Chapter 6
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AN: Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.
AN2: Thanks for your support. Out of curiosity I got a review a while back saying that I should move this series to the cross over section. Do people agree?
Even though he knows that under normal circumstances Melinda would kill him for how hard he is pushing the bus Clint doesn't care because he knows that the only thing that everyone on the plane cares about is getting to Skye as quick as possible.
"Maria just sent through the exact coordinates of where Skye and Bruce are." Natasha informs her partner.
"Program them in." Clint says.
"I already have." Natasha responds, "You can put the plane on autopilot now." She tells him.
"No, I need to fly myself, I need to do something." Clint tells his partner.
"I know the feeling." Natasha responds as she is feeling the same thing.
"Ten hours, how could she be so stupid?" Clint says to Natasha.
"It was likely the only option she thought she had." Natasha tells him, "For all we know she still could have had Hydra after her." Natasha explains.
"I'm going to put an arrow in Ward's eye myself next time I see him." Clint tells Natasha.
"You don't know that he was the one behind this." Natasha points out.
"Who else would it be?" Clint asks.
Due to the fact that his sister has basically taken over as leader of what is left of Hydra after the death of her father Ward has found himself also being in a high position in the organization and due to the fact that in Grace's words 'he's the only one she can trust' Ward also finds himself playing the part of second in command when she is around and acting in command when she is not.
Ward is sitting at a desk going through documents, figuring out the tactics for the next mission when there is a knock at the door.
"Come in." Ward says and the door opens and in walks the man who unknown to Ward shot Skye over fifteen hours earlier.
"What is it?" Ward asks.
"I did it Sir, I shot Skye Coulson." He tells Ward looking and sounding proud of himself.
"YOU WHAT?" Ward asks angrily, getting up and walking over to him so that he is standing in front of the man.
"I shot Skye Coulson." The man repeats sounding less proud of himself than he did a minute earlier.
"Who told you to do that?" Ward asks angrily.
"You did." The man repeats, "Didn't you?" he asks concerned worried that he has now angered his boss significantly.
"NO." Ward tells him, "I ordered you to subdue her and bring her to me. I NEVER ordered you to shot her." Ward tells him furious at the man and worried about Skye, "How badly did you injury our biggest threat?" Ward asks choosing his words carefully so that he doesn't let how worried he is about her show.
"I shot her in the side Sir." The man informs him, "I am unsure about how bad the injury is because she knocked me out second after she was hurt, I was going to bring her to you Sir, promise." He informs Ward it clear in his voice that he is still worried about how he is going to react.
"Well you better how it was serious, otherwise she will look for you and find you to get her revenge." Ward tells the man, even though he knows that the opposite is true he has to say something to scare the man and at the moment that is all he has got, "If she dies you have just guaranteed that the Avengers as well as Coulson and The Calvary will make it their mission to destroy us, good work." Ward tells him knowing that they are now going to have to make sure they have even more things in place to defend against the Avengers, and Coulson and May, "Dismissed." Ward tells him and the man hurries out, the only reason why Ward doesn't put a bullet in him is because he is under strict orders from his sister not to maim or kill any Hydra members why she is away on a op, no matter how incompetent they may be.
Between the five of them Maria, Garrett, Tripp, Pepper and Tony manage to use diplomatic connections and decoys to make it so that no one has realised that a former SHIELD mobile command unit and six former SHIELD agents have left the country and are currently on the way to another.
Once Maria is back at the table she walks into the 'study' which since the fall of shield has become what Tony likes to refer to as 'the war room' when she gets there she finds Pepper but no sign of Tony.
"Where is Tony?" Maria asks her friend.
"Went to see Rhodey asking him to make sure that no one questions as to why an odd plane is suddenly in America airspace when there is no record of its existence." Pepper explains, "John and Tripp?"
"Making sure that there is no evidence that the plane is gone, or that it was even there in the first place." Maria explains, "Have you heard from them?"
"No. Bruce hasn't called again and I haven't heard from anyone on the plane either." Pepper tells Maria, "You?"
