Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Skye was cold, wet, and famished, she had lost her van, with all of her thing minus her backpack with her laptop, charger to both her phone and laptop, her wallet which was empty, a bottle of water and two granola bars, and a few other small things, in it, and of course, her memory cards that, was almost always on her person.

But that was almost two days ago, she only had a thin jacket on, and it did not help that it was snowing, the first two days was not as bad, as it was warmer, and she had stayed at a shelter, but because of the rules there, she could not stay there any longer, and the directions, the man there, sucked.

She had meant to drive to California a few days ago, but since her van had needed a new tire first and some minor work too, so she had to wait, she had found a nice man, who could do it cheaply, but she had to pay upfront and leave her van there for a few hours.

And she had, and when she returned to get it, from the diner just beside the auto-shop, the man pretended he didn’t knew her and told her to leave, but when she didn’t the man had used his Alpha voice to make her leave, and then his Beta had followed her to make sure she left, she also saw the man’s mate, she would guess with the way she was clinging to him, laughing and dangling her hula girl, between them, as to taunt her, and when she had stopped walking the Beta had showed her out, much to the amusement for the man and his mate.

She hated, no she despised Alphas and most Betas, they always looked down on Omegas, like herself, and pushed them around.

She also had a hard time believing in the mate concept, how could an Alpha look down on Omegas and Betas that was not following them, but still almost fall over themself, when in the presence of a mate who was an Omega, it was not as bad when it was a Beta, but they still walked around everywhere like the owned the place, Betas just followed the Alphas, like lost puppies, it was annoying.

She knew she had two mates pairs, she was just hoping they were Betas and not Alphas, or at least one of them were in each pair, it would be easier, if she couldn’t shake them, she would rather live with a Beta and alpha, or better two Betas, she didn’t particularly want a mate, let alone four, she sometimes wondered, why the universe hated her, first it made her an orphan, then gave her a crap name, seriously who names a child Mary Sue Poots, and then moving her every few months, moving from the orphanage to foster home, from foster home to foster home, and then from foster home back the orphanage and then repeat, sometimes a group home was thrown into the mix. Some homes she missed and others she wished she had never stepped foot in.

And then give her two soulmates’ pairs, how should she manage holding them at bay, not just with her but each other, there had been reports of Alphas and Betas killing each other, when they had to share an Omega, with others they were not mated with.

She did not want to have anything to do with that.

It was getting dark, and her phone and laptop had run out of power, so she had no direction to the nearest homeless shelter, she had no idea, where she was precisely, only that she was in an area just outside the inner city of Bethesda Maryland, she walked by a house that was dark, deciding to do a thing she had promised never to do, she walked to the back of the house, so no one could see her, her fingers were stiff, red, and dry from the cold, she saw an alarm, right before she was about to smash the window, cursing she fished after her pocket knife in her backpack.

Having found it she carefully opening the panel, looking at the wires, and a small display, this was top of the line, but, she knew she could disable it, deciding only to disable one of the windows, the one beside her, as that was smarter, if the owners came home, while she was there, they wouldn’t be suspicious, people with this kind of security, didn’t forget to set their alarms, and as long as she didn’t set off the others, she would be fine, once done, she picked up the rock, took off her jacket to wrap it around the rock, to silence the noise a little.

Once inside she realized it was a bedroom, creeping over to the open-door which luckily went inward so she could hold out the could a little, and if she had to run before, she was done, she just had to push the door the get to the window and out.

She quietly crept to the living room, looking around to see if there were something of value that she could take to sell, not finding much, she went on to an outer door which led to an office, not finding anything there either, besides two iPads and their chargers, them she could wipe and make sure they could not be traced.

Walking to the next room, which was much larger bedroom, so this must be the master bedroom, she thought, finding a few pieces of jewelry, and a few other small things, also taking a pillowcase that was starting to fill out, she also found a nice winter jacket for herself, some gloves, and a new knife, much better than her pocketknife, and a duffel bag, and a blanket from the living room.

She was on her way out when her stomach growled loudly and craping op, she thought why not get some food and drink, while she already was at it, she found a lot of bottled water where she took three, she could always fill them up again she also packed some processed food that didn’t need to be warmed or stored in any specific way, some candy bars and a whole pack of granola bars, some bananas, oranges, and apples, she also found some cans of energy drinks and sodas, and some small juice bricks, all of the food and drink she put in the duffle.

Now that her backpack had the pillow with the iPad’s, chargers, jewelry, to protect it a little, the duffel had the food, drink, blanket, and jacket, if someone saw her it was best, they saw her old jacket than the one she was stealing.

She felt a little bad by taking so much of these people’s food and drink, and some of their other stuff, she was so caught up in her thoughts, so she didn’t hear the car, pulling up, or when the door was unlocked and opened, but she did hear it close, running out of the kitchen, she was meet by two women, without looking too closely she made a run for it, but her backpack and the duffel was slowing her down.

“Hay stop right there” one of the women yelled, Skye almost fell face first, when she heard those words, yes, she had heard them before, a lot, but not with heat shouting through the area where the words were, on her hip, that woman was one of her mates or soulmates, as some called them, she made herself not react more than she probably already had.

She made it two more steps before someone, had a grip on her backpack, pulling her back, the movement was so suddenly that she dropped the duffel, deciding to ditch everything she had left, she wiggled out of the straps on the backpack, and making a run for it again, but again she only made it a few steps, before she was slammed to the ground, knocking the breath out of her.

Struggling against the person on top of her, she heard the person growl, she froze for a second, the person flipped her onto her back, pinning her arms on each side of her head, which did not mean that Skye would stop fighting against this person, “stop fighting” the person said, oh great her second mate, Skye thought, looking up she saw dark hair, dark steely eyes, Skye gulped.

“Who are you,” the person asked, from above her, she saw the other women walk around to block the way to her exit, the other women apparently got impatient with her lack of answer “answer her” she snapped, a red-haired woman if Skye was correct, and also the women who had spoken, or yelled the other words, but really Skye didn’t care about their hair color or anything really, because she didn’t want mates and especially Alpha’s because now, she could smell them.

They smelled good, warm, and cozy, and she knew they could smell her Omega scent, she was suddenly yanked to her feet, and dragged to the kitchen, where she was then pushed onto a chair, she was trying not to shake, because she was a little afraid, the dark-haired women, moved to stand directly behind her, while the red haired women, had gone somewhere, but before she could, ponder over it too much, the read hired had come bake with the duffle and her own backpack, the red-haired women, emptied first the duffle, she had raised an eyebrow in question, but Skye would not say a word to these two women, she would not.

The read haired then went to empty her backpack, Skye made a move, but the dark-haired women were quick to put her hands on her shoulders, she could properly feel her shaking.

“Who are you, why did you break into our home, did someone sent you, if yes, then who sent you,” the red-haired women asked, again Skye didn’t answer or given any intentions to do so, the two Alphas must have come to the same conclusion, because the hands on her shoulders tightened and the red-haired women came closer, and soon stood way to close, leaning over her.

