A/N: This one came out longer than usual. Posting it sooner than planned because you were all so kind even though there was a really long wait for the last chapter. Thanks for reading!
Skye sat down at the kitchen island and waited for Mel and Phil to take their seats. She had been in trouble enough times to know how this worked, and she wasn't particularly looking forward to it.
No matter what house she was living in, whether with foster parents or back at the orphanage, 'We need to have a talk' always meant, 'We're going to talk at you while you listen to all of the bad things you did'.
Of course it differed a little from home to home. St Agnes' was keen on long discussions regarding behaviour, followed by some significant guilt-tripping, and finally topped off with a behavioural write-up and a punishment often involving extra chores and no play time.
It sucked, but it was completely preferable to some of the other houses she'd been in. In her last foster family, the Bakers, the father had been very fond of 'teaching his kids like his father taught him'. Skye wasn't even one of his kids and he had made that abundantly clear, so it especially didn't seem fair that he would target her for his brutal methods of punishment. Skye didn't like being shouted at. She also didn't like being slapped on the back of the legs with an extension cord until she was bleeding.
All of the 'talks' in all of the places she had lived tended to end in tears with Skye being frustrated and angry and not really understanding why she was in so much trouble. Sometimes she did bad things, but sometimes Skye honestly couldn't work out why she was the one in trouble. No matter how loud she tried to shout, no one seemed to understand.
Skye folded her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry for what I did. I'll try to be good." She said, hoping to cut to the chase and end this conversation as soon as possible. "I won't do it again." And how many times had she said that?
Melinda and Phil didn't say anything, just sat down opposite her, and Skye felt the need to look down at the dark granite of the worktops to avoid seeing their disappointment. They weren't happy with what she had done yesterday. They were upset with her, Skye could tell, and it was making her head feel heavy as she began feeling upset and angry with herself.
Yesterday's incident seemed a long time ago now. Since then, Skye had been introduced to her eldest sister and her boyfriend, and had had an unfortunate incident during the night, but the guilt was still fresh in her mind.
"We've come down here to have a chat about what happened at the gym yesterday." Mel said. She didn't sound mad, so Skye dared to look up at her through her eyelashes.
"I'm sorry." Skye said.
"I know." Mel reached over and tapped Skye's chin. She always did that when she wanted Skye to look at her. "I know you're sorry, but we need to talk about why it happened."
Why had she done it? Why had she kicked the boy? Because she was mad? Because she wanted to? They didn't seem like the right answers. The truth was, it had just happened. She had done it without even thinking, and Skye was angry with herself for letting it happen. Sometimes she just couldn't control these things. Because she was difficult. She was bad.
Phil laced his fingers on the counter. "Natasha thinks that it's her fault. Because she told you to hit him, but I'm not sure that's why you did it."
Skye shrugged. She really wanted to look away from them, but Mel had wanted her to keep her head up and it would only hurt her cause to be defiant over the little things at the moment. Phil was right though, it wasn't Nat's fault. Maybe a tiny part of Skye had been spurred on by Natasha's encouragement, but for the most part, once Skye had felt that anger overtake her system, there was no going back.
"Why did you kick him, Skye?" Mel asked.
Melinda was still in her pyjamas. Her hair wasn't messy like Skye's was (Skye wasn't sure that Mel's hair could ever be messy), but the whole appearance made her look a lot less threatening. When Skye didn't speak, Melinda's expression changed, and Skye took back everything she'd thought about her foster mother looking any less terrifying just because she was wearing jammies.
"Tell me why you did it, Skye. I need to understand."
"I was mad." Skye said, rubbing her thumb over her lips. "He was mean to me so I was mean back to him."
Phil nodded. "What do you mean by 'mad'?"
Skye wrinkled her nose. "I dunno. Just mad. Angry."
"What did it feel like?" Mel asked and Skye felt herself getting frustrated.
She didn't know what they were asking from her. She had said she was sorry. She had told then why she kicked the stupid boy, what more did they want?
She slapped the hand down from her face to the counter. "I don't know how it felt. Mad. I was mad."
Melinda's expression didn't change, even as Skye's voice rose.
"Inside," Mel said, tapping her chest, "when you were angry, what did it feel like in here?"
Skye crossed her arms and breathed heavily through her nose. "How does it feel in there when you get mad? I kicked him because he was mean to me and you know what?" She jumped off her chair and stomped to the other side of the kitchen. "I'm not even sorry I did it. I'm not!"
"You just said you were sorry before." Phil said calmly.
"Yeah? Well, maybe I was just lying to you." The words were coming out without permission and her vision clouded with angry tears. "'Cause I don't even care." Skye shouted and kicked back at one of the kitchen cupboards with bare feet. Her heel collided with the solid wood and she had to grit her teeth against the pain.
"Don't do that, Skye." Mel said firmly, standing up and slowly walking towards her. "Don't. You'll hurt yourself."
"I don't care." Skye wiped fuming tears off her cheeks.
She didn't want to cry and shout and have tantrums like a toddler. She didn't want to hurt people and get into trouble.
