#fitz eventually comes in and is like yall need help?

[cavennmalore]

Dexiana baking brownies but neither of them can bake to save their life

"Doesn't your brother do this all the time?"

Biana sent him a sideways glance. "Yeah, so?"

"So," Dex says carefully, picking egg shells out of the batter, "Doesn't that mean you're supposed to be good at this?"

Biana's hands pause with flour cupped precariously on the counter edge. "What? Because Fitz is good at something I have to be too?"

"No, but I guess I assumed you would have some experience."

It's barely a conscious thought. The clump of flour in Biana's hand lands perfectly on Dex's nose with a smack, dusting around his face and sliding down his checks onto his chest.

"Oh, so that's how it is?"

"Yup," Biana says with a grin. "Bring it on, Deck."

For the first time, Biana curses the growth spurt that turned the strawberry-blonde boy she befriended second year into the lean, lengthy boyfriend who only needed one step to swipe raw batter across her face.

"Ew, ew!" Dex squints at her reaction. It's cute how suddenly he switches to being worried if he went too far. Unfortunately for him, it's all the time Biana needs to rub her dirty hands into his hair.

Dex retaliates by slapping his hands on her shoulders, rubbing brown batter into her arms, and catching the edges of her gown.

"Stop it! If you keep using batter we're not gonna have enough for the brownies."

Dex looks at the bowl skeptically, hands finally resting on her hips. "I think that might be for the best."

[a-lonely-tatertot]

Finding Home Ch. 5

A/N: Yall I am soooo sorry this took so freaking long!!! but its done and I hope yall like it this was so much fun to write even if it took over a month because of school and stuff but its here so yeah! please dont forget to comment or reblog they mean so much too me :D and thank you @bookwyrminspiration for editing and helping me get this out as fast as i could  word count: 5096 tw warnings: minor panic attack, mentions of volence, and invasion of privacy

Chapter 5: Starting of a Fire

 Sweat dripped down her spine as thoughts raced through her head. Sophie didn't quite understand how it had happened, all she knew was that somehow she had Tam's memories. Memories of Linh and arguing and Denver. How had she gotten in his head? Did Tam know she had seen his memories? She hadn’t touched her telepathy in years. School was hard without it, but she had her memory, and she didn't want to know what her human friends were thinking; Fitz had somehow ingrained the rules in her brain. But somehow, after years of barely even thinking about it, she had managed to reach Tam's mind, which was probably hundreds of miles away, and had looked at the exact memories she was thinking of. 

    Memories Sophie had no right to. Fear solidified in her stomach, a weight she didn't quite know how to bear. "Soph? Sophie, you up?" Amy called from the hallway. 

    The pillow behind her looked so soft and tempting to fall back into, but no matter what telepathy crisis she was having, she had a life to get to. "Yeah, I'm getting there." The words came out rough from sleep. 

    Grabbing her phone from the nightstand, she plugged in her headphones and started her wake-up playlist. Mystical powers could wait until after breakfast. 

    Amy rode the bus with her to work, Their Saturday routine. Amy had tutoring with Jena (bless her heart), and Sophie who had worked at the cafe across the street. Normally she would work all day and get home around the same time Amy did from her afternoon shift. It worked well, and they would sit at home afterward juggling homework and takeout. 

    "That guy's picking his nose," Amy said, breaking the unintentionally tense silence. 

    "That's so gross, why would you say that?" Sophie whispered incredulously. No matter how hard she tried, her eyes couldn't leave the man who, unfortunately, had a finger up his nose.

    "Ha, now you can't unsee it!" Amy grinned triumphantly. Annoyed, Sophie grumbled back and went silent. She stared, lost in thought, not fully present. 

    "Why are you so tense?" Amy said softly, as if she didn't quite want Sophie to hear. In the back of her mind, she thought it sounded like when she used to hear human thoughts.

    "Hm? I'm not tense," Sophie lied, only to have Amy turn to her in surprise.

    "I didn't say that you were," Amy responded quizzically. 

