A/N: I completely did not realize that my chapters here had somehow fallen behind my posts on my main writing site. I'm so sorry for that. Here is the next chapter, however, as the formatting process on this site continues to be the bane of my existence, I'm seriously considering focusing all of my updates toward the other site alone. You all have been very loyal through the ups and downs of these last years, and if you don't already subscribe to me on that site please PM me and I can send you that way. I AM STILL WRITING GH-325. It is a few more chapters updated on the other site.

"Daisy Johnson. Huh."

She followed her dad into his old office, curious to find how clean it was compared to the rest of the dilapidated building. Sure, it had perhaps a foot of dust over everything, and the furniture was all outdated, but it was otherwise well-kept. It was almost like stepping through a time portal.

Well, him owning the building explained that. Where'd he get that sort of money? She glanced around, envisioning what all the empty rooms could be used for. She wondered if SHIELD could make use of it...

And then, as always, everything had to go to pot. In the blink of an eye there was Lincoln, Cal getting pissed, Hydra, SHIELD -

There was a Quinjet on the roof. Skye froze, and took a breath. Could it -

Find him.

She gasped, finally "hearing" that familiar "voice" again, and she twisted back around to run back down the stairwell.

Coulson was here. He was here. She could feel it in her bones, in her - everywhere. It was actually kind of creepy. Nevertheless, her feet led her to the exact stairwell, and she slid to a halt when she realized what she was looking at.

Damn, he was so fine in a kevlar vest.

But there, just behind him... Ward.

"Skye?" He sounded breathless. And oh, so beautiful. She always loved the way he could say her name.

"Coulson." She whispered. She could hardly believe it. She forgot about Ward for a moment, as her feet took her down the hallway of their own accord. Coulson began walking toward her as well, his pace picking up as if he had needed a moment to accept that she was real, as well.

There. There he is.

Just as the smile began to break out on her face, Gordon appeared.

"I need to get you out of here."

"No - No no, not yet not yet not yet!" Skye wailed, trying to duck away from Gordon's grasp.

Cal lunged at them from behind, determined not to be left behind, and he pushed Gordon into her, and then all she could hear was a shout from Coulson before her feet hit the ground again with a thud. As soon as she found her balance, she began hitting at Gordon.

"Take me back! Take me back!" She shouted desperately, still seeing that expression on Coulson's face in front of her. So close...

Gordon fended off her hits easily; she was too distracted to inflict any real pain, and he wrapped his arms around hers to hold her still.

"No, Skye! It isn't safe for you there." He ordered, but suddenly he was ripped away from her by a hard punch to the side of his head. He landed on his side on the bricks, bringing his hand up to his ear, feeling blood.

"You tried to take her away from me - again!" Cal was belligerent, and even Skye knew to step out of distance from him, holding her breath momentarily. "After everything - "

"Cal, no!" Skye shouted when Cal made another move for Gordon. "I need him! I need him to take me back!"

Coulson had been right there, and Ward was behind him... with a gun in his hands...

Skye jerked herself back into focus, and pushed her dad out of the way to grab at Gordon's shoulders, heedless of Cal's current mood. Getting back to Coulson was all that mattered.

"Take you back?" Cal asked ridiculously.

"It's too dangerous - " Gordon started angrily, sitting up and brushing the trickle of blood off the side of his face. Skye grabbed him again, turning him so his face was toward hers.

"Coulson was there!" Skye shouted, starting to feel a little panicky. She couldn't tell if it was her own emotions, or because of her danger radar. Considering that Ward had been there, she was terrified it might be the latter.

"Coulson?!" Cal hissed, and Skye shook Gordon.

"Now!" Skye yelled, and noticed her mother approaching them hurriedly out of the corner of her eye.

In fact, they seemed to have drawn quite the audience... that didn't matter to her, however. She could feel it; her power welling up and pooling over, the brick stones starting to wiggle out of place on the ground, leaves beginning to fall off of trees, wooden slats rattling together as buildings creaked.

"Skye! Remember your control!" Her mother's voice was both frantic and chiding, and Skye gave Gordon a dark look.

"I am in control." She said lowly, and even Cal took a half step away from them.

