Skye is kind and Jemma can't lie
Skye groans miserably as she carefully lowers herself onto the stool. Jemma glances up from her work and raises an eyebrow at the abnormal behavior. Normally, when Skye takes up position in the lab, she boosts herself up onto one of the counters.
She's too sore for that, currently. Her muscles ache, and they're stiff, and they feel like they've rolled up and died under her skin. Even slouching produces a pulling sensation of pain.
"Ward hates me," Skye tells the scientist with a grimace.
"I actually think he's rather fond of you," she replies. She sets down her papers and rises to her feet."
"I'm so sore."
"I can see that. Stretching would help."
"Stretching hurts too much. Moving at all hurts too- what are you doing?" Skye jolts, even though it sends protests all throughout her muscles, and Jemma pauses, hands out lifted. A slight apology twisting her lips.
Jemma knows that Skye is weary with touch, but she sometimes forgets now that Skye has been seeking it out. Ever since the alien virus, Skye's been seeking out lots of physical reassurance.
"I'm going to stimulate your muscles to help move the lactic acid out of them," Jemma spells out her intentions in, what she believes, are the simplest of terms.
Skye blinks. "You're… going to give me a massage? Do you even know how to give massages?"
"All you need is a basic understanding of anatomy and pressure points." Which, unsurprisingly, means yes.
Skye smiles a bit bemusedly and falls out of her half-flinch. "Alright, doc. Heal me."
Jemma tisks. "I'm not a medical doctor," she says, but then lets her hands come to gently rest on Skye's shoulders.
"Sure," Skye says with an audible grimace as her friend presses and kneads the muscles. She sits stiffly and uncharacteristically still as Jemma works.
"You have to relax," Jemma informs her, and Skye bobs her head. It's several minutes, though, before her muscles lose their tension and Skye's head falls forward. A gusting sigh blows out past her lips.
"You're good at everything, aren't you?" Skye huffs as Jemma shifts to one side and starts making her way farther down Skye's arm. Her fingers magically find each knot and manipulates it until she's pressing down on smooth, pliant muscle.
"Not true. I'm awful at lying," Jemma disagrees, a redness creeping up her cheeks as Skye glances over at her.
Thinking back on the Incident with Sitwell, and the horror show of watching Jemma try to flirt, and then just shooting the poor man, Skye can't help but agree. A grins twists and tugs at her lips, and she uses her newly operable arm to prop up her chin as Jemma switches over to the other one.
"Lie to me," Skye demands.
Simmons sputters and flushes darker, "Lie to you? But.." She finally rolls her eyes when Skye only continues to stare at her expectantly, and then she can't meet Skye's eyes at all. "Okay, how about… I… dislike you. Very much. You are awful. And… stupid. And ugly! The way your hair flops around and bounces when you walk is very unattractive."
Skye's heart lurches in her chest uncomfortably, like it does when she is scared, and her breath hitches like it does when she's about to descend into a panic attack. But it also doesn't feel like either of those.
Skye licks her lips before they are pulled into a wider smile by some unstoppable force.
"You're right. You are a terrible liar," Skye laughs, and it comes out with a little snort that makes Jemma look up in surprise. Then amusement. Then half-hearted defensiveness.
"Well, let's see you lie, then!"
Skye bites her lip. "How about we play a game? Two truths and a lie?"
"Fine. You first," Jemma challenges. She's stopped massaging Skye's arm by this point, and is now just kind of holding her hand like she forgot to let go.
"Okay," Skye agrees. "Um, the first time I ran away, I was five."
"That one," Simmons blurts, squeezing Skye's hand, and Skye blinks in surprise.
"I have to go through the list first."
"It doesn't matter. That one. That one is the lie."
"Nope. You're wrong. Wanna try again?"
"Skye-"
"Listen to all the choices this time. They are all supposed to be bizarre so you can't tell the difference."
Simmons purses her lips and perches in the chair beside Skye. Their hands remain linked, dangling between them. Skye doesn't point it out, but, then, neither does Jemma. "Alright, let's hear it."
Skye hums, thinking hard for a few good ones. "When I was 10, I made it from New York all the way to Virginia, hitchhiking, before I was caught. I've never celebrated Christmas. And… I've only been arrested twice."
"Arre- Twice?! Skye! Please tell me you haven't been arrested twice!" Jemma gasps.
Skye blinks expressionlessly. "You're right, it was three times."
"Skye!"
Skye's face cracks into a smile. "Kidding! I'm kidding. Or am I? You can't tell me you'd be surprised, though. We literally met because SHIELD arrested me."
