OH MY GOSH i am late again

i am a horrible human being. (cries) Please forgive me and my horrendous memory!

I hope you enjoy the chapter in spite of its very sate lateness!

Melinda May examined a tomato carefully, turning the round fruit around in her hand.

"Does it really matter if I'm going to cut it up for pasta sauce?" Tripp complained, practically slumped over the grocery cart and whining like a little kid.

"If you want to learn how to cook, you need to learn it right," Phil backed his wife up.

"I know how to cook. And since when does Melinda like cooking?" Tripp murmured under his breath and was quickly rewarded with a whack to the side of the head with a bag of marshmallows.

"If you begin with quality ingredients, you have a slightly better chance of not making something that tastes like crap," May quirked an eyebrow and tossed the fruit at Tripp, who barely caught it in time.

"Alright. You can stop putting up the act," Tripp grabbed a bag for the tomato.

"What act?" Phil cocked his head.

"I know you're both dying to ask me what happened last night with the 911 call at Garrett's house." Tripp set the bag into the grocery cart and started examining the selection of fresh basil.

Melinda exchanged a look with Phil.

Quickly deciding it wasn't worth it to even attempt denying that claim, she cleared her throat, "Please tell us, Tripp."

"I got there, to his house, and he came to the door holding the little one..."

"Holding who?" Phil dropped the carrot he was examining.

"Skye, the four-year-old..."

"Skye's five," Phil corrected him.

"Oh." Tripp paused. "Well Chief said she was four."

Melinda and Phil exchanged a puzzled look. How did someone forget how old their kid was?

"Apparently Skye had been playing with the phone and accidentally dialed 911," Tripp shrugged, however his expression was one of concern.

"You don't fully believe it," Phil examined Tripp's face.

"I don't know." Tripp shook is head. "Something seemed wrong, I can't put my finger on it."

"Where was Natasha?" Melinda spoke up. "She's got red hair, green eyes..."

Tripp shook his head. "I didn't see any sign of another kid. I was with Stockwell and I suggested that we follow procedure and take a look around but it was Chief's house so he said that we should just go. He's my supervising officer." Tripp rubbed the back of his neck. "I just... looking into the kiddo's eyes, they just looked...empty, I guess. I can't shake the feeling something was wrong."

They were silent for a moment. Melinda knew more about Natasha than Skye but whenever she saw the little girl at school or around her sister, Skye always seemed lively. Not empty.

"Today was a rough day at school for the girls," Phil finally commented. "But I think we made progress with them. Maybe we'll be able to get them to talk more about themselves."

"Maybe." May wasn't convinced. She could tell Natasha was hiding plenty of secrets that she wasn't going to be telling anytime soon.

Phil gave Tripp an imploring look, "Could you-"

Their friend cut him off by raising a hand, "Yeah, yeah, I'll keep an eye out for anything strange."

Melinda reached past him, grabbed some fresh basil, and handed it to him, "Thank you Tripp."

She hoped he understood how grateful she was. A thought occurred to her, "Hey, you have tomorrow off, right?"

Tripp nodded, "Yeah."

"Would you come in and talk to mine and Phil's classes? Maybe talk to them about, you know, stranger danger, when to call 911, what to do when they're being hurt…"

Her friend studied her for a few seconds before relenting, "Yeah, of course."

Phil watched his wife pace around the room with her phone to her ear. He could tell by her clenched fists and strained voice that she was annoyed.

"I understand that you're legally obligated to keep files confidential but she's a student of mine and I'm concerned-"

It seemed like the person on the other end of the line had cut her off and Phil knew from personal experience that that was not something you wanted to do to Melinda May.

He watched her ground her teeth and wait for the person to stop talking before saying, "Why can't you just tell me-"

The person cut Mel off again and he saw her eyes flash before she spoke softly, "No, no thank you for your time. You were so helpful."

His wife hung up and flung her phone onto the couch before collapsing next to him. She put her elbows on her knees, leaned forward a little, and rested her head on her hands, "They won't tell me anything about Natasha or Skye's past. They wouldn't tell me about any complaints made, or hospital visits, or literally anything that would be helpful."

It had all started with a harmless Google search.

They had just wanted to see what the internet had to say about John and Rebecca Garrett. All they had found was articles on John's achievements as a cop and their wedding announcement. When that had gotten them nowhere, they had tried to step it up a notch but all of their calls had fallen through.

Phil reached forward and put a comforting hand on May's back, "I think we should report this."

His wife sighed and turned to him, "I know… I just don't want to make things worse for them. But you're right, we need to report this."

He thought of all the bumps and bruises he'd seen from the girls since school had started and knew the right thing to do would be to report his suspicions. An investigation would be launched and if there was anything wrong going on in the Garrett household, the girls would be taken away from there. If their suspicions were wrong, then everything would be fine and he would back off but he didn't think they were wrong about this.

