Summary: Agents Melinda May and Phil Coulson are put on a new assignment to look after an object of unknown origin, an 0-8-4. The only catch is this 0-8-4 is a person. A fourteen year old girl who's spent her life in the foster system is now in more danger than ever. A man beast is hunting her and SHIELD has to make sure that it doesn't get close to her. AU, MCU characters will be used.
Chapter Nineteen
Skye had no idea what she was in, but she couldn't move, she couldn't see, she could barely breathe. The breathing exercises she tried to call on were useless to her at this point since you couldn't physically get any air into her lungs. She didn't know where she was, she had been in the woods, on the street, in a van, in her house. She didn't know, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe.
Skye struggled to calm her speeding heartbeat, but it was so hard, it was so hard for her to do anything besides panic. Noises, she heard noises and tried to pay attention to them as best she could. She could barely hear the others talking around her, their tones muffled by whatever the hell had covered her. Then, then she felt her insides shake rapidly.
The buzzing sound of bees made was exactly how her entire body felt as if she was vibrating. If not for the terror in her veins, it felt like she was on a massage chair going a little too fast for comfort. Her hands were free first, she could move her fingers. The coating cracked off of her face, she could see the ceiling and Melinda out the corner of her eyes. However before she could say anything, a scream was ripped from her throat as the coating flew off of her and at everyone in the area, the entire house shook at the force of it, the neighborhood and city nearby could feel the ground rumble beneath their feet.
An earthquake.
And Lincoln wasn't much better. The coating had cracked away, but Skye's outburst had forced it off of him and electricity rushed all along his body. Every part of him felt as if he was on fire, he couldn't think straight or breathe as his mind was overwhelmed by the heat and the shaking. At one point he tapped into the power grid and if not for the light of the morning, the world would have been shrouded in darkness except for the electricity he produced, the glowing of his exposed arms as the jagged energy was forcing itself out of his body. He gasped for air, a pulse of electricity left him, but he tried to reign it in.
And then there was nothing, both teens collapsed in their place and didn't move. The ground stilled instantly and the static in the air was gone.
"Oh my God," whispered Ward as he watched his friends fall limp on the floor.
May knelt beside Skye despite the protests of the other agents. The girl didn't so much as stir when May lifted her upper body into her arms. She brushed her sweaty hair out of her face, her forehead was burning and as an agent looked at Lincoln, reported the same.
May glared at Maria and another agent she didn't know, "What the hell did you hit them with?"
"Dendrotoxins, they are safer than knock darts and work on anyone with enhanced abilities better," Maria said as she put the weapon away, "I'm sorry, but an earthquake and the verge of an electrical overload calls for it."
May knew she was right, but it didn't stop her anger, as calmly as she could, "Any leads on the ones who did this?"
Hill answered, "I have my guys out there now, no word yet. In the meantime, we need to get them out of here."
Coulson tensed at her words, "Maria, where exactly will they be moved to?"
"Somewhere safe," Hill said as the agents moved Lincoln onto a gurney.
May's grip only tightened around Skye when the agents brought the gurney beside her, "That's not a good enough answer- Don't touch her!"
The agents closest to the pair froze in their spots, they knew of Melinda May's reputation and they did not want to be on the receiving end of her anger. Coulson moved over to her side, his eyes lingered on Skye who was lying limply in his partner's arms. The image brought on a memory of months ago, just after the New Years when Skye's appendix had burst-
Coulson and May were asleep in the same bed, something they had started doing a while back, when he heard her scream. He sat up in an instant, May right behind him. The pair rushed to her bed room, opening her door to see Skye curled into a fetal position at the end of her bed, tears running down her face and her face scrunched in pain. He noticed throw up on the left side of her bed.
"Skye, what is it, what happened," May asked kneeling before the bed, taking the girl's face in her hands.
Skye choked out, "I, I don't know. My stomach hurt, I, I thought it was cramps, but it's so, so much sharper."
"Skye, where does it hurt," Coulson asked her.
Skye shifted slightly, barely holding back her sobs as she pointed to the lower right side of her abdomen. He mentally ran over everything he knew about an appendix bursting. Her stomach had been hurting throughout the day, she threw up not too long ago. It hadn't been that bad earlier and she had taken some Tylenol to help, but as the night went on, she got worse. She was going to go to them, but couldn't move and screamed when the pain flared up. Coulson pressed his hand to her forehead, she was burning up. The pain in her side, the nausea, the fever. Had to be an appendicitis.
