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City of Angels

Summary:

Skye finds out Coulson is alive (eventually), mostly because he keeps sending her anonymous care packages and signing them as her 'guardian angel'. May lurks around watching him, scheming.

Chapter Text

May sat at the table impatiently, waiting for the meeting. She’d been called there by a sticky note on her computer screen. There was only one person who’d do that. She wouldn’t’ve dared to hope, if she wasn’t already told by Fury that he was alive.

 

Somewhere inside of her, she wondered where her daughter might be at the moment. If she was okay. Skye hadn’t been answering her calls lately, but her van was still active, so May hoped that she was fine. A part of their agreement of her moving out was that her van must have a tracker that May could access. Skye suggested it to lessen her worry, and May was glad to have it.

 

She’d wanted to tell Skye the minute she got the news that Phil was alive. Fury had ordered her not to yet.

 

‘Yet’.

 

So May still held out hope that she could.

 

It was funny. She did a lot of hoping these days. She never used to before. May always knew what was coming. On missions, she’d work towards the best outcome but expect the worse every time. That’s how she’d always operated. These days, it was all hopes and dreams.

 

“Melinda?”

 

May looked up to see a familiar silhouette in the doorway, neat and trim in his fitted suit, with his pair of sunglasses tucked into his breast pocket. A lanyard his specific shade of blue.

 

“Phil,” she breathed.

 

There he was, alive, beaming, just as he’d always been.

 

“Hi, May,” he said softly.

 

She stood up as he approached. “It’s really you.” May held her breath as he reached for her hands. She felt his heartbeat thud on her skin. “Phil.”

 

“Long time no see,” he replied.

 

Phil pulled her into a hug and she returned it, still in half-disbelief. She’d been expecting him, but it still felt so… surreal.

 

They sat down across from each other.

 

“So.” May carefully folded her hands in her lap. “Where have you been these past few months? It’s November. You died six months ago.”

 

“To the day.” Phil offered an apologetic smile. “Fury sent me away for some R&R. Tahiti. It’s a magical place. We should go sometime.”

 

“With Skye.”

 

He looked away, slightly uncomfortable, and the realization dawned on her.

 

May stood up. She could distinctly hear her chair roll away from her. “You’re not going to tell her?” she demanded. “She’s your— she’s the closest thing you have to a daughter. You’re the closest thing she has to a dad!”

 

“I know. I heard her eulogy.” Phil sighed. “That’s why I can’t tell her. She already grieved me once. I can’t do that to her again. She won’t ever feel that hurt. Not by me.” He stared up at her, eyes earnest. Hoping.

 

May reached down to cradle his face. Gently, like she used to do. She remembered when they were young, and they talked about how one day, they would never have to die. They talked about how SHIELD, by then, surely, could bring people back from the dead. They talked about how none of their families would know grief from their deaths.

 

She studied his eyes seriously, considering something. She slapped him in the face.

 

Phil turned his face to look back at her. He looked hurt. Good.

 

“I thought you’d understand,” he said softly.

 

“Yeah, what I don’t understand is you having the chance to spend more time with Skye and not acting on it.” May glared at him, smacking his reaching hands away as she sat back down. “She’s just a kid, Phil. She misses you. She is every bit your daughter as she is mine. She deserves to know.”

 

Phil lowered his head. “She does. She deserves the world. She deserves to know everything.” He set his jaw and looked back up at May. Defiant. “But she won’t. I know she’s an agent now, but I’m not putting her through whatever she went through—“

 

“She’s not.”

 

“What?”

 

May kept her cool glare, gaze fixed on an imaginary spot above his head. “She’s not an agent. When you died, she was crushed. She quit SHIELD. Said there wasn’t any point in being there if you weren’t.” The words were painful, but it made sense. May would’ve done the same. But she didn’t have the luxury of quitting. “She moved out. She’s living in her van. She got the idea on your birthday. Were you alive by your birthday?”

 

“I was only dead for a few minutes.”

 

A lie, but he didn’t know it. Fury had filled May in on everything. Well, almost everything. His methods were still a secret.

 

Phil looked disappointed. “I was hoping that she’d be level 3 by now,” he muttered.

 

May scoffed. “You can’t do this to her. You can’t be alive and not tell her.”

 

“I can. And I will.” Phil stood up, buttoning his blazer. “I just wanted to tell you. You’re level 7. You have the clearance to know.”

 

“It can’t all be about clearance.”

 

“You’re right. It’s not.” He stared levelly at her. “Like you said, Skye’s just a kid. She doesn’t need to feel that kind of pain again. Eventually she will. But not by me.”

 

May glared at him as he left.

 

Phil paused by the doorway. “For what it’s worth, I missed the two of you in Tahiti. It’s magical place. I wish you could’ve been there with me.” His gaze softened when he looked May in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”

 

She watched him leave and only then, did she tucked the stray bangs out of her eyes. If he wasn’t going to tell Skye, May would have to. She didn’t have a choice.

 

Skye deserved to know the man that came to be her father was alive. She couldn’t find out any other way.

 

May sighed as she watched the clock tick on. She’d have to go back to work soon. Filing. Again.

 

She didn’t particularly like filing anymore.

 

But she didn’t miss the field. It had nothing for her. The field was a dangerous place. Certainly not a place for her, anymore. Not for Skye, but at least she was trained.

 

Hopefully, her training stayed with her and that she was safe.

 

May got up and went back to her tiny little desk in down in Administration. She missed Skye.

 


 

Phil watched the little surveillance cameras on his computer screen. The van was empty according to the thermal scan by the tiny squad that Fury set aside for him. The rookies.

 

He inspected the voice modulator he was given and set it aside. The rookies wouldn’t know the difference.

 

“Just… put the box inside, sir? Is that all?” The lead rookie sounded unsure.

 

“That’s it, Mason. That’s all. Make sure you don’t leave any fingerprints.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

He looked on as the duo carefully broke into Skye’s van and left her a present. Well, it was more of a care package. Anonymous, of course. And was it really breaking in when he gave them the key?

 

“It’s done, sir."

 

Phil acknowledged it and sent them back to HQ.

 

He thought about the box sitting prettily in his daughter’s van. It had a few cup noodles— her favourite flavour, of course— a few of her favourite candies, a few cans of her favourite drink and some Red Bull just for fun. He knew Skye liked her caffeine. He added a couple boxes of coffee powder and tea bags and a small weighted blanket, plus a few hygiene products that he knew she liked but were on the expensive side. It was all in a box stamped with the SHIELD logo. Hopefully, she liked it.

 

There wasn’t a note, but he signed the box with ‘from your guardian angel’. He didn’t think she’d mind it being too cheesy. They bonded over cheesiness. And bacon. And their love for May. And bad dad jokes. And well…

 

Phil had always wanted a kid. He always wondered what civilian life was like. He dreamed about it.

 

He’d never be able to be a civilian. He’d had too many hands in too many pockets, and he’d be so stressed he’d go into cardiac arrest at 48. But he’d imagined it, briefly, with Audrey. Decades before that, he’d thought about it with May. But that was a lifetime ago.

 

Then he became a father to Skye.

 

The most awesome kid in the world.

 

She deserved to have a civilian life without the pain and misery that came with being an agent. She deserved to be happy. She deserved everything that was good in the world.

 

“Good night, angel eyes,” Phil whispered, turning off the computer. “Love you.”

