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After searching their bunks, the gym, Fitzsimmons’ lab and even Coulson’s office, Natasha finally found her fiancée passed out on a couch in one of the emptier common rooms. This base was so painfully clearly made for more people than they currently had, but that just meant that there were a large number of rooms unused and that therefore there were a lot of places to hide. She just guessed that a game of hide and seek would be super fun in here.
She approached the couch, taking a few seconds to just take in Skye, body relaxed and hands still in the vague direction of her laptop, like she’d literally fallen asleep during her search. Knowing Skye, she probably had. Natasha watched her face, that was so rarely relaxed these days. She hated to interrupt Skye’s, apparently much needed, sleep, but she had no choice.
She sat down on the couch, placing a hand on Skye’s shoulder and gently shaking her. “Skye? I’m sorry love, but you have to wake up.”
Skye opened her eyes, the rest of her body suddenly tense and still until she recognised Natasha’s face above her and relaxed. “Hi,” she whispered sleepily. “Hi,” Natasha replied softly.
Skye made no move to sit up, and Natasha thought she’d give her some time. “It’s morning, time to wake up, love. But I think we have time for a cup of coffee first.” She stood up. “So I’ll be taking this,” she took the laptop, careful not to close any tabs, “and I’ll be heading to the main common room to make you some coffee. Sounds good?”
Her fiancé just looked at her with shining eyes that conveyed so much love it almost took her aback. Almost. She smiled down at her, and turned around, leaving Skye to properly wake up.
She entered the main common room and put the laptop on the countertop. Bobbi looked up from where she was reading a book on the couch. “Found her then?”
Natasha nodded while she busied herself with the coffee machine. “She’ll be here in a minute, but I suggest you let her have her coffee first.” Bobbi grinned and nodded, and turned back to her book.
Indeed, about a minute later, Skye walked in, making a beeline for her laptop. Natasha pulled the laptop out of her reach and tutted. “Coffee first.”
Skye pouted. “But I need to work! I have to find him, Nat. I need to-“
“You need to drink your coffee and recharge for a moment.” Natasha’s voice left no room for discussion. “Bakshi is still almost dead,” she saw Bobbi flinch ever so slightly, “Trip just needs to rest, and Ward will still be missing in 5 minutes. And whatever it is Coulson has you looking for will be there tomorrow too.” She slid the mug of coffee she’d made for Skye over the counter towards her. “So drink your coffee first.”
With an exaggerated smile, but fondness in her eyes, Skye took the coffee and moved to the couch, and dropped herself next to Bobbi, who looked very much like she was trying not to make any remarks.
Natasha turned to make coffee for herself and them took her mug and Skye’s laptop and went to sit down on the armchair. She took a dip of her coffee and clicked through the tabs, checking the various searches Skye had open. She ignored the shocked look on Skye’s face and Bobbi’s amused one, as she added a couple of things to one of the searches.
“That’s not fair,” Skye grumbled. “Why are you allowed to work and I’m not?”
Natasha raised an eyebrow, but didn’t look up from her screen. “Maybe because I went to sleep at a normal time.” Her eyes flashed to Skye over the screen in front of her. “And because you weren’t there next to me, I’m pretty sure you didn’t. And that’s fine, but then this is the consequence.”
Skye tensed up momentarily, eyes flitting to Bobbi and back, before she relaxed and grumbled some more. Bobbi kept grinning and looked at Natasha. “Is this how you handle Tony Stark too?” she asked, somewhere between teasing and curious.
Natasha hummed. “Sometimes I just drag him out of the lab,” she responded with half a smile. She clicked through some more tabs, then froze. “Skye?” she asked, her voice doing a weird thing. Skye looked up, full attention on her. “Did you find something?” she asked eagerly.
“No ehm...” Natasha’s eyes flitted over the page, a feeling in her stomach she wasn’t familiar with, but it wasn’t unpleasant at all. She looked around the room to check if they were really the only one there. “You eh... you were looking at bridal bouquets?”
Within seconds, Skye turned a very interesting shade of red, while Bobbi gave up pretending to read and just started laughing. Natasha felt a small blush creep up her neck too, as much as she tried to fight it. It was just so... sweet. And so Skye.
“I eh...” Skye started, hiding behind her coffee, blushing profusely. “I realised I knew next to nothing about weddingsj and wedding planning. Never seen one or anything. So I thought I’d just do a bit of research. I thought I’d closed all the pages,” she muttered, so soft that Natasha didn’t think she was meant to hear it.
Natasha scrolled through the site, seeing a couple that Skye had marked as favourites. It really was the sweetest thing. She looked up and realised that Skye was still awkwardly, and slightly nervously, hiding behind her mug of coffee, so she send her a smile. “I like the purple ones.”
A smile broke out on Skye’s face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said. “They’re very pretty.”
Still smiling, Skye relaxed into the couch and sipped her coffee. She nudged Bobbi who was trying so hard not to make fun of them. Because it was never a good idea to make fun of the Black Widow, let alone of the Black Widow’s fiancée.
“Bobbi, what was your wedding like?” Skye asked. Bobbi’s smile became smaller, but fonder as she remembered that day. “It was a small and impulsive wedding,” she started. Skye and Natasha exchanged an amused look that Bobbi figured she could ask about later. “I wore second-hand wedding dress, and it was a bit to short for me. Hunter was in an old tux that used to belong to his dad. There weren’t a lot of people, but those that were, were happy enough for us to make up for it. We had wildflowers, and I can’t remember who the official was.” She chuckled. “Weird guy. But it was perfect for us. Not long after, Hunter was sent out, and I went back to a mission. And well, it went a bit downhill from there.”
Natasha smiled at the soft look in her friend’s eyes. She hadn’t been able to make it to their wedding, being on a mission herself at the time. But she’d seen the photos, and Bobbi looked happy in all of them. Skye seemed satisfied with the story and leaned her head on Bobbi’s shoulder. “Since there’s like... three people that know were engaged, I think the wedding will be quite small too,” she mused.
Natasha shrugged. “I’d rather have ten people I really want to be there, then fifty that I only vaguely know.” She finished her coffee. “As long as it’s you I’m getting married to, I don’t really care. Though I do know a wonderful place, but I’m not sure if it’s possible.”
Skye smiled at her. “Care to enlighten me?”
