Chapter 6: ConfrontationNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
On the ride in the marked vehicle, Coulson brought out his recording device and ordered me to tell him everything that happened from when we left the Bus with May to take my van to the alley for the files to unlock. Following the procedure in such cases, which was to debrief the agents involved as soon as possible after the mission for the loss of a minimum amount of details, I said in great detail everything that I could remember and which was relevant to the case. I left the talk that we had with May out of the equation, since he didn't need to know about this.
The rest of the ride was filled with a not-so-comfortable silence and I was really happy when we parked just outside of the ramp for the Bus' hangar.
I saw my van already parked and waiting for me. "An agent brought it back after they took Mr. Peterson in," Coulson said as if he had read my thoughts.
"Thank you" I genuinely said with a smile on my face as Jemma led the way to her laboratory.
After an earful from Jemma, about me not being careful enough, a few painkillers, a sling for my arm and the doctor's instructions to take it easy for at least a few days, we made our way to the upper level. The rest of the team were all gathered around the common area with Fitz at the sofas and the other three were in the debriefing room in a video call with the one and only woman I wanted an explanation from. Of course, I couldn't hear what was being discussed in the room as all its doors were closed, thus making the room soundproof.
May's eyes, ever so observant, travelled briefly in my direction and the next thing I know I am told to join them, leaving Jemma behind.
This struck me as a bit strange, given that Jemma had helped create... whatever it was that had stabilised Mike. My best guess at the moment was that Fitz had brought everyone up to speed and Jemma's input wouldn't be a lot different from what had already been said.
"Agent Skye" Maria's voice acknowledged me when I walked in.
"Deputy Director Hill" I replied back with a small tilt of my head. "I am guessing you know what went down in the Union Station"
"That I do". I could see her eyes move briefly to my sling but her face remained the same mask like the one she wore in every meeting she had. Then she turned back to Coulson, "I need to speak with you and my agent". I could hear Ward scoff at that, but he left without as much as a word, while May followed behind.
As soon as the door was once again sealed shut, it was Coulson who broke the silence. "Care to explain what is going on Maria?" He asked not hiding his Coulson towards the whole situation. It was like a slap to my face.
Maria took a deep breath and looked at Coulson, with her eyes softening a bit. "As I told you when we spoke on the phone, Agent Skye, under mine and Director Fury's orders, infiltrated the Rising Tide. I am really sorry but you don't have the clearance to know any more of the details of the mission"
"Okay, then" Coulson folded his arms across his chest. "So what is going to happen now?" If Maria hadn't picked up on his annoyance before, the tone he used would have been enough to clear the field. Being the Deputy Director for so many years, he must not have been used to not knowing what was happening, maybe with some exceptions when the orders came straight from Fury. Suddenly being in a spot where he couldn't ask more questions about the situation is clearly frustrating him.
"I believe that Skye would benefit your newly founded team a lot," she said and raised an eyebrow as if daring Coulson to interrupt her. "This is, by no means, an order. The deal was and still is, that as the team leader you are the one to call the shots and pick cases. This situation is no different. However, I have worked with her for many years and if I am not mistaken she is familiar with most members of your team. She could help your team bond"
Coulson actually let a burst of small laughter escape his lips at that. "I am not so sure about bonding with them. You remember how against this whole thing Ward was. Well... let's just say that ever since Skye came on board they have only been bumping heads" he shook his head and looked at me.
"Skye?" Maria asked, looking pointedly in my direction.
"It's true. I can't take all the credit for it though, T-1ooo was the one who usually started it" I replied and looked back at Coulson who did acknowledge this fact. "But I can promise that no matter the situation if it is for the benefit of the team then I am willing to work with him. I can't guarantee that we won't have our moments, but as long as he is willing to work with me, then I am willing to work with him"
Coulson seemed to analyse my face, maybe trying to find any sign that I was lying. The only problem with that was that I wasn't and he soon came to the same conclusion. "Fair enough" with that he extended his hand for me to shake. "Welcome to the team"
With a smile on my face, I sealed the deal, "Thank you for having me".
This was a small victory for me. Despite him not remembering me, something that I had yet to learn the reason why, and despite him not really trusting me since the moment we met, I finally felt like we were on the right path. So, yeah. The smile that I had plastered on my face was as real as it gets.
I turned back around and saw Maria looking at the whole exchange before clearing her throat. "Now, if you will excuse us, Phil, there are some matters that I need to discuss with Skye"
With just a small nod of his head, Coulson left the room and silence engulfed us like a heavy blanket on a cold day.
"Before we start, I need you to make sure that the cameras in this room are all turned off, as well as the microphones," she said getting straight to the point.
It took me a handful of seconds more than it would have, had I had both my hands, but the job was done quickly. So when the sound on my typing died down, I didn't even lift my head to look at her. I took some deep breaths, calming myself down and waited to hear what Maria had to say because at that moment I was not sad. No. Sadness, guilt and a lot of other similar emotions had run through me for so many days, weeks, months before I picked myself up once again. And I had no doubt in my mind that once this day was over, these same feelings that I had tried to fight off would come back, just like that.
No, no, no. It was something else that was coursing through my veins with every thump of my heart. It was travelling all over my body as I gripped the edge of the table with my good hand and I tried to ground myself.
"I know this is hard for you and all I can say right now is that I am sorry–"
"The one thing" I whispered and she stopped talking. "The one thing that I asked for when I joined was that there would be no lies. Lies is what I despise the most and yet I am so accustomed to saying them every day to people that I know because it's for their own safety. Lies that I will have to keep saying every day just because I am a part of a team who has no idea what I can really do. Lies that only one person in this whole team knows about because this is what you ask of me. And telling lies is not what I have a problem with, it has become second nature by now. What I cannot stand is when I am told lies when I have done nothing to deserve them. It was just one thing that I asked when Fury decided to train me to become an agent. That I would be kept in the light for matters that I am related to. So tell me, Maria, what have I done to deserve something like that?"
My tone was so quiet that someone could mistake us for having a very civil conversation, could they hear us. But we both knew that this was far from it. I hadn't even realised the silent tears that were running down my face. I didn't know when they started, but I couldn't care less about hiding them from her. The others weren't around to see them, so the only witness would be the person on the screen in front of me.
"Do the others know?" I asked and didn't have to elaborate as to whom I was referring to,
"No" came the quick answer.
"You know, one of the reasons he didn't trust I was S.H.I.E.L.D. was because I told him that I was a high-Level agent but didn't know about him being alive" I recalled. "What Level was he referring to?"
There was a pause from her side and I lifted my head to face her. When she saw my face, her own softened. "Seven. You would need to be Level 7 to know that"
I actually laughed at that and I could see the concern filling Maria's features even more. "Seven, huh? So, what? New York happened and then I was given the leave of absence when no one from S.H.I.E.L.D. contacted me, and why would I look further into it? After all Phil was dead. Or at least this is what I believed. And then I was sent into a 'deep' cover into the Rising Tide, with no contact apart from you and the Pirate. But had I looked at it, looked at the files concerning New York, would I have found the truth or would it all be lies?"
"The Director made sure that you wouldn't," she said. "Despite your Level 9 Clearance the specific document regarding that Phil was alive was sealed from you, as you are an Avenger as well"
I laughed at the formality of how she was speaking about this whole situation. "Let's not kid ourselves, Maria," I said and the smile was still on my face. A not so healthy smile may I add. "It was not the fact that I am an Avenger that made you keep that file from me"
"Skye, I am really sorry about–"
"'Sorry' doesn't cut it Maria!" I yelled at her, my demeanour changing to anger instantly. The feeling that was boiling inside my veins finally making its grand appearance.
"I have spent more than two years re-living that day! You have no idea what I went through to get to the point where I am now and all you have to say is that you are 'sorry'? Who do you want to convince, huh? Me, or yourself? Or maybe you want to call Pepper and ask her how many sleepless or nightmare filled nights I have had in the past two years. You knew how hard Phil's death hit me. I was the one who killed him for crying out loud! I was the one who drove a spear through his heart and left him on the floor to bleed to death as I made sure the Alien-Nazi escaped!
"For fucks sake Maria. I was torn apart after what happened. It took me months before this hole in my heart even tried to start healing. And you were nowhere near to help, no. It was all because of my sister, my brother, Pepper and the others. Hell! Even the Captain freaking America, who couldn't stand me after everything that happened was there for me after seeing how much the death of someone, who I had grown to love as a father, did to me!" My anger was so great, but I was still holding back. "And then, what? I not only find out that he is alive, but that for some reason he has absolutely no fucking idea who I am? This is just a new low, even for you" my words full of disgust. "I know you like following the rules and now that you are Deputy Director you don't have much of a choice but this is like stabbing me in the back!"
