Night Changes

Melinda groaned as she entered her bedroom and collapsed in Phil’s arms. It was night time and their kids were in their rooms. She was tired. The shopping trip had been an experience. The first shopping trip had always been an experience – Fitz had been afraid of losing them in the crowd; Bobbi had postponed the trip so many times that Melinda had to drag her to the mall; Natasha had just glared and muttered some colourful curses in Russian. But Skye had been entirely different. She wasn’t scared or mourning or furious. Her actions were a result of the belief that she would soon be sent back.

“Long day?” Phil asked as he rubbed circles on her back.
“She is so sure that she is gonna be sent back. Phil. It’s heart-breaking.”
“It will take time, Lin. We’ll get there.”
“You know I am not a patient person, Philip.”
“Yes you are. Especially when it comes to your kids. Talking of the kids, you are coming tomorrow to the school, right? Because I don’t think Skye will want to be alone with me in the car.”

Melinda pursed her lips, fury rising in her chest at the thought of someone hurting Skye. “I can’t come. But Tasha has already offered to go with you two. Under the pretext of showing Skye around.”
“What about Bobbi and Leo?”
“I’ll take them with me to the training institute. Once you are done, you can swing by and pick them up. That way Skye will see the training institute too.”
“You know they can stay at home alone, right? Bobbi is old enough.”
“I know.” Melinda glared at him. He enjoyed teasing her about her protective nature. “Bobbi wants to spar with Carol. She wants to be able to beat me before her sixteenth birthday.” Phil laughed.

Skye was not an idiot. She understood a lot more things than she was given a credit for. She might have had trouble understanding what the theorems in science meant but she knew other things. She knew that she was never supposed to be alone with a man, or with anyone who was drinking. She knew that it was going to hurt when the belt came out. Similarly, she knew that there was no reason for Natasha to join her and Phil in their trip to school. She was not an idiot.

The shopping trip had been an experience. Melinda had been very patient but not a pushover. She had made a list of things she thought Skye needed and they had to get each and every thing on the list. But Melinda had waited patiently for Skye to choose among the options. And every time, Skye tried to refuse, she had made it clear that it was not an option. She had not raised her voice. She had not got frustrated. She just stood there waiting patiently for Skye to make her choice.

They were in the car when the topic of school had come up. Melinda’s voice had been sad when she had confessed that she could not accompany her to school. Natasha had immediately jumped in. “I’ll show you the cool places,” she had told Skye. Skye knew it was just for her benefit. She had noticed how Phil kept his distance from her. In the three meals she had eaten in the house – the fourth one had been at the mall – she had noticed how Phil had always sat away from her. No one in the house got into her personal space. No one entered her room without knocking.

It felt weird to her. She felt heard and seen. She did not trust them yet. They could change. She could mess up. Phil could get tired of being so careful. It could all be a pretence. But that did not change what she was feeling right now. Maybe if she tried really hard, this could be a good place for a while. Maybe. With that in mind, Skye took a deep breath and focused on trying to sleep. And in the morning, she was going to be a normal person and help Phil with the breakfast, instead of letting her fear take over her.

It turned out that deciding on a thing is very much different than being able to actually do it. Her determination left her when she neared the kitchen. Phil was there, wearing an apron, humming to a tune and making something that smelled delicious. She just had to take a few steps and she would be next to him, in a position to help him, and also in a position where he could….

“Good morning, Skye,” Phi’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. She was glad it did. She didn’t want to go down that memory.
“Good morning,” she wished him back.
“Did you sleep well, kiddo?” he asked. Skye nodded shyly. “Good. Set the table for me, please. Melinda and Bobbi should be here soon.” Skye immediately began to do that. “How would you like your eggs, angel eyes?”
Skye blushed at the nickname but managed to answer the question, “Soft boiled please.”
“You got it.”

By the time Skye had set the table, Melinda and Bobbi had joined them. They all settled down to eat the eggs and bacon. Halfway through the breakfast, Natasha and Leo joined them. The conversation revolved around Melinda’s training institute and the school. Skye was looking forward to the school. She was going to be studying arts and computer and Leo had told her that he would help her with maths and science if she wanted him to. She was also looking forward to meeting new people. Hopefully, not all of them would be mean.

Skye took a deep breath to calm herself as she followed Phil and Natasha into the Millennium Middle School. The school was big and was making Skye a little nervous. Phil led them to the school office. He had spent the entire ride telling her about the teachers. Natasha had given her inputs too but mostly she had been quiet.

“Skye, this is Miss Hannah Smith,” Phil introduced her to the woman behind the desk. Skye smiled at her and the woman smiled back.
“Hello Skye. Hello Natasha,” Miss Smith greeted them. “Why don’t you two take a seat while Phil and I finish this.” Skye nodded, and let Natasha take her to the chairs. She watched as the two adults went through the papers which Phil had brought with himself. Natasha continued to tell her about the teachers but Skye mostly tuned her out.

School had hardly been a fun place for Skye. She got moved so often that it became difficult to keep up with what was being taught. It also made making friends difficult. She liked studying. Social science was fine. Computers were always interesting. Languages were difficult but Natasha had told her she would help. Skye was opting for French. And she would get to study Arts. She was looking forward to it. Leo had seemed particularly excited about Skye joining him in the middle school. Skye was hoping that meant she would not have a lot of trouble in the friendship department.

