No matter how many times Melinda had done it before, she would never get used to the feeling of sitting in the waiting room of a medical facility, waiting to hear whether someone she cared about was still alive. It was too quiet, the artificial cold of the air conditioner cut right through her.

It was quiet. The only sound was of Fitz and Jemma shuffling in their seats once in a while, and the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Izzy sat between her and Coulson, Tori on Coulson's other side with a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." Izzy mumbled. "This is all my fault. I should have stopped her."

Melinda swallowed thickly. "You tried." She said. "Don't blame yourself. Blame the man who shot her."

Tori's eyes fell on Fitz and Jemma. "They shouldn't have to go through this. Not so early."

"We're not losing her." Coulson said softly. "It's not an option."

Izzy and Tori's eyes met. They could both feel the denial coming off the two of them, but neither had the heart to say the obvious. Neither wanted to accept it themselves.

Fitz had started to doze off on Jemma's shoulder when the doctor arrived. The four of them stood slowly, fearfully, hoping that everything would be okay.

Coulson stepped forwards, his heart in his throat. "How is she, doctor?"

The doctor's eyes swept over their faces. "Not good." She said softly. "The shots perforated her stomach and damaged the large and small intestines. We did everything we could, but... I'm afraid there's been too much damage."

Jemma felt like she was falling again. Floating, no ground beneath her feet, no world around her at all.

She vaguely heard Coulson ask, "So what's next?" As if there was anything they could do. Jemma knew what this meant.

"We can keep her comfortable." The doctor said as gently as she could, "But you're going to need to make the decision as to whether to keep her on life support."

Fitz's hand clutched hers, and Jemma was pretty sure it was the only thing keeping her from collapsing to the ground.

Coulson stared, heart in his throat. "You're saying there's nothing to be done?"

"I'm saying you need to call her family." He felt sick. "Get them here as soon as possible."

Phil turned. He saw Melinda, Fitz, Jemma, Izzy and Tori and Bobbi. "We're her family." He said softly.

"In that case I'm very sorry."

Blood pounded in Melinda's ears. She was vaguely aware of the others falling into their seats, staggering against walls, trying to comprehend what was happening, what they would have to do now. Not her. She knew exactly what to do now.

She pushed open the door to the cage, and even though she thought she could feel no more furious with the world, seeing Ian Quinn's smug, healthy face certainly proved her wrong. "Finally." He grinned, "I was starting to think you'd forgotten about-"

Before he could finish speaking, May slammed his face into the table. There was a certain satisfaction in how quickly his smile vanished. "Wait, wait, you can't!"

"Melinda stop!" Tori appeared behind her, "This won't change anything!"

Melinda ignored her. "Why? Because you're defenceless? Like she was?"

"Melinda!" Tori tried to seize control of her arms as May punched him repeatedly, blood pouring from Quinn's nose, lacerations and bruises forming quickly. She didn't hit him hard enough to knock him out. She wanted him to feel every moment of it.

"May!" A different voice now, one she couldn't ignore. She stopped, keeping a hold of Quinn's collar. "Outside." Coulson said, "Now."

She glared, throwing Quinn to the ground and walked from the room. "He deserves to die, not her!"

"Agreed." Coulson said, firmly taking control of their connection, "But right now Quinn doesn't matter, only Skye does, and I need you to fly the plane."

She shook off his attempts to make her calm down. She didn't want to be calm. She couldn't be calm. "You heard what the doctors said!"

May couldn't understand how Phil was so matter of fact. "They said there's nothing more they can do for her." He said, "But there are doctors who brought me back from the dead. If they can do that, I'm betting they can save Skye."

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

Melinda sat in the cockpit, knowing that Coulson was telling Fitzsimmons about how resurrection in the lab downstairs. This could be bad. She didn't know what effect this could have on Skye. Didn't know if this was the right thing to do.

"Melinda, I'm so sorry." Izzy appeared in the co-pilot's seat. "You know, if there's anything I can do..."

She nodded quietly. "I'll let you know."

Izzy pulled her into a brief but tight hug. "It'll be okay." She said, not entirely sure who she was trying to convince.

May nodded silently. "We'll help her."

