Sorry this is late! In general I'm going to aim for 7pm on Monday, today just didn't make it with work meetings.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Agents of Shield (do I really need to write this on every chapter?)

Even though her job seemed pretty unpredictable, with different lessons each day that were heavily influenced by her students behavior, she always settled into the same routine every single year. Her students would come to school, she would chat with them before the bell rang, they would take attendance, and then the lessons would start. Every single day, each student was pretty predictable. She knew the ones that were able to quickly learn the material, the ones who needed more help, the ones who were likely to be well behaved, and the ones who were more spirited. All she needed was a few days to figure all of this out and somehow, Natasha Romanoff was still a wild card.

As a teacher, she made it her business to know everything about each student. That may seem weird or invasive but it helped her understand each child's learning process and it explained most of their behavior. You would be surprised how eager students were to share facts about themselves, sometimes it was hard to get them to stop talking about themselves, but she soon found out that Natasha didn't seem to fit any of her expectations.

The redhead was a good student, she sometimes would zone out in the middle of a lesson and needed help with reading and math, but she wasn't hard to teach. Melinda had trouble understanding why Natasha had been held back when she obviously had the capacity to learn. Besides knowing that Natasha was a good student, the only other thing she was certain of was that the little girl loved her sister. That was abundantly clear and it was very obvious that Skye loved Natasha just as much.

She had been keeping an eye on the two of them for the past few days, as had Phil, and she just couldn't figure them out. They would come to school every morning, Natasha would make sure that Skye was ready for class, they would hug, and Natasha would come to class. They never talked about their parents, they didn't seem to be making any friends, it was difficult to get Natasha to say anything that didn't pertain to the lessons, and there was just something about them that had Melinda on edge. She wasn't sure what it was but she was making it her mission to figure it out.

She was waiting outside her door and and greeting her students like she did every morning when she saw Natasha and Skye walk down the hall together, hand in hand like they did every morning except this time, something was different. Usually Natasha was the one who led her sister down the hall but this time it was the other way around. Skye was walking half a step in front of Natasha and was gently tugging her towards her classroom.

Melinda watched as they stopped outside her husband's door and Skye nervously glanced around before leaning in to say something to Natasha. The redhead shook her head and seemed to be reassuring the younger girl. Skye pointed to her husband, who was waiting outside his classroom like usual, and she watched as Natasha vigorously shook her head and grabbed the hand that Skye was pointing with. The little girl looked sad for a moment and Natasha pulled her in for a hug and Skye stood on her tiptoes to give Natasha a kiss on the cheek.

The two girls said their goodbyes and Natasha started making her way towards her. Melinda made sure to not let her suspicions show and gave her student a small smile, "Good morning Natasha, how're you today?"

Natasha only paused in front of her to say, "I'm fine," before walking into the room and towards her desk.

Every single morning she asked Natasha that question and every single morning her student said the same thing and usually she believed her, but today was different. Today she could tell that Natasha was not fine and she was going to find out why.

Mrs. May had been staring at her all day and it was starting to annoy Natasha. Every time she glanced up, her teacher was looking at her. She was already in a bad mood, last night had been terrible, and her teacher's weird behavior was just grating on her nerves.

Staring at the clock, she tried to make the hands move faster. She just needed to make it to recess so that she could get away from Mrs. May's unnerving stare and go see Skye. She was worried about her sister. Tugging down her shirt sleeve so that it covered her wrist, she watched the clock and hoped that Skye was alright.

She and Skye had been hungry and since Becky wasn't going to make them anything, she had decided to make something for them. Skye was sick of sandwiches and Nat didn't know how to make a lot of things so she had chosen to make soup, there was no way that she could mess that up. After pouring the contents of the can into a pot and turning the stovetop on, she had made Skye sit at the table so that they could start working on her letters. Natasha had seen too many foster kids get overlooked in the system and she didn't want Skye to be one of them. She wasn't a great teacher but she was trying to teach Skye how to read...or at least know all the letters.

