They might be your wounds, but (They're my sutures)
May was asleep in the chair when Lucy woke, all flailing limbs and gasping breaths and whatisthisonmyfacewhereamiwherearemyparentsi'mscared-
Her training as an agent allowed her to wake almost instantly, going from sleep to total awareness with almost nothing in between, and she carefully and efficiently held the terrified girl's arms down just above the wrists as she calmed, careful not to touch her Soulmarks. Those were sacred.
The girl looked at her, damp blue eyes clouded with pain and confusion, and her fear made May's heart clench painfully.
"Lucy?" she asked calmly. Lucy tried again to remove the oxygen mask, but May wouldn't let her. "Just nod or shake your head, okay?"
She nodded.
"Do you remember what happened?"
She started to shake her head, paused... Then nodded, her face crumpling.
"Mum... Dad..." she rasped, tears rolling down her pale cheeks.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I really am." she couldn't disguise the guilt in her voice. They should have stopped this! There was a reason why they were called S.H.I.E.L.D, after all. Lucy was exactly the sort of person they were meant to protect.
"Who're you?" Her voice was slurred by the mask and the pain meds, but just about comprehensible.
"My name is Agent May," May told her, "I'm with S.H.I.E.L.D. We deal with alien threats, mostly, like the weapons used in the attack."
"We're going after the people who killed your parents, Lucy. We'll find them." Coulson chimed in from the doorway. "I'm Agent Coulson, by the way."
Lucy finally managed to remove the mask and replied, "Hi. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but..."
Coulson chuckled softly. "Yeah. I get it."
"How bad is it?" she asked, gesturing down at herself.
"Doctor Simmons says you're stable now, but you were pretty banged up. Your side has some nasty burns and you were shot in the shoulder. You lost a lot of blood."
She grimaced. "Yeah, I think I remember that. The guy who did it was aiming for my head, but I managed to kick the gun. Not enough to stop it, but it redirected the bullet at least."
May nodded approvingly. "Quick reflexes. That's good."
She shrugged, then winced as the movement pained her. "I was just trying to stay alive."
"It's the same with most fights." The specialist told her. Lucy ran her hand through her short hair, distracted.
"What happens now?"
"We're not far from your house, so we're going to pick up some clothes and your dog. He's cute- what's his name?" Coulson replied.
"Pippin," she replied with a tiny smile, which vanished as she asked her next question. "Who else made it?"
There was silence for a moment as the two agents exchanged loaded looks. Finally, May answered.
"A woman named Jane Peters."
Lucy took that in, nodding. "She's my Taekwondo instructor. Is she okay?"
"Concussed, but she'll be fine."
"Nobody else?" Her voice was small.
May shook her head. Lucy looked away, fighting the urge to cry again.
"There were a lot of good people there. I've known most of them for years."
She looked them both in the eye, determined. "How can I help stop them? Do you need me to be a witness, or something?"
"You don't have to do anything." Coulson said, trying to reassure her.
"I do. I can't go back to a normal life after this. Not without knowing that this won't happen to anyone else. I couldn't live with myself!"
"So you don't want revenge?" May asked, quietly intrigued by this teenager and her strength of conviction.
"Why would I? I mean- me being angry is fine, and I am, but what's the point of that anger if I don't use it to do something good?" She shook her head. "No. When I started learning Taekwondo I took an oath to only use my knowledge of the Art in defence of myself or the weak. I'm not about to hurt people unnecessarily now, even murderers like them."
"So what do you want to do?"
She sighed, immense sadness in her face, but there was a fire in her eyes.
"I couldn't protect my parents, the two people I love most in the world. I want to learn to protect people. I want to learn to fight- properly, not just patterns and light contact sparring. I want to know that the next time someone I care about is in danger, I can stop them getting hurt."
"I'll teach you." May found herself saying. Phil looked at her in shock.
"Really?" She hadn't meant to say it, but when Lucy's face lit up with hope and the first real smile she'd seen from her emerged, May knew she couldn't take it back.
"I don't say things I don't mean. Really."
"Thank you."