A/N: hey it's been awhile. Rest assured I have not vanished off the earth, but I'm sorry to say that I will have to go away for a little longer. I've had no time to write so it's going to be harder to keep up with my stories. I'm not leaving this story, but my next update is going to take some time. Sorry guys. Thanks for the support, follows, favorites and reviews. They mean a lot to me.

Summary: Melinda Qiaolian May has been an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for most of her life, but all the training in the world could have never prepared her for the challenge she was facing. She had to let go, but when she looked into those soft nut brown eyes, she knew in that moment she would never let go.

Excuse any misspellings and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or any of the characters used.

Chapter Thirty Four

Skye brought Ward to the lab where Fitz-Simmons made themselves at home, since they unpacked a good amount of their supplies with the help of Trip. Immediately Simmons got to work on assessing Ward while Fitz went to get May and Coulson. After a few minutes, Fitz returned with May and Coulson in tow while Ward was getting patched up.

He told his story, how Hydra took over the Fridge when he and Hand arrived. How the agents took everything they could get their hands on as well as release all the prisoners who were inside. An example of one those inmates was Ian Quinn, this left Skye with a feeling of dread and unease. Although she didn't tell anyone about it, with the exception of May, she still had nightmares about what happened down in the basement. With these prisoners on the loose, there was no telling what kind of havoc they could wreak on the rest of the world, not to mention Hydra was out there.

Ward continued his tale and told them he killed Garrett and how he saved the hard drive from Hydra's hands. They all believed him and Ward actually felt sick with himself for it. There was this gnawing guilt that he couldn't shake off.

Once Simmons finished helping his cuts and he was done with his story, Coulson wanted Skye to run a search over the escaped prisoners and see how bad the situation really was. Fitz- Simmons and Trip stayed in the lab. While May and Coulson watched as Skye did her search. Ward joined them a little while later to see what she found and it was not all that great.

"Quinn is the least scary of the bunch," Skye told them, "And he shot me.. twice."

"Quinn's more a sociopath, a lot of those inmates are full-blown psychopaths, violent, impulsive," Coulson told her.

Skye sighed, "And some with superpowers, lovely. Makes this whole thing about ten times worse."

Coulson hesitated, "Is there a Marcus Daniels on the list, by chance?"

May knew the name was familiar, but couldn't remember where she had heard it before. However she knew it involved someone Coulson cared about. Skye turned the computer around to show a picture of a man, Marcus Daniels. This made Coulson choke.

"That's him," he said sharply, "Cross-check the lost of inmates with crime databases, recent activity. Got a feeling we'll be seeing a slight uptick."

Skye nodded, "Okay, but that's going to take some time. And more computing power than my laptop."

"There's something your laptop can't do," May muttered under her breath.

Skye almost grinned, but continued with her other thought, "Agent Koenig probably has some sort of-"

"I'm sure he'll lend a hand," Coulson told her and turned to Ward, "The plane you flew in on, is it operational?"

Ward nodded as he stood up, "Yeah, want me to pilot?"

Coulson shook his head, "No, you heard Simmons. You stay here and get better. I'm going to take a splinter team out and start going after those inmates, starting with Mr Daniels. I think I know where he's going."

May couldn't let him walk away without saying something. She knew where Daniels was from, where he was going and who he was involved with. This worried May because of who he was going to protect out there and who he was up against. Not to mention leaving the base at this time was not a good idea. Especially after everything that had happened.

"You sure it's wise to split up the team," May said, "Or to leave this base? What if that is exactly what Hydra wants, a distraction?"

Skye nodded in agreement, "She has a point. I mean Fury brought you to this base for a reason. We're safe here."

"Yeah we're safe here," Coulson admitted, "What about everyone else, people who don't have access to a top-secret underground shelter? What about them? I don't know if it's wise, but I know it's right. I'm taking a team, that's the end of it."

Coulson left while May, Skye and Ward were left in the cafeteria.

"That went well," Skye commented as she continued to type on her keyboard.

May sighed, but didn't say anything about it. Ward was silent to, more silent than usual which was something May found odd. However she assumed it was due to killing his former mentor. After several minutes, Coulson came back and told them to follow him, something about orientation. Once everyone was together, Koenig brought them all to a room where a large metal chair was in the center. He explained to them he needed to ask a few questions while in this chair, it was basically the best lie detector in the world.

