Thank you to Harliquinn for beta reading and editing

/\/\/\

The next day Skye met Bruce in the back office.

"You ready?" he asked.

Skye nodded.

"Take a seat and get comfortable," he said.

Skye did as she was instructed.

Bruce sat down as well, getting comfortable before talking Skye through the process of meditation.

Steve was sitting at the table in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.

Nat sat across from him with a cup of coffee as well and just stared at him.

Steve noticed and tilted the paper down and looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"I'm assuming that you have noticed Skye has not been herself since getting back from Clint's and Laura's," Nat said.

"I have," Steve said.

"I'm worried about her," Nat said.

"I think we all are," Steve said. "Something happened while she was out there. Some girls Lila had been friends with joined Lila and Skye at the mall and set Skye up to be accused of shoplifting. And I know she was already feeling overwhelmed about finding out her DNA wasn't exactly what we expected."

Nat nodded. "Yeah, I can't imagine not knowing all abilities that could show up."

Steve nodded. "I'm wondering how whatever it is hasn't shown up in training."

"Maybe it has. Maybe the reason she seems to be getting stronger than you is because the abilities her mother had were the same as yours, so she gets them two-fold," Nat said.

"The half of the DNA that comes from her mother shows something that Bruce has never seen before. If it was similar to mine, I think it would be shown as such," Steve said.

"You never know," Nat said.

"You could be right. But I have a gut feeling that, whatever it is, is so much more than any of us are going to know how to help her with," Steve said.

"Even if it's something we have never seen, we help her the same way we already have, work with her to learn how to control it," Nat said.

"You're right," Steve said.

"And she is a good kid. Whatever it is, she will be okay," Nat said.

"I know. I just wish I knew more so I could help her figure this out, so she didn't have to deal with not knowing," Steve said. "And I want to know what else a woman I cared deeply for kept from me."

"You never told me her name," Nat said.

"Victoria Snow is the name she gave me. But Skye was put into care under the last name Smith, so I don't know if that was the truth," Steve said.

"Was there a mother listed on Skye's records?" Nat asked.

"Not as far as I have been able to see. She was left at a hospital under the safe haven law, and no name was given of Skye's mother or father," Steve said.

Nat nodded, "would you care if I did my own looking into it?"

"What exactly were you thinking about doing?" Steve asked.

"Looking into the name to see if there is something that was removed from her official care information," Nat said.

"It's probably better that you don't. We will figure it out another way," Steve said.

"Is Mr. America playing by the rules?" Nat asked with a smirk.

"Yes, because when we don't things don't go the way we want," Steve said.

"Okay, but isn't it worth it when the person who it will help is your daughter?" Nat asked.

"What kind of example would it set for her if we did that?" Steve asked.

"I think we are past that point," Nat said.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

"She ran into an old friend from foster care yesterday. She is on guard because of what happened with Kate and asked me to look into him to make sure he doesn't have any known ties to Hydra or Civicmax," Nat said.

Steve let out an annoyed breath. "Have you done it?"

"I've started," Nat said. "I get why she is on guard. And at the moment I have not looked at anything that isn't a matter of public record."

Steve nodded. "But if you need to, you will." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Yes," Nat said. "She wants to be sure she can trust this guy."

"And what if you end up finding out something that isn't connected to Hydra but could end up hurting her some other way?" Steve asked.

"I'll deal with that if it comes to it," Nat said.

"Who is this guy?" Steve asked.

"Tucker Nelson," Nat told him.

"Nelson, that's the last name of the girl who had been bullying her, who was going to physically hurt her if the dean hadn't shown up," Steve said.

"The girl who was cousins with someone from her past?" Nat asked.

"Yes, I thought he was in juvenile detention," Steve said.

"You told him?" Skye had finished with Bruce and had come into the kitchen looking for a snack when she overheard the conversation.

Nat looked up at Skye. "I did."

"Great," Skye said sarcastically as she walked away. She went to her room and closed her door hard.

Nat let out a breath. "I was unaware it was a secret."

"I'll talk to her," Steve said.

"No, let me, please," Nat said before she got up and went and knocked on Skye's bedroom door.

"Go away," Skye said.

"Skye, it's Nat. Please let me explain," Nat said through the door.

"No! Go away," Skye said.

Nat sighed. " I didn't realize you didn't want me to tell your dad. When you want to talk, you can come find me," she said before leaving her alone. She went into the office and started looking into Skye's mother.

Skye left her room a few minutes later and went and sat outside in her favorite spot.

Shortly after Yelena came outside.

"Can I sit too?" Yelena asked.

"Would it matter if I said no?" Skye asked with a smirk.

