Hey again! That was a great second episode of the season, wasn't it? I'm so excited for the third! (Even if it's not for another week...)

Tremors

"I'm trying to control it," Skye murmured. "I'm trying." The young hacker turned fitfully over onto her back, sleeping form uncurling ever so slightly from the ball it had been tightly tucked into for most of Bobbi's shift. Her eyes wandered frantically beneath her eyelids.

Bobbi altered position to make sure her leg didn't feel asleep, checking her watch. 3:53 A.M.

"I'm going in there," Bobbi muttered to Simmons, who was seated beside her.

"Are you sure?" the scientist asked. "From these readings, her powers can still manifest while she's asleep." The tone of Simmons's voice might have been uncertain, but by the light of the tablet she was holding the relief that flushed across her face at Bobbi's words was all too evident.

"Only makes it more likely to happen if she's distressed," she replied. "Better to wake her up, I think."

"I agree," Simmons said, pushing herself up off the ground.

Bobbi shook her head at her, picking up the woman's ICER from the ground and pressing it into her hands. "No, I go in; you take this and stay in the doorway."

"But—"

"That way we both have the tools we need to take her out if needed," Bobbi told her firmly. With a sigh, Simmons nodded, getting into position. Consulting the security feed on the tablet one more time to make sure nothing had changed, Bobbi turned the wheel to unlock the door and pushed it open slowly, as quietly as she could. Stepping inside, she propped it open wide enough so that Simmons could see them before approaching Skye on the bed.

"Skye," she whispered the agent's name as she put a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Skye."

The hacker awoke with a start, a fist flying upwards that Bobbi easily blocked. She gave her a moment, waiting for the younger woman's eyes to clear. "I'm sorry," Skye mumbled miserably once they had. Her arms—her entire body—went limp. A tremor ran through the floor.

"We need you to calm down," Bobbi told her, not raising her voice. Startling her was the last thing she wanted.

Skye affixed her with a flat stare before dropping it again hopelessly. "It's not that easy, you know." The tremors nevertheless subsided.

"Were you having a nightmare?"

"No more than the usual." Skye lay back down, twisting away from Bobbi. "I'm fine now, you can go back to watch-dog duty."

"You know we don't think of it like that," she said, moving back towards the door. "It's only temporary. Until we figure this all out." Skye made no response, and Bobbi pulled the door closed again until the lock clicked into place, turning around to find herself face-to-face with May. Well, face to top-of-her-head. Agent May was quite short, and Bobbi quite tall.

"That was brave," May said in a low voice. Coming out of the Asian specialist's mouth, it didn't sound like a compliment.

"What are you doing here?" Bobbi asked, deflecting the—pointless—conversation rather than going into it.

"I just finished moving Trip's coffin to our offsite location for burial," May replied. "His flag is folded and on the mantle. Coulson will deliver his personal effects to his mother in the morning. And I confirmed the ceiling in the lounge suffered no loss in stability. The cracks Skye made were on the surface more than anything else."

"You should get more sleep," Simmons said, at the same time as Bobbi asked, "Are you sure you're qualified to determine if the ceiling's about to fall down on us?"

May ignored both of them. "As to what I'm doing here, I'm the next shift."

"I thought Fitz was on the next shift?" Simmons questioned.

Bobbi raised an eyebrow. "And Hunter, too. Wasn't that the whole idea, one person with combat training paired with one person without it?"

"Fitz and I have switched," the specialist replied. "He'll be later, with Mack."

Bobbi frowned. "So you wanted to be with Hunter? I always got the impression you minimized time with him...as much as possible. Or is it because you don't trust him?"

May looked at her, face expressionless. "I did not trust Lance Hunter in the beginning because it was unclear to me where his loyalties lay. If he did indeed want to be an agent as he claimed, I suspected it was for the wrong reason."

"You mean me."

"Since Isabelle came into the picture, my trust in him has increased. Now, for the same rationale, it has decreased again."

"You don't trust him around Skye because she pushed her down," Bobbi said. She cocked her head. "But you trusted me?"

"You always have been more level-headed than Hunter."

Bobbi resisted the urge to smile. "Well, I can assure you Hunter bears Skye no ill-will. We're all in this together. Besides, Isabelle would never forgive him if he went all Hans on Skye."

Now it was May's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Hans?"

"Hunter, Isabelle, and I have been speaking in a lot of Frozen metaphors lately," Bobbi replied apologetically. She turned at the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor. "Oh look, there he is now."

"Hey, Bob," he greeted her, stifling a yawn. "Simmons."

"Good news, Hunter—May's taken Fitz's rotation, so you'll be on with her tonight." She watched the sleepiness fade from his face to be replaced by alarm.

"Oh—right. Peachy," Hunter said in a strangled voice, sounding as though it was anything but. "Well, uh...here's your phone back, Bob." He handed it to her. It was the old one that only rang when Isabelle's door opened at night.

"Thanks." She slipped it into her pocket before tossing him a sly smile. "Have fun."

"God, I am so tired," Hunter said, stifling a massive yawn. "And my arm hurts like hell."

"That's to be expected—but why does your arm hurt?" Bobbi questioned, looking over at him in confusion.

"Because whenever I'd start to drift off—I mean, start to rest my eyes while totally and completely awake—May hit me in the shoulder," he complained bitterly. "The mad woman has fists of iron, I tell you."

"Mommy," Isabelle ran up to her. "Are you done with breakfast yet?"

"Not quite yet." She glanced between her and Hunter. "What're you trying to rush off to?"

