After you change no one else will understand. They'll be afraid – change is terrifying.

"What the hell happened?" May asked, clearly alarmed.

Her heart hammered hard against her chest, threatening to burst through her ribcage, the relentless pounding of each beat almost deafened her as she stared at May. Exposed and helpless, she found herself gripped in panic and terror as her eyes flicked between the faces on the other side of the glass; the faces of those she had come to embrace as her family. She felt faint, her breaths came in shallow gasps and her stomach lurched as Fitz's words raced through her mind over and over, there's nothing wrong with the data in my head Skye… She couldn't stop remembering his expression of fear and revulsion as he told her what she had known for some time now, but was too terrible to think – that she was Inhuman. There was something very wrong with her.

"Skye?" May's voice broke her from her thoughts, it was not the harsh and strong voice she was used to hearing but softer, laced with concern.

Skye became acutely aware of the dull pain in her hand, warm blood oozed between the gaps of her fingers before dripping onto the floor – she had unwittingly screwed them into a fist, forgetting the pieces of glass she was holding. She tried to speak but couldn't, unable to think of anything to say. After all what could she say? That Trip's death was her fault, that she could have stopped Raina if she'd wanted to. She turned to Simmons instinctively, searching for support from her like she had so many times before – but Simmons' face was unreadable; the warmth that usually radiated from her gone. Skye felt her knees tremble under the weight of Simmons' sharp gaze – she needed to get out of the quarantine bay, to run as far as she could away from everybody and to scream until she lost her voice.

Everything inside her was wrong, she felt misaligned somehow. She was at once both herself and something else, something new, something inhuman. Sweat dripped down her forehead and she swayed slightly, desperate to be away from the penetrating, expectant glances of her teammates; desperate to be anywhere but there. She swallowed, finding her throat dry and sore as she did so, and attempted to again to come up with a lie. In the end she said the only word she could think of.

"Fitz." She stammered out, knowing that he would explain to them what he had explained to her, that there was something wrong with her – that she had caused the destruction of the temple. She closed her eyes and braced for their answers, childishly wishing that they would somehow disappear because she couldn't see them anymore.

To her surprise the next person to speak wasn't Skye or Simmons, but Fitz – out of breath and bursting through the door, speaking quicker than she'd ever heard him speak since his hypoxia. She seized up with dread, trying to prepare herself for what it would look like to see her family turn against her, practically praying that they'd be sympathetic – but after Fitz's reaction earlier and overhearing Simmons advising Coulson that lethal force should not be ruled out in the hunt for Raina, she didn't hold out much hope. Tears burnt hot in her eyes and yet, when Fitz spoke, his voice was largely even – albeit a little flustered – and he didn't say what she thought he would.

"Fitz was a cluts again." He announced as he walked into the room clasping a tablet computer, he didn't look at her. "She's clearing up the mess. Sorry it was my fault, I knocked over the lamp when I was taking a sample of Skye's blood with one of those ridiculous hazmat suits on and I don't know, I guess my coordination still needs work…" He trailed off for a moment before pressing something on the tablet and giving it to Simmons. "But I was anxious to double check the results – her DNA is an exact match to what it was before, she's clear."

"Thank god." Simmons exclaimed, clearly relieved, a grin spreading across her face. Skye didn't know how to react, something was wrong – Fitz hadn't looked at her since walking into the room; his gaze was fixed warily on Jemma. Nonetheless he had lied for her about the lamp – she found herself thankful that he wasn't as bad at lying as Simmons.

"I'm going to call Coulson – he could use the good news." May said, also evidently relieved, before turning to her and adding, "You alright?"

"Yeah." She answered, breathless, her lungs aching. As May turned to leave Fitz finally looked at Skye; he looked just as panicked as she was, clearly hoping his lie wouldn't be uncovered. As Simmons poured over the data on the tablet he spoke again.

"Erm, Skye is your bunk made?" Fitz asked, the question caught her off guard. Her mind was running a hundred a miles a minute – everything was happening so fast she barely had time to process what exactly was being said.

"Erm no, no it's a mess." She answered, stumbling over her words and trying to catch her breath. She had no idea whether her bunk was made or what Fitz was doing but instinctively she wanted to trust him – he could have said to them what he said to her. Even still, she was terrified; she wanted to speak to him alone to understand why he covered for her.

Fitz turned to Simmons, distracting her from the results on the tablet, "Maybe you could get her some clean sheets – she should probably sleep." He said, making it clear he expected her to agree. Skye saw straight through him though, he was clearly trying to get Simmons to leave.