“But I heard you?” Sophie said. Was she hallucinating? No, she couldn’t be, she wasn’t crazy. Amy was still staring at her, eyes boring, brows furrowed. Studying her, Sophie really didn’t like being studied. Her tone bordered annoyed when she finally asked, “What?”

“Why’d you read my mind?” Amy asked, eyes narrowed and her tone hushed. “Isn't there rules against that?”

It took a second for Sophie to process what Amy was saying. She hadn’t meant to listen in, but she hadn’t meant to go through Tam’s memories either. Was she losing control again? It was two minds; it could mean nothing, it wasn’t her fault, it was an accident! But what if losing control of her telepathy is only the beginning? This- the worrying, the panic, malfunctioning that reminded her she was only an experiment and a weapon- it was supposed to be over. Why wasn’t it over?

Too deep in her panic, Sophie was unaware of Amy grabbing her arm. The bus slowed down and Amy dragged her out of the bus and as far away from the swarms of people as she could. “Sophie? Soph you with me?” Amy asked desperately. In response, Sophie could only nod. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought, oh, this is a panic attack. The want to run, to move, to get away, exploded in her body everywhere at once. The walls around her mind fell next, and she heard everything at once. Her head pounded, her eyes watered and her knees gave out. She crumbled to the ground and Amy sank in front of her. 

Hands gripped her shoulders, hard but not in the way she knew. It wasn’t trapping but comforting, grounding, a reminder of where she was. Amy’s hands moved, one to her arm and one to the back of her neck. Amidst the screaming thoughts of passerby chaos and pain, Amy knelt in front of her, pressed against her and one thought rang louder than the rest.

I'm here. I’ve got you. You can enter my mind if that’s easier, it’s gonna be okay.

Sophie wanted to cry with relief, if she could have talked she would’ve shouted with happiness. She choked in a breath, focused her mind, and plunged her mind forward.

Amy let out a sharp breath but stayed quiet. After over a year and a half of being in no other mind than her own, it was surprisingly underwhelming. It was weird, feeling her body in one place but knowing her mind wasn’t with it.

Hi? she thought.

You're loud, geez, Amy responded. How’re you doing?

It's easier to block everyone else out if I focus on you, she said. The pain was still horrible but she was getting there. One by one she matched her breaths to Amy’s and started to block off the other thoughts. Built her walls, brick by brick, until the suffocation of thousands of thoughts loosened and the migraine calmed. 

Eventually, Amy spoke. So, when did this start happening?

Losing control? After Fitz taught me what to do it hasn’t happened, Sophie responded.

No unintentional mind reading? Nothing? Amy had her there. Unintentional mind-probing more like. 

Sophie took another deep breath and leaned away from her sister but kept her eyes shut to block out the world. Last night, she started, I somehow got ahold of Tam’s memories. The ones of Linh and him when they first arrived here.

Amy remained silent, the only sound their breathing. A beat passed and Sophie opened her eyes to find Amy studying her, eyebrow quirked. Go on, she finally thought.

Except Sophie didn’t quite know how to go on. In an impulse decision, she brought Tam’s memories to the surface of her mind. With a brief Brace yourself, she transmitted them to Amy and watched her reaction as the scenes played before them. 

When it was over, and the scene of Tam and Fitz faded, Amy was silent yet again. “Oh shit,” Amy whispered, meeting Sophie’s eyes.

With a chuckle, Sophie bitterly responded, “Yup.”

“Have you told her?”

“No?” Sophie gaped. “How would I even say that? ‘Oh yeah so in my sleep I accidentally watched your brother’s memories and learned all the shit you didn’t tell me. hope you don’t hate me or anything’?”

“Okay, yeah, that's a pretty bad conversation starter,” Amy agreed. “I don’t know how, but you need to tell her. This is pretty big.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh and Amy’s face softened with relief. Standing up she continued, “I guess we should get moving, we don’t want to be late.” As they walked, Sophie tried not to think about how she intentionally avoided saying “I will”.

