“The worst part about this job? Mandatory drug tests. Do you know how many bottles of that detox shit I have had to buy?”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Darce, but I think you’re the only one they’ve tested for drugs.”

“You know, I hacked the Kremlin before that Rising Tide guy did. Miles Whatever.”

“You know, I hacked the Kremlin before Miles did. He just likes taking credit.”

“Blatant dislike can turn into blatant attraction. Do you not know how a love-hate relationship works? I should teach. I’m working on one, actually. I’ll personally mail you a copy when they come out. Can’t have my number one fan going without. Oh please, Fitz can take care of himself. Stop being a guard dog. It’s not a good look on you.”

“Has your writing career also extended into songwriting, and, if so, did you have something to do with that Robin Thicke hit? What was it called again, ‘No means yes’? I know he can, but it’s in my best interest to make sure he knows how to get rid of a body after he’s taken care of himself. Can’t have it strung to a tree like a virgin sacrifice, now can we, Jonathan?”

“Oh boy, Skye, you’re playing right into my erotic humiliation fantasy. Who knew that a little bit of death would make you like this? I’m almost grateful there was a death but we both know I have eyes for someone else, so as much as I would love the hate sex we could have, I’m going to have to turn you down. Maybe you could find a substitute though, like a vibrator.”

“It’s really cute how I literally just talked about shooting you and you still think my blatant dislike towards you is foreplay. Write a self-help book, I’d love to read it. Oh, and while we’re on the topic, if Fitz as much as frowns because of you, I’m gonna teach him how to hide a dead body.”

awww bb i get your phone <3

“I don’t care. Your threats just turn me on, actually. Wow, because being insulting towards me just shows that you’re a better person. Let’s face it, Skye, you think you’re the bigger person by calling me out but really, you’re just lowering yourself to my level. Welcome to the pit.”

“What, like it’s hard to be a bigger person than you? Leave the psych report to a professional, babe. I’m not claiming to be. I’m simply lowering myself to your level because it’s taking an edge off both of us. You do that entire thing where you get disgustingly turned on by being degraded, and you know I get off on winning arguments against you.” 

Fitz couldn’t even look at Skye. He kept his gaze down at the blankets, picking at the edge of it. He swallowed hard, shooting a look at his friend when she sat next to him. “Oh… ehm… sorry,” he mumbled an apology for the ICER, reaching over to set it carefully back on his nightstand. He looked at her again. She was definitely not responding too great the whole… everything that had happened the past few days. Why would she? He scooted just a little closer to her. “Yeah. Reminiscing.” Fitz bit down on his lip. “I’ve just been sleeping. I thought I’d have nightmares, but, ehm, I guess not, so it’s… easier than being awake. This is worse than nightmares.”

She followed Fitz’s movements with her eyes, letting a corner of her mouth tug upwards slightly when he inched closer. “If there’s anything I know about trauma, it’s that you want to be in denial as long as you can. Keep yourself distracted. Go yell at cars on a highway, but be responsible about it. Or – ” Skye nodded at the stack of DVDs she’d brought with her that had somehow made their way on top of the cabinet next to the door. Either she forgot dropping them there once she’d witnessed Fitz’s emotional state or she was straight up losing her mind. Likely both. "We could do that.”

“So… a dead body shows up on campus and suddenly everything stops? Alright. Cool. Won’t trust you guys if we go to war.”

“I’d love to shoot you and get things going again, but I think one murder is enough. Because, you know, I’m empathetic. Whereas you’re just the other half of the word.” 

♛: the pettiest thing my muse has ever done

☠: how my muse would choose to die, if it were up to them

for someone, so that her life would be worth something. 

★: five things most people don’t know about my muse

she doesn’t celebrate any holidays. 

she’s actually super well read (especially when it comes to the classics) despite dropping out of high school and not having any physical copies of books. 

she has a nice singing voice.

she can’t sit through an entire movie without talking over it. yes, she’s that asshole.

she gets attached ridiculously fast. she tries not to because it never ends well, but it’s something she can’t help. 

웃: what my muse would leave to people in their will

she doesn’t have much, let’s establish that. she doesn’t even have a will. but, hypothetically speaking, she’d want Simmons to get her hula girl. Coulson would get her laptop, because he needs to learn how to use it. Trip would get the van. Darcy would get her phone. Ward would get a passive aggressive post-it note.

