A/N: Another sequel to I'll Always Come Find You
I hope you like it guys. :)
"Well, Doctor Simmons," Skye said, sitting atop the metal table in the lab, swinging her legs, "what's the verdict? Can I get this hellish beast off of my arm yet, or what?" She held up the worn cast on her right arm, now more black than purple with all of the Sharpie the guys had been drawing on it.
Jemma deftly flicked her fingers over the screen of her tablet, where an x-ray of Skye's arm shone back at her. The little crease in between her eyebrows as she looked at the screen, shot down some of Skye's initial optimism.
"Give a minute to double check…" Simmons trailed off, zooming in on another part of Skye's bones.
"Come on, Jemma!" Skye whined. "I have had the stupid thing on my arm for three weeks. The doctor at the hospital said that was long enough. Come on!" She purposely dragged out the final two words in the most annoying tone she could muster.
Jemma only rolled her eyes, apparently used to the whining.
"Skye, if I take the cast off and then your bones aren't healed properly, you're probably going to end up damaging them even more and have to wear another one for longer anyway." The doctor snapped. "I'm not even a doctor in this sense." She huffed.
"Sorry." Skye said quietly. She nudged Jemma's leg with her foot to get her attention. "Sorry, I just, I'm just sick of feeling like an invalid all of the time. I wanna get back out there, instead of being cooped up in the Playground on my own all the time."
"I know." Jemma put a sympathetic hand on Skye's shoulder. "I know you're frustrated, Skye. But I just want to make sure you're okay. You're my best friend." Simmons smiled. "Plus, I think May and Coulson might break my arm if I get it wrong and their daughter ends up even more hurt."
Skye blushed and looked away. "I'm not their daughter." She mumbled.
Simmons leaned back on the bench next to her. "Oh, you definitely are, Skye." She smirked and nudged her friend with her elbow when she looked up. "DNA doesn't mean a thing when you love someone as much as they love you."
"I love them, too." Skye said, then took a deep breath and turned fully back to Jemma. "And I will love you, too if you get me out of this damn thing."
Simmons rolled her eyes, and walked back over to her desk. "I'm going to send these off to a friend of mine, another SHIELD doctor." At the worried look on Skye's face she held up both hands. "It's fine, she's not HYDRA, I assure you. But she's an actual MD, specialises in orthopaedics. I'll get her to take a look and let you know what she thinks."
Skye groaned dramatically in frustration. "And how long will that take?"
"Couple of hours?" Jemma supplied. "Not sure, to be totally honest, it entirely depends on if she's busy or not."
Skye made a frustrated noise and kicked her legs like a two-year-old.
"No more than a couple of hours." Simmons said. "But it's you're only option, so get used to it."
"No." Skye grumbled. "S'not my only option. I can cut myself out of this thing with a bread knife. That's an option."
"No it's not." May said, walking into the lab with crossed arms and an unarguable air of authority. She looked poignantly at Skye. "You will not attempt to cut that cast off with a bread knife."
"Okay." Skye murmured and Jemma smirked from her desk.
May stood in front of Skye and tapped her chin to get her look up. "Repeat it back to me."
Skye rolled her eyes. "I will not try to cut this insufferable cast off of my arm with a bread knife…again."
"Or with any other sharp object." May continued.
"Or any other sharp object." Skye parroted.
"Because I, Skye, am not a doctor." May said, with a nod.
Skye huffed and crossed her arms, pouting in a way that reflected the grumpy, hormonal teenager she wasn't. "Because I, Skye, am not a doctor."
"Good girl." May patted her head and hopped up onto the bench beside her.
"Whatever." Skye grumbled, and went back to glaring at the cast in the hope that it would crack under her loathing gaze.
Simmons spoke up, getting May's attention. "Do you want to see Skye's x-ray's, Agent May?" She asked, holding out the tablet. "I'm going to send them off to a friend, an orthopaedic specialist, and get her opinion."
May raised her brows at Simmons.
"Doctor Matthews." Jemma said, and May nodded in approval.
May took the tablet and zoomed in on the image where the metal pins stood out against the black backdrop. In her non-professional opinion, the bones looked good, fused back together, but she appreciated Jemma's gesture to get a second opinion. It had been traumatic enough the first time around, she didn't want Skye having to go through anything more with her injured arm if it could be helped.
"Here." She handed the tablet back to Simmons. Seeing the sheer amount of metal now residing in Skye's body still spooked May a little. She didn't like thinking about Skye getting hurt, and being able to actually see her little girl's bones (and yes Skye was her little girl despite being in her early twenties), held together with the inside of a surgeon's toolbox, just dredged up memories of the day the injury had happened. May preferred not to relive most of that day.
