Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya. This one is probably the longest so far, because the final chapter is by far the longest. :) Really hope you all enjoy this one. I had a good time writing it.
Quick shoutout to Infinity Skye for being almost spot on with how this thing plays out. For a moment I thought you must have been psychic because you told me how you wanted things to happen, and part of what you said is already what I had written. :) So kudos to you.
And now, everyone, enjoy. :)
*November*
The hospital double doors burst open, a small group of paramedics wheeling a gurney through the doors and into the hospital. Doctors and nurses immediately swarm around the gurney, beginning their work.
"What do we have?" A doctor asks one of the paramedics as they quickly wheel the gurney down the long hospital hallway.
"32 year old female, piece of rebar pierced the far left side of her abdomen, complete through and through," the paramedic answers in rapid fire.
"Okay," the doctor nods his head. "Let's get her to the O.R. and prepped for surgery immediately."
"Bobbi..." Skye gasps out, her hand reaching out for her friend.
Bobbi rushes over to the side of the gurney, halting the medical staff from continuing down the hallway. "I'm right here," she grips Skye's hand tightly in both of hers.
"Call Grant..." Skye swallows thickly.
"I will," Bobbi nods vigorously. "Don't worry; I'll make sure he knows what's happening."
"Thanks..."
"Ma'am," the doctor speaks up to Bobbi, "we need to get her into surgery right now."
"Right, sorry," Bobbi nods, letting go of Skye's hand. "Please save her, she has a three year old daughter at home."
"We'll do what we can to make sure that little girl doesn't lose her mother," the doctor tells her. "I have to go now so I can start operating but I'll come out and let you know how things are as soon as we're done."
Bobbi nods, "Okay, thank you." She wrings her hands together as she watches her friend being wheeled down the hallway towards the operating room.
Turning around, she walks down into the waiting room to find the rest of the immediate team sitting in the chairs lining the walls.
"You guys got here fast," she says.
"Bob," Hunter speaks up, standing from his seat and making his way over to her. "Hey, are you alright?" He places one hand on her lower back to try and comfort her.
She nods her head, "Yeah, I'm okay." She turns her attention to the rest of the team, "Uh, they just wheeled her down into surgery so it's probably going to be a while until we know anything. The doctor said he'd come out after the surgery to let us know what's going on."
"How bad was she when you guys got here?" Coulson asks from his seat.
"A piece of rebar went clean through the left side of her abdomen," Bobbi replies. She looks down at her blood stained hands, "I'm uh, I'm going to go and wash up."
Hunter leans closer to her and lowers his voice, "Do you want me or Mack to call Grant and tell him what's going on?"
Bobbi shakes her, "No, that's okay. I think I can do it. I told Skye that I would."
"Alright," he nods. "Come and get me if you can't, though, yeah?"
She nods her head and gives him a grateful smile before turning and making her way towards the bathroom.
Once inside, she goes for the closest sink to her, desperately scrubbing at her hands to wash off as much blood as she can. As she scrubs, she lets a few tears fall from her eyes and roll down her cheeks, splashing against the porcelain and mixing with the tap water and blood.
Turning off the faucet, she grabs a few paper towels to dry her hands off and takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down before pulling her phone out of her back pocket. Her hands still shaking, she opens up the shell program and hits call on the second number listed, holding the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Grant," she replies.
"Bobbi? Hey. I don't hear from you too often. What's going on?"
"It's Skye," she swallows thickly. "There was an accident."
"What happened?"
"Um, she, Joey, Lincoln, and I were going after someone under cover, not an Inhuman, just a regular guy, and we chased him into this abandoned building that was having some construction work done to it. I guess she didn't hear him or feel his presence through vibrations because one minute she was standing on this platform and the next she was lying on the ground with a piece of rebar through her abdomen. She's in surgery right now, but before they took her back there she told me to call you and let you know what's happening."
"Well thank you for calling me. Which SHIELD facility are you at?"