"Skye, have you had your appendix taken out," Coulson asked her, when she didn't answer he tried again, "Angel eyes, please tell me. I need to know."
He'd called her angel eyes before and each time, Skye's attention would zero in on him. All she could manage was to shake her head before a coughing fit overtook her, her hands clutching her stomach as she tried to get air into her lungs. With a quick glance to May, he moved. Coulson pulled Skye into his arms, lifted her up with relative ease and her arms gingerly found their way around his neck so she could hold onto him.
May grabbed a blanket and put it around Skye as best she could as they moved through the house, she raced ahead of them to get the car started so they could immediately go. Coulson went to set Skye down in the backseat, but like a small child she refused to let go of him and so he sat down and held her as May drove to the hospital. After a few minutes she fell unconscious, hair sweaty and sticking to the sides of her head, her face barely scrunched up. Coulson had the image seared into the brain, along with the terror of her not waking up again.
As Coulson kneeled beside his partner and daughter, he felt that fear again, "You'll stay with Skye and Lincoln while the rest of us do the groundwork. They won't take Skye away from us."
May looked at him with a pained gaze, "You know how this works Phil. If they take her-"
"It won't happen," Coulson said, he looked at Hill, "You're going to cooperate with us on this one Maria. Don't try to get in our way."
Maria appeared visibly torn, but she did nod to show she understood. Coulson lifted Skye onto the gurney, she didn't so much as flutter her eyes. The memories of laying her down on a hospital gurney to be rushed into surgery flickered across his mind, he had been stopped at the door and practically screamed at the nurses holding him back to let him go. It had been May to pull him away, to let the doctors do their job.
Coulson was brought back to the present as May placed a hand on his shoulder, she studied him for a moment before turning away and going after Skye.
While May would stay with them and those agents, Coulson would get busy trying to figure out who attacked his daughter and her friend, what did they attack them with and why. A pit formed in Coulson's stomach as he thought of the 'creature' hunting Skye, wondering if it, if he had done this to them.
He faced the agents, "Alright, let's get to work. Ward, Trip, tell us everything that happened. Any and all details might be the tip we need."
When Skye woke up, panic flared to life in her chest. She tried to sit up, but was strapped to the hospital bed, her stomach twisted and she wanted to scream. Something was on her face, she realized it was an oxygen mask, but the small one that went into her nose and she couldn't care to think of the name of it. She looked to her right to see a glass wall separated her from Lincoln, who was lying still on the same bed as her own, also with the oxygen nose thing on his face. A hiss filled the air, followed by rapid footsteps until Melinda came into view.
"Skye," Melinda said leaning over her, relief on her face.
Tears burned Skye's eyes, she felt them fall as she cried, "Mom."
Melinda bent down and hugged Skye as tightly as she could without hurting her, "It's okay. You're okay. You and Lincoln are going to be just fine. Breathe with me Skye, okay follow my lead."
"What happened to us," Skye choked out, her terror rising, the room started to shake, "What happened to me? What's going on? Where are we? Where's dad-Phil? What, I can't breathe, I-"
Melinda pulled back, she put her hands on Skye's shoulder and held her gaze, "Skye, I need you to calm down. Follow my breaths, breathe with me okay?"
Skye visibly swallowed, but did as Melinda asked. Two minutes of silence passed before Skye's breathing had evened out, thankfully the shaking had ceased. Melinda undid the restraints they placed on Skye and as soon as they were off, Skye practically threw herself at Melinda, crushing her into a terrified hug. Melinda wrapped her arms around Skye again, whispering reassurances into her ear, trying to keep her calm.
There was no easy way to tell Skye what had happened to her and Lincoln, there was no easy way to reveal herself, reveal Coulson, reveal SHIELD to her. Serving Skye's favorite meal, watching her favorite movie and talking with her in their home would have been so much easier than telling the truth in a SHIELD laboratory that she couldn't leave, with her friend unconscious in the next bed separated by a glass wall. Technically May wasn't supposed to be in this unit, but she refused to leave her daughter in here alone.
"Mom," Skye whispered hoarsely, too scared to stop using the title, "There's something very wrong with me."
Melinda rubbed her back, "No, no, there's nothing wrong with you. You're just, you're just different now and there's nothing wrong with that."
