Tick Tock, The Race Against The Clock

AN: Alright this Chapter may be a little different in format, and my hope is it plays out alright, I've never been more nervous for a chapter before...But I felt I needed to make up for that last chapter. You're all either going to hate me for good reasons or.. Bad reasons. But either way i'm going to cower in a corner in fear. Don't hurt me.

Italics are 'Present' Time. The Chapter itself takes course over multiple days

Warning- Chapter contains Violence and other intense scenes. You've been warned.

-Present-

"You idiot, what were you thinking? Pulling your gun out like some kind of rookie." Garrett paced in the rundown building him and Cal were held up in, the mess that Cal caused had put everything into jeopardy, everything was falling apart. "You really fucked up, just couldn't keep your cool could you? Now look at the consequences of your actions." The Man spat out, he was already in on this more than he wanted. He sure as hell didn't want anyone dead though, but now there were too many loose ends.

Cal, covered in Blood casually sat down on the beat down couch. "So the red-head probably bled out by now, and the Blonde is sleeping peacefully in the other room, they shouldn't have tried to be some kind of Hero, like out of some kind of fairy tale." One more person dead to Cal was more or less the equivalent of killing an insect, he didn't care. He got the girl, his Daughter.. The only one person he had left in this world. Cal looked over to the unconscious girl.. "Daisy" He whispered, as he stared at his Daughter.

... (10 Days Ago)

Skye had been so well behaved at the School, and if May was being honest it should've been a little concerning. But with Skye it was always hard to read what she was feeling, because Skye herself often didn't know how she felt. But Skye herself seemed rather attached to Pepper, it was then that May really took notice that she really only trusted Women, she'd make sure to tell all of Natasha's friends to not be too offended tomorrow for the Party.

By the time they had arrived Home, Natasha was already waiting for her little sister with Bobbi. Upon opening the door Skye was greeted by the smiles of both of her Sisters. "Hi Skye!" Bobbi cheerfully said to her Sister. "How was your Day?"

"It was fun, I gots to meet my new Teacher! And you know what? I used to not like School b'fore, My old teacher would yell at me when I couldn't read the books, but Ms. Potts wasn't mean at all!" Skye explained to her sisters, the smile never leaving her face even as she explained a bad part of her past. Bobbi couldn't help but feel for her new baby sister, she knew what it was like to be treated different and labeled. "You can tell me and Tasha all about it on the way to the park."

All this Kid needed was some love and a gentle tug into the right direction. She had come so far, in such a short amount of time.

Skye beamed, the park did sound like so much fun, and she was with two people who would keep her safe, she knew this now.

"Is Mommy coming?" Skye looked up and finally met the smiles on everyone's faces. Yeah, she used the term 'Mommy' again, and as weird as it still was nothing had ever felt more right in her life, although in Skye's extremely short life, it had been a life of solitude and abuse- If someone said she didn't belong, she believed it, if someone said it was her fault, she believed it- so when Skye had finally found one person she could absolutely trust it seemed almost perfect on how attached and dependent she became on May, and May embraced it wholeheartedly. May for a split second looked like she could cry, out of happiness of course. "I'd love to Baby but I have to take care of a few things. The park is only down the street and both of your sisters have phones so if you need me, don't be afraid to have them call me."

"Don't worry about us Mom, we'll be fine." Natasha waved their Mother off as she slipped her shoes on, Skye didn't look like she'd be able to stand still for much longer.

As they began their Journey to the Park, Skye quickly became aware of something. Since she came to live with this Family she had never really spent much time away from May, especially for an extended period of time. "Everything okay Maluytka?" Bobbi grinned over the nickname her little sister had given Skye, Bobbi knew a few languages though her Russian was.. Not great really, She was Fluent in Spanish, Italian and even Mandarin. Her Russian was more or less what her sister had taught her, beside vulgar words that is. Skye nodded sheepishly, she was fine. She really was, she just felt a little sad. "I just miss Mommy." It wasn't a lie either, and the word still rolled off her tongue so effortlessly. Natasha and Bobbi stopped in their traps, Bobbi didn't fully understand much about the girl, but Natasha did- so the red-head knelt down to the girl, "It's okay to miss her." Natasha said with a voice that you could feel the love with every word she said. "It is?" Skye asked, and truthfully Skye didn't know what was right or wrong, what was good or bad.. Well, strike that, she knew full well what Good and Bad were. Good were the people she lived with now. A Mommy, Phil, Natasha, Hunter, and Bobbi- Bad were all the people in the past who hurt her.

