A/N: Hello everyone! So this fic is probably a two-shot, but if it goes well I may expand it, so we'll see. Also, I'm experimenting with something new here, a challenge that I found online and is difficult to work with, but hopefully it paid off. I know, I know, it's pretty cryptic, but follow the instructions below and you'll understand. Enjoy! =)

*IMPORTANT: Take the first word (bolded) from every paragraph to see the hidden message.

He stared at her across the holotable, again admiring her ability to throw herself wholly into her work without being distracted by outside influences. "Do you think that Fury knew?" he asked, not really wanting to know the answer. But wanting to talk to her regardless.

"Knew what?" she asked, not looking up from her inspection of the surrounding terrain around the parked Bus.

"Her identity. That Skye was an 0-8-4." Because if he did, Coulson thought to himself, we are going to have some more heated words next time we cross paths.

"Too much is unclear, Phil." She sighed, looking up from her work. "But there are more pressing matters right now."

"Well, that's true," he admitted grudgingly, walking to stand next to her. "Where did Fury send us?"

"He seemed to send us to the middle of a forest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains," she replied, her voice flat. "He knew that this would be good cover for the Bus."

"Knew that no one could find us here, more like."

"That too," she conceded, moving the picture on the holotable so that he could easily see the surrounding area as well.

"Telling him that it's difficult to remake SHIELD in the middle of nowhere probably would be a waste of breath, wouldn't it?"

Her eyebrows raised - the first sign of outward emotion she had shown since he had started the conversation. "You are in charge now, Phil. It's your call."

"How...how do you do it, May?" He leaned forward and caught her eyes. "How do you stay calm amidst so much confusion? How do you not feel everything?"

"He taught me. Fury." With that cryptic statement, she turned back to the holotable, but he could see that her formerly steady hand shook very slightly. Then she added, "And I felt. I felt so much that it was just easier to hid it away."

"Felt what, exactly?" he asked, pressing his advantage while she seemed willing to talk, albeit cryptically.

"Wouldn't you want to know?" she asked with one of her rare half-smiles.

"Help me to understand you, May," he pleaded, his voice quiet. "I just want you to let me in."

He shifted closer to her as she closed her eyes, a heavy motion. "I can't. I'm sorry, Phil." She crossed her arms - a gesture he recognized as defensive. "You knew me well, once, but that's changed."

"Knew you better than anyone," he corrected her with a sad smile. "I wish that it could be that way again."

"That is impossible."

He may have imagined it, but it sounded like her voice trembled slightly with that stilted phrase. He hoped that it had - it would mean that he was getting through to her.

"Had things been different," she started quietly, but then trailed off without finishing.

"To dream of the future is much better than to regret the past." Coulson quoted Toby Beta, wishing desperately that he could change the past. It was slightly ironic, he supposed. A silence ensued as she looked at him strangely. "An author," he clarified, trying futilely to guess at her thoughts as the silence resumed.

"Show me your plans for recruitment again?" Her voice finally interrupted in an attempt to turn the conversation away from sensitive issues. He didn't push.

Her eyes flashed to the holotable as he pulled up the files he had created, full of all the ideas he had to reform SHIELD. He wanted more than anything to keep asking her questions, to see if he could penetrate her facade.
Instead, he put her from his mind and focused on his plan. He had a lot of work to do, but he wasn't going to give up on her. He would never give up on her.

Please please please review! I really want thoughts on this idea!