When she had agreed on going undercover, to make sure the Rising Tied wouldn't be able to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D and learning all of their secrets, Skye had thought she wouldn't need to return back to this apartment in a long time. Yet, she finds herself back here again, this time followed by the Avengers. When they left the small restaurant, they had split up.
To Natasha and Clint's great loss, they had to take the rest of the Avengers to the apartment. As for Maria, to Gwen's lost, decided to come along with her and Gwen. Or rather, Maria decided that she wasn't fit to drive, which Gwen had agreed on. The three of them had been first to reach the building and had entered it in silent, a silent that followed them all the way into the living room.
As they entered, Skye walked directly towards the couch and sits down. Maria places herself by the door leading to the hallway and Gwen disappeared into the kitchen, coming out a few seconds later with a drink for the two of them. Skye grabs the drink being offered, but knowing she won't be able to keep anything down in the moment, she places the drink on the table in front of her.
They didn't have to wait for very long before they hear the many locks being unlocked at the front door. Realising for the first time that she will be in the presence of four new people, four new men to be exact, in a small room, Skye freezes up where she's sitting. Carefully turning her eyes towards the hallway, she can see that Maria's attention is on the door and not her.
"Now that seemed a bit overkill, I don't even that many security locks on my doors."
She hear Tony point out as the door opens up and she can see how Natasha rolls her eyes, she does keep silent however. She enters the apartment first and Skye can see how her eyes is scanning the rooms before landing on her. Skye sees the second Natasha realises she's not comfortable and her red-haired sister is beside her within seconds. Feeling how Natasha places an arm around her shoulders, she relaxes just slightly and leans into the hug.
"I wasn't expecting this place to be this big."
She hear Rogers comment as the rest of the Avengers now enters the apartment, Clint closing the door behind them all.
"Have you taken over the whole floor or something?"
Tony comments and Skye can see how Maria nods her head.
"Then why keep all of the other doors for?"
He asks and she can see Maria roll her eyes.
"It's a safe house, be happy you are even brought here."
She tells him, her eyes narrowed as she speaks. Seeing how Tony takes a step back, Skye realises that he or the other three male Avengers have cross pass with an angry Maria, no less an angry and protective one. Silence falls over the room, and Skye can see how Tony, Steve, Bruce and Thor are all looking at one another. Clint on the other hand takes this moment to join Skye and Natasha on the couch.
"Alright, we are to get some questions answered."
Tony then points out, clapping his hands together in the progress and Skye feels how she jumps slightly at the sudden sound. Cursing herself for reacting in this way, she tries to collect herself. She thought she had grown past this scare by now, but breaking down the way she did earlier seems to have pulled her old fears out once more. Feeling how Natasha pulls her closer to herself, Skye can almost guess the look she is sending Tony and seeing how Tony takes yet another step back, she realises exactly what look is om her sisters face.
"Tasha."
Skye managed to say in a low, slightly broken tone and she can feel how Natasha relaxes only slightly. She knew her older sister would completely relax but it was better than anything.
"The information you are about to learn is strictly kept among a selected few people. If any of this information gets out, we know one of you four haven't been able keep your mouth shut and I will personally hunt you down for it."
Natasha starts to say, or rather threatened the last members of the team she is now part of. Seeing how the four of them nods their heads, Skye can see a hint of fear showing in their eyes, even in Thor's. It almost looks like the God of Thunder doesn't want to learn about the truth now. And Skye can't help but to worry what her siblings have planned, seeing how they are looking at one another, Skye realises that they have no idea themselves about what to do next.
"Meet our little sister, Skye."
Clint speaks up, his eyes turning towards her and she can see the worry in them.
"Now, mind explaining for me and Maria why you and Gwen come looking for us?"
He asks, making Skye blink in surprise. She had not expected Clint to just tell the rest of the team that small part of everything and then turn it all around on her. And as she glance to the side, she can see that neither had the four of them.
"Wait, hold up! You did not just drop a bomb like that and not offer up more information. Like, since when are the three of you siblings, how come no one else knows about this, why would you only come after us if information would be leaked. Why would you all need a safe house, who is the kid with power, how does she fit in to all of this. How did they even know where to find us!"
Tony starts to ask, working himself up in the progress. As she looks at him, Skye starts to realise something she should have done much earlier and to her, her siblings and Gwen's surprise, she rises from the couch, leaving the comfortable spot beside Natasha and steps up to Tony.
"I would recommend you to take a few deep breath Mr Stark, and maybe sit down. You are working yourself up a bit o much."
She says in a calm voice, seeing how the man blinks in surprise at her sudden closeness and soft voice, Tony does as she said. Looking at the remaining Avengers, Skye comes to the conclusion that she doesn't need to be scared around them, mostly because Maria and Natasha have given them quite the scare already.
"How about we all sit down, it's sort of a complicated story. I won't tell you everything, but I guess it can't hurt that you know the basics if you are all going to work closely with my siblings from now on."
She says as she herself returns back to her seat in between Natasha and Maria. Seeing how there isn't enough seats for everyone in the living room, Gwen turns to the kitchen once more to get a few extra chairs. Once everyone have found a place to sit, Skye takes in a deep breath.
"I meet Ria, Tasha and Bird Brain a few years ago when my guardian at the time put Ria as a temporary babysitter when she was called into a meeting."
