Your reviews and alerts make my day. Sincere thanks to all of you who accompany me on this writing journey. Again, please excuse my deficiency in English language. I'm trying.
"Is it bad?" It was the sixteenth time the girl looked up at her after doing a pose, which occured during their fourth training session; May was getting more and more frustrated with the girl's insecurity and, furthermore, whoever was responsible for that.
"No, it's about average." It was also the sixteenth time May tried to reply with patience and honesty. May didn't sugar-coat her words to kids, not even for good purposes, but she went on saying, "You'll get better if you practice every day."
"Every day while I'm staying here?"
"No, every day till forever." May deadpanned. She wasn't joking really, but she was also not going to elaborate on that. The girl gasped.
Only a few more punches later, the girl looked up again, "How long will I stay with you anyway?"
"I don't know. We will see." May hoped her straight face would prevent the kid from asking this question ever again; at the same time, she had a sinking feeling that it wouldn't work at all.
"Can you mark it on the calendar when you know? " the girl seemed unfazed. She blinked her eyes innocently, "I learned how to read calendar and count down days two foster homes ago."
That little person managed to say the saddest thing in the world all the time without even trying. May pursed her lips noncommittally and changed the subject, "Do 10 more kicking and we will call it a day."
Fortunately kids usually had short attention span. The girl immediately dropped the previous issue and focused on the new one, "Can I do 20 and you show me how to somersault?"
The girl might be the first apprentice ever who dared to bargain with her, but May couldn't get mad. "Deal." she said, "The ones not reaching the same height as my hand don't count, you understand?"
Nodding in earnest, the girl started practicing. May elegantly moved herself out of her way. Apparently, the girl had good muscle strength for her age, but really lousy targeting ability.
Coulson was sitting in his room with the door wide open. He knew May was keeping a close eye on him, and this was practically his subtle way of inviting her in. It was pathetic, really, but he wasn't comfortable with initiating the talk when something was bothering him.
Neither did May.
Maybe that was why they were best friends for more than two decades - as reluctant as they were to open up themselves, they could sense it when the other need a push and never hesitated to do it.
＝x=
"Something bothering you? "
Looking up at the voice, he smiled at the figure standing in the doorway, relieved, "Little munchkin called me A.C. today."
"It sounds ridiculous on you." May looked amused, "Why did she do that?"
"She says 'Agent Coulson' is too long and hurts her tongue." Coulson grimaced.
A rare smile played on May's lips, "She knows how to spell already? Intelligent girl."
"She asked me to spell it for - That's NOT my point." he didn't mean to sound like whining though, "Skye used to be the only one who called me A.C."
"Uh, that one..." May said fondly, her gaze, however, fixing on Coulson's face. "You are worried about them." she pointed out, straightforward and precise as always.
"We literally vanished into thin air, and have no idea when we will return." Coulson sighed, "What did they think had happened to us?"
May had no answer for that. Instead, she sat down beside him, "They can handle themselves. You taught them well." her knees bumped into his, "They are smart kids...Adults, they are smart adults. They know to lay low, stick together and survive."
Between the two of them, May was the pessimist; hearing those word from her lightened his heart more than he had imagine. He managed an uncertain but grateful smile. "But I still feel like I let them down...stuck here,at this moment, when we are trying to rebuild S.H.I.E.D..." he said slowly.
The look on May's face was undecipherable, but her voice was warm, "You are doing your best, Phil. There's nothing else you can do about it." she paused and inhaled, "See this as a compulsory break from your duty. We never like it, but it helps us get back on our full speed."
"I didn't know you became such a persuasive talker." Coulson didn't know what to say, so he lamely chose to joke.
"I had a long time to myself, thinking." May responded solemnly. There was a moment when Coulson thought she was gonna say more, and but she just stopped. Coulson decided to push a bit further.
"And are you taking your own advice?"
"It's not that simple Phil."
"Agree. But it's also not so complicated as you believe." May glared, but Coulson continued pointedly, "You always say people believe what they need to believe."
"Phil..." Only a weak protest got out.
"Just think about it, ok?" said Coulson gently, "You take upon yourself to look after everyone. It's hard for me to see you... " he trailed off, fully aware that May might not appreciate the sympathy.
May didn't reply, but she didn't snap, either. Coulson took it as a hopeful sign.
They decided to spend the afternoon in a park. Locked up indoor was not beneficial to children, and so far no threat or intel had indicated that outdoor activities were high-risk. What's more, the kid was as dedicated to her training as a six-year-old could ever be; May would like to see the outing also as a reward.
They chose a park remote from their safe house - a precaution in case they needed to cover their tracks - with lakes, playground and trees.
To their bewilderment, among the three of them, the little girl was the least enthusiastic one about the outing. She had shrugged and said "ok but I don't like parks", and refused to explain why.
=x=
"Can I sit here with you guys?"
Coulson and May settled on the bench at the side of the playground, mimicking the other parents around, with the doe-eyed girl lingering around them, begging pitifully.
"We are boring old people. Go play with other kids. Run around." Coulson nudged the girl, pointing at the playground.
May was taken back by the morose look on the girl's face. She heard Coulson saying with kindness, "You want me to come with you?"
The girl shook her head mutely and turned around, dragging herself toward the crowd of screaming children around the slide.
