Happens during/directly after the events of episode 2x16 - "Afterlife"

They were barely out the door of Raina's transition room before the tears she'd been holding back started to cloud her vision and her breathing hitched with each breath. The ground didn't shake as she has become accustomed to during any swing of emotion, but that didn't mean she wasn't falling apart on the inside.

She shrugged Lincoln's hand off her shoulder, quickening her pace in order to reach her room and collapse on the bed. Despite having done more or less nothing all day, she was exhausted, largely from whatever Lincoln and Gordon had done to her while she was unconscious. "Flushing her lymphatic something-or-other" and the like.

"Skye-"

He tried to put a hand on her shoulder again, and she flinched back automatically, still worried she could hurt him, whether by sending him flying through the air like Bobbi or doing… whatever it was she did to Raina – choking her, or breaking her bones as Skye had done to herself, or something else.

The truth of what she almost accomplished hit her and her knees buckled as a hand came up to her mouth, muffling the "Oh, god" that came out as a whisper. She had reacted instinctively again, and again had nearly killed the person her power was directed at. The woman – Jiaying – she'd said "it certainly looks like you're capable of it." Capable of murder. That was already apparent to her – she'd had to take people out for SHIELD missions as a sniper, as an agent, but for a personal vendetta or simply because of fear? She really was the monster Mack and Simmons had said she was; was there even a difference between herself and Raina? Had she killed Trip? Had it been her earthquake that shattered him into thousands of pieces on the temple floor?

Feeling sick, Skye heaved into the bushes on the side of the path, though hardly anything came up as her lunch had been hours prior and dinner had consisted of a handful or two of popcorn until she stormed out in a huff. Fingers brushed against her cheeks and the back of her neck as Lincoln pulled her hair back and away from her face, his other hand moving to trace soothing circles along her spine.

A tissue appeared in front of her face and she used it to clean her mouth with shaking hands. When she finished her hand dropped and Lincoln took it, dropping her hair as he did. His other hand coming up to support her from behind, guiding her to stand. Skye struggled to understand his gentle touch and the silence he kept – a lack of patronizing or sympathetic words, and no rambling as she had found he had a habit of doing. He simply gave her enough of a lift to stand, and guided her the rest of the way to her room.

Lincoln shielded her from the stares as much as he could on the way there, not that she seemed to notice them. Her eyes alternated between wide, with a glazed-over stare, and shut tight with tears leaking out the corners. More of the inhabitants of Afterlife were staring now, even those who had been too considerate to ogle as she walked among them the previous day. Her footsteps had brought an earthquake through the main courtyard of the compound, and he was positive the other residents had been able to hear her shouted conversation with Raina. The walls of the transition rooms weren't thick. There was hardly ever a large amount of conflict at the compound, and her outburst following her lack of control would almost certainly be a talking point for a few days.

As they stepped over the threshold of the room together, Skye once again became aware of Lincoln's arm around her, and in her mind she heard his impassioned words from minutes (that felt like hours) earlier – "we need to protect her, the same way we protect you." She shivered, her legs feeling weak again, and it was lucky they were close enough to the bed for Lincoln to lower her onto it before she ended up sprawled across the floor.

"I hurt her," she whispered, the words choked out through tears, her hands kneading each other, pulling at the skin. "I hurt her. I almost killed her with my powers. I don't- I don't even know how I did it. I just thought and it happened and I was yelling, but I couldn't stop – I couldn't stop them, not until-"

She was hyperventilating before she knew it and the room around them trembled with the familiar creaking and clanking of furniture and decorations. It was out of control – she couldn't breathe, and her hands were trembling, about to let loose yet another shockwave.

Distantly she felt Lincoln take her hands in his and hold them secure, but his touch didn't fully register until she felt the soothing pulse of an electrical current flowing through his fingers. The rush ran through her own fingers, down to her toes and through her abdomen like a breath before coursing back out. The rhythm rose and fell like waves on a beach, and Skye felt herself subconsciously mimicking the tempo with her breath.

He held her hands until she'd been breathing steadily for a minute or so, after which the energy slowly faded away. It left her feeling drained and exhausted, but her mind was much clearer.

"Better?" he asked, and she nodded, her head down and eyes nearly closed.

Taking a breath, Skye found the courage to meet his gaze. "Sorry about that," she said with a hint of a smile. "I guess I'm a bit of a loose cannon right now."

A monster, her mind hissed at her.

"Don't worry about it," Lincoln said, his mouth quirked up to one side, though more lacking in enthusiasm than his usual grins. "That's why you're here. To train, to grow, to figure out just how to control your gift. Like I said, I nearly burned down the whole compound when I got here."

He chuckled weakly, and his grin faded at her blank look.

"You can always remake a building," Skye said, looking through him to a point that didn't exist. "You can't bring a person back to life."

He lost any words he could have said at her statement, and simply stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide and sad.

