It hurt like hell, but Jemma managed to turn onto her side to face Skye on the small bed in the bunk. They were a pathetic little pair, Jemma's torso wrapped in bandages while she was recovering from broken ribs, and Skye, who had several new marks from her most recent endeavor.
Skye was using Jemma's arm as a pillow and the effects were beginning to take their toll on Jemma. When she tried to move her fingers, they tingled so badly she almost couldn't move them. Jemma didn't mind though. She propped herself up on that elbow and lightly kissed Skye's temple. Skye mumbled something inaudible in her sleep and scooted closer to Jemma, if closer was even possible.
Jemma moved Skye's hair away from her neck and brushed her fingers against the stitches. As soon as Ashley was able, Jemma helped her operate on Skye and fix the numerous bugs and broken circuits that Fitz hadn't even been able to detect. It made Fitz jealous, but Ashley was quite the engineer and was especially useful when it came to all things Skye.
Jemma also slid her hand over Skye's waist and felt those stitches too. Skye had been grazed by the bullet before. Jemma had to make sure all of Skye's injuries were in check, she was always worried.
Jemma couldn't help but wrap her arm around Skye and tuck her into her own body, continuing to trace patterns into the soft skin of Skye's stomach to let her drift back into deep sleep.
Jemma's phone buzzed beside her a moment later and she knew it was time to get up. As much as she wanted to stay in bed with Skye all day, there was a broken SHIELD that needed fixing.
"Darling, it's time to get up." Jemma shook Skye's shoulder softly and kissed her cheek.
"Is it noon yet?" Skye asked, frowning and pursing her lips together.
"No, it's seven."
"Then I don't care." Skye groaned and moved her head from on top of Jemma's arm, stuffing it under her own pillow to block Jemma out. Jemma shook her hand to make some blood travel to her fingertips before attempting to wake Skye again.
"Will you get up if I make you food?" Jemma asked, knowing her girlfriend's weaknesses.
"What kind of food?" Skye asked from underneath the pillow. Jemma smiled at the childish tone in Skye's voice. It was almost as if food was a form of currency to her.
"Any kind you want." Jemma sighed, knowing she was going to regret it later.
"Peanut butter pancakes?" Skye questioned. Jemma rolled her eyes. It was a food Skye loved that Jemma found quite odd.
"With bananas on top." Jemma confirmed. She had her now. Skye sat up so quickly the pillow rolled off her head and hit Jemma in the face.
"You're incorrigible." Jemma rolled her eyes at Skye, who now looked like she'd been bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for an hour.
"You know you love me Jems." Skye teased as she jumped to her feet and helped pull Jemma onto hers. Skye had long since tried to keep Jemma in bed. It was no use, Jemma only felt good when she was up and about anyways.
"You really need to improve your diet." Jemma told her.
"Yes, Dr. Simmons." Skye nodded seriously as they exited the bunk hand in hand.
"Hey Ash." Skye greeted Ashley as they passed her in the hall. She was headed towards Fitz's bunk on her crutches. As it turned out the two had much in common and hit it off. Jemma was still pushing for Fitz to ask her out.
"Cat." Ashley smiled.
It had taken a lot of work over the last weeks, at first having Skye and Ashley on the bus was like having an evil cat and a rabid dog with a love to hate in the same room. Eventually the fighting stopped as Skye learned to trust again, with Jemma's help.
Jemma noticed a massive amount of improvement in that area. Skye had started opening up to her more easily, and seemed to be trusting her team again. They were getting Skye back, the one they had over nine months ago.
Jemma took a box from the fridge and emptied the pancakes onto Skye's plate before throwing it in the microwave. She had decided two days ago that it was just easier to make them in bulk and microwave them for Skye in the morning.
Five minutes later the two of them continued their new morning routine and sat opposite each other at a table. As they sat down, Jemma handed Skye the plate of pancakes and Skye handed her the bowl of yogurt and fruit. They did the same thing almost every morning.
