"Are you alright?"
Pepper asks as the car speeds down the road, taking in a deep breath, Skye nods her head as an answer. She is however not sure that she is alright or not, now isn't the time to try and figure that out.
"We need to get out Malta as quickly as possible. I need to call the team to inform them I'm alright and give them a way to find me so they can pick me and Dr Hall up."
Skye informs and she can see how Pepper nods her head before leaning forwards towards the driver. Taking out her phone, Skye looks for the Melinda's number and calls it. Leaning further back in the seat, feeling how she is growing tired.
"Skye?"
"Sorry for that, I needed to gain Quinn's trust if I wanted to get a better access point. I'm out of the building and we are heading out of Malta. I have given Fitz the ability to track my phone so either of you can come and pick me up."
Skye informs the older agent, hopping she doesn't sound all to worn out.
"I'll have Fitz track you and inform me, I will see you later."
Melinda tells her before the call ends. Feeling a hint of dread at this information. Skye lowers her phone, eyes still on it. Feeling that Pepper sits back beside her once more, Skye slumps even more.
"Something wrong?"
Pepper asks, careful as she asks the question. Skye takes in a deep breath, knowing it's for the best to tell Pepper what is going to happen, considering she will be meeting with Melinda, and she has a higher chance to order Stark from saying or doing anything stupid.
"Well, I'm sure Stark told you everything, considering you know I have a connection with Coulson."
She starts, seeing how Pepper nods her head as an answer, Skye takes in a deep breath.
"Well, before Coulson took care of me, there was another S.H.I.E.L.D agent, an agent that was force to take in a small, scared and badly hurt girl."
Skye starts to explain, glancing towards Pepper she can see the woman wish to ask something, but she keeps silent. Sadness can be seen in her eyes.
"Her name is Melinda May, and once we are safe, you will meet her. There is however a small problem…"
"Don't tell me she doesn't realise who you are either?"
"I suspect she knows that something is up with me, but so far, she only thinks of me as the hacker that Coulson thinks is a good idea to have around."
Skye tells her and she can see how Pepper rolls her eyes.
"Do I need to have a word with her too?"
Pepper asks, making Skye smile slightly.
"No, I can handle Melinda if it comes down to it. And I think Maria will want to have a word or two with her once she learns about it all."
Skye tells Pepper who nods her head, she is however going to let Pepper have a word with Coulson once he learns that she is in fact little Mary. Feeling how the car starts to slow down, Skye looks outside to see Stark waiting, alone.
"Oh no, this looks bad."
Skye comments and from the corner of her eyes, she can see how Pepper nods her head in agreement. The moment the car comes to a stop, Skye opens the door and is out in a heartbeat, Stark looking up at her and shaking his head. Seeing that Stark is about to talk, she holds up her hand.
"No, save it to when Agent May gets here."
She tells him, the less she knows, the better she will feel about it all. Finding a large rock, she sits down, trying to figure out what step to take next. Realising what problem this mission can create, not with S.H.I.E.L.D but with her siblings, Skye looks up at Stark.
"Stark, I need you to promise me something. You can't tell Tasha or Clint that you have meet me here today or even helped me with a mission, or that you know I'm part of S.H.I.E.L.D. They don't know and at the moment they can't know about it. I will even delete the back door I have into your system; all I need is for you to keep silent."
Skye begs of him, seeing how he is about to answer when something hits.
"I thought you said you only hacked into the system once."
Pepper points out beside her, making Skye shrink down slightly.
"And why haven't JARVIS informed me about this?"
Stark asks, the question more directed towards his system than Skye herself.
"Oh, please. JARVIS loves me and I have made sure he hasn't been attacked by others."
Skye informs them, waving her hand to dismiss it all. Seeing that both Pepper and Stark is about to say something, she grows silent as her eyes lands on a car coming towards them.
"Look sharp Stark, agent May is coming."
Skye informs them, making Pepper and Stark turn to look at the car. Melinda parks the car and steps out, Skye quite happy that she has come alone, deep down she was worried Ward would demand coming along too. She can see how Melinda scans her surroundings before her eye's lands on her. Giving Melinda a weak smile, she hops the older agent won't start question her right away. Seeing how her eyes then turns towards Stark, Skye let's out a sigh of relief.
