SKYE
The pack had fallen asleep quickly after their game had ended. They were all drunk off their assess, spluttering through their answers with each one becoming more and more ridiculous by the question which had quickly defeat the original purpose of the drinking game. It didn't take much more to convince Natasha to call a night – being the typical Russian, she was much more sober than everyone else and was keeping an eye on the time so they all did not royally fuck up in the morning.
The best part of the night for Skye was the way that they did not bother going to their beds, Maria and Natasha just pulled blankets out from random places in the room and placed them over the room and the pack just seemed to flop on to them, shuffling themselves into a comfortable arrangement of tangled limbs and drunken giggles.
Bobbi leaned over to her, a lose and happy grin on her face, she gently gripped Skye's arm and awkwardly navigated/shuffled them to a more comfortable location. Bobbi hummed happily as she flopped down against Clint's side, pulling his arm securely around herself before pulling Skye tightly against her torso.
Clint had grumble out a quiet, "You comfy, Bob's?" before flinging an arm across his eyes, easily falling into a deep slumber. Bobbi grinned at his sleeping face before she sloppily kissed Skye's check and then shoved her face against the crook of Skye's neck, falling asleep in the same instant fashion that Clint had. Skye had just laid there, slightly bewilder with the way Bobbi easily navigated the pack into making herself comfortable.
It had felt weird, lying together in a pile of bodies, each one sprawled out differently and hearing the way some mumbled and others snored whilst some were suspiciously silent whilst sleeping, but despite that, it had not taken Skye long to fall asleep – exhausted by the excitement of the day and the sleepiness that comes with one too many drinks had her falling suite with her pack mates.
The morning had come all too soon for Skye and she rolled awkwardly away from Bobbi as she woke. She slowly pushed herself up, leaning heavily against her arms as she titled her head and studied the sight in front of her with bleary eyes. Most of the pack were still sleeping, curled up against each other and clinging with a familiarises that Skye had come to know in her short time with Maria and Natasha.
Of course the only other person awake right now was Natasha, her green eyes watching her with a calm eeriness that Skye had associated with age – a look she had seen on one of her older foster parents; they way the took in young Skye's appearance and tight grip on her battered, weather down backpack which conveniently match with the rest of her outfit. It was the look that made Skye think that this wasn't the first foster child they had like this and that the heaviness in their eyes showed that they knew it wasn't the last foster child they would have that would come to them like this. It was a look that said they knew what the person in front of them was going through, but with a heavy heart, unable to stop it.
Which made Skye confused as to why Natasha was giving her that look when they had just woken up. Skye gave her a weird, confused look, hoping that it would prompt Natasha into telling her what was wrong but Natasha just shrugged and glanced around the pack.
'Want to go for a walk?' She thought to Skye, starling her slightly but Skye nodded her agreement promptly.
The two of them carefully pried themselves from the pile of humans and moved quietly as they could away from them. Natasha kept silent as they walked away from the pack, her arms held close to her body as her hands slunk themselves into her pockets of last nights clothes. Natasha seemed to not be bother by anything on the surface but the hard look in her eyes and the soft buzzing from her head (which meant that she was concealing her thoughts from Skye) withheld any further information. It was a little unsettling. Skye knew, though, that Natasha would never do anything to intentionally hurt her and figured that this walk was more of a information walk that she did not want the others to hear.
The quick smirk that Natasha sent her easily confirmed her theory that Natasha was just going to fill her in on some stuff before they all left that morning put her at ease and allowed her own arms to swing freely as they walked in silence and out through the secret entrance and onto the eerily empty grounds of the Triskellion.
They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Natasha flopped gracefully under a huge oak tree and patted the ground next to her softly. Skye sat down beside her, her legs folding neatly beneath her.
"We have an issue." Natasha started, staring out straight ahead, "You haven't shifted yet and you are leaving in the next four hours. This means you will have to discreetly shift on a daily basis, should be easily done between you, May and Fitzsimmons."
"Sounds like fun." Skye replied, a little bit sarcastically. It wasn't like she was going to be staying with two apparent super spies.
"It's going to be a bit of a struggle, but you'll just have to play along for the time being unfortunately. Things are brewing and I feel like it would actually be safer for you and your new team to be up in the air. The only one I am uncertain about is Ward. Something about the guy unsettles me and I'm not sure what it is. I just need you to be vigilant of him, okay?" Natasha said in hushed tones as she walked about the base, acting as though the walls had ears.