웃: what my muse would leave to people in their will

♛: the pettiest thing my muse has ever done

★: five things most people don't know about my muse

☄: the last five Googles searches my muse made

✉: the last five text messages my muse sent

☢: how would my muse fare in a zombie apocalypse?

☣: how would my muse fare in the hunger games?

☠: how my muse would choose to die, if it were up to them

♂: three names my muse might name their son

♀: three names my muse might name their daughter

♫: my muse's five favorite songs

☤: the last time my muse went to the hospital and why

▽: the first job my muse ever had

☃: what my muse does when it snows

☎: the last person my muse made a phone call to and why

♠: the riskiest thing my muse has ever done

➹: what my muse would do on their 21st birthday if they had all the money in the world

☞: five things my muse is good at

☜: five things my muse sucks at

Fitz relaxed a little when he heard Skye’s voice on the other side of the door. Okay. Of course it was just Skye. Why would a murderer go after Fitz next? That’d be stupid. He bit his lip and hesitated for a couple of seconds before unlocking the door with his free hand, opening it slowly and peeking out just to make sure, just in case… who knows. It was hard to trust anyone right now, he had to make sure there wasn’t anyone else for whatever reason. Relieved to see she was alone, Fitz opened the door wider and stepped back, his other hand still tightly clutching the ICER.

“Hey Skye,” he said softly, closing and locking the door after she walked in, then going back to his bed. He wrapped his blanket tighter around himself and grabbed his pillow to hug onto. “What do you need?”

Skye hesitated at the doorstep for a couple of moments, looking him over to determine how to proceed. The psychoanalysis proved to be fruitless, mostly because he needed a friend, not a shrink, and she leisurely made her way towards to where Fitz sitting to claim a spot next to him. “To see you? Preferably without getting shot?” she joked, though it didn’t translate to her eyes. Or her expression. Skye looked down at her hands then, “I’ve been hiding out on the Bus, reminiscing, all that. I don’t really want to see anyone else right now.”

It was a day after the incident. Or at least as far as Fitz could keep track of. He hadn’t left his room since he’d come back from Jonathan’s; he’d canceled all of his classes until further notice  and was currently stil hiding under his pile of blankets. He hadn’t moved from the spot or done anything all day besides sleep. He was trying to see how long he could manage to stay unconscious, waking up briefly and letting himself fall asleep. So far it was working well–

–Until there was a knock on his door. Fitz was about to yell that they could come in, but then he froze. The door was locked, anyway. Of course it was locked. He crawled out of bed, blanket wrapped around him, and grabbed the ICER at his nightstand before approaching the door. “Wh–Who is it?” His voice was groggy but slightly panicked. “Who’s there?”

Maybe they should’ve developed a knock system to let each other know they were not, in fact, getting hunted down by murderers. But they didn’t know then, and there she was now, regretting not developing the system when they weren’t emotionally damaged. Regretting what had happened. Regretting the fact she didn’t run into the body first, saving him the trauma. His voice was every bit as broken as Skye’d imagined he would be, and she forced her voice calm when she replied.

“It’s me,” she announced loudly enough for Fitz to hear through the door. “Your friendly neighbourhood Skye. I brought my unconditional love and support, and, in case that isn’t enough, some video games. Courtesy of Mack.”

Lincoln only watched as Skye placed her hand on his, intertwining their fingers together. He felt the electricity transfer between them - and she didn’t pull away. Thoughts of relief and confusion and anxiety raced through his mind, can’t get too close but i need a friend. Could Skye be a friend? Even if he had to betray her?

“Was that a Pokémon reference?” he said with a twitch of the mouth. “I’m not sure my very best is good enough for SHIELD, that’s all.” He bit his lip, taking a breath. It wasn’t like he would be of any interest to SHIELD, as an agent or otherwise, if he didn’t have his powers. The only reason he’d gotten in in the first place was because of some connection somewhere to someone. And even with his powers, he was a prisoner, a test subject, nothing more. It wasn’t like he was Avenger material, anyway.