Stark being the first one to start explaining what went down with Dr Hall, Skye turns her attention towards the ground. Feeling that Pepper leans down beside her, Skye looks towards her.
"That's the woman who first took you in?"
Pepper asks in a low voice, and Skye nods her head.
"If I didn't know better, I would say the two of you are mother and daughter."
Pepper comments, Skye can feel a faint blush spreading on her cheeks at this. Pepper isn't the first one to make a comment like this and Skye is sure she won't be the last either. Lifting her head, she looks towards Melinda who has her arms crossed and eyes narrowed as she listens to Stark. Feeling how Pepper place a hand on her shoulder, she turns her attention back to her once more.
"What I told you over the phone still stands Skye, if there is anything you want to talk about, just call me directly."
Pepper informs her and Skye nods her head at this. Feeling more eyes on them, Skye turns her attention back towards Stark and Melinda, seeing that both of them are looking at her and Pepper. At this, Pepper moves her hand from Skye's shoulder and stands up properly.
"Come on."
Melinda orders Skye, her tone short and Skye get's a feeling Melinda isn't all to happy with the sudden closeness between her and Pepper. Shaking that feeling away for now, Skye will have to try and decide what to think about all of this later. There is no way Melinda can be jealous about Pepper when she doesn't even know who Skye really is. With a deep breath, Skye rises from the rock, nodding her head towards Pepper and Stark, she starts walking towards Melinda.
"Wait!"
Stark calls out as she reaches Melinda, making Skye turn her head to look at him.
"I have a counter to your question; I want you to keep the back door. What I need from you instead is that you make sure no one else tries to hack into my system."
Stark says, making Skye smiles. Nodding her head, Skye turns her attention towards Melinda once more. She can see the woman look at her with question in her eyes, but Skye ignores her for now and enter the car. Melinda joining her a few seconds later.
"You alright?"
Melinda asks after a few minutes of driving, surprising Skye. Blinking a few times, Skye takes in a deep breath before nodding her head.
"I will be, I just need to process the fact that I was considering pulling the trigger when I managed to disarm Quinn."
Skye informs her and Skye can see how Melinda's grip on the stearin wheel tightens. No more words are said about the mission during the rest of the drive, or rather, not a single word is said at all during the ride. Melinda even kept silent about what she had seen and been told when she talks to Coulson later, which makes Skye surprised. Then again, she should know better than expect Melinda to break someone's trust like that. Once everything has been cleared and their next mission has been given, Skye finds herself hiding away in her bunk once more, the Mushu plushie tightly hold against her chest.
-X-X-X-X-X-
The next mission really put her to test. Having Melinda and Coulson arguing about what their take on the mission should be, her making a joke that she didn't like seeing mom and dad fighting. Which felt weird saying directly to Coulson without him even realising what she really meant by it. Having to deal with one of Coulson's old agents, turned into a marionet, controlled by an unknown man behind a computer screen.
Being forced to handle a gun once more, not pulling the trigger once more but letting the woman they were haunting ram the van she, Simmons and Fitz were hiding in. Being forced to help Ward with a mission, all Skye wants is to just hide away. The only thing that turns out to be good after this mission, is the fact that she starts to trust Fitz a bit more.
It's quite clear he isn't used to being outside of a lab and that Simmons is the only friend he has. But after what they have been through in the van, Skye realises she feels a bit calmer around the young agent and she doesn't hide close Simmons as much.
Once the mission is over, Skye finally finds herself back in her bunk, scrolling through the pictures on her phone when an incoming message is being sent to her. Seeing that it's from Gwen, she smiles bigger. She knows she has promised Maria she should contact her oldest friend more; she finds that she hasn't, something that Gwen has noticed to.
Reading what her crazy friend has been up to, what type of criminals she has taken down and how much she has been trying to hide away from the police, Skye starts to type out what she herself have been through. All from being taken from her van, to learning the truth that Coulson is alive, that she lives with him and Melinda on a plane where neither of them realises who she is. To how they blow a hole in the side of the plane, her teamwork with Stark and the mission they just had.
Feeling the plane change direction, Skye puts away her phone, getting the feeling a new mission is about to come. And something tells her something bad is about to go down.