Skye was difficult, they said. And no one wanted a difficult child.
She struggled to breathe through a sob and her breath hitched. She didn't want to pee the bed like a stupid little infant. Nobody wanted a kid that did that.
Melinda kneeled down in front of her and put her hand on Skye's shoulder. Skye jerked her body away.
Why wouldn't it just stop? Why did she have to get so mad all the time? It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she be like a normal kid with a Mom and a Dad who had always wanted her, who hadn't dumped her when she was too young to even sit up? It just proved that she was bad from the beginning. Her parents must have known she was a bad kid. They probably kicked her out and then went home to have more children. Good children. Not like her.
Melinda squeezed Skye's shoulder. "Skye…"
"Get off." She growled at Melinda. "Get off me."
"Okay." Melinda sat back on her heels and moved away from Skye. "I'm just trying to help."
"Well you're not. So just leave me alone." She was a bad kid. She didn't deserve this nice house, or these nice people, or to go to her nice school and have a nice friend.
Phil stood behind Melinda. "We haven't finished our talk, Skye."
Skye took a step towards him and put her hands on her hips. "Yes, we have. Talk over."
Phil's gaze hardened in a way Skye hadn't seen in him before. "That attitude is not okay."
Skye laughed. She'd ruined it now. Just another family that hadn't worked out. Another one to add to her ever-growing file of failed placements. She'd be back at St Agnes' before the sun went down. Nothing she could do about it now. She laughed again as tears streamed down her face. She was getting sick of crying.
"Does it look like I really care what you think about my attitude?" Skye turned away from them because she didn't want to see their faces. Usually when she acted like this it was to the nuns, or to fosterers she really couldn't have cared less about, but Mel and Phil were special, and if they were going to send her back, well, Skye didn't want to remember them as being mad.
Skye crossed the threshold to the living room, to see all four of the others standing around, looking at her.
"Come back here, Skye." Mel said from behind her. "Now."
"No." She said. Bobbi and Hunter seemed to be watching her with quiet caution, but Clint and Nat looked genuinely concerned. Clint had an arm around Natasha's shoulders.
"Please," Nat said, "stop this, malyutka."
Skye narrowed her eyes at Natasha. It wasn't fair to be mean to Tasha. Natasha had been nothing but loving to Skye, but she was just so frustrated and angry with herself, that the words were coming out even though she didn't mean them.
"Shut up. Stay out of it." Skye felt herself getting hysterical.
"Malyutka-,"
"Shut up. I hate you." It was out before Skye even had the power to stop it.
Natasha's expression didn't change, but she removed Clint's arm from around her shoulder and calmly walked away, back up the stairs. Clint followed.
"Uh-uh." Bobbi said. She folded her arms and took a step towards Skye. "You don't talk to your sister like that."
"She's not my sister and neither are you." Even as she said it, Skye didn't believe her words.
"Fine." Bobbi said. "Then you do not talk to my sister in that way."
Hunter put his hand on Bobbi's arm and she covered it with her own. Bobbi wasn't like Natasha. Her expression wasn't unreadable. She looked sad. Skye had upset her. Skye had upset everyone.
They were going to send her back.
She didn't want to leave.
Skye didn't want to leave her family.
"Think about the decisions, the choices you are making right now, Skye." Mel said.
Skye whipped around to look at her. She wanted to stay. She wanted to be good. "I'm being bad because I'm bad." She said.
That was the only way Skye could think to explain it. She felt bad. Angry. Mad. And frightened that she couldn't stop it. She sobbed. "I'm so bad. I'm so sorry."
Melinda's face fell and she dropped down to her knees in front of Skye. She put a hand on her cheek, and when Skye attempted to pull away, she didn't let her.
"You are good. You are." Mel said. "I know you are, and I know you're only acting this way because you can't help it." Melinda's eyes flicked to where Natasha had disappeared up the stairs, then back to Skye. "Please don't believe you're not good."
Skye shook her head. "But I'm bad." She held on to Melinda's arms, desperate for her to understand. "I'm being bad right now."
Mel smiled. "So stop." She said gently.
Skye frowned. "I…I can't."
"And why not?"
"Because," Skye closed her eyes and thought. She wanted to stop. She wanted to be good all of the time. But she just couldn't…It didn't happen that way. "Because I'm so mad." She said.
"Tell me," Melinda said gently, "what does it feel like right now?" She tapped Skye's chest and tapped Skye's temple. "What's going on in there?"
"It's like…there's only that." Skye struggled over her words. "I'm only mad." She said. "Angry, but nothing else."
Melinda stroked her cheek. "And it sucks, right?"
"Yeah. It does." Skye began to feel the anger fading, being replaced with the all too familiar feeling of guilt and anxiety. "I don't like it, Mel."
"I know, baby. I know." Melinda pulled her into a hug, and exhausted, Skye collapsed against her. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be alright."
Skye gripped the back of her shirt. She didn't want Melinda to let her go. Maybe if she held on tight enough, they wouldn't be able to send her away.
"I don't want to leave." She sniffed.
