AN: Merry Christmas friends! Hope you're all having a great day! Enjoy your turkey and your family time, and I hope you all got everything you wanted! If you're in the mood for some SkyeWard Christmas cuteness, check out my new oneshot, "Delay", and don't forget to review!
"So what was that thing you had to get?" Skye asked as they walked back down the hall, away from the Director's office.
"A hard drive. I don't know what was on it, just that it was important. The Director told me exactly where it would be. 372 Hillman Street. Eleventh Floor. Center row, fifth desk from the stairwell. Middle drawer on the left. He was pretty specific."
"How'd he know all that?"
"The Director is a pretty mysterious guy, none of us know for sure his background, except for the Calvary. The two of them go way back, but none of us really know her story either… Anyways, what I'm getting to is that when I was there, looking for the hard drive, I noticed his name on a couple of memos in the drawer. I'm assuming he used to work there."
"Okay, but you risked your life to get a hard drive, and you don't even know why?"
"If the Director says that it's important, then it is. Oh, Hey, Jem!" Grant called down the hallway, causing the redhead at the end of the corridor to turn around and wait for them to catch up. "Jem, this is Skye. I brought her in, the Director wants you to run a check on her."
"Wait, what does that mean exactly?" Skye interrupted.
"Oh, it's standard procedure," the girl explained. "Anytime someone new comes in I do a physical examination. Blood work, eye exam, stuff like that. Make sure that you're fit and healthy and, most importantly, verify that you're not carrying the virus. You haven't been bit, have you?"
"No, of course not."
"Good! Well, I'm just wrapping up a few things, would you mind meeting me outside my lab in about half an hour? T-K can show you where it is."
"Yeah, no problem. We actually passed it on the way in. I'll be there."
"Lovely. Cheers!"
"Cool, well we have just enough time to find you a bunk then" Grant said after Jemma walked away. He lead her down yet another hallway, this one lined with doors on either side. It kind of reminded Skye of the dorm hallways of colleges she'd seen in movies and stuff. About halfway down they stopped and Grant opened one of the doors. "This one to your liking?" he asked as she walked into the room. Skye's feeling of a college residence increased, but she liked it.
"Yeah, it's great. Thanks!"
"No problem. And my room's just across the hall, if you need anything… I'll let you get settled, just come knock on my door if you want me to walk you to Jem's lab later."
"I think I can find it, but maybe I'll get you to give me the full tour later? I've really only seen this hallway and the one that leads to the Director's office."
"For sure. I'll see you later then." Grant hesitated a moment longer, but then quickly stepped out of the room and shut the door behind himself.
Skye looked around the room momentarily. The walls were all a neutral shade of beige, and there weren't any windows, since they were below ground. She was pleased to find that the artificial lighting wasn't too strong though. She'd pretty much been expecting harsh fluorescents, but instead the room was washed in a warm white glow. There was a wardrobe in the corner, not that she had much to wear, although now that she was settled down she might try and build up a bit of a variety, and set in one wall was a door. She cracked it open and found her own little bathroom. Nothing fancy, just a toilet, a stand-up shower, and a sink, but it was all that she needed. Smiling, Skye went back into the main room and flopped down on the bed. She practically moaned it felt so good. She hadn't slept in a proper bed in months. She almost fell asleep right then and there, but instead forced herself to get up and take a quick shower before going to meet Jemma. There wasn't any shampoo or soap, but those had become slightly less common things. Still, Skye was more than happy for the chance to just rinse most of the grime off of herself. That done, she stepped out of the shower, towel dried her hair, put her clothes back on, and set out for her doctor's appointment.
Skye was certain that she knew exactly where Jemma's lab was. But it turned out, the BUS was slightly more complicated than she'd thought, and she wound up taking a wrong turn or two. She wound up completely lost, and she didn't even know how to get back to the bunks to ask Grant to show her. She was starting to give up hope when all of a sudden a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around and pressed her to the wall.
A tall woman with blonde hair stood in front of her, with her forearm pressed against Skye's throat. It wasn't choking her yet, but Skye knew that that could change in a heartbeat.
"Who are you?" the woman demanded.
"I'm Skye! Grant, T-K, he brought me here. I'm just trying to find Jemma's lab for my checkup but I got lost." The woman looked her over once more, searching her eyes for any signs of a lie. Finally she was satisfied, and she let her go.
"Sorry about that. Can't be too careful these days. Around here they call me Mockingbird, but my friends call me Bobbie. You can take your pick. And as for Jemma's lab, just go down to the end of this hallway, hang a left, and then just keep walking straight. You'll find it."
"Thanks. I'll see you around, I'm sure."
"That you will. See ya, Skye."
Skye's physical went without a hitch, and she managed to find her way back to the bunks without incident. As promised, Grant gave her the tour of the BUS, including the training room, shooting range, kitchen, storage lockers, armoury, and what they called the 'central coms room', which had some HAM radio equipment and a supply of short-range radios. The charging stations for the walkie-talkies all had wires running into the walls, which drew Skye's attention, but Grant explained that Fitz had converted the BUS to run on solar energy.
They had dinner with the entire team, then hung out in the lounge with Jemma and Trip and Fitz. They wound up being the last two to go to bed that night. The other three all called it a night pretty early, but both Skye and Grant were somewhat night owls. They stayed up talking until almost 3am before they started walking back to their rooms. When they got to their doors, they both stood there a bit awkwardly for a moment, before Skye took the leap and stood up on her tippy toes to kiss him. He kissed her back, and in that moment Skye would have sworn that magic was real.
"Good night, Skye" he whispered to her gently. Skye smiled and retreated into her room as he walked into his.
"Good night, Grant" she whispered to his closed door.
AN: Thanks for reading! Please favourite, follow, and Review! Merry Christmas!