Operation: Shadows
Chapter 21
2014
Skye
It had been just under two weeks since Skye was shot and the pack had been unable to relax during this time. Jemma, Leo and Izzy were often with them for once, curled up tightly together or watching Skye. Leo was particularly angry with himself for letting Skye go alone, many nights angrily stating that this could have been prevented.
It took Natasha, Peggy and Victoria to convince him that it wasn't his fault and that if he had been there, he would most likely be in the same situation as Skye. It ended with one of the rare nights where Leo had curled up between Natasha and May to sleep.
Clint had been at his house, occasionally coming over but not staying. He would have stayed in the pack house every night but with Steve only just having left, he didn't want to be so close to his family and not be with them.
Bobbi was a wreck. She barely left Skye's side, either choosing to curl up in bed with her or shift and guard the door, growling at anyone that dared enter. Maria and Natasha did their best to help her, but in the end, Sharon was the best at handling Bobbi. She managed to convince the distraught mate to shower, eat, drink and spend time with the pack. Both Maria and Natasha were thankful to her as they were worried out of their minds.
May had taken on the silent protector mode, sitting quietly outside of Skye's room when Bobbi was in protective mode or when the woman passed out. The two had silently taken on shifts of watching over Skye. When she wasn't keeping an eye on Skye, she was watching her other two pups - Jemma and Leo. She wasn't one for words, but she would silently join them in their lab as they worked through a problem, giving them praise when they had breakthroughs and ensured they ate.
Once again May was grateful that Maria Hill existed. She was content for the tall brunette to look after Natasha for her. Maria only had that one moment of relaxation before she was once again tension and paranoid. Maria was in and out the house, looking more and more worn down as the days went on and it wasn't long till she came home with terrible news.
Maria walked into the house, grimacing under the weight of the boxes she was carrying. She really should have packed their stuff differently..
"Is that our stuff from the Triskellion?" May questioned as Maria brought in several boxes of their stuff. Maria saw her frown as Peggy followed behind her carrying more boxes.
"Yes. I've issued new orders to the packs to get their stuff out as soon as possible." Maria replied, setting down the boxes.
"Why?" Natasha asked, sitting up and mirroring her mates frown.
Maria sighed as she looked over at Peggy. It was now or never and they both knew that they could trust the pack. "SHIELD's been compromised." There really was no easy way to tell them.
Natasha gave a snort, "good joke, 'Ria. Seriously, why are we moving our stuff out the Triskellion?"
Maria felt a flash of irritation. She took a deep breath and rationalised with herself, she knew that if Natasha just blurted that out one day with no prior indication, she would think the redhead was joking too.
"Maria isn't joking, I'm afraid." Peggy chimed in, looking run down herself. She glanced over at Maria to see the Beta mirror her. Both of them had been working flat out to make this discovery, to see how far it went and sadly the betrayal ran deep.
"You guys have to be kidding." Bobbi angrily said, marching down the stairs. The blonde looked like she was ready to pick a fight with them. "We've given our lives to SHIELD! Fuck, my mate is upstairs in a literal coma for SHIELD and it's compromised? How the fuck did you miss that?" She snapped at them.
"Bobbi." Natasha spoke sharply, she gave a look over at the tall blonde. Her eyes tell her to sit down, shut up and listen. Bobbi gave a huff but complied with Natasha, sitting down next to the redhead. Natasha placed a hand on her thigh, squeezing it reassuringly.
"Tell us more." Natasha asked calmly - her eyes were anything but. Maria could see the turmoil in them. The anger, the confusion - the hurt. Maria knew that Natasha thought she was turning over a new leaf by joining SHIELD, even more so by being part of the pack. Doing something good to help pay back all the evil she's partaken in. To rid her ledger of the red.
Maria couldn't even confidently tell her that every mission she sent her own was for the greater good, because Maria didn't know anymore. Not every mission she handled was a direct order from herself or Fury. A few of the more sketchy ones came from the World Security Council or from Pierce himself.
