"Skye?!" Jemma called out quietly with worry lining her voice. She didn't want to wake the others, but she had to find Skye. She poked her head out into the hall from Skye's bunk, but she had disappeared. Jemma slipped out of the tiny bunk and started to head towards the cargo hold, where eight months ago Skye could almost always be found, whether training with Ward or playing with her laptop in the black van.
As Jemma approached the stairs, she already heard the rattling of chains and the thumping sounds of impact as Skye threw her fists at the punching bag. Jemma watched quietly from the rail as Skye continued to let her emotions escape her body. She'd never seen Skye so dedicated to training, she'd never seen her throw an actual punch at the bag and actually put effort into it.
A battle took place in Jemma's mind as she decided whether or not to go talk to her. On one side, she didn't want Skye's negative emotions boiling over while she was alone, but on the other, she might appreciate being alone. She hadn't been alone much since before Ward found her in the cafe a little over two weeks ago.
Jemma decided she would wait a few minutes, let Skye work through whatever she was feeling, and then approach her.
When more time found itself between each of Skye's punches and she tossed her gloves on the ground Jemma knew it was time to talk to her. The perfect opportunity arose when Skye climbed into the van, exhausted.
Jemma slowly made her way down the steps into the cargo hold, the metal freezing under the toes of her bare feet.
Skye was aware that Jemma was coming and took a deep breath as the passenger door opened and Jemma slid in next to her. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Jemma finally cleared her throat.
"Skye-"
"Jemma." Skye interrupted her. They each turned to face each other at the same time and the two sets of brown eyes stared into each other.
"If I did anything to make you feel uncomfortable, or unsafe, in any way..." Jemma began. She had to take a breath because tears were beginning to swell in her eyes. "I don't want to do that to you, but I want you to know that you don't have to hide from me." Jemma told her. Skye seemed to be soaking this in. Jemma slid one hand onto Skye's waist, and she tried to jerk away before Jemma stopped her with a soft whisper.
"Do you trust me?" Jemma asked. Skye was mesmerized by the look in Jemma's eyes, she thought they were so beautiful. Skye couldn't do anything but not. Yes, she trusted Jemma.
Underneath Skye's shirt, Jemma lightly pressed a palm over one of the bumpy scars on Skye's side.
"These don't change anything for me. I'm not going to see you any differently and I think you're beautiful. Not despite them, with them. Whether you like it or not, they are a part of you. That alone automatically makes them beautiful too." Jemma smiled and wet tears painted trails down Skye's face. They curved outward when they reached the corners of her mouth. Skye nodded her head and shuffled to cuddle into Jemma's side.
Jemma turned into Skye and wrapped her arms around her, allowing Skye to rest her head on Jemma's shoulder. Jemma began to drift off with Skye and found herself resting her cheek on the top of Skye's head.
"Skye?" Jemma captured the attention of the young woman in her arms before she fell into a deep sleep.
"Hm?" Skye responded. Her eyes were already closed and she melted into Jemma's body. Jemma was going to tell Skye that she never had to feel alone again, but Jemma knew because of Skye's even, slow breathing that she was asleep. Jemma kissed the top of Skye's head and let herself travel into the dream world.
Ward finally understood what was going on. He, along with every else on the bus, knew about Jemma's nightly visits to Skye's bunk, but he didn't think anything was going on. Until, of course, he had come downstairs into the cargo hold to work out only to see Jemma and Skye through the windshield of one of their cars. They were both sound asleep, limbs tangled together and heads pressed against each other.
Ward was shocked. If anyone on the bus was a lesbian, he thought it would have been May. It just seemed more probable to him that Jemma, who was so innocent, starting a relationship with Skye, who had slept with Miles.
But more than shocked, Ward was angry. He didn't want Skye in Jemma's arms that way, the way he'd been longing to comfort her the whole time.
So, being Ward, he acted impulsively on his feelings, and knocked on the window before he figured out what he was going to say to them. Jemma lifted her head and blushed furiously when she saw Ward. Skye didn't wake until she felt Jemma shift beneath her as she tried to get out of the car.
"Don't forget about the meeting with Coulson this morning." Ward used a weak excuse to try and convince Jemma he had a reasonable excuse to wake them up, even though the meeting wasn't for another hour and a half.
Skye and Jemma gave each other a knowing smile as they stumbled out of the car and walked away to freshen up for the day, which only seemed to aggravate Ward.
Jemma changed something in Skye, Ward noticed. One moment Skye was shutting everyone out and the next it seemed she was only a few smiles away from skipping through the bus hand in hand with Jemma.
As they climbed up the steps, Skye whispered something Ward couldn't hear into Jemma's ear that made her smile.
"Go get ready, silly." Jemma told her as she giggled and poked Skye's shoulder.
"So, did you get some?" Fitz asked Simmons as he waggled his eyebrows at her. He had known his partner was a lesbian since long before they ever stepped foot on the bus and he was excited that his friend finally found someone.
Jemma and Fitz were talking in the lab, waiting the last half hour until Coulson's meeting. Jemma would have chosen to spend some more time with Skye, but unfortunately it took the other woman much longer to get herself ready.
"What? No!" Jemma protested solidly. Fitz raised his eyebrows in the way that suggested Jemma protested much. "It's not like that with Skye, it's... special." Jemma explained, smiling as she picked an adjective to describe her and Skye's budding relationship.
"You at least kissed her, didn't you?" Fitz asked, hoping his friend wasn't just imagining everything.
"Yes." Jemma stuck her tongue out at him as she remembered the blissfully sweet make out session she had shared with Skye. Jemma could still feel the ghost of Skye's touch on her skin.
"So what's next with you two? And how are you going to tame the green eyed monster?" Fitz asked her.
"I'm not sure, I think we're just going to wing it. And Ward, I have no idea." Jemma answered.
"You're worried." Fitz observed out loud. He knew the twisted look on her face when he saw it. "You're not worried about Skye and Ward are you? Last I checked she still seemed pissed at him for how he treated her." Fitz told Simmons, hoping to get through to her.
"Well, Skye was mad at me at first, too." Jemma countered his argument shyly.
"Are you kidding?! That lasted no more than two seconds." Fitz complained. "You need to just go for it and stop worrying so much." Fitz advised her.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Jemma sighed.
"She's probably done by now, go get her." Fitz joked, pushing Jemma out of the lab no matter how nervous she was. Even though Jemma and Skye had clearly shared their feelings for each other, Jemma still had butterflies in her stomach every time she thought about talking to Skye.