"Leave?" Melinda pulled back slightly to look at Skye, but the little girl kept her grip on her tight. "Why would you be leaving?"
"Because…" Skye wiped her eyes on her shoulder to avoid letting go of Melinda. "…Because, you're gonna send me back. Please, I don't wanna go back, Melinda." She looked over to Phil. "I wanna stay here."
"Honey," Phil crouched down beside Melinda and wiped the tears from Skye's cheeks, "I thought we established this. You're staying with us, forever."
Mel nodded in agreement. "Skye, when I told you we were never going to take you back to the orphanage, I meant it. You're my baby girl and I want you to be with me forever."
A weight that had been pressing Skye down into the centre of the Earth since kicking that boy yesterday had been lifted from her shoulders with Melinda and Phil's assurances. She sobbed in relief and buried her face in Mel's shoulder. Skye could feel herself shaking.
Melinda stood up and lifted Skye with her. "I love you, Skye." She kissed her head. "And I'm going to make sure we're together forever."
"I love you, too." Skye mumbled into Mel's shoulder. "M'sorry for what I said."
"I forgive you." Melinda kissed Skye's cheek. "It's over now. But Phil and I are going to talk, and we'll be giving you an appropriate punishment."
Skye nodded. She didn't mind. Quite frankly, Mel and Phil could tell her she had to clean the inside of the toilets with her bare hands every day for the rest of her life and as long as Skye could stay, she wouldn't care. As long as she had her family, Skye didn't care.
It was then that it occurred to her. Skye pulled away from Melinda with a panicked look. "I have to go say 'sorry'." She said, wiggling down from Melinda's arms.
Skye turned around and shuffled over to Bobbi and Hunter. Both of them were sat on the back of the sofa. Hunter gave her a little smile, which made Skye feel infinitely better, because Bobbi still looked upset and that made Skye's heart feel heavy.
The little girl nibbled on her thumb as she stood beside Bobbi and Hunter. Bobbi stood up and Skye had to really crane her neck to look up at her because of her height.
"I'm sorry I said mean things to you." Skye said. She wished her voice would have come out louder, but Bobbi seemed to hear her okay. The woman nodded. "I didn't mean what I said. I'm sorry. I still want you to be my big sister."
Bobbi's expression changed from one of hurt to one of pure love and comfort, in half a second. She kneeled down to Skye's level and smiled at her brightly. "I forgive you, Skye. As long as you're sorry."
"I am." Skye said quickly. "I promise."
"And I promise I'll be your big sister." Bobbi chuckled. "No matter what you say to me."
Even though Bobbi seemed completely over Skye's outburst, it didn't change the fact that Skye still felt enormously guilty over her actions.
"You were upset." Skye said.
Bobbi shrugged. "I was. I was sad you said mean things to me and I was really sad that you were mean to Tasha, because I love my sisters. I don't want anyone to be mean to Tash, or to you. But you're sorry, and I forgive you, so that's that. We're all good."
"Okay." Skye said, a little unsure.
Bobbi kissed her forehead and stood up.
Hunter looked around the room and clapped. "Well, that was certainly an eventful morning, but I'm still wearing my pyjamas and I have yet to take a shower, so if you'll excuse me." He kissed Bobbi on the cheek and ruffled Skye's hair, before jogging off up the stairs.
Melinda came up behind Skye and put both of her hand on her shoulders. "We all need to get dressed, I think." She said.
Phil snorted. "I'm dressed."
"Fine." Melinda said, and without looking up Skye could tell she was smiling. "You can make breakfast, then."
"Fine."
"You, little one." Melinda patted Skye's head until she looked up at her. "You need to go and get dressed, and then you can have some breakfast and we're going to have a good day. Yeah?"
"Yes." Skye said. "A good day." She looked towards the stairs. "But first I gotta say 'sorry' to Natasha."
"You might want to leave it a little while." Bobbi said.
"Why?"
Mel stroked her hair. "Just because Natasha might want to be alone for a little while. Well, alone with Clint."
Skye rubbed her thumb on her lips. "Because I upset her."
"Why don't you go get dressed?" Mel said. "You'll be able to talk to Tasha later."
"Okay."
Melinda crouched down and hugged Skye. "I love you. No matter what, I love you." She rubbed a thumb over her cheek. "Phil and I, we will never, ever send you away."
"Promise." Phil said. "Cross my heart."
Mel smiled. "And mine."
Skye smiled back. "I love you, too. And I'm sorry."
"You're a good girl." Melinda said, standing up. She looked to Bobbi. "Can you take her upstairs, Bob? Make sure she gets dressed? I need to speak to your father."
Bobbi nodded and held out her hand to Skye. "Come on, little sis. Let's make sure Hunter's coping without me for five minutes."
Skye took Bobbi's hand but hesitated to leave with her. She looked up at Melinda. She didn't really want to leave Mel and Phil.
Melinda seemed to sense this. "We'll be down here, okay, sweetheart? The quicker you get dressed, the quicker you can come back down and get breakfast."
"Okay." Skye allowed Bobbi to lead her upstairs and into her bedroom.
