Giving Up is Easy, But We'll Take the Challenge

by PanicMoon15

For eight years Skye has been in and out of the orphanage. She's been branded as 'difficult' and no family wants a difficult child. Phil and Melinda are interested in fostering another child after their foster daughter, Natasha has left for college. Will they be able to cope with the unruly eight year old?

20. Skye's Tiny Baby

A/N:Settle in, friends. It's a long one. I was going to split it up, but there just wasn't a natural gap in the chapter. Hope you enjoy!

---

At first, Skye wasn't sure what was going on.

Grant had shown her his photographs in his room, and told her about his little brother. Thomas was dead.

Grant had been playing with Lucky.

Mommy and Daddy had been fighting.

Fighting in the car.

There had been a crash.

Skye blinked a few times, but it was difficult to concentrate, because her vision was fuzzy and she couldn't really hear anything. Her head hurt. She couldn't remember where she was.

She was in the car. Maybe. Yes. In the car.

Somebody was shouting, but it felt like it was very far away. Her arm hurt, too. She was so tired. So tired. So Skye closed her eyes again and went to sleep.

…

Her arm still hurt, and there was still shouting, but this time it was loud. The sound made Skye's chest shiver and she tried to put her hands over her ears but there was a screaming pain in her left arm that took Skye's breath away, so she just stayed still.

Skye's vision was clearer this time.

She could remember this time. Remember everything, not just bits and pieces.

They were all still in the car, and Skye was in the back. The window on her left was smashed. There was blood on her hands, and Skye felt herself begin to cry because she didn't know why there was blood. Her hands were stinging and her head was throbbing.

"Mommy?" She tried to call, but it came out cracked and rusty. "Mommy? Daddy?"

They didn't answer.

"Hey," someone shouted from outside the car, "the kid's awake!"

The same woman reached through the broken window and put a hand on Skye's shoulder. "What's your name, sweetie?"

Skye ignored her. She wanted her Mommy.

"I know it's scary," the lady said, she was wearing a bright jacket and thick gloves, "but I'm a fire fighter. Everything's going to be okay."

"Mommy?"

The fire woman's face softened in a way that made Skye feel like she was going to throw up. "Can you tell me your name?"

"I want my Mommy."

"I know, kid."

The fire woman withdrew her hand and started talking to someone outside of the car. There was still a lot of shouting, and now there were sirens that pierced Skye's ears and made her sore head pulse.

Skye couldn't see Mommy. She had been in the driver's seat in front of Skye, and now Skye could only see a wisp of dark hair, peeking out from between the backrest of the seat and the headrest. She wasn't moving.

Neither was Daddy, and maybe that was scariest, because him, Skye could see. He had his head turned to the side, but his eyes were closed, and there was blood on his face, running down from his nose. His arm was all red, too. The airbag hung limply on his lap from the dash.

"Daddy?" Skye asked again. When he didn't answer, she tried to reach out to him, but the excruciating pain in her arm returned with a vengeance, making Skye yell.

"Just stay still." The fire fighter said. "It's okay, just stay still."

"Daddy." The tears were streaming down Skye's face now. "Daddy, wake up!" She was sobbing so hard, the tears were catching in her throat making it almost impossible to breathe. "I want my Mommy."

Skye tried to stay still when the fire woman told her to, and even though she couldn't stop crying, she tried to be brave and answer all of the questions the different people asked her through the broken window.

They wanted to know her name, her age, Mommy and Daddy's names. They kept asking her about what happened, and Skye didn't really know what to say so she just told them that she didn't remember. It wasn't good to lie, but Mommy and Daddy were hurt and Skye was frightened.

It seemed like a very long time until they managed to open her door, and some people from the ambulance lifted her out of the car.

"Mommy." Skye sobbed. "I don't want to leave my Mommy and Daddy."

They stroked her hair and spoke in soothing tines to try and calm her down, but Skye was too far gone. She was terrified, and these people she didn't know were taking her away from her Mommy and Daddy.

What was worse was that when they lifted her from the car, she was immediately placed on a hard board, with orange blocks on either side of her head, so that she could only see the sky and the people bending over her.

"Skye," A man in green said, bending right over the board, "we're going to take you in the ambulance now, okay?"

"Where's my Mommy? And Daddy?"

"They're coming, too, but they get to go in their own ambulances."

Skye tried to sit up, to see if she could see either of her parents, but the man in green put a hand on her chest.

"No, no." He said. "I know it's scary, but you need to lay flat, just until we know you're not hurt."

She did as he said, and stayed still as she was lifted into the back of the vehicle. She wanted to tell him that she was hurt. Skye could feel her hands stinging, and her head pounding, and when the board was placed down in the ambulance, her wrist really hurt, but Skye stayed quiet.

"Hey," the man in green said, hovering in front of her face, "you're being very brave, Skye."

Skye had to disagree. Agent Skye would never be this frightened.

"Are my Mommy and Daddy okay?"

Green man smiled. "We're going to the hospital now, and once we get there, they'll all do their very best to get you and you parents all fixed up."

"But are they okay?"

He smiled. "What's your favourite animal, Skye? Mine's dogs."

"Um," Skye frowned, a little taken aback from the sudden change in topic, "polar bears."

"Cool." Man in green said. "They're an awesome animal. Did you know their fur isn't really white, it's actually clear?"

"I did." Skye said. "And I know you're just trying to distract me."

Man in green smiled sheepishly. "Was it working?"

"No." Skye tried to turn her head and the man put two fingers on her forehead.

"Still. Remember?"

"I just want my Mommy. Is she okay?"

He sighed and gently stroked her hair. It didn't feel the same as when Mommy did it.

"I can't tell you, Skye. I really don't know." He touched her head again and Skye winced when it stung. "Sorry, honey. You've got a little cut on your head."

"I want my Mommy and Daddy."

"Skye, can you tell me if anywhere else hurts?"

She sniffled and tried to stop crying. The ambulance went over a bump and jostled Skye's painful arm.

"My arm hurts." Skye said quietly. "And my hands."

The man in green left her field of vision for a few seconds. "Yeah, I think we need to get that wrist looked at."

"It hurts pretty bad."

"I bet it does." The man said, returning to her sight. "I think you might be in the market for a cast, Skye."

Skye frowned. "Huh?"

He smiled sympathetically and pressed some gauze to her head. Skye winced when the pressure made the cut sting.