"I began noticing some patterns with recent missions, botched intel, suspicious deaths, higher rate of collateral damage than what Fury would deem acceptable - that sort of thing. Once I had gathered mission records of these, I then began cross referencing these missions with agents, those who participated, who ordered the mission etc." Maria explained. She ran a hand through her hair as she remembered nights of pouring over mission reports, cross referencing missions against agents against who ordered the mission and coming across a terrifying pattern. "Then, I decided to go back through the years - to see how long this had been going on for-"
"Of course you did." Bobbi mumbled, almost fondly. It seemed she had calmed down a bit since coming down the stairs. Maria figured the burst of anger was a result of pent up frustration regarding her mates injury.
"How many years does it go back?" May asked, speaking up for the first time since Maria broke the news.
Maria looked over at Peggy, watching the guilt creep onto her face. She reached over and squeezed her hand, trying to reassure the other wolf. It wasn't exactly her fault.
"It's been going on since nearly the inception of SHIELD." Maria admitted. "Roughly around when-"
"When SHIELD welcome the ex-Nazi scientist with open arms." Natasha interrupted.
"Yeah, basically. A few years after that. I guess it took a bit to convince people to become Nazi's." Maria grumbled. She felt defeated. They had a plan on how to flush out the traitors but it basically involved starting afresh and it was not going to be easy.
The pack sat in silence as they absorbed the information.
"Well shit." Izzy mumbled as she walked in the door with Victoria in tow. "What a conversation to come back to. This is real?"
"Yeah." Maria sighed, "Vic, can you let your pack know to clear out their stuff? I want us away from all SHIELD facilities as soon as possible."
"Already on it." Victoria confirmed, moving over to Peggy. Her fingers brushing against her arm in concern. "You okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Peggy replied dryly. "The organisation I built from the ground up, the one I fought tooth and nail for, the one where I was forced to accept Nazi scientist in order to have my agents considered proper agents, was infiltrated by Nazis. Who saw that coming?"
The group collectively flinched together.
"I'm sorry." Victoria offered, pulling Peggy into a proper hug in an unusual show of public affection. Peggy curled in tightly to the hug, her fingers gripping Victoria's shirt tightly as she buried her head in the other alpha's neck. "I got you." Victoria mumbled, holding back just as tightly.
"So what, is it Hydra again or someone new?" Bobbi questioned.
"No idea, my bet would be on Hydra again. Cut off one head, two more grow back and all that bullshit." Maria sighed.
"Do you have a plan on weeding them out?" May enquired.
"I have a rough plan…but it's not pretty. I'm not sure it will be feasible either. I just… it depends on what moves they make. From what I can gather, there seems to be an increase in activity lately and I'm concerned it has to do with your clairvoyant, Melinda." Maria responded, feeling stressed.
"What's your plan?" Natasha asked softly, coming over to Maria and pulling her close.
Maria shook her head. A flare of hurt flashed across her bonds. "It's not that I don't trust you guys. It's just that, it's a nuclear option. I want to avoid it at all costs. If I tell you, you might be predisposed to follow that plan." Maria explained, desperate for them to understand.
"Maria, please share your plan. You and Fury have been holding this close to your chests" Peggy requested.
Maria could see the look of surprise across the pack's face, it wasn't like her to keep something from Peggy concerning SHIELD. "Burn it to the ground. Expose everything. Make it so that they can't hide."
The suffocating silence that followed is the exact reason she did not want to share her plan. She had been thinking it over and over in her head. They could expose them one by one but without knowing how many people were part of Hydra (or even it was Hydra) they could never truly know if they had got everyone.
However, they could plan for it to burn. They can plan for it to be exposed. They can put back ups in place, inform the people who need to know. Set up the correct bases, pull the deep undercover agents. Put undercover agents in place.
Maria was just worried that she wouldn't have enough time to plan for everything. Every second that she knew about this infiltration was a second against her. A second for them to make a move, take the upper hand and destroy them.
"We can make plans this way. I can, I can fix this." Maria mumbled, pacing. Her mind rushed as she thought of all the possibilities. Everything was crashing down around her now that she's announced it to the pack. It feels more official now that it's no longer a dirty secret between her, Fury and Peggy. "I can fix this."
"Where's Sharon?" Maria heard someone mumble.
"Back undercover watching Steve. Maria put her back there herself." A response came. Maria could feel the quiet judgement from someone at sending her own mate away.
