Chapter Text
Skye wakes up the next morning and yawns, wondering blearily why she aches all over. There’s an arm wrapped around her, a warm body pressed against her own, and for a second she thinks Robin crawled into bed with her again.
Except it’s too big to be Robin, and Skye opens her eyes, glancing over.
May’s laying half on top of her, still asleep, and Skye remembers.
She closes her eyes, rolling halfway over to curl closer to her mom. May’s arm tightens around her, and she tilts her head down against Skye’s.
Dad. She whimpers, the pain a physical weight in her chest.
May’s hand caresses her cheek. “Skye,” she murmurs.
She’s too tired to even cry. Instead she curls closer, wrapping her arm around May and clinging to her.
“How do we live with this?” she whispers after a long time.
May rubs one hand over her back. “I don’t know,” she says, her voice hoarse.
“We- we just got everyone back, half the people in the universe, we should be- we should be celebrating.”
Except that her dad is gone and now she’ll lose Robin too, because of course she should go back to her mother, she doesn’t need Skye anymore, and she thought it would be enough to have her own mom back but it doesn’t feel like winning.
“No,” May says. “We can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”
“I’m sorry,” Skye says after a minute. “This has to be harder for you-”
“Don’t.” She leans her head against her daughter’s. “We’re both grieving.”
“Sorry.”
“Just… promise me you’re not gonna run away again.” There’s an edge to her voice.
Skye takes a shaky breath. May knows her too well (she raised her, after all) and she’s right- she’s got that primal scared feeling in her stomach, the kind of feeling that makes her want to run as far and as fast as she can and maybe never come back.
“I need you.” May presses her hand firmly against her back.
Skye holds on and takes a deep breath. “I won’t,” she whispers, and she knows she’ll have to keep that promise no matter what.
After a long time, May shifts. “We should get up,” she says dully.
Skye groans. “I don’t want to.”
“We need to eat, and shower.”
Right now even getting out of bed sounds impossible. May loosens Skye’s arm and rolls over, tossing the blanket aside. She stands and pulls on her daughter’s wrists.
“Up.”
Skye takes a deep breath, takes another second to wallow in all-encompassing grief, and gets out of bed.
They both change in silence, not bothering with the curtain. Skye notices May favoring her left side and takes a minute to massage the knot out of her mom’s shoulder. May picks up the brush from the nightstand and works the tangles out of Skye’s hair, pulling it into a neat braid.
Finally May wraps her arm around Skye’s waist and pulls her out the door and down the hall to the common room.
Fitz glances up and shuffles over. Skye pulls him into a hug, dropping her head on his shoulder, and he clings to her.
When she pulls away, they’re both teary-eyed. “I still can’t believe he’s gone,” Fitz mumbles.
Skye sniffles, glancing at the floor. “How’s Jemma?” she asks after a second.
He nods. “We’re good. We have a lot to, um. F-figure out. But we’re good. It’s good.”
“Good,” she murmurs. “That’s great.”
He glances over his shoulder. “Um, there’s- someone brought in breakfast, so-” He clears his throat. “I gotta- get back.”
“Yeah.”
He goes back to the counter and grabs two plates, going out of the room. May links her arm through Skye’s and pulls her gently over to the counter.
There’s a plate of donuts and several breakfast cereals and a box of microwave egg sandwiches, and Skye doesn’t particularly want any of it. Her stomach turns over.
May sighs. “I’m not hungry, either.”
“Maybe we just- don’t bother,” Skye says weakly, knowing it won’t make a difference.
May lets go of her arm and pulls two of the sandwiches out of the box, plopping them on a plate and sticking it in the microwave. Skye leans against her, numbly watching the turntable spin and the numbers count down.
The beeping startles her and she flinches, curling into May’s side. Her mom pulls the plate out and guides her to the couch. They sit, curling into each other.
Mechanically Skye forces down the sandwich, one bite at a time. It doesn’t taste like much of anything and she’s numb, partly wondering if she’ll ever feel again and partly grateful, almost, for the reprieve.
Somehow, they’ll survive this. The two of them together, they can do anything.
~~~
“One year ago, the event that has come to be called the Blip occurred, bringing back millions of people. Families and friends reunited, and the world order changed again.” The woman shifts. “Today, on the anniversary of this life-altering event, we are taking the time to thank the people who made it possible- and to remember one hero in particular, who gave his life for this dream to come true.”
