CHAPTER 4

The door opened, and a hesitant Simmons entered the room, followed by Fitz and Skye.

"These are for you, Agent May." Simmons placed the bouquet on the white end table besides May's bed. A smile smile crept up May's face upon seeing the flowers the biochemist brought with her.

"They look great Simmons. Thank you," said May.

Relief washed over Simmons at May's words. "I'm glad you liked them. I was really unsure on what to get you because you don't seem to be a person who's into flowers at all."

The three seated themselves unto the couch they shared yesterday.

"Did Skye do any trouble at your place?" Coulson asked Simmons, who then threw a playful glare at Skye. "Well, she'd been quite a good girl, Sir, if you don't count the times that she kicked me when we were asleep."

Skye looked at Jemma with wide eyes. "I did not!"

"Oh you did, Skye. And I could even have bruises on my legs and my back to prove it!" The five of them shared a laugh at the two's exchange. Once the laughter died down, Skye asked May, "How long would it be before you can go back to the Bus?"

"The doctor told me that it'd be 6 to 10 weeks until I can go back to work." Skye frowned. "That's quite a long time, May. Who'd be flying the Bus until you're okay?"

"The team would be working on ground for a while, so there won't be a need for a replacement pilot," Coulson answered. "Simmons would be working with other scientists here to further decode BTN-4 and to find a cure for it in case of a possible break-out. You, Fitz, and Ward would be helping other agents locate where the other hiding places for the bio-weapon and to stop whoever's behind this."

Skye nodded. "And since I already mentioned it, I may be taking a leave some time soon to help Agent May around while she recovers. Doctor's orders. I'd be asking Agent Ward to take charge for the mean time, but I would still be working with you, if the need arises."

The three shared a look at his words, but it wasn't left unnoticed by Coulson or May, but both just chose not to say anything.

After that they drifted into a casual conversation. They jumped from topic to topic almost randomly, discussing Fitz's newest contraptions to recent breakthroughs with the BTN-4. Fitz's eyes would travel from the rest of the group to Coulson then May from time to time. It certainly feels different, seeing them in this situation. It seems that in the bounds of the four walls of May's hospital room, he felt that whatever walls the two senior agents have back in the Bus are lowered, allowing the rest of the team to peer in. It feels nice, especially with May, who has always been distant. The change could take time to get used to, not to mention the fact that Coulson was not in a suit and it was easy to conclude that his wardrobe only includes suits since it seems that he's very much fond of them, but the change is very much welcome. It feels great, actually, seeing Coulson and May participate in the conversation so easily.

Yeah, he certainly can get used to this.

– & –

Three days passed quickly, after the three's short visit. It was decided that May was to stay in the hospital for five days just to observe how the bones in her arm were growing back to stopped by from time to time, checking up on May's arm and giving extra reminders concerning her speedy recovery. Sometimes, the doctor stays around for a while, talking with her old friends of the time allows her. There were instances that she'd brought food (which was of course not allowed in the hospital) for the three of them to share when she happens to drop by at the end of her shift.

"You still work too hard, don't you?" Coulson noted one night Annie visited. She only hummed in reply as she took a large bite of the slice of pepperoni pizza she brought with her. (Annie brought a paper saucer just for May because it turns out that it was hard to eat pizza when you could only use one of your hands.) "It's hard to live two separate lives, as you should know. Twice the work. Twice patient drama. But at least, twice the salary."

Just like other S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors, Annie still practiced medicine outside the agency. She has a small clinic in the city. Unlike regular hospitals that were open to the general public, the agency's own is only for those who work under it, especially agents who are injured on duty who can't afford to share information to regular hospitals. Due to it's exclusiveness, most personnel aren't always on call, so those like Annie take on patients outside S.H.I.E.L.D., under the oath that they won't disclose anything regarding there whereabouts while their off-duty.

"And it's my personal break from this norm. From time to time I actually appreciate simply helping out a little kid who broke his ankle while playing football and not some S.H.I.E.L.D G.I. Joe who was kidnapped in only-God-knows-where and got both of his legs broken while being interrogated by only-God-knows-who," she added, causing May to laugh and to always drop her pizza on her gown. May was sure that she was referring to one of Coulson's operatives in the past. The poor kid recovered, but he was also dismissed right after he was able to walk again, with certainly no more memory of any of his missions with S.H.I.E.L.D. May stole a glance at Coulson, trying to find a sign on his face that he recall the same operative she was talking about. By the way his eyebrows were raised and her eyes shone in amusement, she figured that he remembered the man well.

– & –

Simmons wasn't exactly used to wearing a full-body air supplied suit like was presently wearing. She could easily count with her fingers in one hand the instances she'd wore one in the Academy. There had been four. The first three cases only occurred because the professor only wanted the class to know what it felt to be in one of the suits and how to put on one in case they were placed in a situation that they'd be needing one. The last was just in a "field trip" the same professor planned out where the class observed a team of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s virologist inside their lab. The were in the lab for less than twenty minutes. But she does admit that one of these suits could have been helpful if she had one on the Bus when she was dealing with Chitauri virus that almost killed got her killed. Jemma made a mental note to make a request for two, one for Fitz, just in case.

She swiped her key card and the entrance before her opened. She stepped in the narrow hallway leading to another locked door. At least eight security cameras lined walls, which was quite a number, considering that she was, approximately, only ten meters away from the next door. She wasn't expecting any less, but she wasn't really able to imagine beforehand how the security works in one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. in-house laboratories that focuses entirely on possible bioterror weaponry.

It had took her six key card swipes, four fingerprint scans, and three retina scans before she reached the area where she would be working on the BTN-4. There were more than ten other people in the laboratory with her, all wearing the same light blue spacesuit she was wearing. The only way to set people apart other than the clear portion for the face was the ID's attached to the suit.

"Dr. Jemma Simmons?" She turned to her left at the sound of her name. By the sound of the speaker's voice, she identified the caller as a woman. A person was then approaching her. When she stopped in front of Simmons, she looked at her ID. Dr. Ella Winston. The doctor's eyes also drifted to Simmons' ID for a short moment, as if checking if she got the right person.

"We already extracted the DNA from the sample you've sent us a few days before," she said. "and we discovered that BTN-4 is one-half MTB, just like you said, and one-half of its DNA is Chitauri."

Simmons wasn't able to withhold the loud "oh" that escaped her lips.

– & –

With May's keys in his pocket, Coulson drove down a familiar street in downtown New York early in the morning of May's last day in the hospital to get a change of clothes for her release late in the afternoon from her apartment. Standing in front of the rustic five-story building, he realized that it has been years since he was here.

With a key turn, he found himself inside Melinda May's house. The place had barely changed at all. The open space, the mocha-colored walls, the marble counter tops, the small circular dining table that can only have four people at most... At least she got a better TV now, even if looked like it wasn't used as much.

He suddenly missed drinking beer with her while they sat side by side on her faux leather sofa way back, but her place was still as impersonal as it was before.

He proceeded to her bedroom and went to the closet just in front of her queen-size bed. Right after she got her a white short-sleeve shirt, a pair of grey yoga pants, and black ballet flats, he opened her underwear drawer and took a matching set – dark blue cotton panties and a dark blue bra. He had to pick what he thought was the easiest for her to wear and at the same time he had to be mindful enough of his choices. (He denied to himself that he caught sight of a matching black lace set.)

After putting all the items in the duffel bag he brought with him, he couldn't help but think of the next few weeks ahead of him as he locked her front door.

A/N - I wasn't really planning to work on this any time soon but miracles happen late at night when I'm already half asleep.