…
After Skye's unexpected outburst, Melinda's previous feelings of exhaustion were coming back with a vengeance, having brought a headache with them. She followed Phil into the kitchen and dropped down into one of the chairs.
Before she got the chance, Phil spoke. "I think we need to get some help for Skye."
She sighed and dropped her head to the counter. The cool marble was like heaven. "My thoughts exactly." She felt a hand on her back.
"You okay, Mel? You're not getting sick, right?"
She chuckled at his concern and lifted her head. "I already told you this morning, I'm fine." Mel smirked at him. "It's 'stress sickness'. I distinctly remember this happening with Tasha."
"Ah yes." Phil kissed her temple. "I think we both had 'stress sickness' with our dear little Bubba." He leaned over the counter. "I certainly puked at least once."
"Was that when she gave you a concussion with a plant pot?" Mel smirked.
"Yes. Yes it was. And I don't wish to relive the event."
"Fair enough." Melinda smiled. Her smile fell however, when she thought about her youngest daughter. "We need to find someone who can help Skye. Something's going on with our little girl that she can't control. I think it might be beyond us."
Phil nodded. He wrapped an arm around Melinda's shoulders and she rested her head on his chest. He hugged her close. "What about Nat's doctor? She really helped her when we couldn't."
Melinda shook her head. "I'm not sure she would be appropriate for Skye. She specialises in teenagers. Skye needs…" She wrapped both arms around Phil's waist. "I think Skye needs a specialist child psychologist."
"Poor thing. She's too young to understand what's happening to her. It's not fair. This is someone's fault, Melinda."
She shook her head. "More than one someone. More than one person hurt our little girl, and they're still hurting her." Her eyes burned. "It's not fair."
"She'll be okay. We'll make sure of it. Skye's going to be okay, more than okay. You'll see."
Mel smiled. "I trust you." She reached up to kiss him. "So it's decided? First thing tomorrow we look into getting Skye some help?"
"I think so. Do we talk to her about it now, or...?"
"Let her have today. I don't know how she'll feel about it when we tell her." Melinda knew from reading Skye's file that she had been to see more than one child psychologist, and from what the file reported, each visit had not ended well.
"Okay." Phil said. "Oh, what about her punishment? We need to punish her."
Melinda's headache was kicking her butt enough that she could barely be bothered to think up a punishment for Skye's behaviour, but frankly, she didn't trust Phil's judgement. He would probably just tell Skye she wasn't allowed to read any Captain America stories before bed.
"What about," Phil said, "if Skye wasn't allowed to have any Captain America bedtime stories?"
Melinda had to bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Phil seemed to think for a moment. "Actually no. No, that's far too harsh."
Mel rolled her eyes. "How about no TV and she has to go to bed early for a week?"
"A week's a little long, Mel." Phil was such a softie. "Three days."
She cocked a brow at him. "A week."
"Five days?"
"One week. She needs to understand that actions, no matter how much they may not be her fault, have consequences."
Phil rubbed his nose against hers. "You drive a hard bargain, Mel. But I love you."
"You're too much of a pushover, Philip. But," She kissed him, "I love you."
…
Bobbi sat on Skye's desk chair while she waited for Skye to get dressed. She had every faith that the eight-year-old was perfectly capable of getting ready by herself, but after the morning's explosion, she was a little weary of leaving her alone.
The woman watched as Skye carefully folded her pyjamas and placed them at the foot of her bed. She hovered by the bed, rubbing the sleeve of her sweater over her lips.
"You okay, little sis?" Bobbi asked.
Skye nodded, then immediately shook her head. "Clint has my bear."
"Oh." Bobbi had heard all about the late night bed hopping from Natasha.
The little girl crossed the room to Bobbi. "Can I go and see Natasha now?"
So that was what she really wanted. Bobbi understood Skye's need to apologise, but it had only taken one look at Nat's face to see how upset she had been. Another person may not have been able to pick up on it, but with Tasha, the less expressive she was, usually, the more upset she was.
"Why don't we let Natasha get dressed, hmm?" Bobbi suggested. She picked up the hairbrush from Skye's desk, and her little sister automatically turned around to allow Bobbi to brush her hair.
"Is she mad at me?" Skye asked quietly.
"I think she's just upset." Bobbi pulled Skye's hair back into a ponytail.
Some things upset Natasha more than others. For a teenager with a front as hard as nails, she had a sensitive soul. Nat tended to get over things herself, well, with the help of Clint. It wasn't worth interrupting Natasha's alone time for Skye to apologise. Bobbi knew from experience, it was best just to leave Nat alone for the time being.
"Come here, sweetie." Bobbi said, turning Skye around to stand in front of her. "Natasha loves you, she does, but I think what you said hurt her and she needs a little time to herself."
"But I want to tell her that I'm sorry." Skye said.
Bobbi could see she just wasn't getting through to Skye. The little girl seemed to be struggling with the concept of leaving Nat to cool off. A different idea struck her.
"Hey, how about we go downstairs, into the playroom, and you can maybe write Nat a letter." It had always worked for Bobbi in the past when she had upset Nat. Plus it hopefully would keep Skye occupied for a while.