Regardless, they had a legal obligation as mandatory reporters.

Phil just wanted Skye and Natasha to be safe and happy and loved and if it didn't seem like they were getting those things from the Garrett's, then they shouldn't be living with them.

Picking up May's phone from where it was wedged between the cushions, he handed it to her, "You call the principal and let her know what's going on and I'll call Child Protective Services."

Natasha knew that something was wrong when Skye tugged on her hand and stopped walking towards her classroom.

Glancing around the hallway, Nat couldn't see anything out of place, "What's wrong?"

Skye pointed to the guy talking to Mr. Coulson, "Do you see that man?"

Nodding, Nat moved so that she was standing in front of her sister, "Yeah, I see him."

Leaning in close, Skye whispered, "He's the cop who came to our house when you called 911."

Whipping around, Natasha studied the cop. He didn't look like a cop. He wasn't even wearing a uniform. They guy was smiling at Mr. Coulson and they were both chatting animatedly, "Are you sure Skye?"

Her little sister nodded, "I'm sure. I remember his face. He's Mr. Coulson's friend."

What was a cop doing here?

She put a hand on Skye's arm, "Don't say anything to him alright? Everything will be fine."

Natasha tried to believe her own words but it was hard. Everything seemed to be falling apart. John was getting meaner and Mrs. May and Mr. Coulson didn't seem to be believing any of their stories. All she wanted was to stay with Skye and they were trying to ruin everything.

Skye's thumb made its way into her mouth and Nat didn't bother to say anything about it. She knew it made Skye feel better. Her sister glanced behind her to where Mr. Coulson and the cop were talking and spoke around her thumb, "What if they ask me questions?"

Putting a gentle hand on her sister's chin, she made Skye look at her, "If they ask you questions, tell them what we've been telling everyone else: We love living with Becky and John, everything is great at home, you got hurt playing soccer with me, and I fell in the bathroom yesterday."

Skye nodded uncertainly and Nat leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead, "Everything will be fine."

Maybe if she said it enough times, it would be true.

Taking a deep breath, she held onto the hand that wasn't currently in Skye's mouth and led her down the hallway and towards Mr. Coulson. When they were standing in front of her teacher and his friend, they both turned to them and Mr. Coulson smiled, "Good morning girls."

She just stared at him but Skye grinned around her thumb and said, "Hi."

Reaching over, Nat pulled Skye's thumb out of her mouth and her little sister blushed a little.

Ignoring the two grown-ups in front of her, she pulled Skye into a hug. Her little sister squeezed her tight and stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss on her cheek. Nat flicked one of Skye's braids over her shoulder, "Be careful okay? I love you."

"I love you too."

Natasha gently pushed Skye past Mr. Coulson and his cop friend and into the classroom so that she wouldn't have to speak to them alone. Glancing at the adults one last time, she quickly turned away from them and made her way to Mrs. May.

For some reason, it felt weird to see her teacher today. Yesterday she had actually talked to her, and Nat didn't talk to anyone who wasn't Skye. It felt weird that Mrs. May now knew about some of her thoughts and Natasha didn't know what to make of that

Mrs. May had read to her yesterday. Part of Natasha hated it. It made her think that Mrs. May thought of her as a baby when she wasn't, while another part of her had kind of liked it. Mrs. May read to her class a lot but this time, she was reading to her and only her. No one had ever sat down and read her a story just because they wanted her to enjoy it.

Natasha didn't know how to feel about Mrs. May so she decided to not feel anything at all until she figured it out.

As she got closer to Mrs. May, her teacher smiled at her, "Hi Natasha, how're you today?"

"I'm fine." She shouldered past her teacher and when she saw the twinge of disappointment and sadness in Mrs. May's eyes, she convinced herself that she was just imagining it.

Usually, Skye liked being in school. She liked being away from Becky and John, she liked that Mr. Coulson was her teacher, and she liked that she could pretend that she was a normal kid for seven hours each day.

She didn't like school today.

Today, she was nervous and it felt like there were butterflies in her tummy as she watched Mr. Coulson and his friend, Tripp, talk right outside the door.

She stared at them until the bell rang and Mr. Coulson ushered the last kid into his classroom. Everyone took their seat and Mr. Coulson smiled at them, "Hello class!"

They all chorused, "Hello Mr. Coulson!" back to him and his smile grew bigger.

"Today I have a special surprise for you. My friend here, Officer Triplett, is a police officer and he's here to talk to you about safety."

The class started murmuring excitedly to each other and Skye watched as Officer Triplett waved to the class. Mr. Coulson waited for them to quiet down before continuing, "We're going to be visiting Mrs. May's fourth grade class so that he can speak to them too so could you all please line up in front of the door?"

They were going to Mrs. May's class? Natasha was in there. Maybe today wasn't going to be as bad as she thought it would be.