"Sorry." He said. "I think your wrist might be broken."

"Oh." The concept of a broken bone maybe should have been scarier than it felt, but Skye's mind was still focused on her Mommy and Daddy. Her arm hurt, but Mommy and Daddy weren't there, she didn't know where they were, and that was all that mattered.

The sobs that had gradually dissipated during the course of her conversation with the man in green, returned in full force. Her arm was hurting and her head was hurting and Skye felt like she couldn't breathe properly.

"I want my Mommy." She cried. "Please get my Mommy."

"Skye, Skye, can you calm down for me."

"No." She tried to sit up. "Where's my Mommy and Daddy?"

The man in green began moving around the ambulance. "I know, it's scary but you need to stay still."

Skye ignored him. She wanted her Mommy, and with the stupid blocks around her head, she couldn't find her. She clawed at the tape that kept her head still.

"No, no, no." The man brought her hands away from her face. "Calm down."

She tried to push him away, but used her hurting arm and when Skye made contact with the man's shoulder, the pain in her wrist started shrieking. She whimpered and pulled her arm away, cradling it to her chest.

"Okay, okay." The man said. He did something to her good hand that made it sting for a second. "I'm giving you some special medicine to make you feel better, okay?"

Skye stopped struggling when the little pinch in her hand began itching, the feeling spreading up her arm.

"It'll start working pretty quickly." The man said. "Might start to make you feel a little sleepy, just let it work, Skye."

"I want my Mommy." Skye said. Her voice sounded far away and not like her own. "Where's Mommy?"

…

After the needle in her arm in the back of the ambulance, things got a little fuzzy for Skye. It was difficult to keep her eyes open for any prolonged length of time, and even when she did find the energy to stay awake, the view of the world above her still head was sluggish and misty.

Skye was aware that they were out of the ambulance and inside of what she assumed was the hospital. White ceilings and people in multi coloured scrubs gave it away, but now that she was no longer in the back of the vehicle with the man in green, it was difficult to remember how exactly she had got there.

She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, the world seemed a little clearer, the noises around her a little easier to distinguish. Maybe it hadn't been a blink, maybe Skye had been out a little longer than a fraction of a second.

Her arm didn't really hurt much anymore, but now her head was aching and the lights in the room were shining brightly in her eyes. Skye tried to move her head, only to have someone grip her from behind.

"Stay still, Skye." Someone said. A man. Not the man in green, he had a different voice. "Good girl."

Skye wasn't really sure how she was being good. She wasn't doing anything, but if staying still was what they wanted, she could do that. She could be still, even though Skye wanted nothing more than to jump off the bed, rip away whatever blocks were keeping her head from moving, and run away to find her Mommy and Daddy.

Mommy and Daddy.

Of all the voices in the room, Skye couldn't hear either of them. In fact, she couldn't hear anyone she recognised, not Bobbi or Nat, or Hunter or Clint, not even the man in green from the ambulance. Skye shuddered.

Out of her peripheral, Skye could see people moving around. It was too difficult to see what any of them were doing, but the fast-paced movement of the people was unnerving and made Skye want to cry. Maybe she wanted to cry because she was hurt, or maybe it was because she was worried about Mommy and Daddy. Maybe there were lots of reasons Skye wanted to cry.

So she did cry.

"Oh, none of that, Skye." Someone Skye couldn't see said. "We're going to make you all better, so there's no need to cry." Her voice was odd, a little firm, almost like she was reprimanding Skye for getting upset, but it was comforting on a level Skye couldn't really explain.

The woman sounded like she could be scary, like she might start to shout, but she seemed like she was in charge, so Skye tried her best to calm down and even though the tears still dripped into her hair, the wracking sobs calmed into shallow breaths.

"That's better, isn't it?" The same woman said. "Poor girl, she must be terrified. Parents?"

"Coming in soon." A man said.

"Then let's get her cleared as quick as we can, huh?"

"Yes, boss." The man said. "CT?"

"As quick as you can." The woman Skye had been listening to leaned over the bed, and Skye could finally put a face to the voice. "You okay, Skye?"

Skye tried to nod.

"Ah-ah." The woman said, her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but Skye could see streaks of bright red when she moved, brushing the shoulders of her blue uniform. "Stay still."

"A lot of people have been telling me that."

The woman smiled. "And yet, you insist on trying to move."

Skye swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"I forgive you." The woman said. She touched the gauze on Skye's head. "We'll have you fixed up in no time."

The woman left the gauze and instead lifted a metal-backed chart into Skye's field of vision. "I was wondering, Skye, is that your real name."

"What?"

"It's just, I tried to look up your medical records," She put down the chart, "they're the things that can tell me if you've ever been sick or hurt before, but I couldn't find yours. I thought it was maybe because 'Skye' was a nickname."

Skye closed her eyes for a second. She still felt sleepy. "I didn't like my other name, so I changed it."

"Oh? What's your other name, then?"

Skye pouted and opened her eyes. "Mary Sue Poots." She huffed. "Stupid name."

The woman nodded, smirking. "You're certainly a lady with determination, changing your own name."

"Yep." Skye didn't know what 'determination' meant, but she agreed anyway. "Who're you?"

"My name is Victoria Hand. I'm your doctor."

"You're pretty." Skye said. She looked at the red streaks in Doctor Victoria's hair. They reminded her of her Tasha.

The woman smiled. "Thank you. You're very pretty, too."

"Okay." Skye kept her eyes on the red sections of hair as Doctor Victoria leaned right over her bed and began inspecting her head again. She briefly removed the gauze before replacing it.

"Not too bad. We can probably glue it." The woman said. "Lucky girl. No stitches."

"Glue what?" Skye asked, now a little too enthralled in the swirly blue pattern on the doctor's lanyard. Her head still felt a little fuzzy.

"Well, you have a little cut on your head. But we can glue it and it'll heal no problem."

Skye frowned. The woman wore glasses, and when Skye focused she could see a dim reflection of her own face in the glass. She had a lot of dirt or something on her face.

"I don't want glue on my face." Skye said. "Are you sure you're a doctor?"

"I am." Victoria smiled.

Skye had never heard of a doctor gluing someone before. That sounded like something the kindergarteners would do at school. "Are you sure?"

This time the woman laughed. "I'm sure." She lifted the card, which dangled from her lanyard. "See? Can you read what it says?"