"I sent the coordinates through to Natasha but apart from that I haven't heard anything." Maria explains, "They are brining Skye back here, aren't they?" Maria asks.
"I assume so, why?" Pepper asks curious.
"From what Tony said Bruce told him she is bad, she is going to need monitoring, which means we are going to need the equipment and supplies to do that." Maria explains.
"You're right, and I think I know where we should start." Pepper tells her and that's just what the two woman do.
Ever since they arrived in the plane Jemma has obsessively checking everything little thing in the lab and constantly moving them so that everything is in the most optimum position to help Skye when she gets on board.
"Jemma, I'm sure that the bandages will be fine wherever you put them." Fitz tells his girlfriend.
"What if they are not? What if Skye need bandages and they aren't close enough that she starts to bleed too quickly, what if…." Jemma begins to rant but Fitz walks over and puts his arms around her pulling her in close to him, no words being exchanged between either of them as they are both oh so worried about their little sister the little girl they still often see as the little four year old who asked them what love means.
Two floors up from the lab and Melinda and Coulson aren't doing any better that Fitz and Simmons, actually, unsurprisingly, they are doing a lot worse.
They are both sitting on the couch both of them have a drink in their hands and they are staring at the pictures on Coulson's desk which have been turned so that they can see them all.
"She has to be okay." Coulson says speaking the first words that either of them have said since they entered the plane several hours earlier.
"She has to." Melinda confirms and the pair drift back into silence both of them knowing that neither of them will be able to handle it if she isn't.
"Clint said to buckle in." Natasha says appearing at the doorway several minutes later.
"Why? We're not there yet are we?" Coulson asks, a large part of him is hoping that they are but he knows that they aren't likely to be.
"No we're at least a few hours away but there is turbulence the way that will get us their fastest." Natasha explains.
"Do you need help?" Melinda asks.
"No, we've got it." Natasha tells them, "Just strap in." she says and she exits the office.
Ever since he got off the phone with Tony Bruce has sat by Skye's bedside, not moving unless he absolutely has to and even then only for the shortest time possible. Everything looks quite positive and Skye is still stable but what worries Bruce is that Skye shows no sign of waking, even though it has been eight hours since he finished the operation. Due to the fact that it is his Uncle side and not his Doctor side that is causing him to worry Bruce spends several minutes convincing himself of all the many reasons why he should worry and even though that is a difficult task his worry does decrease slightly and he continues to watch Skye doing everything in his power not to worry so much.
Several rocky hours later and the bus is finally landing in Serbia as close to Bruce's clinic that Clint could get them.
"Do you have what you need?" Natasha asks Fitz and Simmons who each have a large bag over their shoulders.
"Yes, we have what we will need to move her." Simmons answers.
"Let's go." Clint says jumping down from the platform above the cargo bay.
Coulson and Melinda nod and together the group leave the cargo bay. Once they exit the plane they see that they are only a few hundred feet away from a building that has a motorbike parked out in front.
"That must be the place." Clint comments.
"It definitely looks like the kind of place Bruce works out of." Natasha informs him.
"Dr Banner?" Coulson asks when they enter the building.
"Back here." Bruce says back, his voice being heard through the open door.
Without a word everyone walks into the other room where they find Skye unconscious and connected to several machines and Bruce watching her.
"How is she?" Clint asks as Coulson and Melinda walk over to either of their daughter's side and Coulson grabs her hand while Melinda grabs her hand and brushes the hair out of Skye's face.
"The same, stable." Bruce explains.
"When will she wake?" Natasha asks.
"Honestly, I don't know." Bruce admits, "She has no brain injuries but she was without oxygen for three minutes so I don't know what if any damage that caused." Bruce explains, having decided while he was waiting for them that he would tell them the truth.
"Is there a chance that she might not wake up?" Clint asks looking at his niece.
"That's always a possibility." Bruce admits, "But it was her power that started her heart again, I need to assume that it helped protect her brain as well, just like it did with you." He says looking at Melinda.
"Her power did what?" Everyone else asks shocked.
