I felt a little bit bad at giving you guys such a depressing chapter last time, so this one's happier. Lucky for me kids are pretty temperamental, so I can switch between the two relatively easily :)
Thank you all so much for your positive feedback on the scene with Hunter. Also, much thanks to VanillaAshes, who helped me a lot with some of the breakfast conversation. You're awesome!
Breakfast
"May!" Bobbi called out in front of her, halting the specialist in her tracks. She caught up quickly, noting that the normally cold S.H.I.E.L.D. agent seemed even more closed off than usual.
"Yes?" May asked as Bobbi fell into step beside her.
"I was wondering if you wanted to meet me on the mat," Bobbi requested.
"Gym. Ten minutes." The woman walked off, heading in the opposite direction. Bobbi returned to her room, changing swiftly out of her more formal clothing into something workout-worthy. Isabelle was still sound asleep in her bed, and Bobbi stood over her for a few moments before exiting the room again.
May was already there when she arrived, performing some sort of complicated calisthenics. She broke off as Bobbi made her way into the room. "Makeshift baby monitor," Bobbi told her, holding up the phone before placing it on the side. May nodded, centering herself in the middle-left of the room. Bobbi got into position and they slowly began to circle each other, fists raised.
Bobbi attacked first, coming at her opponent with a jab to her stomach that quickly morphed into a kick to the calf. May countered it with a block and a punch of her own. They both pulled away with minor injuries and began circling again. "How're the rest of the team taking it?" Bobbi asked. She barely managed to dodge May's fist by stepping to the side and grabbing her forearm, using the woman's momentum to fling her forward and to the ground. May spun as she hit the floor, one long sweep of her legs sending Bobbi crashing down as well. They both leaped up their feet, resuming the circling.
"They're confused," May replied. She feinted with a right hook, but Bobbi saw the true attack coming and blocked, ending them up in a forearm-to-forearm standstill. "But they're taking it well."
"Good." Bobbi broke it with a kick at May's exposed stomach, but before she knew it May's legs had twisted around hers and she was lying flat on her back on the ground. She grunted, getting to her feet with a wry smile. "No one's been able to do that to me in a long time."
"You just haven't had good enough partners." May didn't wait for Bobbi to be ready before going on the attack again, leading with a massive kick to the shins and following it up with a punch to the jaw.
The kick missed, but the punch connected, throwing Bobbi off-balance for a second. She returned with a vengeance, a swift strike at the collarbone that landed to full effect. May staggered backwards, and this time it was her whose butt hit the ground. She ignored Bobbi's offer of a hand up, flipping herself back onto her toes with grace. Both wary of each other's capabilities now, the circling recommenced.
"There's a lot of talk," May informed her. "You, Hunter, and Isabelle are what's on everyone's minds right now, and considering HYDRA's recent attack on the UN—"
"—that's saying something," Bobbi finished. She ducked for May's next swing, barely dancing over the footwork that came with what turned out to be a feint from above. "It's a lot to deal with, just for me...without worrying about what the rest of the team thinks." May eyed her. "Like Skye...she was supportive, but now she'll know that I left Hunter out of it, and they're already friends, and… Coulson's too kind to say anything, but I saw the look in his eyes after I admitted that Hunter was the father." They exchanged a flurry of blows.
"Coulson reserves judgment well," May told her.
"And you?"
The specialist gave her a look. "I just keep mine to myself." Bobbi remained silent as May blocked a punch to her side and responded with a swift jab of her knee. "You're worried that I don't understand your choice," May surmised eventually after a few more quick exchanges of blows.
"You're the one who I think would the most," Bobbi admitted. May's eyes narrowed, and somehow Bobbi ended up on the floor again with the woman's hand hovering inches over her throat. After a moment May stood back and let Bobbi jump to her feet again, albeit a bit more slowly this time. "You might understand because you're objective. You don't let your feelings cloud your judgment."
