"It's December 23rd." Skye commented as she went through her morning drills.

"Yes, and?" May prompted the girl to continue. Her and Skye had become much closer since May became her S.O.

"I have no Christmas presents. None."

"Skye. You don't have to get presents for anyone."

"I know, but I want to! It's not like I had anyone to give gifts to in the past." She mumbled. "It'd be a quick, easy trip to the store! I have ideas on what to get everyone already!"

"Okay, and how do you expect to get to the store? Coulson's not going to let you drive one of the cars."

"See… I was thinking you could maybe come with? It'll be super easy, I swear. Please?" Skye practically begged. May groaned and knew that no matter what, she would end up taking the girl to the store. Coulson wasn't the only one who had a hard time saying 'no' to Skye.

"Fine."

Skye did a little celebration, then ran to get ready. She changed out of her all black clothes and into something less "secret agent-y". She planned on buying everyone something small. Simmons had gone out a few days ago and gotten gifts from her and Fitz since he was still bedridden. She was also pretty sure Coulson had gone Christmas shopping on one of his "recruitment" trips. May was sneaky, so who knows what her plans were regarding Christmas gifts. Trip was not so subtle, he'd sneak in random packages with a large grin on his face.

Skye hurriedly made her way to the hangar where May was waiting. They climbed into the black SUV, May in the driver's seat, and made their way out of the secret base.

"Where are we heading?" May asked.

"The mall." Skye replied without hesitation. "So, what'd you get Coulson?"

"Who said I got him anything?" May answered, but Skye could tell she was joking. In the past Skye would have taken her S.O. seriously, but after training together every day Skye knew how to read May's miniscule facial expressions.

"I think I'm going to get him some Captain America stuff and maybe a new tie. I browsed online a little to see what the stores had."

"So why didn't you just order them online?" May questioned with a roll of her eyes.

"Because! Going out is half the fun." Skye laughed.

May chuckled a little. She was so glad her protégé hadn't lost all her innocent nature. As much as May hated shopping, she was happy that Skye had access to some amount of normalcy. They arrived at the overcrowded mall and Skye immediately made her way to the comic-book store. It didn't take her long to find the perfect gifts for Coulson.

"Look at all the Captain America stuff! Coulson would totally nerd out." She bought a sign that said "Trust Cap" for his desk, Captain America socks, and a coffee mug. May smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. After all she's been through, she still has the biggest heart, May thought.

Next, they made their way to the bookstore where she found a couple of books for Jemma and Trip.

"Wow, 1,000 facts about Peggy Carter and the SSR. Simmons probably already knows like all of this, do you think she'd like it?"

"She might be surprised, there's a lot of material in that book. She'd enjoy it." May pointed out. Skye agreed and purchased the book.

They went to a department store and looked at workout clothes. Skye pretended to look around and grabbed a couple of random items off the shelf.

"Hey, I'm gonna go try this on, you good alone in the store?" Skye teased. May just rolled her eyes and lightly shoved the girl towards the fitting rooms.

Skye made her way to the fitting rooms and as soon as she was sure May wasn't watching, snuck off to grab May's present. She ran to the store next door to purchase the custom-made mug she had pre-ordered. The mug was white with a ninja on it and underneath it said "World's #1 S.O." She also ran to the Teavana shop to buy May's favorite type of tea, before sprinting back to the fitting room area. She figured it would look less suspicious if she actually bought herself a pair of the leggings she had grabbed off the shelf, so she took those with her too.

"Hey, ready to check out?" Skye said cheerily. May nodded and led the way to the check-out area.

Last, they made their way to the toy store.

"What on earth are you buying here?" May asked with a smirk.

"Puzzles for Fitz-Simmons, new deck of cards and some magic stuff for Trip, and one of those giant monkeys for Fitz." Skye said proudly. They got to the checkout and Skye had her hands full. The monkey was just as big as Skye, if not bigger, and it was obvious the girl was struggling to carry everything. As funny as it was, May decided she'd lend a hand.

"Here," May said reaching for the bag, "I'll get the bags if you carry that damn monkey."

They began to make their way out of the mall when Skye paused.

"Oooh, pretzels! C'mon let's get a snack!" Before May could protest, Skye and the stuffed monkey were already in line at the pretzel shop. The two agents (and the monkey) sat at a table, Skye snacked on cinnamon sugar pretzels and May sipped a lemonade.

"I've never had anyone to buy gifts for at Christmas." Skye broke the silence. May studied the girl and noticed her change in body language. Instead of looking excited, the girl's leg was bouncing and she kept eyeing the gift bags.

"They will love anything you give them." May reassured.

"You don't know that."

"I do. Because it's from you. It's the thought that counts, Skye."

"I got Coulson, the director of Shield, Captain America socks." Skye deadpanned.

"Have you met Phil? He'll love that. He's such a nerd." May smirked. "You could give him a stick figure drawing of the team and he'd adore that too. Don't worry about it, it takes away from the fun." May finished the conversation and Skye nodded. She decided to listen to her mentor and ignore her worries.

Come Christmas morning May proved to be right. The team loved their gifts, especially May and Coulson. Skye's heart warmed as everyone thanked her for their gifts. She had received gifts in the past, but it felt good to finally have friends- no, a family- to give back to.