Chapter 1 Rewrite for this story. Some the same - some edits and some new material.

The five agents followed Billy Koenig into the corridor away from the hanger. They passed by a few agents on the way to the Med Unit. A makeshift room had been made resembling a hospital room where Leopold Fitz was staying. Jemma made her way into the room and stood next to him. the others stayed back. Skye took in all the machines hooked up to her friend and let out a strangled sob. Trip's face held a grim expression and Coulson's eyes flashed with anger. Ward had done this. May's eyes darkened as she looked at the young scientist. He seemed even smaller laying in the white sheets of the hospital bed. May's face drew hard. The thought that Ward, a man they had all trusted, had all believed in, had done this to one of them mad her blood boil. Jemma looked at them.

"The doctors say he will most likely have some sort of brain damage from the oxygen deprivation. The longer he stays in the coma the worse it will most likely be." Jemma's voice broke at the last few words.

Coulson walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "We will make sure he has the best doctors Jemma. We will help him recover."

"I know sir. It's just so ..." Her voice trailed off as small sobs started wracking through her body.

Coulson reached up and embraced the biochemist. Trip came further into the room and placed his hand on her back. Skye, who had tears streaming down her face, turned and ran out of the room.

Melinda found her back on the Bus in her bunk. Skye was curled up on the bed facing the wall. Melinda heard the sobs and saw Skye's body shaking. She walked over and sat on the bed waiting. After a few moments, Skye's sobs diminished as she curled more into herself further away from Melinda.

"Go away." Her voice was thick and shook with emotion.

Melinda sighed. She did not do comforting well. At least not anymore. There was a time she would not have hesitated to pull the younger women into her arms and let her cry it out on her shoulder. But that was pre- Bahrain Melinda and that Melinda no longer existed. She thought perhaps she should just go get Phil. Phil was good with emotions and comforting. but Phil had Simmons to deal with. So, that left her to deal with Skye. Melinda reached over to touch Skye's shoulder. Skye stiffened at the contact.

Melinda sighed but kept the contact. She took a deep breath and spoke. "I would like to say that Fitz will be okay. But I can't because I don't know that he will be. I'd like to say a lot of things Skye. I'd like it if I could tell you that everything here will be okay, but I don't know that it ever will be. I'd like to tell you that you will be okay, but I don't know that either. All I know is that you can't look back. You need to move on and you...all of us really, need to push forward. The alternative is giving up. And if there is one thing that I know you are not, it's that you are not a quitter Skye. You have proven that to me over the last few months."

Melinda waited. She could feel Skye relax a little bit. Skye shifted her body and turned around to face Melinda. Her face was streaked with tears. She sniffled a few times, wiping at her eyes with her sleeves swallowed a few times and then looked at Melinda finally speaking.

"How do we do this then May? How do I move forward? How do we? What can we do? " Skye paused and her voice wavered. "How May? Ward's betrayal. What was done to Mike. All those innocent people caught in the middle." Skye sat up and hugged her legs. "Shield no longer really exists. That badge I got for like one day. Useless."

"Not true Skye. There is a Shield. We are Shield. All of us, Trip, me, you, all the agents here. Plus there are more out there. It is more than just us. Fury made Coulson the Director and we will rebuild. We will get stronger. You will get stronger."

"Yeah how? Nothing is the same May. You don't understand. This place. Here. The bus was my home. I wanted it so bad. To be a part of this. It's gone."

"No Skye. It's just changed. It's not gone. It's still here. You are still here. You are a part of this. A big part. You've proven yourself over and over."

"Sure." Skye did not sound convinced. "Ward wasn't even trying to make me into a real agent. He was just playing a game. Following orders. Working all of us. " Skye spat out. " I hate him so much."

"And I told you to use that. Control it and your other emotions and use them when the time is right. I'll teach you."

Skye looked up surprised. "You will?" Her eyes brightened with hope. A look that Melinda did not know she had missed until now.

Skye looked down at her hands on her knees. She spoke up softly. "I could use a new S.O." She refused to look up not wanting to see May's face in case it was filled with anger or disappointment.

"I told you before that I'm usually up at five. We'll start tomorrow. Tai Chi first, then some cardio work."

Skye looked up at May. May still had her hand on Skye's shoulder. May squeezed it and smirked at her. "Ward was easy on you. Don't expect me to be."