“Are we ready to go?” Phil asked a while later. He led them out of the building and Skye did her best to absorb everything. She didn’t want to look like an idiot when she came here next week. As they walked to the parking, Phil passed Skye her schedule. She noticed that her schedule looked a lot like Leo’s. They would have two different classes – languages as Leo had opted for Spanish and the second Elective (hers was Arts and Leo’s was not Arts).

Their next stop was May's Wuguan. It was a huge place. Skye could see people teaching classes of different age groups in different rooms. Others were using the gym equipments. Natasha led her to Melinda’s office while Phil stopped to chat with one of the trainers – Akela Amador – she had introduced herself. It took all of Skye’s strength to not turn back and stare at her eye patch. She wondered what had happened. “She worked with Mom and Dad in FBI. Until the accident. When Mom opened the training institute, she joined,” Natasha answered the unasked question. Skye nodded, absorbing the information.

Bobbi and Leo were in Melinda’s office. Bobbi’s hairs were wet. She had taken a shower recently. “Who won?” Natasha asked with a smirk. Skye remembered Bobbi announcing that she was going to beat someone called Carol in a spar. The glare Bobbi gave Natasha was enough to answer the question. Skye chuckled along with Natasha and Leo, as the latter started describing the spar in great detail. The story ended by the time Phil and Melinda entered the room. Melinda insisted on giving Skye a tour. Skye got to meet all the employees. Polly Hinton, the receptionist. Carol Danvers, Akela Amador and Hope Van Dyne, the trainers alongside Melinda. It was probably not a big deal but the fact that Melinda wanted Skye to meet everyone meant something to Skye. The fact that none of them had needed an introduction from Skye meant more.

Skye was about to lock her door for the night when she heard a knock. Wondering who it was, she opened the door. It was Bobbi. She gestured Skye to follow her. Skye looked in the hallway. All the doors were shut. All except her own and Bobbi’s. She could see Natasha and Leo in Bobbi’s room. What was going on? She followed Bobbi into her room and sat on the bean bag. The room looked cleaner that it had two nights ago. Natasha was sitting on the bed. They had pulled the trundle bed out and Leo was sitting on it.

“What’s going on?” Skye asked, as Bobbi shut the door and sat next to Natasha.
“Siblings meeting,” Leo answered.
Skye ignored the warmth that settled into her heart at being considered a part of the siblings and asked, “And why are we sneaking? We don’t have a bed time unless it’s a school night. Right?”
“Yes. We don’t,” Natasha answered.
“We are sneaking because this meeting is a secret from Mom,” Bobbi told.
“What we talk today can never be known to her,” Leo added.
“Why?” Skye asked.

The three of them shared a look amongst themselves. Bobbi was the one who spoke. “Dad told us – Leo and me – something. Something about Mom. And it is our responsibility to tell you about that.” Skye nodded in understanding. Worry plagued her mind. Was Melinda an angry drinker? Was she into some weird stuff? Bobbi continued, “Years ago, before any of us came to live here, when Mom was still in FBI, something happened. A bad mission, I think.”

“We don’t know what happened,” Leo told her. “No one does. Not even da.”
“He didn’t ask?” Skye wondered aloud.

“She didn’t tell,” Bobbi answered. “It has been a long time since then. Things are different now. But some days are still difficult for Mom.”
“She tries to hide it from us,” Leo said, “Tries to pretend that everything is fine. And honestly, until Dad had told us all of this, we never realized.”
“But now we know,” Bobbi spoke, determination evident in her tone. “So, we take care of her on those days. Not much. Just be with her.”
“I think Da only told us all of this because he didn’t want us to think Mum’s mood was our fault,” Leo added.
“She probably knows what we are doing but she doesn’t stop us. So…” Natasha shrugged.

Skye considered this. From what Skye had understood about Melinda, she didn’t seem like a bad person. She had brought three kids into her house, her life and adopted them. And it was obvious that she loved them. She had also brought Skye into her house. Skye remembered the duffel bag and confusion on Sister Margaret’s face. Neither Melinda nor Phil seemed like bad people. Something terrible must have happened to make Melinda believe that she was not a good person. “And how do we know it’s that kind of the day?” she asked, determined to help with the situation.

“Dad tells us,” Natasha answered, “It’s Code Silver.”
“He says it to one of us and the rest should find out as soon as they are home. That’s the rule,” Bobbi told.

“What about Phil?” Skye asked. Everyone looked at her. “He was the one who knew her at that time, right? So, he also knows how difficult it was for her. It’s probably difficult for him too.”

“She is right,” Bobbi exclaimed. She looked at the others. “We never…”
“We never thought like that,” Natasha added. “And obviously Dad didn’t tell us because he wants to take care of Mom.”
“Or he thinks that his pain isn’t important. We know he does that,” Bobbi rolled her eyes. Skye thought something similar about herself but decided to keep her mouth shut.
“We need to brainstorm,” Leo declared.

And so, they began.