Fury wanted to be able to make it one hundred percent accurate. He wanted a test Romanoff couldn't beat, no one knew if she beat it since Fury would never tell, but that was his goal. Everyone had to take the test, it was the only way to make sure everyone was secure. Naturally Ward was nervous, but he didn't let it show. They made a line and would go in this order, May, Trip, Fitz, Simmons, Skye and lastly Ward.

Each test took about ten to fifteen minutes. Koenig would start out with basic questions such their name or eye color and then would move on to more personal questions until getting to the end and ask about S.H.I.E.L.D. Everyone passed the test, but Ward had some complications on the way. He still passed, but not without suspicion.

After Coulson spoke to Fitz-Simmons and Trip, he went to the kitchen where May approached him. She knew going in it wasn't going to be a good talk, but she had to speak to him. The tension between them was starting to get to her.

"We need to talk," May said sternly.

Coulson didn't look at her and stared at his coffee, "No we don't."

"Yes we do," May replied, "I should be flying this mission."

Coulson looked at her with an, are you kidding me expression. He knew there was a lot more she wanted to say and it had nothing to do with the mission. However he could see that she was leading into something else, but he didn't care. Despite her reasons, despite their fight, despite everything he was still angry with her and didn't want to be around her now. It wasn't that he wanted her gone, he just didn't want her around him for a little while.

"I made a different call," Coulson told her flatly as he capped his coffee cup, "Stay here. Get the fuel line repaired on the BUS."

Coulson started to leave, but May stopped him, "I remember when you brought Daniels in the first time. This is a personal mission for you, but-"

"We don't do personal," Coulson interrupted, "Not anymore."

"Phil the polygraph cleared me, I'm not hiding anything," May told him earnestly.

Coulson didn't miss a beat as he replied, "You mean you're not hiding anything else. Unless you do know who was behind the Tahiti project."

"I didn't ask," May said, "I was ordered not to. And you would have done the same thing. Our job is to follow orders!"

"It's also our job to determine right from wrong," Coulson bit back, "Watching someone in agony, searching for the truth, not saying anything… that's wrong!"

"I was trying-" May started, but Coulson cut her off.

"Don't tell me it's because you care so damn much," Coulson snapped.

"Yes I kept a secret, why can't you let it go," May said sharply, her brown eyes burning into his blue ones.

Coulson shook his head, "Because you were there for me! You were there watching as this was eating me alive and said nothing! When you said you had my back, I didn't think that meant you have it then stab me with a knife."

May didn't respond, she didn't know what to say.

"Fury's no longer around telling you what to do, so why are you here? You want some orders to follow? Follow mine or find somewhere else to be," was all he said before leaving May alone Coulson left the cafeteria, his blood boiling with anger.

He knew it was wrong to be this hard on May, but he was too upset to care. It hurt him too much. Knowing she had been there the whole time with answers he had desperately been searching and never once said anything… It stung far more than he wanted it too. Less than ten minutes later, Coulson left the base with Fitz-Simmons and Trip while Skye, May and Ward would stay behind.

Ward needed to heal, May technically wasn't allowed to go and Skye didn't need to go on the mission. Besides she would rather stay behind with Ward and her mom. The three of them watched their team leave. Skye could see the tension between May and Coulson had only gotten worse since before. That worried her slightly, she would have thought they would have fixed their issues by now. A

fter some time had passed since Coulson and the others left, May had been repairing the BUS, Ward had been wandering around while Skye was with Koenig. For awhile she wandered around then came to sit with him and discovered his lanyards were tracking devices. She joked about it with him at first, but then had an idea. Since S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance was down, maybe they could use someone else's surveillance to find the missing prisoners. Koenig thought it was a terrible idea considering the only satellite in the vicinity was the NSA and they were already onto S.H.I.E.L.D.

Luckily Ward walked in at the most opportune time. He helped Skye convince Koenig that hacking the NSA was the best way to go. He also learned the hard drive he needed to bring back to Garrett was location based and the only way to open it would be for him and Skye to take a field trip. That made his job harder, but he would figure it out. Skye left to the mainframe while Koenig and Ward stayed in the monitor room.

Ward then left Koenig and went after May. If he was going to get Skye out of there, he would have to get rid of anyone in his way. In all honesty he didn't like the idea of getting rid of May, but he had a job to do and that came first above everything else. However if he could avoid bloodshed, he would. Ward walked onto the BUS with a plan in mind, he would knock her unconscious and hide her somewhere she couldn't get out which would be difficult.

It was better than plan B. If she put up too much of a fight, he would have no choice, but to shoot. He walked onto the BUS to find May inside. There was a lot on her mind and decision she had made, but she didn't know if she could follow through with it. No, she had to go through with it.