 -

Hours passed, tedious as always. Taking orders, making coffee, cups and bags, and people. So many people. Somehow Amilia's head survived. A few slip-ups, when a part of her mind would get distracted. When the muscle memory of her tasks wasn't enough and she had to rack her brain to remember an order only to get flooded with thoughts that definitely didn't help her remember. 

At one point, when there was barely anyone in the small cafe, Amilia had an idea. Her gaze flicked over the cafe, from the plants scattered decoratively to the tables she had yet to clean. Taking a breath, she tried to open her mind up to one of her coworker's thoughts. To see if she could after all these years only blocking off her powers. After a few tries (and tripping over a bucket of water) she managed to do it. With enough focus, she could open her mind and build walls around the thin connection between her and her coworker's minds. 

She grinned, letting herself celebrate her small success for a fleeting moment until the door opened again with a ding and she was back at the register. The order was simple as Sophie plugged it into the small device. Her voice struggled not to sound bored as she called out the name when it was ready and returned to her cleaning. It was all so boring; her mind wandered to Linh coming over. She felt her heart flutter at the same time dread settled. Not now, Amilia told herself as the small bell rang again and she found herself back at the register.

"Amilia!" Jena called, sauntering her way into the cafe like she owned the place. That's what Amilia liked about the girl, how she wasn't intimidated by anything. Natalie trailed behind her with a tired look in her eyes. 

"I need like three coffees," Natalie groaned. 

"You won't survive three coffees," Amilia laughed, already starting to place their orders. It was the same every week, Jena with the most amount of sugar added to her coffee and Natalie with just straight black. Jena paid as an apology for whatever hell studying ended up being. 

Nat hummed appreciatively when James, Amilia's coworker, gave them their order. In one move she downed the entire cup despite it being burning hot. "Ahh that's the shit," she mused.

"How did your throat not just disintegrate?" Amilia asked bewildered.

"I'm just not a weakling," she retorted. "Also your girl is coming over once your shift is over if you haven't forgotten."

'Your girl', Amilia knew, was referring to Linh who had planned to come and hang out that afternoon. Which, after the events of the morning, she had entirely forgotten. "Fuck," she hissed. "My shift is almost over so hopefully we can get home with time to spare to clean?" 

The apartment desperately needed cleaning, covered in piles of homework and dishes and trash that they only occasionally had time to take out.

Thirty minutes later the sisters were rushing onto their bus home, catching their breath as they grabbed the handlebars. When they finally arrived home, the tall glass building taunting them in the daylight, Sophie took the stairs two at a time and practically kicked the door in. She ran around the apartment in a fury trying to figure out where she could stuff things when she heard murmurs. 

"How long do you think it'll take her to notice?" Linh's unmistakable voice asked.

"Eh give her a second; She's in the zone," Amy responded, clearly trying not to laugh. Slowly turning around, praying desperately that her face wasn't as red as it felt, Sophie faced the figures leaning in the doorway.

"Hi?" she said tentatively, but it came out more like a question.

"Hello, sweetheart. We didn't mean to interrupt," Linh responded with a grin.

Sophie tugged at her eyelash in embarrassment, "I totally just ran right past you didn't I?"

"Yup," Linh chuckled.

Sophie groaned and buried her face in her hands. "It's nice to know you care about order though," Linh said, gently pulling her hands away from her face and placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

Amy chuckled, walking in behind Linh, "Y’all are too soft for me. I'll be in my room." In a half-hearted response, Sophie stuck her tongue out as she passed. Linh's arms were comforting around her as they snaked their way around her waist. Instinctively Sophie leaned into her touch and wrapped her arms around Linh before burying her head into the crook of her neck. The first thing that Sophie realized was that Linh was much taller than her, in all the memories she had Linh was shorter,but here she was, taller, and Sophie leaning against her instead of the other way. The second thing was that Linh was warm like a blanket or a human heater. Compared to the rest of the world, which was gradually getting colder because of the fall, Linh felt warm like home, like something familiar. 

"We should probably move," Linh whispered, mouth against the top of hair.

Sophie hummed, "But you're comfy."

Linh laughed sweetly, "You were in the middle of cleaning, I don't wanna interrupt that."