Skye smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Then we should probably get moving and find some bunks on this base. You need to get some sleep." Melinda offered Skye her hand. Skye took it and Melinda pulled her up. Skye grabbed her backpack. They headed off the plane in companionable silence.

They ended up in the bunk area. They moved to the back hallway, where there were four rooms and a bathroom. Trip was standing in the doorway of the first one on the right. Melinda guided Skye to the room next to his.

Trip nodded at them. "Those two across can be for Fitz and Simmons when they are ready for them."

Melinda nodded back. "Good idea."

Trip continued. "Koenig said these rooms are four of the biggest and away from the rest of the base and have that long hall between the other rooms. He said these rooms might be good for us while we settle in. He said that Coulson's office has a bedroom and bathroom attached and that there is another smaller office with a bathroom up there as well. He said that Coulson wants you to have it." He looked at Melinda.

She nodded. "Yes, he texted me actually. Are the beds made down here?"

Trip nodded. "I made them all up. Koenig pointed me in the direction of the supply closet. Standard issue Shield grey but everything is clean. Blankets and pillows too."

"Thanks Trip."

"No problem. There are also Shield sweats and T's and some sneakers and boots, along with personal items you all might need. It's not far, just down the hallway, hang a left to another hallway, go to the end and the supply closet is on your left."

"Okay thanks. I think we all need a good night's sleep for once."

"Could be the understatement of the year May." Skye gave her a small smirk.

"Anyway, Jemma is staying with Fitz, Coulson said he was too tired to fight with her on it tonight, but she will need some real sleep soon." Trip's eyes spoke of his sadness when he mentioned Fitz.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow." Melinda offered.

"You two good then?" Skye gave him a half smile. Melinda nodded. "Goodnight then." Trip nodded to them both as he turned into his room and shut the door.

"Goodnight May." Skye started to walk into her room.

Melinda paused and looked at the young agent. " It's getting late Skye. How about we do 6am tomorrow. Set your alarm. Every minute you're late ten extra pushups."

Skye glanced over to see if she was serious or not. May stared back. "You serious?" Cause May had on one of her poker faces again and Skye could not read her.

"I don't ever say things I don't mean Skye. You should know that by now. And you should remember it." Melinda turned and headed down the hallway.

Skye watched for a minute and then slid the rest of the way into her new room. She flipped on the light switch and looked around her room. She shrugged her backpack off and let it slide onto the floor. The bed was made and covered with a Shield issue black and grey blanket and had two pillows on it. It was a twin bed and next to the bed was a nightstand with a bedside lamp on it. On the other side was a small 4 drawer dresser with a mirror, and a small desk with a chair. Above the desk were two shelves and across from the foot of the bed was a small closet. The space between the closet and bed was only about a foot. The room was small but adequate.

Skye was ready to just drop onto the bed fully dressed but realized she had to use the bathroom. She opened her door and ventured out moving the few steps to the bathroom. She stepped inside. The bath held three stalls and four showers. When she was done, she splashed her face with water and wiped both her face and hands dry with one of the towels hanging up that she assumed Trip had put there and hurried back to her room. She slipped off her boots and shirt and jeans, leaving her in her panties and sports bra and fell into the bed. She grabbed her phone and set the alarm. She shut off the light on the nightstand and snuggled into her pillow. Her last thought before sleep overtook her was how much this place reminded her of St. Agnes.

Skye woke up to her phone alarm blasting Elvis and as she tried to shut it off, she knocked her phone to the floor. She reached down to grab the still shrilling offensive thing and wrapped up in her blankets she leaned a bit too far, managing to fall to the floor herself with a loud thud.

She laid there trapped in her blankets, grabbing around to find her phone that she had managed to push further away when she fell. The door to her room opened and looking up, she saw the silhouette of Melinda May in the doorway. She tried to grab for her phone which was now under her nightstand, only managing to slam her elbow into the side of the nightstand. She yelped. She swung her leg around to sit up to grab her arm which was in pain, instead her left arm caught in the blanket and as she shook it to pull out, she pulled against the cord of the lamp and that crashed down too.

Melinda May stood in the doorway eyeing her new student while the loud rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel" continued to blast from under the nightstand. Melinda could not help the smile that formed on her lips. The she started laughing. A full-on belly laugh burst from her as stared at the disheveled girl laying on the floor. Skye laid there tangled in sheets and blankets with her hair all over the place holding her left elbow while a lamp lay next to her broken in pieces. The music from the phone continued to play.