Natasha hesitated, before shaking her head. “Maybe later. I’d have to talk to the owner of the place first. Don’t want to get your hopes up.” Skye nodded, and continued sipping her coffee in relaxed silence. Bobbi looked between them with a hint of respect in her eyes. “See, this is why you two work so well. Hunter would have never let that go.”
Skye gave Natasha a bashful smile. “Healthy communication,” she agreed. Natasha wiggled her eyebrows. “And good sex.” Skye almost choked on her coffee and Bobbi let out a burst of laughter. Natasha gave them an innocent look and went back to the laptop in her lap. She send the link of the site to her phone, and closed the laptop. She stood up and handed it to a now blushing Skye. “Do your thing, hacker girl,” she said with a grin. “I’ll bethe gym if you need me.”
“Skye! Skye, wake up!”
Natasha frowned and hasted into the room, where she found Coulson trying to shake awake a heavily dreaming Skye. And by the pained look on Skye’s face, it wasn’t a happy dream. She hurried over, and placed a hand on Coulson’s shoulder. “Sir, may I?”
With a hopeless look he nodded and stepped back. Natasha crouched sat down next to Skye, and took her hand, rubbing circles over the back like she did every time Skye had a nightmare. She was awfully aware of Coulson staring holes in the back of her head, and kept her voice as low and calming as possible. “Skye, you have to wake up. You’re having a nightmare. Whatever it is, it is not real. You’re safe. You’re with me and Coulson. It’s okay.”
The frown on Skye’s face slowly disappeared, but she didn’t wake up yet. Natasha shook her, and suddenly Skye shot upright, her eyes flashing across the room, as tried to regain her senses. Natasha tightened her grip on Skye’s hand, pulling the younger woman’s attention to her. She saw recognition flare in Skye’s eyes, the shock and terror fading away. “Hi,” she said gently. “There you are. Coulson was trying to wake you up, but you were dreaming quite heavily.”
Skye looked over her head towards Coulson, who looked back worriedly. She gave him a smile. “Thank you, sir,” Skye said softly. He nodded, his eyes flitting between them before stepping forward to pat her shoulder. “I’ll give you a minute to settle. When you’re done, go get your bags. We’re back.”
And then he walked out. Natasha waited until she was certain he was properly gone and pulled Skye into a hug. “Are you okay?” she whispered. Skye nodded into her shoulder, before shaking her head. “He left me,” she mumbled. Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Coulson?”
“Yeah.” Skye’s voice sounded slightly muffled against her shirt, and Natasha pulled backa little to hear her better. “Do you want to talk about it?” Skye hesitated, then shrugged. “He and May left a baby. And there was this awful sound. And then my hands turned to stone.” She shivered. Natasha tapped her chin so Skye looked her in the eyes. “You’re safe now. It wasn’t real.”
Skye nodded, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, Natasha saw nothing but determination. “Let’s go.” Natasha smiled and stood up, giving Skye’s hand one last squeeze before she let her go and they made their way to the debrief room.
Natasha thought her girlfriend – no, fiancée – looked very hot when explaining things and spewing difficult words. She chuckled from the back of the group when Coulson admitted to SHIELD solving the Bermuda triangle in the 80’s, before refocusing on Skye’s explanation of the alien city.
She’d never been to San Juan. It was supposed to be a nice touristic summer destination. Perhaps, if the mission didn’t go south it would be a nice destination for a honeymoon. Although, it felt weird going there when she knew there was an alien temple underneath the water surface.
Next to her, Clint was getting bored. He nudged her, keeping his voice down, “What are you thinking about?”
Without looking away from Skye, she deadpanned, “Honeymoon destinations.” The look she saw on Clint’s face from the corner of her eyes was so worth it.
It made sense, Skye supposed. She would go with May to bring in Raina, because Raina might actually be willing to talk to her. And Natasha would go with Coulson, being perfect for the undercover heavy hitting mission. That didn’t mean that she liked it that her fiancée would be going to some alien temple no one knew anything about. She supposed it should comfort her that Nat had Fitzsimmons, Coulson, Bobbi and Mack with her.
Meanwhile, she would be on her way with May, Hunter, and Sam. Or was it Billy? She never could quite hold them apart. Trip and Clint would stay behind, Trip being forced by Simmons to rest, Clint to be available as back-up for whatever team necessary.
When Coulson ordered his team to grab their gear and get onto the quinjet, Natasha turned to talk to Clint until the director had moved out of the room, before she turned to Skye. Clint grumbled something about being in second place, but smiled as he took off to the cockpit with May, who seemed to look slightly amused. Natasha’s eyes were intense as Skye looked at her. “You’re okay? she checked.
Skye nodded. “I’m fine. We’re just going to pick up Raina. You have the hard part here.” Natasha scoffed, but Skye didn’t think it was funny. “Nat, I’m not kidding. We know practically nothing about this temple, besides that it’s alien.”
Natasha shrugged. “You’re alien. And I really fucking like you, so I think I’ll be fine.” Skye really didn’t think it was funny and crossed her arms defensively and in frustration. Natasha deflated and placed her hands on her arms. “I promise to be careful, okay? I’ve got Bobbi and Mack to back me up in a fight, and if it is anything else than a fight, I got Fitzsimmons to help. We’ll be okay. I promise I won’t die just yet.”
Skye nodded and looked away, hating herself for the tears that she knew shone in her eyes. Natasha pulled her into an embrace. “Come here, lyubov moya, come here. I’ve got you. Tell me, why are you so worried? I know it’s me, but usually you’re better at rationalising these things.”
Slowly, Skye returned the hug, relaxing a bit. “I know you can handle yourself. I just… I just got this feeling that something is gonna go very wrong. It’s stupid but I can’t shake it.” She pulled back to look at Natasha. “Just be careful okay?”
“I will,” Natasha promised. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
“In a minute?” Skye joked, a genuine smile appearing on her face as Natasha chuckled. “Maybe a little longer, lyubimaya, but I promise I’ll come back to you. I love you,” she added in a whisper. Skye beamed at her. “I love you too.”
Natasha watched from a distance as Bobbi walked down the pier to meet with her contact. She tapped the com that was connected to Coulson’s hidden one. “She’s hiding something, sir.”
Coulson scratched his neck, momentarily clicking off the com connected to the team. “What makes you say that?”