There was a little photograph of the lady on the plastic card, then some words that were so long Skye had no hope of ever reading them when she was feeling well, never mind in her current muddled state. But in big bold letters, next to the photograph was the woman's name.

"Doctor Victoria Hand." Skye read slowly. "So you are a doctor."

"I am." Victoria smiled. "Promise. I'm pretty new here, but I've been a doctor in other places for a very long time."

"What other places?" Skye wanted to know.

"New York." She said, "Los Angles, and until I moved here a couple of months ago, I was working in London."

Skye perked up. "England?"

"Yes, clever girl."

"My sister and her husband lived there." Skye said. She pressed her lips together. Talking to Victoria had taken her mind of Mommy and Daddy, but now thinking about Bobbi and Hunter had renewed Skye's separation anxiety. "I want my Mommy." She said.

"I know." Victoria held her good hand. "You're being very brave."

That was the second time someone had told her that today and Skye still didn't feel like it.

The sound of someone approaching made Skye want to turn her head, but she kept still, just like Victoria had said.

"We can take her to CT." The man said. "They've got a bed for her on the ward, too."

"Fantastic." Victoria said. She bent over Skye again, her red streaks almost glowing under the florescent lights. "We're going to go somewhere we can take a photograph of your body, just to make sure you're okay."

"Okay." It didn't sound too bad.

"Now, you just stay nice and still for me while you get wheeled down there."

Skye gripped Victoria's hand. "You're coming?"

"Of course." Victoria began walking alongside Skye's bed when it started moving, still holding her hand. "I'm your doctor. I'm not going to leave you."

"That's a nice thing to say." Skye said. "You're not scary."

Victoria chuckled. "Good to know."

…

When Melinda opened her eyes, they were pulling Phil from the mangled car. She tried to reach out for him, but her limbs weren't cooperating properly and there seemed to be a foggy film over her eyes.

Phil wasn't moving. His eyes were closed and there seemed to be blood all over his face. She called his name over and over but he didn't respond. The fire fighters told her to calm down.

Skye wasn't there. Mel didn't know where Skye was. They told her to calm down again and she tried to head-butt one of the paramedics, missing by a mile. The floor of the car felt like it was tipping back and forward, and her eyes wouldn't focus on any one thing.

She was aware of being pulled from the car. They strapped her to a board and put her in the back of an ambulance.

Melinda threw up twice in the ambulance, and it was horrific because she couldn't move her head, and the paramedics around her lifted the board and tilted it onto its side each time she retched. She cried.

Then she was in hospital.

The doctor told her Skye and Phil were alive. She asked if they were okay, but he just told her they were alive. Melinda didn't feel relieved. She didn't feel anything other than crippling guilt.

This was her fault. The crash. Her husband, her baby girl, oh God, her baby. She could have killed them all.

Then she was hurting.

Then Melinda was panicking. She screamed. It didn't feel like her, but it had to be. She thrashed around on the bed until they gave her something and she started feeling weird, like she was dreaming.

They put her in a scanner, and she watched the dancing lights inside of the machine and she attempted to claw herself out of the dumb fog that was trapping her inside of her own mind. Whatever drugs they had doped her up on had stripped her of her agency.

The drugs made each event bleed into the next, so her memories became like one long montage of occurrences happening to someone who looked like her and sounded like her, but didn't feel like Mel. It was hard to explain, even to herself.

They asked if she knew she was pregnant and she was nodding and saying yes, and it still felt like a dream. The doctors and nurses were rushing around and moving her bed to another ward, and they were scanning her again, and then maybe she had a dream, and no one was really telling her anything until Doctor Banner introduced himself and casually said-

"Baby's fine."

"It is?" Mel said quietly.

"Absolutely unharmed." He smiled. "We'll do another ultrasound a little later, and you can see your baby. When I did it before you were asleep."

Mel frowned. She couldn't remember falling asleep. "They gave me some drugs."

"That was me." Bruce said sheepishly. "You needed to be sedated to get the CT. But everything was fine. I mean, really, you're okay. So is the baby."

"Oh thank God." Mel rubbed her eyes. The fog was clearing and her baby was okay. Melinda gripped the bed sheets. "My baby?"

Bruce frowned. "Is fine, like I said."

"No, sorry, I meant Skye."

"Oh, right. Your daughter." He nodded. "From what I've heard from Doctor Hand, Skye's been very brave. She has broken her wrist, though."

Mel gasped. "Who's with her? Phil?"

"Phil's on the opposite ward to you." Bruce said. "He's still a little out of it. Skye's with our best medical professionals, she's okay."

"She must be terrified." Mel breathed. "I need to see her."

Bruce frowned. "Skye's in our paediatric unit. It's on the other side of the hospital, I'm sorry, I can't authorise you to take a trip there at the moment."

"But I need to be with her. I'm her mother." Mel argued.

"I understand. I do. But you can't go down there. She'll be getting her wrist cast soon, but after that I can get someone to bring her up here to see you."

Melinda nodded. She wanted her baby girl with her, but she wasn't stupid, Melinda knew arguing with her doctor was pointless.

"Can I go and see Phil? You said he was just on the opposite ward."

Bruce picked up her chart and ticked something off. "He's not awake yet. He had even more drugs than you did, but I can take you to see him."

"Please." Mel smiled. "I just need to see he's okay with my own eyes."

…

Getting the CT scan was awful. It was an experience Skye never wanted to have to go through ever again. It had been scary, and she'd had to be really still, but worst of all, Doctor Victoria had had to leave the room with the rest of the people there, and Skye had been left all alone.

Skye missed Mommy a lot when she was in the scanner, and to be a good girl and stay still she closed her eyes and thought about cuddling in bed with Mommy and Daddy. She made up stories about Daddy and Captain America saving the world, and tried not to think about the scary noise the scanner was making. Skye just kept reminding herself that it was just taking pictures of her insides, nothing else, nothing scary. Agent Skye would never be scared.

As frightening and traumatic as being trapped in the small creepy space of the scanner had been, Skye was pleased to have been through it, if only because it meant that when Doctor Victoria looked at the pictures of Skye's insides, she said that all the blocks around her head could be removed and that Skye could move around.

Doctor Victoria took the blocks away and helped Skye to sit up in the bed. "That feel better?"

Skye moved her head around experimentally. "Much better."

"No pain?" Victoria asked.

Skye shook her head, shaking it for longer than necessary just because she now could. "Nope. Well, except my arm. And my head."