She had been in the middle of explaining why O's could make so many different sounds and had completely forgotten about their food. The sizzling sound from the soup flowing over the top of the pot and onto the stovetop was what reminded her and she hopped out of her seat. Running towards the stovetop, she didn't even think, she just grabbed onto the handle. Forgetting how heavy the pot was, she immediately regretted not using two hands when it tipped forward. The side of the pot made contact with her wrist and she felt a hot, searing pain. Dropping the pot, she held up her wrist as tears filled her eyes. There was an angry red mark on her wrist and it hurt.

Skye had appeared beside her and Nat pushed her back and pointed towards the paper towels sitting on the counter, "Grab me some paper towels, we have to clean this up."

Skye gave her a worried look, "But your wrist-"

Natasha cut her off, "Skye, please."

There was soup all over the stovetop, cabinets, and floor and they would be so angry if they saw their kitchen like this. Natasha kept her injured wrist close to her chest and reached forward with her other hand to turn off the stovetop. Skye reappeared with a bunch of paper towels in hand. The little girl handed some to her and they both got to work cleaning up the mess.

Natasha tried to ignore the stinging pain in her wrist as she threw away the dirty paper towels and carefully put the still hot pot into the sink. Skye pulled a chair over to the sink, stood on it, pulled the lever so that cool water was flowing, and motioned her forward. Natasha made sure that the kitchen was clean before climbing onto the chair next to Skye. She couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped her when the cool water hit her burned wrist.

Skye was worriedly staring at her and Natasha tried to give her a reassuring look, "It's okay, just a little burn."

Skye glanced at the bright red mark on her wrist and made a face, "It looks bad."

She moved her wrist out from under the steady stream of water and sucked in a breath when her wrist started burning again. Quickly thrusting it back under the water, Natasha tried to ignore her wrist and focus on Skye, "No, it's alright. Just gimme a second."

Skye nodded and waited patiently while Natasha worked up the nerve to shut the water off. She knew that when she did, her wrist would start burning again but Skye looked so worried that she told herself to suck it up and quickly shut the water off before she could change her mind.

She was instantly hit with a searing pain in her wrist but ignored it. Blowing on her arm so that it dried, she glanced at Skye, "See? I'm fine."

The look of relief on Skye's made the sharp stinging in her wrist a little more bearable.

Just then, the door slammed open and Skye's eyes widened. They heard the sturdy steps of their foster father coming towards them and she set Skye on the ground and pushed her towards the table, "Go sit down!"

Skye looked back at her but obediently sat down. Natasha tried to push the chair back to the table but only made it halfway before John Garrett was there.

She paused and watched him take in the scene, "What are you two doing?"

Hiding her wrist behind her back, she said, "We were just making some food."

Garrett raised an eyebrow, "Really?" His eyes zeroed in on the arm she was hiding behind her back and Natasha felt her heartbeat speed up. He pointed at her arm, "What've you got there?"

She tried to stay calm, "Nothing, I just-"

He stalked towards her and she made herself stand still. It was worse when she tried to run away. He held out his hand impatiently and she briefly considered not showing him her wrist but immediately disregarded that thought. Holding out her arm and placing her wrist in his hand, she hoped for the best.

His hand squeezed around hers and she tried not to wince. He looked mad, "What the hell is this?"

She could feel the bones in her hand rub against each other as Garrett readjusted his tight grip on her. When she spoke, her voice shook and she hated herself for it, "I burned myself."

Impossibly, his grip on her hand got tighter and she couldn't stop the sound of protest that escaped her. She saw Skye start to stand up but she shook her head at her and the little girl sat back down. Garrett inspected her wrist and growled, "Can't you do anything? Do you know what people will think when they see this?!"

He finally let go of her hand and she cradled it to her chest. Her hand ached and her wrist burned but she kept her focus on him, "I didn't mean-"

He took a step closer to her and angrily interrupted her, "Oh, you didn't mean to? You didn't mean to?! But you did, didn't you?"

Most of the time, apologies helped, "I'm sorry."