Skye closed her eyes to take another deep breath and mentally built her walls back up, letting the fear and worry drain away as she calmed herself once more.

"So, Jiaying, do you know her?" she asked Lincoln, proud of her collected tone. He sent her a wary look as if he wasn't sure how to answer without setting her off, but nodded.

"I know her, or at least know of her. It's not like we talk, at least not much," he said with a chuckle. "She's one of the elders here. She's been around longer than any of the others, and she's the one who guided Gordon through his transformation. She's a legend."

Skye thought of the last legend she had encountered in the form of the Cavalry, her SO, and bit back another wave of tears that threatened to overwhelm her. Worries about May, about Jemma and Fitz and Coulson threatened to overwhelm her, her mind suddenly conjuring the worst-case scenarios about what could have happened to have Bobbi and some strange agents come after her and cause May of all people to tell her to flee.

"How could she have been around longer? She looks so young."

"That's her gift," he said with a soft look in his eyes. "Jiaying went through the Mist and she didn't discover until later that her gift prevented her from aging. Her cells regenerate at an amazingly fast rate – she's lived for centuries, they say, and she's been keeper of Lai Shi for decades."

"It must be awful," Skye said, looking Lincoln in the eyes, feeling a pang in her heart for the woman she hardly knew. "For her to have lived for so long. What happened to her family? Does she have grandchildren or great grandchildren who stay here?"

Lincoln shook his head. "Not that I know of. And I feel like we would know if she did, not that anybody would ask her. The elders generally keep to themselves, but Jiaying is one of the few who doesn't. She hasn't mentored anyone since Gordon, and that was in the eighties, but if you're looking you'll see her around, taking care of things and the people here. It's like she's a mother to us all – a somewhat strict and intimidating mother, of course, but a mother nonetheless."

Skye nodded, trying to look thoughtful instead of pained as she thought of May again. Her SO was the same – harsh and slightly intimidating on the outside, but patient and kind on the inside, with a few emotions leaking through here and there.

Her thoughts were once again overtaken by fear for her team and the danger they could be in. Unlike previously she couldn't hold back a sob at the thought of the team, practically her family, being overtaken from the inside-out yet again, ripped up from betrayal, or by whatever the "SHIELD" that May had mentioned was. (Because it certainly wasn't the SHIELD Coulson was running.)

Lincoln's hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up at him with teary eyes, her body trembling both from suppressed sobs and fatigue.

"Hey, let's get you in bed, alright?" he asked, his tone gentle. Skye nodded, brushing her tears away with a sleeve. "Do you want to change?" he asked, reaching behind her to grab the popcorn bowl that had been left on the bed.

She shook her head, drying a few more drops that fell down her cheeks.

"Come on then, stand up," he said, setting the bowl on a table and grabbing her hands. She stood and he pulled back the comforter and sheets for her.

"There you go, all ready for you," he joked with a grin.

Skye chuckled and sent him a watery smile as she laid down and pulled the covers up to her chin. Lincoln nodded at her and smiled, making for the door to turn the light off and leave.

Feeling an impulsive jab of anxiety, Skye sat up before he got more than a few feet away.

"Could you stay with me?" she asked, noting the strain in her voice. "Just until I fall asleep," she amended, looking down, already telling herself that it was stupid, that it was awkward, and that she was a SHIELD agent – she didn't need someone to chase away the monsters for her.

"If you want me to," Lincoln said, not looking at all thrown by her request. She breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back onto her bed, watching as Lincoln turned on a single lamp in the corner of the room as a pseudo-nightlight, and pulled a chair close to the bed so he was sitting next to her.

"This okay?" he asked, the quirked smiled on his face. Skye nodded and tried to close her eyes, but still felt apprehensive. Lincoln seemed to understand. He scooted closer and took one of her hands in his own, the gentle electric buzz relaxing her muscles and making her eyelids feel their full weight, sliding shut to block out the world.

"I might not be around as much now that Jiaying's chosen to be your guide, Skye, but I can still promise to protect you while we're both here. Don't worry. You're safe."

She squeezed his hand back with her last conscious thought, and finally let herself drift into the limbo between awareness and sleep. The security she felt underneath the warm blankets with the gentle vibrations of energy through her body eventually sent her into a deep and restful slumber.

Hello again! This piece came as inspiration from my growing love of Skye/Lincoln (Sklincoln? Skylin? SkyeLinc?) and the fact that Skye really needed love of some sort after the rough time she had during this episode. The connection between May and Jiaying just sort of blossomed while I was writing, but I love how it turned out, and hope you do too! (Both pretty badass in their own respects, have long and dark histories, and are mother-figures to Skye... 3)

I'll have my usual update for "Birds of A Feather" up on Tuesday before the next episode airs (OMG I'M SO EXCITED TO LEARN WHAT HAPPENED AT BAHRAIN), and so until then - goodbye!

Thanks so much for reading!

~Dancer