Pulling back, Sophie surveyed the room. Unfortunately, it was still in need of some cleaning. "I can do that later; you're here right now and I wanna spend time with my girlfriend."

Linh just shook her head, "I like cleaning. It's relaxing, and you can introduce me to that music you've been screaming about."

Vaguely she remembered texting Linh late one night about the new band she’d found and how Linh just had to listen or she would die. She grabbed a cup from the kitchen, reluctantly started the music, to which Linh started moving slowly. "We can start in my room, it's probably the worst," Sophie said, stopping her brain from overthinking it before it was out of her mouth.

With that, they started cleaning, which was surprisingly more fun than it would seem. Now and then a song would come on and Sophie would throw down whatever she was holding and do an impromptu dance party. Linh would just laugh and watch her with those eyes that were full of adoration and pulled at Sophie's heart, pulled Sophie farther and farther into this dream of reality.

She avoided thoughts of what Linh was, of the memories she wasn't supposed to have seen, they but nagged at her over and over. Feet moved, things fell, and they laughed and danced, and Linh- Linh just wouldn't stop smiling. The small motion pulled at her heart and it was just like she imagined. It reminded her of the days during the war that they'd sit and sort through the clues, and for once Sophie found herself longing for that time. 

"Hey, babe?" Linh called from the closet as Sophie shook herself out of her haze.

"Yeah?"

Stepping out there was something in her hands. It was a postcard. She cocked her head to the side trying to rack her brain where it could've come from. "It says it's from Kull? The hell kinda name is that?" Linh said.

No-  Sophie stumbled a bit, no it couldn't be. But no, she remembered. Three weeks after being at the new apartment she got mail. Not some shipment for her, a postcard, with four words written on it. With shaking hands Sophie grabbed the card out of Linh's hands like she was in a dream. 

I'm here, always. - Mari

Far deep inside of her, under layers and layers of running and hiding and nights of crying, something broke. She was lonely. She wasn't alone per se; Amy was there, Linh was there, giving her those concerned eyes and crinkled eyebrows, but she was lonely. Sophie missed late-night pancakes, and endless days laughing and baking hands filled with flour (distantly she wondered if that's why Fitz had fallen in love with baking), she missed the hard exterior who had the best hugs and always knew what she was doing. She found herself missing Angie too, the weekends they'd play scrabble and laugh at how Angie would win every time no matter how hard she and Mari tried. Sophie longed for late nights sitting in Tommy's attic, the lawnmower boy across the street that always came in for banana pancakes while unironically humming the song under his breath (she asked him about it once and he just said it was always stuck in his head). They used to play late night games until it was one in the morning and Mari was calling and asking if she was coming home (most nights she didn't, too busy laughing and trying to throw popcorn into each other's mouths). And something inside her realized she missed those nights. She missed the random people she'd fallen in love with, the late nights filled with laughter and shakes instead of nightmares and tears. 

Glancing up she studied Linh's face. It was a mix of concern and confusion, a bit of hesitance, and a lot of wonder. The sudden urge to cry hit Sophie like a brick wall and she did. She cried quietly, knowing that this wasn't something that needed to be cried over yet she needed to do it anyway. Strong arms wrapped themselves around her and Sophie buried her head and tears into Linh's shoulder. "What do you need?" Linh asked after a moment of rubbing small circles into Sophie's back.

"To go home." Linh jerked back, confusion and bewilderment evident in her eyes because home to Linh would never be a small town with a dirt road and covered in trees, it would be a world of brokenness and misplaced ideals that forced her, them, to fix it. It would be a world of shimmering crystals and jobs she never wanted. She didn't know Sophie's was the exact opposite. Sophie explained, the town and what she left behind, not why because it felt stupid, but she explained what Mari was, her friend (mother figure? The one who knew her better than anyone else?), she said she left, and she needed to go back. 

"Okay," Linh said, a finality. And Linh pulled out her computer, and an hour later they had plans and were packing and it all felt too rushed to be real. It felt weirder when Amy said goodbye from the bottom steps of the apartment; she would be coming up the next day with the gang's van. It felt weird, like moving through jelly when they stepped into the Grayhound station and Sophie was left staring at her ticket and at the bus in disbelief.