Needs must. She had to protect her family and Steve was family. Begrudgingly family. Maria still wasn't happy with him or Peggy but they still deserved to be protected.
"Not judging you sweetheart." Someone muttered in her ear. "You need sleep. She needs to rest. Maria when was the last time you got a full nights sleep?"
"I should have known, she's been with us every night this week. Still awake when I fall asleep and already awake when I wake up." Natasha breasted herself. Natasha wrapped an arm around her waist. "Lets go Commander, we can deal with this later. You need sleep."
"No!" Maria snapped, pulling away. "I need to fix this! This happened under my command, my mistake. People's lives are at risk, I don't have time to sleep, Natasha."
"Maria, sleep." Peggy commanded, a stern look on her face.
Maria was tempted to curse her out as she felt her eyes close. She only had a few seconds to grip Natasha before her body went limp and sought the bliss that sleeping brought.
"Well that was a big bombshell." Leo mumbled, watching as May made lunch.
May looked over at him, frowning at his tense form. She moved over to Leo, pulling him in for a quick hug and peck on the side of his head. "We will figure it out. Don't worry about it."
"Everything we've done though. Everything that Jemma and I invented - what if it had been modified for evil? To help Hydra on their mission to terrorise the world?"
"We don't know if it is Hydra or if this operation is big." May reminded him, hoping that this would help calm him down.
"Exactly! It could be half of SHIELD, or even more? For all we know, less than 5% of agents are actually loyal to SHIELD."
"If there were less than 5% of agents loyal to SHIELD, do you not think they would have gone public by now?" May enquired back, hoping to use the logic against him to calm him down.
"Maybe. Or maybe it's easier hiding under the guise of being good. Of doing right by the world. How many times have you or Maria or Natasha complained of missions that seem dubious in nature? How do we know that these missions were for the greater good and not to further Hydra's agenda?" He ranted.
May sighed, giving up on her attempt to make lunch for them. She pulled him into a hug again and held him tightly. Sometimes the best thing to do with Leo was just to let him rant it out and hold him whilst he did.
May was thankful that this was the correct course of action on this occasion. She was honestly at a loss on how to handle the news that SHIELD had been infiltrated. Leo sobbed against her shoulder as he cried about Skye, about the pack and about his lifes work.
SHIELD had given him everything and now he was in danger of losing it. She had to admit, it was a terrifying prospect.
Her phone chose the worst time to go off. Leo quickly pulled away, wiping his eyes. "That's Coulson's ringtone."
May nodded as she answered the phone. "May."
"Hey May. Suspensions over, Fury's orders. We've had Asgardian activity and he wants us looking into it. Phone the others and meet me at the Triskellion by 13:00." Coulson ordered.
"Asgardian?" May questioned, looking over at Leo, watching his face perk up a little.
"Yeah, how cool? Wonder if it will be Thor again. Hopefully someone nice, I'm getting annoyed at Thor letting all the ones with anger issues get through." Coulson jokes.
May rolled her eyes at his joke. "See you at 13:00" She ended the call swiftly after that.
"Looks like we've got a mission kid. Go get your bag and detach Jemma from Victoria." She instructed him.
Leo nodded and left. Leaving May to go prepare her own bag. She could only hope that Leo would be able to pull it together, and hold it, for the duration of their mission until they could all properly process this as a pack.
"I don't know if I can leave her like this." May grumbled to Natasha, leaning against her mate as they stood in the doorway. May watched Skye carefully, hoping for some sign of life. Instead she just saw the same steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed unassisted.
"It will be hard." Natasha agreed, "but we have a duty. This is what we all signed up for when we joined S.H.I. ."
"Leaving your injured soulmate to help stop humanity from destroying itself?" May deadpanned.
"Sounds about right."
May sighed as she hefted her go bag. It was time to get back to reality, as much as she enjoyed spending the two weeks with her pack, she did miss being out in the field. She also found herself having a hard time trusting anyone else to keep an eye on Coulson – she called him nearly everyday to check in on him. After the whole GH-325 incident, he did not seem like himself and was hunting down the truth. Something down there spooked him and he has been on the edge ever since.