“Answer” the red-haired woman ordered with a clear Alpha voice, Skye flinched, before she gritted her teeth, stupid Alphas. Unable to resist the order Skye had to answer, “Skye, it was the only house with no one home, and no, no one sent me” Skye growled, she saw the two Alphas freeze, the hands on her shoulders loosened, enough for her to shake them off, she looked into the living room, or more precisely the door to the bedroom, she had come in by, but before she could move the hands were back, but much gentler than before.

Before anyone could say or do anything Skye’s stomach growled again, because of the adrenalin and nervousness, do to her actually breaking into some one’s else’s house, and then getting caught, she had hoped to get away before, the people or her mates who lived here got back, so she could have eaten, but now she was stuck in the house for however long they decided.

The read haired moved to the fridge when she came back, she sat down a plate with a couple of sandwiches on it, and three glasses and a pitcher of water, and three plates, removing the wrapping that was covering the sandwiches, “here take one” the red-haired said after she said that, she pulled one of the chairs to the end of the table, and sat down, a little too close for Skye’s taste, the dark-haired women, sat down beside her, also to close.

They were clearly waiting for her to take one, so she reluctantly took one, still trying not to shake, “why did you break in” the dark-haired women asked, much calmer and friendlier, Skye bit her lip, debating if she should answer or not, they already knew she was their mate, but she still didn’t knew anything about them, beside, that they had a house, they were Alphas, properly a little paranoid because they asked if someone had sent her, and the dark-haired women were strong, they didn’t have many material things, and one of them liked knives, she had found a few, but only took one, that the red-haired women, had put aside.

In the end, she decided to answer “I already told you, it was the only house with no one home ” Skye said. “that wasn’t what I meant, and you know it, why did you break in, and only took mostly food?” the dark-haired women said, it took Skye a few moments before she could feel, that the dark-haired women were getting impatient, “I was cold and hungry”  Skye mumbled, and just then a shiver ran through her, she had only been in the house for around fifteen minutes, and she was still pretty cold,  she would have been fine if it hadn’t started snowing, growing up she learned she didn’t mind the cold, but the freezing temperature, that came a few hours ago, she had a harder time dealing with.

The two Alphas looked at one and another, Skye felt uneasy sitting between them, “how did you get in, without triggering the alarms?” the read hired asked.

“You know neither of you has told me your names,” Skye snarked, the read hired smirked, while the dark-haired rolled her eyes, “Natasha or Nat or Tasha,” the red-haired now known as Natasha said smirking, “Melinda or Mel,” the dark-haired said, with a smile.

Skye nodded, taking a bit of the sandwich, she did realize that she pretty much swallowed the whole thing in one go, until she saw the looks Natasha and Melinda gave her, “when was the last time you eat” Melinda asked, forgetting, or at least putting a pin in the question, about how she got into the house.

Shrugging “I had a granola bar yesterday,” Skye said, “and before that?” Melinda asked, in a tight tone, “the day before yesterday, I had a small sandwich and a granola bar” Skye said, “where do you live?” Natasha asked in a strange voice, which Skye could not identify.

Skye looked at Natasha confused by the tone and question, “a few days ago, I lived in my van, but it got stolen you could call it, I think” Skye said, eyeing another sandwich.

Suddenly there was a new sandwich on her plate and the glass was filled, and the blanket that had been on the floor was warped around her, she flinched when the blanket was wrapped around her, “I’ll go call in that we have a broken window” Natasha said, Melinda nodded, they both decided not to mention the flinch when Natasha had left the kitchen area, Melinda pushed Skye’s plate closer to her, “eat” was the only thing she said.

Skye starting to feel the tiredness and exhaustion from the past few days, so she did not have the energy to fight against the two Alphas, so she just did what she was told, although she hated it.

Bye the time Natasha came back, Skye had eaten three sandwiches, and drunk two glasses of water, Melinda had eaten two, and drunk one glass of water, “they have sent someone to fix the window and alarm” Natasha said, Skye sunk into herself, expecting something from the Alphas, and something did happen, just not what she expected, “do you want to take a shower, I think we have some clothes, that fid you” Melinda asked, Skye just stared at her for a few moments, a shower sounded amazing, but she was a little uncomfortable around the two Alphas.

“What do I have to do in return?” Skye asked, Melinda and Natasha, stared at her for a few seconds before Natasha shook her head, “nothing, but we would like you to stay here, there is a storm coming, they say it should hit tonight” Natasha said, when Natasha saw Skye tensing, “you can stay in one of the guest rooms,” Melinda said, “no thank you, I’m fine on my own, thanks for the food, but if you don’t plan on pressing charges, I’ll be on my way” Skye said standing op, shrugging the blanket off and quickly packed her things, that was still scattered on the table, but before she could move away from the table, she was cornered or more accurate, sandwiched between the two Alphas.

“It’s too dangerous, for you to live on the streets, this time of year, and as Nat said, there is a storm coming, so you are staying, at least until the storm has passed”. Melinda said, and her tone did not make room for arguing, Skye was grateful that she had not used her alpha voice, but she was not happy to be told what to do.

“So, do you want the shower?” Melinda asked, Skye, gave a small nod, Melinda smiled at her, before gesturing for her to follow, into the bathroom, “there are fresh towels there, and I can see that Nat has found some clothes for you, so I’ll leave you to it” Melinda said a little awkward before she left closing the door after her.

Skye decided to take a look at the clothes, she saw that the underwear was still in its packet, stripping off her clothes, she turned on the shower and stepped under the warm water.

After Melinda had shown Skye to the bathroom, she went back to Natasha in the kitchen. “not how I expected our evening going” Natasha said smirking, Melinda shot Natasha a look, “what did Fury say?” Melinda asked, “he wants to know how Skye got into our home, considering it’s on the top of the line, and he’s happy we found her, he said he was getting tired of us arguing all the time, I personally don’t know what he’s talking about,” Natasha said with a smirk at the end, Melinda just rolled her eyes.

“Did he say anything else?” Melinda asked, “yeah, you know him he’s a paranoid man, so he said to be careful just in case she was an enemy, and he wants to meet her, and he gave us two weeks off” Natasha answered.

There was a knock on the door Melinda went to open it and came back a moment later with two maintains people, after a short greeting, they went to work on the broken window and security system. 

“Really? he gave us two weeks off, just like that?” Melinda asked, “Yep, he did, he knows how much we have longed for our third, so he wants us to be around her, so what happed, with him and his mate, don’t happen to us,” Natasha said, it wasn’t common knowledge that Fury’s mate had left him because he never spent time with them, and when Peggy Carter who had been the director at the time, ordered him to go find her and called him an idiot.

But when he had found her, it had been too late, she had been killed by a drunk driver, who had also died in the accident.  