Skye looked up practically in shock as Melinda May continued to laugh at her. Skye stared daggers at Melinda, but her scowl soon turned into a grin and then she started laughing as well. May walked over and reached down to grab the phone and turned off the blaring music. Her shoulders continued to shake from laughter even as she tossed the phone onto Skye's bed and proceeded out the door.

She turned back, raised her eyebrows at her new student, and smirked. "We'll work on your coordination first."

Skye managed to clean up the mess, get dressed and still make it to the training room at the Playground one minute before 6am. May was already there. May looked Skye up and down. Skye had thrown on a pair of yoga pants and an old sweatshirt with the sleeves cut out. She also had on her boots.

"Take off your boots. We will start with basic warm-ups and stretches." As May took her through the warm-up, Skye wondered exactly what she had gotten herself into. After fifteen minutes or so of stretching muscles that had not been stretched in like, well, forever, they finally were ready.

"Now you follow along with me. This is Tai Chi. We will start with very simple forms and breathing. Do what I do." The Tai Chi lesson was over an hour long. Melinda stopped periodically to correct Skye's stance or movements. After Tai Chi, May grabbed them both some water bottles from the cooler. May sat on the mat and Skye sat next to her.

"Small sips slowly." She pointed to the water. Then she looked at Skye and locked eyes with her. "This will be daily Skye. Every single morning at 5am. I expect you to be here every day, unless you have a reasonable reason to not be."

"What's reasonable May?"

"A late mission. Or an early morning mission. If you are sick. Or hurt. You miss for any other reason I will assume you are quitting. We will always start by warming up with stretching and then Tai Chi. Then we will do other things. Today we will run. Other days strength training, or I will teach you how to fight, with some sparring. I will teach proper technique and proper form."

"Okay."

"You will also take other classes. First Aid. History of Shield. Shield Weapons. Covert Operations. A foreign language. Other Shield classes. Tests will be given. You want to be an agent, Skye, you will learn everything. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Yes."

"Also, you will learn how to shoot a variety of guns. And if you say bang one time, you will most certainly regret it. Clear?"

Skye grimaced. "Crystal. Hey May. Are you trying to talk me out of this?"

Melinda gazed thoughtfully at Skye. "No. But what I want to be sure of is your commitment to this. I will always do my best as your SO. I will expect the same from you."

"You'll get it. I promise this is what I want."

"Copy that." May answered back. "Time to run. You have anything except those." She pointed to Skye's boots. Skye shook her head no.

"Come with me."

They walked to the supply room. Melinda found the Shield issue sneakers. Skye tried on a few pairs till she found ones that fit. May led her thru a few stretches and then took off running with Skye following. They ran through the corridors and hallways, and the garage and hanger making a loop around the entire base. They ran the loop five times. Skye thought she was going to die. They ended the last loop back at the training room and Skye collapsed onto the mats. Melinda pulled her back up.

"Worst thing to do Skye. Here," she reached over and raised Skye's arms over her head. "Now focus on breathing. Get control and breathe in and out. " Skye looked at May who was barely out of breath. She vowed to be the same soon. She was going to do this. All of it. She wanted this. She wanted to belong. This was her chance. She nodded.

"Copy that."

Half hour later Skye found herself sitting with May eating breakfast. May had made tea for them both and Skye had bowl of cornflakes with a banana. May opted for a slice of toast and an apple.

"Chinese."

May looked at her student. "What?"

"Could you teach me how to speak Chinese? For my foreign language?

May looked surprised. But she nodded. "I can."

"Cool."

May spoke up. "You should also learn conversational Spanish. It will be good to know. There's a computer program. We'll start with Spanish, Shield History, and Weapons. In between training and classes, I'll teach you Chinese."

Skye took a bite of cornflakes and nodded. Just then Coulson walked in.

"Morning AC." Skye smiled at the Director.

"Hey Skye. Up early?" He nodded to Melinda.

"You have no idea."

May smirked. "Skye you should shower and change. Meet me at the shooting range in forty-five minutes. I'll give you your class books after weapons training. " May got up and put her dishes in the sink and walked out of the room. Phil sat down at the table with his coffee.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Copy that."

Phil squinted at her. "So, Melinda's your S.O. now?"

"Yeah."

Phil reached over to squeeze her arm. " She's really a softie."

