So first, there is a Tendrils update coming - I think we have two chapters to go, but one plot point is kicking my ass, so soon-ish, promise. Meantime, I needed to do something creative and thus, there is this.

Per usual, I own nothing - just taking some awesome characters out for a spin.

The wind bites into her, chilling Skye to the bone, but she doesn't take the time to stop and pull her coat tighter. She doesn't have the seconds to spare. She was quiet, careful, but the Playground is a base full of spies and the security cameras can only loop for so long before one of them figures out that their resident hacker has thwarted the defenses she helped build in order to do one thing…

Escape.

So she rushes down the alley with the rigged spike strips to stop unwelcome cars from slamming into their walls and starts to turn the corner, hoping she can make the first train so she doesn't have to linger at the station.

Melinda May is waiting on the sidewalk.

"What's your plan?"

Skye stumbles but recovers quickly… a skill learned from the woman in black standing across from her.

"That's my business."

May moves into her at ease position, the one she affects when Coulson is talking and his second-in-command is standing just to the side behind him, communicating without words, telling them all to listen and believe.

"You're not a winter person. So I'm guessing Texas. Austin. Lots of transplants, easy place to blend in, busy nightlife when you're restless."

Skye manages not to fidget despite the utter shock at how completely May has nailed her. And then her jaw drops because the next words out of her S.O.'s mouth are legit funny and completely rude given, well, Skye's current state of being.

"They have earthquakes in Texas, too, you know?"

It's almost enough. The normalcy of it… someone ribbing her and not walking on egg shells… it almost convinces Skye to turn around. But then she remembers last night, the way Jemma panicked when the tremors caused by Skye's nightmare fractured the gas line in the lab, and her spine straightens, resolve restored.

"I'm not watching anyone else die. Not because of me."

May moves forward and Skye refuses to budge because the tactical training offered by her current adversary is screaming at her not to take a step backwards. One step back, and May will have her walled in by the alley and escape will be impossible.

"Tripp didn't die because of you. He died because he took a calculated risk and it failed."

"Me staying here is a calculated risk," Skye snaps, the words a shriek that stuns even her. "You have no idea how big a quake I can cause, how bad it could get."

"And you have no idea how powerful you could become once you learn to control this."

Skye scoffs at that. She's so sick of hearing about control. Everything has failed. Fitz's specialty monitors to watch for emotional upheaval and Jemma's drug cocktails and even May's tai chi and meditation techniques… none of them had given Skye any hope of wrangling her unwanted "gift" into something that doesn't terrify her.

"I know someone who can help you."

"It's too late for that."

Skye tries to walk past her and is less than surprised when May cuts her off. But Skye's tired and sad and scared and she just wants out, so digs deep and finds the audacity to push back.

May moves maybe half of an inch and then pushes Skye again.

The more she has to struggle to try to get away, the more Skye can feel herself starting to spiral. The ground beneath them is trembling and she looks up out of habit, worried about what might fall down on them if she makes the earth shake too violently.

"Just let me go. Please."

Her back meets the exterior of The Playground then, and Skye looks forward, stunned, and finds May's eyes locked to hers, an intensity there Skye's only ever the older woman unleash for one person…

Coulson.

"I am not letting you go, Skye. I will never let you go."

A million arguments bubble up and Skye is ready to voice them all, to list every single reason why this is insanity and everyone, including the legendary Melinda May, should be terrified of her.

Except May isn't scared of her. She's scared for her. And seeing it uncoils something in Skye that's been waiting to release for years…

Maybe for her whole life.

The earth moans and the wall behind her spiderwebs as Skye stops fighting and steps forward, arms wrapping around May as if her life depended on it.

She thinks maybe it does.

"You promise?"

May's hands press into Skye's back, and the tight grip of her arms is suddenly the best thing the newly-gifted young woman can imagine.

"I promise."

The tension at the base feels more dangerous than a HYDRA cell, and Skye would blame herself for it except that, as Jemma pointed out, the real problem is the three grown-ups who don't want to unpack their emotional baggage. Thinking of how hard Mack laughed at that makes Skye smile even now.

