THIS WAS ALMOST LATE! In my time zone it's 11:23, which means I was 37 minutes away from being late with this update.
But I wasn't because I'm starting to actually remember things in life! Yay!
Hope you all enjoy! I think you'll like this chapter because so many of you like Natasha and we have some scenes with her coming up!
Natasha watched Skye as she laid on the floor and played with her toy, a set of gears that she could interlock and turn. She watched as Skye's dark eyes narrowed with concentration, brow furrowing.
Mr. Coulson was sitting on the couch, working on his laptop, while Mrs. May sat at the dining table, papers spread out in front of her.
Everything was quiet and Natasha wished that she could relax, but she couldn't.
All she could think about was what if for some reason Mr. Coulson got upset about something and he hurt them, or if Mrs. May got tired of being nice to them and started ignoring them, or being mean. What would they do then? What if they were given back to the social workers?
Everyone had their breaking point and Natasha knew that Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May were probably no different.
The question was how to keep Skye safe when it came to it.
Natasha let her gaze drift to the fading bruises that mottled her sister's arms and the cast that enclosed one thin wrist.
Even before living with the Garrett's, Natasha had known that grown ups were bad.
Could Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May really be different?
Skye looked up at her and smiled, "Look what I built, Nattie!" She turned a handle and all the gears began turning.
"That's awesome!" Natasha gave her a genuine smile.
"I'm going try to build a car, see, there are these wheel parts..."
Satisfied that her sister was happy, Natasha leaned back against the couch, returning to her observation of Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May.
Mr. Coulson glanced up at her, apparently feeling her gaze. He gave her a small smile, which Natasha did not return.
"Do you want to play with anything, Natasha?" he asked. Natasha shook her head. She would watch and make sure that everything was okay.
Mr. Coulson looked a little sad but Natasha ignored him and turned her gaze back to Skye.
Dinner was quiet and May could tell that Skye and Natasha were tired from the shopping expedition.
When she was about to start washing the dishes with Phil, her phone rang.
It was a reporter.
"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Melinda abruptly ended the phone call.
The story of John Garrett's true nature being exposed had somehow gotten out, as news usually did. However, with the identity of Natasha and Skye being confidential, Melinda had no idea how they had connected her with the situation. It was possible they had seen her leaving the police station with Tripp. In any case, someone had clearly connected the dots.
"Phil," she quietly beckoned him into the other room, quickly explaining the situation.
"I don't understand, how did they find us?" Phil's normally calm face was disturbed. "The last thing we need is more reminders of what happened."
"I don't know. I'll text Tripp." Melinda pressed her lips together unhappily.
"Hopefully they won't call again."
Melinda nodded, unconvinced, and they headed back to the kitchen.
To their surprise, Natasha was standing on a chair in front of the sink, washing dishes.
"Natasha?" Melinda stepped forward carefully but froze as Natasha spun around, startled. Melinda instinctively reached forward since the movement disrupted the nine-year-old's balance on the chair, but Natasha caught herself. Unfortunately, the quick movement ended up hurting Natasha and the little girl put one hand over her ribs and let out a small cry of pain.
"Leave her alone!"
Melinda stepped back as Skye charged in front of her sister protectively.
"Skye!" Natasha had jumped off the chair, trying to reach her sister, but it was too much for her injured body and she fell to her knees, clutching her side.
Skye quickly turned her attention to her injured sister, kneeling beside her, tiny hands flitting around uncertainly as she began to cry.
Phil took a step forward and Skye turned towards him, dark eyes wild and unfocused, and screamed at the top of her lungs.
Wow.
Melinda did not know that such a small, little person could make that loud of a sound and she had been teaching in elementary school for years.
Behind Skye, Natasha was clutching her ribs, while trying to hold Skye, face taut with pain. Melinda needed to know how badly the jump had hurt her. Natasha could have punctured her lung with that broken rib.
Meanwhile, Skye had not stopped screaming.
The situation was spiraling out of control and Melinda did the only thing she could think of to de-escalate the situation.
She pushed Phil out of the room.
His blue eyes were wide with confusion and hurt. "Hold on," Melinda promised him.
Turning, she went back into the room and quickly sat down to put herself on the same level as the girls instead of towering over them.
Skye had stopped screaming but was still crying hysterically.
"Skye," Melinda's voice was calm but firm as she tried to get the younger girl's attention. "I know you're really upset and scared but can I come closer and make sure Natasha's okay?"
Skye shook her head, her tiny body physically shaking.
"It's okay, Skye."
To her surprise, it was Natasha who spoke up. She could see that the girl's face was pale but she seemed to be in less pain than before.
At her words, Skye moved away from in front of Natasha a little.
May scooched closer, taking that as an invitation.
"Natasha, I'm worried about that jump jostling your ribs. Can you tell me how your breathing feels? I want to make sure you didn't hurt your lung." May was quickly examining the girl as much as she could without actually touching her.
"I'm okay," Natasha's voice was small, her attention on her sister, who she was trying to pull into her arms. "Skye, I'm okay. Come here. You aren't going to hurt me."
Gradually, Skye let Natasha pull her closer, her sobs slowing.
"I... I thought we were back..." Skye hiccuped, thumb creeping into her mouth.
"I know," Natasha murmured in her ear, kissing her forehead. "But it's okay, we aren't ever going there again, and I'll keep you safe."
Melinda felt like she was intruding on a private moment but she also didn't want to leave the two girls without talking about what had just happened.
"Natasha, Skye, I am so sorry you got scared."
Their eyes, green and dark brown, slowly connected with hers and she knew they were fully listening.