"Skye" she finally said with a warning tone.
"Oh, don't 'Skye' me! I know what you want to say, okay? I am careful, I have been careful for years now. If you think that this is my whole wrath towards what is happening you are gravely mistaken. I am holding back. I am holding back so that this whole plane doesn't collapse onto itself so that the ground doesn't start shaking and questions are asked. I know, okay? And I am going to work day in and day out, practically living with a person who I know so well, but can't say anything to because he has no idea who I a-am" I couldn't get the last part out without my voice breaking and a new set of tears running down my cheeks. "Well, thanks a lot. I wonder what the two of you are going to get me for a birthday present"
I took a couple of moments to collect myself, as I straightened my back and wiped away the last trace of the water that had escaped my eyes. "Now, I know that despite us being the same Level you outrank me, being DD and all. But I am going to say this once and you better pass this message because I really don't care what happens. Tell Nick, that he better come prepared to answer my questions. Soon. Because one way or another, I will get them and even if you send the whole of the organisation after me they will not stop me. Am. I. Understood?"
"Yes" was Maria's reply, not that I was expecting anything else.
"Great," I said seriously with a nod, the mask that Natasha had taught me how to wear taking its place on my face. "Now, if that is all, I need to accommodate myself in my new quarters" I made a move to shut the connection down when I heard my name being called.
I lifted my gaze and heard the continuation, "They can't know"
"And they won't. I will keep your secret and keep telling lies. I will discuss this issue further with Nick when he decides to make an appearance" and without hesitation, I turned off the connection and took a deep breath.
I switched the cameras and microphones of the room back on before exiting the room, almost bumping into Jemma as she ran up to me as soon as she saw me with an excited smile on her face. "Agent Coulson told us the news! What a wonderful surprise!"
I smiled back at her, hoping that she wouldn't be able to see behind my fake smile and question what was going on. Because if she did, I didn't trust myself not to tell her, I had vowed not to lie to her after all. So I put on my best performance as she hugged me tightly, always careful of my injured shoulder and went on and on about the adventures we would have together. And I looked so excited on the outside, while I was slowly dying on the inside...
Notes:
😬 A bit of an intense chapter. Feelings were running high and Maria took the burnt of it. Just wait until she meets with Fury.
As always, thank you for the support and reading the story!
Chapter 7: Girls' NightNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
"Come in"
I opened the door to Coulson's office and peeked inside as he lifted his head from the papers in front of him and gazed in my direction. "If this is a bad time I can come back later," I told him.
"No, no it's okay" he replied, shuffled the papers in his hands and then placed them in a drawer. "What can I do for you agent Skye?"
I smiled inside with the small victory of him calling me by my name. Well, at least calling me partially by my name. True, we would spend a lot of hours contained in the same aeroplane, so it would be really awkward if he called me 'Agent' all the time. But despite my logic telling me that it was for pure convenience, it brightened, even a little, my really bad day. "Since you debriefed me on the way here, and since I am guessing that we don't have any new missions at the moment, would it be okay with you if I spend the night at a friend's? I know we are flying to New York at the moment. I have been undercover for many months and haven't had the chance to let them know of what was going on…" I had started rambling without even realising it. "And since I will be living here from now on I thought it would be nice to give them a heads up so they don't worry. I can always stay here if you want me to or I can–"
I stopped talking when I heard Coulson laughing. A really large smile was plastered on his face and he stood up, walked around his office and came to a stop in front of me. He placed his hand on my good shoulder and patted me a couple of times.
"That's completely fine by me. I understand that you haven't really seen anyone and after all, Simmons has informed me that you are in light duty for the next week as well. As long as you don't do anything too strenuous I don't see why you would have to stay here and not only for a day. So, when we reach New York feel free to meet with whoever you want. I don't need to remind you that everything we do here is classified. I will call you as soon as we have a new mission. Just keep your phone on you the whole time, will you?" And with a nod, he turned around and walked back towards his office.
His behaviour towards me was so different from how it was ever since we met that I had to shake my head to get out of the trance that I found myself in. "Sir" I called and he turned around to face me.
I took a deep breath and walked up to him. "I know that we didn't start off in the best way possible and I can only apologise if my actions have created mistrust between us". There was no better time to tackle this subject than the present. "If it is okay with you, I would like to start over" I genuinely said and tilted the corners of my mouth ever so slightly.
He smiled back. "I know we did. This is partially my fault as well, I have to admit"
"Oh please sir, you don't have to–" I started but didn't get to continue.
"Let me finish" he interrupted as he raised his palm. "I was wrong to judge you so early on. We did meet in a very unconventional way but it doesn't excuse my behaviour towards you. Starting over would be something that I would like to do as well. After all, Maria Hill guaranteed for you and her word means a lot to me. So tell you what will happen. Unless you betray it, starting from now, you have my trust and I would hate for you to break it. After all, I got a second chance. Seems only fair I extend the same opportunity to others" and with that, he extended his hand for me to shake, which I did without even thinking about it.
My mind was stuck on how he spoke about his second chance, talking about it as if it was nothing. "For what it's worth, I am really sorry for what happened before the Battle of New York" I felt like I owed him an apology.
As he had no idea about the true intentions of my apology he was quick to dismiss it. "It's not your fault. The only one to blame is Loki" he said as he retreated back to his desk. "I will let you know if we get a new assignment until then enjoy yourself in New York"
I took that as my cue to leave and I did just that. I could feel a combination of very unpleasant feelings, that I had locked away long ago, start spreading through my chest. I laid my head back on the wall and closed my eyes as I took a few deep breaths to compose myself. If Jemma saw me like that she would ask questions and I wanted to get off this plane as soon as possible.
It took me a couple of minutes before I found the courage to let Jemma know I was going to go away for at least one night. My classic mask took its place on my face as I straightened my back and headed to the lab. In my emotional turmoil, I forgot to check my vibrational mind map for anyone else other than Jemma. Otherwise, I would have noticed the cockpit door being open and May watching as I gathered myself and then walking away.
I had called ahead, so as soon as we landed there was a car waiting for me to take me to my destination.
I had already unpacked anything that I needed from the van and had placed them in my living quarters. I knew that I wasn't spending the night and I didn't want to leave anything too personal or of value on the Bus but was also aware that I had clothes and anything I wanted in the place that I was heading to. So I only packed a bag with my laptop, the hula girl and anything else I deemed necessary, as well as the case which had my gauntlets stored inside. After all, you never know what could happen.
I made sure to lock my bunk before I left. I had already played around with the security system which locked my door and added a few parameters to gaining access. I didn't want to have anyone, *cough* Ward *cough*, looking around my stuff.
Jemma wasn't too pleased when I told her I was going, she thought that we would have some time to catch up before our next mission. But after I told her that we would be basically living together she couldn't argue. And after all, we only had Fitz's bunk in between ours, so it was not like she was on the other side of the Bus. Like that would be some great distance, but whatever.
My thoughts were interrupted by the car slowing down and I peeked outside the window.
Jesus, I mentally sighed. Don't these people have anything better to do?
I was really happy that the windows of the car were tinted at the moment. If not, I was sure that there would be so many photographs of me in the morning papers and all over the internet.
We eventually managed to pass the reporters with the help of the building's security and we parked on the underground parking. The driver was quick to exit the vehicle and came around to open the door for me. As soon as I was out he went to the trunk and was about to pick up my bags.
"That's okay, I will take it from here," I said and he didn't argue. So with the bag thrown over my good shoulder and the case in my hand I made my way to the elevator.
"Welcome back Ms. Skye" a very familiar English accent filled the air.
"It's nice to be back Jar" I smiled at the camera of the metal box that I was in as we ascended. "And seriously now, 'Ms. Skye'? I haven't heard you calling me that since the very first time I started working for Tony. Did he change your programming while I was away?"
"A lot has happened from the last time you were here and since Mr. Stark relocated himself here" the A.I. replied. "My protocols have been renewed. As you were not here when that happened, I am referencing how I called you when you first arrived here"
That's right. Both Tony and Pepper had gone through quite the ordeal not long after I left. And I could do nothing but watch the development in the news as the Malibu mansion exploded. I gulped, wondering what stated I would find the two of them. Tony had PTSD after the Chitauri Invasion but as he and Pepper spend more of their time in the mansion while I stayed in the Avengers Tower, I couldn't help anyhow.
I shook my head to get back to the present. "Well, guessing that I still have the access that I did I am going to override that protocols of yours. Over-ride Sierra-27-Quebec-03. How about you call me just Skye unless there are any guests or unfamiliar faces?"
"As you wish, Skye," he said as we reached my floor.
"Where is Pepper?" I asked as I put the black case on my bed and let the bag fall off my shoulder.
"Ms. Potts is in the common room waiting for your arrival. Shall I take you to her?", he questioned when I stepped back into the elevator.
