Skimmons: Survival

3

"Brace yourself. The next place won't be a fourth so beautiful." Skye warned, her mouth tightening into a grimace.

"Alright." Jemma answered wiping at unshed tears.

"I never thought that I'd have a home. I'm so glad that you guys found me." she whispered as she led Jemma through a gothic hall where they said goodbye to Sisters Estella and Prudence and collected seven or eight packed lunches for them.

"At least they honestly love you." She told Skye.

"Take care of her." Estella whispered to Jemma when the older woman hugged her.

"I'll do my best." Jemma promised. "She's a stubborn one."

"Come on, Jems!" Skye shouted from the giant double doors.

"On my way!"

While Skye drove to their first address Jemma could see her girlfriend's knuckles go white around the steering wheel.

"I was fourteen when I stayed here, so if we're lucky he won't recognize me." Skye told her.

"You don't look like a Mary." Jemma told her in response. "How long were you here for?" she asked.

"Two months. He took pictures of us all and hung them in the hall no matter how long we were there for so he still might know who I am." Skye said and Jemma had to wonder what had happened her to cause Skye to react to seeing it like this. The jaw in the younger girl's jaw was working overtime as though she were chewing on something. Jemma decided to keep a close eye on her. She reassuringly took hold of Skye's hand that she squeezed in response before they climbed the rickety steps. She took a few deep calming breaths befor knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" asked a deep male voice from inside.

"SHIELD! Open up! We've got some questions for you about some recent disturbances in the neighborhood." Skye called.

"Stand behind me. He doesn't trust government agencies, kind of a paranoid." she whispered.

"What do you want with me?" he asked, poking his head out of the door.

"Mr. Walker, are any of your foster children home?" Skye asked.

"Only the baby." he replied.

Skye's voice dropped to a growl, and she still stood defensively in front of Simmons, almost as though her body were a shield of it's own.

"Please let us in, we only want to talk." her voice grated. "Or we will come back with a warrant."

"Fine then." he growled back and they came in. The house was filthy, beer cans on the floor and the sofa stained with who knew what. Empty paper plates littered almost every surface and Jemma could see that the photos Skye had been talking about were frameless and hung with whatever this slob could find at the moment.

"Simmons, would you please get the baby." she said articulately without once looking at her. She crossed her arms across her chest and stepped back, her body language cutting her off from everyone and everything.

"Mary Sue. I can barely believe my eyes. You've gotten even more beautiful." he looked her up and down, even his gaze made her feel violated. He put one meaty, greasy hand on her shoulder and she shrugged him off.

"You lost your right to ever touch me a long time ago, Mr. Walker. The last time I was here, I swore that you would lose the next limb you touched me with. Don't make me keep that promise." she grabbed the wrist and manipulated his arm so that he was forced to the ground with a crash. Skye grabbed the thinning grey hair on top of his head pulled his head back roughly so that he was looking at her upside down from on his knees.

"Skye! Is everything...whoa. What's going on?" Jemma called, rushing into the room, a baby boy in her arms.

"You always did like it rough." Walker laughed, his tongue running over permanently swollen lips.

"Take the baby and go to the car, Jemma." Skye warned and the scientist could have sworn she felt the ground tremble with Skye's voice but dismissed it as her imagination.

"What's happening? Skye?" Jemma asked her own voice trembling.

"Is that your girlfriend, Mary? That night...did I ruin men for you? I still dream about your screams." Walker laughed, his already red face nearly turning purple.

"You want to talk about that night, Walker?!" Skye shouts, her own face contorted with rage. "You pulled a sleeping fourteen year old girl from the top bunk of her bed, tearing her leg open. You covered her face with a pillow to muffle how she screamed and begged for you to 'Stop stop please stop.' I couldn't...couldn't breathe. You undressed me and did...terrible, terrible things to me." Skye was screaming, crying, and laughing all at once. "You didn't ruin men! You ruined me! I died that day."

"Jemma, take the baby to the car." she ordered again, the tremor came again, rocking the scientist on her feet and she knew now that they were in time with Skye's voice.

"Skye, are you doing this?!" Jemma asked, fear lacing her voice as she watched. She wanted to go to the love of her life and comfort her, but she needed to call for backup and get the baby out before the house fell down around them. Somehow, she knew that it was Skye's emotional turmoil that was causing the house to shake.

"I don't know how I'm doing this or how to stop it. Honestly, I'm not sure this is me. Please get out. Call Coulson. Tell him that if I have to be...put down, I want it to be him. Not May, him. Go Jemma, I love you." Skye never looked at her while she spoke and her words were laced with some kind of ancient, terrible power.

Her eyes wide and tears falling, Jemma replied, "I love you, too." covered the baby with her own body and ran out. The only place not trembling in the near vicinity was the car, proving in Jemma's mind that it was Skye causing the earthquake. Jemma sat in the car's passenger seat and rocked the baby until he quieted and she could call Coulson on the comms.

"Sir, we have a big problem, were you aware that Skye has super-powers because I sure wasn't told. We need you here ASAP or she's going to kill this guy and maybe the rest of us. Oooohhh,shhhh, honey it's okay. She's causing the earthquakes. And now the baby is floating. We found the 084." she rattled off the address.

"Is that Skye you're talking to?" Coulson asked in confusion.

"Of course not it's the baby." she said and hung up on him.