"How does it feel to finally get some fresh air?" Skye asked, walking alongside Jemma's wheelchair as her mother pushed it through the parking lot. It actually managed to get a smile out of her, causing a little swell of pride to flare up in Skye's chest.
"I don't miss the smell of the sterilizing agent, but I don't exactly consider exhaust and blacktop stench fresh air." Jemma chuckled, but Skye saw the slight frown on her face when she tried to nonchalantly pass over the words. She knew Jemma knew it was irrational, but she could tell the parking lot was making her anxious. Skye remedied it by resting her hand on Jemma's shoulder.
"You'll feel a lot better when you get back into your own bed. Then you can rest for a while longer before you come back to school." Skye added. It was obvious Jemma wasn't a fan of the hospital, and neither was Skye. It was depressing and had a bad atmosphere. Besides, now there wouldn't be a restriction on her visiting hours.
"What about you? Shouldn't you be going back to your own bed soon?" Jemma asked. Skye was spending a lot of time with her and she didn't want to jeopardize her relationship with Coulson having her stay away so much.
"MC said I could spend the night at your house tonight, if it's ok with your mom of course." Skye looked up to the woman pushing the wheelchair, puppy dog eyes in full use.
"Of course, you know we love having you over." Jemma's mother chuckled as they reached the car. Skye opened the door and they both moved to help Jemma get up and slide into the car. She winced some and Skye grimaced, but they were silent and she got into the other side of the door.
"MC?" Jemma questioned with a grin while Skye buckled.
"Mr. Coulson. Phil sounds too weird but Mr. Coulson sounds too formal." Skye shrugged. There wasn't really a good medium, so she made one herself.
"That makes sense." Jemma giggled. Skye smiled back at her, just happy to hear her laughing again, and gently intertwined their fingers.
Light began to slip in through the curtains, slowly growing brighter until Skye couldn't fall back asleep. She was glad it was Saturday, so she could stay at Jemma's house with her instead of be forced into Ward's vicinity. He had been walking free for the week Jemma was in the hospital, but the plan Skye had been cooking up with Fitz was worth the wait. She was going to make sure he paid for what he did.
Skye had just decided on a nice maroon color that Home Depot seemed to think needed to be called "cranberry jam", which she thought was a bit ridiculous, especially since it looked exactly the same as the color deemed "cranberry whip". Coulson had agreed it was a nice color and they were headed to order it when Skye's phone buzzed in her pocket. She wanted to ignore it, because Coulson was being so good to her and it would be rude to answer it, but it kept buzzing.
"Sorry, I'll be quick." Skye promised and Coulson shooed her away. She went back to the wall of paint color slips while Coulson ordered their paint.
"Skye!" The voice on the other end was frantic, but not Jemma, what the caller I.D. had told her.
"Bobbi? Why do you have Jemma's phone?" A churning feeling was progressively getting worse in her stomach. She knew something was wrong.
"I already called 911 but I'm just sitting here and I don't know what to do, I-"
"What?!" Skye was gripping the phone so tightly she was afraid it would smash to pieces.
"I found Jemma in the parking lot, someone's attacked her. I called 911 but I thought you should know and her phone had your contact-"
"Is she okay?!" Skye interrupted her, trying to get her to cut out all the unnecessary details and get to the important ones.
"I don't know, she was sort of awake when I got here but now she's not and I don't know what to do!" Bobbi was crying, and Skye was already beginning to as well. She needed to get to them as soon as possible.
"Coulson!" She yelled for him.
Angry thoughts of revenge needed to be saved for another time, though, because Jemma was still sound asleep next to her and Skye didn't want her bad mood to rub off on her.
Jemma was sleeping on her back, still not able to comfortably lay on her side with her incision and still sore body from missing an organ. Her mouth was open slightly and her slow, even breathing was soothing. Skye put her weight on her elbow and sat up, just looking at her face. She brushed a strand of Jemma's hair off of her face and behind her ear, and for a moment Skye feared she had woken her when her nose scrunched up slightly at the light touch.
She stayed asleep though, and Skye continued to trace little patterns over her arm, content to lay in bed forever. It wasn't until a small noise drifted into the room that Skye realized something was off. Jemma's eyebrows were furrowed and her breathing was quicker. She looked upset, and Skye wanted to stop the nightmare before it even started. She lightly shook her awake and Jemma's sleepy eyes slowly opened, looking unaware that anything had happened.
