Gauntlets

Three days after the events on the ship during the season 2 finale, Skye is laid up in med bay, the monolith hasn't been delivered to the playground yet, Cal is locked up until TAHITI can be prepared, Coulson is mourning the loss of his hand, and Bobbi still has a blood morphine level.

But Jemma, Jemma has a gift for Skye.


It's been two days, and Skye still doesn't feel any better than when she was checked in to the medbay after collapsing during the long flight back to base.

She remembers waking up slowly in the playground med bay, connected to monitors with a splitting headache. Now it's been two days, and she still doesn't feel strong enough to move around much on her own. She has to have help to get from her small medical cubicle to the patient bathroom not more than 25 feet away from her bed.

Jemma says it's a combination of the concussion she sustained while fighting and the damage that her mom did to her on the carrier.

No matter what is actually causing it, Skye is sick of it.

And that's how she finds herself in her current situation. Skye is stuck leaning against the wall somewhere between her hospital bed and the bathroom, having completely exhausted herself trying to get there alone. Her face is emptied of color and her breathing is ragged as she tries to catch her breath, leaning heavily on the IV pole for support. Skye glances her pulse on the monitor attached to her arm, thankful that the alarms have been disconnected, as it hovers somewhere around 120 bpm.

And this is where Jemma finds her when she slips into the lab, a long box tucked up under her arm, "And what do you think you're doing?" She asks, sounding suspiciously like a mother. Skye groans, feeling exactly like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I had to pee, Simmons, and I'm tired of having to call you, or a tech, or fucking Hunter to help escort me to the bathroom!" Skye gripes, throwing her hand up into the air, using the other one to grip the IV pole for support.

Jemma makes a clicking noise with her tongue, and sets the box down next to where Skye is leaning on the wall. "Let's get you to the bathroom then, okay?" She ducks under Skye's arm and wraps and arm around her waist to help hold her up as Skye walks. "Or I would be perfectly happy to arrange for someone to bring a portable toilet, or even a catheterize you for another day or two so that you can gain your strength back," Jemma smirks, glancing over to Skye.

Skye groans and shakes her head, "No thanks. I think I'd rather have to use the bedpan in front of Hunter 500 more times than have another catheter put in…"

Jemma chuckles, "But you have to rest Skye. If you don't rest, you won't heal."

Skye sighs deeply, "I know, Jemma, I'm just tired of not being able to do anything for myself."

Jemma nods and opens the door to the bathroom, "Do you need me to come in with you, or can you handle it on your own?" She asks, cocking one eyebrow.

"No, I can- I just-" Skye drops her head, "Yeah…"

Jemma laughs out loud and helps her friend into the small private bathroom, pulling the IV pole up beside the toilet. She steps back outside the door, "Let me know when you're done or if you need me again."

Skye nods and Jemma shuts the door, leaning her head on the door to be able to hear Skye if she needs her.

Jemma is suddenly very nervous to give Skye the present that in the box she brought. She had managed to convince Fitz that she could be the one to present Skye with the Gauntlets that the two of them have been working at for the last 3 days. Fitz knew that Jemma needed a victory with Skye, because even though the two seemed to be on speaking terms again, there was an Inhuman sized rift between them that hadn't previously been there. Jemma needed to reach out and pull her best friend back in.

Jemma quickly reached in her lab coat pocket to check for the other gift that she brought Skye, her next dose of pain medicine.

Jemma hears the flush of the toilet beyond the door and a grunt from Skye, so she cracks the door.

"Skye," she says through the crack, "Are you decent?"

Skye gives a soft affirmative, "Yeah," from the room and Jemma steps in.

Skye is leaning against the sink, both hands in a white knuckled grip on the edge of the porcelain, her eyes scrunched tight and a sheen of sweat on her forehead.

Jemma sighs a little, "Do you need help, Skye?" Skye nods wordlessly and Jemma gingerly wraps her arm around Skye's waist, giving her support so that she can finish washing her hands.