May knew a lot about the procedure that Coulson underwent, but she also knew that Fury and Maria did not tell her everything about the project when they asked her to keep an eye on Coulson as he went back into the field. May only hoped that Coulson would be wise enough to stop digging into the project. She cast one last look at Skye before leaving. May gently pulled Natasha's hand into hers and guided the redhead from the room as well.
"It's gonna suck not having you around 24/7" Natasha said glumly, "I think I preferred when I was the one going into the field every other week and coming home to my beautiful wife and a home cooked meal."
"You know Coulson made half our food, right? If not Coulson, then Peggy." May reminded her wife, smirking.
"You're both terrible at cooking." Bobbi grumbled as she walked passed, freshly showered. Natasha snagged Bobbi's wrist and pulled her in for a quick hug and kiss. Bobbi rolled her eyes but accepted the affection before pulling away. She glanced over at May, a conflicted look passed over her face before she hugged May as well.
"Be safe." Bobbi requested quietly before slipping into Skye's room, curling carefully onto the bed around her mate.
"Don't worry about Bobbi. She'll come round just like you and Sharon did." Natasha soothed her.
Bobbi raised her head and rolled her eyes at Natasha. "You guys realise I just need time to process this right? It's not every day that you find out your soulmate gets to have a second, chemically created soulmate."
Melinda nodded her head in agreement with Bobbi before turning to Natasha, "how long exactly did it take us to find out the real reason and for Sharon to actually calm down and accept that her soulmate was not fully hers?"
Natasha grimaced as she remembered Maria and Sharon's first meeting. "Okay, good point. But you would both be making me, and more importantly Maria, extremely happy if there wasn't tension between you two?"
"Nat." May warned her, "Sometimes you've just got to let us process emotions."
Natasha sighed, a guilty look coming across her face. May knew that sometimes her mate struggled with understanding emotions and how to process them. With them being wolves and Natasha having final say over everything, she has on more than one occasion, used the alpha command to end disputes before the pack could process their feelings on something.
Natasha had told her that sometimes control was all she knew. Natasha tilted her head towards the ceiling and regret filled May. Her mate was going through a lot right now and she wouldn't be there to support her. Once again thoughts of fleeing with her mate and pups to somewhere safe entered her mind.
"I'll be back soon." She muttered, trying to sooth her. Natasha didn't waste time wrapping her in a hug.
"Be safe." Natasha mimicked Bobbi.
"Always." May mumbled back in response, allowing Natasha to cling for these precious seconds.
Leo and Jemma approached carefully with their bags and May knew it was time to leave. She glanced back into Skye's room, her eyes quickly meeting Bobbi's concerned ones before she turned away. With one last kiss for Natasha, she left.
Skye lazily rolled over onto her side and slung her leg over Bobbi's hip and scooted closer to her mate. She nuzzled her head into the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. Skye struggled to remember that last time it was just her and Bobbi, relaxing together.
A loud, repetitive beeping was currently trying to stir her awake from her pleasant position. It was probably Bobbi's alarm for work. Which Skye feels like she should just take off and spend all day in bed with Skye.
"Bob" She slurred, her mouth felt insanely dry. "Alarm. Off. Sleep." she whined out, coughing. Her mouth really was dry. She smacked her lips together and ran her tongue over the roof of her mouth to get some moisture in there. Not helping. She needed some water.
She groaned as she tried to move away from Bobbi, but everything felt so sluggish so she opted for the mature response to not being able to move. She shook Bobbi away.
"Bobbi. Wake up." She grumbled, lifting her head to look at her sleeping mate. She shook her again. "Bobbi" Skye whined.
Bobbi's eyes snapped open, a look of shock taking over her face. "Skye?" She asked in disbelief.
"Water?" Skye pouted back at her mate.
"Water - Yeah, of course." Bobbi stuttered, slowly moving away from the bed.
"I've got water," came the smooth of the pack Alpha. Natasha stood in the doorway with Maria and Peggy behind her. "How are you feeling?"
"Thirsty" Skye rasped back, making grabby hands at the water.
