Final chapter here. Have some May x Skye bonding. I love their relationship in canon, and I reckon season 2 needs a lot more of it.

As usual, I don't own Marvel of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Part 10

Skye came around the corner at that moment, and swung through the doors into the room.

"Skye!" Jemma cried, turning away from May quickly and rolling her eyes. "Could you be any louder?"

Skye ignored her, and was looking at May. May observed her warily. She knew what Skye had seen. She needed to make sure she was okay.

"Jemma" May said quietly. "Could you give us a few moments?"

"As long as you don't try and escape again" she said pointedly at May.

"I'll try to resist."

Simmons looked at them both and smiled slightly, before nodding and leaving without another word.

Skye moved slowly across the room and sat on a bench in front of May. She trailed her eyes anxiously across May's face, taking in the bruising across her cheekbone and jawline, before reaching out for her hand. She stopped at the last minute however, and pulled her own back again, as though nervous about what May would do.

May watched her with sad eyes and swallowed. Was Skye afraid of her? She wouldn't blame her if she was, after what had happened…

"Fitz said you wanted to see me" Skye said.

May nodded.

"I…I wanted to see if you were okay?" she sighed, looking down at her hands. "After what you saw…I…you shouldn't have had to see that."

"I'm fine, it's yourself you should be worried about!"

"These are superficial." She looked back up at the girl. "Skye, what I did, what you saw, that…that can stay with a person for a long time…I wish you hadn't seen that…"

"May" Skye said firmly, fixing her with a determined look. "Ward was HYDRA. He was a liar, a traitor, and he betrayed us all. He was going to kill you, and he was going to kill me. What you did was save both of our lives."

"Skye, I –"

"May, you saved my life, and for that, I will never be able to thank you enough."

Skye stood up then, reached out, and pulled May into a soft hug. Surprised at the sudden gesture, May could feel the tears building up in her eyes. She didn't cry. She wouldn't. She was the person who stayed strong. The Cavalry. The Ice Queen. She hated that reputation. But it was part of her life.

She knew what she'd done to Ward had been to protect the team, Skye, herself. She shouldn't feel so guilty. She knew the morphine she'd been injected with was probably messing with her emotions aswell, which didn't help.

This was not the reaction she had expected from the girl. She'd been prepared for anger, devastation, or even fear. Not acceptance. And certainly not forgiveness. Not this soon.

Selecting the members of this team had been a task she'd taken great care over, but she had never foreseen Skye turning up and joining them too. Adding an experienced hacker to the team had messed up the dynamic she had tried to create to protect Coulson. And so to begin with, she had been extremely apprehensive about it. But as the weeks and months went by, and Skye began to open up, to see S.H.I.E.L.D as the good guys, to see the BUS as a home, May couldn't help but find herself growing attached to the young girl. She was young, yes, often made mistakes, and she'd been on the other side to begin with, but she was smart, she brought the best out in people, and she was willing to learn. To get better. To become a part of something bigger. May knew she could be counted on.

But more than that, Skye had found a family. Fitzsimmons were like siblings to her, and May knew that Skye saw Coulson and herself as some kind of parent figures – she'd overheard her referring to them as "mum and dad" on multiple occasions.

And May, she had always wanted a daughter. The team had become like her family too. She wanted to protect them, to keep them safe, no matter the cost to herself.

They had found each other in the strangest of ways, and they had been through a hell of a lot together, but this team was stronger now. HYDRA had taken a large portion of S.H.I.E.L.D down, but they would fight it. They would grow stronger, and safer, and continue to fight for good. And they would always be there for one another.

May smiled, and pulled Skye into a tighter hug.

###

Whether Phil had heard her begging Simmons to protect him when she was delirious on morphine or not, May didn't know. He never brought anything about it up, so she assumed he hadn't.

She assumed wrong. He had heard every word. At least now, he thought to himself, he knew that they felt the same way about each other.

He couldn't live without her either.

Thank you so much to everybody for favouriting, following and reviewing over the past few weeks. I never expected it to have so many views, nor 10 chapters either, but it kept growing. I hope this conclusion is one everybody enjoys! Thanks!