“You're quiet,” Melinda May observed, shooting a concerned look at the young hacker sitting across the table from her. Hill had found them a safe house in California-probably belonging to Tony Stark-and they were now sitting in the kitchen, picking at their breakfast. “What's wrong?”
“You'd think it was stupid,” Skye said, pushing the eggs around her plate with her fork. She looked so sad, as though she'd lost her best friend. And then, with shocking clarity, May realized that she had. Ward and Skye had been so close. He'd been her SO. She'd told him everything. And he'd betrayed her. “Anyway, you probably don't want to hear about it so...”
May reached across the table and covered Skye's hand with her own. “Let me be the judge of that.”
“It's just, with all this stuff going on. With Hydra. With being on the run. With Ward. Especially with Ward,” Skye laughed mirthlessly. “You might not want to hear this, but he basically told me he loved me. He made me think he cared. That somebody could actually care. And then-I know I'm supposed to be a bad ass vigilante but right now all I want is run to my mom. But then I remember that I don't even know who my mom is because that was in a file that was redacted by an agency that doesn't exist anymore. And the little bit of comfort I got from knowing that they were there is gone and now I don't know who I can run to and I know it's childish and stupid but all I want is a hug.” Skye covered her face with her hands and sobbed, all the hurt and anger from the past few weeks pouring from her.
“Stand up,” May ordered. Skye hung her head, fully expecting May to yell at her for being so weak. Instead, she felt the other woman wrap her arms around her. “There are a few things I want to clear up from that little speech of yours. One, you have people who care about you. I care. Coulson cares. Fitzsimmons cares. Two, if you need comfort, you can run to anyone on this team. We are here for you. We are your family. We love you.” She pulled back a bit. “Look at me. Do you understand?”
Skye nodded.
“Good. Now go wipe off your face and get a drink of water. Then we're going to do some Tai Chi.” With that, May released her and gave her a reassuring smile before Skye left to do what she was told.