A/N: just a quick note about calling Coulson and May, Phil and Melinda. Pretty much if Skye is anywhere, they will be referred as Phil and Melinda. Enjoy Agents!

Chapter Six

The drive home was just as quiet as the end of lunch had been. Phil found himself growing even more nervous of the idea of being Skye to the house. What if she didn't like it? What if she hated her room? Even though he had a feeling that if she didn't like it, she wouldn't say so. He noticed that while Skye could put up a good front, she was timid and a bit fearful of them.

The file of Mary Sue held information about her being in some difficult homes, but never gave any specifics about what had happened in those homes. However it wasn't hard to put the pieces together. Phil pulled into the driveway of the house.

It was a two story house with an attic and a basement underground. The roof was black, as most roofs were. The house was a fair sized overall, Phil vaguely remembered an agent explaining to him how it was called the Kelly or maybe modeled after Kelly houses.

The bricks used on the first floor walls outside and around the white garage door were overcast grey. The garage was on the left side, with a triangle shape above the white door where some boxes were stored. The outside of the first floor had four white pillars holding a little bit of roof in front of the second story windows.

The middle window was surrounded by the cloudy grey bricks while the other windows on either side of it had pale grey paint around them instead. The shutters on each side of the windows were a dark navy blue that almost looked black.

"Nice place," Skye commented as she slid out of the back seat.

Phil practically sagged in relief, "Glad it meets your approval."

Phil, Melinda and Skye walked to the front and into the house. Skye looked around. On the left was a dining room, a deep brown long table placed in the center with four chairs on each side. The wall that she could see was painted in a color a little lighter than olive green. There was also a little chandelier hanging over the table.

On Skye's right she saw an open space with a yellowish cream couch with floral designs on it. There was a glass case on the left side with a few items in it, but she didn't look long enough to take in each item.

"This is our dining and living room," Phil explained, "We have a bathroom straight ahead on the left while the stairs are right across them."

Skye followed Phil as he made his way down the little hall until they stood in an open space. There was a flat screen tv on the wall on Skye's right with a leather couch close to her, a glass coffee table with remotes and books sitting on it.

Underneath the tv was a little shelf where Skye assumed dvd's and the cable connection was. The back door was all glass with a screen. Next to them was a four foot window in length, two feet high.

"This is what I call a lounge while Melinda calls it the actual living room," Phil continued with a half smirk.

He gestured to the room behind them, "This is the kitchen. Feel free to help yourself whenever. There's a little table there with a view of the backyard though there isn't much back there except a shed. Uh, then we have the laundry room just past the kitchen. You basically walk through the garage into the laundry room before getting inside."

Skye looked briefly at the kitchen, but didn't pay much attention to it. Honestly she was only listening to him because she didn't want to be rude. She was going to be staying in his house after all and he looked a little excited to be telling her about.

Before she could get too wrapped up in her thoughts, she refocused in on Phil who had been telling her about how to work the TV set. He was also telling her about how he and Melinda had just moved in along with the fact that the house was built five years ago. Skye couldn't honestly care less.

Melinda cut in a moment later, "How about we let Skye get settled before you tell her everything you know about this house."

Phil stopped talking about the house and said sheepishly, "Sorry. I tend to talk a lot when nervous."

"Nervous about a stranger living in your house," Skye commented passively.

Phil shook his head, "Nervous that I'm going to make a fool of myself."

Skye hadn't expected that. The Mayson's were just full of surprises, it's only been a few hours.

"Too late for that Phil," Melinda said with an almost teasing grin.

Phil smiled at her fondly, "Thanks for that. I'll let you get settled. I need to make a phone call real quick."

Skye followed Melinda upstairs while Phil pulled out his phone and dialed some numbers. There was a little open space at the top of the stairs. On Skye's left specifically.

There was nothing there, but it could be a little sitting area if there were a chair and maybe a desk. The only thing there was the center window of the house. There were also two white doors.

"The door on the left is the office," Melinda informed her, she went to the door on the right, "This is your room."

Skye followed the woman inside the room who didn't bother to hide her surprise at the room. The room was bigger than any room Skye had stayed in, by herself, before. On the far side of the room, a full sized bed was placed with the white headrest pressed against the dark grey wall.

The comforter was divided into four squares, the bottom left corner and top right we're both black while the top left was pink and the bottom right was sky blue. The pillows stacked on top each other were a combination of black, pink and blue. The pillows she would sleep on were blue while the decorated ones were pink and black.

Skye walked into the middle of the room, her brown eyes wide with wonder. She looked away from the bed to see two white doors which would lead to the closet. Her attention returned to the bed.

There was about four feet of space between the bed and the window. Just opposite of the bed was a white dresser with six drawers and a TV sitting on top. She'd never had a tv in her room before.

