Skye couldn't sleep. She wasn't surprised. Even though she was mentally and physically exhausted, the stress was just too much. There was that weight behind her eyes that she knew wouldn't go away until she let herself cry and sob and scream.

She didn't want to though. She didn't deserve it. She'd lied to them. Her friends. She deserved their anger, she deserved this cuff.

She needed to apologise. Skye knew that. She would, to all of them. For now she would just curl up and fail to sleep.

"Skye?"

She looked up to see Jemma. She must have gotten the hang of visiting. Not that they'd had much trouble with that. "Hey." She said flatly. "You should be asleep."

Her bunk was small, but no more than the others. The oversized shirt and baggy pants she wore to sleep made her feel slightly vulnerable, though she noted that Jemma was wearing some pretty cute PJ's.

Jemma shrugged. "So should you."

Skye looked down. "Was I keeping you guys up?"

Fitz appeared, and the two looked at each other. "Not in the way that you think." Jemma said carefully.

"Sorry." Skye muttered. "I- it's gotta suck to be stuck with me. I'll try to keep my thoughts to myself."

Even though she knew they couldn't leave a weight on her bed, she still knew that they were closer. "Skye, we're just worried about you." Fitz said softly.

"Yes." Said Jemma, using one hand to gently brush her hair. "And you're doing an excellent job of demonstrating why."

Skye swallowed, rolling away from them. "I'm fine."

"No you're not, we can sense it, remember?" Skye was silent, and Jemma put a hand on her shoulder. "Skye, let us in, please."

Skye took a shaky breath. "I-I'm not used to this." She whispered.

Fitz smiled, sitting next to her. "Well none of us are. This whole mind reading thing isn't what I'd call normal."

"People caring about me."

Both froze. "Skye..."

"I'm sorry I lied to you." She said quickly, sitting up. "I shouldn't have, I should have told you, but I didn't, cos I was scared, and I'm sorry."

There was a moment of pause, during which Skye started to think the worst, before which two pairs of arms wrapped around her tightly. "Apology accepted." Jemma murmured.

Skye froze. She didn't expect this. She expected... anger, hatred. She thought they would shut her out, push her away. Not pull her closer. She trembled slightly before collapsing into their embrace, struggling not to cry. "I know I'm not good at this whole... group thing." She said, "But I promise I'm gonna try to be."

Fitz laughed softly. "We were never very good at it either to tell you the truth."

"Yes." Jemma murmured into her hair. "That's why we were always paired together, because no one else wanted to work with us."

"I dunno why." Skye said, snuggling into the group hug. "You guys are the best."

"So are you Skye."

She wanted to believe it. She just couldn't. Not now. Skye's eyes started to feel heavy, and her head fell onto Fitz's shoulder. "Stay." She asked softly.

Both smiled. "Always."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

May wasn't there for training the next day. Not that Skye was surprised. She knew she'd hurt them, and May didn't seem like the type to trust easily. Nor to let her off the hook. Still, she decided that training by herself was a start, and began to stretch.

Melinda watched quietly from the doorway, not speaking up. Skye couldn't see her. Wouldn't see her. And that was what she needed.

"She's determined." Tori noted.

Melinda didn't reply.

"Don't tell me you're that angry at her."

She glared.

Izzy appeared. "She's a good kid."

"She lied to us." Melinda said, finally speaking.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Sure, but she didn't think you were ever going to get hurt."

Tori and Izzy looked at Skye, then back to each other. "She's a good kid." Izzy repeated.

Tori nodded. "Smart. Resourceful."

"Good sense of humour."

"Doesn't take crap."

"Protective of her cluster. That's why she's training so hard."

"Don't." Melinda said stiffly. She knew what they were getting at. She didn't care.

"Mel, come on." Izzy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "She's exactly like you were at her age."

"I said don't." Melinda said sharply, and turned to walk away. She didn't need this.

Skye swallowed thickly as she heard May's footsteps retreat. Some childish, stupid part of her hoped that she would join her. That Skye could apologise, that May would understand.

It was dumb.

She continued to train.

After that, hearing that Coulson was up, Skye went to him, gently knocking on his office door. "Hey."

He looked up from his morning coffee. "Skye." He said, surprised.

Skye scratched at her ear, closing the door. "I- uh." She hesitated. "I wanted to apologise, for... you know."

Something in Coulson's eyes softened, and he gestured for her to sit. Skye did, fiddling with her hands. "I- I don't mean, like, cos you're my boss, or I want this thing off my wrist... I-I'm sorry cos you believed in me, and- I never really had that." Skye swallowed. "I let you down, and I'm sorry."

Coulson paused. "Thank you." He said softly. "I appreciate it."

Skye shifted. "Are you still mad at me?"

He sighed. "A little." He nodded, "But that's my problem, not yours. I'm sure you're still mad at us for not telling you about being sensate."

She shrugged. "Just... confused I guess. May's not talking to me."

Coulson smiled gently. "I don't think it's for the reasons you're imagining."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Skye nervously walked through the plane, trying to find May. She didn't know how it could be such a small place, but May stayed hidden from her. She momentarily toyed with the idea of just visiting to find out where she was, but discounted the idea.

Skye knocked softly on the cockpit door, but received no reply. She pulled it open, but saw that the plane was on autopilot. She sighed and turned, only to see May approaching.