"Yes, you deserve a good night's rest." Simmons said, still smiling and unaware of the great burden of unspoken words that hung between Fitz and Skye.

Noticing he'd come across a little harsh Fitz added in his usual more awkward self, "I mean, I would do it but last time I was in there, there was lots of ladies things and, she's a slob." Under any other circumstances Skye might have frowned at him for saying that but she almost laughed – whatever else Fitz thought of her having seen whatever it is she had done to the lamp and knowing she caused the destruction in the temple, he still thought of her as her. Smiling, he picked up some gauze and an antiseptic bottle and walked to the door of the quarantine chamber, "I'll help bandage her hands – it was my fault anyway."

Simmons nodded and left the lab, Fitz held his smile until the door shut behind her and then dropped it, pressing a button on the wall and walking in to kneel down next to Skye.

"What did you just do?" Skye said feeling exhausted, anxious and sacred all at once. She sat down on the bed to take the pressure of her trembling legs.

"Switched your blood results with your old samples." Fitz said, pouring antiseptic onto the gauze. "Give me your hand."

"The new samples are different?" Skye said, her heart thumping against her chest once again. She felt sick and light headed, as though everything was spinning. He started carefully cleaning the cuts from the broken glass – using one of his hands to steady hers and the other to clean. She had been in quarantine so long that she practically jumped at the feel of his touch; warmth ran through her and somehow everything felt just a little better. She barely flinched when he pressed the gauze down though the antiseptic stung painfully.

"Drastically." He answered, and her fear returned. It had been foolish to think that her samples would be the same, she knew she caused the destruction in the temple – she felt different, but for the briefest of moments she had dared to hope she would just be normal. "But until everyone around here calms down, I don't think we should tell anybody – what with the way Simmons is acting, for now we should just keep it between us, keep you safe until we figure it out, okay?"

He held onto her hand and stared at her, his eyes shone with caring. She knew what it meant for him to keep a secret from Simmons; even with how strained their friendship had been since Jemma's return from HYDRA. Fitz chose Skye – he knew what she'd done in the temple, he saw what she could do in the lab and yet he still chose to fight for her, to protect her. She remembered the words of her father, his warning that after the change nobody would understand; that he would be waiting for her. Before she knew what she was doing she flung her arms around Fitz, collapsing to the floor with him and burying her head in the shoulder of the man who had proved her father wrong. Tears ran freely from her eyes onto his jumper and she felt his arms close around her, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"It's okay." He said reassuringly into her ear, holding her.

"This is all my fault." She said, barely able to stop herself from breaking down and sobbing. He gripped her tighter.

"No." Fitz said fiercely.

"I could have stopped her, I let this happen and I'm so sorry…" She trailed off, her voice quivering and body shaking. She felt weak, scared – she expected him to push her away, to accuse her of getting Trip killed, but he didn't.

"No, it's okay." He said softly, his hands running up and down her back gently.

"Everything's my fault." Her was voice little more than a whisper. "There's something very wrong with me."

"No, you're just different now." He said, holding her like he would never let her go, "You're just different now and there's nothing wrong with that… There's nothing wrong with that…"

She melted into the embrace, the strength sapped from her limbs. They leant together for what felt like hours as she found comfort in him – she wondered if this is how he felt when he first woke up after drowning: as though he was different. She had tried to spend time with him in the weeks after but she couldn't – she wasn't strong enough to watch him struggle. But that frail, mumbling Fitz that shuffled about the lab alone was gone, replaced by the incredible man that sat before her – a man that saw her for who she was, not what she was, that didn't care about what she could do but what she would do. She knew that he would fight for her with everything he had, he would do everything in his power to keep her safe and she found herself pulling closer to him, wanting to be nearer.

Something had changed between them, something had changed with her. They were both different people from the ones that had first stepped foot on the BUS a little more than a year earlier, they had changed. As the stone had wrapped around in her the Temple she felt every part of her being rearrange, she suffered the agony of being torn apart and reassembled on a molecular level and waking up in a body that no longer felt like hers. As Fitz muttered that everything was fine and that there was nothing wrong with her being different she felt a burning desire begin to build in her – to run, jump, shout, sing, kiss… It was as though she was experiencing everything again for the first time. She felt an almost animalistic urge and a heat began to build within her core as she breathed in Fitz's scent, running a hand through his unkempt hair. This was more than lust. She couldn't say when it had happened, just that it had; she had developed feelings for Fitz.

