I don't own Agents of SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Warning for major character death
Losing the whole team in one fell swoop had absolutely devastated Skye and Jemma. Their world just collapsed after The Incident (neither one of them could talk about it, despite what the SHIELD therapists mandated) and they couldn't find their way back out. They were trapped in their grief and had only each other to lean on. So it was no surprise Skye and Jemma's friendship turned into something more when everybody else left (died but neither of them could even say the dreaded word out loud). They could barely handle themselves without Coulson, May, Trip, Ward, and Fitz and each day was a struggle. Just waking up in the mornings hurt because their minds immediately flashed to their family. Skye leaned over and kissed her girlfriend after grabbing a cereal bowl from the cupboard. "You working in the lab today?"
Jemma nodded and wished she hadn't thought of Fitz in that moment. "Yes, and I'll be busy all day. What are you up to?" She had to keep herself busy so she didn't fall apart (again). She couldn't afford to do so, not when SHIELD still needed her help.
Skye shrugged. "Probably helping out Koenig with something he fucked up. I hate all of them, by the way. They're not very helpful."
Jemma laughed and instantly felt guilty. "You are not alone so don't fret about it. I'll talk to you later?"
She nodded. "Yeah, we'll meet up for lunch or something. How does that sound?"
"Wonderful!" But she was lying. Jemma needed her lunch time to herself so she could cry in peace without anyone finding out about it.
"Great!" Skye didn't tell her that she knew about the lunchtime meltdowns and had one of her own every day too. That's something she was determined to change today.
Awkward silence ensued until Jemma kissed her girlfriend on the way out and then she headed back up to the lab. Skye sat down on the couch to pull herself together – fuck, she needed to feel like herself and not empty just for a few minutes – before helping Koenig. When she stood up about three minutes later, she could almost pretend that everything was back to normal (it never would be again).
The two women met back up for lunch and made small talk the entire time, both unwilling to discuss the elephant in the room. "Fitz would like this," Jemma muttered.
Skye's fork clattered to the table. "Jemma, please."
She looked up at Skye with haunted eyes. "We can't keep pretending that they're out on a mission. We lost our team, people we loved. And we're the last ones standing, Skye. We have to accept it."
Skye's eyes welled up with tears and she glared at Jemma. "I don't want to."
"Neither do I but it's time we face reality and accept what happened." Jemma choked on a sob and put her head down on the table as the tears poured down her face.
Skye wanted to comfort her – she really did – but her own sobs overtook her and her whole body shook with them. "Fuck!" she cried.
When the two of them finally wore themselves out, they sat down to make a plan (they postponed their current plans because neither of them thought they could handle going back to work today). "So we're going after the Hydra agents who killed our family?"
Skye nodded. "These sons of bitches are going down and I don't care how it happens. They won't get away with this and they will pay for what they did."
"You're not going to use your powers are you?" Jemma was terrified of her girlfriend going down a dark path again – it had been hard enough to bring her back the last time but they had succeeded with Ward's help.
"I will as a last resort but don't worry about it. I don't think it's going to come to that." Skye hoped she looked reassuring enough.
Jemma didn't buy it for a minute but she didn't have it in her to argue (which was nothing new these days). "Fine. But we will make sure that this doesn't fail and neither one of us gets hurt."
Skye pulled Jemma's hair back from her face and kissed her. "I promise that this won't fail but you have to trust me."
"I do," Jemma assured her.
She smiled. "Great! That's settled then." And they proceeded to start thinking of a foolproof plan that would ensure their desired results.
That night in bed, Skye and Jemma held on to each other and cried together for the losses that haunted them every minute of the day. Seeking comfort in one another helped but it didn't close the holes in their hearts. Nothing ever would be able to accomplish that.
While hunting down the Hydra agents that destroyed their team, Jemma and Skye learned of another alien invasion about to occur. And it was one that Hydra supported. They knew they needed to stop it but were at a loss as to how.
And that's when Skye came up with a new plan she expected Jemma would hate – and was she was right. "This is the one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard come out of your mouth, and that's saying something," she ranted.
Skye glared at her. "Hey!"
"That was offensive and I apologize. But do you think we can pull this off?" Jemma was skeptical even though she trusted Skye.
She nodded. "We can pull this off, Jem, and save the world. It's up to us now and we have to do it."
Jemma sighed, defeated. "Fine, let's go ahead with your plan. I don't like it but it's the best one we've got."
"I knew you'd see it my way." And then Skye skipped off to go find what they needed, hopeful out Of the outcome of this.
Two days later, their plan came to fruition. Jemma looked over at Skye and grabbed her girlfriend's hand. This outcome – one of many they had discussed – wasn't what they had hoped for but they were prepared. "Are you ready for this?"
"At least we'll see them again." At least Skye hoped so.
"I love you, Skye."
"I love you too, Jemma."
And then the endgame of the plan took shape as they jumped down to fight the aliens. And while they didn't kill all of them, Skye and Jemma died together in a blaze of glory after saving the planet from another invasion. And they were finally reunited with the team they had mourned for so long.