AHHH apparently I can't keep track of days... better late than never though, right?

Right?

Right... Sigh. I am ashamed of myself.

Heads up: this chapter has a lot of bad language.

"What the hell!"

Natasha looked up from the dishes she was washing when John entered the house, shouting. It was Friday night and she was not looking forward to an entire weekend of being home. The last thing she needed was for John to be in a worse mood than usual.

Almost as if in slow motion, she watched John stride into the room, still in uniform, face as red as a tomato, eyes impossibly dark, not even human. Before she knew it, she was on the floor, shoulder connecting painfully with a counter. Natasha had seen John angry, but this was something else.

Natasha was scared, and she hated being scared.

"Where's your sister?" John snarled, his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her cheek.

Last she knew, Skye had been in her room doing homework but there was no way in hell that Natasha was going to say a word to John. Natasha had told her to keep the door locked.

Stay upstairs, Skye. Please.

"Please don't hurt her."

Natasha closed her eyes briefly, heart sinking at the sound of Skye's trembling voice.

"I got a fucking call from fucking CPS and I find out that there's been a report filed against me."

John grabbed Natasha's arm in one hand and Skye's in the other. He roughly shoved them onto the couch and Skye immediately clung to Natasha. Somehow, her little sister's touch only made Natasha feel more helpless. She couldn't protect herself, let alone a little girl. Nothing they did mattered, nothing was good enough. Even the police wouldn't help them.

She was completely and utterly useless to protect Skye.

Someone had noticed things weren't okay, had filed a report, but it was only going to hurt them.

"It's gonna be okay," Natasha whispered to Skye, eyes trained on John who was looming over them.

She held Skye close, clamped her hands over her ears as John shouted, horrible words spilling out of his mouth. He didn't stop screaming at them, Nat didn't even think he stopped to breathe properly. His face kept getting redder and she could see a vein in his forehead throbbing. It felt like the screaming would never end.

And then John pulled his gun out of his police holster.

"Get up."

What if they died? Would anybody care? Trembling slightly, Natasha slowly got up, picking up Skye, whose eyes were shut tightly as if she could shut out the world.

Suddenly her teacher's face flashed through her head.

Mrs. May would care.

But Mrs. May and Mr. Coulson were probably the ones who filed the report, the reason why they were maybe going to die. She knew they didn't mean for this to happen but that was just the way things went for Natasha. It was like she was cursed - nothing ever worked out for her. And now she was going to bring Skye down too.

"Put her down," John motioned at Skye with his gun.

Natasha carefully set Skye on the ground and tried to reign in the anger boiling up in her chest.

She hated John. She hated the power he had over them. She hated that he hurt them. She hated the way his eyes narrowed and his thin lips twisted into a malicious smile. She hated that nobody could help them. She hated that she couldn't do anything to stop him. That was what she hated the most, that she had no control over what happened to her and Skye.

"Listen to me. Both of you are worthless. I'm doing you a favor by allowing you both to live here together when nobody else wanted you. All I ask for is a little respect." John's eyes were dark and when his gaze rested on Natasha, she wished with every fiber in her body that he would disappear forever. "I don't fucking know what you're trying to do, all investigations in this town go through me. So I'd advise you keep your ugly little mouths shut. Understand?" John casually waved his gun at them.

Later, when he separated them, pushing Skye into the closet and locking Natasha in the basement, promising they both wouldn't be coming out all weekend, Natasha numbly wondered if there really were any good people in the world at all.

"What the hell do you mean?" Melinda May's dark eyes narrowed, her grip on the phone tightening. She could see Phil watching her worriedly across the room but could barely spare him a thought at the moment.

All she could hear was that the abuse report they had filed had been screened both by CPS and the police.

"Did you not read the part where the perpetrator might be the chief of the police force?" Melinda ground her teeth.

"I don't care if it's procedure... don't you realize that you could have put those children in danger?! No, I will not calm down!" Melinda's grip on the phone was so tight that she could almost hear it cracking.

"Mel, let me take it," Phil whispered, already carefully moving to take the phone. Wordlessly she let him take it.

"Yes we understand. Alright. Thank you." Phil tossed the phone onto the couch and silently sat down beside Melinda who was cradling her head in her hands.

"They said they're going to look into it," Phil said quietly.

"It's not going to go anywhere," Melinda's voice was hard. "Not with Garrett as the chief of police."

"I know." Phil ran a hand through his hair, blue eyes dull. "What if we made everything worse?"

May raised her head, dark eyes troubled, but took her husband's hand.

"Whatever happens is not your fault, Phil. Not yours or mine. This system is put in place to help children. We did what we could and what we were legally obligated to do and we can't control what happens while the situation is out of our hands," May sighed.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"I hate this," May finally growled, hands clenching into fists, knuckles white. "John Garrett has a lot of power as Chief of Police. If he is hurting them... How are we going to get him?"

