As I begin to wake up, I hear Coulson and Skye's voices, and I squint my eyes open to see that I'm laying on a bed in a glass room in the lab at The Playhouse, and I look over to my right to see Skye sitting on the edge of a bed in a glass room also as Coulson sits outside of both of the rooms. Are we in quarantine?

"I keep thinking Trip is gonna come see me, make fun of me for being stuck in quarantine, call me a goldfish or a hamster or something. And every time I wake up... I-I remember all over again. I just can't believe he's not coming back. He should not have been down there." Skye explains to Coulson.

"We all went in for a good reason." I speak up with my voice a little ruff, and they both turn to look at me as they stand up "To prevent H.Y.D.R.A. from starting a cataclysm." I add before I slowly sit up.

"Are you alright?" Skye asks me worried.

"I'm alright." I show her a small smile before thinking back to Triplett "He was trying to save us." I refer Skye and myself, and Skye sits back down on her bed.

"He may have saved all of us. The Obelisk triggered a massive earthquake. Imagine how much worse it could have been if he hadn't destroyed it." Coulson explains.

"He died a hero." I state.

"Once medical clears you, we'll get you out of there. You'll just be stuck underground, like the rest of us." Coulson explains to myself and Skye.

"How's everyone doing?" I ask Coulson.

"Just trying to keep busy. Everyone deals with it in their own way." Coulson tells me.

"When you sign up for this kind of life, you accept that loss will be part of it, but you never get used to losing one of your own, especially when it's... A good man like Triplett. It happens too much. And over time, it makes it harder to let people in." I explain as I look down at my hands, feeling something cold inside of me, but I don't say anything.

"Sometimes, just makes you want to pack up and run." Coulson adds.

"Is that what you want to do... Run?" Skye asks Coulson.

"Sometimes. You?" Coulson asks us.

"Couldn't even if we tried." Skye says before she stands up and paces lightly "How long did it take for Mack to get out of quarantine?" She asks Coulson.

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

"And Simmons, is she back?" Skye asks Coulson.

"Not yet. She has a team documenting whatever they can in the tunnels, cleaning up, but it's slow going with no electricity. She'll assess the structural integrity of the place and, if possible, blow one of the vertical shafts under the ocean floor, flood the city with water." Coulson explains.

"And drown it for good." I state.

"Hopefully, the bedrock wasn't too badly damaged by the quake. The temple collapsed on itself. It's a miracle you're still alive." Coulson looks between myself and Skye.

"What about Raina?" I ask him.

"We couldn't find her where you were. There's a lot of rubble to dig through, but not yet. Whatever gas came out of that Obelisk hit you, too. That's why we're being extra cautious. It's hard to make sense of all this." Coulson explains.

"What? No, it-No, it isn't. We lost. We failed." Skye states.

"Skye, don't say that." I tell her.

"It wasn't because of H.Y.D.R.A. It was because of me." Skye tells us.

"Don't blame yourself." I tell her as I slowly stand up.

"If we didn't go down there, you could have blown the place!" Skye begins to shouts.

"That was one battle. This is a war." I tell her.

"And Ward and my father-The rotten core. At the center of everything!" Skye shouts.

"We did not fail!" I shout at her as I bang on the glass of the quarantine with my right hand, and they both turn to look at me "Triplett prevented a disaster, and Whitehall's dead. We cut off the head. And while H.Y.D.R.A. scrambles for a new one, I will crush them! I'm gonna make somebody pay... Whoever the hell it is." I tell her before I sit back down.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Coulson states before he walks away.

A little while later after Skye calmed down from blaming herself, I watch her as she lays on her bed and tries to get some rest when Morse walks into the lab holding two bags.

"Hey." Morse says to us as Skye sits up. Morse then places a bag each into the cargo mover in the glass door, and both myself and Skye stand up and walk over to receive them "Quarantine survival kit. Got a deck of cards for solitaire, bag of homemade trail mix if you want to eat healthy, a couple candy bars if not, headphones, a few trashy magazines." She explains before I pull out a can of Cactus Cooler with my right hand "Cactus cooler. I keep a stash. I mean, you can only get it in California, it's the best. Anyway... I've been in quarantine before, and I know it can drive you absolutely nuts." She explains to us.