Garrett's eyes flashed and her apology didn't seem to work this time. He was so close that she couldn't have stopped him when he reached out and forcefully pushed her. She stumbled backwards but couldn't catch her footing and fell to the ground. Her head connected with the floor and she heard Skye call her name but all she could focus on was the sharp pain that flashed through her head.

She groaned and felt small hands on her upper arm. She tried to wave Skye off to keep her out of the line of fire and luckily, Garrett's focus remained on her, "If anyone asks, you tell them you got that burn baking cookies with your mother."

Cradling the back of her head with her hand, she nodded. He took a step towards them and Skye's grip on her arm tightened.

"What're you going to tell people?"

"I got burned baking cookies with Becky."

He stomped towards her and yanked her so that she was standing, "With who?!"

She gulped, "With my mom."

He sneered at her, "Get out of my sight."

Skye pulled her out of the kitchen and towards her room. Her head ached and her wrist burned so she let Skye gently guide her so that she was sitting on her little bed.

Skye's hands fluttered around, the little girl obviously wasn't sure what to do, and finally stood still before she stared at her for a moment and then launched herself into Natasha's arms. Natasha wrapped her arms around the little girl, making sure that her burnt wrist didn't make contact with anything, and hugged her tight.

She heard Skye sniffle and ignored the pain in her head so that she could comfort her sister, "It's okay Skye."

The little girl pressed her face against Nat's neck and her voice was muffled when she said, "But your wrist and your head…"

Natasha patted Skye's back and leaned back so that she could see her face, "They don't even hurt anymore."

Skye studied her and shook her head, "You're lying."

Sometimes, being so close to Skye had its downsides, "Fine, but it's not so bad, by tomorrow I'll be as good as new."

Skye's thumb made its way into her mouth as she curled up on Nat's lap and looked at her with big brown sad eyes, "You promise?"

Hoping that her words would be true, she had nodded, "Yep."

By that morning, her head had stopped hurting and the burn on her wrist only hurt when it rubbed up against her shirt sleeve. Natasha thought that Skye had moved past the incident but then the little girl had suggested telling Mr. Coulson what happened. Skye thought that he would help but Nat knew that he wouldn't be able to. She was worried that even though she had told her not to, Skye was going to say something.

Finally, it was time for recess and she hopped out of her seat. She walked outside with the rest of her classmates and was about to make her way over to the little kid's playground when she heard Mrs. May calling her name. Why wouldn't her teacher just leave her alone?

Turning around and facing Mrs. May, she said, "Yes?"

Her teacher pointed to her arm, "Do you need to go see the nurse? That looks like it hurts."

Tugging her long sleeve down so that it not only covered her wrist but her whole hand, she said, "It doesn't."

Mrs. May stared at her for a few seconds and she tried not to fidget.

"How'd you get it?"

"I was baking cookies with my mom."

Mrs. May gave her a small smile, "That sounds like fun, maybe try to be more careful next time okay?"

Nodding absentmindedly, Natasha looked towards the little kid's playground and saw Skye staring at her, "Can I go see my sister?"

Mrs. May shook her head, "You're not allowed on the kindergarten playground, remember?"

Of course she remembered, she wasn't an idiot, "Okay."

She left her teacher and made her way over to Skye. Once she reached her, Skye sat down on her side of the fence and Nat sat down on her side. The little girl reached her hand through the chain-linked fence and Natasha held onto it, "You didn't tell Mr. Coulson, right?"

Skye shook her head but looked uncertain, "I think he can help Nattie."

Skye was just a little kid, she didn't understand, "Skye, you can't tell him. If he tells anyone, they'll take us away and we won't be together anymore. Do you want that?"

The little girl's eyes filled with tears and Natasha felt bad for being this intense with her but she needed Skye to understand how serious this was. She couldn't have Skye telling her teacher what was going on, she finally had someone that she loved and she didn't know what would happen if Skye was ripped away from her.

Skye shook her head, "No, I want to stay with you forever."

Natasha gently squeezed Skye's hand, "I want to stay with you too but you can't tell anyone okay? Please, promise me."

Skye nodded, "I promise."