"How long will it take to get a second opinion?" She asked Simmons.
Simmons smiled sympathetically and gave a little shrug. "Honestly, I'm not sure. At least a few hours, I-,"
"You told me it would only take two!" Skye interrupted.
"Well to be perfectly honest, Skye, I was just trying to make you feel better." Jemma said sheepishly. "Sorry."
"You lied to me!"
"Skye." May said. "Be nice."
She ignored her. "Liar."
"You were going to try and cut the cast off with a breadknife. And not for the first time." Jemma argued. "You can see why I felt the need to tell you a little white lie."
"Traitor."
"I apologise, Skye, but I'd do it again." Jemma shrugged and spun around on her chair to focus on her computer.
Skye glared at the back of Jemma's head as she typed away at her keyboard. "Jemma Simmons, we are no longer friends."
"Yes we are." Jemma said without pause.
"Fine. We are." Skye huffed. "But I'm still mad at you until further notice."
"Noted. Now if you don't mind, I'm rather busy and you being angry with me is quite distracting."
May stood up, taking Skye's un-casted hand and tugging her with her. "Come on, let's leave Simmons to her work."
"I'll call you when Doctor Matthews gets back to me."
"Fine." Skye followed May out of the lab. "Still mad." She called behind her, and Jemma acknowledged her with a little wave.
…
"Where are we going?" Skye asked.
Since leaving Jemma to her work in the lab, May hadn't bothered to let go of Skye's hand, and Skye didn't mind, so she followed her S.O blindly through the intricate corridors of the Playground. She knew them fairly well, enough not to get lost for the most part, but May had been leading her for a good five minutes through the quieter, less populated areas and Skye was at a loss for where she could be taking her.
"To try and cheer you up." May said, ducking around another sharp left.
The woman was walking faster now, and Skye had to do a little skip every few strides to keep up.
"You're going too, fast." She complained. "I have a broken arm, you know."
May turned and gave her an unimpressed look. "That doesn't affect the speed at which your legs move. And anyway," she said, finally slowing down as they reached an unmarked door in an almost dark hallway, "your bones aren't broken anymore."
"Then why am I still wearing this thing, huh?" Skye waved the cast in May's face.
She batted her arm away. "Stop. I'm being nice to you because you're grumpy, but don't start getting mad at me because you're pissy with Simmons, okay?"
May hadn't said it in a particularly mean way. In fact, she was smiling a little at Skye, but even so, the guilt set in and she felt bad for snapping at her for no reason.
"Sorry." Skye said. "I'm sorry, Mama."
May squeezed Skye's hand. "It's okay, baby. I know you're just desperate to get the cast off."
"I'm still sorry."
May kissed her forehead. "I forgive you. Now," she turned back to the door and typed a code into the keypad too quickly for Skye to memorise, "this is a secret, okay?" The door made a little hissing sound as it unlocked, but May turned back to Skye before opening it. "You can't tell anyone."
Skye frowned. "How secret?"
"Very." May said.
"How very?"
"Skye." May rolled her eyes. "It's secret enough that besides Coulson and I, you'll be the only one to know about this."
"Can I tell Simmons?"
"It's a secret, Skye."
"So," Skye dragged out the word, cocking her head at May with a little grin, "does that mean I can tell Simmons?"
"I thought you were mad at her."
"Come on, that was like five minutes ago."
May rolled her eyes. "How about you can sneak her some souvenirs, but not tell her where it is?"
"Huh?" Skye said, utterly confused.
May pushed open the heavy metal door, and pulled Skye inside.
"Oh." Skye said, gawking at the room. "I see what you mean by souvenirs."
The room was small, presumably intended to be some sort of storage room, but May and Phil had managed to squeeze a love seat into the small space. The seat however, was the last thing Skye was interested in, because three of the four walls of the room were lined with shelves covered in what seemed to an apocalyptic supply of junk food.
Skye rounded on May. "Coulson told me we were all out of cookies this morning. There's like twelve different types of cookies in here!"
May shrugged. "This is our secret stash. And it was eight thirty in the morning when you were hunting for cookies. You don't need that much sugar at that time in the day."
Ignoring her, Skye began making the rounds of the small room, making a mental inventory of all of the food on the shelves. There were flavours of chips Skye had never even heard of, and more chocolate covered things than in Willy Wonka's factory.