Skye nearly choked on her tea. She looked at him grinning at her.

"Sure she is. And I'm the Black Widow." Phil laughed.

"You know Melinda trained her, right?"

Skye sputtered. "Mmmmaaaay...May trained Natasha Rominov?" Skye was practically squeaking. "Nooo...you're kidding, right? Come on AC tell me you're kidding."

Phil got up and winked at her. "Am I?" He walked out with his cup of coffee. Skye stared after him wide eyed.

Skye wandered through the halls searching for the shooting range. She had asked an agent who had sent her in the wrong direction and now she was close to being late. She rounded a corner and sighed in relief. May was down further in the corridor. She hustled and came up behind her new SO. Which obviously was a stupid thing to do, since she was currently standing with May's arm around her throat and a gun pointed at her head. She surmised this was going to be her first lesson.

May stepped back, letting go of Skye and lowered her weapon. "That was stupid Skye. Never, ever come up behind someone like when they have a weapon in their hand unless you intend to take them out. Got it?"

Skye grinned and saluted. "Aye, aye captain." The grin disappeared quickly as Skye watched the disapproval flicker across her superior's face. "Sorry. I meant copy that."

May shook her head a bit, and then handed the gun to Skye. "You will learn this gun inside and out. You will learn how to load the gun, and how to shoot with it. How to shoot with both hands. First step. Over there on that table are more rounds. First, unload the weapon and then reload it."

Skye moved to the table holding the gun. She looked at it and back to May. May shook her head. "Ward taught you the basics, didn't he?"

Skye nodded. "Shooting. He always handed me the gun."

Melinda May sighed. Ward wasn't training the girl to be an agent. Why would he when that might have backfired on him. Actually, it did anyway, seeing how resourceful Skye was, but now she needed to be trained correctly. She would have to start from the beginning. She held her hand out. Skye obliged, giving her back the weapon.

"Watch and learn. I'm going to do it two times. Then you will do it." She unloaded the weapon slowly the first time and sped up the second. She handed the gun to Skye. "You're turn."

Skye did as she had seen May do.

"Again. Do it over and over till it becomes muscle memory that you do not have to see to do, that you can do in the pitch dark in a few seconds if necessary."

Skye unloaded and reloaded the gun several more times till May nodded her approval. "You will do this little exercise each day before we do target practice." Then she handed Skye ear protectors and Skye set herself up in front of the practice targets. She shot at the target. She missed three completely, got two on the paper but not the target and one in the shoulder. She frowned. She sucked. She looked at May who was standing a few feet away with her arms crossed.

"How many times did Ward teach you to shoot or let you practice?"

"Um maybe four."

"Okay." Melinda took out her own gun and motioned for Skye to move. "First. Watch my body Skye. Pay no attention to the targets." She shot off her rounds slowly. Skye watched.

"Now reload and shoot. I want to watch your stance."

Skye did as she said. As she was shooting May moved to stand directly behind her watching closely. She didn't do much better the second round. She lowered the weapon and sighed.

"Can I touch you to move you and set you Skye? Skye nodded. May reached out and repositioned her until Skye actually did feel more comfortable in her stance. "You need to relax your body and you need to balance yourself better. When you aim, steady your arm first and then focus on the gun and how it feels in your hand. Take a few deep breaths to relax, clear your thoughts, and focus on aiming; fully exhale; then pause your breathing when your lungs are empty of most oxygen; and take the shot. Now relax. Feel the weight of the gun. Squeeze the trigger Skye, don't pull it. By Squeezing I mean a smooth, continuous pressure and not a jerking motion. Practice again."

So, she did. She took her time, tried to focus on her breathing and pulling the trigger in more smooth way. She hit the target nearly each time. Much better than before. She reloaded and practiced till May notice her arms shaking. She didn't hit perfect centers or anything close to what May could do, but she was clearly getting better when she followed May's instructions.

"Okay. That's enough for today. Good. You did good. Every day you will practice loading and unloading first, and then practice shooting. I will correct you as needed. Good muscle memory Skye. That's all this is."

Skye nodded putting the gun and ammo away.

"Follow me."

Skye did as she was told. May wandered into a room that resembled a classroom up by Coulson's office. Shelves lined the walls with hundreds of books, there were three desks with computers and a few chairs around the room. There was also a sofa. May walked to one of the desks and pointed to the four books setting there. Skye picked up the first one which was titled 'History of Shield'.

