Thank you, everyone, you have no idea how much your support means to me. Thank you so much. and sorry for all mistakes- my work has never been beta-read. On with the story :)

Ward woke up with Skye cradled against his chest, his arms wrapped around her. He was wide awake in an instant, going still until he felt Skye breathe. He himself didn't breathe for at least a minute, just listening to her inhales and exhales, reminding himself that she was still there.

And as long as she was still there, there was still hope.

Ward recalled the previous night, the occupants of the Bus crowded around his bunk at three in the morning, each of them panicked and concerned. Once Skye had drifted to sleep, Jemma had reinserted the IV and swathed the girl in blankets. It had been difficult to move in the cramped space but they had all managed. Once Skye was comfortable, Simmons had prodded and poked at Ward's shoulder until the agent had slid down onto the bed. He had been silent the whole time, his arm wrapped protectively around Skye's waist (he had felt sick at the feel of her hip under his hand) as he positioned her against his chest. He had stayed awake long after the others had retired to their own beds, all very reluctant to leave actually.

But finally, he had succumbed to sleep, he was just grateful that his years as an agent meant he was a light sleeper, he would never have forgiven himself had something happened and he not woke up.

As it was, Skye had slept through the whole night with no problems, for which Grant was extremely grateful.

Now he had to face the other problems. How could they convince Skye to eat, to cut it down on the work outs? Not only was her body weak but if she had kept going, it could easily have killed her. Could still kill her.

When Skye started to stir, Grant loosened his grip around her middle, not wanting to hacker to feel cornered or smothered. "Morning." he murmured, rolling onto his back as she started to squirm.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, burrowing under the layers of blankets, her hand tucked under her head.

"Nearly noon, sleepy head." he tried to joke, to tease, but nothing about it felt right.

"Noon?!" Skye almost shrieked, starting to kick off the blankets. "Dammit, why didn't you wake me? I have work to do and I…" she trailed off, closing her eyes. "You're not going to let me, are you?"

"That depends. If you mean work as in your computer stuff then sure, you can do that. If you mean go to the gym, then no." he said evenly, sitting up to gauge her reaction.

She was surprisingly calm.

"Fine, whatever. Now get out of my-" Oh shit, this isn't my bunk.

"Ward?" she didn't really remember her trip from the living area to Ward's bunk, it couldn't be that she mistaken it for hers, they were on opposite sides of the corridor.

"It's fine, we found you here, you were upset, you remember yeah?" he prodded gently and she nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, just got confused."

They were silent were a few minutes, Skye trying to figure out what to say and Ward trying to think about how to phrase his next question.

"See, thing is Skye, you know that this isn't healthy, right?" he turned to face her, face stern and calm. The only thing giving away his concern and yes, his panic, were his eyes. And as he turned to face her, eye to eye, for the first time since it had all happened, she could see.

Why is he so…worked up? I'm fine, I thought he'd be happy, I thought they'd all be happy. I can become a good agent now, I can be like Black Widow and May and Agent Hill. I can be like them, I just have to get fit, I just have to look like they do, feel like they do.

"I'm fine. Really, I'm just…shifting all this stubborn weight. I just…want to be like them." she whispered, frowning and rubbing her eyes, scraping her hair off her face. "Don't you ever see someone and think hey, if I worked harder, I could be just as good as them. I could do it, Ward, I could be like May, I could be a good fighter. I could be a good agent, you just have to let me do this!" she exclaimed, pulling the stupid mask off her face, flinging it against the wall.

"Skye, sweetheart, calm down." the term of endearment slipped off his tongue. Oh hell. What am I getting myself into?

Unbeknownst to Ward and Skye, May sat just outside the door, head leaning against the wall.

'I could be like May.'

Oh Skye, you don't ever want to be like me.

May had been in Skye's position; a rookie, scared and wanting to prove herself. She'd gone through stages of working herself unconscious, but she'd had Coulson, she'd been different back then.

She hadn't been the infamous Cavalry.

Agent May pulled herself up, schooling her expression and knocking on the door, sliding it open. "Ward, Jemma wants to see you in the lab." she said curtly, standing and obviously waiting for him to leave before she spoke again.

"You fancy getting cleaned up? I can help you to the bathroom?" she asked quietly.

Skye was taken aback as she rubbed a few tears from her eyes. Now she thought about it, she did feel kinda gross.

She didn't want to accept help, least of all from May who barely spoke to her, but now that it had been mentioned, she really did want to clean up. And after sitting up, it was clear she wouldn't make it on her own.

Pathetic.

May was silent and contemplative as she wound an arm around Skye's back, forcing the jealousy to the forefront of Skye's mind. It wasn't Melinda's fault. No way was it. But living in an enclosed space with someone for so long…she couldn't help but wish she was different. And May was strong and brave and beautiful, she had a nickname and a stellar reputation. She was respected but she wasn't arrogant. She was flawless, perfect, brilliant. Who could blame a girl for wanting to be like that?

When they came to the bathroom, May surprised Skye by coming in with her. The older agent turned on the shower, taking Skye and placing her on the side of the bathtub.

"I'm not who you think I am, Skye." she started to undo her standard SHIELD suit, movements brisk and efficient. "I'm not perfect, I'm not without flaws."

She felt exposed, horribly, horribly exposed.

Swallowing, the agent slid her suit down to her knees.

Skye was confused and flustered at this point. Seeing May as somewhat of an older sister/mother figure, this was exceptionally awkward.

"Skye. Look at me." May resisted the urge to hug herself.

The hacker reluctantly looked up.

"Tell me what you see. Am I fat? Am I perfect? Do I need to lose weight?" Melinda asked softly.

Skye shook her head rapidly. "No! You don't, you're healthy and you have muscles but not…" she flinched, bowing her head and rubbing her temples.

"I see what you're trying to do. Just because you don't need to lose weight, doesn't mean I don't have to." she said flatly, gaze down as she wrung her hands.

"I died, Skye. I got shot, right here." she tapped her shoulder. "You see the scar? That's not perfect now is it? You see my stomach? It's not flat, I have some muscles but I have an overall curvy figure. I'm healthy, Skye, do you see that?" May quickly shoved her arms in her suit and zipped it back up. She had to get through to the girl.

"That's what an agent has to be, strong and fit, not small and…weak. Passing out from over exerting themself." in a rare show of emotion, May tucked some lose hair behind Skye's ear.

Skye herself was shocked, just watching. She was sure this was the most Melinda had ever spoken to her.

"I want to be perfect." the hacker blew out a quivering breath, tears filling her eyes once more.

"There is no such thing as perfection. There's only how we perceive it. What I see here, is a girl, a woman, struggling to find herself. And you remind me of myself. You remind me of a certain Avenger I know too."

She sighed. "But Skye, you will find yourself. You don't have to be thin, you don't have to work yourself until you're sick. You just have to understand that becoming an agent takes time. It means dedication and hard work. But it also means days off, it means eating ice-cream and relaxing with a film. It means letting your family help you." and with that, the older agent stood, carefully wiping her face of emotions, but not before dropping a kiss to the startled woman's temple.

"Let us help."

Okay. so that was…a weird chapter to write. Sorry if you abhorred it, I kinda did but oh well. I lame sleep deprivation, I really wanted to get another chapter out there as soon as I could. Slightly dedicated to Unaligned fae queen who wanted a Skye and May mother/daughter moment. There will be more SkyeWard in the next chapter, sorry again, thank you for sticking with this! Probably OOC too, gosh I'm sorry. Reviews are love3