Maria swiftly stole the water from Natasha, coming to rest gently next to her. Maria twisted the cap off and handed her the bottle, holding it up for her to drink from.
Skye rolled her eyes at the mothering behaviour from Maria and took hold of the bottle. "I can hold a bottle myself, Maria."
Maria gave her a sheepish smile, but did nothing to deter the motherhening as she smoothed back Skye's hair, tucking loose strands behind her ear. She continued to do a subtle check of Skye, soft hands ghosting over her body, pausing briefly at her forehead and settling at her stomach.
Bobbi waited until Maria was done with her checking before moving. She settled in behind Skye, pulling the girl flush against her front and rested her chin on Skye's shoulder. The blonde woman took a deep breath before settling, her fingers tracing Skye's sides gently.
"It's good to see you up and moving, sweetheart." Peggy cooed, coming to settle on the end of Skye's bed, her hand firmly clamping over her ankle.
Skye chuckled at Peggy's over exaggeration. "C'mon Peggy, surely I wasn't asleep that long? Did I miss training with May? Is this the pre-funeral before I go see her? Where is May anyways?"
Skye felt a wave of concern and apprehension falling over. She frowned at the collective flinch everyone gave when she mentioned having a funeral. "Am I missing something?"
"Skye, what was the last thing you remember?" Natasha questioned as she finally joined the rest of the pack on the bed.
"Why? I dunno, being on the Bus with May, Fitz and Simmons? Speaking of, how did I get here? Aw don't tell me I fell asleep and they carried me in - that is the definition of embarrassing!" Skye grumbled as she sorted through her thoughts and the complicated feelings coming from the pack.
Elation. Happiness. Confusion. Concern. Anger. Fear.
They were all over the place today.
"What's going on?" Skye demanded, she didn't like it when the pack kept something from her.
"Skye, you were shot." Bobbi answered from above.
Skye twisted around to look at her mate in confusion. "What?"
"You were hurt badly. On a mission with your team to get more information on Quinn and Cybertek. You wanted to bring them in and answer for Centipede and for what they caused at the academy." Bobbi replied, sending calming feelings her way as her heart began to skyrocket.
Conveniently Skye realised the alarm she heard this morning wasn't an alarm but a heart monitor. She was shot? She could not recall any memories or feelings to back this information up. She doesn't even remember going on a mission to capture Quinn.
Confusion and anxiety coursed through her as she tried desperately to recall this incident. She wasn't having much luck and was just coming up blank. The only thing that she noticed was different was her connection to May.
Usually she could feel all the back, distant heartbeats in the back of her mind with Bobbi's next to hers. It was the best way to describe it - she could tell when Bobbi was stressed or happy or sad or even when she was sleeping based on the heartbeat. Skye knew it wasn't the heartbeat that did that and that it was the bond but she had found it difficult to describe when Ward had asked her what having a soulmate was like.
Now, rather than having May at the back with the rest of the pack, she was settled in right next to Bobbi. Skye felt the tug of separation and wished that May was here with her to work through her confusion. May always knew how to help Skye, what to say or rather, what not to say and how to help her when she got worked up.
"Where May?" Skye croaked out, looking at the door. Bobbi tightened her grip around her waist, which did a lot to soothe the anxiety within but there was a small part, a very small part, that would not be settled until she was in May's arms.
It was terrifying. Bobbi was normally able to soothe all her worries, make her laugh, feel included and loved but right now it felt like she couldn't fully settle until she saw May again. It was the same feelings she got separated from Bobbi - well at the start anyways, it had gotten so bad recently.
"I'm sorry Rockstar, she's on a mission." Her mate mumbled into her hair.
"Why would she leave me after being shot?" Skye whined.
"She only left yesterday morning. They are on a mission right now - which reminds me, we might be called to help if they can't resolve the issue within the next hour." Maria supplied "Skye, you've been unconscious for two weeks."
The anxiety Skye felt just increased. Two weeks? Two weeks gone as well as days before that. She felt her breaths coming in faster as her chest failed to take in the required air. Everything felt hot and loud - the clothing against her skin was too scratchy. Peggy and Maria's touch was suddenly too tight, not tight enough. Irritating and soothing altogether. Nothing was right.
