Surrender- Agents of SHIELD

Isolation

Spyen sat in the isolation unit that was separate from Skye. Spyen had her head down and away from the assistants that were constantly in and out of the units in HASMAT suits. Spyen let out a breath when the last person was gone and glanced at Skye. Skye was asleep and Spyen knew that she need to rest as well, but her couldn't keep her mind from wondering. Since the temple, Spyen has had trouble identifying her thoughts. In her mind she could see Trip crumble away into dust and after a moment the memory went black and Skye quickly woke.

Spyen jerked her head up to Skye when she felt that she was awake. Skye turned onto her back with a sigh.

"I haven't been able to sleep either." Spyen knew that Coulson was in the lab, but she refused to look at him.

Skye pushed the sheet off of her and sat on the edge of the bed. Spyen narrowed her eyes at the words in her head before Skye spoke.

"I keep thinking Trip is gonna come see me. Make fun of me for being stuck in quarantine. Call me a goldfish or a hamster or something."

Spyen swallowed at the guilt and despair radiating off of Skye, "And every time I wake up, I remember all over again." Skye's voice cracked and Spyen was quickly off of her bed and to the glass that separated the two of them. She put her hand to the glass with a sign. Spyen wanted to physically connect with Skye, but at the moment it was impossible.

"I just can't believe he's not coming back. She should not have been down there."

Spyen swallowed and glanced at Coulson before he spoke, "You all went in for a good reason. To prevent HYDRA from starting a cataclysm."

Spyen pushed away from the glass with low words, "He was trying to save us."

Coulson slowly stood and glanced between the sisters, "He may have saved all of us." He leaned against the glass of Skye's isolation unit, "The Obelisk triggered a massive earthquake. Imagine how much worse it could have been if he hadn't destroyed it. He died a hero." Skye looked down with tears before glancing up at Spyen. "Once medical clears both of you, we'll get you out of here. You'll just be stuck underground like the rest of us."

Spyen swallowed at the Director's attempt to make the situation funny, but neither one of the agents felt the humor.

"How's everyone doing?" Spyen said the words before Skye could.

Coulson shrugged, "Just trying to keep busy. Everyone deals with it in their own way. When you sign up for this kind of life, you accept that loss will be part of it, but you never get used to losing one of your own. Especially when it's a good man like Trip." Spyen looked down at her hands as she remembered the several times when she had lost a good agent and friend. "It happens too much. And over time, it makes it harder to let people in. Sometimes it just makes you want to pack up and run."

Spyen looked up at Coulson, "Is that what you want to do? Run?"

Coulson gave a nod, "Sometimes. You?"

Spyen and Skye glanced at each other before Skye spoke, "Couldn't even if we tried."

Skye stood up and sighed, "How long did it take for Mack to get out of quarantine?"

Coulson nodded, "He cleared pretty quickly. Whatever took over his system is gone, but he's pretty shaken up."

As Spyen let out a breath, she caught her reflection in the glass and flinched back with a quick heart rate. She shook her head and looked at her reflection again, but the shock of what she saw was gone.