"Other than acting like he grew up in the woods, isolated from everyone, he doesn't seem that bad?" Skye said, a hint of questioning in her tone, because something must have happened. Whether it was Natasha directly interacting with Ward or if it were her thoughts and feelings through May, Fitz or Simmons.
Natasha sighed as she turned to her youngest, and most innocent member of the pack, in retrospect to the spy world of course. It wasn't that she didn't want to go ahead and divulge of this information, she just did not want to freak Skye out. As a whole, they were all moving very fast with Skye, limit preparation time, not shifting with everyone else and constantly separated from the pack. It was all variables that they always took carefully into consideration when adding new members to the pack and Skye would be one of the few to not follow their plan. It sometimes led to weird things happening, but it would leave her system soon enough. Natasha just did not want her to go through it at all.
"There is a lot going on right now. Stuff that not everyone in the pack is aware of, and stuff that everyone but you is. Until now of course, because you need to know when you're going to be living on a plane with her. May isn't normally like this." Natasha said, seemingly stressed at the thought of her soul mate.
"What do you mean?" Skye responded cautiously, when she had first joined the pack, May had warmed up to her fairly quickly, but the last couple of times she had interacted with May, it felt like she was speaking to a brick wall. The women would just stare right through her, sometimes she'd get a small scowl but otherwise just a normal, almost robotic response. May wasn't being outright mean and cold to her, just a little distant.
"Melinda went through something traumatic a few years back. She's never been fully able to accept what happened and still beats herself up over it. I'm not going to tell you what happened, because it isn't my place, nor Fitz, Simmons or Coulsons. If you want to know, you'll have to ask May." Natasha said calmly but their was an undertone of seriousness and the way Natasha's eye narrowed slightly made Skye believe that if she tried to find away around this, there would be some serious consequences.
It was the first time Skye had seen Natasha being 100% serious when issuing a threat and it was director at her. She could also see the alpha, lurking beneath the surface, ready to strike if Skye were to go against what Natasha said. An order, but not an outright one. Skye nodded her acceptance of Natasha, slightly terrified of the alpha.
Natasha seemed to straighten up and the feeling of Natasha closing in on her with quiet threats disappeared. "I'm glad you understand." Natasha said quietly, it was silence for a brief moment until Natasha seemed to remember why she had taken Skye away from the pack. "Melinda wont be what you are expecting once returning to the Bus. Just know that she does care, she just carries a burden on her shoulder than I don't think she'll ever be able to get rid of. I want you to understand this before going back on that bus. I don't want you accusing her of being uncaring, cold or robotic when she doesn't automatically side with you or back you up. Because for the time being, you are all undercover. You all have a part to play and to continue being near strangers to each other. If you see anyone from the pack in your journeys. You know nothing of them. Forget how they have treated you before hand. You will simply be another stray that they picked up from the street and working at constant level for S.H.I.E.L.D. Understood?" Natasha said, making eye contact with Skye.
Skye honestly felt like crying. She had this feeling of being reprimanded and she wasn't sure why. It was a lot of talk of keeping secrets and hiding. Something that she previously, actively disagreed with and was working to bring down. Now it seemed like if she did not go along with this there would be dire consequences. Skye didn't understand why this had not been brought up before with her. It seems like important information to go on, but she understood the basic underlying message of Natasha's word. She was going to be treated as though she was untrustworthy and not up to their standards. Which, to be fair, if Skye hadn't joined the pack, she would have been treated this way anyways.
"Yeah." She managed to crock out, trying to get her feelings under lid. She knew that Natasha was trying to protect her soul mate and the pack as a whole, but it still stung to hear the words.
"Good," Natasha mumbled, pulling Skye in close for a tight hug "I don't mean to be mean Skye, I just need you to understand this before I can let you go. I need you to be safe, I need you to help keep the others safe as well. If it means being a bit more harsh on you, so be it." Natasha continued quietly, tightening her grip on Skye.
Skye accepted the warmth of the hug and love she could feel radiating off Natasha. She knew that Natasha was not being malicious, simply cautious for everyone and has to take more than Skye into consideration when leaving her to her own devices. She held Natasha back just as tightly, quietly taking in their remaining time alone for lights knows how long.
