When she heard footsteps in the hallway, Skye looked up from her laptop to see Mack standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She felt a little bad that she hadn’t really gone out of her way to be friendlier with him since the events on the ship; he had, after all, cut off Coulson’s hand. Probably saving his life (Skye has some questions and ideas about THAT), true, but still…
“Hey Mack” she said with a smile, closing her laptop and pushing away from the table a little bit. “How’s cataloging the weird shit going?” Mack stepped into the kitchen, headed towards the refrigerator. He pulled out a beer, and after a second, held it out towards her, head tilted to the side a little bit. “Sure,” Skye replied to his unspoken question, and took the bottle he was offering, as he reached in and grabbed another.
“It’s going slow” Mack answered her earlier question. “There is a lot more of it than I had thought there would be, for one thing.” He pulled a chair around and sat down straddling it, leaning on the back and facing Skye. He looked down at his bottle of beer for a second before looking back up at her. “I don’t think I ever wanted to know that any of this shit was real. I mean, New York was just wrong, ya know?” he said, taking a long drink. Skye looked at him quietly for a minute, trying to decide what he was saying. The silence dragged out as Skye didn’t reply, and Mack looked back down at his bottle.
“I agree that alien invasions and left behind technology are probably not things that most people want to think about, Mack” Skye finally replied. “But, that is kind of what SHEILD is about, or it is supposed to be, right? I mean, you knew that when you joined up.” Skye looked at him, waiting for some sign or response from Mack.
Mack sighed, setting his beer aside. “Look Skye, I need to say something, ok? Just let me get it all out before you say anything?” He waited for her to nod her head. “So, I know that you and I don’t have a good track record, and I know that there is something with you and the Director, and I know that you are upset with me about what happened on the ship… And to be honest, I am a little freaked out still by the idea of inhumans. But I want us to be able to work together without it being awkward and tense, because I trust the work that you do, and the way that you really care about what happens to all of us. I don’t know if you feel like you can trust me, or if you even want to, but I feel like we need to clear the air and try and work together the way that you are able to work with everyone else.” Mack reached for his beer and looked down at the table.
Skye is pretty sure that is the most she has ever heard Mack say at one time. There is one point to what he said sticking in her mind, however. “What do you mean, you know something about the Director and me?”
Mack looks back at her, surprised. “Out of everything I said, that’s what you ask me about? Skye, everyone knows that there is something between the two of you. It’s not some big secret.” Skye sat quietly for a few moments.
“I don’t think that what is going on is quite what you guys think, but that doesn’t matter. I don’t know what to tell you about the inhumans. I’m sorry I freak you out? I’m not really that sorry, if you want to know the truth. I am who I am, and if anyone has a right to be freaked out by it, it would be me. Or maybe Coulson. And if I am dealing with it, then I think that you, and everyone else should be able to deal with it too.” Skye took a long drink, and looked Mack in the eye.
“I think that what is going on, whatever it is, with you and Director Coulson does matter, Skye. It obviously matters to you, and to him, and that means it has an effect on the rest of the team, and the organization. Especially since no one really knows what happened between you two to make him go into the city the way he did. There are a lot of theories. The serum, the idea that the two of you have some sort of weird connection because of that…”
“You guys all sit around talking about this stuff? Really? Coulson would flip if he knew that, you know that right?” Skye was wide-eyed with disbelief. “And really, if there is that kind of time on people’s hands, maybe we need to step up the work load around here.”
“Not everyone. Simmons and May and Fitz won’t talk about you two at all. Like ever. Hunter talks about everyone, you know that. Bobbi likes to theorize and profile and stuff like that. Mostly it’s like, the techs and stuff. I know it’s wrong, but we just don’t know anything, and so we try and fill in the blanks.” He had the decency to look really ashamed, she noticed. He finished off his beer, and looked at Skye, shaking his empty bottle at her. Skye nodded, and Mack stood up and crossed back over to the fridge, grabbing a couple more beers and pulling some salsa out, putting them down on the table, turning to the cabinet and grabbing some tortilla chips. He swung his leg back over the chair and settled back in, popping both the beers open and ripping open the bag of chips.
“So Mack,” Skye began, taking a deep drink of her fresh beer, “Did it ever occur to you that maybe there are some things that are none of your business? If it doesn’t affect you, maybe you don’t need to worry about it?” Skye looked over Mack’s shoulder (how can he sit with his back to the door like that, she wonders), not moving her head, but just glancing, to see Coulson standing silently in the doorway watching them. “Where I spend my nights is really not changing how you do your job is it?” She nearly loses her cool look and tone when Coulson’s face turns bright red and his jaw drops open. She almost feels bad when she sees that not only is Coulson embarrassed, but from the blush showing on his ears, so is Mack. Almost. Skye smirks, knowing both that she is mimicking one of Coulson’s looks that the entire team is familiar with, discomfiting Mack, but that Coulson finds the smirk sexy (kind of like she does).
“You are right, Skye. I should maybe not worry so much about what you do in your free time, or who you do it with.” Mack looks like he wants to melt into the floor. “I probably wouldn’t like it if I knew everyone was paying more attention to my private life than my work.” Skye nods, reaching to pull a few chips from the bag and dropping them on the table in front of her.
“You are right about at least one thing, Mack” Skye says, as she reaches for the jar of salsa. “It is time for you and I to let go of this discomfort between us. We will be working together for a long time, I hope, and so we need to clear the air.” She glances through her lashes at Coulson, who has made himself comfortable against the door frame. “I am deeply grateful to you for saving the life of the man I love. Coulson is amazingly strong and resilient, and he can come back from anything, so the loss of a hand is a minor thing beside the idea of him dying. Again. Thank you for that. And if it settles your mind in some way, my relationship with the director hasn’t quite progressed as far as you seem to think. He is a perfect gentleman who is giving me as much time to be ready for that step as I need, much to his own frustration, I am sure.” Skye smirks again as she dips another chip and brings it to her lips. As she opens her mouth to eat the chip she tilts her head up looking right over Mack. “Right Phil?” she asks, loving the way both men choke as she slides her treat into her mouth.
Run away with me.
Lost souls for every
Running wild and running free
Two kids, you and me
And I say
Hey, hey hey hey
Leaving like we're renegades
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Leaving like we're renegades
Renegades, renegades
Long live the pioneers
Rebels and mutineers
Go forth and have no fear
Come close the ending near
And I say
Hey, hey hey hey
Leaving like we're renegades
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Leaving like we're renegades
Renegades, renegades
All hail the underdogs
All hail the new kids
All hail the outlaws
Spielberg’s and Kubrick’s
It's our time to make a move
It's our time to make amends
It's our time to break the rules
Let's begin...
And I say
Hey, hey hey hey
Leaving like we're renegades
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Leaving like we're renegades
Renegades, renegades