Skye's Day Out
“WOOOOOH! YEAH!” Skye yelled into the wind
“Sit down or I’m turning this car around.” Scott yelled over his shoulder “You act like you’ve never ridden in a convertible before.”
“Nope! Not like this! They don’t let us drive this fast!”
“I’m barely doing 50! Someone sit her back down!”
Daisy and Fitz both reached up and yanked the girl between them back down into the back seat and put her seatbelt back on.
“Skye” Scott yelled “I just got this car. I wish to emphasize to you it’s not a company car, it’s my personal property. If you get hurt, it’s gonna be hell on my insurance premiums. So calm down and stay seated, please.”
The group had figured that the best thing for Skye was to get her out into some fresh air, not cooping her up back in the museum. Fortunately, Scott had just taken delivery of a new car that was big enough for them to all fit in (barely) and, after some jockeying and squeezing, the five were out and about. They were at that moment cruising down the Belt Parkway around the south end of Brooklyn.
“One thing” Skye asked, “why is the car so quiet? I can’t hear the engine. And I haven’t seen you shift gears.”
“It’s a bit of a kit bash.” Scott answered “The body is a Ford Mustang, the poster child of the muscle car, but I took out the drive train hardware and replaced it with the gear from some wrecked Tesla roadsters. It’s completely electricly driven, it doesn’t have an engine or a transmission.”
“How environmentally sensible of you.” Jemma said matter-of-factly.
“Nope, I did it so I could do this” He said, flooring it “and no one would hear me coming. Great for sneaking up on folks.”
“OOHH! OOHH! Coney Island!” Skye started yelling as they passed an exit sign “Can we go, please please please! I’ve always wanted to go but I’ve never been. My Jemma doesn’t like rollercoasters and won’t let me go on them.”
“OK, you are so off sugar and caffeine.” Daisy said to her twin.
“Well this is supposed to be for her. Maybe this will make her feel better.” Jemma said from the passenger seat.
“All right…” Scott said, begrudidly, turning the car towards the exit ramp.
“Coney Island! Coney Island! Coney Island!” Skye sang over and over again as they crossed a bridge over the creek.
“WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THIS PLACE!?!” Skye screamed.
She was standing on the sidewalk expecting an entrance to an amusement park. Instead, she was rattling the gates of a stadium while Scott tried to pull her away from making any more of a scene and the others just stood back by the car pretending not to know her.
“It’s a minor league baseball stadium, MCU Park” Scott explained “Nice place to watch a ball game.”
“Where’s Steeplechase Park?” She asked.
“Gone. It’s been gone for years.” He said, straining to pull the girl back before security came.
“WHY?” She screamed. “I’ve always wanted to come here, but it’s just houses and shit now!”
Scott finally pulled her off the fence and spun her around.
“Skye… Look at me. Please do me a huge favor and STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS! It will make your stay here a whole lot easier for all of us.”
“Right. I’m Sorry. I don’t know what got into me.”
“Yes, lots of the old rides and parks are gone. The place kinda sucked in the 70s and 80s. That doesn’t mean they’re all gone. I only parked here because I found a spot here. Everything you want is just a few blocks away. The Cyclone is still here. The Wonder Wheel is still here. Bumper cars, go-karts, a log flume.” The sound of people screaming echoed from behind the ballpark “and the Thunderbolt 2.0.”
He pulled his wallet out and gave her some money “$40. This should be plenty, but if you need more let me know.”
“YES! Thank you!” Skye shouted as she took the money, gave Scott a hug and started running down the block… Away from the rides.
“Oh for fuck’s sake THE OTHER WAY!” Scott yelled after her.
“Does anyone suddenly get the feeling we’re babysitting a two year old?” Jemma asked Fitz and Daisy as they started to follow.
A couple of hours later Skye was sitting on the boardwalk, merrily eating her first real hot dog and looking out at the ocean. The others were standing behind her on the other side of the walkway.
“This is big Scott” Fitz said “You got Coulson to leave the base. He’s barely left his office since he got back.”
“Back?” Scott asked “Back from where?”
“We’ll explain later” Daisy said.
“She seems to be feeling better” Jemma observed.
“Today is so going on my monthly expense report.” Scott complained looking in his near empty wallet “I need to find an ATM. How much do you guys have on you?”
“Will she even want to go back after all this?” Fitz asked. “She seems so happy.”
“Maveth.” Daisy said in reply, reminding the Scotsman how hard he’d pushed himself to get Jemma back when she was sent to an alien planet for six months.
“Touché…” Fitz muttered
Daisy looked back on her look-alike “From what she told me before while out on the fire escape, it sounds like the New York in her world is almost like the Rodger’s personal fiefdom. Nothing is done without his say so. Sounds to me like he turned the whole city into his personal safety blanket from when he was young. No change, not a single thing out of place. Maybe that’s part of all this. The man wants everything in his comfort zone from before the War. From before he changed.”
“Terrifying” Jemma said.
The other’s nodded in agreement.
“If she’s this happy here, imagine if we took her to some place like Disney World?” Daisy said.
“I’d rather not think about that right now.” Scott said, now looking through Google Maps on his phone. “God, how can this neighborhood not have any banks?”
“Why are you so worried about having money?” Daisy asked.
“I was supposed to go grocery shopping today. I don’t have any food left for one person, let alone five. And I gave Skye the last of my pocket change. So unless you guys don’t mind paying for dinner without me, I need to figure something out.”