Skye met May for their usual morning workout. May saw that she wasn't wearing her sweats and knew something was wrong before the younger woman even opened her mouth.
"Morning, May. Um . . . how'd you sleep?" Skye said awkwardly.
May started unwrapping her hands, since the workout was apparently canceled. "What's wrong, Skye?"
"Nothing, I . . ." A glance at her SO's face showed that misdirection was a lost cause. "Fine. I'm pregnant."
To say that May was surprised was probably an understatement. But she absorbed the news the way she'd absorbed every bit of shocking information in her adult life: by refusing to show how shocked she was. It wasn't always an easy strategy but it usually bought her some time to think, while the bearer of shocking news waited for it to sink in.
After about thirty seconds, she managed an answer: "When did that happen?"
"About seven weeks ago, I guess." Skye watched May for any sign of emotion, reaction, or realization. She didn't see any. She really has this ice queen act down to an art.
Realization had struck May, though. It happened when we were at Providence. Two guesses who the father was. But I only need one. "It was Ward?"
Skye wasn't as good at hiding her surprise. "What—how did you guess that?"
May gave a slightly amused smile to defuse the tension. "When I left Providence it was just you, Ward, and Eric Koening. Strangers aren't really your style and Ward clearly had a crush on you, so, it's not a big leap."
You knew he had a crush on me while he was sleeping with you. Just when I thought this situation couldn't get more awkward . . . "Anyway," Skye soldiered on, trying to sound casual, "I need your permission to take a few days off, go back to California, get this taken care of."
May had to think about that for a moment. It wasn't just a matter of time, it was logistics. "California is a bit of a long drive. Any chance you could have this done closer to home?"
Skye fiddled with the hem of her shirt nervously. "I looked up the local regulations. Apparently this particular area only allows it in cases of rape, and claiming to be a rape victim would lead to a whole bunch of questions I might not want to answer. An American woman filing a report like that might get tongues wagging and well, you know, we live in a top secret base full of wanted terrorists and all . . ."
"Oh." May had to admit she had a point. If only "seduction under false pretenses" was legally rape. Of course we'd have to lock up half the men on this earth if it were. "Well let's figure out what it will take to make this happen. It's a five hour drive to San Diego, so you probably need to devote two full days for round-trip travel. Does California have any waiting periods or anything?"
"Fortunately, no. It's an open-minded state."
"So two days for travel, one for a procedure, figure at least one to recover enough for the return trip. That's four days, three nights in a hotel. You'll need cash, and a car."
"My van still works. I have my pay saved up. I've done my research." Skye resisted the urge to roll her eyes at all this thinking out loud. Does she not think I've thought this through already?
"You've already got all the fake IDs you could want, so there's just one more thing," May said, "You won't be able to drive yourself back, after."
Skye looked up quickly. "I won't?"
Guess there were holes in that research after all. May shifted into a softer stance and tried for a more understanding tone. "You've never had this done before, I take it." Skye shook her head. "Well, even after a procedure with no complications you can expect cramping, bleeding, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. Trust me, you're going to need someone to drive you home."
May tried to read the look on Skye's face. Worry? Fear? Sadness? All of the above?
"Wait, have you done this before?" Skye asked, surprise in her voice.
Skye didn't miss the way May looked away for a minute before she answered. "Not personally. But my roommate at the academy junior year did. Regulations were different then, if you didn't marry the father or terminate, then you had to drop out of S.H.I.E.L.D. I ended up nursing her back to health over a long weekend."
Not the time to get pushy with questions, Skye, you're asking for a favor, she reminded herself. "Right. Well, painful or not, I need this. So do I have your permission to take four days off or not?"
May pushed aside memories of the past and focused on formulating a plan. "You have my permission. And furthermore, I'm going to go with you and make sure you get home all right. But two agents leaving and traveling internationally for a personal errand means we need Coulson to sign off on it."
Fuck. "Is there any chance that Coulson is going to approve of this?" Dammit. As if this wasn't embarrassing enough without having to tell him I slept with a serial killer, against regulations, and got knocked up like an idiot.
"None whatsoever. He's more pro-life than you might expect." May saw Skye's face fall and quickly added, "But, I'll get him to grant permission anyway. Under the circumstances I think he'd agree that a baby would be a bad idea."
Skye couldn't help being relieved that she didn't have to be the one to explain this to Coulson. He's going to be so disappointed in me. And even angrier at Ward than he already is, if that's possible. Her eyes filled with tears—at which thought, she couldn't say. "Thanks," she squeaked as she scurried away.