A/N: Do I beta read my stuff, no, no I do not. So, enjoy all my typos.
Since nobody reads notes anyways, I don't feel bad about promoting myself all the time. Never far from home. Another fanfic. I love it so, so much. It is my love. And Bulletproof if you feel like girl power with a side of kinda sad vibes.
I really wanna do a Skimmons or BioQuake one-shot series where you are just crying your eyes out all the time (yes I ship Bioquake so much so like fight me). So, I might do that in my spare time. Like only a couple of thousand words each, it takes like an hour to write just to clear my head from the main once I am working on.
Another thing, Norway is on lockdown right now. I work at a grocery store, its like one of a handful of things that is still open. (Paramedic, emergency services, pharmacy, and some food services is also going) But a lot of stuff is happening and odds on me ending in quarantine in quite high. So how regularly I can post now I don't know.
Always stay safe, wash your damn hands, and until next time, make it a great week and I'll talk to you in the next chapter.
S-B
"Wait. Hang on, I am not following. What did Natalia say to you?" Skye shot up from the chair before she got a firm grip on her shoulder from Bobbi forcing her back into place.
"Natalia? Really?" Coulson asked, looking at her, making her shake her head.
"Sorry… Force of habit. But what did she tell you? What do you know about that day?" Skye brushed Bobbi off before dumping down on the chair again.
"Apparently something that says against what you saw." Skye glared at him. She could feel her anger rise and she was about to turn around and walk out the door when May let out a loud sigh.
"We didn't gather all of you to talk about this, Skye. But we need your opinion on something." May interfered. She looked at her with a firm, but almost kind look and Skye only nodded slowly.
"We wanted to talk to you all. About asking Romanoff to join our team."
...
...
"Phil. I am sure your small little troupe slept very well after having their inner debate about letting an Avenger but also a former assassin joining their team. You all met me one day ago, except Skye, and somehow all of you are willing to let me be a part of this little utopia of yours." Natasha was in the kitchen with the rest of the team looking at her. Unlike Skye and her team, Natasha seemed very relaxed and calm about this offer. They had all talked long and hard about this, and Skye herself wasn't sure how she felt about it. On the one hand, she loved the other woman, but they hadn't really talked since they met yesterday, and it was kinda awkward.
"Utopia isn't exactly what I would call it," Fitz mumbled looking down on his hands.
"Well. I am a part of the Avengers and we don't work for SHIELD anymore. Quite frankly we technically didn't know you guys existed until yesterday." Natasha said with a small smile while she handed May a glass of water she accepted with a nod.
"You knew the whole time?" Jemma asked confused while throwing Coulson a look. He too looked a bit thrown off by that.
"Come on I am not stupid. Yes, I was at the Triskelion when it fell, but I am not dumb enough to think that was the only fight. Everywhere HYDRA is, SHIELD follows. And I also know about Tahiti." Skye turned around and watched Coulson's mouth drop as he realized Natasha had been hiding this from him all this time. That was very big. Natasha knew more than expected, meaning she was even more important now. This was a game-changer.
"And you didn't bother to tell me that?" Coulson asked, staring at Natasha with an angry look. The corner of Natasha's mouth moved a bit and she tilted her head.
"I am sorry, but I just followed my orders. I knew, Mel knew, and Maria knew. We all agreed and believed you would be safe with May, even if there are any side effects. And it seems to be working quite well not going to lie. I didn't want to interfere with that." Natasha said with a soft smile and Skye watched May nod slowly in conformation.
"Well, then you owe me to join us. Just for this mission." Natasha rolled her eyes slightly before she smirked softly at him.
"Phil… I will join, but not because I owe you anything, and not because you asked nicely, because you really didn't. But I do think this is important. We need to take down HYDRA. I can tell they are looking for something. And so are you. I just haven't decided if that's the same thing yet or not. Not that I think you know the answer to that either." Natasha stated looking at all of them.
Skye did not understand how this woman just kept gathering information none of them had mentioned at any point and still, somehow, knew everything perfectly. How was that a thing? No wonder why she had been such a good spy.
Of course, she wasn't the only one who had picked up on this. The genius to Skye's left had done so as well. "She really is good at this, isn't she?" Jemma whispered to Skye who only nodded swallowing the lump in her throat.
"We don't know what HYDRA wants yet, but we are looking for one of their puppets. Grant Ward." Clearly, Coulson was now trying to push past the fact that Natasha had hidden something so big from him and was trying to get his head back in the game. This was exactly why Skye sometimes questioned SHIELD's ways. She hated how everyone was hiding everything from everyone.