"We're going to need more evidence. And probably Tripp's help," Phil set his jaw determinedly, eyes hardening with resolve.

His gaze softened as he gently picked up the paperwork that had been lying forgotten on the coffee table.

"We're almost approved to be foster parents. I think we should start taking the final steps. What do you think?"

"Absolutely." May's face brightened slightly. "Maybe we could talk to the social worker about the situation."

"We're not letting this go," Phil agreed. "Let's just not file another report until we know how to do this best."

"Agreed." May took her husband's hand once again. They were in this together and if Skye and Natasha were being hurt, they would find a way to help them, with or without the police.

When Becky opened up the closet on Monday morning, Skye had to squint her eyes for a few moments so that she could get used to the brightness.

Becky pointed towards the staircase and Skye didn't have to be told what to do, she ran up the stairs and towards her room. She wanted to get as far away from that closet as she could.

Becky must have let Natasha out of the basement first because her big sister was standing in the middle of her room, waiting for her. When Skye spotted her, she sprinted towards her sister, crashed into her, and gave her a tight hug.

She hadn't seen Natasha in two days and all she had been able to think about was the terrible things John could be doing to her in that time.

Nattie gently pushed her back and looked her over, "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

Skye shook her head, "I'm okay, are you?"

Natasha nodded and tugged her out of her room and into the bathroom, "Get ready for school. Let's get out of here."

They both quickly brushed their teeth, got dressed, and grabbed their backpacks before quietly making their way down the stairs. Before they could reach the front door, Becky intercepted them. She shoved a juice box, an apple, and a cookie into each of their hands, "Eat your food and keep your mouths shut. Fix what you did."

Skye didn't know what she needed to fix. She had no idea why John had been so mad on Friday. After the first few minutes of yelling, she had tried to shut him out. She didn't want to listen to what he said anymore. He was a bad guy.

Becky gave them a stern look before walking away and Skye let her sister usher her out the door and into the sunlight.

It was really quiet on the way to school. They both ate their breakfast and walked in silence. Natasha's jaw was clenched and Skye was waiting for her to say something.

When they were halfway to school, Skye watched as Natasha relaxed a little and stopped walking. Her sister ran a hand over her, as if double checking that she wasn't lying about being hurt. Once Natasha finished her inspection, she pulled Skye into a hug and Skye eagerly wrapped her arms around Natasha's waist.

Skye finally felt safe when Nattie pressed a kiss to the top of her head and whispered, "I was so worried about you."

Her eyes started to fill up with tears and she didn't bother to try to stop them from falling, "I was worried about you too."

They hugged each other for a long time, right there in the middle of the sidewalk, until Skye stopped crying and pulled away, "Why was he so mad?"

Natasha's eyes hardened and Skye could tell that she was angry but Skye knew well enough that her sister wasn't mad at her, she was mad at someone else, "He was mad because someone filed a report against him."

They started walking again and Skye looked up at her sister, "A report?"

"Yeah, someone knows that we're in trouble and told the police."

That was supposed to be a good thing but Skye knew that it wasn't. The only people who could help them were the police and John worked for them. He was a chief and that meant that he was super powerful. If someone had told the police that they were in trouble, all they really did was let John know that they knew he wasn't a good foster parent.

Now Skye finally understood why John had been so angry on Friday.

A new thought popped into her brain, "Who filed the report?"

Natasha gave her a look and Skye could tell that her sister didn't want to tell her.

She pulled on Natasha's hand, "Tell me!"

Her sister sighed, "The only people I can think of is… Mrs. May and Mr. Coulson."

Skye knew that Nattie was studying her reaction but she didn't care. It was Mr. Coulson's fault that John had locked her in a closet for two days? It was his fault that John had been angry and mean and had pointed a gun at her?

She was so mad at him. He was supposed to be her friend! Skye didn't know much about friendship but she knew that friends didn't let friends get locked in a closet for two days.

Tears welled up in her eyes for a second time but she pushed them back.

Natasha said her name and Skye looked up at her. "They were probably just trying to help," Skye could tell by the look on Natasha's face that she was just saying that to make her feel better. Natasha was mad at her teacher too.

Skye felt angry and sad all at the same time, "They made everything worse." She stared at her shoes and whispered, "I thought Mr. Coulson was my friend."

Natasha was silent but Skye didn't mind. She knew that Natasha understood and that she was there for her.

When they got closer to the school, Natasha spoke up, "I don't think we should talk to them anymore. Unless they ask us a question about school or homework or something, we shouldn't tell them anything."

Skye nodded along and Natasha kept talking, "If they don't know anything, they won't be able to file another report."

Skye never wanted to see John that angry again. John had always been mean and scary but on Friday, she had actually thought that he was going to kill her. She would do anything to never have to feel that way again.