"You already have." Izzy reminded, leaving.

Melinda sighed, getting to her feet. She made sure that her walls were as high and strong as she could make them before going to her encrypted hardline to Director Fury. If he dared say anything about this not being what it was for, she would kick his ass. Director or not.

She flicked the lock to the door and pulled out the phone. It rang in her ear for a minute before cutting off.

She tried again.

No response.

Melinda cursed. Of course. Never when they needed help.

She put it back, unlocking the door.

This could leave Skye broken, wishing she had died, hating them for bringing her back. And Melinda felt terrible, because despite all that, she would do it anyway. She could bring Skye back because she needed that kid alive and happy.

She hated herself for it, but she needed Skye to be okay.

"SHIELD 616 this is tower Michael Tango, you are in violation of SHIELD directive 1297."

May frowned. Disobeying a direct order? Tori appeared. "You still have Quinn on the plane." She supplied. "You were ordered to hand him over."

Melinda groaned. "Great." She pressed the comms. "This is SHIELD 616, how do we proceed?"

"Prepare to be boarded and relinquish command."

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

Coulson glared at the ceiling as May came out of the cockpit. "If they scratch our paint I'm gonna be pissed." He muttered.

May rolled her eyes. "Phil. What are we supposed to do here?"

He shrugged. "Talk our way out of it, it'll be fine."

"It will not be-"

"Garrett." Melinda stopped, staring at the man climbing down their entry hatch. "What are you doing here?"

Garrett grinned. "Well as opposed to the dynamic duo, I still follow orders."

Melinda rolled her eyes and Coulson smirked. "You're the worst at following orders."

"True." Garrett said, "But I like this one. You're to hand Ian Quinn over for immediate transport to the Fridge."

Another form dropped down the hatch and Melinda was immediately on her guard. As skilled as Garrett was at hand to hand combat, they wouldn't send him without a specialist to back him up. "Antoine Triplett." Garret said, "Agent Phillip Coulson. You wouldn't know it to look at him, but Phil's one of our best." He nodded towards May, "Though I mostly chalk that up to being linked with the Cavalry."

Both stared, shocked. "Garrett what the hell?" Coulson asked, visiting beside him rather than speaking out loud. "You know we have to stay secret, even within SHIELD."

Garrett shot him a smile. "I took over as Trip's S.O. not too long ago." He said aloud. "Sensate without a cluster. Yet. Medical almost stopped him from going into the field when I was walking by and saw his scans. Can't do crap until his cluster pops up though."

Trip shot them both a nod. "It's an honour to meet you both. Garrett's told me a lot about you."

May raised an unimpressed eyebrow, not saying a word. If they tried to take Quinn, she would fight. Even just for the right to kill him herself. Garrett smirked. "Let's talk." He said, "Instead of just having Agent May here kick your ass Trip. And she would."

"I don't doubt it." Trip said, noting May's stance and expression. He dropped his. "Somewhere I should wait while you guys uh- talk?"

"Here." May said coldly.

Trip held up his hands, "Hey, I just figured you wouldn't want me listening in."

"Won't be a problem." Coulson said, visiting Garrett, feeling May do the same. "Now what the hell is going on? Why are you really here?"

May raised an eyebrow when she saw how Garrett's face changed.

Phil nodded, understanding. "You've been chasing him too."

"Since Malta." Garrett said, "And yesterday your train job cost my team months of work."

"You can't have him." May said firmly.

Garrett looked at her. "Well it's nice to hear your voice again so clear." He said, "And I wasn't asking."

"He shot one of my agents." Phil snapped, "She's on life support in a capsule downstairs. We are taking her to the trauma centre in Bethesda."

Garrett seemed interested. "He actually pulled the trigger?"

Coulson nodded and May looked away. "Skye infiltrated his compound. Seems he took it personally."

Garrett shook his head. "I never thought he'd have the guts."

"To shoot an unarmed girl." May spat.

"To pull the trigger." He shrugged. "Thought he might be scared to get his hands dirty. I've lost three of mine chasing him."

"Then you understand why we can't hand him over until we save her."

"Because if she doesn't make it..."

Coulson nodded.