"I was trying CPR telling her to breath and then her body gave a jump, like I used a defibrillator but I hadn't." Bruce explains.
"So let me get this straight, not only is she dealing with a serious gunshot wound, a large risk of infection and being without oxygen but from what you have said over use of her powers as well." Clint says with a frown.
"I believe so." Bruce answers.
"We need to get her to the bus, we don't know if we've been followed." Melinda comments.
"I've already got a bag of things to take with us and arranged my replacement here." Bruce tells the others, "Also Skye had a single bag with her, I think it was everything she had." Bruce explains.
"Where is it?" Clint asks.
"In the other room by her jacket." Bruce says and Clint nods and exits the room to get the bag and jacket as he feels guilty because he wasn't there to protect her like he told her he would be when they had a conversation when they were at Tony's house in the Alps over Christmas.
"Do you have a way to move her?" Coulson asks Bruce neither he nor Melinda letting go of their daughters hands.
"The table can move, it's likely our best option for moving her." Bruce comments, "Are you close?" he asks.
"Very." Natasha answers.
"Jemma, Fitz, help me with this equipment." Bruce requests as they both know about the equipment so they know what to do and what not to do.
"I'll do a perimeter search to make sure we're alone, don't leave until I give the okay." Natasha says and she leaves the room.
While Bruce, Fitz and Simmons a detaching Skye from all the medical equipment she is connected to Natasha is making sure that there are no threats nearby and Coulson, Melinda and Clint are watching Skye, Coulson and Melinda from right by her side, Clint from across the room.
"I think this fell out her pocket." Fitz says picking up a picture off the floor that he hands to Clint because Clint is who he is closest to.
"It's us, all of us." Clint tells everyone, looking down at the picture as he does he realises that Ward who was in the picture now has his face coloured in with a black marker. Unknown to Clint Skye did that in her first week in Greece because it hurt Skye to look at the picture and see Ward's face looking back at her every time that she did.
"Done, we're ready to go." Bruce tells everyone.
"Good, now we just have to wait for Tasha to give the all clear." Coulson says knowing that none of them can go anywhere until they get that.
"You've got it, let' go." Natasha says walking back into the room.
"Bruce, Clint, help us move the table, Fitz, Simmons, monitor Skye, Tasha cover us just in case." Coulson request and everyone else nods and do exactly as he asked.
It takes over fifteen minutes to get Skye to the plane and the second that they do Simmons and Bruce get her reconnected to all the machines.
"I'll get us in the air." Natasha offers knowing that the others would prefer to be around Skye.
"No, I'll do it." Clint says walking out of the lab as one thing he can never handle is people he loves being hurt as it reminds him of all the times that he failed his brother when they were children.
"How is she?" Coulson asks Simmons and Bruce.
"Still stable." Bruce responds, "Which for now is the best we can hope for." He tells Coulson and Melinda who have returned to either side of their daughter, "We'll leave you alone." He says and he along with everyone else leaves the room,
"Keep an eye on them, I'm going to go talk to Clint." Natasha says to Bruce who nods and Natasha heads upstairs.
When Natasha leaves the cargo bay she makes her way upstairs to the cockpit because she knows exactly why Clint has trouble seeing someone he loves hurt but she also knows how much he would hate himself if Skye got worse and he wasn't there or how much more he would hate himself if she woke up and he wasn't there.
"Don't say it." Clint says to Natasha when she sits down next to him and opens her mouth to say something.
"You're already thinking it, so I don't have to." Natasha tells her Partner, "I will tell you to listen to yourself and go down there." Natasha tells him.
"No, Mels and Phil deserve to spend time alone with her, I'll wait." Clint tells Natasha.
"You say that but I'm betting that you will never go down there." Natasha tells him.
"Well you're going to make me anyway, so I don't have a choice." Clint responds knowing his partner too well.
"True, but I liked to make you think it is your idea." Natasha tells him.
"Why don't you call Pepper and Maria, let them know that we are on our way back." Clint suggest.
Natasha rolls her eyes at her partner knowing a change of topic when she hears it, especially considering that one was very obvious, but she allows him to get away with it and instead puts in a call back to the Tower.