"And we're going to fix that right now." Victoria said. "Right after we get your face cleaned up."

Skye rubbed her eyes. Her hands had lots of little cuts on them that stung when she touched her face. "Can I see my Mommy and Daddy yet?"

Doctor Victoria patted her shoulder and began using damp cotton balls gently on Skye's face. "Soon, honey. Let's get you fixed up first, huh?"

"But they're both okay?"

"They're okay, Skye." She wet another cotton ball and Skye spied the previous one, now a rusty colour. She began cleaning Skye's hands. "I've spoken to the doctor taking care of them, and he assures me your parents are okay."

Skye sighed. "I just wanna see them."

"Well, the sooner we get you fixed up, the sooner you can visit them." Victoria finished her cleaning and dumped the bloody waste in the trash.

Just then, a very tall, very large, blonde man with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, walked into the room and grinned widely at Skye. It was an odd thing, Skye thought, because the man was so huge it felt as though she should be scared of him, but his smile was so kind, that Skye kind of wanted to give him a hug. He was like a bear, and Skye liked bears.

"Greetings, Doctor Hand." The blonde man boomed. He bowed at Doctor Victoria, which Skye thought was a bit bizarre. "I have been summoned here." His voice seemed to echo off the dinosaur-covered walls in the little room.

"Yes, great." Victoria smiled. "Thor, this is Skye. Skye this is Nurse Thor."

Thor waved at Skye. "Hello, young one. I do believe you have been involved in an incident today."

Skye nodded. Nurse Thor stepped into the room, pulling a metal cart behind him.

"That is truly unfortunate, and I can see that you are hurt, but I assure you, child that I will care for you and see that your recovery is hasty." Nurse Thor pushed the cart to Skye's bedside and began taking out supplies and lining them up on the top.

Skye watched him line up various medical items she didn't really recognise. "You talk weird."

Thor smiled at Victoria and turned back to Skye. "You would not be the first individual to have that sentiment."

"Huh?"

Doctor Victoria laughed. "Everyone says he talks weird."

"Oh." Skye said.

"I hail from a place very far from these lands, and my idioms are unfamiliar to those from these parts."

Skye blinked at him.

Thor smiled. "Yes, I do 'speak weird'."

"Listen, Skye." Victoria said, "Will you be okay with Thor? I have a few calls I need to make." The doctor scribbled something down on Skye's chart and tucked the whole thing under her arm.

Doctor Victoria was the only one Skye liked around here. Everyone else just kept telling her either to stay still or that she was brave. She didn't really want Doctor Victoria to leave.

"Do you have to go?"

Victoria smiled sympathetically. "I do. But how about this, you stay here with Thor and let him work his magic, and when I come back we'll go see your Mom?"

Skye perked up. "Yes, please. I wanna go see Mommy."

"Okay, then. I'll come back and get you when I'm done with my calls, okay?"

Skye waved to Doctor Victoria as she left the room, leaving the door open a crack. Thor sat down on a wheelie stool that seemed far too small for his humongous stature and began inspecting Skye's cut on her head.

"Young one," he said gently, holding her head still with one massive hand, "you are to hold still while I clean and close this wound. Yes?"

"Yes." Skye said. "I've had a lot of practice with holding still today."

"I expect today has been fairly traumatic for you, child." Thor wiped at the cut and Skye squeezed her eyes shut when it stung. "I do apologise."

"S'okay." Skye mumbled, even though it was really kind of hurting. "Once I had to get stitches and that was bad." Skye had practically screamed the emergency room down when Mr and Mrs Baker's son had stood on Skye's thigh in his cleats and caused a gash in need of eight stitches. "Doctor Victoria says I don't need stitches, right?"

"You do not." Thor said. He picked up a little clear tube and snipped the end off. "This is what will bind your wound. It will sting, but it will be over quickly."

Skye frowned. "Okay." She said unsurely. "It'll only hurt a little?"

Thor leaned over her and before Skye could even process it, her head stung badly for a second, before the pain dissipated and Nurse Thor bat back in his stool. "Just a little?"

Skye reached up and Thor caught her hand. "Do not touch, I will leave it to dry for a second and then dress it. You reacted valiantly my young one."

"That's it?" Skye smiled. "It's over?" Thor nodded. "That wasn't bad at all."

Thor grinned at her. "Ah, that must be because you are a warrior, Skye. You do not succumb to pain."

He dressed the cut quickly with a large band aid and admired his work for a second. "All finished."

Thor washed his hands in the sink on the wall. Careful not to move her bad arm, Skye turned to him. "I'm not a warrior."

"No? You seem worthy of the status to me." He said, drying his hands and putting on another pair of gloves.

"I'm a spy. A secret agent." She declared proudly. "Me and my best friend fight the bad guys together."

Thor sat back down. "That does sound marvellous." He gently took Skye's sore arm, being so careful with her wrist that it barely even hurt when he moved it. "I will try my absolute best to rid you of your painful wrist, Agent, but I do apologise in advance for any discomfort I may cause you over the course of my casting your arm."

"Okay." Skye said. "Do I get to have a colourful cast?" Once in her old school one of the boys had a green one when he broke his ankle, and all the kids in the class had signed it. Skye hadn't wanted to, she had only been in that class a few days at the time, but she watched the others scribble their names and draw funny pictures on it.

Thor opened a drawer in his cart revealing a range of weird bandages in various colours. "These are your options, Agent." He said. "Make a good choice, you will be sporting the colour for the next four to six weeks."

"That's a pretty long time." Skye frowned, eyes darting from the bright yellow to the dark blue.

"It is unfortunate that you will be unable to have full use of your left arm for such a long period, but it will go far more quickly if you have an excellently coloured cast."

Skye looked up at Thor, he was smiling at her brightly. "Which one's your favourite, Thor?"

He looked at the drawer of colours. "I am partial to the red, myself, but you must not be influenced by my choices, young Agent."

There was really too much choice for Skye. Thor's cart seemed to have every colour for her cast imaginable, and if the thing needed to be on for over a month, well, Skye had to made sure she picked the right colour.

"This one's the same as my bedroom walls." Skye said, pointing at the sky blue in the drawer with her good arm. "I'd like to match my bedroom."

Thor opened an even bigger drawer on the bottom of the cart filled with lots of the bandages. "Sky blue for Skye? I think it is perfectly fitting, young Agent."