Coulson shared a concerned look with May. They watched the girl take two rides on the slide, climb up the monkey bar like a pro and perch on it for a while, and in the end crouch down beside the sandpit.
It was late summer and the sand was likely burning hot, which must be the reason why no other children were playing in the sandpit. The girl wasn't actually playing either. Judging by her posture, she was most likely watching the non-exist fairies in the sand castle.
"She's too isolated for my liking." May finally arose, "I'll stay closer."
=x=
May took the place next to the girl, who was still eyeing the sands with incomprehensible concentration.
"What are you doing Mary?"
"Can I play with it?" the girl pointed at the sand.
"Be careful. It can be a little hot." she carried on before the girl was able to hide her disappointment, "But you can if you really want to."
The girl had picked up two handfuls of sand before she even finished talking. "Uh." she stuck out her tongue, and quickly let go, "you are right. It's hot."
May chuckled to herself, people like them just couldn't be convinced unless they saw it for themselves.
The girl was madly swiping her hands against her shorts, when suddenly her whole body froze. She looked up at May with wide fearful eyes.
"What's wrong? Did you burn yourself? "
"No." The kid kept holding her sandy hands behind, rigid.
May then realized what this was all about, because the kid was trying to clean up her shorts using her forearms and back of her hands in an extremely awkward way. Did she seriously believe that May would be mad at her dirty clothes?
At her wits end with this kind of situation, May just went for what she was familiar with, "I'll show you a new move. Practice." She bent her knees and demonstrated a clean jump, landing at the center of the sandpit lightly, "This is called standing long jump."
"I can jump INTO sand?" the girl gasped, her hands returning to her shorts. She eyed May cautiously after another wipe and found a tiny smile on the elder woman; she exclaimed, "You're so cool!"
May wondered whether she could include that last sentence in her mission assessment.
=x=
The girl indulged in her jumping practice contently. She wasn't a happy kid, but at the same time was surprisingly easy to please - her face lit up whenever May leaned over to give instructions. It was just like their training session, where the girl straightened up every time she talked to her. May felt herself important on a whole new level - not a deathly weapon, not an irreplaceable asset, but a person a kid looked up to.
Out of the corner of her eye, May saw a huge guy walking towards them. She had had her eye on that guy for a while, only because he would be difficult to take down. So far, the guy didn't appear to be a threat: early thirties, low-middle class outfit, had been playing with kids at the slide before they showed up...He could be a young father and nothing more.
The guy came up to them, smiling. "Your little girl is precious, ma'am." he said, "Please excuse my words, but is she a little unsocial? "
May sensed the girl attaching herself to her thigh immediately, tensing up. Furious, May was definitely feeling furious; but she opted for fake amiability, "No, she's a sweet girl. She is just kind enough to keep me accompanied."
"My apology. I have no ill intention. Just want to see if your daughter likes to join us. My daughter and her friends, they are over there." the guy gestured toward the slide; he did have a charm.
"And which one, may I ask, is your daughter? " May continued baring her teeth. The girl was desperately tugging at her shirt and she had to make it fast.
"Little Amy, blonde, blue dress. See..." the guy replied in confidence, but May's heart sank. The guy and the kid, they did look like they could be blood relatives, but May remembered with exceeding clarity that said girl didn't show much intimacy when the two interacted. Whatever this guy was up to, she had to separate him from all these kids as soon as possible.
"Why don't we let the kids figure things out by themselves. You and I can have a nice chat over there." May smiled persuasively, grasping the guy's hands with both of hers. It could be regarded as a coarse but innocent gesture, or it could be a good start to overwhelm the guy.
The guy was clearly taken by surprise. His sleeve was pulled up a little and May caught the sight of something with a familiar shape and metallic luster.
Dammit! Didn't see that coming.
Taking a glimpse of the surrounding, May saw Coulson was taking action.
"Dad's coming to get you home. Go!" she commanded in a low but firm voice, praying for the girl getting the hint.
Just a split second of distraction, May heard a loud CRACK and felt excruciating pain in her wrist. Both enraged and terrified, May lurched herself at the guy.
"Fancy meeting you, Mister." she spat sarcastically, "Luckily I've met your 2.0 version already."
There was shouting and screaming in the background, hundred of tiny childish voices, and she recognized her little girl's instantly. Was she harmed, or just scared? Did Coulson get to her in time? Was there a second assaulter?
There was no room for any futile thoughts. Her mind was falling into numbness as they rolled on the ground, hands at each other's throat. She was in hand-in-hand combat with a Deathlok. Even without Fitzsimmons collecting data and calculating the winning rate, she wouldn't bet money on herself.
TBC
To agentsj3: sorry, they didn't bring Lola with them :( I actually thought about it but decided that riding on a flying car is not really a good way to "stay low".
To E. A. L. Runaway: You are right. I feel sorry for little Skye in my story setting already.
To all the other reviewers: Thank you for your encouragement.
I hope you are ok with how I explore little Skye's psyche. I don't know if you think she is a little inconsistent. I feel like kids' inner-self can be very flexible and I try to develop more than one facet of her personality.
And please allow me to ask a really silly question: how do you feel about my cover image?
Comment on plots and characters are most welcomed.