May seemed to consider it for a minute, standing up and letting her fists drop to her sides. Bobbi gradually relaxed her stance as well. "Sometimes that's the price of doing the right thing," May said finally. "No one understands, and it hurts like hell." She broke off, heading for the water bottle on the table and tossing one of the white towels to Bobbi. "You should go check on her, and get some rest."
Bobbi nodded, feeling curiously like she'd just glimpsed a part of May that she'd never seen before. "I will." They parted ways from their short but satisfying spar, Bobbi heading back to her room and May disappearing into Coulson's office.
She opened the door softly to see Isabelle as undisturbed as before. Bobbi took a quick shower before climbing into bed herself, twisting onto her side to look at Isabelle's sleeping form. Then she turned out the light, plunging the room into darkness.
Bobbi's eyelids cracked open as the lights hit near-full intensity, ratcheted up slowly as they were to match the gradual brightening of the day. It was a poor substitute for actual sunlight streaming through actual windows, but the best they had at the Playground. All of a sudden a rustle of sheets reminded her she wasn't alone, and she looked across towards the other bed. Isabelle was already awake and dressed, sitting on it quietly. "Good morning," Bobbi greeted her with a yawn.
"Good morning," Isabelle mumbled back. She seemed much calmer this morning, almost...happier. And that gave Bobbi hope.
"How long have you been awake?" she asked, slipping her legs out of bed and sitting up. The girl shrugged. "Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?"
"Yes!" Bobbi smiled, startled by her daughter's enthusiasm.
"Okay, well, just let me get dressed and we can head down to the kitchen," she told her. She opened her drawer and pulled out a shirt and comfortable pants. "Some of the others might be there," she said, pulling them on. "Do you remember their names?"
"Leo," Isabelle replied promptly, holding up Thor the Monkey as proof.
"That's right," Bobbi laughed. "And Jemma, and Skye, and May, and Coul—Phil." Wow, it was weird calling him that.
"Will the grumpy man be there?" Isabelle asked, frowning.
It took Bobbi a moment to figure out who her daughter was talking about. "Hunter? I honestly don't know," she told her truthfully. "But I'm sure he'll be nicer this time, if he is."
Isabelle nodded uncertainly, accepting Bobbi's hand as her mother opened the door. She was still carrying both Hoppity and Thor, but Bobbi didn't have the heart to tell her to leave the two stuffed animals in the room. The hallway was quiet as they stepped out, but Bobbi could hear voices as they neared the kitchen.
"And—and then, it just sizzled," Fitz was saying. "It wasn't supposed to. And I legged it!"
Simmons burst into laughter. "The whole class had to be evacuated, because they thought it might explode."
"It didn't," Fitz concluded, also laughing as Bobbi and Isabelle rounded the corner. She could see the three of them sitting at the table Fitz and Simmons next to each other with Skye across from them. The hacker was smiling as well, although she seemed a bit confused on why exactly their story was so funny. Mack and Triplett were at the coffee machine, and Bobbi just barely glimpsed Hunter heading up the stairs two-at-a-time away from them. So he was back.
The friendly chatter stopped as the two of them entered, and after a moment Skye exclaimed, "If it isn't the newest member of the group!" She waved. "Hi Isabelle! Wanna come join us?"
Isabelle looked up at Bobbi, who nodded encouragingly. "Go on, I'll get you something to eat."
"Actually, I've got that handled," Coulson announced. He handed Bobbi two plates of steaming waffles fresh off the iron. "Here. Syrup's on the table."
"If Fitz hasn't used it all already," Simmons cut in teasingly.
"There's some left!" the engineer protested indignantly. Bobbi thanked Coulson, taking the plates from him and setting them down on the table. Isabelle had taken the seat next to Skye, still holding her stuffed animals.
"Why don't you set Thor and Hoppity down next to you while you eat?" she suggested. "So you don't drip syrup on them." The girl hesitated, then acquiesced, setting the two down gingerly in between her and Bobbi.
"Can I have lots of syrup?" Isabelle asked, looking between Bobbi and Skye.