“So, she’s cute” Natasha suddenly said, “yeah, but clearly she has some issues regarding us, if it’s because we are women, Alphas or both or even something completely different, we have to tread carefull, around her, you saw her saw her when you, used your alpha voice,” Melinda said, Natasha nodded.

They sat down to drink some nice hot tea, it was not long until Skye came back with wet hair, she still looked nervous and uncomfortable around them. But they hoped, they could show her that they would protect her at any cost, as a real Alpha should.

“Do you want some tea?” Melinda asked, Skye, wrinkled her nose, “I’m not really a tea person” Skye said,  “it would be good for you, warm you up, so you don’t get sick” Melinda said, giving Skye a look, as to say do not argue with me, So Skye sat down, meanwhile Natasha pored a small cup, for her.

After Skye had taken a small reluctant sip of the tea, she made a surprised look, “what kind of tea is this?” Skye asked, Melinda, smiled “it’s just chamomile,” Melinda said, “I have had chamomile tea before, it didn’t taste like this” Skye said, taking another sip, just a little bigger this time, “that’s because I know how to make it correctly,” Melinda said, also taking a sip. Skye opened her mouth to say something before decided not to say anything.

“So, what do you do?” Skye asked, while she had been showering, she had realized that they probably wouldn’t let her go easily, and as it was expected that an Omega stayed with their Alpha from the moment they met, it wasn’t a law, but most people still followed that believe, and since she didn’t have a home and they knew it, but they didn’t say she couldn’t leave after the storm, so she had decided to play nice, just until she could leave.

“Um we work in security, you could say” Natasha answered, Skye nodded, she felt as Natasha did not tell her the whole truth about what they did, but she did not say anything, and really, she should not care, she did not want them, she told herself.

“What about you?” Natasha asked, “hmm I do the occasional odd job, sometimes, but nothing else really,” Skye said, squirming a little under their gaze, “what kind of odd jobs?” Natasha asked, in the same tone that Skye could not identify, Skye shrugging “mostly something with computers, helping people with theirs’s computer or tv’s, I’m good with that kind of stuff” Skye said.

That seemed to make the two Alphas relax, it took Skye a moment to realize that they had probably thought, she had done the other kind of odd job, she had never done that, and she did not think she ever would.

Just then one of the two mentions agents popped his head in and told them, that they were done now, and were leaving.

After the man had left, “where did you say, you were working again?” Skye asked having seen the logo on the man’s jacket, “we didn’t only that we worked in security” Natasha said looking at Skye, “do you know that logo?” Natasha then asked, “yeah” Skey answer squirming, under Natasha’s eyes, “yes I do” Skye answered more confidently, now trying to ignore both of them.

Again, they both moved closer Skye gave a small growl in warning, that they surprisingly acknowledged by moving back a little, not enough for Skye, but she took it, she had known alloy of Alphas who only laughed when an Omega told them to back off, it had also happened for her a few times.

“I’m a hacktivist” was all she told them, it also seemed to satisfy them, that they didn’t need to ask how she knew the logo “do you belong to any groups?” Melinda asked, “The Rising Tide” Skye said, feeling defeated, why did she say that, why do she want to make these two happy, despite not knowing them.

She growled again in annoyance at herself, “hi easy” Melinda said, putting a hand on top of hers, that had gripped the empty bug, impossibly tight. “It’s okay,” Melinda said, “let us try again, my name is Melinda May, I’m an agent of SHIELD, I mostly work in admin,” Melinda said, “and I’m Natasha Romanoff” Natasha started, but stopped when Skye’s head, shot op and looking at her with big wide eyes, “Natasha Romanoff as in the Black Widow, the Avenger?” Skye asked, Natasha, chuckled, “yes that’s me” she answered, and then chuckled again when Skye’s face flushed red.

“Is that how you got in here? you hacked our security system?” Melinda asked, Skye, gave a small nod, “do you mind showing us how at some point?” Natasha asked, “umm,” Skye said, “why don’t you think about it?” Melinda said shooting Natasha a look, “um okay, I’ll think about it” Skey said, “that’s all we ask, do you want some more tea?” Melinda said.  

She was glad that they didn’t ask her any more questions, that she couldn’t answer, Skye wasn’t her real name, she wanted to ask them, when her words appeared on them because that would open up a lot more questions, she also didn’t have the answers for, but them being SHIELD agents was something she had to think about, they hadn’t told her what level they were, a part of her wanted to use this new development for her avenged, get her answers and then disappear, and another part wanted to just tell them the truth and hoping they would help.

And the rest of her was just at a loss.

An hour or so later Skye was having trouble staying awake, and it seemed that Melinda and Natasha noticed, “Skye do you want to come help changing the sheets in one of the guest rooms?” Melinda asked, Skye tried to hide a yawn and nodded, following Melinda to the other guest room than the one she broke in by, this room was closer to the master bedroom.

After changing the sheets, it was almost eight pm, Melinda and Skye walked into the kitchen again, Skye looked around expected to see Natasha, but she wasn’t there, Skye’s stomach also grumbled again, “do you want some late dinner before we go to bed?” Melinda asked, “um no that’s fine” Skye answered, “you sure, it’s fine, we will probably eat anyway, but you should eat too, those three small sandwiches, earlier couldn’t have been enough for you to last until tomorrow morning,” Natasha said, coming from nowhere behind Skye, who jumped at her sudden appearance.

“What would you like, we have some mac and cheese, can tomato soup and some bread, we also have some frozen pizzas and lasagna, uh we also have some homemade chicken soup, that one one of our friends made he also made the lasagna,” Natasha said, while she had looked onto the cabinets and freezer.

Melinda gave Natasha a look, “since when did we have frozen pizza in our freezer?” she asked Natasha, “um do you remember a few weeks ago when you were sent away for a week, I might have bought a few and didn’t got time to eat them all, so I kind of hid, them from you” Natasha smiled sheepishly at Melinda who just looked at her for a moment before she turned to Skye.

“So, what would you like?” she asked, “ah I am fine with whatever” Skye answered, Melinda, nodded, “Natasha would you please take out, the homemade soup from the freezer and the bread,” Melinda said, and it was clear for Skye, that it was not a question, because Natasha nodded and almost jumped to open the freezer again.

Thirty minutes later they were eating, Skye moaned when she had taken the first bite, “this is good.” “we will pass that to the cook,” Melinda said smiling at her. Dinner was quiet Melinda and Natasha just enjoyed that they had found their third, who was an Omega, they both just wanted to snatch her up and carry her to the bedroom, to claim her, but they had seen, how skittish she was around them, so they had to take it slowly, they were also happy by the storm, because it meant that their Omega could not leave, without giving them a chance.

After they were done eating, it was starting to snow heavily, and they could hear the wind, from the kitchen, “it sounds intense out there” Natasha commented, looking at Skye out of her eye, “yeah it does” Skye said, kind of happy not to be out there, “well it is getting late, how about we head to bed?” Melinda asked after she saw Skye hiding another yawn, Skye nodded, before pausing, “um can I bower something to sleep in?” Skye asked hating, how it sounded, she did not need anything from them, she did not need anyone. 