"Soph," Linh whispered after a beat, "I think you're supposed to, you know, get on the bus."

Sophie knew the functions of buses, better than Linh most likely; she knew that one was supposed to step in it, choose a seat, wait for it to stop, and if it was the desired location one would step off of the bus. If her life were the movie she watched with her parents when she was little, she would walk gracefully, with soft music setting the mood, and when she would sit down, she would let out a breath that she wouldn't know she was holding. She would watch out the window wistfully, and at some point, the music would get quieter and the image of her would fade into the memories of herself meeting Mari, a speed-up of the year she had spent with the woman would play. The music would rise, and the scene of her running trying to hold herself together in the pouring rain. The camera would follow as she ran to the bus stop, as she grabbed a ticket and made it to the last bus for the night with her little duffle bag and tears picture-perfect, the ugly sobs that wracked her that night were just not movie material, and the scene would switch just as she was sitting down in the memory to her standing up, with a new determination in her eyes, in the present.

But, this was not some multimillion-coming-of-age story with a bow on top.

Because Sophie herself was too much of an emotional mess and a real person (term used loosely and does not apply to being a secret-elven-war-hero and more used in the sense of the emotional trauma and not knowing how to function normally that comes with being a secret-elven-war-hero) to be the star of a movie. Who would pay money to go see someone with human emotions also fail at life when they can just look at themselves or the people around them for free? 

"Earth to Sophie!" Linh snapped in front of her face.

"Yes, I'm alive, huh?" Sophie rushed.

Linh snickered and made Sophie blush more than she wanted to admit. "I was wondering if we were actually going to get on the train?" Linh said gently.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry it's just weird, I needed a minute," Sophie apologized.

Linh smiled slightly and gently intertwined their fingers, "I get it, and I'm here for you." Instinctively she leaned into the touch, but a knot of guilt and anxiety tied in her stomach along with thoughts that she had tried desperately to keep out of her head all day. What are you hiding? If I said anything would you still be here? Or will you run from me too?

They found their seats, and Sophie managed to steal her way to the window seat. She stuffed her bag under the seat in front of her and found herself stopping. She let out the breath, she hadn't realized she was holding. A pit settled in her, a deep and endless feeling that she could get lost in. Down down down it went filled with black and heaviness she was so desperately trying to ignore. Her uncertainty scared her the most. It was like the Neverseen, she never knew how long her peace would last or how quickly it would be ruined. 

Hopefully, she could make this last another day. Another night of this feeling, of safety while holding Linh's hand. She wasn't quite ready for this to be over, to rock the boat, to ask about what Linh did. It was selfish, but Sophie was a selfish person. 

The man at the front of the bus, the driver, stood up holding the microphone, and started to say something probably about rules and destinations, but Sophie couldn't hear a word he said. At that moment her thoughts were flooded as the boundaries she built came tumbling down. "Fuck," she whispered, she could barely hear herself. Squeezing her eyes she tried not to cry and kept her head down. This time it wasn't nearly as bad as the street which had so many more people, but still, her head pounded and she dug her nails into her fingers resisting the urge to pick at an eyelash. Surprisingly, it was pretty easy to hide the pain from Linh, whose sole focus was the driver's words. She clamped her jaw shut and focused on the pain in her palms, trying to forget about the migraine. The Grayhound suddenly roared to life and started to move jostling Sophie back into her seat, the motion making it worse. "Fucking christ," she hissed as a particularly loud thought rose to the surface. 

"Babe? You okay?" Linh asked, putting her hand on Sophie's arm, finally noticing that Sophie was very much not okay. It took everything in her not to snap something sarcastic back. 

Instead, she went for a hopefully convincing smile and said, "Yeah I just need to run to the bathroom."

Linh chuckled as she got up. "I told you to go before we left." Sophie nodded in response as her head continued to pound and she reached up to pick an eyelash. She tried to hide the pain as much as she could walking towards the back, holding her balance surprisingly well as the jackhammer in her head continued.