Chapter Text

Skye sat across from her mother as they ate their dinner. It was quiet, as always. Sometimes, if she closed her eyes, she could pretend that nothing ever happened, that she never moved out, that she’d never quit, that Coulson never—

 

Skye choked on her food.

 

She coughed and spluttered as May helped her silently. There was something off about that silence. May was hiding something.

 

Skye studied her mother as she sipped the offered water. May wasn’t any different than usual, but…

 

“Thanks for the care package,” Skye said casually. “Though I won’t question how you managed to get into my van without me knowing.”

 

May glanced at her, ever so slightly bemused. “I didn’t send you a care package. I don’t do stuff like that. You know who does stuff like that, and I’m not him.”

 

“But he’s dead,” Skye said pointedly. Then again… “Right?”

 

It was SHIELD they were talking about here. They might’ve brought Coulson back and not told her. She was just a civilian now, after all. A civilian trained by one of the best agents in the organization, with a specialization in CS.

 

May raised a single eyebrow but didn’t dignify her question with a response.

 

Skye wondered if her random musings were correct.

 

That would be a good reason why May was being weird. Skye wasn’t in SHIELD at all, so she wouldn’t be allowed to know that Coulson was alive. That was reasonable. If Coulson was alive and walking around as a regular SHIELD agent again, he might’ve been the ‘guardian angel’ that sent the package. And it would make sense that he wouldn’t tell her that he was alive. He was a rule follower, almost to a fault.

 

Skye mentally dismissed her inner ramblings as she began to talk at May about her latest exploits in the world.

 

“Oh, and I’ve been talking to Nat a lot these past few weeks. Apparently, she’s been hiding out at the new Avengers Tower with her new best friend, Dr. Bruce Banner,” Skye said gleefully. “I hope they start dating. He’s a nerd who hates himself, and she’s someone who likes nerds who hate themselves. Specifically, that nerd. They’re perfect for each other!”

 

May just shook her head. “The last guy you set Nat up with ran off the pier.”

 

“That’s cause he was a wimp.” Skye rolled her eyes. “I should’ve chosen better. It was my fault. But she and the doc should be a good match. I can feel it.”

 

“Did you feel the last one too?” her mother asked dryly.

 

“You know what? No.” Skye put her dishes into the dishwasher. “I should’ve seen the chemistry first! The looks between Nat and Dr. Banner were sizzling!”

 

May let out a small chuckle. “Well, tell me when the wedding is,” she said. “Sounds like an interesting story.”

 

“Oh, it is. And I’m gonna go visit her later on in the month. I’m gonna meet Tony Stark!” Skye fanned herself dramatically. “Iron Man.”

 

May rolled her eyes.

 

“He’s pretty cool, Mom, you can’t lie about that.” Skye wrapped her arms around May as the agent turned on the dishwasher. “Come on.”

 

“What are you doing?” May asked amusedly.

 

“Hugging you.” Skye pressed her cheek against May’s back. “I miss my mom, okay? I’m a big girl who lives by herself, but I still miss my mom.”

 

May rolled her eyes again but hugged the girl back.

 

“I’m sorry for missing your calls,” Skye murmured. “They wanted me laser-focused.”

 

“‘They’?”

 

“The Rising Tide.” She let go and began wiping the table. “The black market’s getting its hands on leftover Chitauri scraps. I’m one of the few who have to look for them.” She opened the fridge, scrutinizing its contents. “Chitauri stuff has been on the market for months, so it’s getting harder to find. But the more I look, the more I find.” She leaned back on the counter where May was standing. “It’s fun.”

 

“Don’t tire yourself out,” her mother advised.”

 

Skye scoffed. “Says the woman who woke me up at 5 every morning to do tai chi and then mindless hours of paperwork.” She smiled wearily. “I’m fine. My fingers might be a little sore, but the wifi’s great and they pay pretty good.”

 

May didn’t seem convinced, but she didn’t push more on the matter. Skye was grateful for that. She didn’t know how she could justify drinking all the Red Bull her angel sent her in one night trying to crack three extremely rich men’s bank accounts.

 

“So, what’ve you been up to?” Skye asked.

 

“Paperwork,” May replied dryly. “As always.”

 

Skye nodded. “Done any good filing lately?”

 

“Never.”

 

She played with her necklace subconsciously. It was a gift from May and Coulson on her second birthday with them. “They’re sending me to Tahiti,” Skye said hesitantly.

 

May looked at her, bemused. “Tahiti?”

 

“Yeah. Apparently, something weird’s happening there and they want me to check it out.”

 

“That sounds dangerously like being sent on a mission,” her mother remarked.

 

Skye let out a sigh. “I know. I don’t… I like being behind a screen. You know that. And the Rising Tide isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. It feels off. I don’t enjoy what I do as much as I used to.” She shrugged. “I’m gonna go to Tahiti since they already got me the tickets, but after that… we’ll see.”

 

May nodded slightly. “Do you think your guardian angel is going to strike again, while you’re gone?” she asked with a teasing grin.

 

“Maybe.” Skye tugged on her pendant. “If he’s… okay.”

 

Out of the corner of her eye, May stiffened.

 

May doesn’t do that. It was an act. A very subtle one, but it was effective. Skye had Coulson back on her mind. He could actually be alive, the way her mother was hinting it to be.

 

“We’ll see,” May just said.

 

Skye smiled. “We’ll see.”

 


 

The clouds were grey the day before her flight. Skye stood in front of her father’s tombstone, holding a bunch of tulips.

 

It’s a shame, she thought, that she hadn’t been in his life long enough for the word ‘father’ to make it onto his grave.

 

Skye moved her old bouquet aside and put in the fresh one.

 

She came whenever she got her paycheque from the Rising Tide. She always came with flowers. She always talked to him quietly.

 

Part of her wondered if he was even in the casket that they’d buried. A different part of her wondered if he had wired the grave so he could hear what was said there.

 

“Hi, Dad,” Skye said softly. “Long time no see. I miss you a lot. Thanks for the care package. It means… it means a lot that you’re somehow still looking out for me.” She leaned against the tree that he was buried under, sitting there as the sky began to drizzle. “If you’re alive, though, it would be awesome if you could send me a sign. A really, really obvious one. One I could never, ever miss.”

 

She paused, head bowed as her hair and her clothes got soaked.

 

“Anything,” Skye whispered.

 

Thunder rumbled across the horizon and she scrambled up.

 

“Thanks!” Skye hightailed it back to her van and sat, sopping wet, as she grabbed her towel and dried herself off. “Maybe something less life-threatening next time, though?”

 

The tree she was sitting next to erupted in a bright flash and caught on fire.

 

“Whoa.” Skye watched it burn in the rain. “I should probably go, huh?”

 

She drove away, turning the radio on.

 

I Will poured out of the speakers, engulfing her in a memory.

 

Old music appreciation day with Coulson. She’d teased him about how his ‘favourites’ were old enough to be her father.

 

Coulson had argued that they were his childhood.

 

Then she’d called him old again.

 

Skye missed him so much.

Chapter Text

May sat across from Fury in his office. Maria was next to him.

 

“It’s time I told you about the details of Coulson’s resurrection,” Fury said heavily. “You know that he wasn’t just dead for a few minutes.”

 

“Six days,” May said softly.