Andrew Garner is… well, not quite what Skye would've imagined for Melinda May's ex-husband, but she also gets it. He's handsome as hell… "sex on a stick," Bobbi said… smart, charming, and he makes you feel comfortable, which for Skye these days is a rare feeling. That May was willing to bring Andrew in despite how much she doesn't want to be around him only makes Skye more determined to succeed at his "ability management" steps so he can pack his bags and go.

May spends every free moment she has with Skye, helping her learn, pumping up her confidence. In fact, it feels a lot like the first few weeks of training they did together after the battle at Cybertek. But Skye knows her S.O. better now, understands the subtle fluctuations of mood and personality that used to escape her. And having Andrew here is hurting May. Skye isn't sure why because they seem to be on decent enough terms about the end of their marriage, but something about having him near is tearing at her mentor, and Skye knows May will endure it until Andrew's help is no longer needed…

For her sake, and Skye is trying to stop feeling guilty over it because she knows Fitz is right. That sacrifice is how May shows her love. Fighting against it is a denial of that love, and Skye isn't about to do that. So she practices. And when she targets and fractures the exact rock she wanted to break, Skye squeals with joy. She races toward the stairs to tell Coulson and May, who she assumes are in the director's office dealing with the inventory of the weapons cache Hunter and Bobbi snagged in Mexico.

"All I'm saying is that I'm worried about you."

The words don't stop Skye's ascent. She stops because May tries to walk out of the kitchen and Andrew grabs her arm to stop her. May looks… the only word Skye can think of to adequately convey what she sees is "shattered." Skye sinks down on the steps, the breath ripped from her lungs at the sight.

"You no longer have a responsibility to worry about me, Andrew."

"Saving her won't change anything. I just… you understand that, don't you?"

Melinda May jerks her arm out of her ex-husband's hold so furiously that it almost knocks him over.

It takes Skye a moment to gather herself, a snippet of time that's just long enough for May to disappear from sight and for Andrew to slink back into the kitchen. She almost returns to her climb up the stairs, ready to alert Coulson to what's happened, but another pissing contest between the two men who obviously have deep emotional issues where May is concerned won't help anyone. So instead Skye stands up and moves down, skipping the bottom stop and bounding into the kitchen.

"What did you do?"

Andrew looks up defensively and almost breaks the plate in his hand as he pushes it away.

"I'm trying to look out for her. She needs someone to do it, whether she likes it or not."

The presumption of it pushes Skye's buttons, and she's speaking before she even knows what words are going to come out.

"We look out for her. We're her family. So what the hell did you say that upset her so much?"

For a moment, Skye thinks he's going to yell, to tell her off for interfering, but then Andrew sighs and leans against the counter, his shoulders sagging.

"The truth. I just told her the truth."

It takes Skye hours to find May and when she does, her S.O. isn't alone. They're in the cockpit of the Bus, but Coulson is sitting on the floor, out of sight of the uncloaked windows, and May is next to him, but pressed into the wall, curled up in a way that would make Skye think she'd been injured if she didn't know better. Coulson's hand sits on May's thigh… just rests there, offering a tangible physical reminder that he's there. When he sees Skye, he leans over, careful not to press into May, and whispers.

"Skye's here. I'll be back in a little while."

He stands, shirt sleeves rolled up, exhaustion etched into his face.

"I'm going clean up a mess in the kitchen. You'll stay?"

Skye nods and Coulson passes by her, closing the door. Unsure what else to do, Skye slides down the wall and takes up the director's former seat. She decides against mirroring Coulson's touch, though, instead scooting a little closer and turning toward the corner just like May. Then Skye lets her hand whisper against the top of her mentor's shoulder.

"I'm here, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

May doesn't respond, but she doesn't move away either, and so Skye settles her weight against the wall and starts to work through the breathing techniques she's learned to help her quiet her mind. It's only after several minutes of the deep, rhythmic in and out that Skye realizes what happened earlier and can't keep it to herself.

"I did it! May, I was furious with Andrew and I didn't… there was no tremor. I didn't make a tremor. I controlled it."