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

May was pretty sure that one glance at her would have Quinn spilling his guts. But she understood why Phil didn't want her in there. He could almost definitely sense the vengeful rage still emanating from her.

She knew it wouldn't help though. Rage had it's place, and it was after hope was lost. She walked to the lab. "You wanted to see me?"

Fitzsimmons looked up. "We just got off the phone with the trauma centre in Bethesda, Doctor Streiten is off the grid."

"So we'll find a different doctor there who operated on Coulson."

They looked at each other. "That's the thing." Fitz began.

"Coulson was never treated there," Jemma said, "The doctors, none of them exist."

"That doesn't make sense."

"I know!" Jemma exclaimed, "The room number, the drugs used, none of them are part of SHIELD."

Before May could respond there was the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. "Damn, this place is huge." Trip said, "Thought I'd see if I can lend a hand in here since we don't need any more faces caved in."

Fitz frowned. "Who the bloody hell is that- Oh God." In the moment that he met Trip's eyes, the two of them stumbled back, clutching their heads. Jemma caught Fitz before he hit the table laden with beakers, and Trip grabbed ahold of the railing of the stairs.

"Damn." Trip swore, eyes pressed shut, "You could have just said 'no thanks'."

May looked between them, then took a breath. "Agent Triplett," She said as calmly as she could, "This is Agents Fitz and Simmons."

"Great." Trip muttered, still clutching his head. "Do either of them have any aspirin?"

Jemma seemed to have caught on. "Would you please open your eyes?" She asked politely. "There's a theory I'd like to test."

Trip did so, squinting at the pain. When his eyes met Jemma's the two of them groaned in further pain. "Oh bloody hell that smarts."

Trip kept one hand over his eyes. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

Jemma rubbed her eyes. "I think," She said, "You're one of us." She managed to look at him and smile. "Nice to meet you. Sorry it's taken so long."

Trip laughed, shaking their hands. "It's great to meet you." He smiled, "I'm not all that sure what I expected, but... shouldn't there be more of us?"

Jemma and Fitz looked at each other and May's stomach dropped. "I'll go tell Coulson." She said, an excuse to let them talk alone.

Fitz stepped forwards. "You should come with us." He said softly.

Trip followed the two of them to the med pod. When his eyes fell on the girl in the hospital bed, he understood. "Oh no." He murmured, gently touching the glass. "I'm sorry."

"We're going to save her." Fitz said firmly.

Trip nodded. "What can I do?"

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

It only took Fitzsimmons twenty minutes to come tearing up the stairs. "We know where to go!" Jemma gasped, "Trip has access to the files we needed to use and there was an encryption-"

Coulson held up a hand to silence her. "Where do we have to go?"

Fitz followed immediately behind her, "A facility in the Algerian mountains." He panted, "We've managed to get the coordinates off another file, it isn't far."

"Go." Coulson said, "Tell May, get us there as fast as you can."

Fitz nodded. "Yessir."

Melinda flew the plane to the guest house, knowing that finding a way to save Skye could doom her further in the long run. She stayed behind, letting Coulson and Garrett go in with Fitz. She heard the gunshots they dodged, and saw the protocol for the base going up. She held Skye down when she started seizing. She begged whatever higher power there might be to let her live.

She saw the door labelled T.A.H.I.T.I. briefly before Phil blocked her out. She heard Fitz telling her to get the plane off the ground right now.

May pulled the plane up, despite not knowing whether or not Phil had made it on board yet. She went against every instinct she had and took them into the air.

A moment later, Phil was back. The relief she felt was undercut by him shouting at Jemma not to give Skye the serum. It didn't matter anyway. It was done.

May made it into the med pod just after Phil did, struggling to see Skye past the others.

"Come on girl." Trip said, "I still wanna know you."

Jemma smiled. "It's working." She breathed, hardly believing it, "She's stabilising."

As if to make her eat her words, Skye bucked, back arching, choking on the oxygen tube.

Coulson stared as the machines started beeping frantically. "What it is? What's happening?"

Jemma shook her head, trying to hold Skye's still. "Come on." She whispered across their connection. "I don't know if you can hear me Skye, but please. There's still so much we haven't done together. Fight."