"Skye - " Gordon winced, turning his head to the side. "Skye, stop," He gritted his teeth in silent pain, and then scowled at Skye's mother. "We're discussing this later," was all he got out before he threw his arms around Skye again, zapping them away.

This time when she felt the ground beneath her feet, she stumbled, catching herself on her hands and knees almost in the exact same spot they had left. As soon as Gordon let go of her he was gone again, and her ears were ringing with the disorientation of such quick jumps. She looked around the hall frantically, forcing herself to see straight.

Coulson was standing there staring at her, a look of hopelessness turning into a look of shock, and then joy.

"Skye?" He exclaimed, and she scrambled to her feet.

"Coulson," She said in relief, stumbling toward him, and he hurried toward her, reaching his arms out to catch her. She didn't realize she was crying until she felt his hand sliding across her hair, his voice soft against the side of her head,

"Thank God, thank God," His voice was filled with emotion, his hand against her head shaking slightly. He stuffed his gun into its holster to wrap his other arm around her, holding her tightly against him. "I found you, I found you, I've got you,"

"Coulson," She was suddenly overwhelmed with everything that had happened to her since she last saw him, and sobbed, tucking her face into his shoulder. He crooned and repositioned his arms around her, as if he were trying to envelop her completely.

"I've got you, Skye..." He whispered, holding her for a moment longer before bringing his hands to her shoulders, pushing her away enough to look her in the eyes. "We need to get to a safe house. This place is filled with HYDRA, and SHIELD..." Coulson trailed off, knowing what he had been about to say wouldn't make any sense to her.

"SHIELD?" Skye prodded, confused, concerned, her tears subsiding. She turned her gaze over Coulson's shoulder, and her expression hardened. "You," She growled, and Coulson felt the ground rumble beneath his feet.

"Skye, no, he's working with us - " Coulson tried to stop her, his hands tight on her shoulders, seeing a sharp glint pass through her eyes.

"You!" Skye yelled, and the window next to them shattered. Ward looked shocked, almost terrified, as he ducked out of the way of flying glass. Most of it avoided Coulson and Skye, falling toward Ward in particular.

There was a bright flash and the sound of feet landing on the floor. Skye knew immediately that Gordon was behind her yet again, and she clenched her fists onto Coulson's flak jacket.

"I'm not losing you again!" She shouted, and Coulson, wide-eyed, grabbed onto her waist just as Gordon wrapped his arm across her shoulders.

Ward looked up from where he knelt on the floor, his fingers pressed against a cut on his face, appalled.

Skye landed on her back, Coulson on top of her. They both groaned, but before either of them could move, Jiaying was ordering everyone to freeze.

Coulson stared down at Skye, wide-eyed once again; she knew even though he didn't have much of a view of anything from his positioning, he could feel the wind blowing, hear the sounds of nature around them. And the fact that they were no longer on wooden floors, but were lying on top of brick. Brick that she had just shaken apart barely a full minute ago...

"Jiaying - " Skye couldn't finish her explanation; her mother was too busy yelling at Gordon.

"I told you to bring her back, not anyone else! Who is he?!" Jiaying was furious; Skye had never seen her like this, even when Cal was being particularly obtuse.

"I could not pry them apart. I'm sorry." Gordon sounded particularly resigned about what he had done, which surprised Skye, considering he had been so strict about her even speaking to the outside world. He had just brought the outside world to them...

Skye and Coulson both used their peripheral vision to check out the scene - there was a small crowd beginning to gather; Jiaying, Cal, Gordon, and Lincoln stood closest. A group of the other "students" hovered nearby. Skye was momentarily pleased to see that Gordon had managed to save Lincoln from whoever was attacking them all at that building, but her pleasure at that quickly waned by the tone in her mother's voice.

"He's not allowed here!" Jiaying hissed. "He's not one of us!"

"And who, exactly, is 'one of us'?" Coulson asked, rolling off of Skye carefully, but smartly staying on the ground next to her. He sat up slowly, and then helped her sit up, keeping a tight hold of her hand. He wasn't going to lose her again, and she returned the sentiment, threading her fingers through his.