Yes, they had been exceedingly kind to her, but that did not mean she liked asking them for anything, “I’m sure we can find something, we also have a fresh toothbrush you can use” Natasha said.

After finding something for Skye to sleep in and a new toothbrush for her, they had said goodnight and went to their separate rooms for the day.

Natasha sighed, settling in beside Melinda, “what Nat?” Melinda asked, “nothing, it’s just, she is just so close,” Natasha said, “I know, we can try to speak to her again tomorrow,” Melinda said, “but what if she wants to leave tomorrow, we only said she had to be here doing the storm?” Natasha said, looking at Melinda, who pushed her lips, “I don’t like any more than you, but do you want to tie her up?” Melinda asked, “well maybe later,” Natasha said smirking, “ow” Natasha exclaimed when Melinda hit her arm.

“But serious Mel, I want her to stay, and I know you do too, but we both know she’s scared, so how about we, try to make her more comfortable with us, and hopefully we can convince her to give us two weeks, and if she still doesn’t want us, she can leave, and we will not follow, but she can always call or come to us, if she wants, we can give her our numbers, and our emergency numbers,” Natasha said.

“You would be okay that she left?” Melinda asked, “what? No, of course not, I want her to stay, I’m fighting extremely hard, to not just walk into the guest room, scoop her up and take her in here, but I can’t do that” Natasha said.

“I know, I don’t want her to leave either, and I would love for her to be in here with us too but your right we can’t, and we can’t just force her to stay, I wish we could, if we were just a few years back in time, we could force her to stay, but we have the year 2014, where it’s illegal to do so,” Melinda said.   

“Dame Mel, I don’t like her just leaving, she doesn’t have anything, she needs clothes, and we both know she wouldn’t accept, us just giving her new clothes,” Natasha said,

“I know, we can figure it out tomorrow,  maybe as you said, ask her to consider staying just for two weeks, as a start,” Melinda said, Natasha grumbled something, “goodnight Nat,” Melinda said, giving Natasha a kiss, before laying down, and turning off the light.

“Night Mel,” Natasha said, also laying down and turning off the light.

Skye laid awake for a while, thinking of the crazy day she has had, she had met her two soulmates, who were Alphas, but they did not act like the Alphas she has had to deal with before, she did not know how to deal with this or them, but hopefully, it would work out good for her, for a change or would it end with her miserable again.

Those were the thoughts that went through her head before she fell asleep.

Skye woke up, wonderfully comfortable and warm, when she opened her eyes she was momentarily confused as to where she was until she remembered the day before, she had no idea what time it was, it was light outside, so she knew it was the next day, and there was a lot of snow, she felt a little weird that she had slept the whole night, and hadn’t woken up, deciding not to think too much about that, she got up to see if either Natasha or Melinda was up.

Walking out of the door and into the living room she saw the light on, and she could hear voices from the kitchen, walking slowly over to the kitchen, “hi, good morning Skye, did you sleep right, are you hungry, we have pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast.” Natasha said when she saw her.

“Good morning, yeah I slept alright, and yeah I’m a little hungry” Skye answered still standing in the doorway, “well then come and sit,” Melinda said patting the same chair she sat in yesterday, beside Melinda, Skye patted over to the chair and sat down.

“What would you like?” Natasha asked, from the stove, “um I’m fine with whatever” Skye said, Natasha looked over her shoulder to look at her, before shrugging, Melinda poured some tea for her in a mug and some juice in a glass. 

Natasha came two minutes later with three plates filled with food, one of them a little more than the other two, Natasha put the one with the most food on in front of her, Skye was about to eat, but got startled when Melinda puffed her with her shoulder when Skye looked at Melinda, Melinda just nodded at the plate and began to eat her own, a moment later there was a bowl of fruit on the table, and  Natasha sat down across from Skye.

“The roads are semi-closed, they said not to go out if you didn’t need to,” Natasha said, looking closely at Skye to judge her reaction, Skye swallowed the food in her mouth, and just nodded, “Melinda and I talked last night” Natasha started, and she saw Skye’s whole body tense, “about, that we would like for you to stay here for the next two week, so we can get to know each other, and after the two weeks, you are free to go, if you want, and we will let you, just give us two weeks, we don’t have to do anything at all if you don’t want to, it’s on your terms how we get to know each other” Natasha said, again keeping a close eye on Skye.

They could both see Skye thinking hard, “and if I want to leave today?” Skye asked, “we rather you didn’t but, you can, if you take our numbers, and call if you need anything, the same goes, if you stay for the two weeks, that way you can always call us if you need anything, or want to give this a chance, we’ll be here, we also talked this morning about giving you a key, and a way to get the code for the alarm, it changes two times a month,” Melinda said.

“And you won’t follow me if I leave now, or in two weeks?” Skye asked, “no, not if you don’t want us to,” Melinda said as convincing as she could, almost pleading with Skye. To make her believe, and it looked like that she did.

Skye had never had an Alpha look so desperately at her, they always used threats or intimidation, but here she sat, with two Alphas, both of them pleading with her to give them a chance, that, was all they asked for, she also realized now that, they didn’t just give her the most food today, but also yesterday, both with the sandwiches and the soup, it almost made her smile, they also let her borrow clothes without any fuss when she had woken up there was a clean set, for her to wear doing the day.

She shook her head, to clear it, this was getting hard, they were almost too much, but she almost desperately wanted to stay, she felt safe right now, she did not get any creep vibe from them, deciding to take a chance.

“Okay, I’ll stay for two weeks, for now,” Skye said, she saw both Melinda and Natasha smile at her, “how about tomorrow, if the roads are open, we could go buy you some clothes,” Melinda asked, “um I don’t have any money, for that” Skye said, “then we’ll buy it for you,” Natasha said, “unless you want to keep wearing ours, we don’t mind” Natasha smirked, Skye’s face got red, “ow, dame Mel,” Natasha said, reaching under the table to rub her shin, a small smile showed on Skye’s face.

“So, what would you like to do today, we can play games, or we can watch movies?” Natasha asked after they were done eating, “um” Skye said, “or we can do both, watch a move, then play a game, and then watch a movie, or the game, movie, game” Melinda said, “movie first, then we can maybe talk about what to do after?” Skye said to which Natasha and Melinda nodded, “okay then, what should we watch?” Natasha asked.

Skye almost groaned at that, she had not thought that one through, she had hoped there would not be that much talking, with watching a movie, but she forgot the selection of one, which could involve a lot of talking.

But in the end, they decided to watch Harry Potter, Melinda made some more tea, while Natasha lit the fireplace, and got blankets and pillows, and scattered it around in front of the couch.