Skye beamed. "Sky for Skye. Yeah. I like the blue one."

"Agent Skye, you are truly a child with great taste."

Skye nodded. "Yeah, I know." She smiled at him. "Hey, Thor, have you ever heard of Captain America? Let me tell you all about him."

…

Melinda felt ridiculous being wheeled across the corridor to the ward Phil was situated in. She had already told Doctor Banner that she was perfectly capable of walking, even if she wasn't too sure of it herself, but he just rolled his eyes and told her to get in the wheelchair.

"I know you don't like the chair-," Banner said.

"I hate it."

"-but we gave you a lot of sedatives. I'm not confident you won't just keel over at any time."

Melinda turned to look up at him. "You know, for a doctor, you're really not that comforting."

He grimaced. "Sorry. I'm trying. I used to be a scientist, a very unsociable scientist, and the habits from that time seem to pop up every now and again."

"You did save my life." Mel said, turning back to face forward. "I forgive you."

Banner scoffed. "I didn't save your life, really. I made sure you weren't injured enough to die."

Mel rolled her eyes. "Take the compliment, Doctor Banner."

"Right." He said awkwardly, pushing open another door and wheeling her inside. "Thanks."

Bruce pulled back a curtain, and behind it, Phil lay asleep in the hospital bed, propped up and drooling onto his shoulder. The blood that had covered him in the car was all gone, and apart from the dressing on his arm and the manifesting bruises around his eyes, Phil could have just been sleeping in their bed at home.

"He really is okay." Melinda said quietly. She reached out and took his hand, lifting it to rub his knuckles on her cheek.

"He's got some broken ribs that are going to take a little while to heal, a burn on his arm, but he's okay." Bruce said, checking the monitors hooked up to Phil. "He's a pretty fit man for his age."

"He jogs." Mel smirked.

Doctor Banner checked Phil's chart, and apparently satisfied, clipped it back onto the end of the bed. His pager beeped and he frowned at the device. "I'm going to leave you alone with your husband for a few minutes while I deal with something. I'll be back." Banner pulled the curtain closed after him, leaving Mel and Phil alone.

She got out of the wheelchair on shaking legs and perched on the edge of Phil's bed. "I'm so sorry." Melinda whispered, combing her fingers through his thinning hair. "I am so, so sorry, Phil."

"This is all my fault, Phil." Melinda's breath caught in her throat. "Phil, I could have killed you. I could have killed Skye, I-," She cut herself off when the tears began making an appearance. Mel's voice dropped. "I should have just told you."

She pulled her hand away from Phil to irritably run it through her own hair. Her fingers caught mid way down, snagging on the knots. "This was all my fault."

Melinda sat quietly with Phil for a little while, holding his hand and running her fingers softly over the forming black eyes. He snored loudly and she smiled briefly before remembering why he was passed out.

The crash had been all her doing. She was the one who started the fight, she had put Skye in the car, she had been at the wheel, she hadn't been paying attention. Melinda had emerged from the accident practically unscathed. It was a miracle, one she didn't deserve.

Doctor Banner pulled back the curtain and stepped back into the cubicle. He smiled at Melinda be it seemed forced. "I should probably take you back to your bed." He said. "Phil will be fine."

Melinda kissed Phil's brow and pecked his lips. She wiped away the little line of drool on his cheek. Banner helped her back into the wheelchair and whisked her off the ward.

"I've spoken to Doctor Hand," Banner said, "that's Skye's doctor. She's happy to bring Skye to see you if you'd like."

"Yes." Mel said quickly. "Please, yes."

Bruce nodded. "I told Vic to bring her up once she'd done with her cast." He pushed Mel back into her room.

"Thank you." Melinda smiled. "Skye's not used to being without one of us, or one of her sisters. She doesn't like being alone."

Doctor Banner attempted to help Mel back into bed but she waved him off and climbed in herself. He sighed and glanced at his feet. "Doctor Hand wanted me to tell you," he looked back up at Mel, "she's got a few things to discuss with you."

Melinda frowned. "Sorry?"

"I'm not Skye's doctor and I can't really disclose anything that I really don't know much about, but Vic, um, Doctor Hand," Bruce stumbled over his words, "she needs to talk to you about Skye."

"What about Skye?" Melinda sat up in bed. "Tell me. Skye's my daughter, you have to tell me."

Doctor Banner's face softened. "But she's not though, is she?" He said quietly. "Not really."

She narrowed her eyes. "Skye is my daughter."

He sighed. "Foster daughter." Bruce Banner rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen, you need to discuss this with Doctor Hand when she gets here." He stumbled out of the room. "I have other patients."

"Wait." Mel called after him. "Are you going to see Phil?"

"I will be."

"Don't tell him." Melinda begged. "When he wakes up, please, don't tell him about the baby."

Banner's eyebrows went up. "So, he doesn't know?"

"No. And I'd prefer it if you didn't tell him."

Bruce nodded professionally. "Understood. He'll want to see you when he wakes up, should I come get you?"

Melinda thought about Skye's broken wrist, about Phil's broken ribs. All of it, her fault.

"No." She said. "I just want to be alone for a while. Well, alone with Skye."

"Okay. I'll tell him when he wakes up." Doctor Banner said, and left Mel's room, leaving her alone with nothing more than the crippling guilt standing heavily on her chest.

She pressed a hand to her belly. The tiny curve she had been ignoring for far too long, seemed frighteningly prominent under her knowing fingers. "I'm so sorry." Melinda told the baby. "You deserve so much better than me."

…

When Phil Coulson was nine, his father had been working on his beloved 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, Lola, as Phil watched quietly from the back of the garage. It had been raining outside, so young Philip and his father had been forced to work in the gloomy garage rather than their usual place on the driveway.

One day, his father said, Phil was going to be old enough to drive, and then he could have Lola. Young Phil couldn't wait.

Phil's Dad, Robert, was leaning over the open hood of Lola. He wasn't really doing anything, that's what Phil' Mom said, that Robert was just 'tinkering', but Phil still liked to watch. Sometimes, if he was really good, and if his Dad was in a particularly good mood, he let Phil sit in Lola while he worked. Phil didn't like to ask, though, because sometimes his dad could be a bit grumpy, and if he asked to sit in Lola, Dad might shout at Phil.