"It's more than okay. You're so special, and a member of this Family. Now, tell us all about your day while we walk."

Skye nodded, and the talking helped to keep her distracted.

-Present-

"This..." Garrett motioned his arms around the building, specifically the situation. "This is a disaster. You were supposed to be shadowing the Family- Strike when no one would be around. Why Cal? Explain why you did what you did, you reckless imbecile!" Garrett yelled with a tone and emotion of pure aggression. "I shadowed them for over a week. I wanted my little girl!" Cal growled out and slammed his hands onto the makeshift table. "Now I finally have her, and no one will take her from me!"

In that moment of aggression, almost instantaneously after those words, Skye had shot up in a panic, the events flooding her mind like a train going top speed, she wanted to scream, but she was terrified.. As she looked around her surroundings in the beat down building her eyes began to swim, and tears poured down as she remembered. Blood... There was so much Blood, and Skye tried to fight them off like her new Mom and Sister taught her, but they threw her to the ground and... Well she remembered she hit her head pretty hard and the back of her head was... Pretty Sore. "Daisy, it's okay. I'm here now." Skye saw the blurry Man and his outfit was covered in blood. That made the situation worse."M-Mommy!" Skye cried out in desperation and fear... These were strangers... And boys, the two things she could never trust. Cal had tried to call her again and Skye yelled again, her name wasn't Daisy! "That's not my Name! I want my Mommy!" Skye cried even harder. Abuse wasn't an unknown entity to Skye by far, but after just learning she was safe only to have it all taken away from her completely shattered everything she started to believe in.

-10 Days Ago-

Skye had fun at the Park with Natasha and Bobbi, She had got to swing and run around for an hour when her feet started to hurt. Tasha and Bobbi never left her eyesight, not even for a minute and Skye had never felt more safe, her mind was completely taken off of May with her two sisters. Yes, they were her Sisters who didn't hurt her. Skye walked up to Natasha that was sitting with Bobbi on a bench close by and climbed into her lap while Tasha and Bobbi were mid conversation. Skye wasn't sure what they were talking about but they seemed to be talking about some kind of Van or something, but Skye was tired, most days she would actually nap- and today was a big day for her, she'd never nap for long but it was just one of those traits May couldn't find it in herself to break. She was healing, and she wouldn't take the things that made her comfortable away, the healing of the mind was something different.

"Ready to head home? It'll be dark soon." Tasha asked as she ran her hand through Skye's hair, the little girl could only find herself nodding. She was beyond exhausted, Today was great. Skye wished she could have every day as good as this one, but she knew Bobbi had to go back to School soon and even Hunter was leaving Tomorrow night.

Skye liked Hunter, when he was around he was playful, goofy even. But he never pushed anything too far, He'd always wait for her before he did anything, She appreciated that.

Natasha took the cue and picked Skye up, and the girl wrapped her arms around Tasha's neck and position herself on her sisters shoulder, she was happy the house wasn't too far away.

The gentle bumping was actually much like rocking almost and was pretty soothing for Skye, she tried to move her body slightly in Natasha's arms so she was more comfortable and had access to her thumb easier. "Tired?" Bobbi asked as she looked over to Skye, taking notice of the girls features and how little she actually looked for her age. Skye didn't audibly respond, she just nodded sleepily as her eyes started to droop.

They were unaware they were being followed...

"So.. They do this routine often maybe, and their home is close, this could be the ideal time to take my little girl back Garrett... Garrett?" Cal called over. "No... It's too open, and there's way to many people here, we wait until we find a better consistent area, this ones off limits."

Cal mumbled, "We'll see about that."