"Thank you." I thank her.

"Thanks. I was beginning to feel like a leper." Skye admits.

"Are you kidding? You both managed to be taken hostage by three known murderers, you gunned Ward down, then were blasted by an alien chemical weapon and walked out unscathed. Leper? I think you're both rock stars." Morse explains, and Skye shows her a thankful smile before Morse walks away.

After Coulson made a call with Simmons as she explained that she had a run in with Raina, but she was transformed and had thorns across her body, Coulson has called a briefing in the lab with May, Fitz, Hunter, Mack and Morse on that Coulson wants to take H.Y.D.R.A. out now due to their lack of leadership, and to do so he wants to hand Bakshi over Talbot to create the window of opportunity.

"With a prisoner exchange? Using Bakshi out in the open like that, it's a dangerous strategy, sir." Morse speaks up as myself and Skye stand at the windows of our quarantine cells, watching their briefing for the mission.

"I know it's high-risk, but we have a small window to take advantage of H.Y.D.R.A.'s lack of leadership." Coulson explains.

"It puts us out on a limb." Hunter points out.

"With a chance to deliver a crushing blow to those responsible for Trip's death. I'll take it." Coulson tells Hunter.

"Responsible, huh?" Mack states.

"You have something to say, Mack?" Coulson asks him.

"Plenty, but I'll keep it to myself." Mack tells him.

"Don't mind him. He's just coming down from the worst alien acid trip of all time." Hunter comments.

"That's not funny." Fitz speaks up.

"Just trying to lighten the mood, mate." Hunter defends himself.

"Yeah, well, Mack didn't ask for what happened to him." Fitz points out.

"Of course not." Hunter states.

"No one asked for any of this to happen. H.Y.D.R.A. forced our hand, and now Coulson plans to force theirs-" May tries to say, but Mack cuts her off.

"-Did they? Did H.Y.D.R.A. force our hand?" Mack asks angrily.

"Calm down, Mack." Morse tells him.

"Repeatedly, but we have a chance here-" Coulson tries to say, but Mack cuts him off.

"-Or did we hand them detailed plans and the location of that city?" Mack asks Coulson.

"H.Y.D.R.A. took them when they took Lyra and Skye. Are you saying we shouldn't have gone in to save them?" Coulson steps towards Mack.

"I'm saying there wouldn't have been anything to take if you and Skye hadn't been obsessed with the alien messages in your damn head." Mack tells Coulson.

"All right, let's just all-" Morse tries to say, but Coulson cuts her off.

"-This isn't about blame." Coulson says.

"Watch yourself, Mack." May tells him.

"No one would have left Lyra and Skye there. That's not what he's saying." Fitz sticks up for Mack.

"I shouldn't have to ask any of you to save one of our own." Coulson tells Mac.

"You never ask! You just give your orders, no matter how cracked out they are!" Mack shouts.

"Mack, you'd do well to remember your rank right now." May tells him.

"Really? Rank at a time like this? Why don't you shove rank up your-" Hunter tries to say, but I cut him off.

"-Not helping, Hunter." I speak up.

"Guys, stop." Skye says, and I glance at her before looking back at the others.

"No, it's cathartic. Do you have any thoughts of your own on it, or do you just parrot his?" Hunter asks May.

"Coulson's only trying to stop H.Y.D.R.A." I tell them as I begin to get angry.

"We didn't stop anything! We unleashed something on the planet!" Mack shouts.

"No one knows what happened yet. Triplett averted disaster. It could have been a lot worse!" I shout at him.

"And you and Skye barely made it out alive!" Mack shouts.

"Thanks to Trip, he sacrificed his life, Mack!" I shout.

"No, he traded his life for you and your sisters'! And then he was shattered into a thousand pieces!" Mack tells me.

"That's enough!" Coulson says, and I snap out of my arguing daze and look to Coulson "If Triplett was here, he wouldn't be arguing. He wouldn't be bitching. He would be gearing up to do what needs to be done. Yes, we're dealing with forces we don't understand, but H.Y.D.R.A. I do understand. I want everyone ready when the sun comes up. End of discussion." Coulson says before he walks away.