Dad was never mean, but sometimes when he shouting it made Phil feel upset. Mom said Dad sometimes shouted because he was stressed at work. Phil decided that even if he had the world's most stressful job when he grew up, he would never shout at his children for nothing.

"Dad?" Phil had asked on that night.

"Yeah?" His Dad had replied, standing up and wiping off his hands on a greasy cloth.

"Do you love me?"

Robert had looked surprised for a second, but then he threw the cloth on the ground and the look was gone. "Sure I do, son." He had ruffled Phil's hair. "Why do you ask?"

Young Phil had shrugged. "Was just wondering." Phil had been thinking about it for a while. His Dad was great. But sometimes Phil wondered if his Dad loved him, or just put up with him. His Dad could be very serious and it was hard to tell. Mom tucked Phil into bed every night and said she loved him, but Dad didn't say it.

"I love you, Dad." Phil had said.

Robert had clapped him on the shoulder and lit up a cigarette. "Be a good boy and pick up this stuff." He had nodded down at the various tools and cloths he had been using on Lola, before going back into the house to ask how long until dinner.

Philip Coulson's father had died that night. Pulmonary embolism. A blood clot in the pulmonary artery that cut off the blood flow to his lungs. Robert had died in his sleep, and Phil had been awoken a few hours after being put to bed by his mother's screams. There had been an ambulance, but Dad had never come home.

Young Phil decided that he would never shout at his children for no reason. That he would always tell them he loved them. And that he would always come home.

"You're a lucky man." A doctor said as Phil opened his eyes. The dark haired man looked him up and down. "Very lucky."

Phil blinked a couple of times and shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. He felt sick, like he might puke, but the wave of nausea passed leaving a dull ache in his chest. The doctor was scribbling something down on a chart, and Phil glanced around the room.

He was in hospital, sitting up in a bed with a curtain pulled around the cubicle. Phil grimaced at the IV in his arm and tried to inspect what was being fed to him through the drip.

"Just to keep you hydrated and keep the pain manageable." The doctor said of the IV. "How is the pain at the minute?"

"Um," Phil swallowed past the dry mouth he was suffering, "okay, I guess."

"Here." The doctor passed him a cup of water and Phil sipped it through the straw. When he drank half the cup, the doctor took it away and placed it on a nearby table. "Doctor Bruce Banner." The doctor said and held out his hand.

Phil took it and they shook. "Nice to meet you."

"And you, Phil, again." Bruce smiled. "Nice to hear you when you're lucid."

Phil frowned. He couldn't remember ever having spoken to Doctor Banner before, and he was about to say so when flashes of images assaulted his mind, and the memories of the crash came back with frightening clarity.

"Mel." Phil said. "Skye. Where are they? My wife?"

Bruce held up his hands. "They're both okay. Don't panic, they're both okay."

Phil sighed heavily in relief and his chest burned. "Ouch."

"Yeah, four broken ribs." Bruce said. "I've actually already explained this to you twice already, but I take it you can't remember that?"

"No." Phil frowned. "I can't." That was worrying.

Doctor Banner smiled kindly. "It's not usual for someone to have some memory loss when trauma is involved, as it happens, it think yours' may be down to the cocktail of drugs we pumped into you when you were in the ambulance and in the ER."

"How long have I been here?"

"Not too long." Bruce said. "Not in the grand scheme of things. About four hours, four and a half."

"Oh." Phil sighed. "So, broken ribs?"

"Yeah. That and a bit of a burn on your arm, but that's the price of airbags saving your life. Expect a couple of black eyes, too." Bruce shook his head. "You were in a bad accident, Mr Coulson. Four broken ribs and some pretty bad bruising, but that's about it. Lucky guy."

"My wife and daughter?" Phil asked. He needed to see them.

"Melinda is okay, she's, well, she's had a hard time, but she's okay. She's on the other ward, resting."

"But she's fine, right?"

Bruce smiled. "She'll be okay." He said quietly. "She's been in to see you, but she said she wants to be alone for a little while."

Phil frowned. He wanted to see Melinda with his own eyes, to make sure she was fine, but she didn't even want to see him. She must be okay if she had been in to see him, though, Phil thought. She must hate him. It was his fault that the accident even happened, he had started their fight, prolonged it into the car. The accident had been because of him, and Mel and Skye had suffered.

"Skye?" Phil said quickly. "Is she okay?"

Bruce nodded. "I haven't met Skye, but my colleague has been taking good care of her. I've been hearing good things from her about Skye."

He smiled broadly. "Skye's amazing. And she's okay, too."

"Cuts and bruises, broken wrist, but she's been keeping our nurses entertained with stories of Captain America."

"Yep," Phil smiled, "that's my Skye."

…

The walls in the rest of the hospital in comparison to the children's ward were really boring. There were no dinosaurs on the walls here, no brightly coloured chairs, or bed sheets. In fact, the most colourful thing in the hallway Doctor Victoria was leading Skye down, was Skye herself, decked out in the patterned hospital pyjamas and her blue cast.

"Almost there." Doctor Victoria said.

"Is my Daddy going to be there?" Skye asked. "I want to see him, too."

"Your Daddy is on a different ward, but he's okay. I promise."

Skye nodded. "That's good." It had been scary seeing Daddy in the car. It made Skye feel sick and her back prickle when she thought about it. She looked down at the multi-coloured stars adorning the hospital jammies. They were a little too big and the socks they had given Skye to wear didn't match the colours of the stars, but she didn't mind.

Skye held Victoria's hand with her good arm. "Doctor Victoria?"

She looked down at her. "Yes, Skye?"

"Do you have a nickname?" Skye smiled at her. "My sisters have nicknames."

"They do?"

"Uh-huh." Skye nodded. "And my sister Nat calls me malyutka. It means 'little one' in Russian."

"That's certainly interesting."

"Do you have a name like that?"

Doctor Victoria looked back up at where they were going. She smiled at a nurse passing by. "My friends call me 'Vic'."

"Vic." Skye repeated. "I like that, Doctor Vic."

They walked hand in hand along more corridors than Tony Stark's house even had, and they even took a ride in the elevator before they reached Mommy's room. The door was open a little when they got there, and Skye stood outside for a moment, feeling unusually nervous to see Mommy.

"Go ahead." Doctor Vic gave her a gentle nudge, and Skye pushed open the door.

Any nerves Skye had, disappeared the moment her eyes landed on her Mommy. Skye rushed into the room and flung herself into Melinda's arms with a complete disregard for her own injuries.