"I can't - I can't-" Skye rasped out - she can't what?
"Hands up" Bobbi mumbled, pulling her tighter. Her mate threw the covers off, and began tugging and pushing Skye into a new position. Skye was suddenly face to face with Bobbi. "Hey Rockstar" Bobbi smiled. "I get this is overwhelming, but I've got you. Why don't you tell me your plans for us next time we are both off? You mentioned you had everything planned out."
Right - she had planned out a trip to spend with Bobbi. A stupid road trip to go do tourist stuff for fun. Drive through Death Valley, go to Vegas for a few days, hit up some theme parks before going to find a new quiet place, out of the way of everything and finally confirm their bond.
"We're gonna confirm the bond." Skye mumbled out, trying to focus on the plan she had in place. The money that she had put behind that she was getting from SHIELD - turns out when you are only really paying for your phone bill and netflix, you have a lot of money left over each month. She was putting money behind to put down a deposit for their own little place.
It wouldn't be too far from the pack, Skye had even considered with all the resources that Maria could get a hold off that they could build a small place just out of earshot from the pack. Close, but far enough for some privacy. Well, as much as you can get connected to a bunch of people who can read your mind and emotions.
"We're going to do some tourist stuff - visit Vegas, do the theme parks, drive everywhere and talk about having our own small place."
"Yeah?" Bobbi encouraged.
"Yeah..just not too far from the pack? Somewhere close by but far enough that they can't hear us when we speak." Skye mumbled, "we could still spend all meals with everyone, but every so often we'd be romantic as hell and have a candlelit dinner. Do all the cheesy rose petals leading to the bathroom, share a bath and make love. We'd be cute as fuck."
"Damn right we would be." Bobbi grinned, pecking her forehead before leaning her own against Skyes. "We should also build a small place outside to go to in our wolf forms. Maybe create an obstacle course?"
Skye let out a wet chuckle, "always exercise with you."
"All this excess energy from being a wolf - I'm more surprised you don't feel the need to be on the go all the time."
"I am on the go all the time. In the BUS. Pretending around them, travelling, seeing how differently everything operates. It's a long way from St. Agnes." Skye admitted. "It's tiring."
Bobbi hummed in contemplation, "guess I never thought of it that way. Plus your training with May and Ward."
"The mental link is exhausting at times as well."
"Now that I do understand. Sometimes it's good to just have your own mind." Bobbi said.
"Yeah.." Skye felt much calmer, but exhausted at the same time. At least she could bear the presence of her pack, the three women had backed themselves into a corner to give Skye space. None of them seemed like they would be leaving her side anytime soon - which makes sense given she was shot. Again.
Skye moved her head away from Bobbi's and nuzzled at her neck, content to be pressed firmly against her. To be so close to her. She waited patiently for their heartbeats to sync up again, a steady beat thumping in chest, before asking her next question.
"How badly was I hurt?"
"Bad. It was…" Natasha sighed as she tried to answer.
"You flatlined. Several times. I believe that you flatlined at least 10 times whilst Coulson and May went on their kamikaze attempt to save you. Jemma said they lost you for a good 10 minutes, they were close to declaring you dead. Leo wouldn't accept that of course, he screamed at Ward and Garrett before doing his best to bring you back. Between him, Jemma and Trip, they managed to revive you after you were injected with a serum." Maria answered for the alpha. She answered in a clinical, detached way. A way that Skye had come to associate with 'Deputy Director Hill' and not Maria - the cuddly beta - Hill.
Skye tried to put a face to Garrett and Trip, but found that she couldn't. Did she meet them before she started the mission?
"Garrett and Trip were sent by Hand to bring your team back to base after they stole you from medical to take you on their rescue mission." Maria supplied for her.
"Ah." Well that clears up that.
"There's obviously a lot more to this. Do you want to hear the rest now or would you like some time to process it first?" Maria questioned.
"All of it please." Skye requested. She didn't bother to move from her place against Bobbi as Maria told the tale of her death as well as their suspicion that SHIELD has been infiltrated.
