Next chapter for you all!

Have an awesome New Years everyone! Here's a super long chapter for the last chapter of 2014!

Also, Smileychameleon, I wrote out your scene :) It will be coming!

Thank you to all my readers and reviewers! I'd love to hear any of your thoughts on the story!

I do not own Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. That would be Marvel.

"May?"

May jerked away from the punching bag she had set up in the basement.

It was three days after the whole toy store fiasco and Skye was still mostly silent and stoic. They could count the number of times she had smiled on one hand. But She was definitely improving. She seemed more at ease, and had started talking without being spoken to first.

They were starting to see a glimmer of the child Skye might have been.

And now she was standing on the stairs, watching May beat the crap out of a bunching bag.

Skye however looked very unconcerned at what May was doing.

"What's the matter?" May rubbed her knuckles.

"Elsa is sad." Skye held up the doll.

Although she had initially thought Phil was crazy, May had soon realized that he was right; Skye spoke of the emotions she couldn't seem to express through the doll.

"Why is Elsa sad?" May carefully approached the girl.

She was horrible with kids. Where was Phil?

"Because, Phil left to get more milk. But Elsa isn't sad here with you." Skye said seriously.

Shit. Coulson was gone which meant she had to face the hardest task she had encountered alone; childcare.

"Here, you can hold her!" She held up the doll and May took it gingerly. The last toy she had held she had torn the head off of.

Holding the precious doll, May watched Skye wander around the little makeshift gym.

"Pete had one of those," she pointed at the elliptical.

"Who's Pete?" May cautiously trailed behind Skye.

"One of my foster dads." Sky turned to examining the dumbbells, trying to pick one up and quickly giving up.

And suddenly Skye saw the treadmill.

The blood drained from her face and her tiny frame began shaking.

May immediately saw the telltale signs of the beginning of a meltdown.

"Phil!" she yelled. He could always calm the girl down.

Wait. Shit. He had run to the store.

Shit.

She was going to have to do this on her own.

Skye's body was beginning to shut down, her lively chocolate eyes glazing over. May shoved the doll into her arms, picked up the girl and carried her upstairs, away from the treadmill.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're alright." She rubbed the little back gently in circles. Finally the shaking and sobbing subsided and May found that Skye was clinging to her, little arms wrapped around her neck.

Slowly, May relaxed. She wrapped her arms around Skye and held her, rocking the little girl slightly back and forth.

"They made her run a treadmill." May reported to Coulson after Skye had been put to bed.

"I'll make a note of it."

May watched Coulson's jaw clenched as he turned to his computer and began typing. They were compiling a growing list of the tests they were able to figure out had been performed.

Some were told through Elsa. Others were discovered through panic attacks triggered by objects used, such as the treadmill. It was becoming more and more clear that Centipede had been testing physical aspects, such as endurance and strength, of Skye.

"I'm angry too," May said quietly.

Coulson turned sharply to look at her.

"Thank god they didn't physically hurt her more, other than the blood drawing."

Both agents were silent for a moment.

"Do you think they wanted to test a new device on her?"

"Probably. Their last devices caused the human subjects to explode. Her status as an 0-8-4 would mean there was a chance it would work on her."

Silence again.

"We just need to figure out what kind of device it was and then I think we'll be good on information gathering and we can focus on taking care of Skye." Coulson closed the laptop.

Again, silence.

"She must have been so scared, all these things happening, people forcing her to do things she didn't want to, and she didn't understand what was happening…" Coulson stared at the wall in front of him. "For God's sake, she's only five."

"Stop." May's voice was low.

"What?" Coulson turned to look at her.

"Just stop." May turned and stalked out of the room. She went to the basement and started punching the bunching bag but ended stopping and staring at the treadmill, imagining a scene in a white room with Skye crying and just wanting to stop and…

Before she knew what was happening, May had grabbed two dumbbells and brought them down onto the treadmill. She crushed every piece of the treadmill with an anger she did not understand.

"I think it's time we started some semblance of school," Coulson announced at breakfast. Skye looked up from her oatmeal, chocolate eyes brightening.

"Can Elsa come to school too?" she asked, holding up the doll.

"Of course," Coulson smiled, the edges of his eyes crinkling. "What do you think May? Should we tackle some homeschooling?"

"Absolutely," May nodded. "Skye will start self defense lessons with me this morning."

"What does that mean?" Skye asked innocently.

"Skye, can you go up to your room and get your raincoat?" Phil practically pushed Skye out of the room before turning on May.

"May, she's five!" he hissed.

"The earlier, the better," May said calmly, picking up her plate.

"May, we have to discuss this!" Phil banged his hand against the table. "God dammit, May, I don't want her learning how to fight! I want her to play and enjoy what shred of childhood she hasn't had taken from her!"

"Listen, Phil. Centipede is still out there. There are millions of organizations that would kill to get their hands on Skye. For all we know, she isn't even human. They don't care that she's five! Someone out there leaked her identity and location, it could happen again. If she's ever taken again, this is the least we can do."