Before they started the third Harry Potter movie, they took a small break, Melinda and Natasha went to the kitchen to get lunch and some soda and iced tea, and Skye went to the bathroom.

“Hi um can I charge my phone and computer?” Skye asked, before they settled in again, “yeah, sure go ahead” Melinda answered, “thanks” Skye said, walking into the guestroom she had slept in, taking out her phone and computer and their chargers, she plugged them in, and walked out again to join Natasha and Melinda.

When she saw the Natasha had moved to sit in the spot she had been sitting in before, so the only spot was in between them unless she sat on the couch, but something deep in her pulled her over to sit between them.

It was quiet for a moment, they could only hear the wind outside, turned out that even if the storm had passed the wind was still quite strong, before Skye moved to sit down, she did not see the smiles on Melinda and Natasha’s faces, when she did, “you comfy” Natasha asked, “yeah, I’m good” Skye answered.

They have just finished the fourth Harry Potter movie, when Skye’s stomach growled, “okay then, I think it’s time for some dinner” Natasha teased a little, Skye groaned and gave Natasha a little shove, but it did not seem to Melinda and Natasha that Skye noticed that she did.

They were cooking dinner, or Melinda was, with Natasha helping a little, and Skye was sitting at the table, watching them work, “so, Skye I don’t think you told us your last name” Natasha said, “no, I didn’t, and I can’t” Skye said, that got their attention, they both looked at her, with expressions she could not understand, “why not?” Melinda asked, “I don’t know it, I’m an orphan, I was just dumped at an orphanage, with nothing, no name or birthday, just nothing,” Skye said, getting upset, again she wondered why she would tell, them this, she never told anyone this, after only knowing them for barely a day.

“Hi, Skye you need to breathe, or you will have a panic attack or hyperventilate,” Melinda said, moving the chair she was sitting one, so she could sit face to face with Skye, Skye eventually got her breathing under control, she nodded her thanks at Melinda, who gave her a smile.

About ten minutes later they heard her front door open, “NAT, MEL IT’S JUST ME” a woman’s voice yelled, “hello Maria, you don’t need to yell” Natasha said shaking her head, “well the last time I just walked in both you and Mel, kicked my ass, uh hi, I didn’t know you had guests” Maria said, coming into the kitchen.

“Well, you could just use a normal voice to announce it’s you, and Skye this is, a friend and colleague, Maria Hill, and Maria this is Skye” Melinda introduced, “hello Skye,” Maria said, putting out her hand, for Skye to shake, Skye looked at Melinda who gave her a small nod, “hi” before taking Maria’s hand in hers, but as she did she registered what Maria said, and the warm feeling, where the words Hello Skye where located, and by the looks that Maria had on her face she did too.

Skye yanked her hand back, and Maria stared at her for a moment before taking a step forward but was stopped by Melinda and Natasha, who all but jumped between them, growling furiously at Maria, “step back now” Natasha’s voice was low and dangerous.

“It’s okay,” Skye said in a quiet voice, but the three other women heard her, “what happened?” Melinda asked looking between Skye and Maria, well glaring at Maria, “if I may” Maria said, looking at Skye, for permission after getting a small nod Maria spoke up again, “you both know Bobbi and me, have a third too, and we have been looking for an Omega, and, well, that’s Skye” Maria said.

“And guessing by, your reaction, she’s your mate too,” Maria said, Melinda and Natasha looked at Skye, “um yeah” Skye answered, this was definitely not, what Skye had hoped for, it was hard enough, with Melinda and Natasha, even if she only meet them yesterday, but now another, a Beta she could smell now, and then another person Bobbi, a man, and an Alpha, witch Skye didn’t like at all, and she knew that this Bobbi would be an Alpha, be course, two Betas they could be together, but not if they had a third who was an Omega, an Alpha yes, but not Omega.

“Where is Bobbi anyway?” Natasha asked, “at the car,” Maria said, “Excuse me I’ll be right back,” Skye said, walking to the bathroom. They looked after her, Maria shook her head, ”She should be here any second, she’s carrying the bags” Maria said, and when Maria raised an eyebrow at her in question, “we had a bet, she lost” Maria said smirking.

Just then the door opened again, “motherfucker it’s cold” Bobbi said, ”language” Melinda, Natasha, and Maria said, “sorry, but it is really cold outside, why are we just standing here?” Bobbi asked, “we were just talking,” Maria said, not mentioned that she had met Skye, “dinner should be ready soon, so you are just in time,” Melinda said, trying not to sound annoyed that they were here.

Maria at least looked guilty, knowing why she was annoyed, while Bobbi looked confused, “well then let’s go to the kitchen” Natasha said.

Bobbi was about to sit down on Skye’s chair, when both Melinda and Natasha growled, “wow, what’s up with you two” Bobbi asked, moving away from the chair, “they found their mate, and they are very protective” Maria whispered to Bobbi, with a smirk, but they all heard it.

“Oh, then we are sorry to impose on you, but we don’t have anywhere else to go in this weather,” Bobbi said, “at least one of you, have manners,” Melinda said, nodding at Bobbi, they all knew that Melinda was only teasing them.

“So, where is this mystery mate of yours?” Bobbi asked, Natasha and Melinda, looked at each other, in concern, “I’ll go, see if she’s okay” Melinda said, almost running out of the kitchen, and the bathroom, where Skye had gone to.

Knocking on the door “Skye, are you okay, can I come in?” Melinda asked, when she did not hear an answer, Melinda opened the door, she saw Skye curled up in the corner, she approached slowly, “hi, what’s wrong?” Melinda asked, crouching down in front of Skye.

“No- Nothing, I I’m fine,” Skye said, non-convincing, even to herself, “you sure, it don’t sound like you are fine, tell me what’s wrong,” Melinda said, gentle, but Skye didn’t answer, “is it about Maria and Bobbi, I know you already have a hard time with accepting Natasha and I, but they will not push you either, they are both good people,” Melinda said, Skye looked up at Melinda, “are you sure?” Skye asked, in a small voice, “yes one hundred percent, as we said, Maria is a friend and colleague as so is Bobbi” Melinda said, really hoping that Nat explained to Maria and Bobbi to tread carefully around Skye.

Every fiber of Melinda’s body screamed at her to go hold her Omega, but her brain told her to wait for just a little sign that it would be okay, to do so, but none came, “why not come out to eat, and meet Bobbi, talk a little with them, Nat and I will be there if that makes you feel better” Melinda said, Skye nodded after a few moments, “let me just wash my face” Skye said, not really looking at Melinda.

Melinda waited for Skye outside the door, Skye looked a little surprised to see her standing there, but did not say anything, they walked slowly back to the kitchen, Skye was clearly in no rush to get there, and Melinda let her take all the time she needed.