"Ward. I believe Maria texted me once, telling me he called me, and I quote, eye candy. Really didn't know you could make that an insult, but this guy somehow managed to do just that." Natasha said slowly looking at Phil with a strict look. She did not seem impressed at all, that was for sure.
"Really got yourself boyfriend of the year didn't you Skye." Bobbi turned her head to Skye, and Skye only looked down on her hands.
"I need to talk to Rogers. May, Coulson, on my floor in 90 minutes, Jarvis will open the elevator." Natasha turned to them and the team only nodded slowly. The redhead locked eyes with Skye for a second before adding softly. "And you hopefully later this week. Okay?" Skye only looked at her before she watched the woman disappear out the door.
Skye was sitting in the room the girls were sharing scanning over some documents Fitz had sent her. She was supposed to help try to track down Ward, but all she could think about was Natasha. She was so close to go tell May she couldn't do the mission, only getting distracted by her feelings. She was compromised and unless she had somebody to go to and figure out what happened the night they got separated, she really didn't know how long she could keep it up.
Apparently, they had all seen it. All of Natasha's SHIELD friends had seen her defeated. Seen how she had given up after she thought Skye died. Clearly, that was wrong. She was alive. But she had seen the same thing. Seen a bullet hit her chest and Natasha falling to the ground. Somehow none of that was true. Instead, it had been SHIELD who had hunted her down and saved her. None of this made sense. None of it.
"Hey. Skye." Skye looked up from the screen when Bobbi knocked on the door softly.
"They asked us to meet in Coulson's room again. And we were supposed to be dressed for activities." Skye tilted her head before nodding slowly. She closed the laptop carefully before slipping out of bed and starting to open the dresser she had borrowed. Coulson had made it clear that this was where they would stay for the next few weeks, so they had all decided to unpack from the plane for a change.
"Know anything about what we are doing?" Skye asked as she dragged her sweater over and off her head. She knew better than to refuse an order now, but she was taking the chance to ask questions if possible.
"Nope. Training maybe? Heard the gym here is pretty nice." Bobbi answered with a shrug. The blond was doing the same, undressing from her everyday clothes just to slip into her training attire.
The two of them continued to change in silence before Bobbie guided her out of the room and down the hallway. By the time they got to the room, the whole team was there. Jemma had her hair in a tight ponytail and her face was stone cold as she watched them enter clearly lost in her own head. Leo, on the other hand, seemed very uncomfortable and jumpy there he stood, and Skye was pretty sure she had never seen him look so "athletic" ever in his joggers and a t-shirt. In his hand, he had a night-night pistol, but Skye didn't understand why.
Jemma lifted her head when Bobbi and Skye walked into the room. Skye had put her usual training attire which was a pair of tights and a black top with her hair in a tight ponytail. She had no idea what to expect so she had chosen not to bring anything else than herself. Bobbi too had chosen to leave behind her weapons. She was dressed simple as well, with her hair braided away from her face. Of course, unlike the rest, she looked very ready to go.
"What is this? Do we have any idea of what we are doing?" Skye asked, looking at all of them with an almost angry look. She didn't mean to sound as rude as she did.
"Natasha's idea," Jemma said between her teeth looking back at them almost like she was blaming the two of them.
"Pardon me?" Skye asked, turning to May who only nodded.
"She wants to see you train. All of you. As an evaluation. She won't join if she doesn't think you are up to the task." She answered simply. Skye moved backward before throwing a look at Bobbi who looked just as confused.
"But they aren't field agents, sir," Bobbi added nodding at Jemma and Leo who both seemed to rather want to melt in a puddle of their own tears than to be with them right now.
"I know that, but we need to answer her. We need Romanoff, very badly. And I am willing to let her get what she wants. Maybe you all can learn something today." Phil said simply before turning to the door and slowly started to walk away.
"Excuse me, but you can't just leave now," Skye said trying to stop him. He only looked at her with a small smile before saying.
"I can, and I will. Banner is helping me with something. Now please, follow May down to the training facilities." Skye groaned loudly before turning to the team making May give her a disapproving look before nodding at the door. Jemma only nodded biting her lip throwing Skye a worried look.
Skye tried to force herself to calm down. Being stressed helped nobody. She could feel Jemma tensing up beside her. Fitz too seemed to be worried. He seemed to get more nervous by the second. She could understand why. None of them knew that they were walking into. At least she kinda knew Natasha, Fitz, and Simmons didn't.