Skye looked down at her feet. "M'not very good at writing."
"That's okay, I'll help you." Bobbi said, and Skye's face brightened.
"I want to do that." Skye said with a nod. "Please."
"Great. But first I need to get dressed." Bobbi looked down at her pyjamas. "Come on, little sis, you can help me pick out my clothes."
…
Skye felt a lot better after eating breakfast. She was still feeling sad because Natasha and Clint were still up in their room, and no one seemed to want to allow her to go and see them, but Bobbi had said she would help Skye write an apology note to Nat. She thought that if she wrote the right thing, and made it really neat, that Natasha would forgive her for being so mean.
"So you're going to hang out with Bobbi today?" Melinda asked, taking Skye's empty plate from her. Mel took Hunter's plate, too, despite the fact that he was still eating. "You snooze, you lose."
Hunter huffed but didn't say anything. He made a funny face at Skye, making her smile.
"Yeah," Skye looked away from Hunter and back to Melinda, "Bobbi's gonna help me write Natasha a sorry note." Skye said.
Mel nodded. "That's a good idea."
"Yeah," Phil said, "sounds great. I'm sure Tasha will love it."
"And what are you planning on doing today, Hunter?" Mel asked.
Before he could even answer, Phil said, "He's going to help me paint the fence in the back yard."
"Wait, what?" Hunter spluttered.
"The fence needs to be painted before it gets too cold out." Phil said by way of explanation.
Lance frowned. "I don't remember agreeing to this."
"I don't remember agreeing to you having your tongue in my daughter's mouth."
"Phil."
"Dad."
Skye just laughed as Hunter's face went scarlet.
"Fine. I'll help." He grumbled.
"Hey, Dad." Bobbi asked from Skye's other side. Her cheeks were a little pink, too. "Do we have anything I could use to make a door sign?"
"I've got some balsa wood in the garage. Will that do?" Phil said.
Bobbi smiled. "Great." She nudged Skye will her elbow. "Would you like me to paint you a sign for your bedroom door? Everyone else has got one. Seems like it's your turn."
"Yes, please." Skye tugged on Bobbi's hand. "You'll really paint me one? With my name on and everything?"
Bobbi laughed and looked over her head at Hunter. Skye followed her gaze. Lance grinned at her, too.
"Of course, honey." Bobbi said. "And then everyone will know which one is your bedroom."
Skye jumped down from her seat and pulled on Bobbi's hand. "Let's go. Let's go."
"I'm coming, hold your horses."
They began walking to the playroom. Skye looked up at Bobbi. "What horses?"
Bobbi smiled brightly. "Don't worry about it."
…
Skye wanted her letter to Natasha to be perfect. She had said she hated her. Skye was ashamed of herself. It was something that she didn't mean, couldn't have been father from the truth and frankly, Skye was terrified that Nat would decide she no longer wanted her for a sister. She was also worried Clint would hate her, too for hurting Natasha.
Bobbi sat beside her at the desk in the playroom so that she could help while she made the sign for Skye's bedroom door. Skye had meticulously chosen the colour construction paper- green, because that's what colour Nat's eyes were. She had picked out some stickers to decorate the outside of the paper- Skye couldn't find any spiders, but there were some ladybugs with flowers so she used them. All the words in the letter were Skye's own, but Bobbi was always there to help with the spellings.
Skye looked over her letter after she signed her name at the end. "I think I'm done." She said.
"Oh, yeah?"
"I think so." She passed the letter over to Bobbi for her to look at. "See."
Bobbi looked it over and got a funny look on her face. Maybe it wasn't very good, Skye thought.
"You don't like it?" Skye said quietly.
Bobbi smiled. "No, it's not that." She passed it back to her. "I think it's perfect, Skye. I'm sure Natasha will love it."
"Should I go and give it to her?"
"Well," Bobbi said, "leave it a little longer. I know, why don't you draw her a picture?"
"I don't like drawing." Skye said as an automatic response. It wasn't strictly true, but she didn't want to talk about the reasoning right now.
"That's too bad," Bobbi said, "because I think Nat would really like it if you made her a picture."
That changed things. Skye looked back down at her letter and thought how much better it would be if it had a picture to go with it.
"But what would I draw?" She looked up at Bobbi.
"Anything." Her big sister shrugged.
"But I'm not good at drawing like you, Bobbi." She looked down at the wood Bobbi was pencilling on.
"I'm sure you're great, Skye. Just think about what Nat likes. Draw that."
Skye thought about Lulu the tarantula and Charlotte the spider. Maybe she could draw them. And Clint liked dogs. Skye could draw a dog.
She decided on plain white paper to draw, and Bobbi passed her a pencil to use. Drawing spiders was way easier than drawing dogs, Skye decided, so she only drew one puppy, and filled the rest of the paper with drawings of Lulu and Charlotte. In some of the pictures Skye drew little bows on Lulu's head.
At some point between drawing Lulu number six and Charlotte number four, Bobbi and Hunter switched places. Bobbi went outside to spray some paint onto the door sign and Lance returned for a break from painting the fence with Phil.