"We're not," she tells him. "We're at the hospital that's in the next town over from where you live. Her injury was really bad and it might have gotten worse if we tried to get her to a SHIELD facility."
"Okay. Jess is still at preschool but I'll pull her out right now and then we'll be there as soon as we can."
Bobbi shakes her head, "No, let her finish her class. Skye's still in surgery and I'm not sure how much longer it'll take. So just let Jess finish her class and then you guys can head over. Just make sure you tell her gymnastics coach that she won't be there today."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Skye probably won't be out of surgery for a while."
"Okay, thanks. I'll do that."
"Good. I'll be waiting here for you when you guys arrive."
"Thanks. And Bobbi?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for being there for her."
"Anytime."
She hangs up the phone and then slides down the wall, letting the dam break and more tears flow down her face.
"Family of Skye?"
Coulson immediately stands up from his chair and takes a step forward, "She doesn't have any. We're the closest that she has."
Bobbi, Hunter, and Mack share a look, the three of them fighting to bite their tongues and not say anything about Grant or Jessica.
"Okay," the doctor breathes out with a slight furrow in his brows. "Well, the surgery went well and she's in her room now resting."
"Can we go back and see her?" Jemma asks.
The doctor shakes his head, "Not right now, I'm sorry. She needs to rest and not be disturbed right now. But I'll let you know when you can go back."
"Thank you," Coulson says.
The doctor nods, "Of course." He turns around and makes his way over to the main desk.
Bobbi leans closer to Hunter, "I'll be right back." She stands from her chair and walks over to the doctor. "Hi," she says to him. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"
"Of course," he nods, turning towards her.
"Great. So um, that thing about Skye not having family, it's not entirely true. She has a husband and a daughter. But most of the people out there don't know because they aren't on the best terms with her husband."
"Okay, that's understandable. And I think I remember you mentioning something about a daughter when she was brought in."
Bobbi nods, "Yeah. Well, they're on their way here and I was hoping that you could let me take them back to Skye's room for a bit before the others go back."
The doctor hesitates, "I don't know..."
"Please, doctor. She hasn't seen them in a few weeks and her husband is really worried about her."
The doctor sighs, "Alright, you can take them back to see her when they arrive."
She breathes out a sigh of relief, "Thank you so much."
"No problem," the doctor smiles. "But if the others ask to go back and see her, I won't really be able to stop them without explaining."
"That's okay," Bobbi says. "Thank you." She turns around and makes her way back over to the team. "I just had a few questions for the doctor," she tells them all, sitting back down in her chair.
...
Ten minutes later Bobbi hears her phone go off in her pocket. She pulls it out and unlocks it to see a new text in the shell program from Grant Just parked the car and we're headed towards the building now. How's Skye?
She's out of surgery but they aren't letting anyone back to see her yet. I talked to her doctor and he's going to let you and Jess in to see Skye before everyone else. Wait for me in the back stairwell and I'll take you to her room. The team is all here in the waiting room.
Okay. Thank you.
She locks her phone and then stands up from her chair, "I'm going to go and use the bathroom real fast. Let me know when we're allowed to go back and see her." She looks over at Hunter and Mack and gives them both a subtle look before making her way out of the room.
Reaching the back stairwell, she pushes the door open to see Grant pacing back and forth, a worried expression on his face; Jessica is sitting on his hip, her head resting on his shoulder, one arm wrapped around his neck, and Bug clutched tightly in her hand.
"Grant," she speaks up, getting his attention.
He turns to face her, "Bobbi. Where is she?"
"This way," she beckons for him to follow behind her and then makes her way out of the stairwell and down the hallway towards Skye's room.
"Hola, Aunt Bobbi," Jessica says quietly from her place.
Bobbi smiles at the young girl, "Hola, Jessie."
"¿Por qué está mamá aquí?" Jessica asks.
"Mamá got hurt today so she came here so that the doctors could fix her up as good as new."
"Quiero ver a mamá," Jessica frowns.
"You'll get to see her in just a minute, angel," Grant tells his daughter.
