A/N: Hey guys. Finally finished writing the sequel. I'm so excited to share it with you. Five chapters. 10,000+ words. Family feels. AU. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

To say she was in big trouble was the understatement of the month. She was under scrutiny before because of her hacking with Rising Tide, and then some with Miles, but now? She just blew a hole larger than the moon ruining any shot of becoming a full pledged S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

It was such a simple mistake. Girl met boy. Girl fell in love. They had a drink one night and slept together the next. There was no way to spin the story, not after they were caught sneaking outside of each other's room. They attempted to, but failed. Ward expected to be suspended then and there and she expected to be kicked off the BUS, but to both of their surprise Coulson accepted their relationship. Or at least he said he did. It had only been a promise that he wouldn't report back to Fury about the fraternization occurring on his BUS under his authority. He gave Ward a warning to never hurt her and an order to be discreet. Grant tried to end it multiple times, but Skye insisted it continue, and each time she won.

Such a stupid mistake.

Now, it all made sense. He was trying to protect her. They were all trying to protect her. Looking back on it, she should've listened to May and Coulson's many, many warnings. Or she could've tried to be more secretive with Grant during their trysts. Ultimately, she should've never allowed a kiss in public with over a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D agents watching occur. Because now, not only was her head on the chopping block, so was Grant's. Everything he worked so hard to achieve could turn to dust because of a foolish affair with a mere consultant.

Skye adjusted for the third time that day, and rolled her shoulders back trying to ease the tension building up in her body. Her muscles ached, time was moving slow. She couldn't concentrate, just think about the impending doom. If Ward was there, he could help her think of a loophole, a way to save his S.H.I.E.L.D status, but he wasn't. They separated them–some sort of S.H.I.E.L.D protocol.

A stupid one. Skye knew enough about regulations to know this could very well be the last time they see each other. If she was penalized and removed from S.H.I.E.L.D then she was to never come in contact with anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D again, and most certainly not the one she had the torrid love affair with.

S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't a terrible organization, and they were kind enough to allow her some company so she wasn't alone in the plain space counting the seconds as they went by. Simmons offered to sit and wait with Skye, while Fitz went with Ward. For the first five minutes they tried talking, anything to get through the dull minutes, but all conversation led back to the relationship, and created more awkward tension, and fear.

This could very well be the last time she saw Simmons. All because of her mistake.

This was not how Coulson and May envisioned celebrating their mission success. Huddled up in a conference room arguing the stay of their rookie hacker. It'd been a simple mission at first, as they always were, but it proved to be more challenging and S.H.I.E.L.D was called as backup. Now they were in a predicament with no clear way out.

Phil sighed, listening to Victoria Hand as she went on again. He was exhausted, it was a long mission, and it showed. "Hand, isn't this all a little much? Could you..possibly be overreacting?"

He flinched at her tone, but Melinda remained firmly unaffected by his side. Her expression unchanged.

"She slept with her supervising officer, a level seven operative–a dalliance which you allowed to occur. Now, Agent Coulson, do you think I'm being unreasonable?"

They both agreed she was. They had a certain knowledge about a liaison that occurred some years ago, one which Hand was purposely forgetting about. There were rumors, like there were with any S.H.I.E.L.D matter, but over the years they twisted into something different. They were just history, but if you dug deep enough you would find the truth. A truth which proved S.H.I.E.L.D rules had been bent before, or more specifically dodged.

They were running out of options. Hand had made her decision and was prepared to enact whatever consequences regulation ordered. There wasn't much else to do–what could they do? It was two against one. They had numbers, but she was a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D operative with an objective in mind and the rule book backing her up. All they had is a past occurrence which could ultimately make it worse, if that was even possible.

When Coulson approached her, she knew what was coming. "May, you have to call him." There was no question who he was.

"He doesn't know you're alive." It was her only line of defense, not unless she wanted to tell him the real reason for not calling. Which she really did not. There were some things regarding his death and her relationship with her ex-husband he didn't need to know, or want to know.

"He doesn't know his daughter is either."

Melinda opened her mouth to object, but Phil continued as if he had expected her to object.

"If Skye is discharged from S.H.I.E.L.D you could never see her again, and neither could he."

The possibility of losing her for a second time broke down her final defense, and Melinda gave him a small nod.

The force of her head colliding with the metal surface rattled the small rectangular table. Simmons shot up straight, looking more than a little alarmed. She turned to face Skye, whose face was pressed against the slick table. Her lips were pressed together in a small pout; at that moment she looked so much like a child. She drew random designs on the desk with her fingers, she was growing more impatient and bored by the minute. She wished she had her phone, or her laptop. Basically, anything to distract her from thinking about her impending doom.

Finally, she lifted up her head to look over at her friend. "How long has it been?" Skye didn't know what kind of answer she was looking for. She knew if they thought it over long and hard they would side with the rules, but she stood no chance against a hard-and-fast decision.

Jemma pulled out her phone, while Skye's had been confiscated, Simmons was allowed hers. "Ten minutes."

Skye deflated back in her chair, any hope she felt leaving with it. She was hungry and tired. All she wanted was a meal, and a nap, but S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't have that. Not only was she refused food, they took away her ability to sleep. With her fate hanging in the balance, she couldn't rest.

Skye had never been good at not knowing what was going to happen to her. Whenever the orphanage placed her with a family, she was always turned away. She had to learn to be on her own and depend on herself, but now it was like she was back in the orphanage. Somebody else was deciding what happened with her life and she had no say in what was going to happen to her.

Skye looked up at Jemma. She offered a smile, giving her the only kind of comfort she could provide during a time like this. "Skye, Coulson and May will surely work this out. It'll just take some time."

Skye wasn't so sure.

Coulson's words replayed in her head. She knew what she needed to do, she just didn't know if she could. The last time they spoke neither of them were in the right state of mind. Then she left without so much of a notice. She knew she couldn't face him again. If he ever knew why he would never forgive her.

When she found about Skye she knew what she should do, but she knew she couldn't. From what she'd been told, it would've made things worse, but now she didn't have a choice. She didn't want to, but for Skye she had to. She would get an earful about it from Romanoff she was sure, but they were out of options. Coulson said it himself. He was worried about her, and the possibility of her being removed from the team. The thought of never seeing her again was enough to get her to jump into action.

She slipped out her phone and dialed the number. Her fingers pressing the numbers ever so carefully, the hesitation in her movement being clear. Once the call was placed she pressed the handheld device to her ear. Her breathing grew tight; this could only go one of two ways, and both of them involved him being furious.

"Hello?" He sounded the same as he did months before, except this time his voice was clear and not slurred.

"Barton."

"What's up, Mels? Are you finally going to tell me where you disappeared to?" Clint asked.

No clue. Out of all the possible ways to respond, she couldn't say she even anticipated that as one. She could tell there was some anger like expected, mixed with a twinge of disappointment, but overall he didn't seem to know. She frowned, why wouldn't Natasha tell him?

Whatever the reason was–it didn't matter. Only Skye did. "I found her, Miranda."

"What? You did? Is she alright?" She could hear the shock radiating out of the phone. His questions were hurried and she was sure he would've had more if she didn't start answering them, cutting him off.

"Yes. Her name's Skye. She's a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D, but she won't be for much longer."

The hesitation was clear as she took a breath. She waited for the news to sink in, before she asked for a favor, something she swore she would never do.

"I need your help."

A/N: Review below! Is Skye going to be kicked out of S.H.I.E.L.D? Will Clint be able to save the day? What do you think happened between May and Barton?

**This is not a Skyward story.

Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be up in a couple of days.

Word Count: 1775