Melinda's heart nearly stopped when she heard the gunshot. She rushed out of the jet, screaming, "Skye!"

The other agents was standing in the clearing, holding her side. Melinda could see the blood escaping through Skye's fingers. She ran over to the other agent and knelt down.

"He just grazed me," Skye said hurriedly. "Go after him."

"I can't leave you like this," Melinda argued.

"There's a first-aid kit on the jet," Skye said. "Let me take care of myself. Complete the mission."

Melinda was torn between wanting to take care of Skye and wanting revenge on the person who hurt her. "Go," Skye demanded. Melinda nodded, standing up. She drew her weapon and made her way into the forest surrounding the safe house.

She heard leaves crunching, and she fired in that general direction. She heard a grunt and the sound of someone falling. Melinda ran towards the noise, seeing Ian laying on the ground. She kicked the gun away from him. "Ian Whittaker?" she asked.

His hand was pressed against his bloody shoulder. "Who's asking?" he asked.

"SHIELD," Melinda responded. "You can come quietly or you can fight. Either way you're coming with us."

As soon as Melinda had finished speaking, white foam appeared around Ian's mouth. "No!" Melinda exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders. He grunted in pain, and then he was gone. "Damn it," Melinda swore.

She checked his pockets, but he had nothing on him. She sighed and stood up. Melinda made her way back to the safe house. She checked inside, going over all his things. All she found was a box of ammunition and false IDs under his bed. She pocketed the false IDs, thinking they could be useful, then left the safe house, making her way back to the jet.

Skye had a new set of stitches in her side and was cleaning the blood up with a damp rag. Luckily, it looked like Skye was right and the bullet had only grazed her. Melinda felt a pang of guilt. She had asked to be back in the field so she could protect Skye, but the other agent had gotten shot again. "I'm so sorry," Melinda said.

"What happened to Whittaker?" Skye asked.

"Cyanide capsule," Melinda explained.

"Damn," Skye swore. "Coulson really wanted that son of a bitch too."

"He was really laying low," Melinda said. "All I was able to pull from the safe house was a bunch of fake IDs."

"That's better than nothing," Skye said. "If there's nothing left for us here, we should head home."

Skye pressed an ice pack to her aching side on the flight back to base. She didn't miss the worrying looks Melinda kept giving her. "I'm gonna be alright, you know?"

"I should have been there," Melinda responded. "It shouldn't have happened at all."

"Melinda, I'm the one who rushed out there carelessly. I didn't even wait for you. If anyone's to blame, it's me," Skye argued.

Melinda didn't look convinced. "Will it make you happy if I stay out of the field for a few days?" Skye asked.

"Yes, actually," Melinda responded. "You've got two holes in you now."

"Alright, then I'll do that," Skye agreed. "Do you think it was a trap?" she asked, changing the subject.

"No," Melinda replied. "I think he heard the jet approaching and took to the woods."

"Makes sense," Skye said. "Maybe we should have landed away from the safe house and walked."

"Maybe," Melinda said. "Or maybe you should just wait for me next time."

Skye was forced to look away from the intensity of Melinda's gaze. It was an unfamiliar thing, being loved so intensely. As much as she wanted to dive right in, she was scared. Not only was she giving Melinda the power to hurt her, Melinda was doing the same without a second thought. Skye admired that about this older version of Melinda. She didn't seem to think twice about who she let it.

Bahrain must have built those tough walls that she was so familiar with, and Skye was still scared that Melinda was going to turn and run the moment she got her memory back.

"What's on your mind?" Melinda asked. It seemed that Skye would never be able to hide anything from her.

"Our relationship," Skye replied honestly.

"What about it?" Melinda questioned.

Skye sighed. "The Melinda I knew had pretty high walls," she said.

"And you're scared that once I get my memory back, those walls are going to kick you out," Melinda finished.

"I know you said we have an unbreakable love, but I'm scared of losing you."

"I'm scared of losing you too," Melinda replied. "When I heard that gunshot, I could hardly breathe. I couldn't even think straight." She paused for a moment. "I don't think I can leave you as easily as you fear. I'm already in too deep."

"Is that a bad thing?" Skye questioned.

"No," Melinda responded. "It's a wonderful, beautiful thing to be in love with you, Skye. I just hope you feel the same."

"Of course I do," Skye replied. "But this is all so new to me. It's like sensory overload."

"I get it," Melinda said. "We can take this as fast or as slow as you want."

"Thank you," Skye replied. She leaned over and kissed Melinda's cheek. Her side complained, but she didn't care.

Once the base was in sight, Skye sighed with relief. "I better get Jemma to check my side," she said.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Melinda replied.

The jet landed, and Skye stood slowly so as not to ruin her stitches. "You go report to Coulson," she said. "I'll get checked out by Jemma."