In the distance, Bobbi greeted her contact with a hug, talking to him animatedly. Natasha shrugged. “She was insistent on comparing you to Fury, before realising you are nothing like him. And now she’s feeling guilty. There is something… Almost like she knows she’s going to break the trust you have in her. She feels guilty because she thought she would be doing something behind the back of a second Fury, and now she knows that she’s going to have to go behind your back.”
She shrugged, and walked away when she saw Bobbi finishing up her conversation and returning to Coulson. Coulson hummed. “I’ll keep an eye on it. And since we’re discussing secrets, anything you want to tell me Agent Romanoff?”
Natasha smiled. So he had noticed at least something. “No, sir. Nothing that is of any importance to you or the team or SHIELD.” It wasn’t a lie. She would not let it affect her work. She was still a professional after all. Coulson hummed again. “I’ll trust you on that then. Don’t make me regret it. Now get your ass back to the quinjet.”
Natasha took out her earpiece and crushed it in her hands, throwing it into the water for good measure, before returning to the quinjet.
Her entire body hurt. She was also trying very hard to ignore that she almost died. She would have died, if Hunter hadn’t entered at that exact moment. She had no doubt that Agent 33 would have shot her if he hadn’t. Huh, and then to think she was so insistent on Natasha being careful.
She sat on the medical bed, swinging her legs and waiting for Clint to bring the med kit. He poked his head around the corner of the screen. “Sit still, will you? You’re making me nervous.” She stuck out her tongue and he flipped her off, returning behind the screen. She continued swinging her legs.
A couple of minutes later he finally reappeared with bandages and disinfectant. “Let me see that nose of yours,” he said, gently brushing her hair out of her face. Skye stilled, letting him wipe away the blood. She refused to flinch when the disinfectant touched the cut on her cheek, before he put a bandage over it. He gestured towards the bottle of cleaning alcohol. “Anything else you need that for?”
She shook her head, and he moved to put it away, returning with a tube of cream, holding it up. “I saw you trying not to strain your shoulder. I can either leave this here and you do it, or I can help you. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
Skye looked at him, really looked at him. Then she smiled and unzipped her field suit to take it off. He returned the smile and stepped closer. “You know,” he started, “I patched up Natasha often enough. Never thought I’d have to bandage up her fiancée though.”
Skye winced as he felt around her now bare shoulder. He tutted and motioned for her to stay still. She clenched her teeth as he prodded the skin. “What is the weirdest injury you've ever gotten?” she gritted out, trying to keep her mind on something else than her sore shoulder. Clint hummed in thought, and she realised that maybe she didn’t know him well enough for that sort of question. But then again, he was basically Nat’s brother, so it might be a good idea to get to know him better.
“Not dislocated, and you didn’t rip anything either,” he mumbled, mostly to himself, before scraping his throat. “I'm not sure about the weirdest injury, but I can tell you about the funniest?” Skye nodded, anything to keep her from pulling away from him. He took the tube and put a bit of cream on her shoulder.
“So, I was trying to convince Nat of the advantages of my bow, and she insisted that a gun was better. And to prove it,” Clint said, while starting to gently rub in the cream, “she climbed this tall tree with the gun between her teeth. And she claimed that I couldn’t do that. Me being me, I just had to take that challenge, so I swung my bow over my shoulder and went to climb after her. And then she said I had to carry it between my teeth.” He chuckled and moved away from her shoulder, putting the cap back on the tube. “So I did. But halfway up, I lost my balance and fell down. I had a dislocated shoulder, but more stupidly, is that the bowstring snapped and cut open my cheek.”
Skye tried to keep from laughing, but then he sighed dramatically. “It was a carnage.” Skye started laughing, and he nudged her side. “No, but really! It bled like hell. Anyway, Nat can’t tease me too much about it, because she was laughing so hard she fell out of the tree.” He shook his head in amusement, his eyes a bit hazy while he was lost in the memory. “Her being her of course, she very gracefully caught herself before helping up my sorry ass to fix me up.” He looked aside to meet her eyes. “I’m glad she has you,” he said, his voice suddenly soft and sincere, any and all teasing absent.
Skye nodded, her smile turning softer. “I’m glad I have her too.” Clint mimicked throwing up and she hit his shoulder. He laughed. Then he sat down next to her and looked down at his hands. “Natasha talked to me. About your engagement,” he explained, his voice low, and a bit nervous. “You see, she has never really imagined a wedding, not like most other girls have.”
“She liked the purple flowers,” Skye said, remembering their early conversation. Clint nodded. “Yeah, she told me about that too. But she... How do I say this?”
Skye looked at him. “If I’m going too fast or something you know you can just tell me. I won’t be offended if she’s scared to tell me directly and does it through you. I’m just glad she has you.”
Clint looked up at her, his eyes searching hers, before a soft smile appeared on his face. “You really love her.” It wasn’t a question, but Skye nodded anyway. Clint gave a decisive nod. “You’re not going too fast, though maybe don’t order the flowers just yet. Just, there is one thing she really cares about and that is the location.”
Suddenly Skye realised what this was about. “You’re the owner she had to ask.” He nodded, and she gave him an easy smile. “I just care about who I’m getting married to. If she wants to get married on your... property, then we’ll get married there.”
Clint looked hesitant. “It’s not as simple as that.” He looked back down at his hands. “You see, before I joined SHIELD, I met someone. I’d built a life with her, a home, a family, the whole deal, before I joined. Fury helped me keep it off the books, to protect them. When I brought Natasha in, she was in desperate need of exactly that. A home, a family. We were hers.”
“So she wants to get married in the place she calls home,” Skye understood. “And its your secret so she couldn’t tell me without asking you first.” It all made sense now. She was still smiling. “First, thank you for telling me. I swear I won’t tell anyone. And second, if you’re okay with a couple of people coming there, then yes. I’d love to meet the extended family,” she added with a grin. He grinned back. “Then I’ll let the misses know that she can host a wedding soon.”
The moment the quinjet touched down on the Bus and Bobbi got off, Natasha cornered her. Bobbi gave her an annoyed look. “What do you want?” she hissed, the anger in her eyes barely masking the guilt and sadness and grief. Natasha almost flinched. “It’s not your fault. He would have killed Jemma or Coulson, or someone else. You did the right thing.”
Bobbi looked away. “I killed Mack,” she got out through gritted teeth. Natasha shook her head. “That wasn’t Mack. And I refuse to believe he’s dead until I see a body. You, Bobbi,” she stepped closer and placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “Did the right thing. Whatever happens next, it’s not your fault. You hear me?”