After Coulson and the team left and Simmons came back, she has two scientists in hazmat suits taking some blood samples from us as she stands outside of quarantine.

"Thank goodness nothing bad happened to you. Wouldn't want you to have to stay in there forever." Simmons smiles at us "Raina, she was unrecognizable. It was insane, and not just from the outside. Look..." She trails off as the scientist leave the quarantines and she picks up and electronic tablet showing Raina's DNA "We separated her DNA and mapped it using gel electrophoresis. Her DNA didn't just rearrange, it contains extra macromolecules. I wouldn't think that it was even possible." She explains.

"That's amazing." Skye states.

"It's horrific! We need to make sure that you're not contaminated or infected in any way." Simmons explains to us.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I ask her.

"An epidemic." Simmons states.

"That's a pretty harsh conclusion." Skye says to her.

"Well, I feel responsible." Simmons tells us.

"We all do. There's nothing you could have done." I tell her.

"Yes, there was. I was so curious about powers, about unearthly biology, wondering where it might lead, hoping to better understand it, control it. I should have been trying to terminate it, erase it from existence." Simmons explains.

"What? You've helped plenty of people with powers. It's part of the world that we live in." I explain to her.

"It's a plague. All of it. It only ever brings us death. Donnie Gill, Chan Ho Yin, Creel... The list keeps growing." Simmons tells us.

"Not the Avengers, they're not-" Skye tries to say, but Simmons cuts her off.

"-The Avengers wouldn't have been necessary if we hadn't unleashed alien horrors." Simmons explains as I look down at my hands as I feel the cold sensation flow through my body, but again, but I try to ignore it.

"There must be another-" Skye tries to say, but Simmons cuts her off.

"-Trip was in fragments!" Simmons begins to cry.

"We know." I look up at her sadly.

"Well... It ends with him. Flooding the alien city may be the first responsible thing I've done to protect the people I care about. I'll check these samples and... And compare them to samples of your blood we had from before, just to be safe." Simmons explains to us.

"Okay." Skye nods.

"Just to be safe." Simmons repeats as she walks away.

A while after Simmons left to report her findings on our blood samples. I sit on my bed cross-legged reading a trashy magazine as Skye lays on her bed with her headphones on, and I hear Coulson's voice out in the hallway and I look to see Coulson, May, Simmons and Mack talking outside of the lab.

"Sir, I do think Mack brought up a matter we should consider." Simmons says to Coulson, unaware that I can hear them.

"I'm all ears." Coulson tells her.

"I'm aware the team hunting Raina has orders to capture, not kill." Simmons explains.

"As always." Coulson states.

"But this might be some sort of contagion or even a plague inadvertently set loose. Plagues must be understood, yes... But eventually eradicated." Simmons explains.

"Are you saying that you want to put Raina down, Agent Simmons?" Coulson asks her confused.

"No, of course not, uh... I'm just saying that if they have to, it may not be the worst thing." Simmons explains before they all part ways. Coulson wouldn't let that happen to me and Skye, would he?

"Hey, Fitz." Skye speaks up, and I look over to her to see she has head headphones off and that Fitz is holding our broken bio-meter watches that me and Skye were wearing when we were taken by H.Y.D.R.A. outside of our quarantines, and he looks a little bit nervous.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Can you tell me?" Fitz asks us, and we look at him confused "I fixed your bio-meter watch's, checked your vitals at the time of the temple collapse. Both of your heart rates were recorded at almost... 300 bpm." He explains.

"That's very fast." I say to him confused, the calculations must be incorrect.

"No. That's inhuman." Fitz states, and I try to breath calmly as I see that Skye has tears in her eyes "I thought the readings were a mistake, that I put the thing together wrong. Been struggling to, uh, um..." He trails off as he tries to find the right words and he claps his hands together, and Skye sits down on her bed "... Something's wrong with the data in my head." He begins to pace.

"What are you saying?" I ask him warily.