Yelena chuckled and sat next to her. "Why are you upset?"

"Your sister," Skye said.

"Yes, she bothers me sometimes, too. What did she do?" Yelena asked.

"I confided something in her, and she told my dad," Skye said.

"Idiot," Yelena said. "You want to talk to me about it? I will not tell your father or anyone."

"I ran into someone from my past and asked her to look into him to make sure he is not connected to Hydra or anything," Skye said.

"Did she at least look into him?" Yelena asked.

"I have no idea," Skye said.

"Why did you not want her to tell your father?" Yelena asked.

Skye shrugged.

"You must have a reason," Yelena said.

"I just don't need him to be involved in every little thing," Skye said.

Yelena nodded. "Who is this person?"

"His name is Tucker. We were in a group home together once, and we stayed in contact even after we both were moved from that particular home," Skye said.

Yelena nodded. "You two have stayed in contact?"

"Last time I saw him was the last time I got busted by the police. He was there that night, too, and he ended up arrested and spending some time in juvie. I guess he got out recently. We ran into each other a few days ago," Skye said.

"Oh, and you think he might be connected to Hydra?" Yelena asked.

"I don't know. I want to say he would never hurt me, but I never thought Kate would hurt me," Skye said.

"I understand. It is very hard to trust people when we have been betrayed by someone we trusted," Yelena said.

Skye nodded.

"If Natasha doesn't find anything that connects him to Hydra or trying to hurt you, do you plan to continue being friends with him?" Yelena asked as the door opened from inside.

"Yes," Skye said.

"What if I didn't find anything that connected him to Hydra but found out things about him that could lead to you ending up hurt anyways?" Nat asked.

"I'd tell you I don't want to know," Skye said. "I only asked you to find out if he has connections to Hydra or Civicmax."

Nat let out a breath. "Okay. Well, no, there is nothing connecting him to anything like that. But, Skye, I think you should know something else about…."

"Did he ever hurt anyone?" Skye asked, cutting her off before she could complete her sentence.

"No, nothing like that," Nat said.

"Then I don't care," Skye said.

"Why did you tell Steve when she asked you not to?" Yelena asked.

"She didn't ask me not to tell him. I didn't know she didn't want him to know," Nat said.

"It was implied," Skye said.

"Skye, you can't expect me to read your mind. I don't know why you didn't want him to know. All it shows is you are trying to protect yourself. That's a good thing," Nat said.

"That's not why I didn't want him to know," Skye said.

"Why then?" Nat said.

Skye didn't answer.

"Could it be because you like this boy and are worried about your father being overprotective about it?" Yelena asked.

Skye blushed and looked down.

"Skye, why didn't you tell me that?" Nat asked with a smile as she sat next to the two younger women.

"I don't know," Skye said softly.

"He is not your first crush, is he?" Yelena asked.

"Yeah, he is. I have liked him since I was eleven years old. He's the only person I have ever had a crush on," Skye admitted.

"Wow, only one crush ever," Yelena said.

"Is that bad?" Skye asked.

"No," Yelena said. "It just means you don't fall for people easily, and it means you're less likely to end up with the wrong person."

"And you won't end up with a broken heart, over and over again," Nat said.

Skye nodded.

"I'm sorry, Skye. I didn't know you didn't want him to know, and I won't tell him that you like this boy," Nat said.

Skye let out a breath and nodded.

"I would never go out of my way to tell him something you didn't want him to know unless you are at risk of being hurt," Nat said.

"It's okay," Skye said. "The thing you found about him, if you were me would you want to know?"

Nat smiled. "If I liked him, I'd rather hear it from him when he was ready to tell me."

Skye smiled and nodded.

"We're okay?" Nat asked.

"Yes," Skye said.

Nat and Skye hugged.

"Do you know if Tucker likes you, too?" Yelena asked.

"I don't think so. I think he sees me more like a little sister," Skye said.

"How much older than you is he?" Yelena asked.

"About two years, he is sixteen but my birthday comes before his in the year," Skye said.

"You two can spend time together without getting into trouble, I assume?" Nat asked.

Skye chuckled. "I've changed, and he says he has too. He does seem different, so I'm hoping so."

Nat's phone rang, and she got up and went inside.

"If you ever get in trouble you can call me. I will come bail you out," Yelena said.

"Without telling my dad?" Skye asked with a smirk.

Yelena chuckled. "I can't make that promise as long as you are under eighteen."

Skye smiled and shrugged. "I won't need it, anyway. I have no plans on getting into any legal trouble."

Yelena nodded and got up. "Come inside. I will make you some macaroni."

Skye got up. "With lots of hot sauce."

"This is why you are my favorite," Yelena said as the two went inside.