“It’s a pretty lameass superpower,” he joked, his heart not really in it. “Can’t exactly fight evil with it.” Not with what she knew about it, anyway. And that was all she was ever going to know, lest she think Lincoln was a freak, and not a friend.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Never played it, no way for me to know,” Skye said in mock obliviousness, corners of her mouth tugging upward in return. “I wasn’t, either. I’m still not entirely sure how I fit into this. SHIELD - no, Coulson - agreed to spend two minutes on me to get coordinates on a guy and it somehow snowballed. I was a risk, still am, but they've kept me around for some reason. Let SHIELD decide what or who they need. They have the bigger picture, and the kind you have no say in.”

Her hand hadn’t moved off Lincoln’s, but whether it’d remain so was fully up to him. She’d gotten used to the prickling feeling of the static electricity against her skin, and, after hours of being numb, it made her feel alive, warmth spreading upwards from her fingertips. “It’s something. Something is good, no matter how minuscule. It’s there against all odds, probably for a reason, definitely to charge me right now. From where I stand, this superpower is finally making me feel my face.”

Skye reverted her gaze to the 3DS on her lap, then to Lincoln’s hand underneath hers, still, then the blanket spread out on the floor, next to it the file she’d grabbed in haste. A sharp twinge of guilt cursed through her once she realised she had a small smile on her face, so she sucked in a harsh breath, desperately trying to ignore the fact she had the contacts of a dead man’s family inches away from where they were sitting, and that she was smiling. “How about I talk you to sleep?” she said instead. “You still look like you need it. No offense.”

“Wasn’t really sleeping,” Lincoln admitted. He looked around at the trinkets Skye had strung about the room, hoping for something to change the subject. It was impossible to focus, however, and he found his heart beating faster in his chest as the silence dragged on. “I want to help people,” he said finally. “If I have to sacrifice myself to do it, so what. My life isn’t worth more than any other’s. I’ve met people who feel that way, and it’s not a way I want to live my life.” 

His thoughts flickered to Jiaying and other Inhumans, with their belief that they were better than normal humans. He didn’t quite believe it. They always taunted him with sayings of “you’ll understand when they come after you”, and maybe he would. Eventually he would have to turn his back on Skye and everyone else here. But that didn’t make him better. It made him worse. “So yeah, fitting in helps. It makes me feel like I’m the good person I’m trying to be.”

Her first thought was ‘fuck it’. Her second thought was exactly the same, but with slight modifications. “I’m gonna offer positive and encouraging physical contact now, so please don’t freak,” Skye said with determination, tugging the sleeve of her blouse down until she’d achieved a sweater paw situation, “Now, I don’t know shit about physics, but I spend most of my life around wires and electricity anyway. If my super ingenious life hack fails, know I was bound to go out like this.”

Once she was sure the words had really sunk in, Skye reached over to rest her hand on his, but, unlike the previous night, kept it there instead of pulling back. The static immediately began working it’s magic through the blouse, enough to tingle but not to hurt. Her fingers crept out from underneath the material soon thereafter, allowing her to squeeze his hand softly. Not a catastrophe. It only hurt when the touches were accidental, and even then it was the sudden shock, not the static itself. “Right. There’s a way to help people without throwing yourself into an active volcano. SHIELD is lucky to have you alive, and, if my opinion matters at all, I know you’ll be the very best if you allow yourself to. We’ll figure it out.”

Lincoln was startled by Skye’s sudden outburst, letting the blanket fall off of him as he reached out to console her before pulling his hand back, deciding against it. “I know the feeling,” he said with a sigh, scooting closer to Skye while still keeping a distance. “Keeping secrets that prevent people from knowing the real you.” He looked over at her, fingers still on the buttons even though she was paying no attention. “I guess we all give up parts of ourselves to be here, parts of ourselves that don’t really fit into the greater picture. The only question is… is it worth it?”

Skye dropped the 3DS onto her lap, resting her head against the wall with a sigh. She’d seen Lincoln change his decision in the split second it took him to close the distance, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to reach out and finish what he’d started. For both of them. Prove to him he wasn’t the danger he thought he was. But, she didn’t. “Maybe. Does fitting into it make you feel like the person you want to be, even a little? If so, yeah. But, while I’m always an enthusiast for the greater good, don’t compromise yourself. You seem like the type of person who’d self-destruct for the sake of the others and I’d - losing you would suck.” She eyed the blanket that was now on the floor, turning to him with a small smile. “I scared you awake, didn’t I?”