"We're gonna go visit Skye!" Isabelle grinned.

Bobbi raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"She insisted." Hunter sighed, draining his cup of coffee in one large gulp.

"Yes, but we don't usually let four-year-olds get whatever potentially dangerous thing they insist on," she hissed.

Hunter blinked. "Not Isabelle, Skye. Although Isabelle's pretty excited about it too."

"Oh," Bobbi's mouth snapped shut.

"And Simmons has been up since your shift with her entire team working on some sort of inhibitor gloves," he added. "They were trying them out when I left. Should've had at least an hour by now to work out any kinks."

"You still should have told me," she replied in a cross voice. "May was with you; she didn't have a problem with this?"

"Nope."

"Fine," Bobbi gave her permission, scooping up the last of her oatmeal. "But Isabelle, there're going to have to be some ground rules. No touching Skye without asking first, okay? And we stay with you the whole time. If we tell you to do something, you do it, right away. No questions asked."

Isabelle smiled. "But I get to see Skye, right?"

The corners of her mouth twitched upward without permission. "Yes, you get to see Skye."

"Are you done yet?"

Bobbi let her unfinished spoon of oatmeal fall back into the otherwise empty bowl. "Yeah, I'm done. Just let me wash up." Standing, she spied Isabelle's sticky hands. "And you too, your hands are covered in watermelon juice."

Isabelle immediately hid her hands behind her back. "No, they're not."

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Come with me, bear." Bobbi washed her own hands before lifting Isabelle up by the waist so she could reach the sink as well. "Don't forget the soap."

"Soap is the best part 'cause it makes bubbles," the girl replied.

"I'm glad you think so." When she was done, Bobbi gently set her down on the floor. She grabbed her hand before she could dart off. "All right, let's go."

With no small amount of bouncing and tugging on Isabelle's part, they made it to the garage and onto the Bus in record time. Not surprisingly, most of their team was clustered somewhere the entrance to the cell. Coulson nodded at them as they approached, and Mack shot her a friendly glance. "She's inside," the director told them as they passed. Fitz was leaning against the wall of the hallway looking at what appeared to be seismic readings and fault lines and didn't even look up as they went by. May stood by the door wearing her usual stoic face.

"How is she?" Bobbi asked.

"Waiting for you," May answered, gesturing them inside.

Simmons was seated next to Skye on the edge of her bed, and upon their entrance—Isabelle's entrance, really—they both stood up. "Let me know if you feel any other symptoms and I can try and alleviate them in the next model," the young scientist instructed. She squeezed Skye's hand before ducking out of the room, leaving a rather awkward silence in her wake.

"Isabelle, I'm so sorry I pushed you," Skye said, standing five feet from where a their daughter had stopped and making no move to come any closer. Now that she was upright, Bobbi could see the black fingerless gloves and wrist brace hybrid that she wore on her arms, as well as a standard biofeedback meter on her left upper arm. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Skye," Isabelle chirped. "And I know you didn't mean it."

Skye sounded a little surprised. "You're right; I didn't. I didn't think and I hurt you because of it. I'm sorry—"

"You were scared," Isabelle continued. "But you don't have to be."

The hacker's mouth turned upwards a little as she lifted her arms. "I hope so...because of these." At Isabelle's slightly confused expression, she explained, "They're inhibitors Jemma and Leo designed. They're supposed to help me stay in control of whatever this is, so that...so that these powers don't manifest accidentally."

"But you don't need those," Isabelle said.

"I think, after yesterday, I do," the agent replied gently.

"You just have to not be afraid," the girl said solemnly. "Gloves are what you wear when you are afraid."

For a moment, Skye's eyebrows knit together. "Why do I get the feeling you're comparing me to Elsa?"

Isabelle walked up to her until she was so close their toes could have been touching. She looked up to Skye. "Please don't wear the in-bit-tor gloves."

"I can't."

The girl looked down at her shoes for a second, then returned her gaze to Skye's face. "Then can I hug you? 'Cause it makes me feel less scared when I get hugs but Mommy says I have to ask first."

"Of course you can give me a hug," Skye said, leaning down to scoop Isabelle up in her arms. Her legs dangled, then straightened as Skye set her down on the bed so that their heights were a bit more similar as they held each other in a tight embrace. "Thank you for asking," the hacker whispered into her ear.

Coulson knocked to gather their attention, knuckles making a hard rapping sound against the metal of the door. "You're free to move around the base, Skye, as long as you have someone with you."

She released Isabelle hesitantly, meeting his eyes with seriousness filling hers. "make sure they're armed with an ICER. I don't want to hurt any of you."

"I don't think you will, but they will be armed," Coulson agreed.

May appeared next to him. "I would like to teach you some methods I have used in the past for controlling myself and my emotions," she told Skye. "But only if you are willing to learn."

"You're the most controlled person ever, so it's worth a shot," the hacker said, then met May's eyes. "I mean, yes, please, thank you."

May gestured outwards with a small tilt of her head. "Tai Chi requires discipline, and for a beginner no distractions." The last part was directed mostly at Coulson, who nodded.

"I'll make sure you're not disturbed," he promised.

Skye looked down at Isabelle. "I'm gonna try really hard, okay?" She pressed a kiss into her hair, whispering, "I'm going to make things right again," before allowing herself to be led away by May.

Only one more chapter left and then the epilogue, which will take us through the years and give us glimpses of her life as Isabelle grows up. I would very much love to hear what you all thought of this chapter. I'm also still collecting ideas for fun/happy/sad things to happen during the epilogue, if any of you have something you would like to see!