Hail HYDRA | Skyeward

Episode 16: Afterlife

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There are candles lit all around a room, There are needles in Skye's arms, shoulders and stomach and potentially her legs, the tips of these needles glow red and send the red energy down into the skin they are pierced into. The bruise on Skye's am disappear as the red pulses go down into the skin.

Skye wakes up with a confused look. She looks down at her body to see all the needles sticking out of it. Her vision is blurry as she glances around the room.

"Hey," Skye looks over to Gordon and he is blurry as well until she focuses on his face. "Everything's going to be okay. You're safe now." he said.

"Gordon, where am I?" Skye asked.

"This is the place I told you about," Gordon said, Skye looks around wondering if she's in some sort of relaxation spa retreat thingy that she's never been to her 27 years of life. "You called for me. Do you remember?" Gordon reminded her.

"How long have I been here?" Skye asked.

"Two days." Gordon answered.

Skye looks at him shocked. "Two – t – I need to – I need to go," she strains against the bed. "They need me. Something bad has happened," Skye strains to get up again but all she can move is her head. "Oh, why can't I move?" She starts to pant frightened. "What are you doing to me?" Skye asked.

The door opens and a man, Lincoln, he's around Skye's age, maybe slightly younger. "We're healing you. Leaving now wouldn't exactly be –" Lincoln chuckles as he walks over to her. "You ever made microwave popcorn?"

Lincoln stops at a computer monitor looking over at her. "Leave it in too long and it's charcoal. Take it out too soon and it's a bag of kernels," he glances at her then shakes his head and goes back to the computer. "That might be the worst analogy ever," he looks at Gordon. "Gordo, help me out here."

"You are on your own with this one," Gordon looks down at Skye giving her a smile. "I have to go now. You're in very good hands," Gordon leans in closer to Skye and lowers the volume of his voice to a staged whisper. "He's smarter than he looks."

"How do you know that?" Lincoln questioned, they both smile at each other as Gordon straightens and walks out of the room. Skye glances at Lincoln then looks up at the ceiling. "He's been by your side since the moment you got here."

"Who are you?" Skye looks at him and he looks up from a tablet.

"Sorry. I thought – I'm Lincoln, your transitioner. Right," he walks over to her. "I – I keep forgetting you're new to this. E – Everyone who goes through terrigenesis has, uh, a transitioner to help them."

"Please cut to the chase, I..." Skye stops speaking when the needles glow red again and she takes in the feeling of it.

"Right, yeah. Let me start from the top," Lincoln grabs a chair and sets it down next to her bed sitting in it. "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 –"

"How long?" Skye interrupts, she looks at him and he gives her a confused look. "How long? When can I go?"

"You got places to be? People to see?" Lincoln laughs a bit.

"I'm worried about people I care about. They're gonna be in danger if they're caught." Skye said, not revealing who she's talking about.

"You're the one that's in danger, Skye. Remember? You're being hunted." Lincoln reminds her, Skye looks at him, then down and away as she remembers that's true.