"Mommy!" She grinned, wrapping her arms around Melinda best she could while still standing on the floor. "Mommy, you're okay. Vic said you were okay, but now I can see you and you are okay."

Mommy smiled and held Skye tightly. She didn't say anything, but she reached over and lifted Skye onto the bed to sit on her lap. Mommy kissed her head over and over again, rubbing Skye's back and uttering things she couldn't quite hear.

"Mommy, I missed you." Skye said into her chest. "Please don't leave me." She knew it hadn't been Mommy's fault that they had been separated, but Skye had resolved to never leave Melinda again, now that they had reunited. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I am." Mommy said. She kissed Skye again. "My baby, I am so sorry."

Skye held Mommy's face between her hands, just to make sure she was actually alright. It was a little difficult with her casted wrist, but she managed it. "Why are you sorry?"

Mommy touched her cast and looked at the band aid on her head. "You got hurt." She said quietly.

"M'okay." Skye said. Mommy looked really upset so Skye gave her a kiss. "I promise. I'm okay, Mommy. Look," Skye held out her cast, "it matches my bedroom."

"It does." Mommy smiled. "But I wish I hadn't let you get hurt, baby."

Skye frowned. "You didn't do anything." She said. "It was the car. Not you."

"I was driving."

"But it was an accident." Skye said. "It wasn't your fault."

Mommy hugged her tightly and Skye let her head rest on her chest.

Someone behind Skye cleared their throat and she turned to see a man standing next to Doctor Vic. He smiled at Skye.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" The man asked.

"No." Doctor Victoria said, and Skye wanted to butt-in say that 'yes, actually you are interrupting' to the man, because she was hugging her Mommy and he didn't need to be there, but she stayed quiet and snuggled into Mommy. "We haven't had a chance to speak yet." Vic said.

Mommy's arms tightened around Skye. "Doctor Banner said you wanted to talk to me." She said.

"Yes, I do need to speak with you." Doctor Vic said. She glanced at the man, then back to Skye. "It can wait, though. If Doctor Banner needs to examine you."

The man, Doctor Banner, nodded. "I was going to give you that scan, Melinda. But I can come back later, if you would prefer."

"No, no." Mommy said. "I'd like Skye to see."

"Okay then," Doctor Banner said, "let's get started."

Skye watched quietly as Doctor Banner began pulling various pieces of equipment over to the bed. Mommy kept her arms tight around Skye. Doctor Vic watched from the corner of the room.

"What's that for?" Skye asked, pointing to the screen by the bed.

Doctor Vic answered. "That's so we can see the baby in your Mommy's belly. It's for the scan."

"I had a scan." Skye told Mommy. She still looked sad and Skye wanted to cheer her up. She didn't really know how, but Mommy usually smiled when Skye was talking to her. Skye wanted to make Mommy smile. "I had to stay really still in the scanner, and it didn't look like that." She nodded at the screen.

Mommy didn't smile. She frowned. "You needed to have a CT?"

"I dunno what it's called."

"It was just a precaution." Doctor Vic said. "Protocol. Skye was fine."

Mommy stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Skye."

Skye couldn't really understand why Mommy kept saying she was sorry. The scanner had been scary, but that hadn't been Mommy's fault. If Skye was going to be mad at anyone for her time in the scanner, it would be Doctor Vic, but Skye didn't really blame her either.

"You know," Doctor Banner said, "your Mommy had one of these scans, too."

Skye craned her neck to look at her Mommy. "You did? Did you think it was scary?"

"I did." Mommy said. "I bet you were very brave, Skye." She smiled then. "You're always so brave."

Skye blushed. "Not always."

"You were very brave today, Skye." Doctor Vic said.

"Skye," Doctor Banner said, "do you think you could scoot over on the bed? I need to get to you Mommy's belly."

Mommy shifted to the side and let Skye get comfortable on the other side of the bed. Doctor Banner lifted Mommy's shirt, and Skye watched, enthralled, as he squirted some weird gel on her tummy and began rubbing something attached to the cart the screen was on, over her stomach. Doctor Vic switched off the lights and Skye held Mommy's hand to make her feel better.

Everyone was watching the screen, so Skye watched it, too. She couldn't really work out what exactly she was meant to be seeing, though. It was just a dark, grainy image on the screen with lots of wobbly lines.

Doctor Banner pointed to something grey. "Right there." He said, smiling. "You see it?"

"Yeah." Mommy said so quietly Skye barely heard her. "Oh my God." Mommy was gripping Skye's hand pretty hard as she looked at the screen. "That's incredible."

"What's that, Mommy?" Skye asked eventually, when it seemed unlikely that anyone was going to tell her.

Mommy was crying when she turned to Skye, but she was smiling bigger than ever. Happy tears. Skye had never been so happy that she had cried. It just seemed weird. When you were happy, you smiled, and when you were sad, you cried. But Mommy was doing both.

"You see there, where Doctor Banner is pointing?" Mommy asked. She rubbed her fingers over the top of Skye's hand.

"Um, yeah." Skye said. "But what is it?" It still looked like nothing.

"Baby," Mommy said, then chuckled, "that's the baby."

"Huh?" Skye stared dumbly at the screen. "That's not a baby."

"It is." Mommy laughed. "I know it looks a little odd, but that's the baby in my belly."

Even when she squinted and tilted her head to the side, Skye still couldn't see the baby, just a, well, a greyish blob. "Where?"

Doctor Banner moved his finger on the screen. "The baby's lying on its back, see? Here's the head, and there's its nose."

The pointy bit is the baby's nose?" Skye asked quietly. He nodded. The longer Skye stared, the more she could see it. The head, the nose, the tummy, even the miniscule indentation of the baby's mouth. It was all there. So tiny because it could fit in Mommy's tummy, but it was a baby. A proper baby.

"That's our baby." Skye said. "Mommy, I can see it."

"Yeah." Mommy grinned at her. "Can you believe it?"

"Of course I can." Skye said. "I can see it right there on the screen."

Doctor Vic laughed. "You want to hear the baby, Skye?"

Skye frowned and turned to her. "It can't talk." She said.

Vic smirked. "I know, but Doctor Banner can let you listen to the baby's heartbeat."

"Our baby has a heartbeat?" Skye asked. It was such a tiny baby, and she could barely fathom how small the heart must have been to fit in such a small body.