Impatiently, she waited for her class to file into a neat line and once they did, they all made their way down the hallway and when Mr. Coulson opened Mrs. May's door, they went inside. All of the fourth graders were already sitting on a rug and Skye zeroed in on her sister.

Natasha was sitting cross legged on the rug, a little isolated from the rest of her classmates, and Skye waved at her. Her big sister waved back at her and when Mr. Coulson told them to go join Mrs. May's students on the rug, Skye scurried over to her sister and sat down beside her.

The butterflies in her tummy settled down a little with Natasha by her side.

She didn't have a chance to say anything to her sister because once everyone was sitting down, Officer Triplett was standing in front of them and talking, "Hello everyone, I'm Officer Triplett and-"

He stopped talking when a kid from her class, Derek, raised his hand, "You're a police officer?"

Tripp nodded and Derek continued, "Are you a good police officer?"

"I think I'm a pretty great police officer."

Derek looked like he was about to ask another question but Mr. Coulson spoke up, "Why don't we let Officer Triplett speak and then if you have any questions, you can ask him after, okay Derek?"

Her classmate nodded glumly and Officer Triplett continued talking, "I'm here to talk to you about safety. Now I'm sure everyone here knows what number they're supposed to call if they're scared or in trouble. Can anyone tell me what that number is?"

Everyone raised their hands except for her and Nattie. Skye knew that you were supposed to call 911 but she didn't want to get called on and have to speak in front of everyone. She suspected Nattie didn't raise her hand because she just didn't really care about what Officer Triplett was saying.

Officer Triplett called on a fourth grade girl wearing a pretty blue dress, "You're supposed to call 911."

He nodded, "Very good. If you ever feel scared or if someone is threatening you or you're lost, you can call 911 and we'll help you out."

Tripp paused and looked around awkwardly, like he wasn't really sure what else to say, and Mrs. May cleared her throat, "You were going to talk about stranger danger."

Officer Triplett gave her a grateful look, "Right." He launched into a big speech about not talking to strangers and how they should never get into a car with someone they don't know. He told them that if anyone ever approached them and they didn't know them that they shouldn't talk to them and should walk away. Skye knew all of this already.

The longer he talked, the more she leaned against her sister, until Natasha was supporting all her weight and was running a hand up and down her arm.

Officer Triplett was talking on and on and Skye kind of felt bad for tuning him out but she did it anyways. She only focused on what he was saying when he started talking about people hurting other people.

"It's never okay for someone to hurt you. Never. If someone ever hurts you or is hurting you, it's very important that you call the police so that we can help you."

A girl from Skye's class raised her hand, Officer Triplett pointed at her, and she straightened up before saying, "Why would somebody hurt us?"

Officer Tripp answered her, "That's a good question. It's hard to say why someone would want to hurt you but it's important to know what if someone does harm you, it's never your fault."

He stared right at her when he said this and Skye grabbed onto Natasha's knee. Why was he looking at her like that?

He kept talking, "If you call the police when someone is hurting you, we'll be able to stop them and make sure you're safe. And sometimes, the person hurting you is someone you know, it isn't always a stranger. It could be a friend, a classmate, a family member, even your parents. Whoever it is, we can help."

A girl in her class raised her hand and didn't wait to be called on, "My mommy and daddy would never hurt me!"

A couple kids chimed in with their agreement and Skye looked over to her sister. Nattie's eyes were hard and Skye was about to ask her if Officer Triplett would really be able to help but her sister sharply shook her head once so Skye stayed quiet.

"Then you are very lucky. Some people aren't as lucky."

Officer Triplett stopped talking and Mr. Coulson stepped forward, "Does anyone have any questions?"

A bunch of hands shot up and Skye let them fade to the background as she whispered to her sister, "Do you think he could help?"

Natasha didn't even consider her question, she just immediately shook her head, "No."

"Why not?"

Jerking her head towards Officer Triplett, she said, "Because he's a cop."

Skye's nose scrunched up in confusion, "That's a good thing!"

"No it isn't. He's a cop so he probably works with John. They're probably friends or something. He can't help us."

She hadn't thought of that before. The small glimmer of hope that had flared up inside of her was immediately stamped out. She tried to tell herself that maybe Nattie was wrong because Officer Triplett seemed really nice, "But he's Mr. Coulson's friend. He could be a good guy."

Her sister reached over and held her hand, "No grown-ups are good guys. When have they ever helped us?"

Natasha was right. Skye couldn't remember the last adult who had actually helped her or kept her safe. The only person who hadn't let her down was Natasha… and maybe Mr. Coulson? He was her friend now and Skye wasn't an expert on friendship but she knew that friends were supposed to help friends out when they were in trouble. She refused to believe that Mr. Coulson was a bad guy.