After what seemed like an eternity, Bobbi nodded, and glanced up at her with something like hope. Natasha gave her a smile in return, and was just about to offer her a drink, when someone behind her called her name.
She turned around, catching the grim gaze of Clint. Skye. “What is it?” she asked, trying to keep herself calm. Clint’s eyes flashed towards Bobbi and back. “Ward has her. They hijacked the plane using the tracker on Raina. They took Raina, and Ward took Skye too. To meet her father, he said. And then we almost got blown out of the sky. We’re debriefing in a minute.”
Natasha felt her heart grow cold. “Ward has her?” Clint nodded, his eyes angry and frustration seeping into his voice when he spoke again. “He threatened the entire plane. She went with him voluntarily, or as voluntarily as you can in a situation like that. There was nothing I could do, I’m so sorry Nat,” he whispered the last part.
The coldness in her heart spread through her chest. She could only look at Clint as she tried to process what this meant. She could lose Skye. But she couldn’t lose her. The hand that was still on Bobbi’s shoulder got a soft squeeze from her friend, and she startled back into her body. She vaguely noticed the worry in Clint’s eyes as she settled into mission mode. She pulled her hand out of Bobbi’s and without another word, walked to the debriefing room.
Natasha led Fitzsimmons and Trip into the tower with angry strides. Not one fibre in her entire being wanted to be here. But Coulson had assigned her to the team that would blow up the city, so here she was, getting ready to blow up this bloody alien city, while May, Bobbi and Hunter went to destroy the plasma drill and Clint and Coulson would get Skye out.
And she supposed it made sense. To not let her go after Skye. Because she couldn’t promise herself to not prioritise Skye above the mission, and that was what was necessary right now. But, she thought bitterly, neither could Coulson. But Coulson was the director and allowed to make the calls. So here she was, leading the scientists and Trip into hazmat suits and down into the city. She’d just have to trust her old handler and her best friend to get her fiancée out. Huh. Never thought it would get to this some day.
When her feet touched the ground of the tunnels, she cracked the lights so an eerie green glow lit the room. She looked to the ground, and carefully prodded the broken dwarfs with her foot. There was no sign of Mack anywhere. So he wasn’t dead. She didn’t feel any alien sensation trying to take control of her either, so she supposed the hazmat suits did their work. “All clear!” she called up.
Fitz and Jemma came down, with Trip coming down last. Natasha watched as the cracked their own lights, before speaking up again. “Stay close. Jemma with me, Fitz keeps hold of the bombs for now, Trip watches our six. Questions?” Everyone shook their heads; they all knew what to do. Natasha nodded once and turned around. “Let’s go then.”
///
Natasha waited while Jemma went up the shaft, her eyes searching around them for anything dangerous. They’d found no trace of Mack, or of any temple for that matter, but that didn’t have to mean they were safe here. At all. “You can come up,” came a call from above her, so she shook herself and started to climb up.
She pulled herself over the edge, accepting Trip’s outstretched hand for the last effort. She got up and undid herself of the hazmat suit, shivering when she felt the air hit her skin again. If she’d never have to go down there again she’d be a lot happier. She nodded to the rest. “Good call splitting up, we have ten minutes left to spare.” The rest gave her careful smiles.
She turned and tapped her earpiece, cringing a bit as it crackled to life. She glanced back at her team. “The charges have been set. Ten minutes until it blow,” she retorted. “What is the status there?”
“Negative!” May yelled through the comms. “Skye is down there, and Coulson went after her!”
Natasha could swear her heart stopped for a couple of beans. She glanced at her watch, showing the timer. Eight and a half minutes. She looked up at her team, who had all heard the same thing in their earpieces. She caught Trip’s look, and a moment of understanding passed between them. With a new set determination to get her fiancée the fuck out of there, she took her gun and one of the lights and walked up to the shaft. Trip followed her.
“Guys, there’s not enough time!” Jemma tried, desperate to keep them here. Natasha looked at her, and the girl shut her mouth. Natasha figured she could grasp the gist of the emotions she knew she wasn’t keeping off her face, and stepped back to let them down. Fitz just stood there, the worry written over his face the last thing Natasha saw before they were being plunged down, back into the alien city.
They landed with a soft thud, and for a moment Natasha worried about the alien entity that had taken Mack, but nothing happened and she knew she had more important things to do. She looked at her watch, and then at Trip. “We have 7 minutes. You take left, I'll go right. Let’s get them out of here.”
Trip nodded and disappeared to the left, and she turned too, going in the right direction. She found the first bomb quickly, and pulled out the timer. She had no time for dismantling these, and this worked just as well. She hurried onto the next bomb, and silently prayed to everything holy that Trip was getting his charges fast enough.
She arrived at the second bomb and ripped out the timer, the rushing it under the heel of her combat boots. Then she heard a scream. “Skye!”
She knew that voice. She looked around her and hurried to where she think Coulson’s voice was coming from. There wasn’t a sliver of doubt as she ran through the city in the direction of his voice. She just had to pray it was the right way. She rounded a corner, and took in the scene in front of her. Mack, still possessed by whatever, was closing in on Coulson and looked ready to murder. Apparently she hadn’t been the only one who heard him scream. Without a second thought, she ran towards them and jumped up onto Mack’s shoulders. She twisted her body and the surprise combining with the force behind her body cause him to stumble and fall. She elegantly rolled away from him and turned around, crouched and a gun raised levelled at his head.
Coulson groaned behind her. “Thanks for that. But what are you doing here?” Natasha didn’t tear her gaze away from Mack, who was slowly shaking his head and getting up. “I’m making sure you and Skye won’t get blown up down here. Got the timers out of the bombs.” Her eyes flitted towards her watch with the timer. The screen was blinking at her, showing that the time was up. Nothing was exploding yet. “Seems like Trip and I nailed it just in time.”
“Trip’s down here too?” Coulson asked, slowly getting up. He looked pretty worse for the wear. “He went the other way. He might have found Skye, but I don’t know, because comms don’t work down here.”
Mack had turned back towards them, his eyes fully black and his jaw set. Natasha felt uneasy under his gaze. She didn’t know Mack very well, but she did know that he usually had a very soft, kind look in his eyes. This was so far removed from how he usually looked, that she couldn’t help but be unsettled by it.