-Present-

May couldn't make sense of what was happening.. Her girls.. Skye was kidnapped.. Natasha was shot.. And Bobbi was missing- presumably with the same people who took Skye and shot Natasha, Phil was shouting at people and May had one of those moments where time stood completely still and emptied the contents of her stomach. This was any Mothers worse nightmare. The sound forced Phil to stop his verbal assault on everyone and aid his Wife. He looked at her with tears in his eyes, as well as hers. Their worlds had shattered. "Mel.. Baby." Phil's voice cracked, he tried desperately to force the words his wife needed from his throat, admittedly this was a time where he needed to be strong. "We'll find them."

May was just a wreck and Phil was just... Well he wasn't doing any better actually, May was usually good with keeping her emotions in check. May never uttered a word, she just reached for her phone with a shaky hand and dialed a number. Melinda May still had favors, weakness was NOT an option, but she couldn't stop herself from fearing the worst. Her girls were still alive, she knew that much.

Phil noticed the number she was dialing.

"Fury..." May paused and Phil visibly stiffened, surely she wasn't going to call in THAT favor... Right? "I.. I need your help, My Family's been attacked, My girls are missing. You help me, and we will have a conversation at length about me coming back... Yes Nick- You owe me, And I also know you've been behind my back despite no contact. Help me, and I'll owe you." May shifted her phone to her other ear. Her body was in the process of fight... or Die trying, She wasn't Melinda May-Coulson right now, Na... She was in this moment a Mother on a path of justice

"We're doing this?" Phil asked as he put his hand to her Shoulder. "No, I'm doing this with a small team. You help keep our daughter alive." Her words had come out a lot harsher than she intended. "You're the only one who can, and that I trust. There may still be another attack Phil." Her words cut, but she was right. Their family was still in danger.

"I need to call Skye's Social Worker..." Phil trailed off as he watched his Wife walk away, whether it was shock or not- he could not say.

-10 Days Ago-

It'd been bothering Skye for a little while now since she found out Natasha's Birthday was coming up. She really wanted to do something nice, so Tasha would love her forever. "Mommy?" Skye quietly called out as she made her way downstairs, May was sitting on the couch with Phil and were watching some kind of Soap Opera but Phil didn't seem to into it since he was reading a Book. "Yes Baby? Did you have a good nap?" Skye nodded for some reason, "m'Kay. I need help with somethin'" May wondered for a second what she might need help with, it was a little out of Character for Skye. "Like what?"

She wondered, She knew Natasha's Birthday was tomorrow, she had to do something nice. "I need to get Tasha somethin' for her Birthday." Skye's voice was very serious. Her tone actually left no room for argument- and with good reason, though May couldn't help but see how adorable her facial expression was. She wanted Natasha to love Skye, the same way Skye loves Natasha. "I wanted to make somethin' but m'not good at things." Her voice trailed off at her admittance.

"Baby, you're very good at things. And you can help me with Tasha's gift. I was going to make her a Cake and the helpers usually get to eat some of the frosting. Up for the Job?" May asked with a curious eye-brow and Skye's eyes lit up. "Yes! Yes! I can be a good helper, promise!" Skye was glad to help with something, and could feel some of the anxiety dwindle within

9 Days Ago

Hunter and Bobbi had annoyingly kept Natasha occupied all morning while Skye and May made an awesome Triple layered Chocolate Fudge Cake... Skye wasn't sure she had seen so much Chocolate in her life, and every time May turned away Skye would grin and take a little bit of frosting, whether or not May actually noticed was yet to be seen. "Mommy?"

May smiled at her little girl, who was just a mess. "Yes little one?"

Skye sucked in a breath, "I love you Mommy, and I hope Tasha has the best Party ever!" It was one thing to call someone 'Mom' or 'Mommy' but it was another thing to use the words 'Love' but as expected May had just smiled, it was really silly for Skye to even think May would be mad, but she wasn't.