"There was no time," Gordon spoke to Jiaying, ignoring Coulson as if he hadn't even spoken. "The men were nearing her position. You forced me to bring her back immediately, that is what I have done." Gordon pressed his hand against the side of his head, a look of distaste curving his mouth. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to clean the wound that your husband gave me."

He stalked off, and Coulson watched him leave, eyebrows lifted as high as they could go.

"Skye! Are you hurt?" Jiaying suddenly seemed worried, reaching for Skye and pulling her up. Coulson scrambled to his feet as well, attempting to keep his grip on Skye.

"I'm fine," Skye said tightly, pulling away from Jiaying, standing closer against Coulson's side. Jiaying frowned slightly, eyeing the two of them.

"He's human." Jiaying said with some form of disappointment. Skye and Coulson both thought it best not to argue her statement. "No one without the genetic markers have been allowed here, Skye. It's too dangerous."

"He's not leaving." Skye told her firmly, and Jiaying sighed, getting that look on her face that she usually reserved for Cal. Skye glanced toward her father, surprised that he had been so quiet. Usually he would get one glance of Coulson and immediately try to beat the shit out of him.

Cal was staring somewhere between them, an indiscernible look on his face. Skye frowned, confused, then realized that Cal was staring at their clasped hands. She reflexively gripped Coulson's hand tighter, nervously.

"He's SHIELD," Cal said darkly, his voice hoarse, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. There was an audible reaction in the group that had accumulated, and many of them stepped back. Jiaying glanced toward them, a disapproving look on her face, but she didn't tell them to leave.

"No! He's different from them!" Skye insisted toward Cal, then Jiaying. "He's not like the men that hurt you - they had been Hydra, they weren't really SHIELD. Coulson is a good man."

"They all say that," Cal started venomously, and Skye clenched her free hand, losing her patience with him.

"I would be dead if it weren't for him!" Skye yelled, interrupting him. "I wouldn't be here!" She pointed toward the ground they were standing on. "He's the reason I found you. And on top of that he's saved my life so many times I'm starting to lose count."

"Five or six," Coulson put in, shrugging a little, and Jiaying raised an eyebrow at him.

"He's also the reason it took me so long to get you here, Skye. Where you belong!" Cal argued, gesturing his arms out. Coulson furrowed his brow, glancing around, wondering where they were, exactly.

"If you hadn't beat the shit out of him so many times, I may have been more inclined to go with you on my own free will," Skye muttered, and Jiaying turned toward Cal, folding her arms across her chest. Cal had the decency to look like the scolded puppy, in front of her.

"Quiet."

The voice was deep, soft, velvety; though had no trouble carrying. Everyone stopped moving and talking, even those in the gathered crowd.

An older man walked into the square from the other side, appearing through the trees. He must have been someone extremely important, because everyone in the crowd grew even more shocked than they already were, and Jiaying lowered her eyes and bowed. He bowed in return, and then turned toward Coulson and Skye. Skye raised her eyebrow in confusion - Lincoln had said her mother was in charge of this place. Who was this guy that she was deferring to?

"You are the special one, yes?" He said toward Skye, and she glanced toward Jiaying momentarily before nodding slowly. "Created in the Old Ways. With a Diviner, and in a Kree Temple." He said knowingly.

"How do you know - "

"Silence!" Jiaying hissed quietly at Coulson, and the old man held his hand in the air.

"It is alright, Jiaying." He told her, then turned toward Coulson, giving him a long look-over. He frowned, looking confused and interested, which made Jiaying frown in confusion. "You perhaps aren't as human as we think, are you?"

"I - " Coulson swallowed, glancing toward Skye quickly. Her eyes were wide again, and she shook her head. She had no idea who this guy was or what the best choice of words would be.

The old man then clasped both of his hands in front of him, bringing them in toward his chest, and bowed lowly. Everyone gasped, and turned toward Coulson.

Coulson blinked, looking back at them.

"Give respect to our Ancient One." The old man ordered in a suddenly surprisingly strong voice, and everyone scrambled to bow toward Coulson, though they were all obviously still very confused.

"Our what?" Cal exclaimed, and the old man narrowed his eyes toward Skye's father as he stood up straight again.