That brings Jemma up short. Her eyebrows crease as her brilliant mind thinks on it. "True," she finally allows, still not very thrilled about it. When Jemma thinks about people who get arrested, she thinks of murderers and gang members and people who do bad things to people. She always seems to forget that Skye is technically a criminal. She seems so… harmless. Gentle. Not a bad person at all.
"So, is that your choice?" Skye teases.
Jemma scowls. "No." Her next instinct is to claim the first one. She desperately wants it to be false. No kid should be trying to hitch hike anywhere. She can't even think on the dangers without wanting to burst into tears.
This is Skye, though, who apparently ran away at the age of five- which very clearly wasn't a one time thing. So, scowl deepening, Jemma says, "You've never celebrated Christmas before. It's the tamest one."
Skye's smirk grows, and Jemma thinks that she got it for a moment before Skye makes a buzzing noise. "The nuns were actually big on Christmas- it being the celebration of Jesus' birth and all that. No, I never made it all the way to Virginia when I was 10." Jemma feels immense relief. Until Skye keeps talking. "The first people to pick me up took me straight to the police station. When you're a kid, apparently it doesn't matter what story you tell- they're going to turn you in."
Jemma breathes slowly, trying to calm her sudden anxiety over everything to do with Skye. This little game is the most Skye has ever talked about her childhood. Her talking about it so casually doesn't fit with what Simmons knows about Skye, so she wonders why she's giving this little bit, now.
Jemma stares at Skye as Skye looks up at her and smiles a smile so false, even she can see it. "Your turn," she chirps. Jemma knows that Skye can be an amazing liar when she wants to be. It's like she's not even trying right now.
It hits her embarrassingly slowly that Skye might be lying so awfully because she wants Jemma to know the truth. Wants her to know a little about her.
Jemma flushes horribly and almost yanks Skye's arm out of its socket when she instinctually, self-consciously, moves to fiddle with her hair. Their fingers are good and tangled, though (something Jemma doesn't even remember happening), and Jemma stutters an apology instead of trying to get free.
Skye, while she grimaces and winces from her pulled muscles, doesn't release her grip.
"Okay, so I have to come up with two truths and a lie, right?" Jemma reiterates to buy her heart more time to calm down.
"That's how it goes," Skye confirms.
Skye's heart has been going uncomfortably fast since she first decided to play this game. She knew she was going to use some iffy childhood experiences, but… Skye suddenly wants Jemma to know something about her.
Skye knows all about Jemma, and how she grew up, and how she was treated in school- knows that she not only graduated, but graduated at the age of sixteen. She knows this because Jemma never held back in telling her anything, and right now something feels… off. It doesn't feel right that Skye never shared back, so…
Making it a game makes it all a little less real- a little less scary.
Skye doesn't entirely know what she wants out of this encounter, but it feels different than their other ones. It's not as easy or relaxed, but Skye doesn't want to stop it either. She wants to see where it goes (there is a strange anticipation stirring in her gut, but she doesn't want to think too hard on it, or she might come upon the reason).
"Okay," Jemma says, raising her eyes to meet Daisy's. Daisy wonders what Jemma could say that she hasn't already told her.
She wonders what Jemma plans to say, for her cheeks to have been made so endearingly red.
"Number one: I have an enormous crush on someone on this plane." Fitz, Skye's brain automatically fills in, but something doesn't feel right about that thought. "Number two: I'm pretty sure they like me back, but we've never said anything to each other about it before." Skye frowns. These are too easy. "Number three: the person I like… is you, Skye."
Skye blinks several times, her heart doubling, tripling, in pace, and it takes several seconds for Skye to process that one of these are supposed to be a lie. Jemma is supposed to be an awful liar, but she held her gaze through each option and had an undeniable earnestness in each one, with the perfect amount of embarrassment.
When Skye thinks about it logically, she knows which one she should choose, but there is a strong reluctance to voice it. Skye doesn't want to think about the dawning understanding of that reluctance, either.
"I… I can't tell," Skye eventually claims. She doesn't want to say it.
"That's because I didn't lie," Jemma says. Her chin lifts a fraction and juts out a bit, like she's firming herself, or challenging something.
It's incidentally and unequivocally charming, paired with the residual blush still staining her nose and ears.
"I… oh," Skye says dumbly. She flounders for something. For anything. She's good at words- good at spouting off quick words. Skye can talk. But all that comes to mind is another, "Oh. I… oh."