"So, I was thinking how the heart monitor's seemed to shatter from the inside out, but it was still on your wrists when we found you... That doesn't make sense." Fitz explains as tears begin to form in my eyes "And how we found you both, basically unharmed in the collapse, with destruction all around you! I thought I was losing my mind all over again..." He trails off as I get a cold, powerful sensation running through my body again "... That there was something wrong. So it took a while to dawn on me, or maybe I was just afraid to think it... That... You survived the destruction because... You both caused it." He explains to us with tears in his eyes as I see objects in Skye's quarantine shaking.

"No. No, no, no." Skye stands up and walks over to the door of her quarantine.

"Raina wasn't the only one changed in there. And I'm pretty sure the DNA results we're running right now are gonna confirm it." Fitz explains.

"No. No!" Skye says as she begins to lower her head and hold it.

"Skye..." I barely whisper.

"There's nothing wrong with the data in my head, Skye. There's something wrong with you." Fitz says before Skye begins to scream as the lights flicker in her quarantine and they shatter, but I then suddenly get the urge to reach out to her and protect her, and I do so with my right hand.

I then watch as my entire body shifts from being see through and back again as I hold up some sort of barrier so the shards of glass from the lights don't hit Skye. Skye then looks up at me as she stops screaming and the objects around stop shaking, and I drop my hand breathlessly and the shattered glass walk drops the floor at once as she looks at me crying, and I look to Fitz but he's disappeared.

"It's going to be alright." I assure her as I don't allow any tears to leave my eyes, and I walk over to the glass wall that is separating our quarantines and press my palms against the glass.

"I'm scared..." Skye cries as she walks over to the other side of the glass, and she presses her palms against the glass where mine are before leaning her forehead against the glass.

"I know... Me too..." My breath shudders as I lean my head against hers through the glass "... We're going to be alright, I promise..." I promise her.

After I calm myself and Skye down from the events that have just happened, she is now cleaning up the shattered glass on the floor from the lights.

"Be careful." I tell her as I cant see exactly what she's doing, and I begin to hear footsteps "Stand up." I tell her, and she quickly does so just as May walks into the lab "Hey." I show May a smile.

"Feeling like you've been in those glass boxes your whole life?" May smiles as she looks to Skye, but she doesn't respond "You doing okay?" She asks her confused.

"Yeah, yeah. we just... We feel isolated and exposed at the same time." I explain to her.

"Being a caged animal is no fun." Skye adds with a convincing sarcastic smile.

"It's for your own good, temporary." May assure us.

"I know. I know. Maybe I just need a hug. I hate seeing everyone fighting." Skye explains, and I look at her upset that she has to go through this.

"They're just having a hard time." May states.

"Yeah, but I've never seen Coulson like that before. He seemed so... Cutthroat." Skye explains.

"Yeah, I've rarely seen him like this myself. For Coulson, Trip was the embodiment of the principles he wants S.H.I.E.L.D. to be built upon... Compassion, loyalty, heart. And that is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s strength. And Trip's death reminded Coulson that H.Y.D.R.A. doesn't have that, and that is their weakness." May explains to us "Are you bleeding?" She asks her confused as she looks down at Skye's left hand as Simmons walks into the lab.

"We should have your DNA results back any minute now. Once we know there's nothing wrong, we'll have you out of there." Simmons smiles cheery, but her smile falls when she sees Mays confusement and mine and Skye's nervousness "Something's wrong?" She asks us confused, and Skye lefts up her right hand to show that it has been cut.

"What the hell happened?" May asks Skye, but she doesn't answer "Skye?" She asks her concerned.

"F-Fitz..." I begin to stutter as I try to come up with a lie.

"Fitz was a klutz again." Fitz suddenly walks into the lab with an electronic tablet "Uh, she's cleaning 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. Uh, I guess my coordination still needs work. But I was anxious to double-check the results." He hands Simmons the electronic tablet "Their DNA is an exact match to what it was before. They're clear." He explains, and myself and Skye sigh thankfully but for different reasons than Simmons and May as they sigh thankfully also.

"Thank god." Simmons smiles.

"I'm gonna call Coulson. He can use the good news. You all right?" May asks Skye as she refers to Skye's cut hand.

"Yeah." Skye smiles loosely as May walks away, and both Skye and myself look at Fitz confused.