Natasha pulled them apart and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, "don't worry, this wont be the last you see me for months on end. I'm very good at sneaking on and off that bus" Natasha finished with a wink before turning the two back in the direction that they came from. They slowly made their way back to the back, enjoying a quiet discussion about computer programmes that they found useful in their line of work. It was a tender moment between the two and Skye was sad to be losing this in a few hours. She slowed down her walking, hoping that Natasha wouldn't notice. Stupid, since Natasha noticed everything.
"It will be fine Skye" Natasha reassured her, squeezing her shoulder with a small smile as she led them back into the room of sleeping wolves. "Like I said, I can get on and off that bus without anyone noticing."
"I would." Came a sleepy, quietly grumpy voice from the corner of the kitchen.
Skye looked up and smiled when she saw a half asleep May, nursing a cup of tea and what seemed like a dozen cups sitting on the counter as she prepared the morning coffee for everyone.
"Hey softy." Natasha said in a warm greeting, leaving Skye and walking up into Melinda's personal space, wrapping her arms comfortably around Melinda's waist. "Love you." Natasha mumbled, pressing her face against the back on Melinda's neck.
Skye watched as Melinda rolled her eyes fondly and mumbled the affectionate statement back before navigating out of Natasha's arms to finish making the abundance of coffee's. Natasha pouted as her wife left her arms and decided to make thing difficult and quickly jumped on Melinda's back, hugging her with her arms and legs, clinging to her like a kola.
Skye watched in amusement as this happened as the two of them started bickering playfully about whether this was necessary or not. Their teasing was causing the rest of the pack to slowly wake up, grumbles falling softly from their lips as the navigated the limbs of the pack.
Skye found it hard to believe that Melinda was not always like this, the pack didn't seem to be treating her any different, well at least from what Skye could tell. Or maybe that was the key in all of it. None of them acted differently, so it would be easier for Melinda to be this carefree. Skye almost gulp comically as she watched as Melinda tense under Natasha's body and the way Natasha slowly turned to stare at her, her eyes piercing.
'Not that it is any concern of mine, Melinda who? Don't know what you guys think I'm thinking about, but I'm definitely not thinking about the Melinda May who happens to share the same name as this Melinda I'm thinking about' Skye thought desperately, unsure how to exactly get out of the situation. It wasn't her fault, this information was all fresh in her mind and she was trying to process what Natasha meant.
There was a tense moment before Melinda gave out a tiny snort and spun around to face Skye. There was a moment between the two, where Skye felt and understood the emotions shifting through Melinda. The feelings she had with Natasha besides her, with the pack with and the feelings she had when they were all separated, how it seemed to affect the feelings associated with her trauma, how it could amply and dampen how it made her feel. All of that in a matter of seconds.
It helped Skye understand, it helped her understand a lot about Melinda actually. She also knew better than to think on the subject again.
'Thank you' she thought quietly to May, unsure if she heard it or not but was assuming that they were all going to move on as though that little blunder did not happen. Which was fine by Skye.
"Is that coffee?" Maria mumbled as she stumbled into the kitchen area, yawing and hand outstretch as a snickering Natasha place a coffee cup in her hand. "Mmm... I love coffee" Maria said, looking alarming more awake after only a few sips.
"Weirdo." Sharon said with a smile as she appeared behind Maria, her arms wrapping around her lovers waist.
The rest of the pack began to fully wake up and made their way to the kitchen area to grab their preferred morning drink. They all seemed to just stand about as they tried to fully wake up, the lingering effects of a hangover on some of their minds. Skye titled her head as she watch with fondness as they all seemed to interact with each other, small touches that they gave to reassure themselves that their pack mates where there. It made her wonder when the last time they were all together in a relaxed situation. They always seemed to be separated for months at a time, were the other packs like this? Or was it themselves because they all seemed to excel at what they do, she guessed that is why they were all specialist in their field.
It made Skye wonder when the next time they would all be together as she tried to stop the teary smile from appearing on her face. It was strange how in such a short period of time, Skye came to care about these people more than anyone else in her life. Skye even thought she might be ready to say the big "L" word aloud to them soon. They had shown her more empathy and care than anyone else, they took her at her faults and went 'hey, we have faults too.' They didn't dismiss her feelings, they encourage her to talk about them and look at situations from both perspectives. Taught her how to survive better on her on but more importantly, how to survive as a pack. Skye couldn't help but think how the pack was able to survive separately.