"Come on guys, it can't be that bad." Bobbi tried looking at Fitz's with an encouraging smile. He responded with an ugly look before saying.
"Easy for you to say. You are an actual agent with real talent in the field. We don't know what we are doing." Skye stayed quiet as the conversation continued.
"It's not like I know what to expect either, I am just trying not to bury my own damn grave before we have even stepped into the room." The blond hissed back.
"What do you think she will make us do?" Jemma asked carefully looking at May with a small look.
"Nothing. Natasha won't force you to do anything if you don't want to, but she will probably make you want to do it, she is good at that kinda thing. And then she will evaluate you. This is a test, and either you fail, or you pass, easy as that." May answered not even bother to answer her as she pushed the door open and a huge room revealed itself.
It was a gym with mats on the floor, but targets for weapon shootings on one of the walls. And in the middle of the room, was their target, Natasha. Natasha had her back towards them, but even then, she seemed intimidating. She turned around, and to Skye's surprise, she smiled.
"I am sure you are somewhat surprised I called you all. But this mission, this isn't just hacking and some science. This will require fieldwork, and I need you, all of you, to show me what you got. Okay?" Natasha walked over to them with a soft smile on her lips and Skye's eyes followed her closely.
"All I want is to feel you, how you work and think. You guys will spar and shoot with me, that's it. You can either watch or train when it isn't your turn. Any of you who want to go first?" Natasha's voice was so calm and unthreatening in every way. Not the same badass commentary she had with Coulson either. She was soft and caring, obviously to calm them down, and it really did work. Immediately Skye felt safe around her. Just like she had when she was just a kid, she felt like Natasha really was there to help. And maybe that was just one of her many ways, but it worked so well.
"I'll do it," Fitz said, lifting his hand as he volunteered to be the first one to go with the other agent. While he walked over to her Bobbi nodded at Skye and dragged her over to a mat slowly starting to throw a few punches at her to get them warmed up. In the corner of her eye, she could see Leo talk to Natasha, but only talk. It was like he was explaining something to her.
Skye could see Jemma standing with May. Jemma wasn't much of a fighter and knew almost nothing about combat. May had, of course, showed her some of the most basic of moves, but Skye knew she didn't like it. But she, like the rest of them would have to step up with Natasha, and soon enough the two of them also started to warm up.
Skye was very happy she had Bobbi. Bobbi was an excellent fighter. She like May was amazing in the field, and Skye thought she was a great teacher as well. She also talked more than May, which she appreciated. The two of them kept going for a while when they both noticed Jemma and May had stopped their training and were watching Fitz with Natasha.
"So you built it, to make sure you don't kill them but rather..-"
"Knock them out to a kind of sleep-like state, yes." Natasha didn't answer to Fitz interrupting her sentence even if Skye knew she hated it when people did that. Natasha let her hand glide over the night- night piston, looking at it carefully. Before she knew what was happening Natasha lifted her head in rapped speed pulling the trigger twice, making it echo in the whole room. In the corner of her eye, Skye could see Jemma jump closer to May in surprise and Fitz backing up from the redhead when she had pulled the trigger.
Natasha lowered the weapon almost just as fast placing it on a table before clicking on a few buttons making a hologram of the target she just shot at pop up. Two holes, inches away from the middle.
"Damnit. That was definitely different from my weapon of choice." She said with a small hark. Skye looked at Bobbi before shaking her head. She had seen Natasha hit a bullseye with her eyes closed, she never missed.
"Yeah well, I have heard it is a bit heavy… around one once."
"One once." Natasha shot in at the same time making Fitz laugh and nodding. Skye let out a small breath, hu. She remembered Ward saying the same, maybe he was right after all.
"Yeah. Well, I learned how to use it even with that one once off so." Fitz said with a small laugh and Skye could see the corner of Natasha's mouth move.
"Show me," Natasha said, picking up the gun, handing it to Fitz. Slowly he accepted the weapon wrapping his hand around it tightly before aiming towards the same target Natasha had just shot. Skye squinted as she watched Natasha's left hand move slowly. She was really wondering if she was going to punch the man or something to test him. Instead, Natasha moved the gun only an inch upwards the same time Fitz pulled the trigger making it pierce through the middle of the target. And now Skye understood what she was doing. Fitz would have missed, and he didn't even know it.
"Wow. Nice shot Fitz's. Not really a real gun, but if you can shoot one of them like that in the field I won't mind." Natasha said as she zoomed the hologram bigger emphasizing the bullseye. Leo only nodded before putting down the gun on the table. Skye could tell the man was beyond proud. She turned around towards May to see if she had noticed as well and the older woman just nodded in confirmation as their eyes met.