"We weren't sure what you liked," Melinda admitted after a few minutes of silence, "Maria recommended the set up. If you don't like it-"

"Don't like it," Skye breathed out, "I love it. It's amazing."

Melinda offered Skye a gentle smile. Had she been worried that Skye wouldn't like it? Yes. Even though she would never admit out loud, she was nervous that the teen wouldn't like the room considering how anxious Phil had been about it. His nerves were becoming contagious.

"A shame I'll have to leave," Skye had said, more to herself than Melinda.

"Leave it," Melinda questioned.

However she knew exactly what Skye meant. The agent was surprised by how much the next words from Skye actually hurt to hear.

"It's not like I'll be here long," Skye had said matter of factly, "And I wouldn't be able to take it with me."

Part of Melinda wanted to argue with her, but at the same time she knew it was true. Skye wouldn't be here long nor would she be able to take all this with her. Skye would only be here until Maria and her team could track down the beast hunting her. That could take days, weeks and maybe months.

There was no telling how long Skye would be staying here, but Melinda knew it wasn't forever. Suddenly Melinda felt a pang of guilt. Wasn't she going to leave in a little over two weeks?

Before Melinda could consider staying, the images of a little girl with pale skin and down red appeared before her. Melinda forced the images away. She wouldn't think of that now.

"You never know," Melinda commented quietly, "I'll let you get settled. You need anything, I'll be downstairs."

Skye nodded, Melinda was about to walk out when she said, "Melinda?"

"Yes," Melinda asked with a raised brow.

"Thank you," Skye said honestly, "For the comforter and room and tv. It means a lot."

Melinda acknowledged her words with a nod before closing the door leaving the teen to her thoughts. Once the door was closed, Skye pulled out her clothes and hung them up in the closet.

No other foster family had prepared a room for her to this extent. Sure they would have a bed prepared for her when she arrived, but honestly that was about it. This had been a step up. Skye tried not to smile, but failed miserably.

Melinda walked downstairs to speak to Phil, not only about getting their story straight, but where to go from here. Melinda would worry about plans after she knew where they were starting.

It was still a strange thought to Melinda that she now had a teenager to look after. May entered the kitchen to find Phil standing near the table by the breakfast nook, phone pressed to his ear as he spoke quietly. It was obvious he was worried that Skye would hear the conversation if he talked any louder.

"Okay… yes, we'll look into it later tonight when Skye's asleep… No. That's just the name she wanted to be called…. You can say that again… Alright. Coulson out."

Melinda folded her arms over her chest as Phil hung up the phone, "Was that Hill?"

Phil nodded, "Yeah. Let her know that we brought Skye home and informed her that we're going to make some alterations to the Mayson files." Phil paused for a moment, he tilted his head slightly, "I know we covered the basics of our backstory, but nothing in depth."

"No, yet apparently the basics included three children to our story though they are nowhere to be found in our files," Melinda stated with a pointed look.

Phil smiled sheepishly at her, "Yeah, I'm not sure why I said it, but it just came out. You would think after years of undercover assignments I wouldn't get caught off guard."

Melinda inhaled, "What's your plan to fix that mistake?"

"Don't worry I've got it covered," Phil answered confidently, "Tonight Hill can alter our files, add in the files of our "children" along with some pictures and we're in business."

Melinda scoffed, "You make it sound so simple."

Phil shrugged his shoulders, "It is fairly easy. Anyway, I figured we could make up some more stories tonight and add in anything we want. Next order of business is shopping."

"Shopping for what," Melinda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"To get her more clothes," Phil said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "You saw what she was wearing. That shirt could be a dress on her, not to mention all the rips in those jeans. No."

"Cou- Phil," Melinda corrected, "We can't buy her a full wardrobe. She isn't staying forever."

"Maybe not, but she still deserves to have some clothes that actually fit her," Phil pointed out, his blue eyes narrowing.

Melinda relented, she could understand where he was coming from, "Alright. Tomorrow we'll go shopping to get her whatever she needs."

"And anything that catches her eye," Phil added with a decisive nod.

Melinda would have argued with him on that front, but it would fall on deaf ears. When Phil Coulson had his mind set on something, especially when it involved helping others, nothing could change his mind.

Secretly it was something Melinda admired about her friend. Though Phil could be very passive and easy going, there were definitely times when he would not back down.

"Should we work on our story now," Phil asked curiously.

Melinda shook her head, she glanced over at the stairs, "No. Don't need her to walk down and hear us trying to come up with a story. We can make it up tonight. You should show her the basement while I start the report then get started on the dinner I'm apparently supposed to make."

Phil's eyes lit up at that, he really loved the basement. He loved how to get to the basement even more. Under the staircase, on the right wall of the family room, was a white door against the golden yellow paint.

Behind that door would be a set of stairs on the right that would lead the the multiple rooms of the basement. Perhaps Skye would join him in watching some movies or playing video games.