 

“Yes. Scientifically impossible, until now.” Fury shifted slightly. “To revive him, we used an extract of alien DNA that’d been proven to save lives. We just didn’t know if it would revive them. He was in pain during the operation, so we elected to erase his memories of the event. We couldn’t completely erase his memories, otherwise there was no point in bringing him back to life, so we need you to monitor the rest of his recovery. I’m having him form a team soon. I want you to set the parameters of his unit.”

 

“And what makes you so sure he’s going to recruit me into this team?” May questioned.

 

Maria scoffed quietly and May swivelled her stare to the commander, who composed herself accordingly.

 

Fury sighed. “Just a feeling. You’re to be his right hand on that team. Make sure he gets help if he starts being weird. You have a few weeks. He’s not back from his last operation until March.” A quick wave dismissed everyone in the room, and Maria walked out with May.

 

“Coulson’s still Coulson, despite the whole, being stabbed and then brought back to life by alien blood thing,” Maria murmured. “He still loves you.”

 

It was May’s turn to scoff. “He just likes to flirt. As always. And things have changed.” Her throat tightened and she didn’t continue on her thread. “Um, how’s Nat holding up?”

 

“She’s been fine. We’ve been sending her and the rest of the Avengers on some small missions,” Maria said. “Try to make their public image a little better. PR stuff.”

 

They arrived at May’s office and the agents bade each other farewell.

 

May sat at her desk and tried to focus on her work.

 

Phil was alive by alien blood. They needed to monitor his behaviour because previous… testing?… made it seem that he would need it.

 

The worst-case scenario would be that he’d become a threat to the team or to SHIELD. In which case, they’d… have to put him down.

 

May closed her eyes. God, they’d have to put him down like he was some animal and not Phil. Phil.

 

She shook it off and kept working.

 

A specialist, to take him down. A good one. One that wasn’t her.

 

Another scenario would be that the programming in his brain malfunctioned. They’d need a technician or a sort of engineer, preferably specializing in biology and chemistry.

 

Some biologist trained in medicine as well, if his body started deteriorating.

 

May scribbled all of it down and rubbed her temples.

 

This was all too hard. Fury had her thinking that Phil was a machine to be fixed or destroyed. Phil wasn’t a machine. Phil was her best friend. Her daughter’s father, certainly.

 

And the love of your life, a voice inside suggested cheekily.

 

May dismissed the thought.

 

She had had a revelation the night he died. That maybe her impulse, to keep him safe and close by, was not unfounded. That maybe there was a reason she followed where he went, and when she couldn’t, she made sure she knew if he was safe or not. That maybe it all boiled down to an old, repressed love, that she’d never bothered to explore because they never slowed down long enough to talk about it.

 

May watched the clock tick on by.

 

It was maybe… 9 in the morning in Tahiti. Skye should be awake.

 

May considered her telephone for a while before she decided. If Skye didn’t answer, then nothing. If she did, then they’d chat, May supposed.

 

The agent dialled her daughter’s number and waited patiently for the line to ring.

 

“May?” Skye’s voice came warmly through the speaker. “Hi! Good morning. You okay?”

 

May stifled a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Filing’s still boring, as always.” She doodled idly on a notepad. “I wanted to see how you were doing in Tahiti.”

 

“Ah, so I’m entertainment.” Skye laughed. “Okay. Tahiti’s been pretty tame so far. I asked around, and no one seems to think that there’s anything going on. Even the locals. Nothing. I did hear a lot of old people gossip, though.”

 

“That’s the best kind of gossip,” May agreed.

 

“Want me to tell you about it?”

 

“Mm.”

 

“Okay, so there’s this old lady named Mary, and her best friend, Elsbeth, told her that she was sleeping with Mary’s dead husband when he was still alive, and Mary told Elsbeth that she knew, and that’s why he was dead!”

 

Skye chattered on and on about the gossip of Tahiti well into the hour-long call, and May listened attentively. Old people gossip was as good as gossip comes, and filing did nothing for her nowadays, so she was grateful for the distraction.

 

“Anyways, that’s why Larry and Sarah are refusing to talk to James and Henry,” Skye finished triumphantly. She deflated a second later. “I didn’t learn anything about the suspicious thing they sent me to find, though. But that’s okay.”

 

“Are you coming back to LA soon?” May asked, finishing up her doodle of the Triskelion. “We could go out for dinner.”

 

“When I get back, I have some big, um, errands to run.” Skye sighed. “Plus, the minute I send in whatever I get from here, I’ll have something new to do. They’ve been hinting about it. Something about bugs. Centipedes or millipedes or something. Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.”

 

There was a moment of silence as they both paused.

 

“Well,” May managed, “then I guess I’ll see you when you’re not busy, Big Shot.”

 

Skye laughed. “Right. As if you aren’t a SHIELD legend yourself. And we could always call if we miss each other. Texting is a thing too, you know.”

 

“Very funny,” her mother replied dryly. Her attention was snagged by the ping of her inbox and Skye heard it as well.

 

“Better let you get back to your filing,” Skye teased. “I’m gonna do something cool.”

 

“Don’t injure yourself and if it’s not incriminating, take a picture,” May suggested, biting back a grin. “I’ll talk to you soon?”

 

“Yep,” her daughter said cheerfully. “Bye. Love you.” Skye hung up and May put the receiver back down.

 

She considered Skye’s work for a moment. The Rising Tide, when she did some digging of her own, was supposed to be an activist organization. They stood up for the truth. They were supposed to be revealing SHIELD’s secrets, and some other government organizations too. What May couldn’t fathom was why they’d hear about something currently happening, and how.

 

Unless…

 

Tahiti.

 

Well, in Fury’s document, the T.A.H.I.T.I. protocol. Someone might’ve leaked it to the world, and those Rising Tide people picked up on it.

 

There might be a leak at SHIELD.

 

That wasn’t a surprise, though, May thought. She’d been suspecting it for years. Most of the people in Fury’s circle did. She and Phil had speculated about it since they were in the Academy long enough to know the difference. Certainly, after Fury started talking to them in earnest.

 

May let the thought sit in her mind for another moment before getting back to work. There was much to be done, and she couldn’t very well figure out who the mole was on her own. She’d let someone else handle it. Maybe her and Phil’s team’s first mission.

 


 

“Another one, sir?”

 

Phil sighed, rubbing his temples as the rookies continued to question his decisions. “Yes, Mason, another one,” he muttered. “This is only the second one. I have a lot more in storage. The more you question…”

 

“Of course not, sir,” Mason’s partner piped up hastily. “We’ll be done in a minute.”

 

“Remember, no fingerprints,” Phil reminded them lightly. “She’s an expert at overthinking.”

 

This time, the care package had less things. Still, cup noodles and candy and Red Bull— he knew Skye blew through those fast when she was working on something— replenishment of her coffee and her tea grounds, and a few packages of jerky.

 

Years ago, when they’d first started training Skye, she’d complained about the lack of bacon in the field. Phil had told her jerky was the field agent’s bacon, amongst other things.

 

The message this time was different. A little longer.

 

The poor man’s bacon is the newest addition to your collection. Don’t worry about how I get into your van. The Force works in mysterious ways.

 

With love, from your guardian angel.

Chapter Text

Skye drummed her fingers on the dashboard as she waited for her laptop to load. She spared the occasional glance at the SHIELD-stamped box behind her.

 

It wasn’t her father’s handwriting, but it wasn’t her mother’s either. It was some random scrawl, which made sense. If they really wanted to hide their identity, they probably wouldn’t’ve used their own handwriting when Skye’d been trained to recognize them. Courtesy of May, of course.