Her lower lip started to wobble and she told herself that she wasn't going to cry, "Can anyone help us?"

Letting go of her hand, Natasha gently cupped her cheek, "I don't know Skye, but if there is someone, I'll find them."

Focusing on how warm her sister's hand was on her cheek, she pushed her tears away and nodded. Natasha would be able to fix them. Her sister could fix anything.

They were pulled out of their conversation when Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May both clapped their hands together and announced that it was time for recess. Rather than the excitement that that announcement usually brought, everyone groaned. A bunch of people still had questions for Officer Triplett and they didn't want him to leave yet.

Mr. Coulson waited patiently for everyone to quiet down before saying, "Since you all still have so many questions, why don't we ask Officer Triplett to hang around until we get back from recess? Then you can all ask him your questions."

All of the students chorused out, "Please?"

Officer Triplett looked uncertain for a moment before letting out a sigh and nodding his head, "Alright, I'll stay."

Everyone cheered and it took a few moments for Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May to usher everyone towards the door. Natasha tugged on her hand, "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll meet you at the fence, okay?"

Skye nodded and watched as Natasha walked up to Mrs. May and asked her if it was alright to use the bathroom before disappearing out the door.

She was kind of sad that she wasn't line leader again today because now she couldn't walk next to Mr. Coulson but she told herself that she would be line leader again soon and pushed her sadness away as she followed her class towards the kindergarten playground. Officer Triplett walked with them, something the fourth graders were upset over, and once they reached the playground, even the fact that there was a police officer there wasn't enough to distract her class from their fun. Everyone ran off and Skye stared after some of them, noting that everyone already had a group of friends and she didn't.

Walking over to the sandbox, she sat down in the cool sand and waited for Natasha to come over.

She thought that it was Mr. Coulson who sat down beside her but was surprised when she looked over and saw Officer Triplett instead. He gave her a bright smile, "Hi."

Did this count as stranger danger?

She didn't know Officer Triplett that well, she had only seen him twice and they had never even really spoken before. But, he was Mr. Coulson's friend and Mr. Coulson said that he thought she would like him.

She decided to maybe try to talk to him but if anything felt weird, she would run away and go to Mr. Coulson. Uncertainly, she waved at him, "Hi Officer Triplett."

He waved her off, "You can just call me Tripp if you want to, Officer Triplett sounds a little too formal for me."

Skye stared at him, unsure what to say, until he fidgeted in the sand and cleared his throat, "Phil, I mean, Mr. Coulson told me that you're his friend and I just wanted to say hi and see if maybe you wanted to be my friend too."

Skye's eyes widened and she straightened up a little, "Really?"

Now she would have two friends. It wasn't the same as everyone else in her class because they were friends with other kids while she was friends with grown-ups but she didn't care.

Tripp nodded seriously, "Really. Mr. Coulson says that you're a great friend and I could use some more great friends."

Nodding enthusiastically, she leaned a little towards him, "I'll be your friend! Mr. Coulson's right, I'm very good at it!"

She didn't know if she was good at being a friend to be honest. She wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do but she wasn't going to tell Tripp that and have him regret asking her to be his friend.

Tripp smiled and started packing sand in front of him, "Well then I'm very happy that we're friends now." He studied her for a few seconds, "Haven't I seen you before?"

Skye froze. If Tripp didn't remember coming to her house, she wasn't going to remind him, "I don't think so."

He tilted his head, "No, I'm pretty sure I have." He was quiet for a few more moments and Skye thought that he was probably trying to remember. He snapped his fingers together, "I know! I went to your house a few nights ago when you accidently called 911."

Suddenly, the sand in front of her was very interesting. She stared at it and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

Tripp continued building his sand castle and brushed her apology off, "It's no problem kiddo. Everyone makes mistakes. Kids accidentally call the police all the time."

Skye stayed quiet. She might have felt a little better if she had accidently called 911 but she hadn't. Natasha had called them and she had done it on purpose.

It was quiet for a few more moments and then Skye heard Natasha calling her name. When she looked over, she could see her sister making her way towards the fence and Skye stood up.

Tripp looked up at her from where he stayed seated in the sandbox, "Who's that?"

Grinning a little, she pointed towards her sister, "Natasha. She's my big sister."

He looked over and studied Nattie, "Do you think she would want to be my friend too?"

Skye considered it for a moment before shaking her head.

Tripp looked puzzled, "Why not?"

Shrugging, she took a step towards Nattie, "Because she doesn't like grown-ups."

He nodded glumly, "I bet she already has a lot of friends anyways."

Skye shook her head again and Tripp said, "Why not?"

"She doesn't like other kids either."

Tripp raised his eyebrows and asked, "Who does she like?"

Smiling proudly, Skye pointed to herself, "She likes me."

With that, she left Tripp behind and ran towards her sister.

Thank you for your patience - I will see you at the next chapter!