Skye stared down at her blank paper.

A teardrop dripped onto the flat surface, creating a little dimple of wetness on the empty space.

She was scared. Nat had gotten hurt, John had done it because he was mean. Skye had always known he was mean. Back when Becky liked her, John had left her alone. But now, sometimes she got so scared. Sometimes Nat locked them both in her bedroom. Sometimes, someone got hurt.

Skye tried not to think about Nat being pushed backwards, her head hitting the ground hard, John standing over her... but she couldn't stop.

Mr. Coulson was so nice. He had given her a special smile when she came in for class. He helped her with her writing. Lots of grownups were mean but Mr. Coulson was nice. At least, Skye was pretty sure he was.

John was a bad person. Mr. Coulson was a good person, at least she hoped.

But she couldn't tell him why she was scared and sad because they would take her away from Natasha and John had said that if she ever said anything bad about him or the house that he would hurt Nattie. And she'd never seen her again. She would be back to being alone again.

Another tear dropped onto her paper. And then another.

"Skye?"

She jumped, heart pounding in her chest, but it was just Mr. Coulson, looking at her worriedly with his kind blue eyes. Quickly, she wiped her eyes and tried to smile.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Coulson asked. Skye nodded vigorously but really she just wanted to cry.

She wanted Nattie.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" Mr. Coulson was giving her a questioning look and Skye freaked out. He would find out. They would take her away from Nat. John would hurt Nat.

"No!" she said more forcefully than she meant. "I don't want to talk!"

It sounded so angry and she didn't mean to sound mad at Mr. Coulson but she couldn't help it. Something inside of her bubbled over.

"Go away! Leave me alone!" Her voice was getting too loud. She was being bad but she couldn't stop. She picked up her piece of paper and ripped it in half.

"Skye." Mr. Coulson's voice was firmer.

She was in trouble. She was bad. She was going to get punished.

She was scared.

There was a touch on her arm and Skye flinched violently away.

"No!" Skye turned away from him. "Don't touch me!"

"Skye, I'm not going to hurt you and I won't touch you. I'm sorry I touched your arm without asking. Can you please just look at me?"

It was the apology and 'please' that made her slow down and carefully raise her eyes to meet his.

Mr. Coulson didn't look angry. He looked worried, like he cared.

"I'm not going to make you talk to me but I can't have you yelling or destroying things."

Skye looked at the paper she had ripped up and felt ashamed.

"I'm sorry." She snuck another look at her teacher. He didn't look like he was going to hurt her.

Instead, Mr. Coulson completely changed the subject. He didn't even yell.

"Let's work on the picture," Mr. Coulson suggested, grabbing Skye a new piece of paper and some crayons. "Why don't you draw a picture of your family? F is for Family and we're learning F today, right?"

Skye took a crayon and began to draw tentatively, still worried that Mr. Coulson would suddenly remember how bad she had been and start yelling or worse. But slowly she relaxed as Mr. Coulson patiently sat beside her, working on a drawing of his own.

"Is that you and Natasha?" Mr. Coulson asked finally, glancing at her drawing.

"Yeah." Skye nodded, pleased he could tell who it was.

"What about your parents, are you going to draw them?"

Skye glanced at him.

"I don't have any parents," she murmured, looking down at the paper. She was going to give Nat the drawing, maybe it would make her feel better. "I have foster parents. But I don't want to draw them." Skye began coloring in Natasha's hair.

"Okay." Mr. Coulson's voice was softer than usual. "Well I think your drawing of you and Nat is beautiful."

Skye bit her lip, grateful Mr. Coulson hadn't said anything about her not having real parents.

"Is that you and Mrs. May?" she peered at his drawing.

"It is!" Mr. Coulson looked pleased. Skye tilted her head.

"Mrs. May is your family?"

"She's my wife," Mr. Coulson laughed and Skye's eyes widened.

"She is?" Skye's mouth fell open. Mr. Coulson just smiled and nodded.

"Come on. Let's start cleaning up so we can finish up today with story time."

Have a great week! See you at the next update and let me know what you think!