"I am sorry I startled you at the sink, Natasha, and I'm sorry that you thought I was hurting your sister, Skye. I'm sorry that you were scared. This house is a safe place for you both. Nobody will hurt you here."
Skye sniffed, leaning against Natasha, but her dark eyes were intently fixed on Melinda's face.
"Can you maybe help me understand what made you so scared?"
Melinda quickly remembered Skye charging into the room, her dark wild eyes, and that unearthly scream that that had filled the room. Obviously something had been triggered.
"It's not your fault, Mrs. May."
Melinda could barely believe her ears as she slowly turned to Natasha.
"Skye, I lost my balance on the chair, nobody hurt me." Natasha kissed her sister's cheek before turning back to Melinda with expressionless green eyes. "I think she was reminded about something that would happen at John's house."
"John would come in and be mean to Nattie when she was doing dishes," Skye whispered.
Suddenly it made sense. A familiar setting coupled with unfortunate timing had brought Skye right back to that house with Garrett.
"I'm sorry he did that. You never deserved that." Melinda could easily figure out what Skye meant when she said that Garrett would "be mean" to Natasha.
It was quiet for a moment as Natasha held Skye. Melinda could feel the younger girl's examining gaze, waiting. However, Melinda May was very comfortable with silence.
"Do you think Mr. Coulson is upset?" Skye finally asked, bottom lip quivering slightly. "It was mean that I yelled at him."
"You weren't being mean," Melinda shook her head firmly. "Mr. Coulson understands you got scared. He isn't going to be upset at all, but if you want, you can talk to him."
Skye's eyes lit up slightly and she nodded vigorously but didn't let go of Natasha's hand.
"Come on Nattie, let's talk to Mr. Coulson!"
Natasha slowly got to her feet and Melinda could see the flash of pain shoot across her face before she quickly hid it.
"Natasha." Melinda couldn't help but stopping the girl. Natasha slowly turned to look at her and Melinda found the girl's blank stare fixed on her. "You don't have to do dishes. We want you to rest and focus on getting better right now."
Natasha's green eyes blinked slowly but she didn't say anything.
Melinda examined Natasha's face, which did not hold any hints to what she was thinking. Perhaps she was trying to pay them back for the things they had bought them today? Or she didn't want to be indebted to them? Or she thought she would be punished if she didn't help?
"I'm good at doing dishes," Natasha finally said and turned around and left Melinda standing alone in the middle of the kitchen.
Skye pulled Natasha through the house, searching for Mr. Coulson, and Nat tried not to wince every time her little sister accidentally tugged on her hand a little too hard. She was about to suggest stopping their search, Mr. Coulson hadn't been in any of the rooms they'd searched through, when Skye pointed out the window, "He's outside!"
Skye and Natasha carefully opened the door to the back porch and slipped outside. They hadn't really had a chance to investigate the backyard. They could see the pretty garden and spacious lawn from the window seat in their room but Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May had urged them to rest so they had spent most of their time playing inside rather than outside.
Even though it was dark outside, the porch was lit up. There were twinkly lights wrapped around the walls and handrails and tiny lights stuck in the ground that lit up the path from the porch to the garden. Mr. Coulson was sitting on a lawnchair, staring up at the night sky.
She and Skye stood uncertainly near the door but Mr. Coulson must've heard them because he turned towards them, gave them a small smile, and motioned for them to come and sit on the chair beside him.
Skye led the way and they both situated themselves on the same chair, side by side. It was quiet for a few moments and Natasha could tell that Mr. Coulson and Skye were trying to figure out what to say. She was happy to sit in silence and let them figure it out.
Skye's thumb crept towards her mouth but she reached out and placed her sister's hand on her lap instead. Skye looked up at her before taking a deep breath and turning her attention back to Mr. Coulson, "I'm sorry."
Mr. Coulson had been quietly observing the stars but he quickly focused on Skye, "Please don't be sorry Skye. You have nothing to be sorry for."
Skye turned to give her a slightly confused look but she just shrugged. Mrs. May had told them that Mr. Coulson wasn't going to be mad but she hadn't quite believed her, neither had Skye, but as long as he wasn't acting like he was angry or yelling at them, Natasha was content to hang back and rest and let Skye do all the talking. She was tired.
Skye rested her head against her shoulder and said, "But, I was mean…"
"No 'but's'," Mr. Coulson said, giving them a serious look, "You weren't mean, you were scared, and you just reacted. I'm sorry you were scared."
Natasha raised an eyebrow at his apology and Skye gave her a disbelieving look. No adults had ever apologized to them as much as Mr. Coulson and Mrs. May had. It was weird.
Mr. Coulson shifted a little in his seat so that he was fully facing them and said, "I know that maybe when you're scared, me being around might make you even more scared, and I understand that and will do whatever it takes to make you feel safe again… I just want you to know that I would never, ever hurt you two and that you're safe around me."
Skye poked her thigh and tilted her head towards Mr. Coulson with a slight smile on her face but Natasha kept her eyes on Mr. Coulson and closely studied his face. He seemed like he was telling the truth, he was looking at them earnestly and his face was so open and kind, but Natasha was smart. She didn't just believe everything that everyone said, she had to make her mind up for herself. But, she had to admit that Mr. Coulson was trying, which was a lot more than almost every other adult in her life had done, so she gave him a slight nod before wrapping an arm around the Skye and looking up to the stars.
She pretended she didn't see the wide smile that Mr. Coulson gave her.
I don't want to freak you out but we only have 2 more chapters written after this one! I'll keep you updated on what Ariel and I decide to do. It would be funny to write some more chapters now and see how our writing style has changed over the past couple years.
Question of the day: How many chapters of this fic would you read?
Until next Monday!
~silverlining