She made it to the bathroom, which was smaller than she expected. Sitting on the closed toilet (it was the size of a portapotty and she wished there was somewhere else to sit) Sophie counted her breaths. Slowly, she opened her mind. It was as bad of an idea as it sounded. The pounding got worse like the thoughts were trying to crack her mind, but Sophie was determined. Sifting through the loud barrage of words and ideas she searched for the quieter voices. She found her way downward (not really but it was the only way to describe the feeling) pushing thoughts to the side building a guarded bridge from her mind. A tiny wisp of thought caught her attention, a blank spot between the screaming. 

Gotcha, she thought triumphantly. 

Pushing forward, imaginary brick by imaginary brick she created a path to the silent mind that was most likely sleeping already. With a push, she found her way in as gently as she could, taking refugee in the calm. She allowed herself a breath before she started to build her mind walls around the second one. One by one the minds faded to the background like static until she was finally at peace in the stranger's head. It felt weird, to say the least. The walls were up, she was fine, she was protected, and yet she felt reluctant to leave. Like she should figure out who this person was. Why did she care? That was a good question, Sophie didn't quite have an answer.

As she was about to leave, pushing away her conflicting thoughts, a memory, tinted blue appeared. She shouldn't have looked at it. That was her first mistake. There were rules against this intrusion, she wasn't supposed to see it. And yet she was curious. So, against her better judgment, Sophie stayed and Sophie watched.

She could tell from the start the memory clearly wasn’t happy. It started in what looked like a bathroom. Dark and grim, dimly lit. They were staring down at the sink, something dripping from their face. It might've been blood. The door opened and the person's head swung, Sophie caught a glimpse of dark hair in the mirror before her attention was drawn to the figure in front of her. 

Dangerous eyes matched a dangerous frame. A red and black striped shirt peeked out from behind a gray jacket rolled up to the man's elbows. Peaking from under the edge of the sleeve was the end of an anchor. Dark eyes were accompanied by a smirk that made Sophie's hair stand up. "What do you want?" a high voice said, presumably the owner of the memory. 

He only raised an eyebrow in response leaning against the wall.

"Oh stop that little act," the voice huffed, "No one’s gonna see you here.”

His face relaxed and for a beat it was silent, then, "You're being reckless."

Saying nothing, the view shifted back to the sink. "I've got nothing to lose," they murmured. Pale hands with bruised knuckles gripped the edge of the sink.

"Yeah? Well welcome to the club," he said gruffly. "The whole reason this little group exists is cause every single one of those people? Guess what, they've got nothing else to lose except this place. And I'm not risking their safety for you."

"Nice to know you care," they said with a huff.

The man's eyes were tired as he pleaded, "Look, you know I'm not great at emotions, but try not to pick a fight with every single person you come into contact with out there?"

"Yeah, I'll try," breathed the voice, defeated. 

"And Linh?" the man kept speaking, but Sophie couldn't hear. Words were muffled as they looked up, and Linh's—her Linh’s—face stared back at her in the mirror. 

Startled, Sophie stumbled out of the memory, out of Linh's mind (why was it Linh's mind?) all together. The wall of the bathroom smacked against the back of her head as she jerked back into herself. "What the hell," she gasped. "What the hell." 

A beat passed till Sophie stood, bumping her knees against the wall across from her. It was awkward trying to maneuver her way out of the miniature-sized bathroom (it didn’t even count as a bathroom). Finally, she pushed the sliding door back to let her out and tried to avoid eye contact with anyone that noticed her. Fumbling her way out, still slightly trapped in her haze of how’s and whys and Linh Linh Linh- she almost passed her seat when Linh tapped her.

Sophie didn’t hear what she said, it all going in one ear and out the other as she tried to mask her intense waves of emotion and thanking the universe that Linh wasn’t an empath. She avoided Linh’s silver eyes, dodging her worried looks.