Skye stopped short when they entered the kitchen staring at the blond women sitting at the table, she saw Natasha at the stove, Maria sitting beside the blond but no man, she looked behind her only to see Melinda, and still no man, when she turned back, the blond women had stood up and she was very tall, walking slowly over towards her, “ hello, um I don’t really know what else to say, without being killed” the blond said, Maria rolled her eyes, “what about your name?” Maria said to Bobbi” “oh yeah, um my name is Barbara, but everyone calls me Bobbi, Mores, Bobbi, Barbra Bobbi Mores” Bobbi rambled, Maria and Natasha were having a field day behind Bobbi’s back, they had never heard Bobbi ramble so much before and especially just to say her own name.

Melinda was trying not to laugh but noticed that Skye was still just starring at Bobbi, and Bobbi was just waiting for Skye to say something.

Bobbi was getting extremely nervous shifting from foot to foot, Maria, and Natasha, had calmed down and was shifting their eyes from Bobbi to Skye, “you, you’re not a man?” was Skye’s words, of course, both Bobbi and Maria had known this, but they had always speculated in what scenario, those words would be uttered, this was not one of them.

“No, I’m not a man, are you upset about that?” Bobbi asked the question sent a thought through the three Alphas and one Beta, what if she is not into women, Melinda and Natasha shared a look, they had not even thought to ask about that, they just assumed, because they were soulmates, it was rare that one’s sexual orientation did not match one’s soulmates gender.

“No, I’m not, I’m more happy that you aren’t a man,” Skye’s quiet voice said, “I’m glad you are happy that I’m not a man,” Bobbi said, not noticing how stupid she sounded, “okay, how about we sit down, I think the dinner is ready,” Melinda said still from behind Skye, Skye jumped a little at Melinda’s sudden voice from behind her, but relaxed quickly, Melinda guided Skye over to her chair, giving both Maria and Bobbi a clear message, that this was Skye’s chair.

Witch did not make sense since it was only a little over twenty-four hours ago, that Melinda had almost thrown her onto the chair, for questioning, and now it was the chair Skye would be sitting on doing meals, and no one else, it was an Alpha thing, they liked to have a certain spot, their Omegas sat or slept, but since they took it slow, Skye only had her spot at the dinner table.

In the bedroom that would become difficult for them to have to share Skye with Maria and Bobbi, funny how they never realized that they had the same Omega, shrugging not really want to think about it, Melinda helped Natasha with the food.

They again gave Skye a little extra food on her plate, Natasha sat down on her spot Infront of Skye and Melinda sat down beside Skye again, “so I can see that you’ll have a movie day, what did you watch?” Maria asked, looking at Skye, who squirmed, “we have watched the four first Harry Potter movies” Natasha answered.

Skye was in the guest room she was sleeping in, while the others were doing the dishes, she had offered to help but the four other women, told her no, that they could handle it, and told her to go relax a little until they came and joined her.

She was looking at one of her memory cards, debating what to do, here she was in a house with four SHIELD agents, who was also her soulmates, and SHIELD had answers to where she came from, maybe even who she was, or at least, who her parents were or are, but should she ask them for help, or could she get away with borrowing on of their computers, if one of them had access to SHIELD network, she could get the information she was looking for, and then disappear.

But could she do that, Natasha and Melinda had and was still so kind and caring towards her, and she was afraid they would turn on her and tell her she could not leave, and now there was Maria and Bobbi too, Maria was respectful and funny and definitely a strong Beta, and Bobbi was, not a typical, well neither was Natasha or Melinda but Bobbi was different, she was okay to be making fun of, she got nervous and rambled.

Skye was getting frustrated with everything and everyone in this house, they confused her so much, and they made her feel warm and safe, which was still unnerving her.

“Well rather now, then later if I get attached to any one of them,” Skye said to herself, taking the two most important cards in her hand, she went to the kitchen, where the others had just finished cleaning up.

“Hi Skye, what’s wrong,” Maria asked, and all of Skye’s courage disappeared, she quickly put the two cards on the table, muttering that they should read them, and ran, latterly ran back to the guest room.

“What just happened?” Bobbi asked, looking at the spot Skye had been standing, before looking up to the three other women, “I don’t know, but I have an idea” Melinda said taking the cards in her and, “let us go to the office, and see what there are on theses” Melinda then said.

They walked into the home office, Melinda put the first one in, and what they read was heartbreaking, it was basically Skye’s whole life, everything from being abandon at the steps of an orphanage, foster homes, group homes, medical history.

Melinda, Natasha, and Bobbi all looked like they were ready to kill someone, “I’m going to her now” Bobbi said, but Maria stepped in front of the door so, no one could leave, “Maria move” Bobbi said, “no, Skye said to read both of the cards, and when we are done, I’ll and only me, will go to her, we all just read the same thing, there has been a lot of Alphas who have been abusive towards her, and that only the ones they could prove, or that she reported, didn’t you see, that when she turned twelve, she didn’t mention anything, only that she was a clumsy child or she fell, we all know that’s properly not the case, maybe one or two, but not them all” Maria said not only to Bobbi but Melinda and Natasha too.

Bobbi let out a small whimper, “but” Bobbi started, but this time it was Natasha who said something, “Maria is right, both Mel and I, have known she was afraid of us, to a degree, but we didn’t expect that this was why, Maria is a Beta, so Skye should be more comfortable around her, and until she is comfortable around us, Maria should take point when Skye’s upset, like now, but as Maria also said, Skye asked us to read, both of the cards and that’s what we’ll do” Natasha said, taking the card out, and put it away then she took the other and put it in the computer.

While the second card was loading Melinda spoke up, “well, it explains, Skye’s reaction to Bobby, and why she freaked out, just by the thought of having a male mate, I can’t even imagine what thoughts went through her head, when we mentioned Bobbi’s name” she said.

“I still want to go to her, and now even more,” Bobbi said, Maria, pulled her into a hug, “I know,” she said.

It was clear to everyone in the room that the three Alphas were not happy, that they could not just go their Omega and hold her.

“Wait that’s a redacted SHIELD file where did she get that?” Maria asked when she saw it pop onto the screen, “she said yesterday that she was a hacktivist, so maybe that’s how she got it, but the question is why” Melinda said, facing Maria, “maybe she was searching for answers about where she came from” Natasha said, “there is old surveillance photos, recipes, so it would make sense, why don’t you ask her Maria?” Natasha then said.   

“Do Fury know about Skye?” Maria asked, “yes, he gave us two weeks off,” Melinda said, “hmm, call him and update him about Bobbi and me, and these documents, while I’ll go talk with Skye,” Maria said, she waited for them to nod, when they did, she walked to the room Skye was in, the three Alphas saw Maria pause right in front of the door before she knocked.

“Oh, this phone call is not going to be fun,” Natasha said.

Chapter Text

Skye was pacing in the guest room. Why did she just do that? What would they say? What would they do? What if they kicked her out? It was still snowing a little, but she could live with that. She had power on her phone and computer now, so she could find a shelter, but should she wait for them to kick her out or should she just leave now?