"Here we are," Bobbi finally says when they reach the correct hospital room. "She might be sleeping still, so be quiet when you go inside. Oh, hang on," she digs into her pocket and pulls out a thin chain with Skye's wedding ring hanging off of it. She holds it out to Grant, "I managed to get this off of her before they put her in the ambulance."
"Thank you, Bobbi," Grant smiles gratefully at the woman, taking the ring from her.
She gives him a small smile and waves off the thanks, "It was no problem, really. Now go on in. I'll stay out here and make sure you guys aren't disturbed, especially by the team."
Grant gives her a small nod and then pushes the door open, stepping through it and closing it behind him.
"Daddy?" Jessica speaks up.
"Yeah, angel?"
"Why is mamá sleeping? It's not bedtime."
"Mamá's sleeping so that the medicine the doctors gave her can work on making sure she's all better on the inside."
"Oh."
Grant moves towards the bed and sits down in the chair next to the bed, setting Jessica in his lap.
"Can mamá hear us?" Jessica asks after a minute.
"I know she can hear you," Grant tells his daughter. "Say whatever you want to say to her."
Jessica looks at her dad for a moment before leaning forward in his lap, resting her tiny arms on the edge of the bed. "Hola mamá," she says quietly. "Aunt Bobbi says we hafta be quiet 'cause you're sleeping. But I think you should wake up now. Cause it's not bedtime yet. Bedtime is when it's dark and there's no sun. But there's sun outside still so it's not bedtime yet. So you should wake up and you can sing to me. Te quiero mucho, mamá."
Skye shifts slightly in the bed, causing Jessica to jump and gasp. She turns her head towards Grant, "Papá."
"I see, Jess," Grant nods his head, not taking his eyes off of his wife as he pulls Jessica back into his lap.
"Do you think it's 'cause I was talking to her?" Jessica asks him.
Grant smiles, "I'm sure that's exactly what it was, angel."
"Maybe we can sing to her," Jessica suggests. "Mamá sings to me when I feel icky and then I feel less icky."
"I think that's a great idea," Grant smiles. "You pick a song and start, and then I'll join you, okay?"
Jessica nods her head, "Okay." She thinks for a minute and then opens her mouth to start singing, "Welcome to wherever you are, this is your life, you've made it this far. Welcome you've got to—"
"I'm so sorry, Grant. I promise I tried to stop them from coming inside, but a nurse said that they could come back and they all just pushed right past me."
Grant slowly turns around in his seat to see the SHIELD team standing in the doorway; Coulson is at the front of the pack while Bobbi is standing off to the side with an apologetic look on her face.
"It's okay," Grant says to Bobbi. "At least you tried, that's what counts here."
"Ward," Coulson sneers out through gritted teeth and then stalks over to him, towering over the man as Grant is still sitting in the chair. "What the hell are you doing here, you psychopath? Are you here to gloat or something else equally as sickening? How did they even let someone like you back here? They should've just shot you down on the spot."
"Papá," Jessica whimpers, curling herself further into Grant's arms. "Haz que pare. Por favor."
Without taking his eyes off of Coulson, Grant speaks softly to his daughter, "Jessie, go over and see Aunt Bobbi, okay?"
Jessica nods her head, slides down out of Grant's lap and rushes into the awaiting arms of Bobbi. The tall agent stands up straight, holding the little girl tightly against her as she buries her face into the crook of Bobbi's neck and lets out a few more whimpers.
"Shh. You're okay, Jess." Bobbi rubs a hand soothingly up and down Jessica's back.
Everyone, except Hunter and Mack, stares at Bobbi in complete shock.
"I know how you feel about me, Coulson," Grant speaks up to his former boss, shifting in the chair so he's sitting up more, "but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't speak to me like that with my daughter present."
"Your daughter?" Coulson asks astonished.
"Clearly you heard her call me Papá. It means 'dad' in Spanish," Grant tells him.
"I know what it means," Coulson snaps. "And there's no way that she's your child."
"Yeah," Simmons speaks up. "No one in their right mind would have a child with you."