"How's the letter going?" He asked, plopping down on the couch.
"I'm done." Skye said. She didn't show him like she had shown Bobbi. "I'm drawing a picture for Clint and Nat now. See." Skye held up the paper to Hunter.
He smiled. "I like your dog." He said. "Looks like a cutie."
She was thrilled. The puppy had been the hardest to draw.
"You going to colour it in?" He asked.
"I think so." Skye said. "But I can't find any colours." There was a drawer with some crayons in by the desk, but they were fat and hard to use and keep in the lines. Skye wanted to make sure it was neat for her big sister.
Lance kicked his shoes off and put his feet up on the sofa, settling a cushion behind his head. "Bob's got loads of pens and stuff upstairs. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you used some of them."
"Maybe I should ask her first." Skye mused. She didn't just want to go rifling through Bobbi's things.
"Nah." Lance waved a hand. "S'fine. Just run upstairs into our room. It's full of art stuff. I promise she won't mind, Skye."
Skye picked up her picture and as a second thought, picked up the letter, she didn't want Lance to see it. She didn't mind sharing with Bobbi, because sisters told each other everything, but Lance wasn't allowed.
"Okay, then." Skye said. "If Bobbi comes back, tell her that's where I am."
"Will do, little one." Lance said, his eyes already closed.
Walking through the house, Skye caught the view of the backyard through the kitchen windows. Phil and Melinda were chatting by the fence, and Bobbi was bent over something on the grass. Skye had been mean to all of those people standing out there. And what had they done to her? Been loving and caring, and kind to her. She should really have written letters to all of them.
Skye jogged up the stairs and turned into the hallway with Bobbi's room in sight, but she stopped abruptly when Natasha's bedroom door opened and Clint stepped out.
"Hey." He said, catching sight of her. He nodded at the paper in her hands. "You been drawing?"
"It's for Natasha." She said quietly. "To say sorry."
"I see." Clint said. "Would you like to give it to her?"
Skye looked down at the letter. Her picture wasn't finished, but everyone else said she should leave Nat alone, and Skye was a little worried she might not get another opportunity to give her letter to Natasha.
"Yes, please."
Clint stepped aside and held the door open for Skye. She looked down at her letter, too nervous to look up in case Natasha didn't want to see her.
"Nat," He said gently, "Skye's got something for you."
Clint put a hand on Skye's back and ushered her into Nat's bedroom.
"Go on." He said kindly to Skye. "Go see your big sister." Clint squeezed her shoulder. "I'm gonna go pick that thing up, Nat. I'll be back later, okay, baby?"
"See you later. Love you." Nat said.
"Love you, too."
Skye dared to look up as Clint left the room. Natasha sat cross-legged on the bed, Charlotte the plush spider on one side of her, and Mr. Snow on the other side. She kept her eyes on the bed, even as Skye walked over to her.
For a moment, Skye thought Natasha was simply completely ignoring her, but as she approached the bed, she realised that Nat's attention was purely focused on Lulu the tarantula, who was crawling around on the bed. Skye wanted to touch her, but she kept both hands on her letter and picture.
"Don't tell Mom." Nat said, eyes still on her pet.
"What?" Skye asked, following Lulu's movements with her eyes.
"I'm not supposed to let Lulu out of her tank, but she needs exercise so…" Nat shrugged, "Just don't tell Mom I had her out."
"Okay." Skye said. "I promise." She would have promised Natasha the moon at that point if she thought it would make her forgive Skye's hurtful words.
Tasha allowed Lulu to crawl onto her hand, and she gently lifted the tarantula into her tank.
"You have something for me?" Nat asked.
For the first time she looked up at Skye and Skye immediately wanted to look down. Natasha wasn't smiling at her like she usually did. She didn't look sad either, or angry, or anything else. Natasha just looked…expressionless. It made Skye's chest feel tight.
Skye held out the letter. "I wrote you this to say 'sorry'." She said in a small voice. "M'sorry for what I said to you."
Nat took the letter and Skye waited patiently while Nat's eyes roamed it.
"I wanted to put spiders on it but I could only find ladybugs." Skye said.
Natasha looked up from the paper. "You wrote this yourself?"
"Yes. Well, Bobbi helped me spell some of the words."
Natasha looked back down. Skye shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"Come here, malyutka." Nat said, and Skye could have cried in relief.
She climbed onto the bed and threw herself into Natasha's arms. Tasha returned the hug as she settled Skye onto her lap.
"I'm sorry." Skye said. "I didn't mean it. I promise I didn't mean it."
Natasha pulled away from Skye and held the letter in front of her. "Read it to me. I'd like to hear it from you. Read me the letter."
Skye nodded and took the letter. "The whole thing?"
"Yes."
"'Kay." Skye looked down at the letter. She leaned back against Nat's chest and began to read.
"To Natasha," Skye said, "I am sorry that I said some really mean things to you. I did not mean them. I am so sorry that I…"
Skye paused over the next part of the letter, it had been hard enough to write down and relive what she had said earlier that day, she was reluctant to say it out loud. "I- I am so sorry that I said I hated you. I do not. I love you. I love you more than Phil loves Cap…Capt…" she spelled out the word, "Captain America which is a lot because Phil really loves Captain America."