"You think there's a mole?" Coulson looked steadily at May.

Her dark eyes were full of an unreadable emotion.

"All I'm saying is Centipede somehow found Skye and we haven't found out how yet. Until we can guarantee security on Skye's location and identity, she isn't safe."

"Phil, I got my coat!" Skye ran into the room. "Where are we going?"
Coulson and May stared at each other for a moment.

"We need to get you supplies for your self defense lessons. And some books for lessons. And what if we drop by the toy store and pick up an Anna doll as a special treat? Cause we still want you to keep playing and having fun even though we'll be having some school and lessons. How does that sound?"

"Good!" Skye smiled.

Phil caught May's gaze and she nodded.

"Alright, are you ready?" May turned to look at Skye.

She was dressed in a black shirt that said I MAY LOOK CUTE BUT I'M A NINJA and black tights.

May supposed it was Coulson's idea of a joke and she vowed to not let Coulson shop for Skye's clothes alone ever again.

Not that the little girl would be needing another set anytime soon. And by the time she did, their mission would be over and…

May violently pushed away that thought, not sure why it seemed to cause her so much unease.

All missions came to an end. They were only a stepping-stone in Skye's life; taking care of her while the threat against her was eliminated.

And part of taking care of Skye meant starting to teach her how to take care of herself.

May forced herself to focus and looked again at Skye.

Her brown hair was in a little ponytail that was horribly messy and could only have been done by Coulson.

May was suddenly aware of how tiny Skye was.

She could literally lift the girl up with one hand. She was fragile in so many ways.

Fragile, but surprisingly strong. Stronger than any five year old should have to be.

This was going to have to be a very special lesson.

"Alright, first we're going to start with something called threat assessment…"

"Did she understand a word you said?" Coulson grinned as May and Skye walked into the kitchen.

May just glared at Phi, but he could tell she wasn't really upset.

"Phil, I learned threat assessment!" Skye chirped.

"Oh good," Phil's blue eyes sparkled.

Skye started to climb onto her chair but slipped. As if in slow motion, Coulson watched Skye fall backward, head on collision course with the corner of the table…

With lightening reflexes, May grabbed Skye and set her on the chair.

"Are you ok?" May checked Skye for injuries with surprising tenderness.

Skye nodded.

"Here, I will get you some water. It is important to stay hydrated."

Skye watched May walk away then turned to Phil.

"What's hydrated mean?"

"It means you drink lots of water," Coulson informed her.

"Oh."

Skye's face darkened.

"Skye, are you okay?" Coulson quickly caught the change in mood and sensed a coming panic attack.

Skye just nodded, not looking at Coulson, instead leaving the table and finding her Elsa doll.

"Want to draw with me?" Phil stood up and grabbed a stack of paper and box of crayons.

Skye shook her head and turned away.

"I think Elsa wants to draw with me." Phil put the paper down on the coffee table. "I'm going to draw her a snowflake."

Skye turned and watched Phil attempt to draw a snowflake.

"You're a bad drawer," she observed.

"Thanks," Phil was amused by her comment.

"But, Elsa likes it," Skye relented, taking the drawing.

"Hmm. What should I draw now?"

"Draw May," Skye suggested.

Coulson blanched at the idea.

"That would be a dangerous game to play for me, especially with my drawing skills. How about you draw her?"

Soon Skye was filling pages with bright crayon lines, utterly focused.

"What's happening in this one?" Phil picked up a drawing of a brown haired girl. The girl looked like she was crying but she also could have been eating blueberries. Coulson wasn't quite sure. "Or this one?"

He spied a drawing that made his blood run cold.

It was a drawing of a brown haired girl lying on a table, grey bands on her wrists and legs. In the margin of the paper, there was a drawing of a needle.

He slowly picked it up.

Skye looked at him with large eyes, full of a pain he couldn't bear to see. Her eyes told him all he needed to know.

The moment had finally come.

Skye was telling him what had happened. What she couldn't manage to say in words, she was drawing for him to see.

He was supposed to tell her it was all just a dream, just like he told her when she really did wake up from nightmares. But this time, she was awake and aware.

"Skye…"
He couldn't say the lie. He couldn't tell her all her pain wasn't real, that it was just the result of a fever.

He doubted Skye would believe him anyways. She was smart, and definitely smart enough to know what actually happened and what didn't.

Fury was sure she could be convinced otherwise.

He was sure she could not.

They had to face what happened in order for Skye to heal from it.

So he would not even try the lie. He would not invalidate her pain or break her trust.

Instead he carefully smoothed Skye's soft hair, tucking a strand behind her ear.

"You are safe now, I promise."

"You didn't tell her the lie we were ordered to tell her."

May joined Coulson on the couch. Skye had just gone to bed and based on the patterns of the past week, they had at least half an hour before the first nightmare.

"No. I didn't."

The light was dim and Phil could not quite see May's face.

"Then I will not either."

Before he could say more, May was gone.

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