"Sure!" Skye replied, taking the small pitcher from Fitz and handing it to her. "As much as you want." Isabelle took it happily, tilting it almost 180 degrees over her waffle.
"That's probably…" Bobbi began, but the rest of the syrup was gone before she could finish the sentence. "...enough." With steaming cups of coffee, Mack and Triplett took their seats on the opposite side of the table next to Fitz. She could have sworn Trip was laughing at her. Coulson finished off the waffle batter and stuck the last two under a paper towel to stay warm before sitting down in his customary seat at the far end.
"There we go!" Isabelle replied happily, handing the empty container back to Skye. She moved to pick it up with her fingers but this time Bobbi managed to stop her before she could, picking up a knife and reaching across the two stuffed animals to cut it for her. "Thank you," her daughter said shyly. Her small fingers hefted the large metal fork and she stabbed it haphazardly into a bite-sized chunk of waffle, a smidgen of excess syrup falling onto her shirt anyway as she lifted it to her mouth.
Everyone looked up as May came down the stairs. "Good morning!" Simmons greeted her brightly as Bobbi tried to wipe the syrup off Isabelle's clothing only to have even more fall with the next bite. Bobbi sighed and decided to wait until the end.
May crossed to the counter and picked up her plate, disposing of the paper towel. She looked around the table as she approached, and Bobbi realized that with all eight of them seated at the table plus the space for Hoppity and Thor, there wasn't enough room for another person.
Coulson seemed to come to the same conclusion. "Here, sit with me," he suggested, shifting over on the bench seat at the head of the rectangular table. The specialist did, sandwiching them both in the tiny area. Bobbi resisted the urge to smile at the agent's apparent discomfort with her sudden loss of personal space.
Laughter filled the table, emanating from Simmons, who must have been having her own little side conversation with Fitz from the way they were both grinning. They certainly did have a lot inside jokes with one another—enough to fill a book—and Bobbi often found that neither she nor the rest of the team could decipher what seemed to be their secret language of references to their time at the Academy and complex science knowledge. She didn't have enough time to wonder this time around, however, because May's words sliced through the atmosphere.
"Skye, pass the syrup?" May asked. Like everything else, it sounded very much like an order coming from her.
Bobbi instantly felt everybody's eyes on her and Isabelle and all chatter shut down.
When Skye didn't respond instantly, May reached over and picked it up herself. "Okay, who used the last of the syrup?" she asked, casting her dark eyes around the table. As they reached her, Isabelle grabbed Hoppity, the nearest, and hid behind him, using both the bunny and Skye as a shield against the specialist's wrath. Bobbi shook her head slightly and May relented. "I think there's some more in the pantry," she said stiffly, rising to fetch it.
"It's okay, Isabelle," Bobbi whispered to her, attempting to extract Hoppity from her death grip to allow the girl to finish eating. Isabelle instantly let out a loud sound of protest, holding onto Hoppity even tighter.
"Let her keep holding the rabbit," Trip suggested lightly. Bobbi released Hoppity, watching as her daughter quickly hugged it close to her in an attempt to hold the toy tighter. She nodded her thanks to Trip uncertainly, settling back in her seat.
"I—I had a monkey stuffed animal when I was younger," Fitz said suddenly, looking as awkward as Bobbi felt. "His name was Maxwell."
"I had a stuffed bear, with one eye and a button for its other eye. Her name was Cocoa," Skye told them all.
"I never had a stuffed animal," Simmons commented, looking momentarily puzzled by the thought.
"You never had a—That's strange," Fitz said.
"No, it isn't!" Simmons countered, looking around them all for confirmation.
"Actually, it is. I thought every child had one," Skye said, looking at Simmons. "What did you play with?"
"My dad had these expensive collectible action figures that…" Bobbi heard Coulson's sharp intake of air at the thought of a young Simmons using priceless figurines as toys. With a glance at Isabelle, she noticed that Hoppity was back in his original spot and that her daughter was back to attacking the waffle pieces with gusto as she listened to the friendly conversation around them. "I still have one of the action figures on top of my dresser," Simmons continued. "My dad is determined to get it back; I don't think he understands that it's mine now." They all laughed, and Isabelle smiled through a mouthful of food.
