AN: This is written for Annajadekin's prompt. I hope I do it justice.

Disclaimer: I still do not own Agents of SHIELD, no matter how much I hope.

Let the girl go.

The words were still buzzing around in Melinda's head. They had been since the incident in Bahrain, but now they were fresh. They had taken on new meaning and a new voice. Now her voice mingled with Phil's up in her head. Both situations kept playing over again in her mind, and neither were pleasant.

Flying often took her mind off her problems, but with them so fresh in her brain, the open skies did nothing to soothe her. Even the stars' gentle twinkling that she loved so much could not distract her. The two voices in her head were too much. They were determined to drag her down into the depths of insanity.

"Let the girl go," Phil had once said, but she knew that was impossible. Nothing she could do would ever wash that blood off of her hands. There was no way that she could simply let Katya go. Her conscience would cling to that young girl forever. Her ghost would never leave.

Her throat felt heavy, as if the weight of all her guilt was sitting on it. At the wheel, her hands shook slightly. She switched to autopilot, deciding that was safer. In her current state of mind, she didn't trust herself to fly. She didn't trust herself to do a lot of things.

There was a sound at the door, like hesitant footsteps. She assumed it was Phil, coming to check on her again. The man worried too much about her for his own good, especially since it was her job to be worried about him. Fury himself had ordered it. She ignored him, waiting for him to come to her first.

"Do you mind if I sit for awhile?"

Melinda blinked in surprise upon recognizing Skye's voice. The younger women had never come to the cockpit before. She wondered what Skye could possibly want. She had no idea.

"Go ahead," Melinda replied. Her voice sounded thicker than usual. She frowned at that. She couldn't let Skye know that anything was wrong.

Skye sat in the seat next to her, curling her legs under her. Judging by the stiffness of her muscles, she was nervous about something. Perhaps it was just Melinda herself that she was afraid of. Melinda didn't really mind that. A lot of people were afraid of her since she had adopted a cold, unfeeling persona. As long as she could make others believe that she felt nothing, maybe she could make herself believe it too.

Melinda continued to watch the other woman from the corner of her eye. Slowly, she began to relax. Her muscles loosened, and she slumped forwards, her shoulders caving in. Soon enough, she almost looked as if she felt at home in Melinda's presence, which was odd. There were very few people who felt completely comfortable around her, and they had all known her since before Bahrain.

"How are you doing?" Melinda finally asked. "After today I mean."

"I'm alright," Skye answered. "I won't lie, today was really weird, even for us."

"I agree," Melinda responded softly. Even with all the horrors she had seen, she wasn't prepared for that. Maybe that was why it seemed to be affecting her more than normal. This was the first thing that had really turned her stomach since Bahrain.

Melinda and Skye fell into a comfortable silence. The other woman didn't talk too much. It was refreshing. Phil was her best friend, but he talked too much. Sometimes, she just needed the silence. Skye seemed to understand that. She just stared absently ahead, not trying to force Melinda into any unwanted conversation.

At first, Skye's intrusion had felt like an annoyance, but now it was a comfort. She hadn't had anyone who would share her silence since her mother. She even found herself hoping that the hacker would come up to the cockpit more, if only to share her silence.

Melinda glanced over at her again, taking in her troubled expression. "You did good today," she told her. She was hoping to ease the other woman's troubles, but it was the truth.

Skye looked up at her in surprise. "T-thanks," she stuttered.

The two slipped back into silence again. Melinda focused on the moon. Only a small sliver was visible, but the light it gave was still calming. She had always loved the moon, even as a kid. She had wanted to go there someday, but life had other plans.

"I'm sorry," Skye blurted out.

"What?" Melinda asked, confused.

"For today. I judged you unfairly, and I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Melinda responded honestly. She never expected anyone to see past the facade she put up, nor did she want them to. Earlier, Skye had played exactly how she wanted her to. Judging by her apology, that would no longer be the case. The thought worried her, but it also provided a welcome distraction.

Melinda stifled a yawn. The day's events had taken a toll on her body as well as her mind. Beside her, Skye yawned as well. She knew that the hacker was often more tired than she let on. There was something that kept her from sleeping at night though Melinda didn't know what. Truthfully, she had always wondered and wanted to help, but she couldn't risk showing that much compassion. The mask that she had worked so hard to build might just crumble if she did.

"You should sleep," Melinda said. "I'm sure you need it."

"So do you," Skye replied.

The corner of Melinda's mouth twitched upwards in surprise and amusement. "Fair enough," she conceded.

In this line of work, sleeping problems were common. Many agents carried hosts of ghosts and demons around with them. Melinda felt as if she only carried one ghost with her, but that ghost was the size of an army. She knew that Skye must have picked up a few of her own somewhere, maybe even before joining SHIELD.

Minutes dragged by into hours, and soon Skye was asleep in her chair. Her head leaned against her hand in a way that Melinda knew would make her wrist sore, but she couldn't bring herself to wake the other. She didn't even know if she had the energy. Her own eyes were drooping, and she had never been so grateful for auto pilot. She curled up into her seat, letting her head rest along the back. Finally, she let her eyes close and her body fall into much needed sleep.