"Remember Skye, Tasha's friends are a little older, and bigger, they might be loud. If you get scared what do we do?" May gently asked as she leaned down to the girl, frosting smeared across her face. "I take a breath and count to 10?" May nodded, it was a little breathing exercise Andrew had suggested, that vaguely worked with Natasha when she was younger. "That's right. I know you can sometimes get a little overwhelmed with Boys, but Steve and Bucky are very kind. They're actually both really childish."

"Like Hunter?" Skye wondered, and May let out a grin and a small chuckle. "Well, Lance is worse than a child- You're way more Mature than he is, and you're 7."

"Bloody Hell, I can hear you, you know."

May elected to ignore her annoying son and put her hand gently on Skye's face, "You need a bath before everyone gets here."

Why Hunter decided to join the academy was beyond May, but infuriated her even more was he had to leave tonight, after Tasha's Birthday..

"Are you scared?" May asked as she finished washing Skye's hair. Skye lightly shrugged her shoulders, she wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling exactly. "I.. There's gonna be a lot of people." Skye admitted with a guilty look, she was nervous to meet Steve and Bucky. Their names sounded nice but she didn't know them. "Just remember, they're big kids and won't hurt you."

It couldn't be so bad right? Skye had never been to a party before anyway.

It felt weird having a party, Natasha protested it to the fullest extent. She was older now, and had everything she could ever have wanted. All she ever wanted was to be free of the horribly cold Russia, and all the terror that accompanied it. She had that now, she didn't like parties. It was a compromise with her Mother as it was the year before and the years even before that. She missed Clint, but she knew he was doing good- Steve and Bucky were her best friends. Less people the better anyway, for Skye's sake. Bobbi and Hunter being there and fighting constantly was like having a dozen people anyway. They were always fighting.

The door bell finally rang and Phil opened the door.

"Mr. Coulson" The taller boy said as he extended his hand. "Steve, Bucky, good to see you. Come in, come in."

Phil said as he shook his hand, Phil always liked Steve, very respectable. "Bucky you too, how are you feeling?" Phil asked, after Bucky's surgery Phil had been around often at the Hospital with the rehab. "I'm feeling good, thanks."

Phil smiled as he let the two in, Bucky was in an accident a few years back. His arm was entirely crushed and had to get a prosthetic- Which Bucky learned with science getting better and better prosthetic were getting better too.

He's heard rumors of attaching nerves to a nearly robotic arm... One Day..

"Happy Birthday Tash!" Steve said as he and Bucky made their way into the house, She was sitting on the floor with a little girl and appeared to be counting. "Who's this?" Bucky asked, Skye looked up before quickly hiding her face in Tasha's shirt.

Natasha smiled "My baby sister, Skye. We were just doing some counting, weren't we malyutka?"

Skye poked her head out a little bit and nodded shyly. Natasha's friends didn't seem so scary. "Tasha helps me with my Homework 'cos I'm not good at counting yet." Skye admitted and she felt embarrassed. "I'm sure you're really good at counting Skye. I'm Steve. And this-" he pointed to Bucky, "this is Bucky my step-brother"

Skye shyly waved and went to put her Homework away. "I've got an idea, follow me- you too Skye." Natasha led the 3 Down the stairs. "I set the mats up earlier. Think you can still take me?" Natasha asked. "We're going to spar now?" Steve asked but didn't get an answer, instead Natasha just tossed some sparing gear his way. "Pay attention Skye, this is why we girls are better in every way." Skye smiled and nodded, she liked watching May and Tasha fight, well.. Spar- it was play fighting she decided.

Natasha reached for her bow-staff, which to Skye's disappointment wasn't a bow, it was just a long stick. She watched Natasha make a weird hand movement to fling it backwards so it held behind her body. "You sure you want to do this Tasha? You can still back away." Steve smiled playfully. "You wish." She said as she took her staff and swung it forward. Skye was amazed when her stick collided with Steve's.

"Whoa" Skye said in amazement.

Skye heard a soft chuckle before they sticks continued to collide multiple times, eventually Skye saw her Sister sweep Steve's feet with the stick and he fell backwards. "I think that's what? 20-8 now? You keep leaving your legs completely unguarded." Natasha reached her hand out for Steve and pulled him up. "Yeah, Yeah..."

