A/N: back with another update! He's that storm in the predicted forecast. Also adding a trigger warning just to be safe, for language and for bullying content.
"What's has you so excited today?" Jemma had noticed Skye being even more chipper than usual, but she had assumed she was just having a good day until they made it through PE with Ward and Skye was still smiling. They approached their usual table, Jemma putting her tray on the ground and Skye holding her hand out for the tootsie pop Jemma tossed her way right after. They both sat down across from Fitz and they both waited for her answer.
"After school Phil is taking me to Home Depot to look at paint colors." Skye beamed, smiling with her eyes as well as her face. To her, painting her bedroom was the best thing any foster parent had ever done for her, and they both knew that this could only be a sign of one thing. She wasn't going to be sent away any time soon, and that made Jemma ecstatic for her.
"That's amazing, Skye. Things must be going really well with you two." Jemma prodded a bit. She was trying to see if there was anything else Skye was going to tell them.
"Does this mean you might get adopted?" Fitz asked more bluntly. Instantly, an array of emotions passed over Skye's face.
"I usually don't admit it because it never works out, but I do want to stay with him. And I don't want to jinx things, it's really only been a month, but this might be it." Skye's quiet voice grew more confident with every word until she was full of joy again at the end of her response.
"I'm so excited for you, I really hope you've found your place. You've got me and Fitz and now Mr. Coulson. I told you everything was going to be okay." Jemma said softly and gently squeezed Skye's hand on the table. Skye intertwined their fingers and suddenly leaned in, kissing Jemma for the whole cafeteria to see. When they parted, Jemma was confused. For one, Fitz had the most uncomfortable, I'm-third-wheeling look on his face, and her eyes automatically scanned to see if anyone was watching.
"I'm sorry." Skye apologized quickly.
"No, it's not that. I wasn't sure if you were comfortable about that, you just surprised me is all." Jemma assured her urgently, before Skye could come to any conclusions on her own.
"I'll take that as my cue to leave. I'm going to find Mack, I'll see you later." Fitz hopped up from his seat and swiftly left to give the two some space for the more personal conversation.
"I think I am. I'm in such a good place right now, I don't want to have to hide anything, especially not us." Skye replied, and Jemma nodded. It made sense.
"I want the same thing. I'm nervous about some people, especially Ward, but I think it's better to not hide it all the time." Jemma concluded, squeezing Skye's hand a little more for confirmation and resting her other hand on Skye's knee.
"Also think of all the missed opportunities..." Skye had that mischievous look on her face again, Jemma's favorite, where she quirked one eyebrow slightly and had a confident little smirk, sometimes catching her bottom lip between her teeth. It was an easy signal to recognize, and Jemma was kissing her before she even realized what they were doing. It was short and chaste, but it was better than any quick pecks on the cheek they were used to giving each other at school when they thought nobody was looking.
As if he had somehow sensed that they were having a perfect day and needed some negativity, Ward suddenly appeared a few moments later when Jemma and Skye had been happily chatting about possible colors for her room. When Ward pulled over a chair and sat down beside Skye, Jemma immediately dropped her hand and scooted away an inch. The school knowing was one thing, but she was scared to see what Ward thought of them, especially because of his strange obsession and possessiveness over Skye.
"What are you up to today, Skye? Have you been officially initiated into the geek squad yet?" He taunted, leaving both girls to clench their jaws and resist engaging with him. They both took to silently staring at their books, occasionally glancing at each other and generally ignoring Ward.
"Oh come on, what did I do to deserve the cold shoulder?" He chuckled, making a fist and playfully hitting Skye's shoulder with it. Skye visibly tensed and Jemma was boiling over on the inside. If she was bigger she would give him a good sucker punch to the face, but she was nothing compared to him.
"You relentlessly torture Jemma in PE, and you're always an ass to me, so what do you think?" Skye finally took the bait and replied. Jemma inhaled and prepared herself for the worst. As soon as they acknowledged him things usually got ugly.
"I'm just having a little fun, the British prick can't take a joke. And you're too tense, you need to loosen up-" Ward made a move to grab at Skye's arm, but she slapped her and away and moved closer to Jemma.
"Her name is Jemma, and you don't want me to loosen up. If I wasn't restraining myself you wouldn't still be sitting here." Skye growled. Jemma could see the scene escalating and grabbed onto Skye's arm, trying to calm her down.
Ward laughed, smacking his hand down on the table and leaning into the back of his seat. "What, would you hit me?"
"He's trying to get a rise out of you, let's just leave." Jemma said calmly. She stood and grabbed both of their books before tugging Skye to her feet. Ward continued chuckling about his success at getting Skye wound up as they both left the cafeteria.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Have a great time with Phil, and don't pick something ugly. Remember, no pink or yellow." Jemma giggled as she closed her locker. Skye pinned her against it lightly when she turned around and kissed her soundly, enjoying the hum of contentment that passed through Jemma's lips. The halls were mostly empty, as they took their time getting to Jemma's locker, so they had plenty of privacy for themselves without considering it too much PDA.
"Cross my heart. My room will look much better than yours." Skye joked, earning a playful push from her girlfriend.
