Welcome to Afterlife
2x16 Afterlife
Skye's POV
I wake up with a gasp, my eyes snap open, and I begin to survey the area. Why did I wake up unconscious? Where am I? More importantly, why am I naked with acupuncture needles sticking out of me?
As my eyes continue to adjust to all the light in the room, Gordon appears in my line of sight trying not to startle me. While still feeling a little scared I feel I little relief knowing that Gordon didn't abandon me somewhere all by myself. Gordon tries to keep me calm by telling me that I'm safe but it doesn't feel that way. How can I be safe when I don't know where I am? That's what S.H.I.E.L.D. told me about the Retreat but look how that turned out.
The Retreat. I start to remember that night and start freaking out as Gordon tries to jog my memory. I ask him how much time has passed since he brought me to this place that meant for people like us. Gordon casually and calmly tells me I've been here for the past two days.
"T-t-- I need to- I need to go," I tell him. My heart's sinking to my stomach, my team's lost contact with me for two days. They don't know what happened to me. Hell, I don't even know what happened to them. I tried to move but I'm stuck, these acupuncture needles are somehow paralyzing me. "They need me. Something bad has happened. Oh, why can't I move?" I ask Gordon. I can't be here. I have to go back to my friends.
"What are you doing to me," I ask Gordon. But the voice that answered back didn't belong to him. A man came in, he seemed to be around my age. "We're healing you," he tells me. I get a better look at him as he enters the room more. "Leaving now wouldn't exactly be... [Chuckles] You ever made microwave popcorn?" he asks aloud before continuing, "Leave it in too long, and it's charcoal. Take it out too soon, and it's a bag of kernels. That might be the worst analogy ever. Gordo, help me out here".
Gordon laughs and leaves this stranger to figure out the analogy. "I have to go now. You're in very good hands. He's smarter than he looks," he tells me. Soon after, Gordon takes his leave and now I'm all alone with this stranger. "He's been by your side since the moment you got here," he tells me as he checks the tablet in his hand.
Why does this man keep talking to me so casually like we know each other? I've finally had enough and wanted answers. "Who are you?" I ask him. He looks at me caught off guard, "Sorry," he begins, "I thought-- I'm Lincoln, your transitioner. Right. I-I keep forgetting you're new to this. E-everyone who goes through terrigenesis has, uh, a transitioner to help them". I don't have time for this long version, I need to find my friends. I tell him to cut to the chase and just give me a short sweet reduced version of his explanation.
" Right, yeah. Let me start from the top. Imagine a thousand years of evolution taking place instantaneously. T-that's what happened to you after the mist. These treatments... we're helping your body adjust properly to the change, transitioning you quickly and painlessly, I hope. We usually like to start the process right after the mist, but as-". It seems like his short version is still long so I cut to the chase too. "How long," I ask, "When can I go?". Lincoln is now seated next to me. " You got places to be, people to see," he wonders. "I'm worried about my friends," I tell him, "I think they're in danger". My transition begins to shake his head. "You're the one that's in danger, Skye. Remember? You're being hunted".
(NEW FACES IN THE SHIELD BASE)
(GONZALES SPEAKS WITH FITZSIMMONS TO TRY AND OPEN FURY'S TOOLBOX)
(COULSON AND HUNTER GO TO THE "RETREAT")
Skye's POV
I finally was able to put on clothes after my acupuncture session came to an end. I'm moisturizing my arms since they've been through hell and back in these last few weeks. Lincoln returns to my room to check up on me, he seems to be very good at taking care of patients. Sadly, I don't have the time to chitchat. "I need to get a message out to my friends, " I tell Lincoln as I put on my leather jacket.
He responds by telling me, "Gordon's the only one who can make contact with the outside world. We can talk to him when he gets back". His response made me realize my question still hasn't been answered exactly. "Where exactly are we," I question. I was expecting more of a solid answer than the one I got.
"No one really knows. Uh, the official name is Chinese, I think-- Lai Shi-- doesn't exactly translate. So we just call it 'Afterlife'," Lincoln explains.
"You say the name of this place is Chinese," I start, "Are we in China?". Lincoln takes me out of my room as shows me the Afterlife grounds. "No idea. Gordon's the only one who knows where we are, and he's the only way in or out. It keeps us secret and safe from the outside world," he states. I rebuttal his statement by saying that the "protection" he's talking about, could they could keep us here as prisoners. Lincoln laughs at my response, asking me if I'm the sort of person that doesn't trust easily.
I begin to chuckle at his question. "I woke up naked on a table in a place no one can even point to on a map, so... Call me crazy," I respond. All Lincoln says back is that I wasn't technically naked but last I checked I woke up with none of my clothes on so... I was naked.