"How's it coming," Ward asked as he walked up behind her, "Is it operational?"

May turned around, "Still banged up, but she's ready to fly. The fuel lines repaired and the tank's full."

Ward nodded, "Sweet. What's the range on this thing?"

"Just under 10,000 miles," May said and turned around to grab something, Ward was about to make his move when he noticed May grabbed a large duffel bag.

Was she leaving? Couldn't be, she wouldn't leave Skye. If she's leaving does that mean Skye's going with her?

"Are you leaving," Ward asked confused.

May stopped in her tracks, "Yeah…. I was here for Coulson, but he can't see past me lying to him."

Ward felt his mouth go dry and throat tighten. He was lying to all of them now. He was a traitor, but he was following orders. That was all he knew how to do.

"I get why you did it," Ward told her, "When you get orders, you don't question them. You follow them… no matter the price."

May nodded in reply, "Yeah well this price was too high. I lost him. Coulson doesn't want me here, he doesn't need me."

"What about Skye," Ward asked in a softer voice.

A sad smile formed on May's face. Leaving Skye here was going to be really hard for her, but she needed to go. There was a lot May needed to do and she didn't want Skye to be burdened with any of it. Instead she wanted Skye to stay here in the base where she would be safe.

May looked at Ward and says, "Skye's going to stay. It's better she stay here where it's safe… I know you care about her Grant and I'm asking you to look out for her. I know she can handle herself, she's proved it enough times, but… It wouldn't hurt to have someone else watching her back."

"I will," Ward said honestly, "What should I tell Coulson when he gets back?"

May shrugged and adjusted the bag onto her shoulder, "Whatever you want. He won't hear it, so it won't matter."

Without another word, May left the BUS leaving Ward alone to his thoughts. His talk with May made him think about what he was doing more and more. He knew as soon as the others found out he was Hydra, they would hate him. Maybe he shouldn't follow the orders he'd been given and change sides. Maybe he could do that, but he didn't think he would.

Skye stopped her typing for a few minutes to go and see how her mom was doing on the BUS and to offer a hand if she needed it. After all she was getting tired of looking at this screen. Her decryption was almost done, but she wanted a break. She walked down the halls and stopped by her mom's room to see it was empty. This left a sickening feeling in Skye's stomach because she remembered the backpack her mom left in there, not to mention the clothes she left out.

Weird. Skye started walking to the cafeteria, but spotted her mom walking down the hall with a duffel bag over her shoulder and winter clothes on.

"Mom," Skye called and jogged after her.

May immediately stiffened when she heard Skye's voice. Of course she didn't want to leave Skye behind, but she knew it would be better for Skye to stay in the base. There she knew her daughter would be safe from harm.

"Where are you going," Skye asked softly.

May turned around to look at Skye with soft brown eyes, "There are some things I need to take care of. I left you a note explaining everything."

"You were just going to leave," Skye said shakily, sadness apparent in her voice and in her eyes.

May told her in a low voice, "I couldn't stand to say goodbye."

"When will you be back," Skye asked sadly.

May frowned, "I'm not sure."

Skye replied hoarsely, "You can't just go. I know things have been heavy lately, you're dealing with some stuff and Coulson, but… you don't have to leave."

"I do," May told in a soft voice.

Skye shook her head, "Then take me with you. We can both go and do whatever you need to do."

"No, you have to stay here where it's safe," May replied in a stern tone.

"No," Skye said in a voice just firm, "If you go, I go to, or we both stay."

May sighed, "Sk-"

"Take me with you," Skye pleaded, "You can't just leave me here."

May took a few steps closer to her daughter and put a hand on her shoulder, "I'll be back Skye."

"So why can't I come with you," Skye asked confused.

Skye could feel her heart racing as she stared at her mom. All the times she had to leave a decent home started to come back to her. All the times Skye had lost someone came rushing to her mind making her head pound and chest ache. Her mom couldn't leave her. She couldn't.

May cupped Skye's face into her right hand. This was something she hoped to avoid, but it was just her luck that Skye would catch her before she could go. Besides she knew not saying goodbye would only make her guilty, forcing her to come back and see Skye again. She needed to go and do this, but she didn't want to bring Skye into this. She wanted her daughter to stay here where she would be safe and hidden.

"I'm coming back for you," May whispered to her, "I love you and I'll be back before you know it."

Skye wrapped her arms around May and said, "Promise you'll be safe and you'll come back?"

May squeezed Skye, "I promise Daisy, I promise I'm coming back for you."

No Teaser Today.