Unless of course she didn't like either, but Phil was almost certain she did like those things. He wasn't sure exactly why he thought so, he just seemed certain that she did. Phil walked upstairs to Skye's room, he knocked twice on the door and waited for her to answer.

Skye opened the door and let him inside, "Hey."

"Hey," Phil said trying not to act awkward, "You getting settled okay?"

Skye nodded, "Yeah. Finished putting my clothes up, though it didn't take long."

Phil nodded in acknowledgment, but wasn't sure what he should say next. Even though making conversation always came easily to him, he hadn't want to say the wrong thing to her.

Most of the times he was undercover he had to get close a target in order to find out their secrets. He hadn't need to find this girl's secrets. That wasn't why he was here.

"You like the room," Phil asked, after a pregnant silence.

Skye's nod came excited and a little giddy, "Definitely my favorite."

Phil smiled, relieved, "I'm glad you like it. Well thought I'd check and see how unpacking was going. Also to set up the TV-"

Phil stopped talking when his eyes landed on a World War II Captain America trading card. It was a picture of Captain America in his original suit holding the star shield with his right hand while he had his left hand raised to his forehead in salute.

The background behind him was a shade lighter than brick along with the number ten in the right hand corner. It was the most beautiful thing Phil had seen.

"Mr Mayson," Skye asked worriedly, "You alright?"

"You have a Captain America card, the tenth one in the original set," Phil answered still in awe.

Skye moved over to his side to see her trading card, the one she had received as a present from an old foster brother who had won it in a bet. Captain America had been a real life hero.

Skye would be lying if she said that she hadn't fantasized Captain America coming to rescue her, though she had done the same thing with Peter Pan. Captain America was real, something she could hold onto even as she grew up.

"Really," Skye asked picking up the card, "A friend of mine gave me a pick at some items he wanted to give me. I liked Captain America so I chose the card. I take it you like him?"

Phil nodded with a childlike smile, "You have no idea. Captain America was my hero growing up. I have every card, but the last one. These are valuable."

"I knew it was valuable, but I hadn't realized there was a whole a set," Skye said with a small frown, "Though I probably should have realized it was a part of set considering it has a ten on the top."

"I can show you the other cards if you like, " Phil offered, a feeling camaraderie going on.

Skye looked at him with slightly wide eyes, "Really? You'd let me see them?"

"Absolutely," Phil answered grinning, "Come on. They're in the basement."

"Thanks Mr Mayson," Skye said still grinning.

Phil shook his head, "It's no trouble and call me Phil."

Skye looked a little unsure, but she did nod in response.

Phil asked as they walked down the stairs, "Have you read any of the comic books?"

"Nope," Skye said popping the 'p'.

Phil tsked, "We'll have to change that. While I could never find all the cards, I did find several other items and all of the comics about him."

"Aren't there over a hundred of those," Skye asked as they made their into the family room.

Phil nodded still grinning, "137 comics to be exact. I have each and everyone of them in plastic sleeves, near mint condition."

Skye made no comment, but nodded in acknowledgement of his statement. It didn't take a genius to know that Phil was definitely proud of his collection.

Melinda felt the corners of her mouth twitch as she listened to Phil's fading voice talk about the great history of Captain America, again. Over the years Melinda had definitely heard all of Captain America's adventures. Not that she didn't like the hero, she did, but she was nowhere near as obsessed as Phil was.

Throughout the duration of Melinda's time working on papers and cooking, Skye and Phil had resurfaced from the basement twice. Skye had left to use the restroom since one wasn't in the basement while Phil had come out once to grab yet another Captain America item.

Either Skye was very interested in Captain America or she didn't want to be rude and tell him the stop. Melinda had no idea which one it was considering all afternoon Skye and Phil stayed in the basement.

By the time Melinda finished cooking, Phil and Skye had resurfaced from the basement. The food was just about ready. Skye's face was the picture of a giddy child, Melinda suddenly had a feeling that she was going to hear Captain America's story again. Not that she really minded.

She would pretend she did, but she she really hadn't mind the chatter as long as she didn't have to say much. If Phil and Skye ended up talking about Captain America throughout dinner, she would be okay with that.

"Wow," Skye said pulling Melinda from her thoughts, "It smells amazing."

Melinda lifted her head from the plates she had just finished preparing. In every sense of the word Melinda was a good cook and had been told on multiple occasions. Whenever her mother was home the two of them would end up cooking.

Every recipe Lian May knew, she had passed onto her daughter who she hoped would pass it on to children of her own. Skye leaned over the counter to look at the plates. Sesame noodles, golden brown pasta sitting on fried rice with some grilled chicken and vegetables on the side. It looked fantastic and smelled even better.

"It tastes just as good as it looks," Phil informed the teen.