"Now to the fun part. Hit me." Skye was sure she looked just as surprised by that as Leo did reacting to that comment. He stepped back and looked at her like he was struggling to hear her.
"But you are hurt." He argued, pointing at the arm Natasha had only yesterday gotten patched up. The woman only rolled her eyes at that before saying.
"I am fine. Just show me what you can do." Natasha said with a small smile before adding. "You will not hurt me, Leopold" Fitz stood stunned for a second before nodding. Skye didn't even know Natasha knew their first name, apparently, she did. Skye jumped backward when Fitz threw a surpassingly powerful punch at Natasha's. Of course, she dodged it with no problem at all, only saying.
"Watch your elbow, keep it higher. Do it again" Natasha looked at him daringly. Nothing seemed to happen before Fitz charged up again, and this time Skye could tell he really was thinking about that elbow. He had the same look in his eyes as when he was tinkering. Distanced from the world around him, only focusing on what was right in front of him.
The next fifteen minutes was just Natasha saying what to do and Fitz doing exactly that. He hadn't come close to hitting her once, and Natasha seemed to just be teasing at this point, and Skye wasn't feeling like watching that at all. She instead went back to some light sparing with Bobbi who too seemed to be wondering what the hell Natasha was doing.
"Come on, Agent Fitz. Prove to me that you aren't the useless nobody I have heard rumors about." Skye threw her head towards them exactly the same time Fitz threw five fast punches Natasha's way, making her jump backward forcing her to physically block two of the punches with her arms.
"Okay, Simmons get over here." Fitz stopped the second Natasha caught his hand in hers forcing his arm to stop moving. He only nodded before backing away and walking up to Bobbi and Skye. He looked hurt and surprised when Natasha pushed him away, but he knew better than to talk back at her.
"So how did that go?" Bobbi whispered as they watched her walk over to the older woman.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Fitz whispered back to her.
Jemma was beyond nervous Skye could tell. While they were talking she was staying out of Natasha's reach the whole time, not that Natasha would ever hurt her.
"I don't like guns" Jemma hurried to say as Natasha unfastened her pistol from her thigh holster.
"Okay. That's fine. I won't force you then. But if you would like to try you are allowed to" Natasha placed the gun on the table between them and smiled at the younger woman. Her voice wasn't pushy or rude. It was a small offer and it wasn't anything harmful about it.
"But this is a real gun, with real bullets." Jemma pointed out, not even touching the gun, only looking at it. Skye had to let out a small laugh at that comment. Jemma knew what a gun looked like, obviously. God, she was such an innocent little girl sometimes.
Skye knew very little about guns and only really used what she was given. This one was different from the Smith & Wesson M&P they used at SHIELD she could tell. But she didn't know what kind.
"It is. My personal favourite. A Glock 26. Like I said you don't have to, but I would like to see you try if you feel comfortable. I am guessing May has shown you how. It's just you not feeling it, and that's fine." Natasha said with a soft smile. She looked at the woman and Skye could see the redhead lower her guard, proving to Jemma she trusted her.
"Okay," Jemma said, taking a deep breath picking it up with a shaking hand. Skye could see her gulp as she unlocked the safety.
"Guess this is what May meant with making us want to," Bobbie mumbled as she watched Jemma look at the gun before clicking the safety off. Skye only nodded as she watched Natasha place her hand over Jemma's before aiming it for her.
She had no idea what Natasha whispered to her friend before the gun fired and Skye jumped backward. Jemma was held in place by Natasha's strong body, not even letting her flinch. Natasha forced Jemma to move her hand down before she nodded at her before smiling and backing off.
Natasha looked at Jemma, and Skye could tell she was talking to her, but in such a low voice none of them could hear it. Jemma only nodded at her before she lifted the gun again. Natasha took a deep breath and didn't exhale before Jemma did the same. The next second two shots were fired, and the gun was lowered again.
Skye watched Natasha's face light up before lifting her hand high-fiving the woman. Jemma looked more surprised than anything handing the gun to Natasha carefully.
"Told you she is good at what she does" Skye jumped forward when May's voice came up behind her. Skye let out a heavy breath looking at the woman who didn't seem to care about the fact she almost killed her sneaking up on her like that.
"Clearly. Those were two solid shots almost straight through the middle. And I haven't even got Simmons to lift a gun yet." Bobbi mumbled as the hologram popped up and the picture of the target showed.