Thor sits down facing the camera. “So,” the interviewer says. “What can you tell us about that day?”
He shifts, looking down at his left arm. “We did the impossible,” he says. “Brought everyone back, and we killed Thanos. Sometimes-” He falls silent for a few moments. “Sometimes I wonder if it was worth the price we paid. But to see my people, free and alive, to have the sun shine on my brother and me again- I think it was.”
The camera cuts to Natasha, sitting in the same chair. “We can’t talk about the details,” she says. “The battle at the Compound, you know about. Thanos attacked, and for the first time, people came together from across the universe to fight him. And we won.”
“I don’t deserve much of the credit, actually.” Tony takes off his sunglasses. “A SHIELD scientist, Dr. Leopold Fitz, was the real brains of the operation.”
“In the battle-” the interviewer says.
“Captain Rogers was in charge. I just followed the man’s lead.”
“If it wasn’t for Thor, we would’ve lost a lot of good people that day.” Steve glances down. “Still, there was one person we couldn’t bring back.”
“Is it true you lifted Thor’s hammer?” the interviewer asks.
“There are plenty of people out there who could do the same. I was just in the right place, at the right time.”
“It was crazy,” Clint says. “I mean, when I joined the Avengers, I was just a guy with a bow and arrow. Things escalated like crazy until somehow, we ended up fighting a giant army in the ruins of our own base. And I was still just a guy with a bow and arrow.”
“I thought I’d seen everything,” Skye says. “SHIELD’s dealt with aliens, evil robots, human-made threats- this was on a whole other level.”
“Is it true that the Avengers traveled the multiverse?” the interviewer asks.
Bruce shrugs. “We’ve done a lot of crazy things. We can’t discuss the details of this particular mission, but the important thing is that it worked.”
“What was on your mind when you Snapped?” the interviewer asks.
“Bringing everybody back,” Bruce says. “That was all we ever wanted.”
“Ending Thanos’ army. Bringing back my people, including my brother. I was also able to save those who had fallen in the battle.” Thor glances at the floor.
“How did you manage to bring so many people together to fight Thanos?”
“We have Doctor Strange to thank for that.” Tony chuckles. “He insisted on staying out of the interviews, so unfortunately you’ll have to take my word for it.”
“Strange was just one piece of the puzzle, but an important one for sure,” Steve says. “He brought the army.” He smiles slightly. “We brought the Hulk.”
“Is it true you lost a hand during the battle?” the interviewer asks.
“No, not exactly.” Thor pulls his sleeve up slightly, revealing the shiny metal connector just above his elbow. “A good friend of mine created this for me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Thor’s smile is wide and not quite genuine. “I would gladly make the same sacrifice again.”
Natasha shifts, sitting more comfortably. “We owe our victory to a lot of people, a lot of heroes. Some of them stayed out of the spotlight, but all of them deserve to be remembered.”
“People forget about Phil Coulson,” Tony says. “He’d find it fitting- the guy always did like working in the shadows- but he died to bring back everybody else.”
“My dad gave his life for this.” Skye glances at the floor. “I miss him every day, but I wouldn’t change his choice if I could.”
“Today is a day that should be commemorated.” Steve straightens. “Remember the man we lost? Of course. But he would want us to celebrate our victory. To hold our families closer and be thankful for what we got back.”
~~~
Someone turns off the TV. Skye glances around the room.
A year to the day.
Everyone is here, the old team and the Avengers, gathered to pay respects to Coulson. Fitz and Simmons, two months married and with Deke hanging over the back of the couch between them; Mack, Director of SHIELD; Elena, one of their best operatives; Steve, ten months into his retirement and happier than she’s ever seen him; Natasha, sitting with Clint and his family; Tony and Pepper and their little girl, all safe and together; Bruce, back to his normal self; Thor, somber today but according to all reports the best advisor to the king of New Asgard; Bobbi and Hunter, back working for SHIELD; Fury and Hill, doing god knows what but coming around from time to time.
May and Skye, beat down but not broken and still alive, still together.
“Here’s to Phil,” Fury says at last, raising his glass.
Skye laces her fingers tightly through her mom’s. “To Phil,” May says softly.