"You want to hear?" Doctor Banner said.

"Yes." Mommy said. "I want to hear it."

Skye nodded, too.

Doctor Banner did something on his screen, moved the thing on Mommy's tummy around, and then there was the sound. Faint at first, but with a turn of one of the knobs on the cart, it sounded loudly through the hospital room.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

Skye placed a hand over her chest and pressed hard.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

"It's like mine." Skye said, then moved her hand to Mommy's chest. "And yours', too."

"It's a very strong heartbeat." Doctor Banner said. "Like I said before, everything is fine." He took the thing off Mommy's tummy and the sound of the baby's heart stopped.

Skye wanted to listen to it forever. As long as the baby's heart was beating, Skye knew that the baby was safe. It was so tiny, and its heart was so small, but having heard the baby, seen the baby, Skye knew it was strong. She was going to make sure her baby was safe and strong and protected.

Doctor Vic turned the lights back on, and Skye blinked against the brightness. Doctor Banner was putting away the screen and things, and Mommy was wiping the gel from her tummy. Skye took some paper towel of her own from the cart and helped. When Mommy's tummy was clean, Skye scooted down the bed, and pressed her ear against the bare skin of Mommy's belly.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

"I can hear the baby's heart." She said. "Hi, baby."

Mommy smiled and ran her fingers through Skye's hair. "I think that's my heart you can hear, Skye. The baby's pretty deep in there."

"Oh." Skye said. "So the baby can't hear me, either?"

"No, the baby can hear you." Doctor Banner said. "That's why when the baby's born, it's often soothed by voices it hears often when in the womb."

"What's a womb?"

"It's probably a conversation for another day." Doctor Vic said.

Skye shrugged. "Okay then." She pressed a kiss to Mommy's tummy. "I hope you can hear me." She mumbled. "I love you, baby. I'll take care of you."

When she sat up, Mommy was crying again. Happy tears. Skye pulled down her shirt for her and snuggled into her side. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, Skye." Mommy nuzzled her hair. "So much, I love you so much, little girl."

"When can I go and see Daddy?" Skye looked up to her Mommy. "I wanna see him."

"Soon." Mommy said. She kissed Skye's hair. "And we can tell him about the baby, yeah?"

"Yes." Skye grinned. She couldn't wait for her Daddy to know about the baby, then it wouldn't be a secret anymore and she could tell him about the baby's tiny nose and tummy, and how she had heard its heart beating and it sounded just like her own felt. "Can we tell Daddy soon?"

"Really soon."

Doctor Vic and Doctor Banner were still putting away the scanning equipment when there was a knock at the door.

"Who's that?" Skye asked, sitting up. "Is it my Daddy?"

Vic frowned at Doctor banner. He cocked an eyebrow at her and she nodded.

"I'm so sorry." Vic said to Mommy. "I wanted to talk with you first, but when I accessed Skye's records and found out she was fostered, I had to. That's why we had to turn away any relatives that tried to visit any of you." Doctor Vic shook her head. "It's my duty. I'm required to report it."

Skye looked over at Mommy. She was glaring at Doctor Vic.

"What did you do?" Mommy asked Vic.

"I had to." Vic said. She sounded like she might cry.

Skye curled back around Mommy and her arm gripped Skye too tightly.

Vic glanced at the door when the person knocked again. "I'm required by law to report any child under foster care who requires medical attention to their social worker. We couldn't find any records for 'Skye Coulson', so we couldn't disclose any information to anyone claiming to be relatives. I just wanted to find her records." Doctor Vic sighed. "When I called to inform the social worker about Mary Sue Poots' accident…I didn't know this would happen."

The person knocked for the third time and Doctor Banner went to the door. He opened it a crack and muttered to the person outside.

"What's going on?" Skye asked. "Mommy?"

Mommy arms were so tightly wrapped around her that she was almost hurting Skye, but she didn't care. Skye tucked her casted arm up to her chest and gripped onto Mommy with the other.

"Mommy?"

Doctor Banner stepped back into the room, holding the door open for the person following him in. Skye watched, prepared for something horrible, when a familiar face entered the room. Skye sat up, breaking away from Mommy and grinned.

"Abby." Skye greeted her social worker. "What are you doing here?"

Mommy pulled her back. "Please," Mommy said to Abby, "I know why you're here. You know this was all an accident. Please, Abby, she's better with me, with our family."

Abby swallowed. "I know that, Melinda. But it has to be done. Protocol."

"Screw protocol!" Mommy was angry. "Skye's mine. She's mine. I'm her mother."

"Mommy?"

"Listen," Abby sighed, "I don't want to make this traumatic for Skye-,"

"Traumatic?" Mommy laughed, but she sounded so mad. "Of course this is going to be traumatic for her."

Skye gripped Mommy's arm.

Abby stepped forward, and now Skye wasn't so happy to see her. Whenever Skye saw Abby it either meant she was going to a new home, or…she was leaving one.

"No." Skye said quietly.

"The crash, I know it was probably an accident, but the police need to be involved. They need reports made, and interviews done, you know the drill."

"Please." Mommy begged. "Abby don't do this."

"I don't have a choice, Melinda." Abby said. "Skye hasn't been with you very long, and she's still just a foster kid, not adopted. The police are involved and you know that when the police are involved the state declares that the child needs to be placed in a 'stable environment.'"

"What's more stable than being with her mother?"

Abby sighed. "You're not her mother."

"Don't you dare say that." Mommy hissed. "Don't you dare."

"Melinda, for Skye's sake. Make this easy."

"No." Mommy said. She held Skye tightly. "No." She was crying. "Please, Abby, no."

"I'm so sorry." Abby said. "I have to take her."

Skye knew what was coming. She knew. And she hated it.

She shook her head as the tears streamed down her face. Doctor Vic was crying, too. Mommy was shaking. Skye buried her face in Mommy's chest.

"You promised." Skye sobbed. "Mommy, you promised we'd be together forever. Mommy, tell Abby I get to stay with you. Please Mommy, please."

Mommy was crying hard. "I'm sorry. Baby, Skye, I'm so sorry. I love you so much, I'm so sorry."

"You promised, Mommy." Skye heaved. "You promised." She turned to look at Abby. "No. Please. I want my Mommy. I wanna stay with Mommy."

Abby coughed and held out her hand. "Time to go, Skye."

---

A/N:I'M SO SORRY DON'T KILL ME...review?