"And you asked Gordon to bring you here.No one's gonna force you to stay. It's not a bad place. The night life's a little lacking," my transitioner informs me. It made me wonder if he lived here. Lincoln says that no one lives here, in Afterlife, permanently. "It's more like a way station," he continues, "I'm from Cincinnati, trying to finish Med School. I'm brought here when I'm needed. Some people come here when they need a safe place to stay".
As we're making our way down Lai Shi, I'm trying to digest as much information I can as Lincoln informs me. I start to notice the people surrounding us are staring at me. I hate how I feel like the new kid at school, it reminded me of each time I moved when I was at St.Agnes and they had to move me to new schools each time I was fostered at a new house.
Lincoln sees my confusion and asks me if Gordon explained something. "No," I answer, "I thought you said that everyone here is like me and that this happens all the... Time". A surprised laugh comes from Lincoln. "Are you kidding," he asks me. "T-this has never happened. Things here have always been done a certain way. These people are descendants, yes, but most of them are waiting to be chosen. They carry the genetic marker and have been brought here to be evaluated, cultured, and prepared for the change should they be selected, but that only happens to one person every few years".
I can't fathom people willingly wanting to go through the transition. "This tradition has been passed down through countless generations," he explains to me. It hit me then that I jumped the line and didn't follow the rules that have been set here. Lincoln continues, "and not only did you go through without permission or prep, but you did it old-school, with a diviner in a Kree temple. Uh, that hasn't happened for thousands of years. You can see why some of these people might be a little envious".
He doesn't get how much I would gladly trade places with any of the other descendants. "I didn't want this," I told Lincoln. When I say this, I could see the empathy in his eyes when he told me he understood. "Uh," I start, trying to start a topic, "the woman who changed with me, Raina, Gordon took her and my father. Are they her?", I ask Lincoln, unsure of what I want his answer to be. "
"Gordon takes people everywhere," the transitioner states. "It's his job to keep us safe. I promise, there is no one here who will harm you. You're protected". I take in Lincoln's words and stare at him, I'm trying to see if anything on his facial expression or body language expresses how much I can trust him.
(GONZALES IS INTERROGATING MAY)
(COULSON AND HUNTER AT THE "RETREAT")
(BOBBI AND SIMMONS TALK ABOUT FURY'S TOOLBOX)
Skye's POV
Lincoln shows me to my room that I'll be having while I stay here. It's nice but's all the same, I keep moving just like the foster system. He informs me that Gordon brought my bag from the cabin so it's nice that I at least have some of my belongings. "Relax," I wonder, "this will be like my fourth bed in the past week- and I've been locked up, quarantined, psychoanalyzed".
The blue-eyed med student finds the gloves Simmons made for me. "Let me guess," he starts, " to protect yourself. The inhibitors these released seriously compromised the transition process. It's one of the reasons, uh, you were out for so long". I had no witty remark so I answered honestly by telling him my friend was only trying to help me. I knew Jemma didn't purposefully make gloves to disrupt the transition. "I mean, she thought she was dealing with human biology but you graduated from that class. I'm gonna take a closer look at these. Uh, meanwhile, try to get some rest. Tomorrow, maybe we'll see what gift you've been given," Lincoln tells me. I joke that my "gift" is actually a curse.
He always tries to make me feel understood. " A lot of us feel that way at first... but you'll learn to control it," he responds to my remark. I thought he understood that I never wanted this when I told him before. "I don't want to control it. I want to get rid of it. That's...why I called Gordon. I thought that he'd be able to fix me," I explain to Lincoln. He keeps apologizing since seems to be the constant bearer of bad news. "I'm sorry. I-I thought you knew...the transition is irreversible. You'll feel better in a few days. Trust me. At least, hang here until things calm down on the outside. See what happens. Plus, it's, uh, pizza night tomorrow night," He tells me as he tries to lighten the mood, "deep dish... Gordon brings them in from Chicago. You can't miss it". I sarcastically say how it must've been nice that Gordon's gifts aren't be wasted. " Seriously, rest. I'll see you in the morning," he informs me as he shuts my door.
(COULSON AND HUNTER AT THE "RETREAT")
(BOBBI AND GONZALES SPEAK)
Avenger's POV
All the Avengers are making their rounds trying to track Agent Skye. Thor and Tony are flying in the air, canvassing the area. Rogers is tracking on the ground as he drives his motorcycle while Banner works with JARVIS to track her by checking CCTVs in surrounding areas where Gordon has appeared and disappeared. Clint and Nat are running down leads given to them by Fury and Banner.
After the search for her for two days nonstop, they decide to take a break. All the avengers stroll into the common area of the Avengers Tower. Fury stands before the team and says, "I want updates. Begin".