It didn't seem real. Skye kept trying to recall these memories that she apparently had. How could she just forget almost dying? Not even that, the banter that she had with her team beforehand, the mission itself - comforting Jemma when Hand put her foot down? Shifting and running on a mission, the thrill of shifting. Her conversation with Bobbi? Mike, the actual shooting and dying. Her new bond with May.
How is that all just… missing? Not to mention the bombshell about SHIELD. What the hell were they going to do about that?
"Let's go put some food in you, darling. You are looking awfully pale." Peggy suggested, standing up, pulling Natasha and Maria with her.
"Food sounds fantastic right now." Bobbi admitted, "What do you say?"
"I could go some food." Skye agreed. As much as this was all overwhelming, Skye could feel her stomach quietly rumbling and the tension in her body. The itching to just move.
Natasha and Maria both stepped forward to help her up. The two turned to glare at each other but a quick chide from Peggy had them both looking ashamed and embarrassed. Skye quickly remedied this by reaching out for both of them, hoping to appease their instincts.
Maria was the first one to pull her close, holding her tight and taking in her scent. Skye was all too happy to spend a few moments in her arms and take in the comfort. It wasn't too long before Maria willingly let her go and passed her to Natasha, who copied Maria before guiding Skye downstairs.
Peggy quickly took on the role of Alpha and began to fuss over them. She made sure all four of them were comfortable and made them breakfast, choosing to make as many comfort foods for them as she could. Whenever Natasha or Maria tried to offer help, she shoo them away and eventually threatened to hit them with a spatula when they became persistent.
Skye found her eyes drifting to observe Maria and Natasha as the two interacted. With Peggy taking on the protector role, the two seemed to have shifted personalities. Natasha seemed content to let Maria take charge.
The beta was tugging her close, pressing soft kisses to the side of Natasha's head. Natasha was curling up against Maria's side. Skye had seen Natasha act this way with May, but never with Maria. No matter how they interacted, there was always this underlying theme of Alpha and Beta - roles the two of them played to perfection.
Skye tilted her head at them, wondering what changed. She cast her eyes over to Peggy, was it just really as simple as someone else taking charge of the pack that caused Natasha to just… relax? Was it just that she was relaxed? She couldn't quite place her finger on it but either way, she was glad that the alpha was enjoying herself.
When food arrived, Maria made a fuss over Natasha, making sure that she had her juice topped up and that her plate was full. Bobbi was silently mimicking the Beta as she filled up Skye's plate. Skye wondered if Maria was about to feed Natasha.
"Skye, your thoughts are loud." Natasha commented, looking back at her. Skye flushed as she broke eye contact and quickly shovelled some of her breakfast into her mouth.
Maria chuckled, "leave her alone, Nat." She admonished, "she's not really seen this side of our relationship."
Natasha rolled her eyes at Maria before poking her in the side.
"Careful, Natalia." Maria purred, her eyes turning predatory. "One might think you're purposely trying to irritate me."
"Me? I would never." Natasha smirked back at her.
Skye looked back at Bobbi, bewildered. "What is happening here?"
Bobbi gave a snort, "leave them to their foreplay, Skye. This is just how they are sometimes. Sometimes Maria likes to take charge and Natasha is happy for that to happen. When it does though…Nat can be a brat. It's funny."
"Maria. Natasha." Peggy cut off, "Knock it off. Skye's just up and we might have to go help six-one-six."
"Yes alpha." They chorused, giving each other playful looks before diving into their breakfast.
Skye wondered if Natasha noticed that Maria was swapping out their food, moving Natasha's favourite items from her own plate to Natasha and taking her least favourite items in return. It was adorable. Skye focused on her own mate and bumped her shoulder against hers.
"Love you." Skye told her, smiling softly.
Bobbi grinned at Skye, 'love you too.'
"Full mouth?"
'So full.' Bobbi groaned back and she quickly chewed her food. "I love you too."
The pack continued to eat their food in a content silence before Maria's work phone broke the silence.
"Hill speaking." Maria answered quickly.
"616 have requested assistance with their mission. It would seem the Asgardian they are facing can brainwash men and only men." Hand explained. "We are sending some of our best female agents to help assist. Fury's asked for you to take charge of the situation and to bring Morse and Romanoff with you."