"That would be great, thank you"
I wait patiently for the few seconds to pass before we reach the desired floor with the sofas and the bar. As soon as the doors opened I saw the smiling face of Pepper. I couldn't help but mimic the expression as I stepped out and walked over to greet her. She noticed my sling and was careful enough not to go anywhere near my right side as she hugged me tightly.
"It's so good to see you," she said as she stepped back and pointed at the couch for us to sit on.
"It's good to see you too, I've missed talking to you. I'm sorry that I wasn't in touch after everything that happened. How are you doing?" I immediately replied as we took our respective seats close to one another.
"You have nothing to apologise for" she brushed me off. "You had said that you had to go dark for an undetermined period of time, it's not like you disappeared off the face of the earth. You had mentioned though that Maria would be in contact with you, so I asked her to let you know that we were fine so that you wouldn't worry. Did she not tell you?", her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
I giggled at her expression. "She did tell me. But I will always worry if I can't see the situation for myself, you know that. I can't help but care and having only heard that you were fine and whatever the news showed was not nearly enough for my liking…" I grabbed her hand and squeezed, her blue eyes locking with mine. "I know it must have been hard and I am sorry that I was not here for you before. But, even for a few days, I am here now. And I've been there, still am, to be honest. So I understand and I am going to tell you what you said to me all those years ago. I am here if you need anything, okay? No matter the time. And it doesn't matter if I am on a mission, if you need anything you will call me and I will get back to you as soon as possible, you hear me?"
I saw a couple of tears gathering at the edges of her eyes as she squeezed back my hand. She took a staggering breath, raised her other hand to brush off the water from her eyes and cleared her throat. "What about you? How are you doing and what on earth happened to your arm? I swear, I can't leave you alone for a few months and you go around injuring yourself" she exclaiming madly. Only it was a fake kind of mad as her expression told me another story.
And, well… if she wanted to change the subject because she didn't want to talk about what happened I couldn't argue.
"It's a long story but the end result was that I got shot but becau–"
"Oh my God! You got shot? What happened? Are you okay" Pepper didn't let me finish.
I just smiled at her and squeezed her hand once more to make sure she was listening to me. "As I was saying…" I trailed off and she mouthed 'sorry' before letting me continue. "There was this man we had to take down, alive. But there was a third party that tried to kill him and I pushed him away so that he would survive for sure. I didn't have my gauntlets on and the other agents don't know of my powers, so I made a thin protection layer that prevented the bullet from actually piercing me and I got away with just some bruises". I brought the collar of my t-shirt down and showed the blue and black patch of skin to her. "See, I am fine. It could have been much worse than this"
I stopped talking and I could see Pepper looking at the bruises and her taking in all the information that she just heard. She absentmindedly nodded and then something seemed to click in her head. "Wait, did you say you didn't have your gauntlets? Can you use your powers without them now? Doesn't it hurt your arms?"
"Not really" I send a small vibration through our linked hands and she sharply looked down at them, before lifting her head so her attention was back on me. "If I use them to a small extent I don't need them"
Her eyes never left mine during my explanation. She seemed to search for something in them and it felt like something that I hadn't come across since the last time that I saw her or my sister. It felt like she could see right through my happy mask and into my soul. "You didn't answer my initial question though" she started quietly and I knew that what I felt was as real as it gets. "How are you doing?"
And just like that, I was undone.
My smile trembled at its edges while I tried very hard to keep it on my face. It soon though disappeared as my vision blurred. There was a sort of explosion in my chest and everything that I kept inside since I first laid my eyes on Coulson spread in my heart and took over.
I closed my eyes hard, tilting my head to the side and away from Pepper. This was wrong. Pepper had been through so much and she stood in front of me strong. And here was I, breaking down for something that I should have been over a long time ago. I could feel the buzzing feeling in my hands as I tried to put everything back into the small boxes that I had stored them in. I hadn't lost control in over a year and a half now and I so didn't want to break that strike.
So absorbed in my own world was I, that I didn't notice the hot tears running down my face or how Pepper had closed in. That was until gentle fingers touched my chin and moved my head so that I was facing the other woman in the room.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry" I managed to get out as her hand moved to my cheek and her thumb stroked the skin there.
"Come here," she said and it was enough for me to fall in her open arms. She gave me a few moments to calm myself down before speaking again. "What happened? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to or if it's classified though" she whispered to me.
I sniffled and thought back to the events of the last two days. The hand that seemed to have taken a hold of my heart squeezed in the memories and I physically curled up further into a ball as Pepper stroked my back. The physical touch of someone I felt so close to was helping me in more ways than any words could ever have.
"It's okay" she started repeating when I didn't answer her question. It was not that I didn't want to, it was more than I couldn't control myself enough to form the sentence that I wanted. After a while, Pepper pushed my head from the crook of her neck, where I had buried it, and positioned it so that she could look at me. "I'm here, okay? You are here. Whatever it is, we will deal with. You are going to be alright" her eyes never leaving mine.
Just as I was mastering myself and the sun was starting to set, I took a deep breath and almost opened my mouth to tell Pepper what was going on. Or at least a non-classified version of it, as I had promised Hill that no one from this group would learn of Coulson's resurrection, a thumb was heard from the elevator doors and I turned around to see what was going on. I had barely turned my head in that direction before a wave of red filled my vision and I was engulfed in a fierce hug.
I was momentarily frozen and didn't reciprocate the hug whatsoever until the other person pulled back and I found myself looking into a pair of very upset green eyes.
A pair of hands were holding my head in place as those very eyes darted between my injured shoulder and my face. "Natasha?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows, not understanding how she came here, while my voice came out more hoarse than I intended.
My sister was kneeled in front of the sofa and was looking over me with concern. I made a move to turn and look at Pepper, meaning to ask what was going on, but I didn't get the chance as my sister brought my head back opposite to hers. The concern was replaced with a very calming and caring expression as her eyes pierced mine in the same way that Pepper's had just minutes ago. "What's wrong?"
"What are you doing here?" I asked, not moving away.
"Pepper called when you said you'd come over. I was in DC wrapping up a mission so I drove here as soon as I could. She sent the boys to another of Stark's houses so that we could have a girls' night" she replied fast. "Now, tell me what's wrong" her tone gentle, yet not leaving any room for lies.
Without even thinking hard about it his name escaped my lips, "Phil".
It was Pepper's turn to speak. "I thought we were past this?", she asked.
She didn't know that I had killed him, only that he had died before the Battle of New York and I felt my throat close at that. Looking back at Nat, as she was one of the four people who knew exactly what happened, she took over and replied in my place. "This will never be something in the past for Skye". It was the truth and yet it concealed the events of that day. "But why now? Why again?" She shifted her attention back to me as she sat on the other side of me.
If I outright lied to her, especially in the state that I was in she would see right through it. She was the Black Widow after all. But despite that title of hers, she was first and foremost my sister. If there was one person who could read me like an open book, it would be her. So I had to come up with the closest excuse that I could find.
"The anniversary," I said and Natasha instantly seemed to understand me. "I was undercover so I couldn't do anything and had to bottle up everything. I guess now that I am out it just backfired and it hit me harder than it should"
"Shit" she exclaimed quietly and gathered me in her arms. "It was a couple of weeks back, wasn't it?"
I just nodded and rested my head on her shoulder as I let myself feel safe in my sister's embrace.
The silence that filled the room was not an uncomfortable one and it filled the air for a while until Pepper broke it. "Is there anything you want us to do?"
She had moved closer and had placed herself right on my other side. Nat's arm was wrapped over my back and she was gently rubbing my good shoulder as Pepper was just holding my hand tightly. "Just stay with me?" My voice was small as I directed my question at them and at that moment I couldn't ask for anything more because when I was with them, I was at home. I was with my family.
There was a small pause which I knew was the two of them exchanging glances, as Natasha momentarily stopped her movement. And then as if it was the same person, the rubbing on my shoulder resumed and the hand gripping mine squeezed harder. "Always" came their synchronised reply.
Notes:
I think one of the larger chapters so far? A lot that needed to be unpacked tbf. And we finally got the 3 of them in the same room again :)
Chapter 8: Sleep TightNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
The rest of the evening went by quickly, we ordered take-out and stayed on the sofas enjoying each other's company. I was the first one to retreat to my room, as I was beat. I hadn't had much sleep the previous night as we were after Mike Peterson and when the other two saw that I couldn't keep my eyes open they insisted I headed to bed. And if you think for a moment that I would disagree with Natasha and Pepper when they are in the 'big sister' and 'mother' modes, respectively, then you are mistaken.