"I already studied this May, with Ward. I took a..." May stopped her with a wave of her hand.

"This will be more detailed. I trust nothing you did with Ward. You are starting over." She handed Skye four notebooks as well. "This computer has the Shield Academy classes downloaded. You will take 'History of Shield', 'Tactics and Operations', 'Criminal Justice', and 'Spanish' to start. After The notebooks contain outlines and lesson plans with expectations in each for all the classes. I will administer the tests when due, which most are keyed in on the computer with my passcode. The classes are planned out to take 10 weeks and when you finish these you will take four more. Any questions?" Skye shook her head.

"Good." May picked up a DVD. She handed that to Skye as well. "This program will teach you Chinese basics. It has daily lessons. You will do that as well. I will fill in gaps and more detail when we have time. This DVD goes over some Chinese history and culture as well. " She looked at Skye expectantly.

"Roger that."

May nodded. She had just a hint of a smile on her lips. "Okay then. Start now. Set a schedule up for yourself so you are studying and learning for 5 hours per day. Don't forget to break for lunch. Come see me in my office at four today to check in."

"Copy that."

With that May turned and left the room. Skye sighed. She walked to the desk dropping the notebooks onto it. She sat in the chair and turned on the computer pulling up the correct course. She opened the 'History of Shield' notebook and started reading the outline. She sighed, reached for the huge book and opened it.

May passed Coulson on the way back to her office. He stopped her. "How's training with Skye going?"

She looked at him. He had a smile on his face. "Well enough for the first day. She's doing everything I tell her to."

"Of course she is Melinda. She thinks the world of you. She wants to be just like you."

Melinda shook her head. "That is not a good idea. I'm too damaged. But I will make sure she can protect herself." Melinda moved to go past him.

"You are far too hard on yourself Mel."

She stared at him with a blank expression. "She's strong Phil. I'll make sure she's stronger." She turned and continued down the hallway to her office. He watched her go in then turned down the corridor she had come from. He looked in the window of the door he knew Skye was in. She was bent over the desk with her head in a large book and diligently taking notes. He smiled at her serious expression and hoped that she would be as good for Melinda as he knew Melinda would be for her. He left and he continued on his way to visit with Fitz and Simmons.

A little while later, after Coulson had left, Jemma was sitting by the bedside watching Fitz. Melinda made her way in carrying a tray of food. She set it on the bedside table and smiled at Jemma. "You need to eat."

Jemma shook her head. "I'm not hungry just now. But thank you."

Melinda touched Jemma's shoulder. "I know. But you need to eat and sleep Jemma. Getting sick, you yourself will be of no help to him. You know that. Eat now. Later, you will need to sleep. "One of us will always stay in the room when you sleep Jemma."

Jemma looked at May. She was tired. She knew May was right. If she didn't take care of herself, she would be of no use to Fitz. She nodded. 'I'll try to eat some of it. I'll sleep later. I promise."

Melinda nodded. She patted her shoulder. "Let me know if there is any change in him, or if I can do anything else for you."

Jemma nodded. "Thank you." She watched May leave with a bit of a smile on her face. She was so glad they were all here together.

Skye stretched as she got up. It was almost one and she was starving. She made her way to the kitchen. No one else was there. She poked her head into the fridge. She found nothing. She opened the freezer and saw no quick microwavable stuff. She closed that and wandered over to the cabinets. She was contemplating making a can of soup when she heard someone enter the room. She turned to find her S.O. staring at her. Skye sighed and went back to her search for something edible. She was not good in the kitchen but there was a great possibility that Melinda May was even worse than her. She was hoping it would have been Coulson standing there so she could talk him into making her something.

"Nothing huh?"

Skye looked over. She shook her head. 'I was hoping you were AC."

"Well he made Jemma and himself lunch." She looked annoyed.

"Not you? Why not?"

"Got here too late. He was already done."

Skye held up a can of tomato soup. "Can you make grilled cheese?"

"Can you?"

Skye smirked. "Only if you like them burnt."

"Okay. Open the soup. I'll give grilled cheese a go." Melinda looked like she was charging into battle. Skye smiled sadly. They were pathetic.

"I'm going to try to be around when AC makes dinner tonight." Skye said. Melinda shook her head in agreement.