“I’m fine,” Sophie barked. “Just rattled, wondering what I’m gonna say to Mari,” she lied of course the thought of Mari hadn’t even crossed her mind until then. But when she started to talk she couldn’t stop herself, “It’s just been a long time you know? I don’t know if she even wants to see me. I left her just in the middle of the night with barely a goodbye after a year of living with her and her taking care of me and-“

There was a hand holding hers and another cupping her cheek. “Hey,” Linh whispered, her breath tickled Sophie’s cheek. 

“H-hey,” she stuttered as Linh brushed her thumb under Sophie’s eye, wiping off the tear she didn’t even know was there.

A small smile captured Linh’s face, it made Sophie wonder how this girl was the same one who used to be so so angry. she probably still is, part of her thought before she shoved it away.

“We’re already here, on this bus on our way; this is the point of no return. Okay? And this may be the point of no return, but you’re not alone. I’ve got you and Amy’s coming up tomorrow. You’re not alone in this. Whether she wants you to come or not cause of how long it’s been since she asked, you need this, you can’t just bury this,” Linh said, her hands stayed cupped around Sophie’s face and her eyes held her gaze firmly. 

Sophie let herself nod as she noticed how close Linh was. Part of her wondered if she was supposed to kiss Linh (that’s what couples did right?) but another was stuck turning Linh’s words over in her mind unable to stop thinking, But isn’t that what you did? Bury and bury and bury?

Linh’s smile grew and she felt herself smile too, even if it was small and her mind was too busy overthinking for the aching in her chest to register. They turned away from each other, Linh with a small remark of how tired she was and Sophie grabbing her headphones from her bag. Plugging them in, a desperate attempt to shut out her mind, she felt Linh's head on her shoulder and that smile returned and grew as Linh sighed and curled into her side. For a brief moment, she convinced herself that the girl in the memory was not the same girl she knew. For a fleeting second, Sophie pretended that she couldn't feel herself setting the fire to the beginning of the end.

[creacherkeeper]

Skimmons prompt: Jemma comes back from the Monolith with powers and Skye/Daisy helps her adjust to this new life and they start to form a closer bond and it all eventually leads to their first kiss. So from friends to girlfriends. :D

Deep Into the Mountain Sound 

~12,000 words

A/N: um :’) this got really extensive i’m sorry. i’m sure yall are sick of me talking about it but here it is!! my epic gay mountain ladies with powers fic 

So, she’d run.

Jemma had been doing a lot of running lately. (On theplanet, it had been a necessity. You sleep, and when you’re not sleeping, yourun. You run, or you get too comfortable. You run, or you get negligent. Yourun, or the monsters catch up. You run, or you die. So, she’d done it anyway,but it hadn’t exactly been her idea—the running. And it wasn’t this time,either.)

Dr. Garner had suggested the ‘getaway’, as he called it.After living in isolation for so long, the crowded base, with all its noise,and hovering (well-meaning, she corrects herself) people, was too overwhelmingfor her. She’d tried, she’d given it an honest shot. But it wasn’t the rightenvironment for her, not anymore. He thought that it would be easier for herbody, and her mind, to acclimate back to this world if she could do sosomewhere secluded, where there weren’t too many people, too many distractions.Slowly, she’d immerse herself back in the world, in her own time. So Coulson,only somewhat grudgingly, had offered up a cabin, a SHIELD safe-house, for herto use ‘until she was ready to come back home’.

(The team hadn’t been happy. Least of all Fitz, who’drallied to go with her, having just gotten her back and not wanting to let herout of his sight just yet. If Coulson wouldn’t let him go, he’d said, he’d quit,and go anyway.

It was only a (very) firm word from Dr. Garner that made himstay. He wasn’t what she needed right now, Dr. Garner told him. She neededsomeone who could give her space, who wasn’t expecting anything from her. Mostimportantly, someone who she wouldn’t feel the need to perform for.

Fitz reluctantly agreed that he didn’t fit the bill. Thathe, just this once, wasn’t what she needed. She’d put too much pressure onherself, in his presence. If anyone could understand that, it was him. So he’dstayed behind, on the promise that she would call him whenever she had the urge,and that he could visit, if she wanted him.