 

The problem was the message.

 

‘The poor man’s bacon’, her angel had called it. Only two people she knew in the world called it that. And one was dead.

 

Supposedly.

 

May would never be that cheesy, though. And usually, she gave Skye things in person. Because she wasn’t thought to be dead by everyone they knew.

 

Skye gave up on her laptop and scooted over to the box. She traced the letters with her fingertip, feeling the writing. The pressure was light. She could smell marker, but the specific type that SHIELD used in their New York offices. The LA office just used Sharpie, and the Triskelion had this specially developed scentless marker. This was either from someone in New York, or someone who used a New York marker.

 

Skye rolled her eyes at herself.

 

All that training and she just quit because of a dead guy who might not even be dead. Her dad. The closest thing she ever had to one, anyway.

 

Sometimes, Skye wondered if quitting was the right decision.

 

She dismissed the thought. No point in wondering now.

 

Skye pulled out her SHIELD standard-issue pocket knife and stared at it for a moment. It wasn’t hers, in the sense that agents were given the knife upon graduation. This one was Coulson’s. He gave it to her when she decided to be trained by May instead of going to school.

 

She closed her eyes for a moment, thumb brushing over the tool. Everything she had now came with a memory of a time before. The van she lived in, the knife she used, the very way she thought and felt and operated… it was all from the people she called her parents. She was eternally grateful for them, and everything they’d given her.

 

With a quick flick of her knife, Skye opened the box from her angel. She opened it to see a case of Red Bull, her favourite candy, cup noodles, and powdered coffee and tea bags. How thoughtful. She’d ran out of them very quickly.

 

There was something else at the bottom of the box, and Skye lifted it out with curious fingers. A little bobble figure of a Hawaiian dancer. The real name of it, she couldn’t remember, but it was adorable.

 

Skye set it on her dash and carefully put the items into her storage cabinet before cutting out the message on the box and sticking it in with the rest of the stuff she got, next to the first message.

 

She sat and stared at the closed cabinet. Her silence was interrupted by her phone ringing, and she scrambled to get to it before it woke someone up.

 

“May?” Skye answered, trying to calm her pounding heart. “Hey. You startled me.”

 

Her mother let out a small chuckle. “I wanted to see how you were doing. You got back, what, two weeks ago?”

 

“Right.” Skye tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I did. Um, I’ve been really busy, Mom, I’m sorry. I can take a break though. It’s a long project— how about I come over and cook us something and we can maybe catch each other up on what’s been happening? I can talk your ear off again, just like old times.”

 

Skye tried to sound cheerful, but truthfully, if it wasn’t for the jolt of energy that May’s call had given her, she would’ve dropped unconscious from how she overworked herself the past few weeks.

 

May seemed to know this and she let out a sigh.

 

Skye’s chest seized. Was she mad? Was she disappointed? Was she—

 

“I’d love for you to come home for dinner sometime,” May said softly.

 

Oh.

 

“We can figure out the time and details later. But Skye, it’s 4 AM. Take care of yourself. Go to sleep, get some rest. You said you could take a break, so do it. Don’t overwork yourself, okay?”

 

Skye drew her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her arms. She was careful not to sob, but tears ran down her face.

 

God, she was so tired. And she missed her dad.

 

“How’d you know?” Skye croaked, chuckling wetly.

 

“Call it intuition.”

 

“The motherly kind?”

 

May hummed in the back of her throat. “You could call it that.”

 

They sat together on the call, neither of them saying anything. Skye felt her eyelids droop and the beginnings of a yawn, and she pressed her mouth to her arm to muffle it.

 

“Nice try. I heard you yawn.”

 

Aw, man.

 

May’s voice was gentle, but firm. “Go to sleep, Skye. I’ll talk to you in a few hours, okay?”

 

“Mmm.” Skye half-crawled to her makeshift bed, a corner of her van with a slightly padded area with a few cushions and her new blanket. “Can you sing me to sleep?”

 

An old thing May used to do when Skye first started coming to her when nightmares plagued her.

 

“Please?”

 

There was a silence on May’s end before her mother began to hum quietly.

 

Skye smiled slightly at the song she chose. Vienna. Skye remembered when Coulson used to sing it to her when he taught her how to play guitar.

 

She missed him so much.

 


 

It took a while, but Skye and May managed to find a day that suited the both of them for a sit-down dinner. Well, May sat and watched while Skye danced around the kitchen to Beatles and Bee Gees.

 

“Here you go,” Skye presented proudly. “Bacon a la Coulson and risotto a la his mom. Enjoy!” She slid a plate over to her mother and chewed on her own dinner.

 

May took a bite and nodded. “Very good. Julie used to make it just like this. You’re getting better.”

 

“At following recipes,” Skye retorted. “Grandma Julie is so good at writing instructions. I bet you can make her pound cake.”

 

“I wouldn’t try. I might blow this place up.”

 

Skye grinned. “At least you know your limits.” She finished her bite of rice. “I have a serious question.”

 

May nodded for her to continue.

 

Skye swallowed. “You’re not my guardian angel, right?” she asked softly. “You promise?”

 

Her mother shook her head no.

 

Skye looked away. “So he’s alive. He’s actually alive.”

 

May didn’t speak, but her eyes said it all.

 

I can’t tell you, they said. But if I could, I say yes. If I could, I’d tell you everything.

 

Skye was thankful she had years of reading May to draw from. Otherwise, May staring at her would just be May staring at her, not some cryptic message written in micro-expressions.

 

The girl sighed.

 

So, Coulson was alive. He was actually, seriously alive, and he wasn’t telling her.

 

Skye sat at the kitchen peninsula as May finished her dinner silently and went to wash the dishes, thinking.

 

There must be a reason he didn’t tell her.

 

Maybe he was biding his time. Maybe there was going to be a big reveal close to his or her birthday. Maybe for Father’s Day.

 

Maybe he was bedridden or very weak and he didn’t want her to see him like that.

 

Skye let out a breath.

 

It was probably classified. He and May probably weren’t telling her because the whole thing was classified and she was a civilian.

 

Maybe he didn’t ever want to see her again.

 

“Skye.”

 

The girl was startled out of her thoughts by her mother.

 

Skye blinked. “Mm?”

 

May gestured to her plate. “Finish your dinner. I want to go somewhere with you after.”

 

Skye nodded and ate her risotto quickly.

 

After the dishes were washed and the counter was wiped, May took Skye out to the park where they met. It was a clear February night. There was a bit of winter chill that seeped into their bones as they strolled down the park lane.

 

May put her arm around her daughter.

 

“My apartment’s being surveilled,” she murmured quietly as she guided Skye down the path. “Bugged. My network and computer’s been compromised. I couldn’t say anything.”

 

Skye felt her heart squeeze. “So he’s…”

 

God, how selfish she was. Her mother was being surveilled and all she could think about was getting Coulson back.

 

“He is,” May confirmed. “They did something to him. The details I don’t want to tell you. If you ask, I’ll answer, but you might not like what you hear.”

 

Skye sighed. “I just want to know why he isn’t— why he didn’t—“ she looked at her mother with pleading eyes. “Is it just cause I’m a civilian, or is there something else?”

 

May looked Skye in the eyes and she had this sort of heartbroken look on her face that made Skye want to cry.