These thoughts were going to make it harder to leave in a few hours.
Next thing Skye knew, she was being tackled to the ground by something big and fluffy. A wolf. She had to compose herself for a second because, really should have been expecting a wolf to appear at any moment, but no one mentioned how bloody big they were. Nor who this was. Skye looked up at the mainly black wolf, who had white feet. 'That's hilarious' Skye thought as she slide her hands into the fur, thinking about how soft it was. There was only one other defining feature on the wolf, a brown patch of fur on the ribs. She reached down slowly and rub over it.
A soul mark.
The thought came instantly and she looked up again at the wolf that had her pinned, bright yellow eyes waiting with excitement.
"Maria?" Skye questioned and was greeting by the wolf's mouth opening wide, a smile, she presumed.
'Stop being sad.' Maria thought to her, a low whine escaping the wolf as she manoeuvred to Skye's side and bump her nose against Skye constantly, pushing her towards where they had slept last night.
Skye grumbled but complied as she sat in the centre and Maria curled around her protectively. A moment later Bobbi appeared next to her and pulled her into her arms.
"It's okay, Skye." she said simply, as though that would fix all the feelings that Skye would have. Skye blinked hard, forcing back the tears and feelings that came with the statement.
"God damn it, Bobbi." She chocked out but leaned closer to her soul mate, clinging to her.
Natasha sat down on Skye's other side, all three of them leaning back against Maria's wolf form, and wrapped one arm around Skye's shoulder. One by the one, the pack made their way over to them, choosing either to stay as they were or shift as they found a comfortable position. A sobering mood quickly clouded over the pack.
"We'll be okay." Natasha said calmly, after everyone had settled down. "We always are. Whether we are apart or together, we're the best. We can handle it. We will have our good and bad days just like everyone else. But we have each other. Mentally or physically, we can get through this. We wont be separated like this, this constant separation for much longer. We'll get back to the old days, where is was all of us together, going on missions together and having each other's back in the field, but for the time being, we just need to suck it up. Look after who we can and when we can. Keep each other company." Natasha spoke like a leader and looked at them all reassuringly, making sure to spread that feeling across the pack.
It seemed like Skye was not the only one feeling this way, it made her feel better, like she wasn't over reacting.
'Of course not sweetheart, you were probably catching a lot of our feelings, more than your own. We're sorry.' Came Sharon's thoughts. She was also in her wolf form and seemed to look the exact opposite from Maria, a mostly white wolf with black paws, but the same brown patch on her ribs.
Skye sighed in acceptance, in a happy way, glad that she wasn't the only one feeling like this. She would much prefer to spend the rest of the day curled up like this, some random movie on in the background as they sat silently or maybe quietly talking. Drifting between sleeping and being awake. Skye constantly felt sleepy right now, Simmons explained that it was just down to the changes going on her body and how she will still continue to feel like this for up to three days after she first shifts.
"We can just relax for the next hour if you want." Natasha offered her and for the first time, Skye let out an minimalistic whine at that thought, because it shouldn't be always about what she wants. They were a pack, and they had to decided things as a pack.
Natasha looked on, a little shocked at the noise that Skye made, but aware of what the girl was feeling;
"Well, I'm going to stay here for the next couple of hours until we all have to leave. I know that Mel will stay here cause she loves me and so will Maria because Maria can't stand to be away from me. So needy. Sharon will stay because Maria is. Clint will stay because Clint is also needy but not as much as Maria. Fitz and Simmons are actually asleep again, so I guess they aren't moving. Izzy looks super comfortable lying on top of them, keeping guard I think. So really, just you and Bobbi have to decided whether you want to stay here or not." Natasha supplied innocently as she made herself more comfortable in an overly dramatic way.
Skye grinned, because how couldn't she? It was a such a Natasha thing, a kind, stupid and an alpha like Natasha kind of thing that cause Skye to curl up closer to her and Bobbi followed Skye, closing around her like a blanket as she made herself comfortably on Natasha.
"We're going to be okay" Skye whispered, whether to comfort herself or to reassure the pack, she wasn't sure.
"We're going to be okay." Bobbi confirmed in her ear, her arms tightening as they heard the echoes of the pack agreeing with them quietly.
They were going to survive the separation, as dramatic as it sounded. They were going to be okay.