“Mack,” she tried, though she knew it would be in vain. She pointed her gun at his face. Well at least I can tell Bobbi she didn’t kill him. That she killed him, well... just another name for in her ledger. God, she wanted a hug from Skye.
Before Mack could move or she could shoot, a shock wave wen though the room, Natasha planted her feet firmly in the ground, and watched as Mack sank to his knees, his eyes rolling back before he blinked and looked at them, confusion and terror in his own two brown eyes.
“Agent Mackenzie,” she tried again, hopeful that maybe...
“Agent Romanoff. Sir. What happened?” he asked, gripping his head as he shivered. And then everything started shaking. The city around them rumbled and shook, dust falling from the ceiling. Natasha exchanged a look with Coulson. “We need to get out of here,” he said. She looked at the direction she knew Trip had gone. “Get Mack and get out.”
Coulson, who had already walked over to Mack’s side to support his shaky form, paused. “That’s too great a risk, I can’t let you do that,” he said. And honestly, “A risk?” Natasha asked, the anger, frustration and fear for Skye finally audible in her voice. She swallowed. “Like the risk you took to follow her down here? They are our teammates and I’m getting them out,” she snapped.
He gave her a long look before nodding and turning with Mack. “Don’t die,” he called over his shoulder, before stalking off, a fuzzy Mack on his arm. Natasha turned around and ran in the other direction.
///
She hadn’t been searching for long, before she found her. “Skye!” she called out, hurrying over to where her fiancée was sitting on the ground, staring at the pile of rubble I front of her. Skye didn’t look up, nor did she give any sign of having heard her. Cold fear gripped Nat’s heart, as the thought of Skye being possessed like Mack flashed through her mind, but then she saw Skye’s eyes and while they were unfocussed and filled with pain, they were still Skye’s eyes.
She crouched down in font of Skye. “Skye?” she tried again, softer this time. Finally, Skye’s eyes shifted towards her. “Tasha?”
Natasha nodded, keeping her voice in that same soft tone. “Yeah, lyubov moya, it’s me. I came to get you.” She reached for Skye’s hand, but the younger agent pulled away from her. “Trip…” she said, her voice cracking. Natasha held her gaze. “I came to get him too. Do you know where he is?” Skye looked back at the rubble, and Natasha felt that coldness grip her heart again, but it wasn’t until Skye whispered “I’m so sorry” that she felt that hard punch that she knew meant grief. They’d lost someone.
But now wasn’t the time for grieving. Even if the city wasn’t shaking around them anymore, she doubted the construction was solid, and she really didn’t want to be buried down here. So she turned back to Skye, her voice soft but determined “Skye. Look at me, dorogaya.” Skye looked at her again, tears shining in her eyes, but at least they were focussed. “We’re getting out of here. I promise you, we’ll come back for Trip, but right now, we have to go, okay?”
Skye nodded, very slowly, and started to get up. She wobbled, and Natasha shot up and forward to catch her, but Skye staggered back. “Don’t,” the younger woman whispered in that same sad, breaking voice. “If I’m contaminated, I don’t want to infect you.”
Natasha quickly realised that they’d all have to go into quarantine, and shivered inwardly. She hated quarantine. She nodded to Skye. “Okay, I won’t touch you. Just,” she hesitated, but then smiled, “I love you. Always, okay?”
One lone tear rolled down Skye’s cheek, and Natasha’s whole body screamed at her to hug her girl, and brush that tear away and hold her until this whole thing had blown over. But she couldn’t, so this would have to do. Skye returned a watery smile, but it was real and it was there. “I love you too.”
The whisper was almost inaudible, but Natasha heard it anyways, and she closed her eyes for a brief second before turning around and leading them out of the city, hopefully for good.
The assistant in the hazmat suit exited the quarantine room, and the door swished close behind him. Natasha walked up to the glass, pressing her hand against it. Skye gave her a brief glance of exhaustion before she smiled and pressed her hand against the other side of the glass. Natasha stuck out her tongue, and Skye chuckled, before she pulled away and sat down on the ground. Natasha watched her and sat down cross-legged, only the glass between them.
“How is everyone?” Skye asked. Natasha sighed. “Coping as well as you’d expect. Jemma is clearing the city to flood it, Mack is tinkering and drinking with Clint. Hunter was in the shooting range last I saw him. Fitz is tinkering as best as he can. May is punching something. Bobbi... I don’t know. This mission seemed to have done a number on her. She’s packing up Trip’s things. Coulson is... keeping busy.”
Skye nodded. “And you?” Natasha shrugged. “I didn’t know him that well. I know he was a good guy, and he could make me laugh and he brought the funk.” She smiled slightly. “I want a hug, preferably from you. But you know...”
Skye nodded again. “I know,” she murmured. She looked at the ground, fidgeting with her hands. “I’m sorry I went with him,” she suddenly said, glancing up at Natasha with nervous eyes. “I know we said no more kidnapping, but he would’ve blown the plane up otherwise.” She chuckled. “He actually defended me when Whitehall threatened me and my... my father.”
“And then you shot him,” Natasha said with a grin. Skye allowed a small smile. “Then I shot him,” she echoed. It sounded Hollywood. Natasha sighed. “Spit it out please. You know I won’t judge or walk away, Skye. I’m here.”
“Always?” Skye asked, her voice so uncharacteristically small and scared. Natasha felt her heart break for the umpteenth time that day. “Always,” she promised, easily. Skye nodded. “My father. He eh... he almost killed Coulson. I’m pretty sure Coulson didn’t tell anyone about that. But it happened. And I had a clear shot, but I couldn’t d it. I just couldn’t do it.”
Skye pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them. I couldn’t do it. Natasha thought she felt the ground shake ever so slightly, but ignored it. “It’s okay,” she told her. “Even after everything he is still your father. I’m sure Coulson doesn’t blame you for not being able to shoot your own father.” Skye shook her head. “But Cal almost kill him! I should have shot him when I had the chance.”
Natasha realised this wasn’t going anywhere. “So why didn’t you?” she asked instead. That seemed to pause Skye, as she looked up. It was silent for a moment. “He told me what happened to my mother. What Whitehall did to her. How he spend his whole life since then looking for me, and for the first time ever it felt like someone wanted me.”
Natasha raised an eyebrow at her, and Skye chuckled. “I meant in a parental ‘we want you as our kid’ way.” Natasha smiled. “I know, love. Tell me what happened next?”