"Your nothing. You are an accident, a creation of man playing with things he shouldn't." The man turned back toward Coulson, respect in his eyes. "The rest of us were put on this planet by great beings, blue gods, called The Kree. They originally created us to be weapons, but we have since... persevered. Nevertheless - we must pay respect to our creators."

Jiaying took in these words, turning toward Coulson with shock in her eyes.

"But... you're human." She frowned, looking back toward the man, whom Skye assumed was one of The Elders Lincoln told her about earlier. "Am I not seeing something?" She asked in a way that made Skye wonder what other kinds of powers her mother had, other than her gifts of healing.

"He is Kree." The Elder confirmed. "And he is also human."

The students gasped, some of them looking terrified, some of them awed. They started whispering amongst one another.

"How is that possible?" Jiaying wondered quietly. "Kree have not been to this planet in... centuries."

"He is not the child of a Kree." The Elder told her, while looking at Coulson speculatively. Coulson seemed very uncomfortable with being studied and talked about like this, and Skye squeezed his hand. "And yet Kree DNA flows through his veins."

"He's a creation! Like me! So he doesn't belong here anymore than I do!" Cal said, excited for an excuse to get them rallied against Coulson again.

"That's not fair! It wasn't his fault! He didn't ask to be brought back to life!" Skye yelled, protectively widening her stance when she saw Lincoln take a step closer to them.

"Back to life?" Jiaying asked, her voice strangely lilted, and Coulson looked around again.

"It's a long story." He said tersely, squeezing Skye's hand in return. He could feel her shaking a little.

"It was done against his will." Skye said, and looked straight at the Elder. "Just like me. Neither of us chose to be the way we are, but we're stuck like this now. If you don't want him here, then I'm leaving too." Skye said with finality, looking toward her mother. The Elder smiled, which only made her more suspicious.

"Everyone comes here for a reason." The Elder said, nodding toward Coulson as another form of a bow. He gave Daisy one last long look, and she knew that he could see that same Kree DNA flowed through her own veins. He said nothing else, however, and turned and started off in the direction he had come.

"That's it?" Cal asked incredulously, and Jiaying could only watch in confused silence as the Elder walked away. "That's it?" Cal asked again, his voice rising dangerously.

"Gordon." Jiaying said firmly, and Gordon appeared next to her suddenly.

"Hey - " before Cal could say anything else, Gordon grabbed him and disappeared yet again - probably taking Cal back to his usual room.

There was a beat of silence. Skye's hand was sweaty from her grip on Coulson's, but neither of them let go of one another.

"Kree." Jiaying said, her voice careful devoid of any emotion, as she eyed Coulson. He shifted on his feet, glancing toward Skye. "I will need to speak with the others about this. Until then, Skye - he is your responsibility. If he steps out of line - he will be killed, regardless of what may flow through his veins." Jiaying warned Skye, and while she frowned at the phrasing of the threat, she knew that Jiaying meant it. Skye nodded, and Lincoln scowled as Jiaying walked off in the direction the Elder had gone.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Lincoln muttered, turning his scowl toward Coulson. The group that had gathered to watch all the drama was slowly starting to disperse, though they all watched Coulson with unease.

"Go about your business. Coulson isn't a threat to any of you." Skye said the last part loud enough for those remaining to hear, and whether they believed her or not, the rest of them went back to their business. Or to gather a group together to gossip, but she didn't really care about that at the moment. "C'mon, AC, let's go back to my room. We've got a lot to talk about."

Coulson dutifully started to follow her, but Lincoln put his hand on her shoulder to stop them. Coulson immediately stood on guard, giving him a hard look.

"You think I'm just going to let the two of you hang around alone together?" Lincoln asked, and Skye narrowed her eyes at him.

"Neither of us are children, Lincoln - particularly not children of yours." She pushed passed him, and Coulson tried not to look smug as he followed after her.

"Wow, you're kind of a badass here." He said, and she raised her eyebrow at him as she changed her pace to match his, walking next to him.

"Don't you just mean 'I'm kind of a badass'?" Skye said, and he smiled a little. There was underlying concern in his face, however, and Skye sighed. "I'll do the talking first, but then you're telling me why you mentioned SHIELD the way you did, and especially why the hell you had Ward working with you just then." Skye told him as she opened the doors that led to her room, and he nodded.