They walked into the school and made their way towards their hallway. When she spotted Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May standing outside their classrooms like they did every morning, she felt a new wave of anger flash through her and stopped walking.

Natasha stopped with her and gave her a curious look. Skye looked over to Mr. Coulson and watched him talk to a girl in her class. He had a small smile on his face and looked happy.

Mr. Coulson wasn't the one who was locked in the dark for two days. He wasn't the one who had cried himself to sleep each night, while his sister was locked far away in a basement. He wasn't the one who had been screamed at and threatened. No, he was just the one who made all of that happen to her.

She clenched her fists, "I'm mad at him."

Natasha reached forward and brushed her hair out of her eyes, "I know."

Skye's lower lip wobbled but she forced herself not to cry. Even then, she couldn't stop her voice from cracking when she said, "I'm mad at John too. I'm mad at everything! I hate it! I hate everything!"

She let her sister pull her into another hug and tried to calm down a little, "I want to live somewhere else. I want to be with you and be safe."

Natasha was quiet for so long that Skye thought she wasn't going to answer her, but then she heard Natasha whisper and her voice cracked too, "Me too."

Skye squeezed her sister tight, took a deep breath, and straightened up. She knew that Natasha felt the same way and if Natasha could stay calm, she could too.

Skye thought that Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May might have been able to help her and Natasha but apparently she had been wrong. They would just have to find some other way to get away from John and Becky.

Her sister leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek before asking, "Ready?"

Skye nodded. She could do this. She just had to make Mr. Coulson believe that she was fine. That way he wouldn't file one of those dumb reports ever again.

Natasha led her down the hallway and towards her teacher, "Remember, don't tell him anything. Just talk about school."

Nodding again, she told herself to be brave and walked up to Mr. Coulson. She watched as he noticed them and looked them over before relief washed over his face, "Girls! How're you today?"

Skye glanced up at her sister. Natasha was glaring daggers at Mr. Coulson.

They didn't answer him and the silence between them turned awkward.

Mr. Coulson glanced between them and started to look worried, "Skye?"

Ignoring him, she turned to Natasha, stood on her tiptoes, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Nattie gave her a tiny smile and Skye took a deep breath before turning back to Mr. Coulson.

He looked nervous now and Skye told herself that she shouldn't feel bad for him, even if he did look like he could probably use a hug. Taking a step forward, she tilted her head so she could clearly look at him and said, "I don't think I want to be your friend anymore," before walking into the classroom.

"Good morning, Natasha," May greeted the girl walking into her room.

Natasha barely spared her a glance and May could see that her green eyes were hard as steel.

Shit.

May knew immediately that something was very wrong. She let Natasha push past her, silently examining her for any signs of physical abuse but seeing none. They could be hidden, Melinda wasn't sure.

"Did you have a good weekend?" Melinda moved towards Natasha. The girl silently nodded and pulled out a book and started reading, blatantly ignoring her.

Melinda wasn't even mad. Her mind was racing to put together the pieces and all she could think of was that Natasha was either being told to stay away from her, or she was angry at her for some reason.

Perhaps the latter, Melinda decided, looking at the dark expression on Natasha's face.

Maybe... maybe Natasha somehow knew it was them that filed the report?

Melinda wanted to hug the girl close, to tell her they were fighting for her and Skye, that they never meant for their actions to be harmful.

But instead she took a step back and allowed Natasha to have some space. She didn't know how this was going to be resolved but she did know that it wasn't going to happen easily.

Skye had gotten through the entire morning and was still mad at Mr. Coulson.

They were learning the newest letter and there even was a song but Skye couldn't seem to open her mouth to sing or lift her hands to clap. She didn't know what was going on but she wasn't okay inside. She desperately tried not to think about the closet but whenever someone closed a door, all she could think about was John slamming the door in her face and then darkness darkness darkness forever and being alone and scared for so so long. She hadn't known if she would ever get let out.

Skye looked dully at Mr. Coulson, who was explaining their art project. He was the one who made all that happen. She let her anger rise again, allowing it to squelch the sadness and fear.

They all sat down to work on their art project and Mr. Coulson started walking towards her. He always helped her with her craft.

"Skye, do you need help?" Mr. Coulson's voice was so nice and part of Skye wanted to cry at the kindness there but then she remembered that she was angry.

"No!" Skye snatched her paper out of his reach. "Go away."

"Skye, I know you're upset..."

She couldn't look at his face.

"Don't talk to me!" she waved her hands at him, uncontrollable fury bubbling up inside her. "Go away and leave me alone! You're the worst friend ever and I hate you!" With that, Skye began ripping up the art project, throwing the scraps of paper on the ground, chest heaving.

"Skye."