"Well, Natasha has her ways. Believe me when I say it's nothing that woman can't do" May said nodding at Natasha who now, somehow, had gotten Jemma to spar her. Unlike how she had been with Fitz this time she was the one punching most of the time letting Jemma block and counter. Clearly, Natasha was miles from hitting the woman, but it looked pretty intense from Skye's point of view.
"Can she fly?" Bobbi asked out for the blue the same time Natasha knocked Jemma off her feet grabbing her just seconds before she hit the ground.
"Of course, she can. Quinjet no problem. Probably in her sleep" May answered simply.
"Languages?" Bobbie followed.
"Probably more than the two of us combined."
"Well guess the mat is the only place I might have a shot then," Bobbi mumbled back just the same time Natasha nodded at Jemma before calling over the blond.
"Morse, show me what you got. The rest of you, why don't you all come so we can all watch what the Mockingbird has up her sleeve" Natasha challenged. It was completely different from the soft voice she had used with Jemma, but if anything, it seemed to drive the blond even more.
"May told me she scouted you out herself. Need to be pretty solid to get May impressed. Now let's see if you can do the same with me." Natasha said, handing Bobbi her beloved gun.
It took Bobbi approximately seven seconds to pierce through five of the targets with two bullets each and Skye was starting to wonder how the hell she was going to top that when she was up next.
"You missed three," Natasha said almost uninterested as she took the gun back from the blond after she finished.
"I did not." Bobbi challenged with an annoyed look.
"Yes, you did. Both of the shots on target two and the second to last." Natasha said as she reloaded the gun clicking the ammo on smiling at the sound of reloading the gun.
"I did not miss anyt-'' Bobbi got cut off when Natasha clicked on a button and a big hologram popped up.
For Skye, it had seemed like 10 perfect shots, but Natasha was right. The three shots she had called out had all hit just on the line in the middle of the target therefore the machine did not count it. How the woman had seen that with her bare eye before the hologram showed up, she had no idea.
"A gun isn't really my weapon of choice." Skye could hear the blond mumble under her breath probably annoyed Natasha didn't count them as bullseyes when they certainly could be argued they were.
"Not saying it was bad, Morse, just pointing it out," Natasha said before looking at her. "And I am sure fighting is more your style anyways." Bobbi only nodded before Natasha moved over to the mat.
"Let's go Birdie," Natasha said simply before going into a defensive stance.
"You sure. I'm not sure your arm can handle it." Bobbi mocked making Natasha laugh softly.
"Think I can prove that theory wrong." Natasha didn't give her time to respond before she punched after her and Skye could tell the block from Bobbi was pure reflexes before the blond forced her head into the fight and punched back.
It was clear Bobbi gave Natasha a good fight but it was no doubt the redhead that the upper hand the whole time and five minutes in Natasha jumped her wrapping her legs around her torso and throwing the blond over her and down on the floor with a loud bang making the taller woman groan loudly
"Did she just do that..." Jemma started.
"With her legs?" Leo finished looking stunned at the redhead who was standing over the blond. May nodded, not looking surprised at all.
"Good, but not quite there yet. I do think with some training with me and the results might be very different in a few weeks." Natasha said with a smile dragging Bobbi up to the floor. It was only now Skye noticed how out of breath Bobbi was compared to Natasha who didn't seem to be tried at all.
"Thanks?" Bobbi said with a confused voice looking at her before the tuned to the team. Fitz only lifted his shoulders and Jemma turned away.
"You're good Morse. But I can tell this isn't your preferred battle style. Still, this was a very solid opening. You lasted longer than most with me. Believe me." Natasha said and May nodded in confirmation.
"She knocked me out the exact same way the first time I spared her to. Did get my revenge though." May shrugged, making Natasha roll her eyes.
"Once Mellie. You defeated me once." Natasha said before pulling up a water bottle from a bag handing it to Bobbi who looked between the two.
"Only one who has, so I will take it," May said, making Natasha laugh softly.
"Wait. Only one who has what exactly." Fitz jumped in asking the one question they all were wondering about.
"Defeated her sparing," May said casually.
"You can't be serious right? Somebody else has to have thrown her down on the mat other than you?" Bobbi said, looking at the redhead who shook her head no.
"Have drawn with a few. May, Maria, Steve. But no. I have hit the mat though. But only to throw them into the wall. Like is said. It was a solid try." Natasha said looking at her with a small smug smile.
Skye could see Bobbi nod at her before she backed up from the other woman.
