“We’re an essential part of any Pokémon team,” Lincoln deadpanned, not really feeling the energy to make jokes but wanting to make the mood lighter. He sat down next to Skye, making sure to keep his distance, and booted up the 3DS, grimacing when he saw the flashing red light in the corner. Low battery. And he didn’t even own a charger. “It’s a game for kids,” he said, watching out of the corner of his eye for when Skye might look away and he could zap a little more juice into the damn thing. “I don’t think you’ll find it that hard.”
“You’d be surprised at what I find hard. Not getting into arguments with people who pronounce gif as jif, basic chemistry, being on time,” Skye listed intently, all of a sudden remembering she had no idea how long she’d spent tucked away in her bunk, or whether it was a hallucination and she’d been there for days. She threw a quick glance at her phone, brows furrowing when her suspicions were confirmed. Too long. The lack of messages was, for once, a good thing. “I’m depending on you not to get bored. I have a thing for closure, so it might take us a while. Feel free to just nap or complain about the state of our government.”
He relaxed slightly when he saw it was, in fact, Skye behind the door. Lincoln wasn’t sure who it would have been instead of her, but it was her, and he felt one of the many, many knots in his stomach untie itself. “No sightings,” he confirmed, forcing a smile. “Thanks again. For letting me come over.” He stepped inside the small bunk, sliding the door closed. Skye looked like what he felt inside - ragged, choked up, and trying her best to pretend it was all okay when it really, really wasn’t. “I brought Zelda.”
“You’re welcome. Making room in my busy schedule of hiding out on a plane wasn’t easy, but I had to catch a wild electric type. I’ve been reading up,” Skye explained, actually putting effort into sounding upbeat. Everything about Lincoln, starting from the soft way he spoke to her and ending with how exhausted they both felt, made Skye feel less on edge, so she was determined to return the favour. She effortlessly scooted over to make room for him, enough distance between them so that he wouldn’t have to worry about zapping her while still being close enough to show that she wasn’t afraid if he did. “The princess, yeah. If I turn out to be inexplicably shit at this game, you’ll look away when I hack into it, right?”
Lincoln walked up the stairs slowly, looking over his shoulder, still worried a SHIELD agent was going to pop out of the shadows and arrest him. He was more worried about that than a serial killer - he would’ve had no qualms about using his powers on a murderer, but for anything else, he had to keep a low profile. It had only occurred to him that befriending Skye would be beneficial to his mission as he approached the plane, and to be truthful, it wasn’t even something he wanted to think about right now.
Again, Jiaying had picked the wrong person.
“Skye?” he called softly, knocking on the third door like the instructions in her text said. He gripped his 3DS tighter in his hand. This was about comforting… a friend. A potential friend. They both needed it. He had no reason to be nervous. “It’s Lincoln.”
Fuck, okay. Just when she thought she had the entire ‘don’t think about people getting hurt so you don’t hurl’ situation somewhat under control. “I know who you are,” Skye quipped in return, voice breaking ever so slightly on the second word. She hadn’t talked in hours, the redness under her eyes was still letting her know it was there, and god knows how tired she looked, but a small smile still appeared on her features when the door slid open. “No sightings of the friendly neighbourhood serial killer, huh?” Nailed it.
lincoln: would you mind if i did? lincoln: i can fend for myself if there's still a mysterious serial killer on the loose lincoln: i'll bring ocarina of time skye: when have i ever said anything about a serial killer skye: i havent skye: and i dont skye: you should know where the plane is skye: upstairs, to the right, 3rd bunk
lincoln: of course. lincoln: might have to take you up on that sometime lincoln: when we're not on lockdown, anyway lincoln: anything i can do for you? skye: shield survival tip: when they say lockdown, they're actually too busy with shit to mean it skye: you can sneak out whenever skye: no pressure skye: i cant think of anything? i'll be fine skye: that's what you'd ask a friend, you know
lincoln: i'll have to pass on the interrogation room lincoln: yeah. lincoln: look out for yourself, too. lincoln: i appreciate what you're doing for me, especially because we just met lincoln: but you're important too lincoln: if you're a quarter of the person that i've gotten the impression of, you're great. skye: fair enough skye: but if you feel like getting away, try the bunks. 10/10 experience 0/10 people to bother you skye: fuck, *1/10, im here skye: i dont know how? skye: i've kind of just been getting by and it's been good enough skye: whatever skye: really skye: thank you
lincoln: i don't know how many questions i can answer lincoln: screaming into the void sounds good right about now lincoln: but i cant wake my neighbors skye: i won't ask skye: play ed sheeran really loudly skye: there's an interrogation room on our plane that's completely soundproof, you could also try that skye: what a day
lincoln: in case you hadn't already figured out, electronics and i aren't always the best of friends lincoln: it's a weird medical condition. that's all i can say that makes sense. lincoln: i'm working on it. lincoln: but yeah, maybe that would be nice skye: id ask you so many questions skye: but im not feeling it and i dont think you're either skye: you'll figure it out skye: do you need to sleep or scream or something
lincoln: i'm not a murderer lincoln: i know you're joking i'm just... lincoln: yeah. sorry. lincoln: trade you useless medical knowledge for hacking skills? skye: my hacking skills are the best thing ive got going on for me skye: shield will literally kick me out if i lose them skye: i could teach you skye: in a professional way. you can't bond over binary
lincoln: same lincoln: there's just secrets i need to keep, if i'm being honest. lincoln: which i guess seems really suspicious what with. death and all not lincoln: you're a hacker type? how do you delete texts you've already sent? skye: i trust you skye: it's stupid, but i do. for whatever reason skye: you dont skye: you murder the person you sent them to and dispose of the body skye: holy shit im joking skye: sorry skye: it'll take two years of cs