She was expecting him to yell, for his voice to become loud and ugly like John's, but it was soft and gentle. That surprised her enough to look up at him and what she saw surprised her even more.

Mr. Coulson looked like he was about to cry. His face was so sad. She had hurt him with her mean words.

Skye didn't know what to do, so she started sobbing.

She cried so hard she barely knew what was going on around her. She barely noticed when Mr. Coulson got a helper to come watch the room for him. And then he was gently asking her if it was okay if they talked and she just nodded because she didn't want to stand in the middle of the class and sob but she also couldn't get herself to stop crying. And then he asked her carefully if it was okay if he touched her shoulder and she nodded again so he gently guided her out of the classroom and into the hall. They sat down on the ground, leaning against the wall.

"Skye, let's just take some deep breaths in and out, okay?"

She focused on his voice and then on her breathing and soon began to feel a little calmer as she took a deep breath in and then out, and then did it again.

"Is it okay if I say some things to you about what you said to me earlier?" Mr. Coulson asked, his blue eyes looking at her intently. Skye nodded slowly, tears still running down her face. Now he was going to yell at her for all the bad things she did.

"First of all, I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

Skye's head snapped up and she stared at him. He was apologizing? He was a grown-up! Grown-ups didn't apologize to kids.

"Skye, I am so so sorry for whatever I did that hurt you and made me a bad friend. I would never hurt you on purpose. Can you tell me what I did?"

Skye looked at his face and realized that Mr. Coulson was telling the truth. He never would hurt her. He hadn't even yelled at her for ripping up her art project or saying horrible things to him. He would never lock her in a closet or pull her down the stairs or forget to feed her. He wasn't bad like John was and she didn't know why she was so mad at him when the person she should have been yelling and screaming at was John. Mr. Coulson was trying to help and it wasn't his fault that John was too big and scary and powerful to be stopped, it wasn't his fault that they couldn't be helped, it was John and Becky's.

But even though maybe Mr. Coulson knew something wasn't right, she couldn't tell him anything because if John found out, he might kill her or Natasha.

So she shook her head. "I can't tell you." She wanted to be as honest as she could because she had already made Mr. Coulson sad and she didn't want to lie to him too.

"Why can't you tell me?" he asked, blue eyes worried. Skye just shook her head.

"I'm sorry for what I said," she apologized. "I didn't mean it."

"It's alright Skye," Mr. Coulson gave her a small smile. "And I'm sorry for whatever made you upset."

"It's not your fault." Tentatively, she patted his arm and looked up at his face. "Did I make you sad? You looked sad."

"I was sad," Mr. Coulson admitted and Skye's heart plummeted. She had made her teacher sad. Tears welled up in her eyes. Mr. Coulson was really nice. He never did anything with her without asking her first, and he always listened and never yelled... Skye knew Natasha was wrong about all grown-ups being bad - Mr. Coulson was good. And she had yelled at him because he had tried to help.

Mr. Coulson shook his head. "Don't worry about me Skye, I'm okay. I forgive you for saying those things and I know you didn't mean them. Sometimes it's really hard to control our anger."

"Okay," Skye let a breath out and studied his face, feeling satisfied when she found no sign of anger there. He really wasn't mad at her.

"Again, I'm sorry for whatever I did. Can you forgive me?"

Skye nodded vigorously. It wasn't his fault anyways, it was all John. Mr. Coulson would never hurt her on purpose. It had been an accident.

"Can we be friends again?" Mr. Coulson looked hopeful and Skye felt a rush of warmth wash over her. He wanted to be friends with her, he cared about her.

"Yeah." She gave him a small smile.

"Oh good," Mr. Coulson sighed with relief and Skye couldn't help but be happy that he cared so much.

"Will you help me with my craft?" Skye got up. Mr. Coulson got up as well.

"I would love to."

They were about to go back into the classroom when Mr. Coulson stopped.

"Skye, I think maybe there's something bad going on at your home. You don't have to tell me about it and I'm not going to make you because maybe you're scared, but I just wanted you to know that I'm always here if you want to talk about it and I'm never going to give up on you. Even if you scream at me or rip up everything in the classroom, I will still care about you. You are a beautiful, smart, very honest and kind girl. You deserve to be safe, okay? You never deserve to be hurt."

Skye blinked away tears and grabbed Mr. Coulson's hand.

"Let's go do our craft now," she said brightly, pretending like she hadn't heard what Mr. Coulson had said because she couldn't tell him anything because she or Natasha might get hurt and nobody could help them because John was too powerful and had a gun and was a police officer.

But she did hear what Mr. Coulson had said and she wished she could tell him everything.

She pushed that thought away as she led Mr. Coulson back to her spot at the table. For now, she was just happy she had her friend back.

Wish we could make things easy, but we just can't.

Hold in there. We'll get there eventually!