"Skye your turn. Unless you guys want to see May and I try to break each other for 20 minutes." Natasha said with a small laughter.
"As entertaining I am sure that would be, I rather want to get this over with," Skye said between her teeth. God she really didn't want to do this.
This was Skye's nightmare. She was awful at shooting, and she was not good at fighting. Natasha was running rings around her and even on a good day, Skye could probably only perform 50% of what Bobbi had done before her, which didn't make the situation better.
Her performance wasn't like awful, but even if it wasn't trash, she felt an odd amount of pressure on her. And it was nothing she wanted more than to run away from all of this.
Skye landed on the mat with a loud thud and a moan.
"God, please let's never do this again, T" Natasha laughed before offering her hand to help her up on her feet.
"T?" Bobbi asked, looking at her with a confused look.
"Just an old nickname, not important." Natasha brushed her off with a small smile before turning to the whole group. "Dismissed. Hope you all learned something. I will talk to Coulson later on and I will get back to you soon okay?" Natasha said not giving any of them room to answer her before she turned around and walked out of the room.
"So, how was training?" Coulson walked into one of the common rooms in the tower balancing three boxes with donuts in his arms. Their team had decided to spend the evening together after dinner. The Avengers were off to a press conference, so they had the tower for themself with the exception of Maria who also was there with them.
The whole team was kinda down. The mood was low, and Skye wasn't going to sugarcoat it, she just felt…down.
"They aren't especially happy with their performance," May said coldly looking at all of them who had their head down and were looking down at the wood table.
"Why would we, she was basically playing us," Fitz said throwing his arms up defeated. None of the girls answered but Skye nodded looking at Coulson with big eyes.
"Well, that is pretty much all Natasha does. Believe me, she does so with all of us too." Maria said opening one of the boxes and picking out a donut with a small smile.
Skye wasn't sure how she felt about that excuse, but at the same time, Natasha had always been very good at pushing her in the right direction when needed back then.
"But in a good way. Romanoff is an excellent spy. In fact, she approved all of you, so doesn't matter what you think, she liked you guys." Phil added with a happy voice. Skye watched the girl raise their head. Was he serious, she had no complaint about any of them?
"I mean she missed two shots on propose for Fitz so I would think so," May said with small eye-roll. Maria nodded in approvingly.
"Wait she did that on porpoise?" Fitz said with a suspicious voice. Skye should have guessed. Natasha would never have missed a shot like that.
"She doesn't miss, not like that," Maria said simply before turning to all of them. "Natasha didn't play you to manipulate you. She evaluated you to make sure she pushed you in the right direction. To make sure she got to see you on your best."
"So that is why she acted so differently with all of us," Bobbi said turning to Coulson who only nodded.
"She is brilliant. She is so manipulative you don't even notice it. Even her actions are so seamless. I bet Fitz didn't even notice her re-aiming for him. And the way she talked to me. I have never witnessed anything like it. She is so good at that." Jemma said turning to Skye with big eyes. Skye only nodded slowly back. She was right, kind of. While she agreed with all of what was said, she really didn't feel like Natasha had done any of that with her.
"Wait she re-aimed for me?" Leo asked looking at all of them who kinda just tried to look away.
"Natasha was very impressed with all of you…" Skye felt a poke on her shoulder as Maria was talking and turned to Coulson who looked at her with a small smile. He nodded at a corner and Skye nodded back standing up and following him away from the group.
"Sir?" Skye asked carefully, keeping an eye on the group to make sure none of them followed.
"Natasha's evaluation on the team was very strong Skye. The only downside was you." Skye turned her attention from the team and instead on Coulson. He looked down on her with two almost disappointed eyes, and Skye immediately felt insecurity build up in her.
"What why? I mean I am not that good, but I don't think it's fair that I…" Phil only raised a hand to shut her up and Skye only nodded snapping her mouth together.
"It's not about your skillset. It's about you not pushing yourself. She told me she didn't want to try any tricks on you because she wanted it to be you and her, not a persona she made up. But you never responded to that. She is disappointed in you. And so am I." Phil looked at her for what felt like a year before he turned around and walked over to the team.
"I am expecting a very different conversation between us the next time we talk about your training."
"Yes sir." She whispered back. He was already out of hearing range and Skye watched him walk over to the team who was talking to each other happily, none of them noticing how she was standing there alone now.
Natasha had done nothing but being kind to her over the years, and neither had Phil. She didn't think she had disappointed them. She thought she was finally doing something right. So why did she feel like crying?