"Call me crazy, then."
Grant's head whips around to look at Skye, his eyes wide and one hand immediately going for hers. "Skye," he says.
Her eyes slowly open and she smiles weakly at him, "Hey."
"Hey," he smiles back. He reaches up onto the table next to the bed and pours her a small glass of water, handing it over to her. "You're probably really thirsty; surgery can do that to you."
Skye takes the cup from him and downs the entirety of it before handing it back. "Thanks, babe," she gives him a grateful smile.
"You're welcome," he smiles back. "Oh." He opens his hand to show her the ring lying in his palm, not caring that the team is gathered in the room. "Missing something? Bobbi managed to get this off of you before they brought you in. I'm thinking that you might want it back."
She smiles, "Definitely."
"Do you want it around your neck?" he asks her.
She shakes her head, "Mm-mm." She swallows, "You put that ring exactly where you put it a year and a half ago, Mr. Ward."
Grant smiles, "It would be my pleasure, Mrs. Ward." He unclasps the chain, allows the ring to fall into his palm, and then slides the gold band around the third finger of Skye's left hand. He lifts her hand to his lips and presses a single kiss to the knuckle near her ring. "Perfect."
"Just as it should be," she smiles at him.
"¡Mamá!" Jessica shouts from Bobbi's arms when she realizes what is happening on the other side of the room. She slides down out of her aunt's arms and rushes over to the bed, climbing up and immediately throwing herself across Skye's body to hug her.
Skye groans quietly at the slight pain in her side.
Jessica pulls her head up quickly, her eyes wide, "¿Te lastimé, mamá? Lo siento, lo siento."
Skye smiles and runs her hand through Jessica's hair, "No, baby girl. You didn't hurt me. Mamá's just a little sore still from getting hurt. But I think your hugs are actually making me feel a little bit better."
Jessica beams, "Te amo, mamá."
"I love you, too, Jess," Skye tells her daughter as the little girl lies back down against her. She smoothes back some of her daughter's hair and presses a kiss to the top of her head.
"Skye," Coulson speaks up, "would you care to explain to us exactly what's going on here?"
"I think it's kind of obvious," Skye replies. "Grant and I are married and we have a daughter together."
"But why him?" Lincoln speaks up with a hurt expression on his face. "After everything you said that he did and the way that he hurt you and everyone else. Why him?"
Skye sighs. She looks at the team, "Well to be completely honest with all of you, neither of us really expected or meant for any of this to happen. All it was supposed to be when we started fooling around was, in my case, a way to relieve all the stress that built up from being an agent. I'm not too sure why Grant agreed to it all."
"You know how I've always felt about you, Skye. Even if I did think you'd never actually be with me for real, do you honestly think I'd pass up such an opportunity to be with you?" he asks his wife with a small smile.
She laughs quietly, "No, I guess not." She turns her attention back to the team, "But anyways, because of all of our motel room rendezvous, I found out I was pregnant with this little angel here," she smiles down at the quiet form of her daughter. She looks back up at the team, "I decided I didn't want Jessica around anything involving such an insane life that we all lead, so I had her stay with Grant and I'd go visit them every few months while I figured things out with my own team."
"That's why you were always leaving," Simmons speaks up, the realization dawning on her. "And why you were always so interested in your phone, too."
Skye nods her head, "Grant always sends me pictures and videos of Jess while I'm on base."
"Hang on," Coulson says. He turns around to face Hunter and Bobbi, "You two knew about this, didn't you?"
Bobbi takes a small step forward and speaks up, "When you asked me and Hunter to tail Skye it was the same day as Jessica's first birthday party."
"It was actually a pretty good party," Hunter adds in from where he's leaning back against one of the walls. "I'd give it about a five out of ten. Although, at her second birthday party there was face painting, which is always a fun time, so I'd say that party is about a seven. Of course, the bouncy castle and Mulan at her third birthday party was much more fun, so I think I'd give that one a nine. Because no matter how great a party is, there's still always some room for improvement."