Skye took a shaky breath as she pulled back, she wiped her tears furiously, "Do you know what happened? Are Lincoln and I going to be okay?"
Melinda released a heavy sigh, she had no idea where to start and wished Phil was here to help her. Maybe breaking all of the news to Skye now was a bad idea, she didn't want to overwhelm her, but Melinda didn't want to scatter the truths with lies. It would hurt Skye more in the long run that way.
"You and Lincoln are going to be fine," Melinda told her.
And that was true, but there was so much more buried here that May didn't want to unpack, but she knew she had to. Skye deserved the truth, she deserved to know everything that happened. The real problem here was that she had no idea where to start.
"Skye, I'm not good with my emotions and expressing them as you know," Melinda started uneasily, "But I need you to know that Phil and I love you. You are our daughter and tonight we planned to tell you about the adoption papers."
Skye blinked, "What?"
Melinda held her gaze, "We want to adopt you Skye."
Skye pointed at herself in disbelief, "Me? You guys, you guys want to adopt me?"
"We had a much better plan to tell you about it tonight with dinner and movies, to tell you everything. but change of plans. I started with this because I'm going to tell you a story, or a couple of stories and they might change your opinion of us."
Skye frowned at that, "What do you mean?"
"Phil and I haven't been completely honest with you Skye, but you have to know, if nothing else, we love you," Melinda said, her gaze boring to Skye's.
Skye nodded, she believed her, "I know that. Whatever it is, I can handle it."
And so, Melinda May told Skye everything. She started at the beginning of how Skye was an 0-8-4 found by SHIELD, or really given to SHIELD. How the woman had originally been believed to be her mother, but a DNA test proved otherwise. Melinda told her how a manbeast had been hunting her down, attacking anyone in contact with her and those agents who had been killed protecting her. That SHIELD had been watching over ever since she had been placed in the foster system as an infant, it was SHIELD who kept her from staying in places long because it wasn't safe for her or others.
The whole time, Skye was silent with tears falling down her cheeks and sniffling every so often. When the part of the story came to Melinda revealing herself and Phil, she did hesitate, but knew there was no turning back now. Steeling herself, Melinda Mayson was destroyed and Melinda May took her rightful place before Skye. Phillip Mayson was gone as well leaving Phil Coulson in his wake.
Melinda told her how she and Coulson were assigned to protect this 0-8-4, that it may have been a few weeks or months, until the manbeast could be stopped. That it was their job to watch her, to care for her and protect her. Though Skye tensed at that, her expression didn't change from the heartbreaking one she wore. When May got into the incident that happened this morning, it was now the middle of the afternoon, did Skye's expression shift to more intrigued than upset.
And when the story was over, Skye didn't say anything for awhile. However, her expressions did shift and what she did say surprised and relieved May.
"So I guess SHIELD's always been there, even though I couldn't see them, they were always watching out for me," she said softly, she weakly smiled at May, "My story has a pretty rough beginning, but it started with SHIELD and I think that's pretty cool."
May frowned slightly, "You aren't angry with me or Coulson? I thought you'd be."
Skye shrugged slightly, "It's not much different than real foster parents. They get assigned a kid or request one, you guys were assigned to me so I can't say I'm angry about that."
May nodded, she released a breath, "Really?"
"Really," Skye said with a nod of her own, she leaned back against the pillows behind her, "Plus how many foster kids can say their foster parents are badass agents for a secret government organization." Skye paused for a moment, she found May's gaze. "Does this mean you guys can't, can't adopt me anymore? Because I'm proved not to be human."
May replied swiftly, "The only one who can stop this adoption from happening is you. If you don't want us to, then we won't. Anyone else tries to stop this adoption they have to get through me and no one gets through me."
Skye grinned at her crookedly, "You know I can see that… I don't want it stopped. It'd be really cool to have agents as adoptive parents."
"I can't believe you're taking it all so well," May admitted with a worried look, wondering if Skye would blow up once the information settled in.
"Honestly I'm more surprised by the adoption than anything else you've said," Skye remarked dryly.
Yes, she was still reeling at the idea. It was more surprising than learning she was an object of unknown origin and could apparently cause earthquakes. Though she guessed that news just hadn't really settled in yet. Phil and Melinda had been nothing, but great to her. While part of her feared it had all been an act, that they were just agents doing their job the way foster parents just did their job, she didn't believe it.