"Go, you don't want to make him wait for you." Jemma grinned and slipped out of Skye's grasp to head for her own car.
"One more." Skye pouted, grabbing onto Jemma's arms and swiftly planting a kiss on the corner of her mouth before they finally parted and Skye walked the other direction, headed to the staff parking lot.
It was quiet at first, just the reflections of the lights on the tile to keep her company. The only sound was her converse padding against the floor and the occasional metallic clang of a locker being slammed shut somewhere.
When she finally stepped outside, she took a deep breath of the slightly chilled fall air. The weather had cooled down significantly since school had begun and all of this had started. The leaves were changing color and it was almost time for winter.
After taking it all in, Jemma attempted shuffling all her books into a position where she could get her keys out of her pocket. The jingling of them prevented her from hearing the footsteps, but she froze when she recognized the voice.
"Where do you think you're going, Simmons?" It wasn't a question. There was a command laced into it that made Jemma stop and clutch her keys in her fist, slowly turning around. It wasn't just Ward. A couple of his buddies from the soccer team with with him too, all big and intimidating and advancing on her until she was cornered at her car door.
"I'm going home, leave me alone." Jemma replied stiffly. She unlocked the car and reached for the handle, but Ward grabbed onto her backpack and yanked her away. Her books tumbled to the ground, her keys along with it, and Jemma fell to her knees snd scrambled to gather them all up, but Ward didn't let her get very far.
He didn't kick her very hard, not yet, but it was enough to knock her over and cause her to drop all her books all over again. Jemma yelped and glared back up at him, but he seemed unaffected.
"That wouldn't be very fun, now would it?" Ward grabbed onto the back of her backpack again, this time dragging her to her feet and pushing her against the side of her own car. He gained more ground on her, getting closer until he grabbed onto her shoulder and pinned her against the surface behind her.
"Cut it out, you're not as funny as you think. You're just being a jerk." Jemma knew it was a mistake to talk back at him, but she couldn't help it, just like Skye hadn't been able to at lunch.
"Aw, look, you've hurt the nerd's feelings." One of Ward's friend's spoke up, grinning and elbowing his teammate.
"Nerd may not be the right word for you anymore." Ward frowned, but Jemma knew he wasn't puzzled. It was all a show for his cronies. She wasn't willing to participate and fuel the fire any longer, so she stood silently, biting her tongue.
"You're a dyke now, aren't you?" He asked it in a way that meant he knew the answer. He just wanted to drag out the scene as long as possible. Jemma resisted fighting back and yelling at him, because it would only make it worse. She and Fitz had been bullied before and she resigned. She knew the best thing to do was just take it.
"You and your gay friend Fitz spread your disease to Skye. That's why she's been refusing to choose me." This, Jemma couldn't ignore. She could take the insults herself, but the moment he decided to pick on Fitz and be so disgustingly obsessed with Skye, she snapped.
"Being gay has never been a disease, and Skye doesn't like you because you're a worthless, perverted psychopath." Jemma spit, struggling some against his grip on her shoulder, which tightened noticeably. He was done playing games. He had finished his foreplay and terror struck Jemma's heart when Ward held his other hand out to his teammate and the other boy gave him a pair of scissors.
"If you're going to be a dyke you should at least look like one." Jemma tried to pull away, but there was nothing she could do as Ward pulled her toward him and threw her back, knocking her into the car and sending her to the ground.
"Stop it!" Jemma shouted at him, but Ward nodded to his teammates and they descended upon her like wolves. One of them was kicking her with so much force it made her ribs ache and took the wind right out of her. Another was pinning her to the ground, despite her fierce, mindless struggling, and Ward was soon on top of her, jabbing his knee into her back and gathering her hair up into a ponytail once he'd pinned her face into the blacktop, leaving a raw scrape across her cheek.
"Everyone will know what you are and what you do. You never know, Skye and I still may get together yet. I'm not against a threesome." At this, Jemma let out a scream of frustration and lashed out. She managed to struggle and squirm onto her side before another kick to her gut made her double over and she was pinned back down.
This time, Ward didn't hesitate to sheer off most of her hair with the scissors. Jemma felt her heart drop down into her stomach when she heard the sliding sound of the blades and felt most of her hair come loose and fall across her face.
"See how much you like what you are now." Ward spit. Jemma was stuck between shock and tears, but it quickly shifted to the latter when Ward jerked her into a sitting position by the collar of her cardigan and landed a swift punch on her face that left her dizzy and not quite sure she was awake. It had to be a nightmare, but Jemma wasn't so sure when he finally threw her back to the ground and stalked off, taking his buddies with him, laughing the whole way.
Jemma couldn't bring herself to get up. Her torso felt like it was on fire from her ribs to her stomach, her face was bleeding and leaving a small red patch on the cement, and she could already feel her eye beginning to swell shut. It didn't help that her head was spinning and she couldn't seem to focus or understand why all of this had happened.
"Simmons?" A female voice caught Jemma's attention after a few minutes, but she was nearing a sleep state and didn't recognize it until it got closer.
"Oh my god." Bobbi gasped and was down on her knees in an instant, pulling Jemma into her lap and dialing a three digit number on her phone.