Nat's arms around her tightened and Skye thought she heard her chuckle.
"I never want to hurt your feelings ever again." Skye continued. "I hope that you want to still be my big sister because I love you. I want you to be my sister for forever and ever." And Skye wasn't sure she had been more truthful about anything else in her entire life.
"I am so sorry I was mean to you. You are always nice to me. I hope you will for...forgive me. Yours sin…sin…" She struggled over the word Bobbi had told her how to spell.
"Sincerely." Natasha supplied.
"Yours sincerely, Skye." Skye let Natasha take the letter out of her hands, and place it on her bedside cabinet.
"Skye." Nat said.
Skye looked up at her.
"I forgive you, Skye."
"You do?" She asked. "Even though I made you sad?"
"Yes. Malyutka, I love you, and I forgive you. You hurt my feelings, but it's okay. I know you're sorry." She hugged Skye close. "I'm going to be your big sister forever and ever…" She tickled Skye's sides, making her giggle, "…and ever and ever and ever…"
Skye laughed as Nat tickled her, gasping for breath through the laughter. Natasha stopped her onslaught, and gently rocked Skye in her arms.
"I love you, malyutka."
"I love you, too, Tasha."
Natasha looked down at the other piece of paper still in Skye's hand. "What's this?"
"I made a drawing for you." Skye said quietly. "S'not finished. I wanted to colour it. That's why I came upstairs. Hunter said I could go get some of Bobbi's colours out of her room."
"Can I see?"
Skye handed her the picture. "That's Lulu." Skye pointed out. "With a bow, and that's Charlotte."
"They're awesome." Nat smiled. "And who's this?" She pointed to the dog.
"Oh, I wanted to make it for Clint, too, so I drew a dog for him."
Tasha laughed. "I'm sure he'll love it. "
"I wanted to colour it, but…"
"Well, why don't we colour it together?" Nat asked.
"Really?"
"Sure. Come on," Nat patted Skye's leg, "we'll go get Bobbi's colours and colour it together."
The two sisters left the drawing in Natasha's room, to go to Bobbi's and find some art supplies. The bedroom door was already open as they approached and Natasha strode in.
"Wow." She said, looking around at the mess in her older sister's room. "Looks like Bobbi needs to clear this up."
Skye nodded. There were suitcases and clothes covering most of the carpet, and the bed was unmade. It was then that Skye noticed.
"Bobbi's got a Captain America sheets." She grinned.
Nat chuckled, opening a couple of drawers by the bedroom door. "Dad bought them for a joke, but she secretly loves them."
"Bobbi loves Captain America, too?"
"It's kind of hard not to when you live with our Dad." Natasha frowned at the drawers. "Hey, Skye. Take a look in the desk for some pencils. Bob used to have some in here but I can't find them."
Skye obeyed and left her inspection of Bobbi's bed to move over to the desk. The desk drawer was already ajar, so Skye slid the rest of it open. It was mostly filled with papers and other little trinkets like key rings and CDs that Skye scanned over. Her eyes landed on a pink fluffy pencil case, already open, with coloured pencils clearly visible inside.
"I found some." Skye said, lifting the pencil case out of the desk.
Nat smiled. "Cool. Let me see?"
Skye passed over the pencil case, but in some error of perception, the case fell between Skye and Nat, landing on Bobbi's carpet and spilling the pencils around the floor.
"Whoops." Tasha said. "My fault."
She kneeled down to begin scooping up the pencils, finding some that had rolled into the mess of clothing by the suitcases. Skye copied, picking up the main pile that had fallen by her feet. As she gathered them however, her fingers landed on something that was distinctly not pencil-like.
"Hey, Tasha?" She asked picking up the items and holing them in her palm.
"Yeah, malyutka?" Nat continued to fish out the last of the pencils from the clothes.
"Why does Bobbi keep rings in with her pencils?"
Nat looked over. "Rings with her pencils?"
Skye showed her the three silver rings in her hand, and Nat's face dropped. Tasha scooted forward and took Skye's hand in her own, putting her face comically close to the jewellery.
"Oh my gosh." Natasha breathed. She looked up at Skye with what could only be described as utter glee. "Oh my gosh."
"What?" Skye was extremely confused. They were only rings, and anyway, only one of them had a pretty stone on it. The other two were pretty plain. Nothing to be so excited over.
Nat grinned. "I think Bobbi and Hunter got married." At Skye's utter confusion, she pointed to the rings. "These are engagement and wedding rings. I'm sure."
Skye looked back down at her palm. "How can you tell?"
"The one with the diamond is engagement. This one," She pointed to the daintier ring, "is a woman's wedding ring. And this one," Nat picked up the thickest ring and held it in front of Skye, "is a man's ring."
"Oh." Skye still wasn't convinced, but Nat seemed sure.
Tasha scooped the other two rings out of Skye's hand and stood up. "Come on, Skye."