Seeing that I had a very eventful day, sleep was right around the corner and the moment my head touched the pillow I was in dreamland… unfortunately. I had hoped that I would be too tired for any dreams to find me, but luck was never on my side to begin with…
I was walking through familiar corridors. I could hear destruction happening all around me, much of which was caused by myself. The Helicarrier was falling, and fast. I walked into the cell where Loki was located and everything started to play out just like that day. Thor was locked away and screaming just as Phil walked in. And just like that day, I landed quietly behind him and pierced him right through the heart.
He fell to the ground as I pulled the sceptre away. "Skye?", he whispered in shock and unlike what had truly happened this seemed to snap something in me.
Suddenly I felt a fog clouding my mind and I blinked a handful of times. I closed my eyes shut and willed it to go away and when I opened them again it was just the two of us in the room. Phil and I. I look down at my hand and just realised that I was still holding the sceptre, which I threw away as if it was on fire.
I fell to my knees and put pressure on the fatal wound. My hands were coated with Phil's blood as life was slowly fading from his eyes. I could see his eyelids close and I all but screamed at him.
"Hey, hey! AC, stay awake. Stay with me!"
That seemed to do its job, only it was for a little while, as his eyes opened slightly and he gazed up to look at me. There was blood that started trailing down at the side of his mouth and I yelled, to no one in particular. Yelled for help to get there, for him not to die, for anything to change the outcome that we both knew was coming.
I saw him move his lips as if he wanted to say something and I leaned in, trying to listen to his voice as it barely managed to leave his throat.
"This is your… fault. I… I will never… forgive you… for… this…"
I stood back, stung by his words as he breathed out and his head rolled to the side, completely lifeless. "No, no, no, no…" I kept repeating on and on, still putting pressure on his wound. "You can't be dead" I brokenly whispered with my eyes shut.
"But I am not" I heard Phil say clear as day and my head snapped back to his direction.
He looked at me, but was not really looking at me, as he pried my hands off his chest and he stood up. There was no recognition on his face as he looked at me head to toes. Because this was not AC or Phil. This was Coulson. "Who are you?" He asked in an authoritative voice. When I did not reply right away he continued and even started walking up to me, as I took step after step backwards. "I asked you a question, agent," he said more forcefully as he cornered me. "Who are you?"
My breaths were becoming shallow and rapid, without any oxygen really reaching my lungs. I blinked, and I was back in my room in the Avengers Tower.
I blinked a handful more times, making sure that I was back. My inhales hadn't stopped coming in short, as my t-shirt and shorts were clinging to my body because of the sweat pouring out of my body. I could feel the bed frame shaking.
Fuck, I thought. I had to deal with this, and fast before it got out of hand or proportions.
"Jar" I called the A.I. as I got up and headed to the elevator, grabbing my gauntlets on the way there. "Take me to my gym" I ordered as the doors closed behind me. J.A.R.V.I.S. said nothing as he arranged for the elevator to reach the desired floor. I run out of the metal box as soon as I could and locked the door of the gym as soon as I walked in.
"Activate the walls" I called and there was a clicking noise which verified that my command was seen to.
I was too rattled to do some Tai Chi, that was aside from my somewhat inability to actually practise it because of my injured shoulder. So I would have to take something more hands-on. I walked to the side where the First Aid and Medical Supplies were I had to make sure that my right arm was tightly held against my chest so that my shoulder would not be as affected by what I was about to do. But before that, I wrapped my left hand and put the gauntlets on top of the tape.
I walked towards the enhanced bag and let my frustrations and thoughts manifest in the form of punches. Each punch was powered not only by strength but by vibrations as well. I could tell that the whole room would be shaking had it not been for Tony's improvements to the personalised room.
I didn't know how much time had passed since I started assaulting the bag, but despite my best efforts to minimise the tremors reaching my bruises, I couldn't restrain all of them. So the pain in my right side increased progressively until I couldn't ignore it any longer.
I fell to the floor next to the bag, lying on my back as I let the exhaustion and pain take over. Maybe dreams wouldn't follow me this time.
Natasha's POV
I had just finished a mission that I was sent to with Rogers when Pepper called. The moment she said that Skye would be coming over for the night I knew that I was going to going as well. "What about Tony and Bruce?" I had asked her and she informed me that she already had taken care of it.
Rogers was kind enough to finish up for me as well when I filled him in the situation. So, soon I was in my car and on the way to the Avengers Tower. I only packed a small bag, given that the plan was for me to stay a couple of nights. I had also a handful of clothes on my own floor at the Avengers Tower, as I stayed there a few nights after the Battle, mainly to be close to Skye.
After four and a half hours, I reached the Tower and the sun was just about to set. I had a smile on my face at the thought of seeing my sister again. But that smile was erased from my face as soon as I saw her tear-filled expression when I stepped into the room. The bag fell from my grip as I rushed to her. When she explained the reason it all made sense. The last time that I had seen her so upset was at Phil's one-year death anniversary.
With Pepper's help, we managed to ease her a bit and not long after she headed to bed.
"You think she is going to be alright?" Pepper asked when she was sure that Skye wouldn't hear us.
"She will be. I will make sure of it" I said with confidence and turned to look at her. "I never thanked you for calling me"
She just brushed it off. "Please. We all know that Skye has a soft spot for you and you for her". I raised an eyebrow at that. "What? Was that supposed to be a big secret or something? You are practically radiating when I as much as mention her, let alone for the two of you being in the same room together" she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But if it makes you feel any better, your secret is safe with me" she nodded at me. "I would do anything for Skye"
"I know you would" the words left my mouth before I had time to filter them. I would usually be more uptight with someone I didn't know so well. True, we did know each other for about three years now, but in that spam, we hadn't talked all that much. Our main connection was Skye, but that seemed to be enough. "You know that she loves you, right?" I asked seriously. Every evidence of laughter was erased from my face.
When she took in my serious demeanour, she mimicked my expression. "I do. I love her as well, she is like a daughter to me" she didn't hesitate to reply.
"Good," I said back when I didn't get any signs of lying on her part. "You better not do anything to hurt her, she has lost enough people that she cares about" I continued and after that, I let out a sigh, as I stood. "I will call it a night if that's okay with you". I was stopped short by Pepper calling my name and she didn't even have to continue for me to know what she wanted to say. "I will make sure she is fine" and with that, I left towards my floor.
"J.A.R.V.I.S," I called as soon as I walked in. "Let me know if Skye quakes anything or if she wakes up at night"
I laid on the bed, with sleep escaping through my fingers as my thoughts went to my sister. Just as I was about to nod off, I was awakened by the A.I.'s voice.
"Ms. Romanoff, I am terribly sorry to interrupt your rest, but Skye's room registers increasing vibrations" I had just managed to get up before he spoke again. "She just instructed me to take her to her training hall, shall I resume with her request?"
I contemplated it for a couple of seconds before replying. "Yes. Do as she asks. Also, send the video feeds to my computer".
I walked over to my desk and opened my laptop. Two different live-time feeds appeared on my screen and I watched as Skye went on to assault the punching bag.
I was expecting something like this to happen, for a nightmare to resurface. And I knew better than interrupting her at this moment, I had only made that mistake once and my back still hurts at the memory of being sent flying to the other side of the room.
Skye had a really hard time managing Phil's death. And with good reason after all. But, given that no one other than Clint, Fury, Maria and I knew about what really happened in the Helicarrier, the others couldn't understand why it was so hard on her. They would mainly think that it was because of the mind control that she was under and what she was ordered to do in that state, which was partially true.
It had taken us a while to get her to open up and talk about what she was feeling. And it was mostly towards Clint, myself and Pepper that she felt the freest to talk about stuff like that. The rest of the group was really understanding, and I think that that helped her a lot. We knew that we had a long road ahead for her to truly recover from the mental strain of what happened before New York, but we knew that we would get there. And get there we did. She had learned how to better deal with her emotions when she woke up at nights, usually having some alone time with Tai Chi to clear her thoughts. In some of her worst cases, she would go down to the gym and beat up the bag. In the beginning, she would be so rattled that she would forget to wrap her hands and she would end up having bleeding knuckled the next day.
So we knew that we got there. And despite this small relapse, she was dealing with everything so much better. First off, it was her whole room shaking, as was the case the first few nights. It was so bad at some point that Tony had to enhance the walls and make them vibration-proof. The same happened with the gym. Vibration-proof walls could be activated when J.A.R.V.I.S. was ordered and all the equipment inside, especially the bags, were enhanced to withstand and absorb a part of her quakes so that they wouldn't break apart after the first couple of punches.
The punching sound and grunting that had filled the room suddenly stopped and I turned my attention back to the screen when I found Skye basically passed out on the floor.