Jemma's lips twitch into a smile despite the nerves and adrenaline racing through her body. She's never seen Skye rendered speechless before. It would feel like an achievement if it wasn't also terrifying.
"Yeah. Oh," Jemma mimics. There are a dozen emotions playing across Skye's face, and Jemma has never been very good at reading emotions on other people. She's amazingly self-aware, though. How else would she know what needs to get stuffed into a box and buried deep in her subconscious.
For example, this moment might end up there if Skye doesn't say something soon.
"You… You cheated," Skye finally says, making Jemma's ever whirling thoughts screech to a halt. She blinks in disbelief as Skye continues, almost seeming to stare through Jemma's face. "That's not fair; how am I supposed to judge your lying ability if-"
"Skye," Jemma says. The hacker's gaze sharpens on her. A lot of Jemma's embarrassment fades at the caught, deer-in-the-headlights look on the other girl's face. "I like you. A lot. And sometimes, maybe, I think you like me too? Do you?"
Skye bites her lip and her eyebrows furrow like she actually has to think about the answer, and Jemma's heart sinks. And then Skye gives a hesitant, almost imperceptible nod of her head. "Yes. I think so."
"You think?" Jemma asks.
"Yes, I think so." Skye's free hand comes up to rub at the back of her neck, and she winces as she does it, reminding Jemma that she was supposed to be helping her with that. "I'm pretty sure, actually."
Jemma doesn't understand how Skye doesn't know for sure what she's feeling. Whenever Jemma feels anything out of place, she has to sit down to analyze and agonize over it until she has figured everything out- the what and the why- and only then does she decide what to do with it- accept it or throw it in the box to fester but never be seen again.
And if she can't figure it out within a few hours, her next step is the tried and true scientific method of forming a hypothesis and testing it out. Maybe Skye just hasn't gotten to that part yet.
"Can I kiss you?" Jemma asks, curiosity taking over fear and uncertainty. Skye's eyes widen, and she stiffens.
But then she's the one darting forward, faster than Jemma's brain can process, and covering Jemma's lips. A warm hand engulfs one side of Jemma's face. All of Jemma is engulfed in warmth, and longing pulses like her own heartbeat in her chest.
A small moan floats through Jemma's ears before Skye is pulling away- even the hand that has been curled in Jemma's for the past she-doesn't-know-how-long. Jemma's eyes stutter open and watch Skye cradle her back with both hands, face twisted into a grimace as she lets out another, more drawn out, moan. Her head thunks forward onto the table in misery.
"I moved too fast," Skye explains pitifully.
Jemma's heart is in her throat, though, as she continues to stare at Skye. Skye, who makes no mention about how she felt about the kiss. Or if the experiment resulted in any answers, or if it would have to be attempted again due to outside variables.
Jemma kind of wants to strangle Skye. Instead, she climbs down from her stool and circles around. She nudges the infuriating girl's hands away and takes over the kneading press of muscles.
Maybe they can try again when Skye is feeling better, and there are no negative stimuli that could sway her perceptions in an unfortunate direction it might not otherwise sway.
Skye's feet kick out and swing back as Jemma works. Her cheek is laying flat and lazy on the table.
"Hey, Jemma?" she asks after a while, and Jemma hums in acknowledgment. Ward really is working her too hard. He has since she healed enough from Ian Quin shooting her. "Why do you like me?"
"Because you're the kindest person I know," Jemma says. It's the first and main reason that comes to her head when she thinks of Skye. That she's unfairly kind. Another thought floats by, next, and she shrugs uncomfortably. "Because you talk to Fitz when he wakes up from nightmares. Because you make May tea. Because you keep Coulson company when he works too late and bring him coffee and snacks you should have eaten yourself. Because you sit in the lab with me all night, keeping me company, and you listen to me talk about myself, and you're interested in what I say, even though you have no idea what I'm actually talking about- but you try. You try, Skye. And you're a bit of a mess, but it doesn't make you mean or selfish. All you want is to belong somewhere, and you belong here. Maybe not with me, but with us, at least. With this team."
Jemma can't see more than the very edge of Skye's face where it rests on the table, but the rigidity under Jemma's hands remains to be only from the knotts she is slowly working loose.
Finally, Skye says, "Jemma?"
"Yes Skye?" Jemma answers.
Skye doesn't turn her head or move at all. "I really like you, too."
Her hands freeze for only a heartbeat before resuming their work, but her heartbeat continues in her throat and fingertips. A grin breaks out on her face.
"Okay," she says eloquently.
A/N: Please let me know what you think!
~Silver~