Skye jumped, not hearing her, and took a moment to gather herself. "May, I..." She hesitated. May's face was unreadable. Skye sighed. "I- I wanted to apologise, for- for lying like that. I was scared, and it was stupid."

May remained impassive. Skye wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. She shuffled her feet. "And- uh, sorry for not mentioning that one time I kinda hallucinated you too." She mumbled, "I didn't really know what to do."

May's jaw worked, and Skye got the impression that she was holding herself back. "What you can do." She said in a cold voice, "Is stay the hell out of my head. Got it?"

Skye recoiled. May had always been tough, but she hadn't really felt threatened by her before. "I- yeah, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I just-"

"You just thought you could snoop around and you can't. You don't get to just read my mind like a book."

Skye took a step back, "O-okay." She stammered, "I won't, I promise, just- please..." Before she finished and said something that made her even angrier, Skye hurried away. That sick feeling in her stomach was back.

As Skye stumbled through the common area, she found that she had collided with Coulson. "Sorry." She muttered, trying to get past before he could see how upset she was. She could feel Fitzsimmons in the corner of her mind, but pushed them back.

"Woah, hey." He caught her arm. "What's up?"

Skye took a breath, trying to regain her composure. "I just- I guess May's angrier at me than I thought." She mumbled. "I- she said she doesn't want me in her head."

Oh. "Don't take it personally." He said, "She doesn't want anyone in her head." Skye seemed to have calmed down somewhat, and he gestured for her to sit. "There's something you should know."

Skye sat, rubbing her eyes. "I thought we were done with your info dump."

"Not quite." He said softly. "Skye, trauma in a cluster can do terrible things." He glanced down. "I told you there are four in our cluster, and that's true. But there used to be six. When the others died, we almost tore ourselves apart." Skye was looking on, eyes wide. "Another cluster that was made a little before ours had seven members. They all ended up together on a mission, but they were ambushed. Only one of them survived, and he's never been the same. Bobbi won't tell anyone who's in her cluster, that's how scared they all are."

Skye swallowed. "What does this have to do with May?"

Coulson leaned back in the seat. "She'd always been good at hiding, blocking us out." He said, then smiled, "When we were younger she'd use it to launch sneak attacks. Pranks."

Skye rolled her eyes, "May did not pull pranks."

He laughed. "I know, but she did." He hesitated. "She... well, she used to be different." Coulson smiled. "You remind me of her, a little."

Skye bit her tongue to keep from arguing that point. "Then what happened?"

Coulson paused, and Skye got the impression it was almost too hard for him to talk about. "We- were on a mission, several years ago, in Bahrain. We were there to try to retrieve a powered individual, but things went south." He clenched his fists. "Several of our agents and a civilian girl were taken, maybe to stop us following, I don't know." He closed his eyes. "May- said she could get them out. She went in, alone. Blocked us out for some reason, and by the time I got in-." He sighed. "It was like she was a different person. Since that day, she's blocked us all out. All she'll do is visit, but even that's only sometimes."

Skye nodded, looking at the ground fixedly. "Then- how come I can get in? I mean, I hacked the doors for her. I- saw that name in her mind."

"That's the thing Skye," Coulson leaned forwards. "I don't know. Sharing and the psychic connection are only things you're meant to share with your cluster." Skye stared. "By all rights you shouldn't be able to do any of that with May. Let alone past her walls."

"That's why she hates me."

She sounded so tearful that Coulson had to put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, no." He said, "She doesn't hate you. She's scared."

"Of me." Skye said, burying her face in her hands. "I don't want her to be scared of me."

"Just give her a little time, Skye." Coulson said. "I don't think she wants to be scared of you either. But she needs time to deal with this."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"You scared her."

"Damnit, I know."

"You know what kind of childhood she had, do you think that was a good idea?"

"Shut up Izzy!"

"Hey, I like that kid!" She snapped back. "I don't want to see you being so damn scared that you hurt her!"

Melinda glared. "I wouldn't hurt her, don't you know me better than that?!"

Izzy glared right back. "You know I don't mean physically. And you already have."

"Just leave me alone, okay!"

Before Izzy could snap back, there was a knock on the cockpit door. They both fell silent, and Izzy looked to Melinda expectantly, waiting for her to open the door.

"May?" The voice made them both stop. "It's me, I- you don't have to let me in, I just wanna talk." Izzy raised an eyebrow, and Melinda stayed in her seat. Skye put her hand against the door. "Look, I'm really sorry that I- did that." She said, "I- it was an emergency, and I didn't get that you wouldn't want me to." She bit her lip. "It was stupid, and I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again, and I'll stay out of your thoughts as much as I can. I just- I know I complain a lot, but I really don't want to stop training with you."

Izzy spotted the flicker of emotion on Melinda's face. When she didn't move, Izzy growled. "Melinda, I swear to god, if you don't go and talk to her right now-" Before she could finish, May had stood, and forcibly ejected her.

May walked to the door, keeping it shut. "I don't want to stop training you." She said.

Skye perked up, but kept quiet.

Melinda sighed. "I know you didn't mean to, but you did, and that- it's forgiveable, Skye, but I need some time."

"I can stay out of it." Skye promised. "I will. I- I'm really sorry." She said again, in a small voice.

"I know." May said. "We'll start training again in a week or so."

Skye sniffled. "Okay."