 

“It’s complicated,” May murmured, gently cradling the side of her daughter’s face in her hand. “There is something else, but… that’s for him to tell you.”

 

“He doesn’t want to see me,” Skye supplied on her own. Her eyes stung. “He doesn’t— he doesn’t want—“

 

“— No.” May held Skye by the shoulders. “He doesn’t want you to see him. It’s not you. You did nothing wrong. Okay?”

 

Skye buried her face in her mother’s shoulder and cried silently, nodding. “Okay,” she whispered. “I just miss him. I wanna see him.”

 

“I want you to see him too.” May let Skye cling onto her. “We’ll make it happen. I promise.”

 

Skye just held on and let the tears fall.

 

Nothing else mattered. Coulson was alive.

 

And he didn’t want to see her.

Chapter Text

May opened her eyes to a dimly lit room. She looked to her left at the clock that read 4:55. On time, as always.

 

With a roll of her shoulders, May got out of bed. It had been a few weeks since she told Skye about Phil. She still felt uneasy about the way that they left the conversation, with Skye forcing a smile as she walked away from May.

 

It was early March, now. Soon enough, it’d be the anniversary again.

 

May gripped the edge of the sink as she stared at herself in the mirror. I regret it, she thought, I regret everything.

 

Her phone pinged on her bedside table, and May resumed her routine before going out to check it. A text from Skye. She needed to sleep more. She was overworked by the Rising Tide and herself.

 

Might be late to dinner tonight, her daughter wrote. Order in?

 

Sounds fine, May replied. Don’t worry about being late.

 

Skye read the response, but she didn’t bother replying.

 

May let out a breath. It seemed to her that nowadays, Skye was trying to distance herself from her. May knew that Skye didn’t need her hovering over her shoulder; May hated it when her mother did it to her in the early days of her being an agent of SHIELD. She got the feeling. But Skye…

 

May just wanted to know whether she was okay or not.

 

Another ping, and she lifted her phone quickly to see if it was from her, but it was only Maria, reminding her that the parameters of Coulson’s team were due today.

 

May sighed. Okay. Time to start the day.

 

She began with tea and Tai Chi. Then breakfast and a walk in the park. May felt old. Was this the rest of her life? Just waking up early, meditating, tea, and walks?

 

And paperwork, her mind reminded her. Endless amounts of boring paperwork and filing for people who don’t need it.

 

Paperwork was important. May dismissed the stupid voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like a younger version of her. She walked across the park to the office, not bothering to admire the day as she clocked in at exactly 6 AM. There were things to do, like waiting outside Maria’s office while she pretended to care about the agent outside the door’s love life.

 

The agent was rambling about how his girlfriend might not love him anymore again, as per usual.

 

“Davis, you’ll be fine,” May said. “Can I go in, now?”

 

“Oh, yeah.” Davis stepped aside. “Thanks, Agent May.”

 

May rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her. She nodded good morning to Maria and Fury, who appeared from the room adjoining, passing him the file she’d typed up.

 

Fury scanned the document. “A second specialist?” he asked.

 

“With all due respect, sir, I’m not killing Coulson,” May replied flatly. “Alien blood or not, he’s still Coulson. And I refuse to kill him.”

 

“Even under orders?”

 

“You’d need a damn good reason. And I’m not a specialist.”

 

Maria glanced between May and Fury with a tiny smile. “Thanks, May. Sir, if there’s anything else?”

 

Fury shook his head.

 

May hesitated before speaking up. “Can I ask how he’s doing?”

 

“We have to put him back under for a quick check-up,” Fury replied. “He’ll be going tomorrow. But he seems to be holding up. He’s not experiencing any psychosis.”

 

‘Yet’ hung in the air, unspoken.

 

May nodded shortly. “Thank you.”

 

Maria waved her hand and dismissed May, who walked down to the kitchenette to get tea.

 

Phil was doing fine, so May didn’t have to worry about him for now. She’d focus on Skye. Speaking of… May turned on her computer to check on Skye via her van and saw that it was parked in an alley to a coffee shop. What was it with that girl and alleyways?

 

There was probably free wifi there.

 

May watched the van on her screen before pulling up the website that the Rising Tide had, opening the page to Skye’s articles. They were very well written, almost as good as the samples that May had her write as mission report training. She missed those days, when she was teaching Skye how to be an agent with Phil. There was always something going on, and so much laughter. Skye laughed so much more during those days.

 

She missed her daughter.

 

May was suddenly hit by a wave of nostalgia as she had her tea. This was her favourite for a few years, the first year with Skye in DC. She wasn’t looking when she got it. It reminded her of Skye’s first bullseye and Phil’s birthday and Skye’s awkward ukulele serenades in the middle of the night.

 

A better time.

 

May worked slowly as the clock ticked on by.

 

She had nothing new, just forms to staple and deliver, and some contracts to edit. She even had time to browse through the SHIELD reports catalogue that was open to her, reading through all her past missions with Phil. Was it sentimental? Yes. But she did it anyway.

 

Their first mission as agents. Sausalito. She was dunked in a bay for well over five hours. Their second, undercover at the Waverley. Their third, a stint in a high society gala that lasted a few days due to a bomb threat, which was a ploy to keep everyone there while the staff robbed them blind.

 

Soon enough, she clocked out after checking Skye’s van’s location one last time. Still in the alleyway.

 

May turned off her computer and said goodnight to the front desk agent before walking home, wondering what she should order for dinner.

 

Her phone pinged.

 

Skye, finally responding. Nevermind, won’t be late. I’ll pick up pizza on the way there? Thirty minutes eta.

 

May gave her a thumbs-up before going inside.

 

There was someone sitting on her couch.

 

“Hey, May,” Phil greeted cheerfully. “What’s up?”

 

“You’re breaking into my apartment,” she said, closing the door. May put her bag down. “You can’t be here. Skye’s coming for dinner in half an hour.”

 

“Then I’ll leave before that.” Phil crossed the room. “Em, I—“

 

“—Phil.” May was dangerously close to him. She could count the faint freckles under his eye. “You need to leave.”

 

He looked disappointed. “I’m sorry, May,” Phil murmured.

 

“Don’t be.” May looked him in the eye. “I missed you, but now’s not the time. Go before she sees you, unless you want her to see you.” She paused, trying not to hold out hope.

 

“You’re right.” And May breathed again. Of course, his decision hadn’t changed. “Em.”

 

She looked at him.

 

Phil was ever so close to her. She could feel his breath on her cheek.

 

He won’t remember this.

 

Every time Fury brings Phil back to wherever he goes to for his checkups, Phil comes back not remembering the day before. Convenient.

 

He never remembers.

 

May studied his gaze for a moment, eyes flicking between his eyes and his lips. Oh god, how she desperately wanted to close the distance. But it was wrong of her to take advantage of him like this. It was, if he didn’t want to.

 

If he didn’t feel the same.

 

As if his answer would change, a voice in her head said.

 

“Phil, do you love me?” A simple sentence. She’s asked him a few times over the past few months. He always visited before his checkups. She always asked. There was always a pause before he said—

 

“I do.” He held her gaze as he replied as he always did. “I love you, so, so much. I always have.”

 

May closed the distance.

 


 

Skye opened the apartment door, cheerfully carrying the pizza box above her head. “Red peppers and mushrooms! Come and get it!” She paused, putting the box on the counter. “Mom?” Skye closed the front door and took off her shoes, padding to her mother’s closed bedroom door. She knocked softly, once, twice, before opening the door.