The two Agents don't speak as Jemma helps Skye back into her bed, Jemma, out of nervousness, and Skye out of trying to ignore the pain in her head and In her chest and in her shoulders, and in her arms.

Jemma checks Skye over, adjusting the fluids in her IV drip, and taking her vitals.

"Your heart rate is high, Skye," Jemma says to Skye, fussing over her a little, "one a scale of 1-10, how what number would you give the amount of pain you're in?"

Skye grimaces a little. "Um, a four," she lies. In reality, quite a bit of pain has settled into her bones in the last few hours.

Jemma glances over her tablet at Skye, taking in the grimace on her face and the sweat on her face forehead, she scowls at Skye. "Want to try that one again, Skye?" She asks again.

Skye sighs, "Fine, it's more like a 6 or a 7. My head is worse."

Jemma pulls the pain medication from her pocket and places the two pills into Skye's hand, grabbing the water cup off of the tray next to the bed. Skye looks Jemma in the eyes and dry swallows the pills. She grimaces.

"Yeah, you deserved that one, Skye," Jemma mutters, pushing the water into Skye's hands anyway. "Drink," she scolds.

"And there's Doctor Simmons." Skye murmurs, taking a sip of the lukewarm water. "Cold, clinical and proper," Skye smirks and takes another sip of water.

"And very in control of your medical care, mind you," Jemma teases, her back turned to Skye as she writes notes in the chart.

Skye sighs, reflecting on the situation. This was not how she wanted Jemma's visit to her medical cube to go, but this is what always seemed to happen. They would snip at each other, almost teasing like they used to, but with a sharper bite to it, like they were hiding pain from one another. Skye just wanted her and Jemma to be back to normal, she missed her best friend.

Jemma picks up the box from the floor and sits on the end of Skye's bed. She gives her friend a non-medical once over, taking in how tired Skye looks, how she sits with her legs crossed, a little hunched over, fidgeting her hands in anxiety.

Jemma takes a deep breath and holds the box out to Skye, "Here, this is from both Fitz and I. We want you to have these," Jemma says quickly. She pushes the box into Skye's hands.

Skye takes the box from Jemma and pulls the top open. She pulls one of the metal gauntlets from the box and runs her fingers over the cool metal.

"Fitz helped me making my thoughts a reality, but the truth is, I designed these to help you control your powers, so you won't hurt yourself, and to make them so you could use them to help people. I managed to convince him to let me give them to you… because, well because I needed to show you how much I support you."

Skye's eyes are filled with tears as she runs her fingers along the metal of the gauntlets, "They don't suppress my powers?" She asks nervously, after a moment.

Jemma reaches forward and takes Skye's hand in hers, "No, no they don't Skye. There's no more suppressing your powers, only helping you control them. I just don't want you to ever have to deal with microfractures again."

A tear escapes Skye's eye and runs down her cheek. She sets the gauntlets on the bed and leans forward and wraps her arms around Jemma in a hug. Tears stream down her face as she pushes her face into Jemma's shoulder. "Thank you, Jemma," she whispers.

Jemma returns the embrace, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. She holds her best friend close. "I'm so sorry, Skye, I'm so sorry for everything. I'm sorry that I left you. And I am so sorry about your mum. You deserve so much better."

Skye doesn't say anything for awhile, her face pressed into Jemma's shoulder, breathing in her comforting scent, Jemma rubbing soothing circles on her back. It feels nice, taking her mind off of her pain, both physical and emotional.

They stay like for a little while, both women wrapped in the embrace. It's cathartic for them both, seeking comfort in their best friend, and for Skye, rediscovering the belonging of being with Jemma, and for Jemma, finding Skye's forgiveness for all that she'd done.

The pain medication starts to set into Skye's limbs, making them heavy and fuzzy, and Jemma tucks her back into her hospital bed, laying a kiss on her forehead.

Skye is strong enough to be released from medical 2 days later. She takes a trip with Coulson to see her dad's new place of residence.

And Jemma disappears into the depths of the Monolith.

And everything starts to change.