He looked around the place as he entered, pulling at the velcro of his flak jacket, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"This is nice." He commented, and she smirked dryly, shutting the doors and standing by them, folding her arms across her chest as she watched him scope the room. He winced as he pulled the heavy vest off, and Skye quickly moved forward to help him, touching her fingers to his chest and shoulders after he set the vest down on the bench in front of the bed. He stood there, watching her as she furrowed her brow, her fingers not quite touching him anymore, just ghosting over his shirt.

"I thought..." Her voice wavered for a moment, and she hesitated before continuing, "I really wondered whether I'd see you again." She said quietly, honestly, this being the first time she were admitting it to herself as well.

"Skye," Coulson sighed her name in that way he'd done only a few times before, and pressed his palm against the side of her jaw, his thumb stroking her cheekbone. "I wasn't going to give up."

"I noticed," She let out a short chuckle, "I mean, you employed Ward's help. You must have really been desperate." She was trying to keep it light, teasing him, but the look on his face was so serious.

"I was." He told her quietly, and then he began telling his side of the story first. "In less than twenty-four hours, I lost you and SHIELD. And while we got SHIELD back in just a couple of days, I couldn't... without you - I can't do this without you. Hunter and I allowed ourselves a night of drowning our sorrows in alcohol, and then we started making plans on how to find you."

"Wait - you and Hunter? I'm sad I missed that." Skye said, her eyebrow raised. So she'd been right; she had somehow 'heard' the Brit through the connection.

"I'm sure he'll want a celebratory drink with you once we get back..." Coulson shook his head, a wry smile on his face for a moment.

"So explain to me," Skye led them toward the edge of her bed, both of them sitting down before she continued, "how we went from Hydra attacking us to you working with Ward?"

By the time he finished telling her about Ward taking over HQ for a couple of days, what Hunter had discovered on the aircraft carrier, and his bad plan of temporarily teaming up with Ward to better facilitate a later agreement, they were both lying back on her bed staring up at the ceiling. Every now and then, they would look at one another during the conversation, occasionally catching and holding eye contact, but never for very long. Usually, Coulson was the one to look away first.

Skye couldn't stop staring at him. It was almost as if he were a ghost, even though realistically she knew they hadn't been apart for that long. So much had happened in the meantime, though, that it felt like many months had gone by.

"Tell me what happened." Coulson said softly, turning on his side to face her, propping his head up on his hand. Skye felt his eyes on her as she clasped her fingers together across her stomach, keeping her eyes firmly on the ceiling as she gathered her thoughts. If she kept looking at him for too long, she was going to kiss him... and they couldn't get distracted by that right now.

"Gordon brought me here, from The Retreat. I woke up after - apparently - being asleep for two days, in some sort of healing room. It seems that... people with the genetic markers, the capabilities to go through the mist, they get training. And then are chosen. And even those chosen don't always... make it through."

"Is that why that man told you that you were special?" Coulson asked, and she nodded.

"Not only was I not chosen before it happened, but it was done 'the old school way', as Lincoln puts it. You know, the whole temple thing and Diviner and all that? Seems that method is a little out of date."

"So... I'm guessing none of them know...?"

"That it wasn't me that used the obelisk? Yeah, no, I haven't told anyone. I wasn't sure how they would react... most of them already perceived me as a threat, anyway." She replied, and he nodded slowly in understanding.

"So, all those people I saw outside... they're being trained for the change?"

"Yes," Skye nodded. "A part of that training is biological, I think. Teaches your body how to accept the change and work through it. I was in the healing room because my body had no idea what to do with itself. So they helped me... finish the change, basically."

Coulson reached his other hand toward her, brushing his fingers across her bare wrist.

"No more bruises..." He murmured, a bit relieved. Skye rejoiced at the feel of his touch, but mentally shook herself to focus. She still had things she wanted to tell him.

"And Jiaying helped me learn to control it. Helped me realize what my power actually is. Well, some of my powers anyway. Obviously, I didn't tell her everything that I can do." Skye said, starting to get a little excited. She thought Coulson would probably enjoy this part, and sure enough, his eyes lit up and he sat up a little more. Skye sat up too, giving him a little smile.