Ten minutes later they both sat at the table eating their lunch. Melinda was proud she only had to scrape a little black off her sandwich and Skye was glad Melinda gave her the best one. Hey, the soup was hot too. Melinda had grabbed some grapes as well and shared them with Skye. They sat mostly in silence with Skye only answering a few questions Melinda asked about her studies. Melinda finished first, putting her dishes in the sink, saying something about inventory of supplies, and she left the kitchen.

After Skye finished, she did both her and Melinda's dishes then went back to the room to study and read more. She had finished her Shield history work as well as Criminal Justice. Now she was onto the tactical and operations reading and work. She wanted to do well. She wanted to prove to Melinda she was serious. She wanted to be a proper agent. She wanted to be like Melinda May.

A little before four in the afternoon, Skye made her way to her S.O.'s office. She knocked on the door and waited to be invited in.

"Come in Skye."

Skye entered the room. She waited while Melinda finished with a paper she was reading.

"How is your studying going?"

"Good. I just need to finish one assignment for the day from Criminal Justice and do the first Chinese lesson."

"Good. You can do some of it while you sit with Fitz. Jemma needs to get some sleep and I promised her one of us would stay with him. I will bring you dinner and then later on relieve you. You okay with that?"

"Copy that." Skye paused for a beat before continuing. "Do you think he will be okay? That he will wake up? Cause he really needs to wake up. It's so sad to see him just lying there."

Melinda nodded. "He'll wake up. I have to believe that. Just now though we all need to take care of Simmons."

Skye nodded. She felt so helpless. And so mad. "I hate him."

Melinda looked at her curiously.

"Ward. For what he did to Fitz. What he tried to do to them both. What he did to us. I hate him May."

Melinda took in her student's demeanor. Skye's emotions flickered across her face. Melinda needed to remember that she too had been thru hell and back. Maybe she needed to back off training her so hard.

"Skye. Maybe we can take some time off tomorrow. Just do Tai chi and then you could rest and you could..."

"Could what May? Sit around and think about what happened. Sulk? Cause that would probably drive me nuts. No, I want this. I want you to push me, be hard on me. Give me so much to do and make me so tired that I have no time to think about ways to kill Ward. Or to make hydra pay. Or think about what we lost. Please."

Melinda nodded. "Copy that." Her lips turned upward into one of her almost smiles. Skye smiled back.

"I'll grab my work and head to the med wing."

"Good. I will bring whatever Coulson makes for dinner around six." Skye nodded to her and slipped out of the room. She stopped for her book and DVD. Along her way, she stopped off at her room and also grabbed her laptop. She made her way to the med wing. Stopping outside Fitz's room she looked in. Jemma was sitting in the chair talking to Fitz. Skye cleared her throat and entered the room.

"Here for official duty." She smirked at Jemma.

Jemma looked up and smiled. "Really Skye, you don't have to. I can just nap here for a bit."

"Jemma Simmons. You need to sleep. You need to let us help you."

"Oh Skye. I don' t know if I can sleep."

"Well try. Hey, take something if you need to. Come on Jem. You need to sleep. Being dead on your feet will not help him. Especially when he wakes up." Skye could see Jemma was still hesitant. "Jemma. I promise I'll stay here. One of us will stay here. If he wakes up - we'll get you right away. Trust me."

"Oh, I do Skye. I truly do."

"Then go. Please."

Jemma looked at Fitz and back to Skye. She walked over to the door. "Please get me if anything changes. Anything at all." Skye nodded. Jemma left. Skye walked over to the chair by the bed and sat down. She placed her computer bag on the floor and opened her book and started reading. She read out loud.

Melinda found her slouching in the chair holding Fitz's hand and talking to him. She pushed the door open with her foot, carrying a tray of heaping food. The smell made its way to Skye and she sat up with wide eyes staring at Melinda. Melinda set the tray on the table.

"Ooooo. What is it? It smells so good." Skye's excitement level was high.

Melinda smiled. "I kind of talked Phil into making us a nice meal. I used a lot of guilt about missing lunch and how hard you've been working. It worked. He made chicken marsala, scalloped red potatoes, vegetable bake, salad., oh, and cheese biscuits." As she talked, Skye found her mouth was watering. And as if to confirm her need for food, her stomach growled loudly. She giggled.

Melinda sat on the edge of Fitz's bed and set the tray on the rolling table between her and Skye. She and Skye dug in. Skye took a bite of the chicken and sighed in contentment.