"What time is it?" Jemma asked mid yawn and looked past Skye's head to the digital clock on the nightstand. It wasn't late enough for Skye to have woken her, but she didn't want to bring up nightmares or Ward, so she chose another excuse.
"Time to get you another gauze pad." She swallowed, grabbing the plastic bag from beside the clock. She cut a piece she knew to be the right size and waited for Jemma to be ready before she did anything. After a few moments, Jemma resigned herself to the care and pulled up her shirt, leaning back into the pillows and staring at the ceiling. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Jemma was embarrassed by the jagged line and that she didn't want to look at it. Skye didn't think she had even seen it yet, but that was her choice.
As she peeled the gauze pad away, Skye inspected the area thoroughly for any red patches or anything that could suggest an infection. She wasn't big on biology, but after all that had happened she researched and she knew that the spleen was a big part of the immune system. Jemma was much more susceptible to illnesses and infections, especially in the weeks post-surgery.
Skye touched the surrounding area lightly, making sure nothing was too painful, before she finally spread a bit of the antibiotic gel on it and covered it with gauze and tape again.
"It's looking better you know." Skye commented, hoping to make Jemma feel a tiny bit better about it.
"Alright." Jemma sighed. She still didn't look and tugged her shirt down over it carefully.
"It doesn't change a single thing, I love you with or without your spleen." Skye smiled and leaned over to kiss her, and she was happy to feel that it was well received when Jemma kissed her back.
"I love you too. I haven't said it, but I'm very grateful." Jemma looked into her eyes as she thanked her and Skye only shrugged, but they both knew how important they were to each other.
"Are you absolutely certain you want to do this?" Fitz asked. His voice was jittery and anxious and Skye only hoped she didn't sound the same way.
"I promised myself that when Jemma comes back in two weeks Ward will be gone. I have to." Skye grunted, inhaling sharply when fitz poked her with the safety pin.
"I hope this works then." Fitz's brows were furrowed when he finally finished fiddling with Skye's shirt and stepped away. There was a wire with a microphone pinned into the seam of her open flannel, on the underside of the buttons. A tiny camera was poking out of the hole she had cut into a black beanie, giving a visual near her eye level. She felt like a full blown undercover cop. Under normal circumstances, she would have been excited and thought it was cool, but she didn't get to enjoy it. She was on a mission.
"I still think you should let me come with you." Bobbi crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. Her whole group of friends was here trying to help in in every way they could, and Skye appreciated it, but this was mostly something she had to do alone.
"I'm not going to get what I need unless it's just me." Skye shook her head.
"Remember, don't let him provoke you. You're trying to get dirt on him, not the other way around. You probably only have one shot at this. Make it count." Fitz reiterated. Skye wanted to roll her eyes at the hundredth time he'd said it, but Skye knew he was just looking out for her and Jemma, so she couldn't be annoyed with him.
"I'll be fine. Just make sure you're recording when the asshole fesses up." Skye grit her teeth and exited the supply closet that was currently serving as HQ.
"Good luck, girl. Do it for Jemma." Trip added as she left. Skye nodded and closed the door behind her.
Skye trudged back to the cafeteria and, spotting her target, marched over to the corner of the cafeteria where the rowdiest sports players were sitting.
"I need to talk to you." Skye slammed her palm onto the lunch table in front of Ward. The other guys snickered, and Ward gave her a toothy grin that actually made her feel sick.
"So you finally woke up, huh?" Ward asked as he followed Skye out into the hall. She knew he wasn't going to do anything rash out in the hallway with all the cameras, so she pushed through the exit into the same parking lot he had had attacked Jemma in.
"I think it's about time we had a chat." Skye ignored his previous question and put her hands on her hips, making sure her microphone wasn't muffled and staring straight at him, making sure Fitz would be able to get undeniable evidence.
"Finally, it's taken you long enough." Ward advanced on her, but Skye quickly backed up and pushed against his shoulder with one hand.
"That's not what I meant. I want you to tell me exactly what you want from me so I can tell you no in a clear way that even a numbskull like you could understand." Skye spit, still keeping her arm outstretched and on his shoulder to keep him back. He laughed, because somehow this was funny to him.
"I was hoping you'd realized what a gross mistake you've made. But I don't think that's why you brought me out here. I think this is about you wanting some kind of pitiful revenge for what happened to your poor girlfriend." The iconic smirk was back, and Skye practically heard Fitz in the back of her head telling her to keep her cool. That didn't keep her from grinding her teeth together and balling up her fist.