"You mean you're not Lady Earthquake?" He wondered teasingly, and she frowned and shoved at his shoulder.

"Please leave the nicknames to Mack." She grimaced, and he chuckled. She glanced around the room, trying to find anything suitable enough to show him. "I'll try to explain it to you..." A weight lifted off of her as she saw how curious Coulson was. "You remember Gordon telling me how everything gives off a vibration? Nothing is really 'at rest'? Like... even this bedspread has energy, though it's not actively moving in a way that our eyes can see?"

Coulson nodded, brushing his palm across the sheet they were sitting on. Skye touched her fingertips against it, focusing on it's sound.

"In that sense, everything has a sound. It's energy has a sound, unique to itself." Skye continued, resting her palm fully onto the bed. Coulson furrowed his brow as he thought, watching her hand.

"Sound is a vibration..." He said, and Skye nodded.

"Yeah. And I can hear them." She said, and he looked up at her with raised eyebrows. "Well, not exactly hear in the same sense I can hear music from a radio. I wouldn't even explain it in the sense that I can hear Mar-Vell, either. But I can sense the frequencies, now. And my problem before was that I was hearing everything, all at once, and it was overwhelming, and... well, shakey shakey." Skye shrugged apologetically. Coulson's mouth was open in awe. "Jiaying taught me how to blur everything out, focus on one particular thing. And I simply try to repeat the same sound that I'm hearing from that thing..."

A distinct ripple went through the bed sheet, as if a puff of wind had blown under it, and Coulson jumped, and then laughed, and then looked at her.

"That's amazing," He breathed, and Skye smiled at him, not realizing how relieved she was until she felt a tear slide down her face. "Skye," Coulson insisted, seeing her reaction, "That is so cool. So is this what you did at the sink, back in the cabin, with the water? Can you... can you do it again?" He sounded like a little kid - heck, she hadn't seen that look on his face since he and Trip were freaking out over the old Howling Commando gear.

"I... really?" Skye asked, suddenly feeling shy. Coulson was fascinated - he wasn't scared of her in the slightest. It warmed her heart more than she could express.

She remembered how Lincoln had shown her his powers, and had an idea. She held her palm between them, and Coulson carefully rested his hand on top of her own.

"Do you trust me?" She asked. She hoped she could trust herself enough. She'd only ever done this to people with the intent to threaten them. She didn't want to hurt him.

"Absolutely." Coulson said with no hesitation, looking her in the eyes.

She sent up a silent prayer, and then concentrated very, very hard. Something simple, and light, and just across the top of his skin. Nothing internal... that could quickly become dangerous... She stared at the back of his hand, wanting no distractions to cause her to make a mistake.

Please stop me if this hurts him.

You won't hurt him.

Mar-Vell sounded so proud.

Coulson audibly sucked in a breath when he felt it, and she lifted her eyes back toward his. He was staring at their clasped hands, his mouth hanging open again. His eyes suddenly jerked upward toward hers, wide and bright.

"I can feel it! I can actually feel it moving up my arm... it's kind of weird," He shifted his shoulder slightly, but smiled, and Skye stopped. His kept his hand on top of hers, though. "It's almost like one of those cheap back massage things you get at Walmart," He said thoughtfully, and she frowned.

"A cheap massage? Gee, thanks," Skye rolled her eyes, pretending to be offended, and Coulson quickly wrapped his fingers around hers, squeezing her hand.

"Not what I meant!" He insisted, grinning.

Her powers were in check, she was in no danger of losing control, but Coulson was as loud to her now as the mountain had been to her before. And it was beautiful. She didn't have the words to describe what it was she was 'hearing', but it was beautiful.

"What is it?" He asked more seriously, seeing she was perturbed about something.

"Can we... just... lie here for a bit?" Skye asked quietly, and his face softened. "I was so worried about you,"

He didn't let her finish, but wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to him, leaning back onto the bed again. She curled up into his side, throwing her arm across his torso, gripping the sleeve of his opposite shoulder. He rested his hand on her forearm and slipped the other over her waist, pressing a kiss against the top of her head when she laid her head against his shoulder.

"As long as you want," He told her softly.

Finally, true peace. She felt whole, again.