Phil Coulson was sitting at his desk, going over paperwork and ignoring a raging Melinda May. She had burst into his office thirty minutes ago complaining over the fact that Skye had hung up on her and hadn't stopped since. The normally calm and collected agent was emotionally upset and blaming Grant Ward for everything.
"I can't believe she has fallen for his lies, Phil. I don't care if she is a grown woman; we have to get her away from that damn family."
"Melinda, you know that what he told her isn't lies. Lily Ward has confirmed his story and showed me the paperwork from where she filed a missing person report. She has made her choice and no matter how much we hate it, we have to accept it."
Before Melinda could respond, the phone rang on Coulson's desk and he picked it up.
"Hello."
"Phil, you need to get to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center as quick as possible."
His heart filled with dread at Lily's words and he sat up quickly, gripping the phone tightly.
"What happened?"
"Skye took Kyle shopping and Hydra attacked them in an effort to get their hands on Kyle. She was shot twice in the back after pushing Kyle out of the path of a sniper."
"I knew she should have stayed the hell away from you! Once she recovers, I don't care what she says; I am bringing her back here."
"Phil, don't start. Blame Hydra for this and no one else. Oh and if you and Cal start another fight, I will finish it."
"Why is that psycho there?"
"That psycho is her father and if he wasn't here, she wouldn't be having surgery right now. He had to sign the consent forms for them to treat her."
"I better not see Ward there or I will kill him."
"He is back at the farm; you know he is under house arrest. But if the judge allows him to come here, you will not touch him and tell Agent May that she is to be on her best behavior. She will not attack Grant, Cal or even Kyle, who saved her life. If he hadn't of drove the car back to the house, Tommy wouldn't have been able to keep her alive long enough to get her to the hospital."
Phil angrily hung up the phone, feeling helpless and dreading the conversation that he was about to have with Melinda.
Lily hung up her cellphone and groaned in irritation, wishing she could have avoided dealing with Phil Coulson. The only reason she had was because the man loved Skye like a daughter and she would want him there.
"He gave you hell over her being hurt, didn't he?"
Cal sat down beside her in the waiting room, putting some space between them. She could feel his own worry and anger over what had happened to Skye and hoped that she really didn't have to stop a fight between him and Coulson.
"Yes and said that he was taking her back to Shield once she recovers, whether she wanted to go or not."
"Over my dead body," Cal hotly stated.
"I'm going to put security guards at her door. I will also call someone that can take on Agent May if it comes down to it."
"From what Kara told me about her, it would probably take Captain America himself to stop her."
Lily smiled at that comment before grabbing her cellphone, standing up and walking down the hallway. Cal had a point, to stop what was left of Shield from coming in and trying to take over she would have to show them just what she was capable of.
A few hours later, Grant and Kyle stepped out of the car in front of the hospital entrance and were walking when May, Coulson and the rest of the team got out the SUV. The former went over to try and punch Grant when her arm was gently grabbed and she turned to face a frowning Steve Rogers.
"Not on my watch, Melinda."
"She called you in to guard Skye?"
"Me and Natasha," Steve responded to Coulson's question. "I would be careful around her if I was you, Phil. She wasn't very happy to hear that you were alive and that nobody had told her."
"Why would Aunt Lily call in Captain America and Black Widow?"
Steve turned to face a stunned Kyle and went over to shake the teenage boy's hand. He simply nodded at Ward, knowing about his betrayal to Shield but he also had been told of the circumstances behind it. He was staying neutral and doing a favor for someone who had helped him when he was first thawed out, not getting into the middle of battle between what remained of Shield and Grant Ward.
"She knew that certain people would act like adults around me and Natasha instead of acting like they can do whatever they please. From the way I understand it, Agent Skye's doctors and father are making the medical decisions on her care until she wakes up and after that, what happens is her choice, nobody else."
Everybody quietly went up in several elevators that were right inside the entrance to the fifth floor of Janeway Tower, one of the several towers in the still growing medical center. Ward got lucky and was in an elevator with Kyle and Steve Rogers and came out to find the rest of his family in a private waiting room.
"The judge said that you could come here and stay in a hotel until she is out of the hospital. After she is released, you have to go back to the farm. You are restricted to here and the Marriott where Aunt Lily has rented out the top floor," Christian quietly explained as the elevator door opened for May, Coulson, Simmons and Fitz, who all went into the waiting room as well. "We are here if any of them decides to show out to back you up."
"I can't believe Aunt Lily went there with Captain Rogers and Black Widow," Grant said, watching as May glared at his aunt, who grinned.
"I told you that I have my ways and not to play with me. I don't have to always use my magic to get things done and I am nothing like you have ever dealt with. I am not in awe of The Calvary and I never will be."
Before Melinda could respond, a tall woman in her early forties and wearing surgical scrubs stepped into the waiting room.
"Are all of you here for Skye Zabo?"
"I'm her father and everybody else is her family and friends," Cal stated, stepping forward.