Adoption was a difficult process, even if they managed to get through all the hoops due to their agent status and the uniqueness of her case, they fact that they had the papers already was enough for Skye. Besides, if there was ever a family she wanted, it would be with them. However she had to ask why and she was terrified of the answer, but she had to know.
May replied simply, "You shouldn't be. Phil and I want you to be ours."
Skye's expression shifted to the most vulnerable May had ever seen it, "I don't think anyone's ever really wanted me, why do you and Phil want me?"
"Because I don't think I ever loved someone as much as I love you," came May's quick reply, she didn't need to think about it, she just knew, "When I was first assigned to this mission, I didn't plan to stay more than two weeks. It wasn't until you first self defense lesson that I knew I couldn't leave. And as each day passed, I, the more I hated the idea of leaving and not having you or Phil around. It was before Halloween that I knew I would adopt you."
Skye blinked, "All the way back then?"
May nodded, "I had plans made for how I would adopt you, whether the manbeast was found or not. And I wouldn't let SHIELD stop me."
"What about Phil," Skye asked quietly.
May's smile grew just a little, "When I first brought it up to him, he had been surprised. He was always so by the book, but even he knew how to go against some rules from time to time. While my plans included leaving SHIELD, his included staying with SHIELD. We'd both adopt you, but he would still work with the organization while I would do something else."
"Woah," Skye said as she processed this information, "But I thought SHIELD was your life."
May shrugged, "It hadn't been for a couple of years now. When you're older I'll tell you why."
Skye made a face, "Did you seriously just pull the 'when you're older' card even though I am literally sitting in a lab because I have some supernatural abilities and have been hunted by some manbeast since I was newborn and am definitely old enough to understand the hard stuff."
"Another time," May told her, her grin almost playful, "How do you feel now?"
Skye thought for a moment, "A bit shaky to be honest. Kind of like moments before you get a sugar rush, a light buzzing everywhere. No pain or anything- wait when is Lincoln going to wake up?"
May looked over at the still sleeping teen, "He woke up before you in a panic, his body burned through the dendrotoxins so they gave him a bit more when he almost fried the equipment."
"Oh," Skye said, "Are they going to lock us? What happens to us now?"
May looked back at Skye, "No. You'll be in here at most another day or two so they can figure out exactly what caused this. We knew that your DNA had some hidden markers, so the idea is that whoever has the same hidden markers can be affected. Not to mention we need to know how safe it would be to bring you around others. We need to figure out what exactly your abilities are."
Skye didn't meet May's gaze, "You said I caused an earthquake before. Did I, did I hurt anyone back there?"
May shook her head, "No, no one was hurt. It's going to be alright Skye, I promise you."
Skye lifted her head, "You sound so sure."
"Because I am, Phil and I both are," May told her with a confident look, "And he'll tell you as much now."
Skye frowned, "Now, what do you-"
Skye stopped when she looked to the side to see Phil Coulson standing in the doorway, his expression content as he watched his partner and foster daughter. He had been able to stop by earlier, but Skye had still been asleep then and May had been a little more than a disaster. If not for the severity of the situation, he would have teased her for being all over the place considering she prided herself on never losing her cool. Skye happened to be the exception, so he couldn't mock her for it. Seeing Skye awake and not as sickly made his heart warm.
"Hey angel eyes," he said as he stepped inside the room.
"Hey," she said back, her smile wide, she looked between the two of them, "So, Agent Coulson, what's the report?"
Coulson glanced down at May who was still sitting on Skye's bed, "You told her? Without me?"
May replied simply, "You were still out there and I didn't know when you'd be back. She needed to know so I told her everything."
Coulson looked to Skye, worry written across his face, "Based on that face, I take it things went well."
"I learned a lot of stuff today," Skye said grinning, "The most surprising being you two trying to adopt me."
Coulson couldn't hold back a laugh, "You learn about a secret government organization, have abilities we can't measure and the most shocking thing out of that is us adopting you? I know nothing fazes you, but that shouldn't be it."
Skye merely shrugged her shoulders, she wore a sweet grin, "What can I say? All the other stuff isn't as crazy as the idea of me actually having a family."
"Well get used to the idea," Coulson said, he bent down hugged the young teen, "Cause you're part of our family, now and forever."
Skye returned the embrace with her right arm, she extended her left one to May who eventually joined the hug when both Skye and Coulson groaned when she dared to refuse. And that was how Agent Hill and Agent Romanoff found them, hugging each other in the quarantine unit.