"I'll come by once I'm done," Melinda responded.

Suddenly, Skye's world turned dizzy, and she blacked out.

Melinda barely caught Skye in time before she hit her head. "Skye?" she asked frantically, but the girl was unconscious. With one arm under her knees, and the other cradling her neck, Melinda ran towards the lab.

Jemma looked up as soon as she entered and paled when she saw Skye. "What happened?" she demanded.

"She was shot," Melinda answered, lowering Skye down onto a bed. "She said the bullet just grazed her and stitched herself up."

"Not again," Jemma murmured, lifting Skye's shirt up to see the wound. "Well, if she's going to keep getting shot, I have got to teach her how to do a better stitching job," she commented. "She's probably bleeding internally. I'm gonna have to go inside. It would be better if you left for this part."

Melinda nodded meekly and turned before she could see Jemma working on Skye. It wasn't an image she wanted in her head. She trusted Jemma enough to know that Skye would be okay.

She made her way to Coulson's office, ready to report their failure to catch Whittaker, and her failure to keep Skye safe. Her heart was heavy with guilt. Skye may be a trained field agent, but she wasn't a seasoned expert like Melinda was.

Melinda put that thought out of her mind quickly as memories of Bahrain resurfaced. This wasn't Bahrain. Skye was alive, and more importantly Melinda was never going to have to pull a gun on her.

She walked into Phil's office feeling rather somber and collapsed on a chair. Phil looked up in surprise. "Melinda," he said. "I wasn't expecting you back yet. Where's Whittaker."

"Killed himself with a cyanide capsule," Melinda answered.

"Damn it," Coulson swore. "We really needed his intel too."

Melinda retrieved the fake IDs from her pocket and threw them down on the table. "This is all we were able to retrieve."

Phil nodded. "I'll see what I can dig up," he said. "In the mean time, what's on your mind?"

Melinda sighed heavily. "Skye got shot again," she admitted. "And now she's suffering from internal bleeding because I couldn't protect her."

"You can't protect everyone, Melinda," Phil said.

"Maybe not everyone," Melinda replied. "But her."

"I see," Phil responded. "This is about more than Skye, isn't it?"

Melinda swallowed hard and did her best to remain her composure.

"Putting you out in the field again was a mistake-"

"No, Phil, please," Melinda begged.

"You're clearly not over your reawakened trauma from Bahrain-"

"I'm fine Phil, don't do this-"

"Therefore, I am taking you off field duty until your memory returns."

Melinda bowed her head, trying to stop the tears from flowing. He walked around the desk and up to her and wrapped her in his arms. She couldn't take it anymore. She chocked out a sob and let the tears flow down her face.

"I know you cared for her," Phil said.

"She doesn't matter anymore, she's ancient history," Melinda argued.

"But not to you."

Melinda let out another sob. "I told her I'd keep her safe," she said softly.

"And now you're trying to replace Katya with Skye to make things right," Phil said. "But you can't. Katya's dead, and you need to properly grieve."

Melinda sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "Okay," she replied. "I can do that."

When Skye came to, the lights were too bright. She groaned, moving to shield her eyes with her hand, which pulled on her injured side. She let out a gasp of pain, and her arm fell back to her side.

"Oh good, you're up," Jemma said. "We need to talk."

"Look, I pulled myself out of the field as soon as I realized I got shot," Skye explained.

"It's not that," Jemma said. She pulled up s chair and sat down. "Melinda came in distraught, but there wasn't even a scratch on her, leading me to believe this wasn't another ambush."

"I got off the jet first," Skye said. "I was making my way to the safe house when Whittaker shot me from the woods."

"That doesn't sound like you," Jemma said, checking Skye's stitches.

"What do you mean?" Skye asked, an uncomfortable feeling growing in her belly.

"You see yourself as May's caretaker, correct?" Jemma asked.

Skye shifted uncomfortably into an upright position. "I see myself as Melinda's helper while she's recovering," she answered carefully.

"And that's just it," Jemma replied. "You call her Melinda now. Not May."

"Well, that's her name."

Jemma eyed her cautiously. "I'll just be blunt with you," she said. "Did you get shot because you were distracted by May?"

"No," Skye argued. "Of course not."

Jemma sighed. "You're an awful liar, Skye."

"Oh, like you're any better."

"Don't change the subject!" Jemma exclaimed. "This is a serious matter. We can't have our field agents getting shot because they're distracted."

Skye sighed. "I know better now," she said. "I'll be more careful next time. You see, I'm kinda down a trainer right now-"

"Alright, alright," Jemma replied with a smile. "But you've got two gunshot wounds. I'm recommending taking you off of field duty until you recover."

"Fair enough," Skye said.

"And no training either," Jemma shouted at her as she walked out. "We can't have you ripping out your stitches.