"Want a quick lesson Skye?" Skye's head perked up. "Will it hurt?"

"No, I'm going to teach you how to get away from someone who's bigger than you. Steve and Bucky are going to be my two dummies."

Natasha pulled her sister gently onto the Mat. "Now watch and then you do." Bucky smiled as he playfully grabbed Natasha and put his hand softly around her throat, Skye thought it looked like it hurt her. "First you grab his arm like this" Natasha demonstrated and pulled her thumb and yanked his hand "Then you twist your body and use your momentum to push them off you."

Skye nodded enthusiastically at the instructions.

It was a little awkward at first- being much smaller and underweight for her age especially. But as usual and to Skye own amazement- she caught on rather quick.

"Very good Skye!" Natasha's praise was all she needed, "Now this is the best way to spend my birthday! My 3 favorite people."

"I'll let Clint know" Steve joked

"Yeah he's going to love we're the favorites" Bucky teased

"You knew what I meant." Natasha glared at the two.

"We should probably get back up soon."

And that was Skye's own highlight of the day- in truth watching her sister fight was frightening but she wanted to learn more. It was really cool she had to admit. If Skye was strong and brave like her Mom and Tasha then she wouldn't be afraid of anything!

Steve and Bucky had to leave early, which left the family together for cake. Natasha couldn't help herself. She had one single request- ice cream cake. Chocolate specifically, if there was one thing Natasha adored in the sweets department it was chocolate. How could you go wrong? It also appeared that Skye shared the same love for sweets, the little girl was once again, a mess. "Malyutka I think you got more on you than in you."

Skye shrugged as she took another bite. It was really good. She wanted to relish in this peace, she had enjoyed hanging out with Natasha and her friends, and she knew Hunter was going to School or something before bed, he had his bags all packed already.

-Present-

May said nothing as she strolled through the small base. It was an older place her and Phil had for emergencies... much like this. May quickly changed to her Shield Uniform. Something that had plagued her heart for years after those Kids... No she didn't haven't time to stroll down memory lane. She reached for an encrypted line she had for Fury only. "Nick. Send me your 3 best. You get me my girls back and I'm yours."

Fury agreed, he wasn't going to stop a mother on a path of.. well he hoped justice but this was Melinda May after all.

It was during the scuffle after Skye had snuck in and freed Bobbi, Garrett had grabbed Skye and threw her pretty effortlessly too, Skye didn't even feel her head connect with the wall and then the ground. In fact, she didn't feel anything. She sat back up in a daze, her vision had instantly blurred to a cloudy red. She was bleeding, and her eyes felt heavy all of a sudden but she felt no pain.

Bobbi jumped from her chair and yelled, and it kind of looked like they were fighting, but Skye couldn't be sure. Someone was on the ground though and she heard Bobbi talking. Skye tried to say something but no words came out.

"Baby, you're fine. But you need to stay awake!" That was definitely Bobbi's voice... but it sounded so far away, and muffled. All she heard was Stay Awake and then it hit her just how sleepy she was. Bobbi needed to fix this situation... And fast. It'd been 2 days of this... Hell.

"Now you've done it, you little bitch!" Garrett said as he stood back up, he had his gun pointed at the girls, though Skye couldn't comprehend what was happening. "I was going to let you live, but now... Now I've changed my mind." He cocked his gun and took aim at the blonde. "If I'm being honest, I didn't want this. But loose ends need to be tied up." Garrett stepped closer so the barrel of the pistol was touching her forehead. That was his mistake and the moment Bobbi needed, he had let his guard down. All this Man saw was a weak and defenseless girl, not the Cavalry's Daughter. Bobbi jerked her hand and interlocked her thumb with the mans palm and she twisted his arm and disarmed him. John grabbed his hand and eyed the girl down. "Clever... But do you have what it tak-" He was cut off by the sound of a bullet. She tossed the gun to the ground and looked over to Skye. Her face was pale and her eyes were closed. "Skye!" Bobbi cried out. "Come on, Wake up!"