Everyone just looks at him.
He shrugs, "What? I like parties."
"Anyway," Skye smiles, "yes, Hunter and Bobbi knew about all of this and kept it a secret, but only because I asked them to. Then Mack found out because Hunter's an idiot, and he agreed to keep it a secret too. I'm sorry if any of you are feeling hurt or betrayed in any way, but I had to do what I thought was best for my family."
"Does anyone else know about this?" Coulson asks. "Or was it just you three?" Coulson looks pointedly at Bobbi, Mack, and Hunter.
"I knew," May speaks up.
Everyone's head whips towards her.
Skye's eyes go wide, "What? How on earth did you find out?"
May shrugs, "I'm good at what I do."
"Um, okay. Exactly how much did you know about before today?"
"Not a lot," May admits. "But I did know that something was going on. I figured out bits and pieces here and there; I knew Ward was a major part of it, but I didn't know about your daughter."
"Why didn't you say anything to anybody?" Ward asks her.
"It wasn't my business to tell." She looks at Skye, "At first I was concerned, because of Ward and knowing everything that he did and is capable of, but then I noticed how much happier you seemed to be after you came back from those months you took off which I'm assuming must have been when you were pregnant."
Skye nods, "Yeah, it was."
"Well, like I said, I didn't know a whole lot, but I knew something was up. You were looking at your phone a lot more, you were in your room a lot, you would take a lot of private phone calls, and you were leaving every few months for days at a time. And whenever you came back you seemed to be somewhere else."
"How come you never asked me about it?" Skye questions.
May shrugs, "I figured you'd tell us on your own time, when you were ready to do so."
"Wow," Skye says. "This is…completely unexpected. I had no idea that you knew."
A soft knock at the door pulls everyone's attention to it to see the doctor peeking his head into the room. "Well you certainly have quite the crowd gathered here," the doctor smiles, stepping into the room and closing the door. "You must be the husband," he smiles at Grant, holding a hand out to him.
"Grant Ward," he accepts the doctors' hand. "Thank you for saving my wife, sir."
The doctor smiles, "Best part about the job." He steps over to the end of Skye's bed and smiles down at her, "How are you feeling?"
"Sore," Skye tells him. "But I'm sure that's to be expected."
"Yes it is," the doctor nods. "I'm pleased to tell you that your surgery went very smoothly and we were able to repair all the damage that was done without harming your baby in any way. So everything should be compl—"
"Whoa, wait a minute," Skye interrupts him. "Baby?" she raises her eyebrows. "I'm—I'm pregnant?" she asks, tears immediately springing to her eyes.
The doctor nods his head, "Yes. You're still very early on in this pregnancy, so the baby hasn't gotten very big yet, which means it was nowhere close to the rebar when you got pierced. Your baby is perfectly fine. Though we'd like to keep you here a few days for observation just to be sure."
Skye nods her head and lets out a breath, "Wow. This is so amazing." She looks over at her husband with tears in her eyes, "Grant…"
He smiles, tears shining in his own eyes, "Yeah, I heard him. We're finally going to get that other baby we both want," he grins, leaning across the bed to kiss her. When he pulls back, he has a few tears running down his face.
"Why are you crying?" Skye laughs quietly, wiping the tears from his cheeks with the pad of her thumb.
"I'm just so happy," he smiles.
"Me too," she smiles back.
"Well I guess I'll leave you now," the doctor speaks up quietly with a small smile. "You seem to be in good hands. I'll come back to check on you a little bit later." He turns and makes his way past the team and out of the room.
Grant leans down to press a kiss to Skye's forehead and then sits back down in the chair behind him, grabbing a hold of her hand in his and letting his wide smile show.
"Skye? Oh my goodness, are you okay?"
Looking past the team, Skye smiles when she sees Kara and Ben entering the room, completely ignoring the SHIELD team, and heading straight for her bedside.
"Hey Kara," Skye greets the other woman. "Hey Ben," she smiles at the man.
"Hey," Ben smiles back.