Phil glanced at Melinda, there was a sparkle in his eyes that Melinda absolutely hated to see. It was hope. It was the hope that the woman he had met all those years ago will existed. That the same prank pulling, fun loving and ass kicking woman was still there.

She wasn't there anymore, only her shadow and shell remained. Why couldn't he see that? Melinda knew she had been putting up a good front while here as for the sake of their cover, but it was all an act. Surely Phil had to know that.

Surely Agent Coulson could see through her guise to know that it wasn't really her. Melinda wouldn't say anything about it though. How could she? The trio took a seat at the table in the breakfast nook.

It was a chocolate brown table with matching chairs that could seat up to six comfortably. While Phil and Melinda sat across each other, Skye sat between them with her back to the window. At first, they are in mostly silence with the occasional "wow" and "this is really good" from Phil and Skye. When half of their plates were gone, Skye broke the silence.

"When am I going to school," Skye asked before taking another bite of pasta.

Phil answered, "You'll start school on Monday. We have you enrolled at Carter High."

Skye had never heard of Carter High, but she had to keep in mind she wasn't in the same area as Agnes. Though starting a new school was never easy, it made her life easier knowing she was only going to a new school and not a new state.

Over the past fourteen years of her life, she had been to more than ten different schools and four states. She never stuck around long enough to get used to the system of a new school. Though her last school actually wasn't bad.

"Also we were thinking about heading out to the shopping center tomorrow," Phil went on, "Figured we could get you some more school supplies and anything that caught your eye."

Skye nodded her head. Even though she had a few school supplies, she knew she didn't have everything. Not to mention she didn't want to argue with him about it. Melinda and Phil appeared to be good people so far, but Skye was waiting for that break.

While Phil seemed completely genuine, she just knew that Melinda was forcing this. Most of her actions required a bit of effort. Not the physical kind. It was more mental than anything else.

Melinda studied Skye's reaction. Her mouth stayed in a line as she thought over Phil's words, not to mention she looked a bit uncomfortable about it. Did she not want to go shopping? Did she already have supplies, but was too worried to tell them so? Or was it just the idea that they were going to get stuff that bothered her? Melinda was leaning on the third one.

Considering how Skye reacted to the room and the small bag she brought with her, Melinda knew that the teen must not have had many luxuries in life. It made Melinda curious to know if any other foster homes had bought her anything other than the necessities.

Even though Melinda knew she shouldn't be thinking about this, she just couldn't help herself. Maybe Phil was right in stating his earlier point. There was no telling how long Skye would be with them.

For all they knew Hill wouldn't find the man beast for years rather than weeks or months. It was a possibility that neither of them considered, but perhaps they could make her stay here as enjoyable as they could.

Once dinner was over, Phil put the plates away turning both Melinda and Skye's offer to clean up. He didn't mind cleaning. Besides, he could tell that Skye looked just about ready to go to sleep and wondered if it was because of the long day or the medicine she just took made her drowsy. He wasn't sure, but he wouldn't ask either. It was nearly nine. Skye disappeared to take shower allowing Melinda and Phil a chance to talk.

"I don't know about you," Phil started as he put the last dish away, "But I really like this kid."

"You did spend all afternoon with her," Melinda acknowledged.

Phil grinned at her, "I went through just about everything in Captain America. She seemed interested in it."

"Sure she wasn't faking to be polite," Melinda asked with a raised brow.

Phil shrugged as he walked out of the kitchen past Melinda, "Eh. She asked a ton of questions, so she had to at least be a little interested. Not to mention, she was very excited when I gave her my Cap cards."

Melinda froze. Phil Coulson never let anyone touch those cards, not even her or Garrett or Fury or anyone. Looking at the those cards the wrong way would result in upsetting Coulson, yet he just gave the cards to a girl he met not even ten hours ago.

"You gave her your vintage card collection," Melinda asked in astonishment.

Phil stopped at the stairs. He didn't need to look at her to know that she was surprised by this revelation. He loved those cards probably just as much as he loved the actual Captain America.

To hear he had just given them away to a stranger was simply unheard of. Phil looked at Melinda feeling as though he should explain why he had given them to her even though he wasn't entirely sure why he had.

When he looked at Skye, he saw a girl who was struggling to keep herself from breaking. The world had been cruel to her yet Phil could still see light in her eyes. It was fading, but Phil could still see it.

"She needs them more than me," Phil answered, he started going up the stairs then, "It took me forever to get her to accept them though. She's stubborn, but the smile on her face was worth it."

Melinda stayed in her spot as Phil disappeared up the steps. This revelation would remain in her mind for a long time, but for now she wouldn't worry too much about it. Instead she clicked off the kitchen and living room lights before going upstairs.

Phil was a good judge of character. If he wanted to give her one of his most prized possessions, that meant he must see something very special about her.