Skye jumped when there was a knock on the door. Huh? Quickly looking at the time on her phone, Skye noticed it had been a little over an hour since she had come back in the room, she then heard another knock on the door. Swallowing the lump in her throat, “Yeah?” she asked quietly. The door opened slowly, and Maria came in, shutting the door behind her.

“Hi, can I sit?” Maria gestured to the bed, at Skye’s small nod she went over and sat down, being incredibly careful to not breathe with her nose as to not smell more of Skye’s distressed omega scent than she already had. She was glad that none of the others had come, they would have kicked the door in and jumped Skye, holding her close.

“Did you read what was on the cards?” Skye asked.

“Yes, we did,” Maria answered, watching Skye shifting from foot to foot and fiddling with her hands.

“Why don’t you tell me about the redacted file? Maybe we can help,” Maria asked, Skye gave her a weird look. 

“What? Why would you do that?” Skye asked.

“Because I want to help, but how about we make a deal?” Maria said.

“What kind of deal?” Skye asked, wary. 

“Well you tell me what it’s about. We think we already know, but we would like to help you, and maybe you could work on our systems. I hear you even got past the security to get in this house, that’s not an easy task,” Maria smirked at Skye.

“Wait, so your deal is that I’ll tell you why I have the file and you will help me, and I could be allowed to take a look at SHIELDs systems?” Skye asked, bewildered.

“Well yes, if you don’t want to help with the systems, that’s fine, but no matter what, we would like to help with whatever you need,” Maria said, knowing, or having an idea, that Skye could pass on the offer to look at SHIELD’s system from the inside.

Skye was quiet for a moment, she had stopped pacing so that was a plus for Maria. 

“What do you think the file is about?” Skye asked, and it was noticeably clear for Maria that Skye was testing her.

“Well, if we take the other card into consideration, we think it could be about your parents, or just where you came from,” Maria answered honestly.

Skye sighed, “Yeah it is, or I think it is. I found a note when roaming the CPS servers,” Skye said.

“When you say roaming, you mean hacking?” Maria asked.

“Maybe,” Skye said, “and then I just hacked and hacked until I found the file that the note was talking about,” Skye said. “So, what happens now?” she asked.

“Do you want our help? I can probably have the file tomorrow, if you do, or very soon,” Maria said, Skye nodded.

“Yeah I have been searching for years,” Skye said, both defeated, grateful, and sad that she couldn’t get it herself. She was tempted to say no, but she just couldn’t, she didn’t know why though.

“Okay, I’ll get it for you,” Maria said.

“Thanks, but can you, I mean, won’t you get in trouble or something?” Skye asked, finally sitting down on the bed too.

“Nah, I’m the deputy director, so I shouldn’t be in too much trouble. If I do get into trouble, it would only be an increase of paperwork,” Maria said, smiling at Skye.

“Oh,” Skye said.

“What else?” Skye asked.

“What do you mean?” Maria asked, making the mistake to breathe through her nose, she could smell Skye’s distress had not disappeared. Skye shrugged, not really in the mood to voice her concerns.

Maria frowned at Skye’s sudden 180 turn, taking a chance, she moved to sit right beside Skye, their knees touching, “Talk to me, please, what do you mean with, what else? Please Skye, whatever it is that is bothering you, we can help. All we want to do is make you happy,” Maria said, Skye looked up at Maria, with a skeptical expression on her face.

“I was close to having to restrain Bobbi. She wanted to come in here, to scope you into her arms, and I doubt she would have wanted to let you go any time soon. It was the same with Nat and Mel, they also wanted to come in here, but knew you probably wouldn’t appreciate that,” Maria said, trying to make Skye understand just how serious they were.

Skye looked at Maria, searching for something, after a few moments she sighed, “I messed up, and now they’re mad at me,” Skye said, looking down to the floor.

“What do you mean? No one is mad at you, why would you think that?” Maria was very confused, she just told Skye that all they wanted was to hold her and never let go, so why did she think they were mad? 

Skye opened and closed her mouth a few times, “I don’t know, it’s like it always is. I do something that I’m not supposed to do, and people get mad at me,” Skye said quietly.

“What have you done that you weren’t supposed to do?” Maria asked.

“Hacked SHIELD, broke in here, tried to steal stuff, I don’t know,” Skye said, frustrated that she couldn’t explain that she hated the idea of any of the other people in the house being mad at her.

“Do you know how Natasha got into SHIELD?” Maria asked.

“No,” Skye answered confused.

“Ask her sometime and then you’ll know that what you did, is nothing. I don’t know if you know this, but SHIELD tends to recruit people that can get into our systems without us knowing it, and because where the level eight files are, like the one that you found, they are on a different server with a lot of monitoring” Maria said. “And I don’t think that any of us mind that you broke in here, well maybe except Bobbi and I, we would probably have liked it if you broke into our apartment,” Maria tried to joke, she could tell it worked a little because Skye smiled.

“Maria?” Skye said after around five minutes.

“Yeah?” Maria said, looking over at Skye.

“What's really going to happen from now on?” Skye asked, looking very vulnerable.

“I don’t really know, but no matter what, you will have Me, Bobbi, Natasha, and Melinda. You are with us now, and nothing and no one will harm you, ever again,” Maria said, feeling that they already discussed this, but apparently Skye wanted to talk more about it.

Skye’s eyes teared up, “I’m just so confused,” Skye said, and Maria couldn’t just sit there, she wrapped her arms around Skye in a tight hug.

“Shh it’s okay,” Maria comforted, Skye moved closer into Maria’s embrace.

The three Alphas had moved into the kitchen thirty minutes ago, after speaking to Fury. On the way, they had smelt Skye’s distress and were close to running to her but remembered that they should let Maria deal with Skye right now.

Fury had also given Bobbi and Maria the two weeks off and said he would look into the redacted document. Now, he really wanted to meet with Skye and talk about her computer skills, but Natasha had told him that he had to wait until the two weeks were over and if Skye still wanted anything to do with them. They also informed him that she hadn’t been treated right growing up. Fury agreed to whatever Maria and Skye agreed on and had already said he would find an unredacted version of the redacted file and send it to Maria.

“They have been talking for a long time now,” Bobbi said, looking over to the door where the Beta and Omega were behind.

“Yeah, they have, but hopefully they will sort out some things,” Melinda said, Natasha was also looking at the door.

“I can’t take it any longer, I’m going to check on them,” Natasha said walking fast out of the kitchen.

“Nat!” Melinda whispered after her. Bobbi was hot on Natasha’s heels, not to stop her, but to join her.

Melinda cursed, but she really wanted to see what they were doing too. When Natasha knocked softly on the door, they heard Maria’s quiet reply that they could enter. What they saw made Bobbi smile, and Melinda and Natasha looked a little jealous. They saw a sleeping Skye half on top of Maria, holding Maria’s shirt in a death grip.

“Wake her and you’ll all regret it,” Maria whispered with a glare.