"Oh my gosh." Skye grabbed a box off a high shelf and thrust in May's face. "Tim-Tams? We have Tim-Tams here and you just never thought to tell me?"
May smirked and plucked the packet of cookies out of her hand, sitting down on the loveseat. "Phil has contacts in Australia." She said, opening the packet. "We get more than just info from the guys over there."
"Honestly, I kind of pretty mad at you and Coulson for keeping this treasure trove of joy from the rest of us." Skye went back to wandering around the small room, pulling bags of cookies and boxes of foreign candy off the shelves every so often to get a better look.
"We love you, you know." May said quietly. Skye stopped her shelf inspection to listen. "Phil and I love all of you."
"Even Hunter?" Skye smirked.
May pretended to think. "Even Hunter. Occasionally." She joked. "But even though we love all you kids, you can all be pretty annoying. We needed a place just for us. Also, you guys are like garbage disposals and we got tired of you eating all of the good stuff."
"Hunter is annoying. But me?" Skye said. "I am not-," Skye faltered when she heard the whiny tone of voice she was using. "Okay, I see your point. Fair enough."
May patted the space beside her on the loveseat and smiled when Skye sat down next to her. She took one of the chocolate cookies and passed it to the younger agent.
"Forgive me for not telling you about the Stash?"
Skye nodded and took a bite of the cookie, rolling her eyes at the delicious flavour. "Keep feeding me stuff like this and I'll most certainly forgive you- wait," she cocked an eyebrow at May, "the 'Stash'? That's what we're calling this place?"
May shrugged and bit into her own cookie with a small smirk.
"Coulson choose that name?" Skye asked.
"You know he likes his codenames." May smiled. "And since dying, he has this thing about having memorable lasts words." She shook her head in exasperation. "He wants to be able to say 'flush my stash', and have it have some semblance of irony."
"Wow," Skye licked some melted chocolate off her fingers, "he's really put a lot of thought into this."
"You have no idea, Skye." May reached her arm out to brush some of Skye's hair over her shoulder and Skye automatically cuddled closer. "You feeling a little better? A little less stressed?"
"Yeah." Skye leaned up to kiss May's cheek. "Thank you for letting me in on the secret."
"You're very welcome, baby." May wrapped Skye in a hug. "I just want you to be happy, and I know you've been having a tough time of late."
Skye toyed with the hem of May's t-shirt, head falling to her shoulder. She felt her Mama press a kiss into her hair. Skye picked up May's hands and absently began playing with her fingers.
"Thank you." She said quietly to May.
"You already said that."
"I'm thank you for something different this time." Skye said.
"And what might that be?"
Skye was quiet for a moment, still occupying herself with threading her fingers through May's. "Thank you for taking care of me, Mama."
May sucked in a breath and tightened her arms around her baby. "Oh Skye, you don't need thank me. I love you. I care for you because I love you and it makes you happy." She kissed Skye's temple. "It makes me happy, too."
Skye turned to look up at May with glistening eyes. "I love you, too, Mama." She gave her a little kiss. "I'll take care of you, too, okay?"
"Okay, baby." May chuckled.
May frowned when her phone began to ring, and she fished it out of her pocket, glancing at the caller I.D. She flashed the screen to Skye, and then answered.
"Simmons? Any news?"
"Oh yes, Agent May." Simmons said brightly. "Doctor Matthews got back to me very quickly, she's perfectly satisfied with Skye's x-rays. Recommends immediate removal of the cast."
"That's fantastic." May gave Skye a thumbs up and her face lit up. "How soon can you do it?"
"As soon as you get back here." Simmons said. "I'm just preparing the removal instruments."
"Okay, we'll come up now." May hung up the phone and smiled at Skye.
Skye was almost vibrating on the seat next to her. "It can come off?" She asked. "Simmons said it can come off?"
May left her hanging for a second, and then said, "It can come off."
Skye leaped off her seat and began doing an improvised victory jig.
"C'mon. Let's go free your arm."
…
When the two arrived back at the lab, Simmons was laying out various ominous instruments on a metal table bedside Skye's usual seat. She smiled up at them as gestured to Skye to sit down in the comfortable computer chair.
"You've been waiting three weeks for this moment, Skye." Jemma said as Skye sat down. "You excited?"
Skye wearily eyed the medical instruments on the table. "I was until I saw the props from the 'Saw' franchise laid out before me."
Simmons smiled sympathetically. "I know they look a little bit ominous, but I swear it won't hurt." She patted Skye's shoulder. "Okay?"