She's immediately horrified at breaking the quiet, at needing attention or reinforcement or whatever desire is laced in those words because May is twisted in a knot and it's just wrong.

Then May moves for the first time since Skye entered the room, her hand coming to rest atop the younger woman's.

"I knew you could."

They stay there like that until finally May's body begins to unfurl, relaxing and turning toward Skye.

"He's a jerk," Skye offers, because Andrew is helping her, but he said something that made this woman she adores run into a corner to hide, and now she just wants to go back and punch the good doctor in his handsome face.

"But he's helping you," May counters. "I'll be fine."

Time and circumstance has taught Skye that she has that mysterious thing inside of her that makes sacrificing yourself for others seem not only logical but reasonable. But there's another level of it in May, and sometimes it makes Skye worry that one day, she'll give too much and it will ruin her.

"You don't have to be fine. Especially not for me."

May only sighs in response and stands, pulling Skye up with her. The younger woman welcomes the press of the senior agent's hands against her arms. It reminds her of that tight embrace in the alley that kept her from leaving the only family she's ever had.

"Don't let this get in your way."

And Skye knows what May is really saying. 'I need you to be okay first. Then I'll worry about myself.' So there's only one thing to say.

"Promise."

Skye knows what happened in Bahrain, and she wishes more than anything that she didn't because God… it's too much. No one should have to live through a day like that, and Melinda May most definitely has done such tremendous good in the world that she above all others deserved to be spared.

The entire compound is in flames or on the verge of collapse, but the team is evacuated and Bobbi has the Bus ready to take off. Bobbi… because May wouldn't leave until the gifted who had destroyed her life once was dead for real this time, not secreted away by HYDRA, and she'd ordered everyone else to leave while she hunted him down.

It was an order Skye refused to follow.

She finds her S.O. pinned to the floor in the sacrificial room, the gifted dead, body half supported by the altar where he murdered innocents to prove his power. Half the roof rests on top of May, who is conscious but losing the battle to free herself.

"Skye, I told you to go."

"I went. You didn't say I couldn't come back."

Even in pain and fighting for her life, Melinda May can't hold back an eye roll, and Skye smiles despite the dire situation they're in.

"Skye –"

"I'm not going anywhere without you, so stop wasting time."

They try to move the heavy debris together, but neither can get enough leverage for it to budge. Skye searches for an implement to help, anything that might give her some advantage, but she has nothing.

And then she realizes there's something… and the very idea of using it terrifies her.

Something clues May in to the idea because suddenly Skye feels a hand squeeze hers.

"Try."

Skye shakes her head, nowhere near ready to admit that's her only option.

"The debris is over half your body. I could break bones… I could rupture your heart…"

She's ready for May to argue with her, but once again, Skye finds herself surprised by the woman's ability to conjure utter calm in the midst of hellfire. A cool hand presses into her cheek, and Skye takes a deep breath and steadies herself.

"Try."

Fear pulses through Skye from the base of her spine straight to her heart because she's not exaggerating. She has learned to control her powers, but when they were rescuing that military base in Virginia, she saw firsthand what could happen if the vibrations modulate while the object she's breaking is in contact with a human being. Fitz is working on something to help her regulate them to the finest point of precision, but it's not ready yet.

But May's going to die if she doesn't do this. The building won't hold up much longer.

Skye focuses, concentrates on the minute fissure she can somehow detect in a thick piece of the debris. What feels like a cyclone starts in the tips of her toes and spins up through her, making her stomach quiver and her heart pound, and then Skye puts her hand on the large chunk of steel and concrete. She feels it vibrate underneath her palm, senses the moment when the matter begins to disintegrate from the surge of energy she fuses into it.

The instant she hears the debris crack open, Skye withdraws. It still takes her a few seconds to shut down the surge, and so she steps back, eyes closed, willing her body to calm. In the growing silence as the rumbling stops, her heart begins to tighten because it's one thing to only hear the sounds of the building dying, but that's all she can hear. There's nothing else.

Skye's eyes shoot open the moment she feels safe and the relief that floods through her body is perhaps the best feeling she's ever known.

May is alive. Struggling to stand… and alive.