I deeply sighed and headed there. J.A.R.V.I.S. unlocked the gym's door and de-activated the walls for me as I walked towards my sister. She had worked herself to sleep. Again. This was her first coping mechanism, as she has figured that in this way she might get some uninterrupted sleep, with her brain too tired to master any more terrors. And the last time that it had gotten so bad that she retreated to that was about a year ago.
I lifted her in my arms, always careful not to wake her. I didn't want all her work to go to vain.
I took her back to her room, pried off the gauntlet and the wraps from her hand, tucked her in bed and with a small towel I took some of the sweat from her forehead off. When I made sure that Skye was as comfortable as she could get, I exited her room and walked towards the living room of her floor. As each of us had a floor of our own, we had our individual living rooms and kitchens as well. I knew that Stark didn't know what to do with his money and at first I couldn't find the use for such luxuries, but the more nights I spend in Skye's sofas to make sure she was actually sleeping, the more I appreciated Stark's money.
And this was how I spend the following two nights as well. Skye managed to stay in for a solid three nights before she was called in the fourth morning for a mission.
While she was in the Tower, we talked about everything and nothing with Pepper, always within reason. Tony and Bruce wanted to come by at some point to see Skye as well, but after Pepper talked with them they backed off. I didn't know exactly what she told them, but I was grateful either way. I knew that Skye wouldn't want an even bigger audience.
By the time she left again, she managed to get half a night's sleep before getting up for some easy Tai Chi. She still couldn't do much with her shoulder after all. But this was enough to let me know that she could work it out on her own from now on. We also had her promise both of us to keep in touch and contact us if she needed anything, no matter the time. Before saying a proper goodbye to me, she walked to the side with Pepper for a bit, exchanging some words and a brief but fierce hug.
When my turn came I wrapped her in my arms and whispered to her ear. "You know that I am always here for you and you can tell me anything, right?"
"Of course" she whispered back and I could tell that she was smiling just from the sound of her voice. "Tell Rogers I said hi and let me know if he needs any more help with re-adjusting to modern technology" she pulled away with a smirk on her face.
"I will" I smirked back. "Though Clint will be hurt that you didn't ask me to tell him anything"
"Oh, please. We both know that you have kept him updated during my whole stay here" she directed an eye-roll at me and I just nonchalantly lifted my shoulders. "Fine, tell him I love him and I miss him. Satisfied?"
"Sure as hell he will be" I pulled her towards me and kissed her on the forehead. "Take care little one. And don't go looking for trouble"
She giggled at that. "I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble finds me no matter what. It's our love-hate relationship"
Chapter 9: 0-8-4Notes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
I arrived at the airfield from where we would fly off and got off the car that Pepper had arranged for me to take. I could see the questioning look from Ward at the cargo hold, before he disappeared up the stairs and probably to the briefing room. I was only informed that we had a mission, so I still had to learn what the mission was about.
"Hello, Skye" Jemma greeted me as she walked out of her lab with Fitz hot on her heels. Well, some things never seemed to change.
"Hey, here let me take that," the boy said as he took the sack from my shoulder while I carried the black case.
"Thanks, Fitz" I smiled at him. "So, how were the last couple of days for you guys? Boring?" I asked as we walked up the stairs and towards my bunk.
"Nothing too exciting happened, that's for sure. Nothing much to do in this airborne mobile command station" with that he placed my bag on the floor and then turned around, smirking at me. "But you can call it the Bus. You know, we find it best to use shorthand when in the field, because of the danger" the way that he said the last word had me almost doubling with laughter.
Oh boy. Fitz was way over his head. "You know I know all that, right?" I asked, still not able to fully contain the giggles that escape my lips. "I am a fully badged agent and have been on the field. Trust me, I have seen far more 'danger'…" I said mimicking his pronunciation "…than you have"
I could see the red creeping up Fitz's cheeks and he was just about to reply when May's voice came through the speakers. "Wheals up in two. Lock it or lose it"
"I guess this is it then," I said to FitzSimmons. "have to talk with agent Coulson after all" I waved them off and placed the case on my bed. The science twins had just left and as I turned around to look for the leader of this team, I saw Ward approach me with a frown on his face. Well, I had promised both Coulson and Hill that I would try, so let us try. I took a deep breath and started, "Hey, I know we didn't really have the–" but of course didn't get the chance to finish.
"You better read that" he just said as he handed me the pamphlet of the Bus and then just walked off.
"Peachy" I whispered in the direction where the stubborn robot had just disappeared to.
"What's peachy?"
Coulson appeared out of the blue. I smiled at him and decided that talking about my very healthy relationship with Ward was not what he wanted to hear about. "This ride" I started as we both strolled towards the sofas. "It's pretty sweet. I have been on some aircrafts before, mainly Quinjets. None compare to this. How did you get this beauty?"
"I earned a little good will from director Fury because of the sceptre piercing my heart. Got a few months of R&R in Tahiti and this plane. Had it completely refurnished, spared no expense" he explained as we sat down and buckled up.
"Tahiti, huh? Never been there, how was it?" I asked, withholding any information I could get so that I would ask our pristine director when we meet.
"It's a magical place"
Soon the engines started and we took off to… somewhere? "So, where are we going?" I eventually asked.
"Peru, more specifically in Llactapata" he declared and threw the mission file on the table in front of us. "That's where an 0-8-4 was reported. We need to follow protocol and assess how big of a threat it poses"
Huh, I thought. The last time I was in a mission involving an 0-8-4 was my first ever mission with May back in the Academy. It's been a while. "What was your last 0-8-4 mission, mine was quite… memorable" I concluded.
"Mine was quite interesting as well, to be honest," he said with a smirk full of pride that had me raising an eyebrow. "It was a hammer" I could hear the happiness in his voice which had the edges of my lips tilt upwards. After a while in the comfortable silence that filled the air he looked at me and then his gaze dropped to my sling. "Has Simmons cleared you out?"
"Nope," I said, popping the 'p' for emphasis.
"You might want to head down to the lab then," he said as soon as the seatbelts-on sign disappeared. "We still have a few hours until we reach Peru, that should be more than enough time for your physical"
"Yes, sir" I made a move to stand up but was stopped when I heard my name being called.
"When it's just us, you don't need to be so formal. 'Coulson' will do just fine, or even 'agent Coulson' if you feel more comfortable with that. But please drop the 'sir'. It makes me feel old" he said and shivered at the last word.
This was more of the Coulson that I remembered and it warmed me on the inside. "You are the boss, Coulson. Your wish is my command" I said playfully and was glad to receive a giggle from him as I walked down the stairs.
For some reason, as I looked at Jemma waiting for me to examine my shoulder, my mind travelled back to the first night at the Avengers Tower and the punching bag and I had a feeling how much of a scolding I was about to get from the British agent.
"Oh, come on Jemma! I can totally go on the field!" I told her, as she headed towards Coulson's office. Pleaded would be a more accurate word now that I think about it, but who cares. "You said it yourself, I can totally fire a handgun with my left" I tried to reason as I stopped her right before she knocked on the door.
"This isn't up for discussion Skye," she said with her 'doctor's' voice on which left no room for argument. Well, there was always room for argument when it came to my conversations with Jemma but that was irrelevant. "I don't know what you did when you were off seeing your friends, but you didn't follow my instructions that's for sure. If you had, then I would be more than happy to clear you for active duty, but that shoulder needs at least another full day of rest before you even think about physical training" and before I had the chance to even say anything she was knocking on the door and the superior agent was asking us both to walk in.
That was how I ended up staying behind on the Bus while the others went to evaluate the 0-8-4. We landed quite late in the afternoon in Peru so we had to work in a relative hurry. Didn't want the night to catch us while we were still out in the open. It would be a lot better if we had secured the artefact and were on our way back by the time the sun set.
"So, what am I supposed to do from here?" I asked as the team was divided into two groups, for each group to reach the 0-8-4's location in a different vehicle.
"We know that the locals are already dealing with anti-mining rebels and the Shining Path guerrillas. Wouldn't want them to worry about anything else. So, if it gets out I will need you to post something irrelevant. Create some kind of diversion and put the public on the wrong scent" he said. "You can only use one hand so it's better for you, either way, to stay here where you are closer to any computers. Plus, you will have communications up here, so you will know exactly what's going on in the field" By the time he finished talking May and Ward had already boarded one car and he headed to the one with FitzSimmons to start his drive. He opened the vehicle door and turned to me saying "Just stay out of the cockpit", before taking the driver's seat and going off to the location.
I found myself bored not even ten minutes since I was left alone. And just because Coulson told me not to, the idea of going to the cockpit was so tempting at the moment. But something held me back, as I knew that it was May's space and I had a feeling that she would know if I stepped in her sacred place.