Another moment of silence. “I told him an ‘I love you’ and a story couldn’t make up for years of absence, and he started going about SHIELD, and how they wouldn’t upstand me once I’d change, and-“
“Change?” Natasha interrupted her. “What did he mean with change?”
Skye cast her eyes down. Natasha didn’t like what this was suggesting. “Skye,” she started, her voice gentle, because this was her fucking fiancée she was talking to, “Please look at me.”
It took a moment, but then Skye slowly looked up. Natasha placed her hand against the glass again. “I love you for who you are. Not for what you are, or what you one day may turn out to be. Because to me, you will always be Skye. The girl I fell in love with. Do you understand that?”
Skye placed her hand against the glass, but didn’t reply. And before Natasha could say anything, someone behind them cleared their throat behind them. “If you want to stay under the radar, maybe not have heart-to-hearts where everyone can hear it.” Natasha turned her head. “What do you want, Bobbi?”
Bobbi approached, holding up a bag. “Thought I’d bring a survival package. Cheer up our quarantine queen. But it seems like you have it covered already.” Natasha looked back at Skye and raised an eyebrow. “You want a minute with Bobbi?” she asked. Skye thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. You go get some tea or something. See if you can bribe someone into getting me coffee, or a laptop. Anything to feel useful.”
Natasha smiled. That was her girl again. She stood up, nodded to Bobbi in passing, and left the room
Skye watched Bobbi watch Natasha leave the room, before the blonde agent turned back to her. “I think you two are cute, and I would love to be at your wedding. To bribe you into inviting me, I’ve got this lovely package.” She approached the room and put the bag in the airlock and shoved it through. Skye pulled out the bag, while Bobbi rattled off what was in there. “Shitty magazines, candy bars and bag of nuts, deck of cards, headphones, puzzles-“
“Cactus Cooler?” Skye interrupted, feeling a bit better. Bobbi shrugged. “I keep a stash. Don’t tell Hunter.” Skye nodded, smiling a bit. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. Bobbi grinned. “Any time. So, can I come?”
Skye chuckled. “Yeah.” She looked at her friend. “Yeah, you can come.” Bobbi smiled, before she turned serious again. “So, you’re okay in there for now?” Skye nodded. “Yeah, I mean, as good as I can be. Starting to feel like a lepper, but sure.”
“A lepper?” Bobbi echoed unbelieving. “Are you kidding me? You got kidnapped, held at gunpoint, shot Ward, and survived an alien city, and now you’re standing here. A bit shaken, sure, who wouldn’t be? But you’re here. I don't think you're a lepper. I think you're a rockstar.”
Skye smiled, new tears in her eyes, but these weren’t necessarily sad tears. “Thank you,” she said. “Again.” Bobbi shrugged. “Anything to get me to that wedding.” But her eyes were kind, if a bit tired, and her smile was sincere. Skye cocked her head. “Are you okay?”
“I'm not the one being locked up,” Bobbi deflected with faux cheer. Skye raised an eyebrow, a particularly handy trick she’d learned from Nat. Bobbi rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’m… fine.” Skye scoffed, because even if she hadn’t been a spy she would have caught this lie. Bobbi sighed again. “It’s just… a lot right now. Hunter may be joining SHIELD permanently, Trip is gone, Mack is… not doing okay at all. You’re locked up.”
“And you’re feeling guilty about keeping a secret,” Skye added softly. Bobbi’s head shot towards her. Skye shrugged. “You’re on a base with Nat and Clint. You think it’ll stay a secret? I tend to talk to my fiancée. You should try that with Hunter.”
Bobbi shook her head quickly. “No, and you can't tell him. Just… I’m dealing with this. I’m fixing it, okay? Just, trust me, that I’m fixing it.” For a few moments, Skye just looked at her. Bobbi really looked desperate, and really sorry. So, she shrugged. “I trust you. And if you want to be at my wedding, you better not break that trust.”
Bobbi nodded determinedly. “I won’t break your trust. I promise you that I’m fixing this.”
Skye supposed she shoud appreciate that they were debriefing next to her quarantine room so she could keep up with what was going on. But she didn’t much appreciate the fact that everyone was now yelling at each other. Natasha was sitting on a chair next to the glass, and Skye took comfort in the fact that technically speaking, she was less than a meter away from her. Because despite pulling back a little bit, she really had missed her. And she really just wanted to hide in Nat’s bunk with her until this had all blown over.
As if reading her mind, Natasha looked at her, and gave her a encouraging smile. It’s okay, she mouthed. Skye smiled back, and returned her gaze to the debriefing team, where Mack was just getting started in what looked like would be a heated argument.
She’d missed what Mack had said, but she caught Coulson’s answer. “HYDRA took them when they took Skye. Are you saying we shouldn’t have gone in to save her?”
“I’m saying there wouldn’t have been anything to take if you and Skye hadn’t been obsessed with the alien messages in your damn head,” Mack retorted, fully turning to face Coulson. Skye swore she could feel the room tense, and she saw Natasha lean forward in her chair.
Skye felt her own heartbeat in her throat, heavy and fast as the tension in the room rose. Her hand was shaking, and she quickly clenched it into a fist. Why was everybody yelling? Natasha’s eyes flashed towards her. “It’s okay. I'm here,” she said softly. The rest of the team didn’t notice their small exchange, too busy getting worked up.
“I shouldn’t have to ask…”
“You never ask!”
“…remember your rank…”
“Rank?!”
“Guys,” she gritted out between clenched teeth, as the tension continued to rise and she could feel herself slipping. A soft tremble went through the room, unnoticed by everyone but Natasha, who was now fully turned to her, and Clint, whose gaze she could feel piercing her skin. His eyes flashed across her face and his mouth was set in a firm line, but then he nodded. “Breathe,” he mouthed. “Just breathe.”
Skye took a deep breath. And another.
“Coulson’s only trying”
“We unleashed something on the planet!”
“Please,” she breathed, trying everything to remain calm. Something rattled in her room, and she noticed Bobbi’s can of Cactus Cooler shaking on the table. Natasha noticed it too, and for a moment there were a countless emotions behind her eyes, but then their was determination, and love, and Skye felt like she actually could breathe, until…
“No, he traded his life for hers! And then he was shattered into a thousand pieces!” Mack yelled.
He traded his life for hers. He died for her. Trip died for her. She’d killed Trip. The can shook dangerously close to the end of the table. Breathe. She had to fucking breathe.
Woosh!
