on, you knew it would only be a matter of time until someone busted down that door.