"I would hide Dad's keys," Trip offered.
"I did that too," Simmons said cheerfully. "I would put them in my pocket or in a bag and keep them with me. Then my parents would have to give me attention and my Dad couldn't leave for work so early."
"All done!" Isabelle announced, tilting her clean plate to show it to Bobbi.
"Do you want some fruit?" she asked, standing and walking to the fridge. "We have...apples, oranges, and watermelon."
"Watermelon!" Isabelle requested eagerly.
"Coming right up," Bobbi laughed. She pulled the container out and returned with it and a spoon to the table. She plopped some chunks of watermelon onto Isabelle's plate before passing the container off to Mack, who was eying it hungrily. Unlike with the waffle, Isabelle did not dig in right away but instead poked at them with her fork.
"What are you doing?" Skye asked curiously.
"Picking out the seeds," Isabelle replied happily. "Daddy says the white ones are okay, but the black ones will make a watermelon grow in my stomach!"
All talking stopped again as everyone looked to Bobbi, unsure of how to respond to that. She didn't have an answer for them—of course she couldn't stop Isabelle from talking about her adoptive parents, nor did she wish to. It was just...uncomfortable.
"Well, that's just silly," Simmons said finally. "The hydrochloric acid and pepsin in your stomach will dissolve the seeds just fine."
Isabelle shrugged, blissfully unaware of the silence she'd just caused. "I don't like them anyway. They crunch weird."
With a glance at Bobbi, Skye laughed. "If you don't hurry and eat them, some of them might disappear from you," she teased, swiftly stabbing one with a fork and popping it into her mouth.
The girl didn't seem to mind. "You can have some," she chirped. "You're my friend. We're going to watch Disney together."
"Yes, we are," Skye replied, surprised that she had remembered. Bobbi couldn't help but smile. "But first, don't you want a tour?" She looked to Coulson. "We are allowed to give her a tour, right?"
The director nodded. "Just don't take her anywhere dangerous and make it clear where exactly she's allowed to go unattended."
"Unattended?" May questioned with a significant glance at Coulson.
"I think the residences and living area should be fine," he replied. May paused and then dipped her head reluctantly, signaling her consent.
"Great!" Skye turned back to Isabelle. "You want to see the rest of this place or what?"
"Yes!"
"Wait," Bobbi interrupted with a smile. "You have to get cleaned up first, Isabelle. You're a mess." She wet a paper towel at the sink and attempted a scrubbing of her daughter's sticky hands with little success. "We're going to have to get you into some new clothes," Bobbi decided finally, giving up with the paper towel. At least her hands were clean enough now to not gum up Hoppity or Thor's fur as she carried them back to their room.
"Meet you outside my bunk?" Skye offered. "Who else wants to come?"
"I will," Simmons replied instantly.
"Me too," Fitz added.
"Agent Simmons, you still have those HYDRA files to go through," Coulson reminded her. "And Fitz, the analysis of those splinter bombs."
"Right," Simmons said, face falling.
"I'll help you with those, Turbo; it'll go quicker," Mack told him.
"We'll stop by the lab on our tour," Skye assured Simmons. "Trip?"
"Sure, I'll tag along," Triplett grinned. "Unless you have something you need me to do, boss?" Coulson shook his head.
"Okay, it's settled then," Bobbi said, taking Isabelle's hand as she helped her out of her seat. Isabelle retrieved Hoppity and Thor. "See you in about ten minutes."
Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are very much appreciated.
Responses to guest reviewers:
Guest: Sometimes I want to punch Hunter too. I think it's just a character trait of his.
Anna: Thank you! :D
Holly: How was this? It wasn't Isabelle and Bobbi so much as the team, but it's a start...
Shawn: Team-bonding moments galore here! Hope you liked them :)
Andy: There is more hurt and confusion to come, but for now things have leveled out a bit. Thanks!
Guest: Like that? :)