Skye grabbed the can before it could fall from the table, and she tought that now they’d find out, now they’d see what she’d become, how responsible she really was for Trip’s death, but when she looked up, none of the team members were looking at her.
Rather, they’d been staring at the knife in the wall between Hunter and Fitz, both of whom had gone quite pale. Then everyone slowly looked up at Natasha. The agent, right now resembling the Black Widow more than anything else had stood up from her chair and taken one step towards the circle of people. Coulson opened his mouth to speak, but Natasha levelled her gaze at him, and he quickly shut his mouth again.
Because the Black Widow was famed for her death glare and blank face, but right now her eyes were blazing fire and if she showed this much anger, she must be really pissed. Her furious gaze challenged anyone to speak, while Skye looked on in amazement. She hadn’t even noticed that the shaking of the room had stopped until she caught Clint’s gaze, and he mouthed ‘you did it’ at her. She nodded dazedly, not quite sure what had happened except that there was a knife sticking out of the wall and everyone had stopped screaming.
Eventually, it was Mack – once again – who broke the silence. “I am not allowed to speak, but she is allowed to throw knifes at us?” he asked Coulson, ignoring everyone’s nervous glances at Natasha, who scoffed and beat Coulson to an answer. “She is, if you start insinuating that Trip’s death is Skye’s fault. Because that is what you insinuated, yes? If she hadn’t been down there, then he wouldn’t be death?” She didn’t even wait for Mack’s slow nod to continue.
“Because if that is what you are insinuating, then let me remind you, that Skye had no idea of our plans to blow up the city, but went after Raina, thereby risking her own life, to stop her from using the Obelisk and releasing God knows what over the city and potentially the world. And maybe that wasn’t the best idea of the century, no. But in no case does that mean Skye is responsible for Trip’s death.” Natasha looked over her shoulder at Skye. “It is not your fault,” she said decisively.
Skye nodded, ever so slowly, and she knew that she was shaking, but at least the room wasn’t shaking with her. Mack opened his mouth to speak, but Natasha whirled back. “I wasn’t done yet! A thousand decisions between Skye following Raina and Trip going into that temple could have changed the outcome. Might I also remind you that if Skye hadn’t gone down there to follow Raina, you would have been the one blown to bits?”
Everyone flinched, even May, at the harsh words, but they hit home by some of the team. Mack looked away. “Maybe rather me than him.” Natasha sighed. “What you did under alien control was not your fault. I know you feel guilty, but pushing that on other people is not the solution.” He didn’t answer. Natasha motioned to Clint. “Take him away. Give him a drink or something.”
Clint nodded, sent a quick encouraging look at Skye, and gently pushed Mack away and out of the room. Coulson watched them go and turned to Natasha. “Since when do you give the commands?” he asked, slightly frustrated. Natasha levelled him with a glare. “Since all you do is yell.” She looked between him and May.
“Pulling rank on things like this? You’re better than Fury. Come on guys. This SHIELD is supposed to be better. Listen to everyone, and listen to them properly before yelling back. And Coulson, you really can’t go at people for not following orders or plans or logic, when you did the exact same thing Trip and I did.” He glared at her, and stalked off without another word. May hesitated, then lowered her head ever so slightly, and flashed a look at Skye that screamed apology, before following the director out. That left Fitz, Hunter and Bobbi. Fitz looked at the knife still lodged in the wall, and pulled it out before handing it back. “I don’t think he actually meant it,” he said softly, but without stuttering.
Natasha took the knife from him, and slipped it back into her boot. “I better hope not,” she simply replied. He nodded and hurried out. Hunter looked between Skye and Natasha, and opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it. He too turned to walk away, before he suddenly turned back, and said, “I'm sorry for yelling, Skye. I don’t think what happened to Trip was your fault.”
Skye stared at him, shocked to hear such serious words from the guy that always joked around. She supposed that Trip’s death really did a number on all of them. She nodded and smiled at him. “Thank you. I heard you’re staying?” He nodded. She hummed. “I’m happy to have you on my team.”
He smiled back, his eyes nervously flashing towards Natasha, before he too walked out. Natasha turned towards Bobbi. “You have something to say?”
Bobbi shook her head and went to sit down on the chair that Natasha in her anger had vacated. “Mack was out of line. Maybe you were too. I don’t know anymore.” She sighed, resting her head in her hands. Natasha placed a hand on her shoulder. “You need to find out where your loyalties lie,” she said softly. “Before you hurt him, or someone else.”
Bobbi nodded. Natasha looked at Skye. “Are you okay?” Skye huffed. “I feel like we’re asking each other that too much lately.”
“Better too much than not enough,” Natasha said simply. Skye shrugged. “I’m okay, I think. I didn’t like the yelling, so thank you for throwing the knife.”
Natasha smiled at her, a smile that Skye had realised over time was only reserved for her. “Just remember to breathe.”
“I will,” Skye promised. She gestured at Bobbi. “She’s coming to our wedding by the way. Provided she doesn’t fuck up in the meantime.” Natasha nodded. “Fun.” She looked down at Bobbi. “Any roles you'd like to fulfil?”
Bobbi shook her head. “I can’t believe you two. I’m having an existential crisis, Trip died and we’re back to hunting Hydra, and you’re planning your wedding?”
“When else are we going to do it?” Natasha asked.
“You literally bribed me to come with a survival kit four hours ago,” Skye added. She and Natasha exchanged an amused look, and Bobbi chuckled, and for a moment it seemed like things were going to be alright again. Bobbi sat up, and looked at Skye. “Got a maid of honour yet?” Skye thought for a moment, and then grinned. “Looks like I do now.”
Natasha would always be grateful to Jemma for keeping Skye alive. But right now, the girl was taking it way too far, and it was hard to remember that this woman was the same as the kind and caring scientist that had given her all to keep a dying girl alive.
She watched as Skye shrunk in on herself after Jemma told her that it was horrible, the change Raina had gone through. And then the scientist had walked away with Skye’s new blood samples. To check for DNA change. Natasha waited until she had left, and stepped towards the quarantine room. “Skye?”
Skye looked up from where she’d been fidgeting with her hands. “Yeah?”
Natasha held her gaze. “We both know what’s going to come out of that test. I just want you to know, that whatever happens, I’m here for you. I'm here with you. We can do this, and I will be with you no matter what. So will Clint. Okay?”