Maria raised an eyebrow "I thought we were supposed to keep up the illusion that Romanoff doesn't know Coulson is alive."
"He wants her in the shadows. Not often we come up against an enemy that can brainwash people."
"I mean, so far that's like two Asgardian's that have brainwashed someone. I think we really need to come up with some anti brainwashing serum next." Skye quipped.
The pack sent her an amused look.
"She's not wrong there." Natasha agreed quietly, leaning against Maria.
There was a pause from Hand before she replied. "Skye… I'm glad to hear that you are awake. Jemma and Izzy were worried sick, they will be glad to hear that you are up and talking."
Skye glanced over at Natasha, not sure how to reply. Hand seemed to really hate her.
"Tori doesn't hate you. She's just misplacing her anger despite the many, many conversations we've had around it." Bobbi explained, increasing her volume towards the end. "The formation of your team and you joining the pack happened at the same time. With the formation of the team, Jemma is placed in significantly more danger, is exposed to more of SHIELD than just her lab and has been doing her best to adapt to her new situation. Unfortunately, adapting seems to have involved a complete 180 in behaviour from her, rule breaking, shooting superiors and general mischief. Hand has linked this all back to you but really, this would have happened regardless."
Skye felt a bit surprised by that, she subconsciously blamed herself as well for getting Jemma into trouble. She didn't mean it intentionally for the Biochemist to get into these situations, it just so happened that they seemed to be following her and Jemma was getting caught up in it as well.
"Bobbi you are the worst." Hand grumbled, "but also right. I don't hate you, Skye. I just don't like Jemma being in danger" She let out a sigh, "can we do this heart to heart in person, its very clinical over the phone."
"Uh, sure?" Skye questioned.
"Good. Back to the situation at hand, we need you all to come in." Hand said, returning to her more authoritative tone.
"Bobbi can't, she's still on medical leave." Maria said, sighing. She looked over at Peggy before humming. "I'll bring Peggy. Everyone always gets a kick when she's around. We can be there in two hours."
"Understood - one more thing, Ward is compromised. He's with the target and helping her evade us."
"Shit, well that explains the backup request. Alright, we will try to be there in under 2 hours."
"Understood. See you soon, Commander." Hand ended the call.
"That was a rollercoaster of a call." Skye jokes. She could feel the anxiety rising again. Ward was compromised and with the majority of her team being non-combative, it left them at a severe disadvantage. Skye didn't feel hurt, just tired, surely there was something she could help out with? Also what was with Bobbi being on medical leave?
"Why are you-"
"SHIELD allows soulmates to take medical leave together, even if one is not hurt. They can still feel the pain and it is generally distracting for the uninjured mate. Easier to just let them both go on leave than risk it." Bobbi explained.
"Okay, and Peggy going into-"
"Peggy has a cover as her own great-niece, like Sharon. Except, this time she actually advertises it as a way to explain why she looks similar to Peggy Carter. Honestly, style her hair differently and put her in modern clothes, she looks nothing like herself." Natasha explained.
"Ah. Are you sure-"
"Yes. You stay here and you rest up, understand?" Maria ordered, giving her a stern look. "You basically died only two weeks ago. I'm not having you help out with this mission."
"But I - "
"No." All three of them chorused.
"Just think of it as time for us to spend together - maybe we can go visit Laura and Clint as well. She has been desperate to meet you. Did you know she held my title before she retired?" Bobbi tried to soothe her.
"Wait, what?" Damn it, Bobbi had successfully distracted her.
"C'mon, let's see them off and I'll tell you the story."
It didn't take long for her pack mates to get ready. Maria was in full Commander mode as she walked around the house, grabbing useful items and calling out to Natasha and Peggy, making sure they were packing the correct things.
"Be careful." Skye requested, curled into Bobbi's side as the three walked onto the Quinjet.
"Always." Natasha grinned cockily at her. "Not my first rodeo, kiddo."
"Don't call me kiddo, we've had sex." Skye wrinkled her nose.
"Sure thing, kiddo." Natasha cheekily replied, "Keep her safe, warm and happy, Bobs. We will be back before you know it."
Bobbi nodded her head and guided Skye back into the house as the Quinjet door closed.
"So, about my codename…"