𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐇━︎━︎S. Wilson ✓︎

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
PROMISE ME

SHE SAT THERE IN THE chair, swallowing nervously as she watched Rosalynn take a blood sample from her. She wearily glanced over to Sam who hadn't moved from her side, watching as he nodded his head and gave her a reassuring smile. Willow had to leave due to Natasha needing her help with something, so she was left with Sam standing over her protectively―︎not that she minded of course. She watched Rosalynn walk over to Bruce, the two whispering words to one another as they started to test her several blood samples. For a second, she thought it was normal, and then a gasp fell from Rosalynn's lips.

Skye found herself sitting up, her shoulders extremely tense as she looked at the doctors. Her nerves were taking hold of her. She knew that something was going to go wrong. As of late, nothing had been going right for her, and she just wanted a break. It was so much stress, so much guilt lying on her shoulders that it was starting to suffocate her and she didn't know how to make it stop, how to make it go away. She had cried so much within that past week, that her eyes seemed to constantly burn red from the salty tears, stains covering her cheeks no matter how much she tried to scrub them away. Skye was exhausted, and she didn't know how to fix what she messed up.

"Tell me," She whispered. Her voice was loud enough for the two to hear, causing for Bruce and Rosalynn to glance at her before exchanging looks with one another. She closed her eyes, her shoulders slumping in defeat, making a frown crawl onto Sam's face. He could tell that she was giving up, but he couldn't let her. He wouldn't. "Please, just tell me. Is it bad?"

Rosalynn pursed her lips before sighing, shaking her head. "Well, it's not good." She grabbed one of the vials that contained Skye's blood, holding it in her hands for a moment before making her way over to Skye and reluctantly holding it out for her. Skye looked at Rosalynn before looking down at the vial. She carefully reached out, grasping the small glass container in her hand and forcing herself to hold it up into the light. Her mouth parted slightly when she caught what was wrong, turning to look at Sam who seemed to hold the same expression as her.

"This. . . this came out of me?" Skye stuttered. "That can't be right. It's supposed to be red, not black. Why is my blood black?" She could feel her heart start to slam violently in her chest, fear was taking over her body as she felt herself start to shake. It had gone so far that it had turned the blood in her body black. It was in that moment that Skye realized that she was too far gone. That the dark magic that she had used was taking over her, and was in control, even when she didn't realize it was. Her every movement was being controlled by the dark magic, and the vial of blood was proof of that.

"I don't know." Rosalynn admitted, she herself perplexed by the results. "I've never seen anything like this. Even when Willow was struggling with the alien attached to her, her blood was still a normal red color. Whatever you did. . . it's seems to have poisoned you." She took the vial back and handed it to Bruce. "Whatever this is, we'll figure it out, Skye. We'll find a way to make sure you're alright. We're going to fix this, and we won't stop until we do."

"Thanks." Skye mumbled, mustering the best smile that she could at the moment before standing up and walking out of the lab with Sam close on her heels. She was angry at herself. She couldn't believe what was happening to her. So many thoughts were racing through her head, her head starting to pound against her skull as she felt an oncoming headache. She sat down on the nearest couch, Sam following her actions. They didn't say anything, but Skye glanced towards him only when he reached over and placed a hand over hers. She managed a smile at that.

"Skye, we're going to figure this out." Sam told her, his voice gentle as he spoke. "You're going to be alright. I'm not going to let anything else happen to you." Sam watched her for a moment, watching as she grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers. He could tell that there was something on her mind, something that she wanted to say but didn't know how. "I know that look." She turned her head to look at him and he nodded. "Talk to me. What's going on in that head of yours?"

Skye didn't want to tell him her thoughts. Her thoughts were dangerous at the moment. They were scary, and something that she didn't want to share with him, because she knew exactly what he was going to say. It warmed her heart that he thought he could save her, that he was so optimistic about the situation at hand, but Skye knew what she had gotten herself into. She knew what the consequences of her actions were, and she had a feeling if she told Sam those consequences, he would refuse to believe them. He would find another way, even if there wasn't one.

She swallowed thickly, biting the inside of her cheek out of nervousness, scared of his reaction to her next words. But she knew that they needed to be said, even if he didn't want to hear them. She knew that he knew the possible outcomes of this situation, but she knew that it was up to her to make sure he realized it was the only option. She allowed a breath to fall her lips, her eyes meeting Sam's before she spoke. "Sam, if this gets too bad, and I can't stop it or it can't be controlled, I need you to promise me something."

He didn't like the sound of that, but nonetheless he nodded. "Of course. Anything."

"I need you to promise me that if I get too unstable, that you'll stab me through the heart, and you'll kill me."