She kissed him.

Her lips pressed against his and she revelled in his taste. For a moment he was motionless, in shock, but as she began to pull her face back he followed her, their mouths ghosting over each other's before their lips crashed together passionately, parting just enough for her tongue to push against his. She sighed breathily when their tongues touched, leaning forward and mounting his waist, straddling him. She needed this; she needed to feel a meaningful connection – it was as though she had never kissed anyone before, never been kissed. She pushed him backwards against the medical stand he was sat beside and guided his hands to her hips, drawing her closer. An at once familiar but also entirely new feeling ran though her body as a warm sensation began to build between her legs; in a bid to appease it she rocked her hips forward slightly but it only made it worse. Her uncut hand dropped impatiently to unbuckle Fitz's belt but he caught her wrist before she could and broke their kiss.

"We can't." He said, she made no effort to hide her disappointment and frowned at him.

"Why shouldn't we?" She asked him, tilting her head and running a hand through his hair. She leaned forward so that the front of her jeans pressed against him, feeling a bulge under his zipper. He groaned and almost lent in to kiss her again but pulled away at the last minute.

"We can't." He said again, swallowing in his throat reluctantly. She could see he wanted this, as much as she did but something was wrong, despite everything she began to fear that he was afraid of the new her.

"Simmons?" She asked, as the only other explanation she could think of for him not wanting to keep going. She squirmed uncomfortably at the growing dampness between her legs.

"No." He answered truthfully, his eyes meeting hers with a gaze that pierced straight through her. She knew that he still had feelings for her, he probably always would, but that he was also trying to move on – that wasn't the reason.

"What then?" She asked, fear rising within her easing herself back off his lap and sitting down in front of him. After he said nothing she placed a hand on his knee, "Fitz?"

He winced slightly as though he couldn't find the right words – but this wasn't the hypoxia, even before Fitz had never been good at talking about this kind of thing, eventually he mumbled out, "This has to… erm, matter."

She stared at him for a moment, taking in the sight before her. She had been worried he wouldn't go through with it because of what he thought about her, it didn't occur to her that he was worried about what she thought of him. He was worried that it could've been anyone sitting there on the floor; that Skye didn't want to have sex with him personally. But she did, she had always thought he was cute, ever since she first saw him on the BUS, but this was about more than that. Leo Fitz was the most caring and loyal man she'd ever met, he had endless determination but he had given up everything for a woman he loved only to have her not love him back, of course he was afraid that she didn't really care about him.

"It does matter." She told him, squeezing his leg lightly, "Of course it matters." She brought her head forward towards his; they were close enough that they could almost kiss again. She had always felt strongly towards Fitz but this was something new, something quite scary – something she hadn't felt since before HYDRA ruined everything. "You are here."

He kissed her.

Those words didn't mean that he just happened to be there and she wanted to have sex, they meant that because he was there, it mattered. He had protected her, comforted her, cared for her – and she cared for him. She deepened his kiss and brought herself back onto his lap, the fire between their legs ignited through their clothes. Their mouths battled against each other in an attempt to touch and taste as much of the other as they could but just as she started to grind her hips forwards against him, desperate to satisfy that burning urge for him amid her thighs, he pulled away from her and looked studiously at her face.

"What's wrong?" She asked, more impatiently than she meant to.

"You're beautiful."

"And that's wrong, how?" She teased, earning her a broad grin from him.

"It's not." He laughed but as she leant in to kiss again he recoiled.

"What?" She half asked, half demanded – lightly pushing his chest to show her annoyance at him.

"Not here." Fitz said simply, looking around the lab. She had to admit he was right; there was glass on the floor and windows on all sides.

"Where?" She asked breathlessly.

"The BUS?" He suggested and she nodded, rising to her feet immediately and heading to the door of the lab. As she reached it she turned to look at Fitz, who had risen to his feet as well, but he was standing still. She paused for a moment, waiting for him to come over to her.

"You're perfect Skye, different or not." He said in a low lust-filled voice.

She didn't know what to say so she said the only word she could think of, "Fitz."

They stood at opposite ends of the lab for a few moments, both of them had just declared feelings for the other – neither of them was prepared to call it love, they didn't know if it was love or simply trust. After Ward Skye was afraid to trust anyone, let alone another man and Fitz didn't know if he would ever truly get over Simmons, but for now this – whatever this was – was enough, and so it did matter.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed the first of this two part AoS story, I'd love to know what you think so if you have a spare couple of moments please leave a review. The second part will be much more smutty.