I glad you all are liking my other stories. Hope you'll like this one.
*Warning mention of rape*
May knew Skye had nightmares. Everyone had them, hell she had them still from Bahrain after all these years. But she never knew how much Skye kept hidden from the team, from her, till now.
She paused by her student's door and listened closely. May could hear the soft ruffle of sheets like she was tossing and turning. "Help…someone…please help," May heard Skye whimper.
May knocked on the door softly. "Skye?" May called out in a gentle voice.
"Don't hurt me please," Skye begged again, her voice getting louder. May quickly opened the door to her room. What she saw surprised her. Skye was curled up tightly in a ball, fists clenching the blanket tightly against his chest. Her face was pale, and she was drenched in sweat.
May gently touched Skye's shoulder. The younger woman shot up in the bed, breathing heavily. Her body was tense as she glanced around the room nervously until her fearful brown eyes landed on May. Skye relaxed seeing her mentor before becoming stiff as she realized why May was in here.
"Sorry," she muttered and cast her eyes downward.
"Do you want to talk about it?" May asked and Skye shook her head. "It might help," May pushed. She knew how bad it was to keep things to yourself. She didn't what her student to do the same.
Skye sighed and nodded. "It was about Ward," Skye started softly. May tensed up, one fist curling into a fist. While she knew that the bastard was locked up tightly in the basement Skye didn't. If she had the choice Skye would never know and she would put two bullets into the back of his head.
"What happened?" Skye looked sick then and turned away.
"It was about what he said to me. A-About taking what he wants." It took May a second to understand but when she did, her face twisted into a look of disgust. When I get my hands on him, I'll make sure he'll never touch anyone again, May thought venomously. "Yeah it was about that," Skye whispered and sensed the disgust that rolled off May in waves. "I kept running from him, but I couldn't get away and when he caught me, he-he-he," she trailed off and gave a sob. May sat down next to Skye and brought the young agent against her side whispering in her Skye's ear with promises of keeping her safe. It would be a cold day in hell before she let anything like that happen to her student under her watch.
Skye buried her face into May's shoulder as she cried for the man, she thought she leaned back after several minutes, her eyes red and puffy. "Sorry," she mumbled and looked down at the wet spot on May's shoulder.
"It's okay," May said understanding. Everyone on the team had been tricked by Ward and his betrayal still stung after all these months. Fitz was finally awake, but it would still take time for him to recover from what had happened. Simmons had refused to leave his side but every day seemed to break her as her other half struggled through his recovery.
"No, it's not!" Skye shouted and got out of her bed. She paced around the room, hands gripping her hair tightly. "It's not like this hasn't happened to me before!" Skye froze as she realized what she said.
"Before?" May asked, a sick feeling developing in her stomach. Please don't be what I think it is, May thought. She saw Skye swallow hard before the agent slowly turned to her.
"It was a long time ago May," Skye said softly. May swallowed the disgust she had.
"How old were you?" Part of her didn't want Skye to answer but the other part of her wanted, no need, to know.
"I was fourteen and was placed in a new foster home," Skye began as she sat back down on the bed and drew her knees up to her chin. "The family at first seemed nice especially the son. He was eighteen and was a senior in high school. He-He was the golden boy of the school. Star football player, got straight A's, class president. He-he would help defend me from bullies at the school." Skye picked at her blanket and refused to meet May's eyes.
"The first few months were nice, after that," Skye shivered as she remembered. "The son started to take notice of me in a way that wasn't sisterly. It was about five months after I got there that he snuck into my room one night." Skye gave a shuttering breath and leaned into May, who wrapped an arm protectively around her.
"You don't have to continue," May whispered gently.
"Yes, I do. I kept this to myself for years," She said back. "The son, he raped me and threatened to kill me if I told anyone. This went on for several months until a teacher found out. She had seen him try to force himself on me at school. She had called the police who came out to investigate." Skye wiggled closer to May leaving almost no space between them. "The parents didn't believe me and believed their son when he said I seduced him," May growled and muttered something Mandarin. "The police removed me from the home and sent me back in the foster system. Last I heard he was sentenced to at least ten years in prison and had to register as a sex offender."
"Good," May said. "What is his name?"
Skye gave a wet chuckle against May's shoulder. "Why so you can track him down and use your amazing hate-fu against him for something that happened years ago?" May didn't say anything which confirmed what Skye said. The younger woman surprised May by climbing into her lap and cuddling up close to the older woman. Skye tucked herself under May's chin and placed her head against May's chest.
May wrapped her arms around Skye and shifted into a more conformable position. She hummed a soft lullaby that her father sang to her and watched as Skye's eyes closed. Once the girl was asleep May gently unlatched Skye from her neck. She pulled the blanket over the sleeping agent and quietly snuck out of the room.
XXXXX
Skye woke up at the sound of her alarm and rolled over to turn it off. She was exhausted, last night's nightmare had taken a lot out of her. Her talk with May did help a bit. Skye smiled a bit as she remembered how she cuddled with May. She knew May didn't do hugs but still let Skye fall asleep on her. The young woman had listened to her Supervising Officer's steady heartbeat and was rocked to sleep by it.
Skye got dressed for training and walked to the gym surprised to see May wasn't already there. She waited for five minutes before she started to warm up. After a half, an hour and May still hasn't shown she went to go look for her mentor. Skye was surprised to find her in the kitchen with a pot of tea and May clicking away on her laptop.
"Hey, where were you this morning? You didn't show up for training?" Skye asked trying to see what May was doing. May turned the computer away from Skye's view. The younger agent rolled her eyes put went to pour herself a cup of tea.
As she did that May spoke. "His name was Jack Hoyt." Skye became tense at the mention of the name. The team overflowed from the cup and burned her fingers, but Skye didn't notice.
"Why? She asked and did not turn to look at May. She could feel her S.O eyes on her back but she refused to turn and meet them.
"Because I needed to see what he looked like. Still in prison too I see." Skye took a deep breath and slowly released it.
"May-" Skye started to say but May cut her off.
"I needed to see what type of lowlife would do this to a child." Skye could hear the repulsion in May's voice.
"As I said May it happened a long time ago." She turned and sat down next to her mentor. "Because of you, I can defend myself now. I now know how to kick someone's ass and if somebody tried to do this again I know several different ways to kill them with my bare hands." That got a hint of a smile out May.
Skye turned to face May. "I can't change the past and if I had to be honest, I don't think I want to. What happened during that time, it made me stronger, more resilient. It is a part of me now and I can't change it. I can only learn from it."
May let out a small sigh and nodded. "Alright let's go train," May said and stood up. Skye nodded and gave May a hug. She whispered in the older agent's ear a 'thank you' before she left the kitchen.
Later that day Skye wasn't overly surprised to see May with Simmons going over basic self-defense. She could hear Simmons question to why and May's answer or never knowing what could happen in the future. Skye leaned against the wall and watched until May noticed called her over. Skye smiled and walked over to join her mentor in her training know that what happened to her will never happen again while under May's watch.