 

“May?”

 

May looked up from her seat on the bed, looking at something in her hand. She swiped at her cheeks as she attempted to smile at her daughter. “Hey. I didn’t hear you come in.”

 

Skye sat on the blanket. “May, what’s wrong?” she asked, a hand on the agent’s arm. She pretended not to notice the corner of the photo frame sticking out from underneath the blanket.

 

“Nothing, I’m fine.” May got up and pulled Skye out to the living room. “I’m fine. Just feeling some emotions right now.”

 

“And Robot Mom usually doesn’t?” Skye teased.

 

They’d come up with a nickname for May when she was being extremely stoic. Skye likened it to being a robot; May called it professionalism.

 

“No, she doesn’t,” May replied humorously. “Don’t worry, Skye. I’m fine.”

 

“It’s not menopause, is it?”

 

May rolled her eyes. “No, it’s not.” She sighed, sitting down at the counter. “Just regular old feelings.”

 

There was a pause, and Skye sniffed the air suspiciously.

 

“Was Coulson here?” She glanced at May, and sniffed again. “Oh, May.” Skye sat down next to her mother. “You said you weren’t going to do this to yourself again.”

 

May shook her head. “He was here. I came home, and he was here, and he got close, Skye, I—“ she gripped the edge of the counter. “I don’t know why I keep doing this.” She breathed in deeply, not wanting to cry in front of Skye. Never in front of Skye. “Is it wrong of me?”

 

The girl hugged May. “A little,” Skye whispered. “But it’s understandable.”

 

“I don’t know if I can bear him coming here again,” May muttered, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. “I’m gonna change the locks.”

 

Skye sighed and smiled softly, nudging May a little, teasingly. “Give me a key, hey? I want to break in too.”

 

Her mother rolled her eyes. “Sure.” May took a deep breath and exhaled, before looking up with a tiny grin. “Let’s eat.”

 

Chapter Text

Skye typed on her computer furiously, hoping to make the deadline even though the deadline was in three minutes. And she had to go out later to get more coffee. Her guardian angel was quick, but she lived on caffeine nowadays. Iced, now.

 

September was hot in LA.

 

Screams erupted from outside her van and Skye stuck her head out to see the building on the other end of the alleyway burst into flames. People were running away, but Skye hefted a sigh and ran towards the fire. If May taught her anything, it was ‘run towards danger so you can help solve it’… or something.

 

Skye paused to watch a guy run up the side of the building and come out with a screaming lady.

 

Woah. You definitely don’t see that every day.

 

She whipped out her phone and mindlessly did the math to where he would land, setting her phone to record as she stepped in front of him.

 

The guy’s face was one of mild annoyance as he discovered that he was being filmed, laying the girl down on the ground before running the other way.

 

“Hey!” Skye dropped down to check on the girl even as she looked, in vain, for the guy in the hoodie. She softened her gaze when she glanced down at the girl. “Hey, you okay? Stay with me— stay with me, okay? Come on, keep your eyes open. That’s it.”

 

After making sure that the girl, Debbie, was safe with the paramedics, Skye ambled back to her van, watching the footage of the hooded hero. She caught a flash of yellow and silver on his forearm.

 

A sudden thought struck her, and she sped up her pace to her van.

 

What if he was a part of the Centipede project?

 

Skye’d been working on that story for more than half a year now. She’d been collecting every bit and piece of information that she could gather, and she had a good amount so she could piece it together.

 

A new brand of super soldiers, just like Captain America.

 

Well, not exactly. They didn’t seem to be working out so far. Her research had given up some interesting tidbits, like how they’ve been working on them for years.

 

Skye bit her lip as she considered dialling May. But this type of thing could be a potential SHIELD cover-up.

 

Skye was fed up with those.

 

She called May, tapping her foot as she waited for it to ring. “May?”

 

Her mother answered with the usual enthusiasm. “Hey,” May said, sounding distracted. “What’s going on?”

 

Skye chewed on her lip. “Can I talk to you?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“I’ll see you tonight?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Skye sighed. “Thanks.” She squished her phone between her cheek and her shoulder as she began to finish her project that now was well over the deadline. “Thanks, Mom.”

 

May let out a little breath. “No problem.”

 

“Love you, bye.” Skye waited for May to reply before hanging up and sending off the document.

 

She sat in the relative silence of her van, thinking about nothing at all.

 

It’s been half a year since she found out that Coulson was alive. His birthday came and went. So did May’s, Father’s Day, his deathiversary, and Easter.

 

It would’ve been funny if he came back on Easter.

 

But he never did.

 

Even May reported that he’d stopped coming to her apartment after she changed the locks.

 

Skye watched her clock tick by. She missed her dad. She missed their talks and their shenanigans and their random midnight ice cream runs. She missed his smile. The way he’d make her feel like all was right in the world.

 

May was a very good mother, but Coulson was…

 

Skye shook her head and dismissed the road her mind was about to go down. He made his choice. He wasn’t about to change it anytime soon.

 

She worked her way into the night before finally beginning the walk back to the park at home. She went and got dinner on the way, as well, for the talk. Skye needed the sustenance, and May probably wouldn’t refuse a good falafel if the opportunity presented itself.

 

Skye waved at her mother as she saw her, sitting down at their second favourite bench. She handed May her falafel and waited for her to sit down.

 

“So, what’s the call this time?” May asked, tearing off a piece with careful fingers. “You need a contact?”

 

“I have a…” Skye pursed her lips. “Have you joined Coulson’s team yet?”

 

“Hill says they’re getting him settled on the Bus today. I’ve been briefed.” May shifted slightly beside her. “He’ll probably recruit me tomorrow.”

 

“Great. Right on time.” Skye turned to face her mother. “So basically, I have a mission-ish thing for you. You know the thing I’m working on? The Centipede Project?”

 

May nodded.

 

“Well, I think I found one of the guys they did it to. He’s… he’s a civilian. He has a kid. I think he could benefit from SHIELD’s help, but you know SHIELD has a tendency to…” Skye raised her eyebrows, and May understood. “I just want him to get a safe intro to the weirdest part of the world. He could be a good hero.”

 

“You’ve…” May hummed in the back of her throat. “You’ve changed a lot, haven’t you?”

 

Skye swallowed. It felt like there was something stuck in her windpipe. “Unfortunately,” she managed. “I understand SHIELD isn’t the best option, but if it’s not you, it’ll be someone else. Worse.”

 

“Well, I already put the Rising Tide on SHIELD’s radar,” May said, chewing thoughtfully. “If I put it on Coulson’s, he’ll probably pick up on it.”

 

Skye sighed. “I’ll try and track the guy down and see if he wants to… I don’t know, talk. Make some posts here and there.”

 

There was a pause in conversation as the sun set. She tugged on May’s sleeve.

 

“Did you ever figure out what you were gonna do about your thing with…” Skye tilted her head towards the office. “Him?”

 

May crumpled up her falafel wrapper. “I don’t want to act on it. Especially when he’ll come out of it still loving Audrey.”

 

“But you know how easily he realizes he’s in love with you.” Skye studied her mother’s eyes. “Every time, it takes less than five minutes for you to get him to know, and neither of you are going to last forever. He’s already died once.” Skye held onto May’s arm. “Mom, what’s there to lose? You know how to confess to him. You’ve practiced so many times. You’ve been successful every time. It can’t go wrong. You can’t lose.”