I listened as Jemma and Fitz talked about science and not only stuff, Fitz being particularly fascinated by monkeys. Coulson was mainly talking with the authorities, letting the two scientists work and May and Ward discuss nothing in particular. What I did find interesting was that when Ward called May "the Cavalry" her reply was a sharp "Don't call me that". I hadn't heard such a definite tone from her since I was in the Academy. True, I hadn't really kept in touch with her and hadn't as much as seen her since our mission together, so I guessed I had a lot of catching up to do. When I was hacking S.H.I.E.L.D. to make sure that everyone was okay the only info I had gotten on May was her transfer to Administration, which struck me as strange, but I never really got deep enough to see the reason for her transfer. Hm… Maybe I could–
My inner monologue was cut short when the sound of gunshots filled my ears.
Shit. I was useless in here. I had no idea what was happening and all I wanted was to make sure that everyone was okay. "Coulson, what's your status?" I asked in my earpiece only to get no reply. "Coulson, come in" I said after a few seconds.
I let out a sigh of relief when I heard his voice. "It's all good here, a small misunderstanding with the Peruvian militia police. Comandante Camilla Reyes joined in with her squad"
I had never heard of that name before, but the way that Coulson was pronouncing it, it gave me a feeling that he knew her well. There was on disturbance in the other side of the coms, so I decided, what the hell. I might as well try to find as much information on this Comandante as I could. However, just as I was about to start typing, new gunfire filled my ears and all my attention was diverted to that.
"Coulson, what is happening?" There was no reply and I knew that this time it was different from before as I heard a lot more commotion, noise and the firing had yet to stop, accompanied with explosions. "Anyone, come in," I said, linking my earpiece to the whole team, hoping one would be able to provide an answer.
"Ramp" I heard the commanding voice of May. As I was running down the spiral staircase she continued. "We are coming in hot. Hostiles on our six. Coulson is right behind us" she said in such a rapid succession that I almost didn't catch all that.
I pressed the bottom for the cargo hold to drop as I took my handgun off its holster. Just as the ramp touched the ground, one S.H.I.E.L.D. marked vehicle run in and parked on.
May run out of the car and headed inside, probably to the cockpit to prepare for take-off, Ward just got off and went to stand by where I had been minutes ago ready to close the ramp the moment Coulson was safe. And I run towards FitzSimmons as two cars approached fast, bullets flying in the air.
I grabbed Jemma from her elbow and threw her behind me, making sure she was safe. "Get off the ramp. You are in the line of fire" I said and sensed them both backing away which let me focus on the events unfolding in front of me.
Along with Ward, we covered Coulson and a bunch of other people dressed in military clothes before we managed to take off. By the time we were off the ground, I could hear everyone panting and I turned around to see the two scientists on the floor in the corner and, especially Fitz, drenched in sweat.
"Now, what's going on?" Coulson said as he moved towards the boy.
"As I was saying" Fitz started taking a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart, "the 0-8-4 has a high-frequency, fluctuating sub-material compression–"
"Fitz" Ward raised his voice in frustration, not understanding a word the Scottish was saying. "In English"
Another breath was taken by Fitz who was clearly trying to calm his nerves. He must have been so fed up with Ward for him to act like that. "It is fuelled by Tesseract technology" he tried to simplify. "Hydra, World War II. Captain America! It's full of lethal amounts of gamma radiation"
Ward looked at him in question. "Gamma? You are saying it's nuclear" he tried to understand.
"No" I spoke and all eyes turned on me as my voice held some dread. "He is saying it's much, much worse". With that, everyone looked back at the device and took a step away
Despite managing to calm everyone down a bit but and take the device inside the lab for further inspection, the argument started again as soon as Fitz and Ward walked in. The two of them started arguing like young boys, and not trained agents. Jemma was trying to stay civil, but even her at some point was dragged into the whole argument when Ward decided to declare how he, and I quote, "Would have eliminated the enemy threat himself if he was working alone and not with non-combat-ready-agents". Yup. That struck a nerve that even Jemma's proper manners didn't allow.
"These people don't really like each other, do they?" I whispered at Coulson who had entered the lab and was watching and waiting until he didn't anymore.
"You are not wrong," he said, replying to me, but his voice made the others stop talking. "We still need to iron out the kinks. But Ward, you can speak six languages. Simmons, you have 2 PhDs in fields I can't pronounce and Fitz, you are a rocket scientist" he looked at every one of them with intensity. "So work it out". Without as much as another word, he backed away and led Comandante Reyes to his office.
"I-I am good at stuff too" I called back but he had already left…
Everyone from the team basically separated after that. I would love to stay down in the lab with Jemma, only to make sure that she was alright, but I knew that the best stress-relieving regiment for her at the moment was working on something and the best person she would do that with was Fitz. I would only be in the way, so it was best I took myself out of this equation before that happened.
So, I went to the only place I could think of for the moment and that was my newly appointed home, my bunk.
I could see from the aeroplane windows that night had fallen, yet I knew that I wouldn't get any sleep that night. My adrenaline was still too high after what happened. And me not being in the situation, not being able to help still didn't sit well in my stomach.
I looked at the Hula girl who was shaking from the plane's engines. I could imagine Jemma looking me through her present and I furrowed my eyebrows at it.
"What?" I asked her. She just continued shaking, more forcefully than before, as if to answer my question. "Hey! It's not my fault, I tried okay. He doesn't want to listen". I was expecting her to continue to shake left and right, only for her to suddenly stop as if asking me 'Seriously?'. I narrowed my eyes at her and she seemed to stare right back at me. I huffed and threw my hands in the air. "Fine, fine! I'll talk to him, satisfied?" And with that, the Hula girl started shaking again like she was happy with my reply. "I hate you too" I playfully told her before getting up and exiting my room.
I walked to Ward's bunk only to find it empty and so I guessed that he would be in the common room, which was indeed where I found him.
He was so absorbed in his book that he didn't even notice me approaching. I couldn't let that pass. "Divergent?" I asked him and moved closer.
"Matterhorn" he replied and showed me to cover of the book. "One of a hundred books my S.O. gave me that I'm getting around"
"Huh," I exclaimed. "Mine gave me Hunger Games," I said quietly to myself, thinking about Clint and how important it was for me to read a book with a girl and a bow.
"What?" Ward's voice was full of frustration and his trademark questioning look accompanied his question.
"Nevermind" I brushed it off. "I feel you and me… wrong foot. How about I 'buy you a drink'?" I asked, offering some of the whiskey that I found in the Bus' bar.
He closed his book and pointed to the seat in front of him for me to take. I sat down and poured the drink into his glass.
"What, no drink for you?" He asked when he noticed that I had only brought one glass with me.
"Couldn't carry two glasses even if I wanted to" I pointed out with a smirk, lifting my sling a little bit for emphasis. He lifted both shoulders nonchalantly and sat back in his seat, looking at me, waiting for me to continue. "I have a feeling like we are back at the Academy, like how when we started and you hated me"
"I didn't hate you" he was fast to reply. When I lifted an eyebrow at him he lifted his hands in a non-threatening way. "I didn't. Hate you that is. I just didn't like you"
"And you still don't" I supplied and when he didn't say anything at that I knew I hit home. "Look, I know you are used to working alone, but that doesn't have to be the only way for you to succeed in a mission. Trust me, I've been there and it's harder when you are alone. I am a specialist as well" I could tell that he didn't believe me when I said that but I stared at him until he backed down. True, we never truly said the word 'specialist', but having an overall training from Clint, Natasha and Maria, alongside the fact that I was an Avenger… well I think that the title 'specialist' was something I had earned. "As I was saying, I know when you are used to working alone, it might be hard to accept help at the beginning. You are used to being the working alone that you don't see how hard it really is. This is what a team is all about"
"Okay…" he dragged out the word like he didn't really understand what I was saying.
I moved a little bit in my seat so that I was facing him better and went on to explain. "You are trained to think of the whole solution. But sometimes, one person doesn't have the solution. But if you take a team? Take you for example, without me in the equation. Before I came along you were a team of 5. So instead of you having to think of the solution yourself, 5 people with 20% of the solution? That will get it done. Like pieces solving a puzzle" I tried to make my point.
He seemed to contemplate my answer before taking a sip from his drink. "You and I see the world differently that's all"
"We always have and always will" I replied playfully which earned a smirk from him and I took that as a win. That was when I noticed some red stains on his white shirt. "Hey, did you get shot?" I asked.
"Skin deep, nothing to worry about" he brushed it off.
I was just about to reply when I heard something. "Cockpit," I thought I heard May's voice in my head. My brows knit together in confusion as saw Ward's blank expression which meant that he hadn't heard the voice. "I am not going to repeat myself," she said again and then I realised that I hadn't taken my earpiece from the mission off.