Jemma would never know if her words had worked or not, but a few moments later, Skye sagged in the hospital bed. Her breathing eased. Her heart rate slowed. Jemma swallowed, looking at the monitors. She nodded tearfully. "She's going to be okay."

Garrett crossed his arms. "What the hell just happened?"

Trip gave the faintest hint of a smile. "Girl's a fighter."

Garrett punched him lightly, "You'll get on great then."

May looked to Coulson. "You did it." She said softly. Gratefully. She couldn't have done this. She would have killed Quinn and be done with it. Sometimes Phil's blind hope and determination saved the day.

He glanced at her momentarily, then promptly left the room.

Melinda went to follow, but was caught by Garrett before she could make it far. "How come Trip didn't know he was in their cluster until now?" He asked. "To hear those two talk they've been hooked up for months."

She hesitated. "Their formation was interrupted." May said stiffly. "So it's... complicated."

Garrett raised his eyebrows. "Who's the parent?"

Melinda set her jaw and crossed her arms, refusing to give anything away. Of course it didn't matter. Who cared who the parent was anyway?

Garrett laughed softly. "Right." He said, "Never took you for the type, but sure."

She glared. "Why are you asking questions?"

He shrugged. "Their connection won't work without eye contact, right? Like visiting the others. I'm just trying to think up an excuse for HQ so we can hang around for a few days. I don't know if she'll need to make eye contact with Trip, but better safe than sorry. They could use someone with his skills."

Melinda thought about it, looking through the window at Skye's form. She was breathing. Steady, alive. She had to be grateful for that. "Trip can stay for a few days if you file a request." She said, "Claim it's to consolidate his training. You don't know crap about martial arts."

Garrett grinned. "You say the sweetest things."

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

Phil stared at his desk. He could feel Melinda gently pushing, but didn't let her in. He didn't want her to see. He didn't want any of them to see. They didn't deserve it.

There was a knock on his office door. He looked up. "Hey."

"Hey." Melinda said softly. "Do you mind?"

Phil shook his head and she entered, approaching his desk. "You did the impossible today." May said softly. "Saved Skye's life." She paused, taking in his expression, the surface of his emotions. "Why aren't you happy about it?"

Phil swallowed, burying the memory of what he saw. Of the half of an alien body floating in a tube. Hooked up to a hundred machines, draining it's blood. "I just didn't want Skye to go through what I went through." He said honestly. "I didn't want her to suffer like I suffered."

"She didn't." May said softly. "She's okay."

"Yeah. And I'm happy about that, I am. Just-" He winced. "Being down there... it messed with my head. And now she's okay I can't quite believe that we did it. You know?"

"I do." She said, sitting across from him. "But you did. You saved her."

"We saved her." Phil corrected, taking her hand and weaving their fingers together. "You saved her too."

She tried to pull away but couldn't. She looked down. "All I did was fly the plane Phil."

"You did more than that." He murmured. "You brought them together. If it wasn't for you we couldn't have saved her at all."

"If it wasn't for me," May corrected, "She never would have gotten hurt in the first place."

"Melinda-"

"Just don't Phil." She pulled away. "I don't want to..." She sighed. "Just let me feel this way, okay? I can't just pretend this didn't happen. If it wasn't for me she'd be safe."

"She'd be in her van." Coulson said. "Alone. Still looking for her family, looking for people who would care about her. She was looking for friends, and you gave her that. Only you."

Melinda shook her head. That didn't matter. Friends, family, home, none of that mattered when you were dead.

She jumped when arms wrapped around her gently. "She needed you." Phil said, visiting. He knew she wouldn't let him hug her otherwise. "Just as much as she did any of us. Maybe more." He hesitated. "And- I think you need her too."

"Stop it." May said softly. She knew what he was getting at, and she didn't care. "Just... please."

"Okay." He murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Just... think about it. You didn't curse Skye by bringing her into all of this."

May really wished that were true. But all she could think about was the warnings about Coulson's procedure. About Skye's body seizing in the hospital bed. The pallor to her face. She thought of everything she had been through, what Coulson and Garrett and all of them had been through, and she wondered if this wasn't a curse after all.