The hours to come, though, are fraught with worry. They get back to the Bus, but it's clear May's been hurt badly in the collapse, and Jemma says it's time to call in their favor from Talbot. The Bus lands moments later at a NATO base with a fully functioning trauma unit, and Jemma and the doctors race May into surgery as Coulson stands in the hallway looking like he might fall over.

Skye starts toward him to offer comfort, but then Coulson turns and charges up to her, and she waits for that other shoe that looms above to drop. This is her fault somehow, and now, even after all the work she's done, she's going to lose them.

But there's no yelling, no harsh recriminations. Instead Coulson pulls her against him, hugging her tightly, his emotions completely overwhelming the façade Director Coulson tries so hard to hold on to.

"Thank you for getting her home."

And Skye squeezes Coulson back, throat too choked with emotion to tell him that the only reason she has a home anymore is May's refusal to let her go. So she just holds on to him, this man she wishes could be her father, and lets him thank her as if she made a choice. But there'd been no choice. Saving May was the only thing she could do because Skye never wanted to know what a life without her looked like.

It's hours later when Skye leans quietly in the doorway to May's hospital room, watching as Coulson kisses her forehead and then her hand and finally gives up the seat at her bedside. Even after Andrew had left and it was obvious to everyone that May and Coulson were more in love than ever, they had kept fighting against it. No one on the team understood why, and they all knew interfering would likely only push the two further apart. But Coulson's done hiding, it seems. He doesn't even blush when he catches Skye watching.

"Did you use your words this time?" she asks, and he smiles, and that's when she knows for sure that May is going to be okay.

"I did. So did she."

Skye smiles and suddenly her arms are around his neck.

"'Bout time, A.C. But good job."

He chuckles against her and then pulls back from the hug.

"I'm gonna get cleaned up."

He doesn't need to ask Skye to stay because they both know she will, and moments later, she's in the seat recently occupied by the S.H.I.E.L.D. director who can finally admit he loves Melinda May more than life itself.

"Her name was Eden."

May's voice pulls Skye's focus to her face, and she finds those dark, stormy eyes looking at her.

"The girl I saved in Bahrain. Her name was Eden."

May's hand reaches out to her and Skye moves to the bed. When her S.O. laces their fingers together, it no longer surprises Skye because this is just who they've become to each other.

"Fury wanted to place her with a family, give her a chance at a normal life."

Skye remembers that day in the kitchen and the words Andrew spoke that wrecked the strongest woman she's ever known.

"Something happened to her?"

"They tried. She had help and love and it should've been enough. But it wasn't. What that monster did to her… she just couldn't fight her demons anymore. We lost her when she was 17."

May doesn't offer the details and Skye doesn't need to hear them. She can imagine because she remembers what it feels like to be that desperate and scared and alone. And the "we" is telling. Fury might have placed Eden with someone else, but Melinda May hadn't walked away from her. Skye doesn't even want to think of the heartache it caused when someone… Fury or the parents or Coulson or Andrew Garner… had to tell her Eden was gone.

"You won't ever lose me," Skye says, and there's ferocity in the truth of her words. "You kept me, so now you're stuck with me."

She can see in the light that sparks in May's eyes that Andrew was wrong. Saving her does change things. Maybe it doesn't erase the pain of Eden's loss, but Skye thinks of how hesitant she was to trust and love after foster care broke her spirit. She images there was a scarred, tender part of May's heart that looked the same. But now it's healing… just like Skye's.

"Promise?" May asks, and there's a real question there needing a real answer.

That day in the alley, the fear Skye felt, the guilt, the self-revulsion… it was all threatening to choke the life out of her and plunge her into darkness. But Melinda May, the woman she'd once feared, had stood between her and that despair and battled it back. And in that moment, Skye now sees that she found the one thing she'd always wanted, more than just a family, more than a safe place to live…

She'd found a mother.

She wasn't sure the word would ever be spoken out loud, but in her heart, for the rest of her life, that's who Melinda would be to her. So she leaned down and placed her head on May's chest, comforted anew by the steady strength of the heart that beat within this amazing woman who had chosen to love her.

"Promise."