 

“But I can.” May smiled thinly. “I can lose everything. And… I don’t want to ruin what he thinks we have.”

 

“What does he think you have?”

 

“He flirts and I stare at him stoically.” May rolled her eyes at her daughter’s wrinkled nose. “It works. We don’t have anything to change.”

 

“But things have changed. Lots of stuff have.” Skye took May’s crumpled wrapper and stuffed it into her hand. “Just… think about it. You should take all the time you have left with him. Who knows how long we have left?”

 

May just shook her head. “I’ll get you on the plane, Skye, but I can’t promise you any good will come out of it. And I certainly won’t promise to try and tell Phil. He’s… he’s everything. And I can’t— I don’t want to change it. Who knows if we can last?”

 

“You’ve lasted this long,” Skye retorted.

 

“As friends.”

 

It was Skye’s turn to roll her eyes. “Uh-huh. Sure, Mom. Believe what you want to believe. Coulson-kisser.”

 

May glared at her.

 

“Anyways.” Skye stood up, offering her mother a hand. “They’re showing We’re The Millers in the theatre down the block. Do you wanna come watch with me?”

 

“Don’t you have work to do?” May asked amusedly.

 

“I’m ignoring it.”

 

“Don’t.”

 

Skye pouted and retracted her hand. “Fine. But if I stay on this plane of yours, expect me to reinstate movie nights. You guys better have a good movie screen.”

 

May chuckled. “We’ll see.” She got up. “Goodnight?”

 

“Yeah.” Skye dragged her mother in for a quick hug before releasing her. “Love you. Goodnight!”

 

She ran off in the direction of her van, looking back once to see May watching her go. Skye closed the sliding door and began her work. First, she had to find a broadcasting signal that SHIELD could intercept so they’d come and find her. Second, she had to track down the hooded hero.

 


 

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

 

The guy looked up from his newspaper, the same annoyed expression on his face as he did yesterday. After he scaled a building to save some random girl. If he recognized her, he didn’t show it.

 

Skye slid into the seat opposite him. “So. You’re the hooded hero. You staying with that name? Please tell me you aren’t.” She laughed a little. “You could do so much better. Better than circling jobs on a newspaper. You could be a real hero, you know? Be the change you wanna see in the world and all that. Cause, well, with great power comes with… a lot of weird stuff you aren’t prepared to deal with. And I can help with that.”

 

The guy stared at her with a bemused look on his face. “Lady, I don’t even know who you are.”

 

“I’m Skye,” she said cheerfully. “And like I said, I can help. They’re gonna come after you once they figure out who you are. And if I can figure out who you are, you think they can’t?”

 

“Hold up.” The guy put his marker down and folded up his newspaper. He was either getting ready to listen or to leave. “Who’s ‘they’?”

 

“SHIELD. Government. Shadow organizations that come and get you once they know who you are. They hurt you, or they help you. Very rarely do they help you.” Skye knew she was diminishing his trust with big organizations, but as long as he trusted her or was desperate enough to accept her help, she figured it was fine. “I’m great with computers, by the way. I could give you a new identity. A mask, maybe? If you want. I have great connections, too. My office is—“

 

“— you have an office?”

 

Skye stuttered. “It’s more of a mobile office— it’s a mobile… it’s a van. I live in a van. By choice. But it’s always in the alley around the corner—“ she was losing him— “free wifi— you can come anytime!”

 

The guy stood up, and Skye reached for him. He shook her off easily.

 

Ah. So, his thing was super strength. Good to know.

 

“Thank you,” the guy said dryly, walking away.

 

Skye waved him off. “They’re coming for you!” she called cheerfully. She peeked at the ID she swiped from him. “Mike.”

 

Okay, yes, it was immoral to steal. However, it was for the greater good. It should be fine.

Chapter 7

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Phil rapped on May’s divider, the picture of health. A cheerful grin plastered his face, and while May liked to see it, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in his mind to make him smile like that.

 

“Good morning, May,” he said brightly. “Got your stuff together? Staplers? Forms?”

 

She glared at him silently as she got up. She’d changed out of her business casual and back into her leather jacket and aviator glasses. May slung her duffel bag over her shoulder, nodding towards the door, and Phil extended a hand humorously.

 

“Need a hand?” he teased.

 

May raised a delicate eyebrow at him and he retracted it.

 

“Sorry.” Phil gestured for her to follow him. “The Bus is gonna be fun. You get the first pick of bunks.”

 

May shook her head and walked with him to the hanger.

 

He walked up the ramp and paused. “This is our bay. In there’s the lab. You want the tour, or would you rather explore later?”

 

“I’ll explore later.” May looked at the cherry red Corvette sitting on the ramp. “You’re really bringing LOLA with us?”

 

He smiled fondly at his car. “Yep. Come on, up here.” Phil opened the door. “I don’t wanna brag, but the Bus is the second coolest thing I’ve ever owned.”

 

“You own this?”

 

“Well, no. SHIELD does. But hey, I’m the guy running the place,” Phil smiled widely at her as they walked to the front. “Do you want to see my office? It’s really cool.”

 

May sighed inwardly. “Sure.” She dropped her bag on the second couch and followed him up the spiral staircase.

 

Phil proudly presented his office. “It’s cool, isn’t it?” he said earnestly. “I have all my vintage stuff on display. I get books and stuff. I have a big closet. It’s the dream.”

 

May peeked behind his closet to see a private washroom. “Where do you sleep?” she asked. “Down with everyone else?”

 

He paused. “I assumed I was taking the captain’s quarters.”

 

“But you’re not the one flying the plane.” May looked at him. “The pilot is the captain.”

 

“But I’m in charge.”

 

“But you’re not the pilot.”

 

Phil frowned. “But I’m the leader of this team.”

 

“But! You’re not the pilot.” May gave him a hint of a teasing smile and watched as his frown melted away. Her heart twinged.

 

“How ‘bout we share, hm?” His grin was almost infectious. Almost. “I’m sure our sleep schedules are exactly the same as they were thirty years ago. You still sleep at four in the morning, right?”

 

May let out a dry laugh. “Right. And then I wake up at five to do tai chi. No, Phil, I sleep at midnight.”

 

He wrinkled his nose. “Ew.” He grabbed his bag from him top of his desk. “Come on. Let’s unpack.”

 

Phil lead the way down to the captain’s quarters next to the galley.

 

May let out a low whistle. “Spacious,” she remarked. “I assume I can take the drawers?”

 

“Go nuts.” Phil was investigating the bunk. “There isn’t a rollaway.”

 

“What’d you expect? It’s a plane, not summer camp.” May folded her clothes into the drawers, wondering where the bathroom and washing machines were. “The mattress is big enough for the both of us if need be. I’ll be up flying for most of it anyway. It’s one of those specialized wide twin mattresses that SHIELD commissions. We’ll be fine.”

 

Phil watched her, sitting on the bed. “If you say so.”

 

May paused, studying him. “You feeling okay?” she asked lightly. “You seem…”

 

“Just distracted.” Phil sighed. “Angel Eyes would’ve loved this plane. What does she think you’re doing, anyway?”

 

“She knows I’m on a plane,” May said. She was on thin ice. “She knows I’m working with someone we know. We meaning me and her. She knows I’m flying.”

 

“She seems to know a lot.”