Down in the Lab Coulson and Melinda are sitting either side of their daughter, watching her chest rise and fall, both of them prepared to do whatever they can at a seconds notice if they have to.
"Why do you think it took her powers three minutes to bring her back?" Coulson asks his wife.
"I don't know." Melinda responds honestly.
"She has to wake up." Coulson says and Melinda doesn't respond, "She died." He says like he's only just realising that.
"I know." Melinda says looking up from her daughter to look at her Husband, neither of them needing to say what they are thinking because the other already knows.
"Come back to us baby girl." Coulson says to his daughter quietly several minutes later when both he and Melinda have returned to looking at their daughter instead of each other.
For the hours that it takes to travel from Serbia to New York Coulson and Melinda stay by their daughter side. Simmons and Bruce come into the lab about ever twenty minutes to check on Skye to make sure that everything is okay but apart from that the parents are left alone with their daughter.
After many hours of flying the plane is about an hour away from New York and when they are Natasha goes down to the lab and walks in to talk to Coulson and Melinda.
"I just got off the phone with Pepper, her, Tony and Maria have organized the appropriate transportation to get Skye from the airport to the tower." Natasha explains, "According to Pepper they have set Skye's room up like hospital room because they realised that considering everything it was too dangerous to take her to a hospital." Natasha tells them.
"Thanks Tasha." Coulson tells her.
"Clint and I are upstairs if you need us." Natasha says and she leaves the lab and heads back to the cockpit.
An hour later Clint lands the plane at the airport where Tony, Pepper and Maria are waiting. Once the plane has landed Bruce and Simmons with the help of the others move Skye into what looks like an ambulance, which no one questions why Tony has.
Once Skye is in 'the ambulance' it is decided that Coulson, Melinda, Bruce and Clint and Natasha will be in the ambulance, Clint and Natasha acting as security/driving and the others will go in the car that is waiting.
After forty minutes the groups return to the tower where Garrett and Tripp are waiting and everyone helps Skye to her room.
"She's still stable." Bruce informs everyone who is in Skye's room, which is everyone, once she I settled, "I check again soon." He says and he leaves the room, everyone else with the exception of Coulson and Melinda leave the room.
"Oy, where do you think you're going?" Tony asks Clint who hasn't stopped walking after he left Skye's room like everyone else has.
"To think." Clint says back.
"Let him go Tony." Natasha tells Tony who is clearly about to follow him.
"He okay?" Pepper asks concerned.
"No, he doesn't do well when people he cares about are hurt, especially when it's someone he cares about as much as Skye." Natasha explains, "Just give him time and Space." Natasha says her tone making it clear that what she is saying isn't just a suggestion.
After leaving the others Clint went to one of his favourite places in the entire tower, the roof. Due to the fact that it reminds Melinda of flying and it reminds him of the same thing but it allows him to see everything for miles and miles. Those reasons a long with the fact that they both find it a relaxing place is why if he or Melinda have a nightmare and they need space the roof is where you are likely to find them.
Being careful to make sure he doesn't fall Clint sits down on the side of the Tower, with his legs over the edge and as he does he remembers the last time he sat on this very roof.
Memory
It is early January and everyone just came back from the holiday and due to the fact that Melinda flew everyone back to the tower in the plane Pepper managed to convince them to stay the night before getting back to work. Clint had a nightmare about his family so, being careful not to wake Natasha, he left their room and made his way to the roof. He has been sitting for several minutes when Skye walks out putting on a large jacket on as she does because it is winter in New York meaning it is quite cold.
"What you doing up Kid?" Clint asks curious.
"You needed me, so I woke up." Skye tells her Uncle walking over and sitting next to him where she puts an arm around her Uncle as she does.
End of memory
Skye didn't ask him to talk that night she just sat with him in silence, being there for him, and she gave him a hug when he didn't even realise that's what he needed.
"I need you Kid, we all do, wake up." Clint says to the night, knowing that it is impossible for her to hear him but saying it anyway because he needs her now just like he needed her that night.
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