Banner goes first, "At first, I thought Fitz-Simmons were joking when they said this Skye is a ghost. I couldn't find anything on her, not even her birthday".
Everyone takes this in, all having different reactions. Natasha and Clint understood as they were spies with a history they wish they could erase at points. Tony, Thor, and Steve are surprised by the news.
Fury nods, "That sounds about right. Skye was recruited to SHIELD because of her hacking ability. She was able to bypass SHIELD's encrypted firewalls and that was only on a cheap computer she won in a bet. She also was a member of the Rising Tide".
Tony, Clint, and Nat's heads shot up. " Did you just say the Rising Tide?", Stark asks. Steve, who still isn't up to date with everything happening in this decade asks what the rising tide is.
Before Tony could reply, Clint answers, "They're a terrorist organization that steals classified information and air it out in the world. That bit us in the ass in Budapest".
Natasha nods but adds, "it does make for a better story though. The question is why the change of heart? You don't go from exposing secrets to keeping them overnight".
That's when it clicked in Tony's head, "Of course," he whispers to himself.
The rest of his team looks at him confused. "The day Fitz-Simmons came, I asked Fitz why he cared so much for Skye and if he was interested in her but that's not why. He treasures her as a friend and I asked him what's her last name and he said Skye's an orphan. She must've been trying to find her parents if she was hacking into government files". The room fell quiet as they took in what Tony said.
Thor clears his throat to speak, "uh. When I met lady Skye, she had no idea about the tale of terrigenesis. The other agents were unaware as well but since the Kree was there he told them exactly how and why he came to Midgard since Lady Sif was here to track him". Thor lost the rest of his team as he spoke.
The team looks at the God of Thunder confused and Bruce raises his hand to ask, " What's the tale of terrigenesis?".
"Also what's a Kree?", Barton asks.
"Ancient Kree are aliens that used to descend on planets, changing the inhabitants to fight their war. Earth was one of them," The Asgardian begins to explain.
"Eons ago, the Kree waged a very long war and they needed soldiers on their side to kill for them. One vicious faction among the Kree genetically modified other creatures' DNA. These modifications can be activated with Terrigen crystals. Sif and I believe that the experiments failed but Vin-tak, the Kree that was here not too long ago, told us that on Earth they had to shut these experiments down," Thor continues.
"When Lady Skye went through the mist, it triggered her inhuman DNA which gave her access to these powers. She saw her friend die in front of her, which triggered the explosion of the ancient Kree temple. Last I saw, Lady Skye was terrified by how strong her powers were even though they were recently triggered".
Steve clears his throat and sits up more straight, "That sounds about right, you should've seen her at the cabin. She even sent me and every agent after her flying without even meaning to. We have to make sure no more harm comes to her".
Tony chuckles, "Yeah? How do we do that? We haven't been able to find her, neither has her team who knows her better".
Natasha stands from her seat, "Look, we at least know Skye is currently fine". Everyone looks at the red-head confused so she scoffs and continues to prove her point. "You said Skye doesn't have control over her powers, there's nothing on the news about earthquakes going off the charts or glass shattering everywhere. That means wherever she is, she's not overwhelmed or scared".
"How safe can Skye be with strangers?", Rogers asks.
"The same could be said with us. You heard Skye when you asked her to come along," Fury states.
"She said she was going to follow her S.O's orders. Skye's listening to May so she's probably using that training to stay grounded too" Barton responds.
"Did she see a shrink?" Tony asks. Everyone looks at him. "I mean, she's a foster kid and a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who's now put on the gifted index. Where are her files?".
Bruce begins to shake his head, "Tony that's an invasion of privacy, it must have been really hard for Skye to see a therapist, we shouldn't go through her private sessions".
This causes a divide between the team members but Fury shouts. "Shut up! Now listen, it will be nearly impossible to get her files with the therapist. With the new S.H.I.E.L.D., her therapist is Dr. Andrew Garder. He's Agent May's ex-husband and he only agreed to see Skye because she needs help and not because of SHIELD. So he most likely won't share that information but if Natasha here wants to hack into the bus on days Dr. Gardner was present then we can recover audio files of their session".
Author's Note:
Hey guys! sorry I haven't written in a long time. It's been hectic trying to update this story.
I started writing this chapter at the start of December but I got so sick and ended up in the hospital and I had surgery last week.
So I was now able to complete it. Sorry if it seems to fall short, I couldn't remember where I was gonna with it after I completed this scene.
I'm currently recovering but I hope to get on a better schedule to write in general.
I'm sad that AOS is done but I finally was able to start watching it again without crying that it's over.
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
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