 

May shrugged, facing the door. “I tell her a lot. She’s the only person I can tell.”

 

“She doesn’t have the clearance.”

 

Phil’s voice was tense. May turned to look at him, eyes hard.

 

“Right,” she forced herself to say. “But she’s my family. Family’s allowed certain information.”

 

Skye’s your family too, Phil.

 

He seemed to hear her thoughts and let out a heavy sigh.

 

“I can’t tell her.”

 

“I’m not telling you to.” May closed the drawer with a little more force than she needed to use. “Just saying. She’s all we’ve got. She’s all I’ve got. You don’t have her anymore—“

 

“— I get it, May!”

 

She stood her ground, glaring at him. But he seemed more defeated than angry.

 

“I get that my decision leads to me not seeing her anymore. But I take steps to make sure she’s cared for.” He stood up. “I make sure she has things she likes. I make sure she has her insurance covered. I want her to be happy and safe. And that includes me not being there.”

 

“How could you not be there for her?” May raised a hand to silence him. “Never mind. I’ve heard your argument before. I don’t want to hear it again.” She stood in the doorway with her back turned to him. “When are the others getting here?”

 

Phil sighed. “They should be arriving in the next few hours. I have to brief the specialist on our first mission. The Rising Tide. We’re intercepting a signal somewhere from here in LA. I want him to get to it.”

 

“You won’t be there?”

 

“He wants to go it alone. I’ll let him try it out.” Phil was behind her now. “Melinda…”

 

She went into the cockpit and closed the door.

 

May surveyed her new space, sitting down at the left seat. She smoothed her fingers over the controls and let out a breath.

 

Hopefully, Skye would make it out of the specialist’s kidnapping fine— and May knew it was going to be a kidnapping because specialists were trained to kidnap— and remember her training. They’d discussed this the night before. If Skye made it onto the Bus and Coulson allowed her to stay, her relationship with May and Coulson had to be kept a secret. If there was truly a leak or even a mole within SHIELD, it’s best that they didn’t know about the highly trained hacker who could make anyone disappear.

 


 

Skye blew the hair out of her eyes when her kidnapper took her mask off. “You’ve made a big mistake,” she huffed, trying to get that one hair off her face.

 

The agent folded up the bag methodically, not looking at her. Ah, a specialist. “You don’t look that big to me,” he remarked.

 

Provocation. Another classic specialist tactic. May’d taught her all about it. She taught Skye how to identify each type of agent by their characteristics a long time ago. The harder it is to know, the better the agent is. This one… maybe needed a little work.

 

The agent set the folded bag in front of her. “I… apologize—" Oh, that was new— “for the lack of finesse. See, I’ve had some history with your group.” He made eye contact. “The Rising Tide?”

 

Oh.

 

Skye glared at him. How dare he be that hot? That was not fair.

 

He sat down. “So you understand why I’m not so fond of people like you.”

 

Wait.

 

Skye let out a little disbelieving laugh. “People like me? The hell’s that supposed to mean?” She was hoping for a stutter about not being racist, but this guy plowed right on.

 

“You pseudo-anarchist hackers—“ The guy wasn’t so hot now— “hell-bent on taking down SHIELD.”

 

Skye scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself, and don’t worry.” She gave him a patronizing smile. “SHIELD’s just trending. You’ll be back in your favourite shadows soon enough. You love it there, right? So you can do your little cover-ups quietly. I should’ve known. You guys covered up New Mexico, Project Pegasus— I should’ve known that you guys would cover up Centipede as well.”

 

Oh, how sweet was the confused look on the agent’s face before he masked it again.

 

“Centipede?”

 

Skye chuckled, pretending to be in disbelief. “You mean I got to Centipede before SHIELD? On my five-year-old laptop? Holy shit.” She opened her mouth to make fun of the guy more, but then someone knocked on the door, and she shut up.

 

The guy went to open it, and with a quick dart of her eyes, Skye got a glimpse of her dead dad.

 

“Hey, Ward? I can take it from here.”

 

So hot specialist’s name was Ward? Weird.

 

“Are you sure, sir? She’s—“

 

“— Let me just put it this way, Ward. You’re blowing it. Get May from the cockpit and tell her to come here. Got it?”

 

Ward spared a quick, scathing glance back at Skye. She waggled her fingers at him with a cheerful smile. “Copy,” he muttered.

 

Coulson pulled the door closed, and she was left in the interrogation room alone. Skye took the time to admire her settings. The room seemed airtight. There was a very fine crack in the ceiling that would probably open up the roof to scare potential prisoners. She rapped on the wall behind her with her tied hands. Either steel or vibranium. Good, expensive stuff. It was more likely a compound and not pure vibranium, but it was still cool nonetheless.

 

The door swung open and Skye looked up to see May giving her death glare to Coulson, who she dragged in by the arm.

 

“There. She saw you when you first opened the door, and she’s seeing you now.” May glanced at Skye. “Are you on drugs or drinking anything?”

 

Skye wrinkled her nose. “Of course not.”

 

May gestured to her. “See?” She sat Coulson down on the chair across from Skye and closed the door. “I knew she already saw you because we trained her to look at things, even though she didn’t look like she did. Skye is perceptive.”

 

“And it didn’t help that you told her,” Coulson muttered.

 

“She started suspecting it the second she saw your guardian angel packages, Phil,” May said, covering her face. “You couldn’t’ve been any more obvious. I just confirmed it. Now, I have to go look at a blown-up lab with Fitzsimmons. Don’t die while I’m gone.”

 

May left Skye and Coulson alone in the interrogation room.

 

The girl looked at her dead dad, who suddenly didn’t seem very dead anymore.

 

Coulson cleared his throat. “So, how’ve you been, angel eyes?” he asked softly.

 

“I missed you.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before Skye could even stop them. “I’ve been doing fine. Thanks for the cup noodles and the Red Bull.” She flicked her eyes to the camera and he nodded before taking her hands out of her handcuffs. “Those were uncomfortable. Anyway…” Skye sighed. “I just want to know… why you didn’t tell me. I know I’m a civilian now, but Mom said there was another reason. That only you could say.”

 

Her father let out a breath. “Of course she did,” he muttered. Coulson kept his gaze glued to the table. “I… Mostly, I didn’t want you to have to grieve me twice. You deserved to know. You deserve the world, but I didn’t want you to go through everything you went through with me, all over again. I know you might not, but I want you to understand—“

 

He was cut off abruptly by Skye’s tight hug, constricting his arms.

 

Tears welled up in her eyes. “I understand,” Skye said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder. “I understand why. I forgive you.”

 

Coulson held onto her hands and brushed his thumbs over her knuckles, slow and steady.

 

Skye pulled away, wiping her tears off of her face as she did so. “You won’t make me leave?” she asked quietly.

 

“Well, there’s really no point. And I want you here.” Coulson smiled. “We just have to get your story straight, because May was telling me about some plan?”

 

His daughter sat back down across from him. “Yeah. So the plan is…”

Notes:

Hey y'all! Thanks for being on this fantastic journey with me! It seems we have reached 1x01, so we have to make a decision. Should I continue with this and rewrite AOS, or just stop here and let your imaginations run wild? And for those who like Skye and Coulson's relationship, fear not! The story of the bacon will be out in a matter of hours/days depending on how much I procrastinate!

Again, thanks for all the love you've given this series, and I bid y'all a good night!

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