"Ward, go and see Simmons about the wound". He made a move to protest but I stood up and lifted my hand to silence him. "I know it doesn't bother you, but this is a team. And no matter how upset you are with one another, I guarantee that she will bite your head off for not going to her sooner, I've been there. So please, just go. If only to verify that it is indeed nothing" I didn't wait to hear his reply as I strode off.
Notes:
Here we go with E02! (Or at least the start of it). From here on out we will get a bit more properly in the series material, but things won't necessarily stay the same as they had been in the series :)
Thanks for the support! See you tomorrow
Chapter 10: JosephNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
May's POV
After Phil came in the cockpit to talk with HQ and apologised for making me see combat he left. I didn't say anything to him, didn't have anything to tell him really. I had specifically requested and was promised that all I had to do was drive the Bus. So, yeah, I might have been quite upset with him, but who would blame me? Despite how good of a friend he was, sometimes he overstepped his boundaries and today was not an exception to that.
Normally I would have just put the autopilot on and go to keep an eye on our 'guests'. Coulson seemed to trust them, trust them enough to let them on-board, but I did not. I could still pick up some conversation from the audio system of the Bus, but that was the best I could do. As we were heading North, going from Peru to the Slingshot, we entered restricted airspace and we had to follow specific flight paths because of International regulations. That was how I would spend my night.
From the audio system, I caught a conversation between Ward and Skye.
Skye…
That girl had been a mystery since I saw her again. She seemed to have been full of secrets and there was more than one occurrence where something happened around her which had me wonder. She had said that if I needed anything all I had to do was find her, huh? Well, there was something that I needed, answers.
I checked my earpiece and found that she still had hers on. "Cockpit" I simply linked our coms and told her. When she stopped talking but I didn't hear any movement on her part to do as I said, I continued. "I am not going to repeat myself"
That seemed to do the trick, as she all but wrapped up the conversation she had with Ward and headed here. Soon there was a knock and I heard the faint noise of the door swooping open. "Lock it," I said and she hurried to do just that as she stepped in.
She placed herself on the co-pilot's seat and waited.
And when I didn't say anything she waited some more.
Until eventually she couldn't stand the silence anymore and after her eyes darted from my face to the sky in front of us and back a handful of times she spoke. "What is going on May?" Her voice was quiet as if she didn't want to startle me and her tone carried the same affection as when she spoke to me in her van.
There were a few things that I could think about which Skye had to answer for. And I was not the confrontation type, keeping my thoughts to myself especially after… Bahrain. But there were just too much that happened and despite what many people thought, I cared.
Skye appeared out of thin air, and I guess I was trying to find the same girl that I knew all those years ago. Only for her to be replaced by the Skye that was sitting next to me and who I had got a glimpse of suffering despite the mask that she usually wore on her face. I knew that expression of hers, the internal struggle. It was like looking at a mirror. And still, she didn't push people away as I did, what she did was something more harmful to herself. She pushed the feelings away, locking them to put up a strong front for others. And despite not having seen her for so long, the memories of the little girl that we raised played in the back of my mind.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked her, and she seemed startled that I even said anything. She looked at me with a confusing expression on her face as she tried to understand what I was talking about. I shot her a look from the corner of my eyes before focusing back on the black sky ahead. "You know that Phil's office is right next to the cockpit," I said. Didn't ask, just said.
She seemed to grasp what I was talking about. "Phil" she repeated and the way she pronounced the name seemed almost as if she had just heard a joke. "Right. Is this about me telling you he doesn't remember me, or is it because of the other day?" She asked in return, quick to understand both layers of my question.
I let the silence speak for me.
"Sorry," she said and I spared a glance at her to see her look me in the eyes. "I guess I am just not used to you not taking that much" she rubbed the back of her neck in awkwardness. "I guess I will have to do the talking then, huh? Well, I can't really talk about them, either of them" She laid her head back on the seat and looked out of the window, lost in thought. "The first I don't know myself, yet. I intend to find out though. And the second… it's classified"
There we went again with the Clearance Levels. I still couldn't believe how she was a higher Level than me. And given the arrangement that I had with director Fury, so that I would keep an eye on Coulson and how he was after what happened in New York, I couldn't see how something related to Phil was classified to me. I guessed that I had to ask the man in person when I saw him.
"What about what happened in Union Station?", my voice filled the room once more.
"What about it?"
"I was there when you got shot. There was nothing between the bullet and you, so there is something you are not telling us. Wanna tell me what that is or will I have to dig to find out?"
"It's classified," she said and her voice had a final tone which I hadn't heard from her before. I could still pick up the sincerity in her words when she said, "I'm sorry Ma–"
Her word was cut short and I turned to look at her as she gazed at the door. "Skye?" I asked as I started feeling lightweight.
She got up and took one step towards the door before her knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor. I would have gotten up to see what was wrong if my vision didn't go swimming, dizziness taking over right before I blacked out.
Skye's POV
I started waking up to Fitz talking. Then came Jemma's voice, and I only managed to get the last part of her sentence as she said "…you weren't ready"
Then came Ward's voice. "This was my job to make sure…"
Oh, I get it now. They are blaming themselves, was my first coherent thought as I properly woke up. My grunt as I tried to sit up was enough to make the three of them stop and turn to look at me.
"Hey, Skye" Jemma was the first one to address me. "How's the shoulder?"
"Sore," I said as I finally managed to properly lift my upper body from the floor. My hands were zipped behind my back, the sling disregarded on the floor. "If it was anyone's fault it's mine. I could sense that something was off, but by the time I figured what was happening it was too late. If I had been faster May could have helped out" I said.
"Sensed?" Ward asked.
"Probably like you figured something was wrong, picked up signs here and there" I lied. True, I had my reservations about the Peruvians, but it was mostly my vibrational radar that picked up the commotion in the main room as well as the person who stood outside the cockpit and probably filled the room with a gas that knocked us out.
"Agent May? No" Fitz said with certainty. "No, no. She was transferred from Administration"
I laughed at that. "If only you knew," I told him and when all three of them looked at me as if I had grown a second head I had to somehow explain. "I have worked with her on a mission before" was not a complete lie.
Both scientists turned to look at Ward, trying to get a verification for what I just said. "You've heard of the Cavalry"
They both eye-rolled at him before Fitz started. "Yeah… well everyone from the Academy talks about a story–" he stopped short when realisation kicked in.
"She is the Calvary!" They both said in sync.
"I told you never to call me that" May's voice interrupted them and we all turned to look at her as she came to.
This was twice that I heard May being called with the specific nickname, and both times the people who called her got shut down. Now, I didn't know exactly what it meant and I didn't have a death wish, so I wasn't going to ask. Ask her that is. But something in the back of my head told me that this had something to do with the change in May, from how I remembered her and how she was now. I could always ask Natasha… but that would be prying on her personal business and I knew she wouldn't appreciate it. Maybe in time she would tell me? Or at least I hoped so.
I had zoned out, and May's voice brought me back to the present. "You two geniuses have nothing?"
Ah, we must be thinking of ideas as to how to escape and take back the Bus. Fitz almost seemed offended at the question being directed at them. "Yeah, but it is hard to concentrate under these intense situations". As I said before, that boy was way over his head.
"Hey, don't freeze out" came Ward's unexpected input. "Take a breath" he even took one deep himself trying to make the scientist imitate him. "You don't have to think of the whole solution, just part of it. Right?" He looked over the science twins at me with a smile and a similar expression marked my face.
"Yeah… pieces solving a puzzle," I said looking at the team. "So, what do we know so far?" I asked. We had to start from somewhere.
"Well this is the worst idea we have heard so far" Jemma was fast to dismiss what we had just planned out.
"It's the only solid idea we've had so far" I whispered-yelled at her, so as not to be heard by the goon that was not keeping a very good eye on us. "It could definitely work" I tried to reason.
Again to my surprise, Ward came to my support. "Reyes is gonna kill us the moment we land, regardless, blaming it on the rebels. At least this way we have a fighting chance, I will take it. What's first?"
Well, one of us had to get free, deal with the soldier and then free the others. A situation that Natasha had well trained me for. "Wanna do the honours?" I asked, looking at May since I guess that the same thought passed our minds. "I would but my shoulder wouldn't help a lot with the climbing, now, would it?"
"What are you talking about?" Jemma said. "We are all tied to the cargo door, so unless we–" her sentence was cut short from a cracking sound.
"What the hell was that?" Fitz was startled and his voice came out really high pitched, looking in our direction where the sound was generated from.
I heard Ward huff from the other end as he shook his head. "Her wrist"
From that moment on and until we had to actually go into the main room everything worked out perfectly. May took out the guy who was overmatching us, then broke inside the lab, from where Fitz used his D.W.A.R.F.s through the vents to activate the 0-8-4 which, based on FitzSimmons, would blast a ray of pure energy and create a hole in the plane for the doors to open.