Skye nodded, still a bit fearful, but seemingly comforted for now. “Always?” she asked, her voice shaking. “Always,” Natasha replied instantly, pulling the ring from under her T-shirt and holding it up. “Always.”
Before Skye could reply, Fitz came hurrying in. He barely took in Natasha standing there before he turned to Skye. “I got the data from your watch,” he started, out of breath, but not stuttering. Skye’s nervous look turned to him. Fitz took a deep breath, and started pacing. “And I… the data… it was not good. And at first… first I thought there was something wrong with the data in my head. You know, with the… the… the thinking.” He gestured with his hands. "C-cause your heartbeat was 300. That's... That's not normal. That's Inhuman."
He raked his hand through his hair. “But then I r-realised, that there’s nothing wrong with the d-data in my head.” He stopped pacing and looked up at Skye. Natasha held her breath as the floor trembled softly beneath her feet. “There is something wrong with you.”
Skye shook her head and edged back. “No,” she whimpered. Her hands came up to cover her ears, and her pleading gaze turned towards Natasha. Fitz didn’t look away. “The reason that you made it out of the destruction without as much as a scratch, is because you created the discussion.”
Skye continued to shake her head, closing her eyes and whimpering. Natasha stood in front of her. “Skye. Breathe. All you need to do is breathe. Skye. Skye!”
A light shattered above Skye’s head, throwing a shadow over the room. Natasha took a surprised step backwards, and saw Fitz flinch away in the corner of her eye. Then he turned around and scrambled away. “Fitz!” she yelled after him, but he was already gone, and she was torn between staying with her panicking fiancée and hunting down the man who now knew. She looked at Skye, who had sagged to the ground, sitting between shards of glass. Natasha pressed her hand against the surface of the glass wall. “I’m going to fix this,” she promised.
Skye looked at her, her gaze hollow and suddenly tired and oh so sad. “You can’t fix this. You can’t fix me.” Natasha’s gaze hardened as she looked at the woman she loved. “You don’t need fixing. Because there is nothing wrong with you.”
And then she turned around and ran after Fitz. She was guessing he’d gone to the lab for the test results. And if he hadn’t… well, she was taking a risk. A risk that turned out to pay off as she immediately saw him standing over a desk when she entered the lab. She halted a few paces behind him. “Fitz?” she tried.
He looked up at her, and motioned to the table he’d been staring at. “It’s different. But you knew that already.”
She nodded slowly. “I guessed it. While you were so busy yelling at each other. But I don’t know what changed, or what happens now. Except that Skye is terrified, because Mack blamed her for Trip’s death, and Jemma has been talking about… extinguishing this alien thing. She wanted to kill Raina, Fitz. And Skye is scared out of her mind, because she knows she changed too, even if she can’t really admit it to herself.”
Fitz looked at her, and then to the table. And then he pressed a button and deleted whatever was showing evidence of Skye’s change on the screen. Natasha could only look at him. He nodded, mostly to himself, as he pressed some more things, and other, probably earlier results of Skye’s blood and DNA popped up on the screen, before he submitted those as results for the recent test. Then he looked up at her. “In her eyes, I never really changed. And to me, she hasn’t changed either. Not in a way that matters.”
They shared a short moment of understanding, as they looked as each other. Then Fitz picked up the tablet and walked to the door. He motioned to her. “Let’s go.”
Together, they made their way back to Skye’s quarantine room. When they entered, they both paused, taking in Skye holding a piece of glass in a bloody hand, looking nervous and close to crying, and Jemma and May standing in front with concerned looks on their face and awaiting an answer to a question they’d missed. For a moment, Natasha froze, and in that moment, Fitz stepped forward. “My bad,” he said, walking towards them. “I bumped into the lamp with one of those ridiculous hazmat suits. Tried to get another blood sample, to confirm the results.”
He pressed the tablet into Jemma’s hands, who took it with a frown. Then she let out a relieved sigh. “That’s great news! Skye, your blood is completely normal. Or well, as normal as your blood can be, with the GH-serum and whatever was in agent Romanoff’s blood.”
Skye frowned, before looking at Fitz, and then at Natasha. She nodded back, smiling softly. “I’m… I can get out?” Skye asked slowly. Fitz nodded, stepped forward, and tapped on the keypad to open the door. “Yeah, just, mind the glass.”
May turned, looked back at Natasha and smiled. “I’ll go tell the director,” she said, before taking off. Natasha watched her leave. Fitz turned to Jemma. “I’ll patch her up. It was my fault after all. Could you maybe make sure that there’s new sheets in her bunk? The last time there was all ladies stuff in there, and-“
“Got it,” Jemma interrupted Fitz’ rambling gently. The scientist threw a meaningful look at Natasha. “You can help Fitz with the med kit and the cleaning up.” Natasha had to appreciate the woman’s discretion, though she didn’t really know how to feel on the whole matter of Jemma right now. She nodded nevertheless. Jemma left, and immediately, Fitz and Natasha moved to Skye, who still hesitantly stood in the doorway. “Are you guys sure…”
“Your DNA is completely different,” Fitz interrupted her. “But it’s not contagious. And with all the tension right now, this might not be the best time to tell them.”
“So I have changed?” Skye asked, her voice wobbly. Fitz nodded, his eyes cast down. Skye closed her eyes, and then her knees buckled. Natasha lunged forward and caught her, pulling her close. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
Skye buried her face in her shoulder. “Fitz is right. There is something very wrong with me.” Natasha scoffed, and Fitz placed a hand on her shoulder. “There is nothing wrong with you. You’re just a little different now, and there is nothing wrong with that.”
Skye’s whole body shuddered, and Natasha tightened her arms around her, and gently lowered them to the ground, mindful of the glass everywhere. It felt good to hug Skye again, despite the circumstances. The last time had been before she went down into an alien city and Skye got kidnapped – again – for crying out loud. So she just hugged Skye. And Skye finally relaxed into her.
“I love you,” Natasha whispered in her ear. “I love you, and we’re going to figure this out.” She honestly couldn’t care less whether Fitz heard her or not. He kindly ignored them as he moved around to get rid of the glass, but when he threw a glance at them, and she caught his gaze, she smiled at him. Thank you, she mouthed. And when he looked between them and then back at her with a smile, she thought he might understand.
Skye moved in her arms to look up at her, and pressed a soft kiss to her jaw. “I love you too,” she whispered back. Natasha pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s going to be okay.”