Skye didn't wake up. Bobbi was left in an impossible situation. Skye wasn't moving, and she had at least one more assailant to get through. Time was not on their side.

2 Days Ago-

In the last few days it'd become nearly a routine for Skye to go to the park with her sisters. Bobbi was supposed to be leaving in a few days, something about having no time left. And almost every other day Skye saw Lincoln there, so they would run around protecting the world from all of the evil doers. "We gotta give you a cool superhero name Skye. I'm Static!" Lincoln proudly explained as he did some odd hand movements in the air. "Hmm, how about Quake? I can shake the ground!"

Lincoln smiled, The dynamic duo of Static and Quake were formed.

Bobbi and Natasha sat on the bench- chatting about some nonsense. They had played with Skye for a considerable amount of time until her friend from School showed up. It was nice seeing Skye interact with someone her age, in fact it was nice to see Skye not scared. It felt like no time at all had passed since the girl came to live with them, and yet she made so much progress it was mind boggling. "Clint said Fury is keeping him busy..." Natasha trailed off- "Am I bad for considering going? I feel horrible leaving Skye."

Bobbi sighed, running a hand over her face. "Bad? No. Don't join for Clint though."

"Uh, right... The Academics are better over there anyway." Natasha paused as she looked behind her, an odd feeling consuming the air around her.

"Earth to Tash.." Bobbi annoyingly waved her hand in front of her sister. "Huh, what? Oh... Sorry I just felt... Never mind I'm just being silly."

"You're being protective there's a differ..ence.. Tash 6 o'clock." Bobbi said keeping her eyes on her same location. Natasha glanced over swiftly. "I'm not wrong am I?"

Natasha shook her head and lowered her voice. "That creep is watching us. What do we do?"

"Bye Lincoln! Thanks for playin'!" Skye waved goodbye to her friend, the Man started to make his move, gradually moving forward while Skye's back was turned. Bobbi and Natasha had cut him off before he got too close.

"Can we help you creep?" Natasha growled. This man was a threat and as soon as Skye turned around she remembered him from the building. ? Skye thought but didn't reply, her sisters looked worried- she could feel the vibes from their fear.

"Sorry um- y-you see that's my Daughter and-and I'm taking her right here right now." Cal spoke like he was on drugs, he wasn't making sense and looked like he had took something not long ago. "Sorry Pal she's our sister- that being said you need to leave." Natasha took a step forward to emphasize the threat, "Bobbi..." Skye whispered as she tugged on the girls shirt. "We're gonna be fine don't you worry." Bobbi smiled and picked Skye up who's heart was racing. "Bobbi, I'm scared." The little girl tried again as she held on to her sister even tighter.

"L-like I said I'm taking her!" Cal shouted as he pulled out a gun- .44 Magnum.. A revolver didn't seem like the go to on a kidnapping.."I don't want to kill you so don't try and be a Hero. Give me my baby."

Natasha 'dropped' her sunglasses. "Alright alright I'm just going to grab my glasses and everything will be a okay..." Natasha used the brief moment to sprint to the Man threatening to take their sister. One loud shot was all it took. It stopped Natasha in her tracks as she put a hand over her stomach.

Shit... that's a lot of blood. She thought before she collapsed on the ground. The next she heard were screams from both Skye and Bobbi. This was one of those moments her Dad was adamant about downloading that Life 360 app. She wobbly reached for phone and opened the app- she hit 1 button that relayed her location to everyone in the family circle. After that press all she could hear was the muffled sounds and feel the blood pour out. Her body felt numb... She felt numb..

There wasn't much she had remembered before passing out. There was a pain at first followed by the numbness. Her eyes just kind of closed after that. She had known in that moment her own foolishness, she was as good as dead and the last thing she'd hear before she went to the afterlife were the screams of a terrified child who couldn't catch a break.

Why did she have to be a hero? Her mother would be so disappointed that she fell so easily... If her lungs hadn't been filling up with blood she would have tried to say something. But her eyes closed out of their own volition before she could. She was as good as dead.

AN: Hello? Is this thing on? Um... *hides*

Chapter 11 Sneak Peak- Redacted