"How many times am I going to have to tell you to slow down before you actually listen?" Jemma sighed, eating a spoonful of the yogurt that magically tasted better just because Skye handed it to her. Skye looked up from wolfing down her food and smiled.
Skye shrugged her shoulders and Skye's stuffed cheeks suddenly made her look like a chipmunk, causing Jemma to chuckle.
"Meeting in twenty." May said as she passed by them, a tiny smile detectable on her features.
"Skye! I have something to show you!" Jemma suddenly remembered, grabbing Skye by the hand and dragging her away from her pancakes. Skye took one last bite before they were out of range and she followed Jemma down to the lab. They were both in their tank tops and sweats still, and it made Fitz laugh at them a little before he left to give them a few minutes alone. He knew what the surprise was.
"Cover your eyes." Jemma told Skye after sitting her down on the stool she used to sit at in the corner.
"No peeking!" Jemma corrected her when she saw two of Skye's fingers slightly parted.
"You know I don't have the patience or the attention span to-"
"Ok. You can look." Skye opened her eyes to find Jemma holding her old laptop. She had wondered where that went, and if it survived her attack on the soldier. Skye had to bite her bottom lip to control the size of her smile, and Jemma took this as her cue to open it. The background was a massive heart with the words "You're my favorite girlfriend." written in the middle. Happy tears ran down Skye's cheeks and she pulled Jemma into a hug, barely giving her time to put the laptop on the counter. Not only did she still have the ratty old thing, but it worked.
"I fixed it myself. With a little help." Jemma said. She wasn't sure if Skye heard it, she was so crushed in her hug that it might have been muffled.
"I love it. I love you." Skye cried.
"You're going to re-break my ribs." Jemma told her.
"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry." Skye pulled away and her concern made Jemma snicker.
"Skye, I'm fine." Jemma assured her, placing her hands delicately around Skye's waist, pulling her close again. Just as Jemma leaned in for a kiss, the moment was stolen by Coulson, whose voice killed the mood over the intercoms they installed in every room.
"You're late. Again." He said sternly, but they knew they weren't in any trouble. Coulson knew the relationship between them was doing nothing but good and he wasn't about to yell at them for it.
"Just get up here, Skimmons." He sighed. Jemma and Skye both broke into a grin. Everyone had stopped referring to them as different people and instead called them by a single name representing the entity that was the pair of them. Just like they had called Jemma and Leo Fitzsimmons, the pair of them now needed their own name. It was much easier than saying Skye and Jemma, because the words were almost always said together in the same sentence.
The two giggled and linked pinkies as they walked back upstairs into their meeting room. They hadn't changed into regular clothes yet, but it didn't matter to them, as long as they were embarrassed together. Ashley wasn't dressed yet either, she was just like Skye. Way too lazy to change until she had to be out in public. Everyone on the shield team was like family. Ashley was now officially part of that family. Jemma had moved into Skye's bunk and Ashley took her old one.
Standing around the table Skye most often used, the entire team took a moment to look at each other before beginning. Coulson, May, Ward, Ashley, Fitz, Jemma, and Skye. They were a family. Skye finally had a family.
After searching all those years for a family that wanted her and all the years after searching for the family that shared her blood, she found her true family when she least expected it in a form that no one could have predicted. She found a fatherly figure in Coulson; a strange, almost motherly relationship with May; a protective cousin in Ward, who finally realized he couldn't have her; a best friend in Ashley, one with whom she could have fights and watch movies with; a funny brother in Fitz that always made her smile; and a lover in Jemma, one whom Skye was sure she was going to spend the rest of her life with.
SHIELD may have been destroyed, but the fight was not over for Coulson's team, nor would it ever be until everything was right in the world. And it didn't matter how much work they had ahead of them or what their chances would be of completing it successfully. They would take it one day at a time. But the most important thing was that they were together.
Seven people, each with a fraction of the solution. That they could work with. Seven people with different pasts that all joined hands and worked together. They would have happy times, sad times, and they would probably fight. But they were a team and they were always going to operate together like clockwork. It was beautiful.