"What was your plan, get me out here away from the cameras and get your revenge? And in the same place I found Simmons, huh?" He was laughing, and the reddening of Skye's face in anger only set him off further. He pushed past Skye's outstretched arm and shoved her shoulder some, making her stumble back.
Skye knew she already had a confession and that things were escalating, but she couldn't bring herself to leave just yet. It wasn't definite. He hadn't said he had done it and Skye knew that if she didn't have it in blatant terms, he would find a way to talk his way out of it. So she stayed. She took his shove.
"I still don't get it, what exactly do you see in her?" Ward seemed genuinely confused, and Skye wondered how he could possibly be so ignorant to his own terribleness.
"She's smart, kind, funny, and stronger than you'll ever be." Tears were gathering in Skye's eyes no matter how tough she wanted to appear. Just thinking about Ward and Jemma in this parking lot that horrible afternoon a week ago made her sick to her stomach.
"Stronger?" Ward grinned. "I'd say she was the opposite of strong. She didn't even fight back, the coward just let me hit her. She doesn't have the same fight you and I do." That was it. That was what she had needed, and having gotten the evidence, Skye was content to fly off the handle now.
"Jemma is not a coward! You're the coward, you cornered her when she was alone and outnumbered and you almost killed her!" Skye shouted. Things had been quiet until now. Fitz would be annoyed with her, but Skye considered herself provoked.
"You did it because you're jealous, didn't you?" Skye asked with disgust. "Jemma almost died because of your psychopathic obsession with me, all because we're both foster kids." Skye was almost in disbelief at all the horror caused by such a childish, self righteous belief. "I really don't hate to break it to you, but I don't belong to you, and neither does Jemma. We aren't things you can play with." Skye regained the ground she had lost and gave Ward a good shove, but he didn't budge.
"Blame yourself for what happened to Simmons. What you two are doing is wrong and she deserved it." Ward huffed. This made Skye freeze. She remembered when she was staying with her old foster parents, when they caught her with Jemma and burned her hands. They beat her for what they had said was wrong. Ward had done the same thing to Jemma, and suddenly all of Skye's anger bubbled to the surface. Not only her anger at him for attacking Jemma, but also her anger at every foster parent who ever hurt her, and at herself for getting Jemma into all of this.
"You bastard!" Skye launched at him, rammed her shoulder into his abdomen and tackled him to the ground with a force she didn't know she had. He managed to push her off of him and onto the pavement, and Skye didn't have any time to process before her ears were ringing and a wet, sticky fluid was dribbling down her cheek from her nose.
Skye spit the blood up into his face and rammed her knee up into his gut, effectively incapacitating him so she could shove him off and turn the tables once again. She swiftly straddled him and pulled her fist back behind her head, bringing it down on his face with power fueled by white hot anger. She did it twice more before Ward finally managed to hit her hard enough to make her stop and lose her ground. He rolled over so he was laying on top of her and grabbed onto the front of her shirt, lifting her up before slamming her back down. Skye whimpered and threw her arms up over her face to shield herself, but it only made him target her ribs instead, delivering a tough punch that knocked the wind out of her.
Ward's lead didn't last long, however, because he decided to taunt her.
"Just like your cute little girlfriend now. She cried a whole lot more than you, though. That's why I like you." Ward said, and Skye felt fire flow through her veins along with her blood. Ward had underestimated her, because the thought of Jemma lying on the ground crying while Ward and his friends beat her triggered a beast hiding underneath the surface. Skye lashed out, swiping her fingers across his face and leaving four long lines from his ear to his mouth.
"Bitch," Ward snatched up the collar of her shirt again, winding back his fist. Skye closed her eyes and blocked her face, but the punch never came. Instead there was a grunt and weight fell off of her to the side. She opened her eyes to find Bobbi standing over them, holding her chemistry textbook in two hands over her head. Ward was out cold on the blacktop next to her. Skye nudged him with her foot to make sure he was out. He would feel that in the morning. Hopefully in a jail cell.
"We thought you could use a little help." Bobbi lowered the book and Skye accepted the outstretched hand.
"Thanks." Skye mumbled as she pulled herself to her feet. She was covered in bumps and bruises and her head was spinning, but she'd gotten what she was looking for.
"Did Fitz get everything?" Skye asked insistently. If he hadn't or the tech hadn't worked than all of this would have been for nothing.
"Every word. Once we show this to the police our sick friend won't be coming back here." Bobbi ground her teeth together and shoved her textbook back into her bag at her side. "Mission Justice for Jemma is a sucess." Skye couldn't help but laugh. Maybe everything would finally turn out alright.