Skye followed Natasha out of the bedroom, down the hall and down the stairs, having to skip every few steps to keep up. Nat paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking around.
"Bobbi in the playroom?"
Skye shook her head. "She was outside when I came upstairs."
Nat took off in the direction of the back door, looking back to check Skye was following. The two sisters burst into the back yard, one significantly more eager than the other, and both looked around for their eldest sister.
Bobbi kneeled on the grass, hunched over the sign she was making for Skye's bedroom door, spraying something over it. She had her hair tied back, goggles on and a mask covering her face. Skye giggled. She looked like a scuba diver with the funny goggles on.
As they approached, Bobbi stopped her spraying and removed her goggles, pushing the mask down to hang around her neck. She grinned at them.
"Hey, you two. Are we all friends again?"
"Yep." Skye nodded. "Tasha liked my letter."
"Awesome." Bobbi smiled. "I'm just finishing up your door sign. Wanna see?"
"Yeah." Skye grinned, and rushed towards Bobbi, only to have Nat stop her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Actually," Nat said, "we have something we need to discuss with you. Right Skye?"
Skye was so interested in seeing Bobbi's work on her door sign that it took her a moment to remember the original reason for her and Nat to come outside in the first place. The rings remained at the back of her mind.
"Oh. Yeah."
Bobbi looked between them. "What's going on?" She stood up.
Natasha held out her hand, showing the rings to Bobbi. Bobbi gasped and rushed forward.
"Nat, I-,"
"Did you get married?" Nat interrupted, and Bobbi slapped a hand over her mouth. Even with her mouth covered Skye could tell she was grinning. "Mrmph mmrpph mmmrrrmph." With Bobbi's hand over her mouth, Nat's speech was incomprehensible.
"Shut up, Natasha." Bobbi hissed, then ripped her hand away from Nat's mouth. "Ow! You bit me!" She looked half scandalised, half like she was trying not to burst into laughter.
Natasha shook her head, grinned so widely that too many teeth seemed to be showing. "Bobbi, I can't believe you got married!"
"You did what?"
All three sisters slowly turned to the back door of the house, where Melinda stood with her hands on her hips, and a livid expression on her face.
"Oh, shit." Bobbi breathed.
"No one move." Nat muttered.
Melinda stepped out of the house menacingly. "Barbara Morse-Coulson, what the hell did you do?"
Bobbi and Nat took a step back, and Skye looked around her, contemplating whether it would be more beneficial to side with them or Mel.
"Barbara." Mel warned.
"I think she's gonna kill you." Nat said to Bobbi.
"I'm so sorry Mommy." Bobbi gave her a terrified smile, and she and Nat took yet another step back.
Mel glared. "Yeah, you better be."
Skye looked between the two parties, and rushed over to Melinda, wrapping her arms around her waist and hugging her tightly. She would do what she could for her big sisters.
"Melinda, I love you more than I ever loved a foster mom ever." Skye turned on her best 'cute face' and looked up at Mel. At least she wasn't telling lies.
Melinda's expression softened and she stroked Skye's hair. "I love you, too, baby girl, but I know what you're doing."
Skye feigned ignorance. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just wanted to tell you all of the reasons why I love you so much."
Mel rolled her eyes fondly.
"One," Skye began, "you give the best hugs I ever got from anyone. Two; when I feel sad you can always make me feel better. Three-,"
"Skye." Mel interrupted.
"You promised I could stay here forever." Skye continued, unperturbed. "Four-,"
"Skye." Mel said louder, still smirking. "I know you're just trying to save your sisters. But one of them in particular is in a lot of trouble so stop stalling."
"Stalling?" Skye said innocently. "I have absolutely no idea whatever you could possibly mean, Melinda." She hugged her even tighter when she caught sight of Nat and Bobbi out of the corner of her eye. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Mel said. "Bobbi and Natasha, where do you think you're going?" She called, still smiling down at Skye.
Skye expected her older sisters to stop in their tracks, but they continued running across the grass towards the gate at the end of the yard.
"We're running away." Nat called. "Bye, Mom."
"Get back here. Now." Mel shouted.
"No thank you." Bobbi called, opening the gate. "I'll come back later when I'm more confident you won't kill me. I love you, Mommy. Please don't kill my husband!"
The two girls disappeared through the gate, and Melinda looked down at Skye.
"You've been spending too much time with your sisters." She smiled.
Skye grinned. "I love you."
"Yes." Melinda bent over to kiss her nose. "I got that."
Hunter chose that moment to appear at the back door, looking around the yard and rubbing his eyes.
"You seen Bob? I must've fell asleep." He looked at Melinda as she glared at him.
Skye kept her grip on Mel tight. She liked Hunter, and she didn't really want Bobbi's husband to get beat up.
Hunter stepped onto the patio. "What's going on?"
Skye smiled at him sympathetically. "I'd run if I was you."
"Sorry?"
Melinda shifted her grip on Skye. "You married my daughter. I'd run very fast, Lance Hunter."
"Oh, fucking hell."
A/N: Thank you all for being so supportive and understanding. Review, please! :)