Skye starts to explain, hearing how Tony tries to hold back laughter when she uses her nickname for Clint. From the corner of her eye, she can see how Clint looks at Tony with narrowed eyes, challenging him to try use that nickname himself.
"Back then, it took me a long time to trust people, but the three of them managed to break through that wall in no time. When I still lived with that guardian, she would use this fact to have either the three of them or just one or two to look after me when she was forced into work. When I then was assigned a new guardian, they showed up again and they would always make sure I knew that I could call them if anything were to go wrong."
Skye continues to explain, only for her voice to grow silent. It has been years really since she thought back on the next part, and she wish she didn't have to go back down that road. Feeling how Natasha pulls her into a hug once more, Skye takes in a deep breath.
"Before I knew it, I was back in the system, back living in foster homes, or home. The first one I ended up in, I called Tasha because I needed help. She showed up in in no time, taking me from that place and here, where the three of them decided we should live. Adopting me as their little sister."
She says, taking a few deep breath to make sure she stays calm, to make sure she doesn't break down once more.
"Oh, we adopted you as our baby sister the day we first meet you."
Clint tells her with a wave of his hand, turning her head to look at him, he smiles big. Turning her head around to look at both Natasha and Maria, she sees the same smile. This time, she fights hard to keep the tears away, this time the tears are at least happy.
"The reason as for why we decided to live in a safe house with what you call to many security locks is however something you will not learn about Stark."
Natasha points out, turning her attention back to what is going on, Skye sees that Tony was about to ask about this.
"Fine then..."
"And its no use trying to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D or ant other database to try and find out information on your own later on. There is no information about Skye anywhere, all to keep her as safe as possible."
Maria interrupts Tony and the Avenger crosses his arms, Skye get the feeling that he will still try.
"And the reason as why Natasha would come after one of you? Consider everyone else that knows some parts of this story have managed to keep silent about it for this long, well, it can only mean either of you started to talk to others about us."
Clint answered another one of Tony's questions before he has a chance to ask it again. As Skye looks at the four men, she gets the feeling they will keep silent, or almost.
"If it makes you feel better and if you trust her completely, you can tell Mrs Potts a small part about what you have learned here today. But only things Natasha will give you permission to say."
Skye tells Tony, seeing the complete surprise in his eyes and feeling the same type of surprise from her siblings and Gwen, Skye rolls her eyes.
"We all know Mr Stark can't keep anything from Mrs Potts."
She clarifies and a few heads nods at this information, Tony's being one of them. She can see a hit of relief in his eyes too.
"Now, as for Gwen here, things are a bit more complicated. And quite frankly, it's her own decision to decide if she wish you all to know or not."
Skye starts to say, before turning her attention towards Gwen. Seeing how her best friend takes in a deep breath, Skye smiles weakly.
"I'm Gwen Stacy, Skye's best friend for years now and I have lived within this crazy walls myself for a while."
She starts to explain before she looks directly at Tony, Steve, Bruce and Thor. Skye getting the feeling she is doing just this so she can see their reaction to what she will say next properly.
"You see, they opened up their hearts and home to me when my own father branded me as a killer. Not that my father knows that part, for you see, I'm the police force number one enemy. I am Ghost-Spider."
She tells them, mimicking the speech, or at least the end of it, Tony had given when he told the world he was Iron Man. A speech she and Gwen had seen live on TV.
"And no, she is not to join the Avengers,. When we learned the truth, Maria and Natasha made sure she is protected by S.H.I.E.L.D and if the police ever managed to capture her, they will have to call me and I will be there to get her out. It's enough that I need to worry about my siblings are out there fighting, aliens or some other weird things. I can't have my best friend being put through the same thing."
Skye says, not even realising she is saying any of it until Gwen is pulling her into a hug. A heavy silent falls over the room at this and Skye knows they have reached the point she have been most afraid of. Once Gwen realise the hug, Skye drops down on the couch once more, wishing strongly she had not left Mushu down in her van.
"Please tell me he isn't."
She repeats the question she had asked Natasha when she had pulled Skye into a hug at the restaurant. Feeling how Natasha tense up beside her, breaks the last of her walls. Feeling tears roll down her cheek, she turns completely to look at her and seeing how Natasha doesn't meet her eyes, she breaks.
"No, no, no, no!"
Throwing herself towards Clint, she feels how he pulls her close towards him in a try to calm her. A heavy silent falls over the room as she cries.
"Who is he?"
Skye can hear Thor ask, the God of Thunder had tried to keep his voice low but failed.
"Phil Coulson."
Natasha says, making Skye cry harder. Feeling how Clint pulls her even closer to himself, feeling how she tries to hide in her hair, she realises that he finally put everything together.
"Phil Coulson was Skye's second guardian, it took some time before Skye started to warm up to him, but when she finally did, well, Phil turned into a father for her."
Natasha explains and Skye can hear that her own voice is breaking.
"I found Skye in her van, looking at the battle you were all fighting. Once the battle was over, she used the back door she has into S.H.I.E.L.D database to make sure Natasha, Clint and Maria was alright. She guessed that Maria would have to be there too if Natasha and Clint was there. I guess she found Phil's name on the list of agents and saw that he was marked killed in action. She tracked down their phones and we headed out to see for ourselves and well... the rest you know."
Gwen finished explaining, and Skye could feel how she is starting to fade out, when the sound of her oldest friend voice fade in and out. She does however accept the darkness when it finally hits her.