X marks the spot

Identity and Change

"What are you doing?" Katie asked as she left Daisy's bedroom, having woken and showered after her rest. Aaron was opening and closing cupboards in a rush. "Alcohol." He answered absentmindedly as he continued to search. "Why?" was the next question. "Because it helps."

"With what?"

"Thinking. And calming me." It was that, and the fact that his mother's name was so familiar to him. And he wished that he never made that connection.

"That's the point of it isn't it? The second part, not the first."

"Yup." Katie sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to get much conversation out of her brother. She moved to the couch, finding his bag on the floor. Opening it, she found the main things she thought she'd find.

But then, there was another thing, a paper with red markings on. So, after checking to see if he would notice, she grabbed the paper and had a look. A bright smile came upon her face as she saw a big fat A on the right-hand corner.

"Wow." She said in awe, a loud pop! Sounding right after. She saw that he had found a bottle of alcohol. And, instead of pouring it into a glass, just drank right from the bottle. He stopped when he finally met her eyes, seeing the paper in her hands. Slowly putting the bottle to rest on the table. He seemed afraid of her. His moves seemed to be executed slower. "You got an A!" Katie yelled in celebration, shooting up from the couch and throwing her arms in the air.

Jemma had now entered the room, hearing the shout. She saw Aaron watching his sister with a look that was mainly trying to hide his sadness at this side of her. Either that, or it was just seeing her again at all. "Did you know he got an A?" Katie asked, making Jemma look at her, shaking her head. Katie beckoned her over, handing the paper over to her. She quickly skimmed over the words on the page, gathering a main idea of what the essay was about. Seeming to be about prisons. His writing was detailed. Very detailed. Jemma grimacing slightly at some of the more extreme ones.

"It's good. Well done." She said with honesty, looking up and smiling at her friend. A smile that he returned tightly. Covering up its slight waver at the end by drinking again. Jemma turned back to Katie and handed it back, the woman smiling as she placed it back in the bag and zipping it up.

"Always knew that you had a creative mind. You know, I still think you should take me up on the idea of being a writer or going down that path." Katie prodded her brother as he turned from her. He froze again. His words got caught in his throat. He finally coughed when he could find them again. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, that'd be nice. I don't know, though. Quite a thing to try and get into."

Katie frowned at his lack of faith in himself. "Hey. You could do it. You just need to find your voice. Write things you want. Fuck those who don't want that. You do what you want." She advised. Jemma looked between the two, guessing what this would be doing to her friend. Daisy hadn't really spoken about it yet. In fact, neither of them had. She knew that it was hurting both of them by seeing her again. Daisy had even taken the liberty of going to find Coulson and try and convince him to help them. But Jemma knew that it was more than just trying to find their friend. While she knew of the connection the older man and Daisy held. That tight, father daughter like one. She also knew that it was to get away from Katie.

Meanwhile, Aaron was stuck here with the ex-dead woman. But this was a different side to her. She still had parts of the Katie that she met. The loyalty and concentration when she set her mind to something. Along with her dedication. But this version was also a lot more active and brighter than the other. She reminded her of Daisy when she was named Skye. When they had all just met right at the start.

"Ok, I need to get to work. You gonna be ok?" Katie asked Aaron, he only nodded. She gave him a smile, before leaving. The look she gave Jemma as she left was less soft. More akin to a sort of anger. Or distrust.