Yup, as the scientist himself had said, "This is the moment we regret" and with the press of a button, the door was unlocked as the cabin's pressure dropped. "We will take the soldiers, you guys secure the 0-8-4" Ward said and the two of us went to deal with the Peruvians in the main room while May headed to take back her cockpit.
Ward jumped over a sofa and attacked one guy as I rounded the same furniture to deal with another.
I landed a kick at his knee and made him drop in one leg, which was quickly followed by a push towards the sofa's cushions. I found the seatbelts that we strapped in during the take-off and wrapped them around both of the man's hands, securing him in place before punching him in the face and knocking him out. Enemy or not, we didn't want them flying off the giant hole in the side of the plane.
I heard a noise and looked up, only to see that Jemma had managed to get the 0-8-4 in her hands and was yelling at Fitz to pull her back. This was when a fourth member of the Peruvian Military appeared and moved towards FitzSimmons.
This was a wrong move buddy, no one would touch them if I had anything to say about it.
I ran up to him, ran being an understatement as it looked more like stumbling because of the plane's violent shaking, grabbed him from his collar and threw him on the ground. I was just about to knock him out when something flew in my face and blocked the view.
I took it, whatever that was, off my face and inspected it. It turned out that it was the Bus' pamphlet which gave me a great idea as to how to close the hole, at least temporarily.
Before I had the chance to do anything though, my legs were kicked out from underneath me and the man that I had previously thrown to the ground climbed on top of me, his hands making their way to my neck. I didn't have time for this, so I grabbed his wrists before his fingers wrapped around my respiratory path and I brought my knee hard on his balls. He produced a very pleasing high-pitched grunt as he fell on the side, doubling over. I stood up and kicked him in the head just for good measures as I started heading where the inflating lifeboats were stored.
I released the boat which took form and glued itself on the hole in the wall, because of the atmosphere's pressure, stopping Ward from flying off the plane.
After that everyone dropped on the floor as the wind stopped dancing like crazy.
"I read the safety pamphlet," I told Ward as I was helping him up.
He huffed at that, "You might be the first one"
We all gathered around the broken bar. "The 0-8-4 is stable and secure, but we need to reach the Slingshot as soon as possible" Fitz informed us as he took a sip from his S.H.I.E.L.D. water bottle.
"May's on the stick and I am sure we will get there in no time," Coulson said and then proceeded to look around. His eyes fell to the lifeboat stuck on the side of the Bus and he shook his head. "No other way in, huh? And I was starting to warm up to this place.
Just as Coulson had promised, it was less than a couple of hours when we reached the Slingshot. Reyes and the rest of her squad were taken by the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that were sent to our location as soon as the HQ learned about what went down on the ride there.
I watched from the open cargo door as the men and women, with black bags in their heads, were led to unmarked vehicles which then parted, going a different direction each. I smiled and turned back to find Coulson looking over Lola and brushing off some dust off her trunk. "Not a scratch" he lifted his head and smiled at me.
"No, I didn't know what I would do if she had any" he replied looking down at his beauty.
"Well, maybe not the car, but the plane's totalled. Think the director will pay for the repairs? From what I gathered you had this plane only for a few days before everything went to hell"
I smirked at him and just as he was about to reply people started heading down from the stairs, bringing commotion with them. I looked up and saw the rest of the team coming down. Jemma had a beer in her hand and Fitz was carrying a portable fridge which I was sure contained another handful of them. "We blew up a plane! Take that professor Ron!" The young scientist screamed as he followed Jemma to the, now half-open, cargo door.
My heart warmed at the relaxed state that everyone was in as they took a seat, their legs hanging just above the ground. "How many of those did you have?"
Jemma just turned to look at me, laughing her heart out. She extended a beer bottle at me and patted the space next to her. "Sk- Skye, it's important to unwind from time to time," she said with her English accent being more apparent because of the drink she obviously already had.
"Yeah, yeah" Fitz was fast to agree. "Especially after a hard day with everyone almost dying"
I accepted the drink and took a long sip from it before Jemma continued. "Which doesn't happen every day, right? It's an anomaly — not the norm"
"Speaking of 'not the norm'" Coulson's voice stopped me before I sat next to my friend as I turned around to face him, catching up on the seriousness in his voice. "Whose idea was it to blow a hole in the plane?" He asked and looked at us.
I glanced around as everyone had gone quiet at the question. "May said that the doors were tied to the pressurisation, so I thought–" I started to explain only for Jemma to jump in.
"So we thought, it was the one way to release them" she smiled up to me, before looking at the team leader.
"It was everyone's idea sir" Ward was fast to add at the same time Fitz provided a, "Yes, quite genius actually"
My gaze travelled back to Coulson whose serious demeanour broke and he nodded at us, clearly happy from our reply. "Nice work," he said and then moved to stand closer to the edge of the cargo hold and looked in the distance.
I felt a small tug on my trousers and looked down to see Jemma pocking at my leg, looking up at me. Her head nodded to the empty seat next to her and I didn't need words as I sat down next to her, beer in one hand as the other made its way around Jemma's shoulders, rubbing her bicep. Jemma's arm, in return, wrapped around my back as she laid her head on my shoulder.
"All clear for liftoff" a voice was heard from speakers and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fitz sit straighter.
"Oh, oh! Here we go!" He closed his nose, making his voice sound weird, "Launching in 3… 2…" and the rocket with the 0-8-4 lifted off the ground and started its trip to space, just as the sun was starting to rise. What a beautiful way to start the day. "The trajectory will take it beyond the Lagrange point so it doesn't hit the Herschel" Fitz inquired after a moment of silence.
I noticed Jemma stir on my shoulder and knew she was about to speak. "And there haven't been any coronal mass ejections, so it shouldn't lose telemetry," she said as if it was obvious.
"Guys. English" Ward said for the millionth time that day, but it sounded different this time. Not filled with the frustration that it had been the last handful of times.
As we watched the rocket fly off to the stars, my mind travelled back to the events of the day, that was how a thought was formed. "Fitz, I heard you say something about monkeys to Jemma while you were in Peru, right?"
He looked at me confused. "Yeah…?"
"Well, we cannot possibly get a monkey on the bus, it would be a disaster," I said in a matter-of-fact way looking ahead to the horizon. The others turned to look at me as well, wondering what my endgame was (pun intended). "And we obviously can't get anything like a dog or something similar, but maybe a pet would be nice, wouldn't it? We would take turns to take care of it, it would be like a bonding session"
Jemma retreated from my shoulder, her brows knitted in confusion. "What are you saying?"
"I mean, well, the Bus is basically getting fixed again so why not add something that will be ours?" I lifted my gaze to look at the others. "Like a fish tank?"
I could clearly see Fitz's eyes growing large just as everyone turned their attention to Coulson. He was practically sending mental waves of 'please, please, please' to him with the way that he was staring. The smile that grew on Coulson's face was all the answer that we needed and Fitz made a squealing noise. I was sure that Fitz would give me a bear hug for the thought later on when we were alone.
Our little bubble was interrupted by the sound of car tires as an unmarked vehicle parked a few meters ahead of us. And out of the vehicle, the Director walked out as if owning the place with his dark cape dancing from the slight breeze that filled the air.
We all stood up, looking as his figure closed in on us. The ramp we were sitting on suddenly lowered and we touched the ground. The beer that I was holding was now long forgotten on the metal floor and my hands were folded at my chest.
He looked at us, FitzSimmons averted their gaze but I stood my ground and his gaze lingered for a few more seconds on me before moving back at Coulson.
The two of them disappeared upstairs without exchanging as much as a word. The rest of us stayed down there hushed conversation happening mainly between the scientists and, to my surprise, between May and Ward. True, it was in a limited manner but there was still some conversation happening and May was actually talking.
Despite how much I wanted to laugh with Jemma, the mask on my face was unmoving. And I knew that Jemma was throwing sideways glances in my direction, but I couldn't be bothered by that right now. I could also feel May taking in the change in my demeanour as she examined my face.
Jemma broke off from where she was with Fitz and placed a hand on my back. "Are you okay?", she whispered. She knew me long enough to know better than to ask loudly and make a scene.
Without missing a beat from where the question was formed, the door at the top of the spiral staircase opened and Coulson came through. "Skye, the Director would like to have a word with you in my office"
Everyone's attention turned to me. I brushed Jemma's hand off me and walked upstairs without even the hint of a reassuring smile to her. I just passed by Coulson who was still looking at me and headed to the office. I didn't knock, just walked in, locked the door behind me as I did so.
"Skye" Fury was sitting in Coulson's office. "I got your message"
I stared at him, as I finally got the audience that I had requested. "Joseph"
Notes:
Can you tell that I had just watched Captain Marvel when I wrote this chapter?
Who's ready for Skye's and Fury's talk tomorrow?