"Grant called me on his way over and told me what happened," Kara speaks up. "Ben and I were out running some errands but we got here as fast as we could. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Skye nods. "But my side is probably going to be a little tender for a while. And then I'm going to get a lot bigger over the next few months."
Kara furrows her brows, "What do you…" She gasps, "Wait, are you pregnant?"
Skye smiles and nods, "Mm-hmm. We found out just now when the doctor was telling us how everything went with the surgery."
Kara smiles and leans down to hug Skye, "Oh my goodness. Congratulations. I know you guys have been trying for a while; this is so exciting."
"Thanks, Kara," Skye smiles at the women when she pulls away.
"Congratulations, you guys," Ben smiles at them, clapping Grant on the shoulder. "This is really exciting news."
"Thanks, man," Grant smiles up at him.
Jessica stirs on Skye's lap and then lifts her head up, "¿Mamá?"
"I'm right here, angel," Skye smiles, running a hand through the little girls hair.
Skye looks up at Grant, silently asking him a question with her eyes. He gives her a smile and nods his head. Skye looks back down at Jessica, "Hey Jessie, mamá has something to tell you."
"¿Qué es?" Jessica asks.
"Well, in about nine months you're going to be a big sister," Skye smiles.
"¿De verdad?"
Skye nods her head, "Mm-hmm."
"Bueno," Jessica says simply, letting her head drop back down, her eyelids fluttering.
Grant just chuckles, "I think she'd probably be more excited about it if she wasn't half asleep."
"You're probably right," Skye says. "This is around nap time for her."
"Mamá, tengo hambre. Daddy didn't give me lunch," she lets out a yawn.
Skye turns and fixes Grant with a look.
He gives her a sheepish smile, "We were in a hurry after she got done with school and all I could think about was getting here to see you to make sure you were okay."
"Ben and I can take her down to the cafeteria and get her some food," Kara offers.
"That'd be great, Kara, thanks," Skye smiles. She looks down at Jessica, "Jess, baby, Auntie Kara and Uncle Ben are going to take you to go get something to eat, okay?"
Jessica nods her head and then turns towards Kara and smiles, "Hi, Auntie Kara. Hi, Uncle Ben."
"Hi, ladybug," Kara smiles down at her. "¿Tienes hambre?"
Jessica nods her head and then holds her arms out to the older woman.
Kara just smiles and shakes her head, lifting Jessica up off of the bed and settling her on her hip. "Grant, do you want anything?"
He shakes his head, "No, I'm good."
"Babe, you should probably eat something too," Skye tells him.
He sighs, "Fine." He looks up at Kara, "Just get me something small, please. Nothing too heavy."
"You got it," Kara nods her head and then makes her way out of the room and down towards the cafeteria, Ben following right behind her, one hand resting on her lower back.
Once they leave the room, May speaks up, "Was that Agent 33? The woman who used my face?"
"Her name is Kara, and she's Jessica's godmother," Skye replies.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this," Joey interjects.
"Secret family," Hunter pipes in. "She's had a secret family for about three and a half years now."
"Right," Joey nods. "So that ring I found last year when we were sparring was..."
"Actually my wedding ring," Skye nods.
"And when were you planning on telling any of the rest of us about all of this?" he asks Skye.
"Honestly? I don't know. I didn't really expect for it to happen like this, but I guess the cat's out of the bag. Now you guys know why I would leave every few months and why I always seemed so distant. But I think now is the perfect time to not be so distant anymore."
Grant looks at Skye with hope written all over his face, "Skye?"
She grabs his hand and nods her head with a small smile, "Mm-hmm, it's time."
"Time?" Coulson asks. "Time for what?"
"Time for me to go home...for good."
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Now the entire team knows. And it turns out, May knew something was going on for a while. What a sneaky lady.
*Why is mommy here?
*I want to see mommy.
*Make him stop. Please.
*Did I hurt you, mommy? I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
*What is it?
*Really?
Alright, next chapter...will be the last. It'll be up on Saturday at some point during the day.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!