"I'm Dr. Kristen Winfield and I was the surgeon who operated on Skye. Luckily the sniper who shot her didn't know what they were doing. The bullets missed her spinal cord and ever vital organ. The reason she bled so much was one of the bullets nicked her subclavian artery but not enough for her to bleed out before pressure was put on the wounds until she could get to the hospital."
"When can she be transported?"
As Cal and Grant started to respond to Coulson's question, the surgeon in front of them turned feisty.
"As long as she is my patient, Skye will not be moved until I say so and that won't happen until she is awake and stable. I have been informed by Dr. Ward and Ms. Romanoff about the situation with my patient and I am stating this now, Skye is the one I will listen to when it comes to her care and where she goes when she is released, nobody else," she fiercely stated before looking around the room. "She is in recovery and woke up briefly asking for someone named Grant. She should be in ICU in about ten minutes and I will allow him to see her and after that I will only allow two visitors at a time."
Dr. Winfield stepped out of the room and that is when all hell broke loose.
"Like hell do you get to go in there and see her before everybody else? This is your damn fault," May stated, glaring at Grant.
"Hydra would have been after Skye even if she hadn't of been with Kyle, they knew she was gifted and about who her mother was," Cal said. "I also suggest you cut it out because given the looks that Grant's family is giving you, his days of being your punching bag are over."
"It is only because of my son that you and Director Coulson aren't sitting in jail right now for abusing your prisoners. He has decided not to file charges and wants to move on with his life," Travis stated.
"That is why I wanted Shield exposed right along with Hydra," Steve Rogers commented. "The old way of doing things has to stop, Phil. That is how Hydra was able to infiltrate Shield the last time."
Steve walked out of the waiting room and past a frowning Natasha Romanoff, who motioned to Grant. The former specialist stepped outside and accepted the inevitable punch to the jaw he had been expecting.
"That is for the eye candy comment you made to Maria."
"I deserved that but then again, you know that Hill and I have never liked each other."
"Your aunt told us about the child abuse and being kidnapped after your own mother literally sold you to John Garrett. She also said you needed someone to get the money back to your family or you would have to wait to get it when your house arrest is over. I might have a solution."
"I'm listening."
Grant quietly listened to her solution while waiting for Skye to be placed in the ICU.
All Skye could feel as she came out of the blackness she had fallen into was pain, agonizing pain. It centered in her back and radiated throughout her entire body. She could feel a hand holding hers and while it took everything inside of her to glance over, Skye could see Grant sitting in the chair, watching her silently.
"Hi," she said, weakly. "How's Kyle?"
"He's fine. He drove the two of you back to the farm and Tommy kept you alive until we could get you to the hospital. Luckily, Cal was here to sign the consent forms or they would have treated you."
"Where am I?"
"Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem; Tommy works here and assisted in your surgery," he said, hesitating before speaking again and Skye picked up on it instantly.
"What's wrong?"
"Lily called Coulson and she had to get Captain America and Black Widow to watch over you to keep them from taking you out of the hospital."
Skye rolled her eyes and knew that her surrogate father and mother were going to raise hell at her. She didn't want to deal with it right now.
"I want to see them but tell them that they aren't to talk about me leaving this hospital with them. It's not happening. I am going back to the farm with you and Kyle."
"Skye…"
"No. No more of this waiting to get our lives together. I almost died again and I want to see where this goes with us if you do. I want to help you take care of Kyle. I might not be old enough to be his mom but I love him like he is mine. I want us to be a family."
He kissed her gently and laid his forehead against hers, caressing the side of her face.
"I want this, too. When I saw you covered in blood, it was like being in that basement in Malta all over again. I love you."
"I love you, too."
They shared another sweet and tender kiss before he stood up and started to walk over to the door.
"I want to see Kyle and my father before sending Coulson and May in here and then Fitz and Simmons before I see anybody else. Oh and tell Captain Rogers and Black Widow to stay because I would really love to meet them," Skye said, her inner fangirl coming out.
Grant grinned before leaving the room as Skye smiled before closing her eyes to rest for a few minutes.
AN: I gave into my tenderhearted sap side at the end of this chapter. All I can say about the next chapter is that fireworks will go off when May and Coulson find out that Skye is staying with the Ward family and not coming back to Shield. I kind feel like, after reading previous chapters that I am bashing May and Coulson in this story and I was really trying to avoid that. I then realized for the story I wanted to tell of where Skye gets back to the person who made her own choices and wasn't the loyal and faithful soldier we have seen during the second season that I had to put a temporary wedge between her and her surrogate parents.
That being said, she isn't going to jump into an instant father/daughter relationship with Cal either, who is going to have his own problems coming up soon. I am thinking of him starting to have feelings for Lily and fighting it every step of the way because of how his wife died.
Kyle will start to push his limits with Ward in an effort to see what he can and can't get away with. Skye will play a huge role in that as she tries to figure out how to be a mother to a sixteen year old that is only ten years younger than her.