"Oh this is amazing." She stabbed a potato and shoved that in her mouth next. They both stayed quiet, just relishing in the pleasure of eating edible tasty food for once.

After they finished, Melinda rolled the table to the side. "Did you get all your work done?"

Skye nodded. "Mostly. Everything except finishing the Chinese lesson and watching the video."

Melinda looked at her student seeing the sleepiness and fatigue. "You should go relax for a while and then get to bed. Save your lesson for tomorrow since you should have a little more time. You can catch up on two lessons another day when you have less work in another class. I'll stay here for a while. Coulson said he'd come by later. "

Skye was going to argue that she could stay longer and could finish all her work, but a huge yawn betrayed her. "Um, yeah, I guess. I think I'll head to my bunk, maybe play around on my computer for a little before bed." Melinda nodded at her. "So yeah, um. goodnight. Five a.m. tomorrow, right? "

"Yes Skye. So, make sure you get enough sleep. Good night. Take the tray with dishes along on your way and drop them in the kitchen please." Melinda sat in the chair Skye vacated and her attention was now on Fitz.

Skye gathered the tray and backed out the room pushing open the door. She glanced back one last time to see her S.O. holding Fitz's hand and talking softly to him. She smiled. Maybe AC was right. Maybe her S.O. was a softie underneath all that no nonsense gruff.

Five o'clock in the morning came much too soon. Skye shut off her alarm at 4:40 careful not to knock it on the floor this time. She threw on a pair of yoga pants and a loose-fitting T-shirt, her socks and new Shield sneakers. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and headed to the gym. She walked in and made her way to the mats where Melinda May was waiting for her. They greeted each other and Skye took her place and started warming up next to Melinda. They started Tai Chi after warm-ups. Skye followed Melinda's moves as best she could, with Melinda correcting her stance or moves when necessary. After Tai Chi, they did some stretching and then once again ran through the base doing five laps.

Afterward, Skye once again was out of breath and Melinda was not. After they cooled down and stretched out, they made their way to the kitchen and ate breakfast. Then Skye grabbed a shower and went to work on her studies, while Melinda said she had plenty of work to do. Later they ate lunch together as well, and then they did target practice. Once again in the late afternoon, Skye went to relieve Jemma to stay with Fitz until May brought her dinner. They ate together and then May dismissed her for the night. Skye did a little work on her computer checking a few things, and then she watched a show. She fell asleep by 10 pm.

Melinda and Skye followed this routine for the next few days. For Skye it was therapeutic. having a routine, having her mind and body occupied nearly every waking moment. For May, training Skye made her open up a little more to her student. Which her student seemed to love. Sometimes during training May would allow Skye to see a glimpse of her past, to see the woman she was before Bahrain. Usually it was to teach a lesson or reinforce a concept. Once in a while, it was just May sharing with her and those times were special to Skye. For Skye, it meant that May saw her as more than a duty – more than a job. More than a screwup who needed to be fixed.

By the ninth day, Skye had learned how May and Coulson had met and that yes May had indeed been one of Black Widow's instructors. Learning how May and Coulson met at the academy was a highlight for Skye. Melinda had grinned at Skye's reaction when she had told her that she had met him by literally running him over trying to get away from the upper-class cadets at the academy who were chasing her, because she had set off a stink bomb in their showers. Skye had laughed and laughed as she had explained that one. Learning about how May had been tricked into sparing with Natasha Romanov and subsequently then becoming one of her teachers at Shield even while on desk duty. That was all Phil's fault May said although she had not elaborated on just what Coulson had done. Skye stuck all those questions in the back of her mind to try to dig out of May later. For now, there was no going back for any of them. They needed to forge ahead. To leave the past behind. To move forward and rebuild, not just shield, but themselves. To help rebuild relationships and trust. They needed to become stronger together.

The routines they all established helped everyone move forward. It gave Melinda and Skye purpose. It gave them all stability and a sense of hope. It did the same for Jemma. She fell into a routine as well. Melinda and Skye making sure she ate and slept. They not only kept Fitz company but Jemma as well. Skye would drag the board games along and Melinda and Jemma would play them with her. Melinda taught both girls how to play poker. Coulson would check on everyone when he could, but he was busy trying to find agents to recruit along with setting up the base. For nine days everyone benefitted from the routines they set up.

It was also on that ninth day their world once again changed. Fitz woke up from his coma. A new chapter in all their lives was about to begin.