But she shouldn’t be alone, Dr. Garner said.

So Skye had volunteered to go with her. At least for thefirst little while, to get her settled, to keep track of how she was adjustingand send updates to Dr. Garner. She might have to leave to go on missions, thatwas part of the agreement, but she’d be living in the cabin with Jemma for theforeseeable future.)

Skye.

Jemma glances over at her in the driver’s seat, watching hertap her fingers on the wheel to the beat of the song that’s playing quietlyover the radio, and then looks back to her window before Skye has the chance tonotice. The trees, lush and green in the spring warmth, roar past them. Skye ismaybe driving a little too fast, but it’s not like they’ll come across anyother cars. They’re far up in the mountains, and the cabin they’re making theirway to is the only one around for miles. Besides that, it’s just forest, whichhugs the sides of the road, only allowing the sun to grace the asphalt inwavering patches.

They hadn’t been informed exactly where they are, butjudging from the flora, and the climate, and how long the flight had been, Jemmaguesses somewhere in the Great Smoky Mountains. North Carolina, maybe, or Tennessee.She’d feel better if she knew exactly where they were (she’d spent long enoughhaving no idea where she was, and she didn’t care for it), but it had beenclassified. It’s whatever, she’ll probably figure it out soon enough. If onlyshe had access to a geography book, maybe a guide to the local fauna.

(Dr. Garner had told her to focus on herself, notdistractions. Focus on how she’s feeling, what she’s thinking. Mindfulness,he’d called it. But she just—she can’t. She can’t stand living in her own headall the time. All she’d had on that planet was herself, and truth be told, she’dgotten sick of the company.)

Skye yawns, and Jemma risks another glance. Something gnawsat her gut: guilt. She knows it intimately, a closer friend to her thananything else has been over the years.

Had Skye only come because she felt guilty? Jemma knows thatshe, along with most of the team, had given up hope of ever getting Jemma back.They’d stopped trying to find her. (Jemma doesn’t blame them, it had been along time. She might’ve done the same, if she’d been in their position.) Wasthat why Skye came? Trying to make up for something.

Dr. Garner told her it’s okay to be a burden, sometimes.It’s okay to let other people help carry her weight, if she can’t carry it herself.

(Jemma doesn’t believe that.)

She doesn’t want Skye to have to carry it for her, any ofit. Skye isn’t her pack mule. She’s a friend. A friend who is probably onlyhere because of her own guilt, her own emotional baggage. God, Jemma’s justgoing to make it worse, probably. Skye is here out of obligation (what if Dr.Garner had talked her into it? What if she hadn’t wanted to come at all?) andnow she’s going to have to deal with all of Jemma’s triggers and her traumaresponses and the emotional sack of shit that she’s turned into lately. Skyeshouldn’t have to handle all that. It’s not fair to her, not in the least.

Fuck. Jemma’s horrible, isn’t she, for agreeing to Skyecoming along. For letting her do this, for letting anyone come along at all.She should’ve come alone, dealt with this alone. No one should be forced tostand her right now, when she can barely stand herself.

Tears prick in the back of her eyes. Her throat istightening closed. Skye can’t notice, though, she can’t, or she’ll just beconcerned, and guilty, and that will make Jemma more guilty, and she just—shecan’t do this. Jemma can’t do this. All of this was a mistake.

Fuck fuck fuck.

Suddenly, there’s a loud thud,and Skye curses, slamming on the breaks. Jemma catches herself against thedash, heart beating, jarred away from her thoughts.

A tree has fallen into the road, right in front of them,just as they were about to drive past it. It looks rotten. Decayed. Bark blackand oozing, caving in on itself. It’s a wonder that it hadn’t fallen down longago. Jemma thinks how unlucky it was that it fell just as they were driving by(has a fleeting, silly thought that it’s an omen of some kind) and then noticesthat the surrounding trees in the area all look like they’re in a state ofdecay as well. Just in this one spot.

“Freaky,” Skye says, and Jemma gives a noncommittal hum.

(Later, she’ll label this ‘incident number one’.)

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