Skye shifted uncomfortably. "Not really." She mumbled. "Actually," Skye stood up, "I think I'll give it a few more days. Keep Mr Cast, here, a little longer."
"Skye." May stopped Skye's progression to the lab door with an arm on her shoulder and steered her back to the computer chair. "Sit."
"But, I…" Skye looked back down at the medical equipment. "I don't wanna."
May sighed and stepped past Skye to sit in the chair herself. "Come here." She patted her lap.
Skye sat down on her Mama's lap and wound her uncasted arm around her neck. "I don't like it." She mumbled.
"It's okay, baby." May soothed. She rubbed Skye's back and rocked her gently. "I'll be here the whole time, and Jemma knows what she's doing. Right?"
Simmons nodded, picking up the saw tool. "Yes, and look Skye, I'll even prove it won't hurt." She pressed the vibrating saw to her bare skin and Skye gasped. Jemma didn't flinch. "See." She said. "Doesn't even cut your skin."
Skye still looked dubious, so Simmons pressed the saw against Skye's own skin, causing her friend to yelp and jump.
"Stop, Jemma!" Skye shrieked.
"Does it hurt?" Simmons asked.
"Jemma."
"Is it hurting you, Skye?"
Skye frowned but calmed significantly, shaking her head. "No. Just kind of tickles."
"Correct. So, are you going to let me cut it off?" Simmons asked. "The quicker we start the quicker we can finish."
May patted the purple cast. "It'll be done in seconds, Skye." She said. "I'll be right here. Promise." She kissed Skye's cheek. "I love you."
Skye looked at her Mama. "I love you, too." She turned to Simmons. "Get this crap off of my arm."
Jemma nodded with a little smile, and before Skye could have any second thoughts, grabbed the cast.
"Loud noise." She warned, then pressed the saw to the cast and began cutting.
At the horrific buzz of the saw cutting the cast, Skye pressed her face into May's shoulder. May held Skye's uncasted hand with one of her hands, and used her other to cover one of Skye's ears.
In less than a minute Jemma finished her sawing. Skye lifted her head to watch Jemma work.
"Ready?" Simmons smiled, holding up another of the instruments.
"What's that one do?" Skye asked.
"I'm going to use it to crack open the cast so that I can cut the padding."
"Okay."
Simmons spread the cast and made quick work of cutting the padding on both sides of Skye's arm. Once done, she put down the scissors and looked over to her friend.
"This is it, Skye."
May jostled her slightly to get her attention. "I want you to remember this moment, Skye. Remember what it feels like to be wearing a cast so that it reminds you for the rest of your life to never break a bone again."
Skye grinned. "Yes, Mama. Go for it, Jems."
Jemma smiled and opened the cast, revealing the slightly paler skin of Skye's right arm. Her nose wrinkled as she completely removed the cast.
"Ew, Skye. It stinks." Jemma laughed.
"Hey. It isn't my fault I haven't been able to clean my right arm for three weeks."
Jemma laughed even louder. "Oh my gosh, Skye." The doctor pointed to some little specs on Skye's arm. "You've had crumbs down there."
Skye inspected her newly released arm, testing the feeling by lifting it in front of her face and twisting her wrist. She brushed off the crumbs with the other hand.
"That is kinda gross." She agreed, grinning.
"How does it feel, honey?" May asked, petting Skye's shoulder. "All good?"
"I think so." Skye put her hand over May's face. "Yep. Works." She laughed and May brushed the hand off her face.
"I'm glad." She said with a little smirk.
"Me too." Skye stood up and flung her arms around Jemma. "Thank you for putting up with me, Jems."
Jemma hugged her back, still holding Skye's cast. "I'll always put up with you, Skye. We all will. We love you."
"Yeah. I love you, too."
May watched the girls fondly.
"Now," Jemma pulled back from the hug, "as much as I love you, I don't want this." She held out Skye's cast. "Here."
Skye took the cast, inspecting the grimy inside. "What am I going to do with it?" She held it out to May.
May moved her head back. "God, Skye, that does stink."
Skye sniffed it and grimaced. "It really does." She looked at it for a few seconds before her eyes lit up mischievously and she walked to the lab door.
May spun around in her chair. "Where are you going?"
Skye stopped with a hand on the door. "I'm gonna go hide this in Hunter's bunk. See how long it takes him to find the source of the smell."
May just shook her head as Skye grinned. At least she had two working arms now.
A/N: Review please! Let me know if you want more in the series and what you would like to see next. :) xxx