“Easy, we just wanted to check on you two,” Natasha whispered back.

“What did Fury say?” Maria asked, still whispering.

“He told us that you would basically be in charge about everything concerning Skye and SHIELD and what’s to happen,” Natasha whispered in answer, Maria nodded.

“Hey, Mel, Nat can we go get those cushions and pillows you have set on the floor in front of the TV, and put them on the floor, so we can sleep in here?” Bobbi asked hopefully.

“Shh” Maria shushed her, Bobbi mouthed sorry.

Melinda and Natasha looked at each other debating. They really wanted to sleep in the same room as Skye, even if it were on the floor, but what would Skye say, when she woke up laying on the bed with a Beta and with three Alphas on the floor.

“Come on, please,” Bobbi asked, the glare Maria sent her for talking too loud again made Bobbi flinch back looking sheepish.

“Okay, but we stay on the floor,” Natasha whispered.

The three Alphas quickly and quietly got the cushions and pillows from the living room, Melinda also got some from the other guest room and the master bedroom. It was a little uncomfortable, but they could manage. Melinda gave Maria a blanket and Skye one too, as they were laying on the covers of the bed and did not want to risk waking Skye.

Melinda and Natasha cuddled up together, with Bobbi beside them, on the floor at the side of the bed where Skye was.

Cough, cough, cough, cough was the sound that woke the three Alphas on the floor and the Beta on the bed, “Are you okay Skye?” Maria asked from beside the coughing Omega.

“Yeah, I just choked on my own saliva,” Skye slurred her words.

“Ah, you sure?” Natasha asked skeptically.

Skye looked over to her, she had not realized that there were others in the room, looking down on the floor. “Did you sleep in here?” Skye asked, her words still slurred and also looking like she was dizzy, after looking down on the floor.

“Yeah, you don’t mind, do you?” Bobbi asked carefully.

“Huh?” Skye asked like she hadn’t heard or understood what Bobbi had said.

The three Alphas and the one Beta shared a look, Skye shivered and tried to pull the blanket someone had laid over her closer, “Can I touch you?” Bobbi asked, Skye just nodded. “Yeah, I think you have a fever,” Bobbi said, after feeling Skye’s forehead and neck.

“No, * cough* I’m * cough* fine , ” Skye said, but no one believed that.

“You are staying under the covers today, I’ll go make you something to eat. Nat can you get the thermometer?” Melinda said, Nat nodded and left.

“I’ll help, Maria will you stay with her?” Bobbi said, Maria nodded.

Skye leaned against Maria, “I’m cold,” Skye mumbled, just then Natasha came back.

“Nat will you help me to get her under the covers?” Maria asked.

“Of course,” Natasha said.

“Okay, Skye, I am going to lift you up now, so we can get you under the covers, so you can get warm, okay?” Maria asked, Skye shivered a little but nodded her okay.

Maria lifted Skye while Natasha pulled the covers back, Maria put Skye back down, and together they pulled the covers over Skye, tucking her in tight.

Bobbi came shortly after with some hot tea, “Here drink this,” Bobbi said, handing over the tea to Maria who helped to bring the mug to Skye’s mouth.

“Guys I’m fine, there is no reason for all of this,” Skye said.

“There is a reason for all of this, you are sick, now open up so we can take your temperature,” Natasha said, bringing the thermometer up to Skye’s mouth. Skye whined but opened her mouth, Melinda came in with some food, when the thermometer beeped.

“What does it say?” Melinda asked.

“39.8° Celsius,” (103.64° Fahrenheit) Natasha said.

“It’s that high?” Maria asked.

“Yes, it is, but as long we keep her warm, hydrated, make sure she eats, and keep an eye on her temperature, she will be fine in a few days, hopefully. I think she has a bad cold, you said she was only wearing a thin jacket for the past few days, which could be the cause,” Bobbi said.

“Okay, what about we move into the living room? There is more room, I don’t think any of us want to be far from her,” Maria said, stroking a half asleep Skye’s hair whose head was laying on her shoulder.

The three Alphas had no problem with that, they quickly moved the cushions and pillows back to the living room. Maria picked Skye up again, still wrapped in the blanket, Skye whined a little at being picked up, Maria walked into the living room and set Skye down on the cushions on the floor as there was more room, and she immediately laid down, groaning, “I’m cold again,” Skye whined, “come back and warm me.” Skye whined again, looking at Maria.

“Okay I’m coming” Maria said smiling, she had barely sat down before Skye was plastered at her side.

The three Alphas who had watched the scene were both amused and jealous. Melinda shook her head, “Here Skye, you need to eat and drink,” she said, handing Maria the plate and the mug of tea.

Skye slowly got the food down, as she was not hungry, but the four women around her insisted; she fell asleep soon after she had gotten it down.

The Next two days were the same. Skye was still sick and changing “body heater” as Skye had called them in her half sleep state, every so often. Melinda, Natasha, Bobbi, and Maria regularly got up to get a snack for Skye, be it a piece of fruit, a granola bar, or some chocolate, she always had something to eat. It was the same with drinks, she always had tea, juice, water, or energy drinks close by.

They had agreed to just watch movies, and let Skye sleep, but they still checked her temperature, even if she was asleep, and had her eat and drink when she was awake.

On the third day Skye woke up between Bobbi and Natasha, with her head under Natasha’s chin, “Good morning Skye, how are you feeling today?” Melinda asked. Skye jumped, she had not seen Melinda sitting in front of her on the floor with Maria beside her. Natasha and Bobbi woke up by Skye’s jump of shock.

“I feel okay today,” Skye said.

“That’s good, let’s just check your temperature, then we can make breakfast,” Melinda said, Skye groaned, while Maria checked her temperature, and Natasha and Bobbi chuckled.

“There is no fever,” Maria said.

“I hate being sick,” Skye mumbled, still laying on top of Natasha.

“What about when you were a child, didn’t you get cuddled?” Bobbi asked.

“No, I remember once, I think I was around eight, I had gotten the chickenpox or measles, I don’t remember, and the family I was living with at the time called my social worker to come and get me, but of course their own child had recovered a few days before from the same thing and they didn’t have time to take care of me,” Skye said, as if it was nothing.

She was suddenly lifted up from on top of Natasha and into a tight hug from Bobbi.

Over the past three days Skye had gotten more comfortable with her soulmates, she could start seeing herself settling down, but she was still worried about them fighting. They were still two soulmate pairs, who had to share her, and just because they worked together and had not fought yet, did not mean they would not.

During breakfast, which was eaten at the table for a change, they still wanted Skye to take it slow until tomorrow. Maria informed Skye that she had the unredacted file for her, “Have you read it?” Skye asked.

“No, I haven’t, none of us have, but our boss, Fury has. He told us to call when you had read it. He also said it might be a good idea that the rest of us read it too, if you say that we can,” Maria said.

“Okay, is it bad or anything? Did he say that?” Skye asked.

“He didn’t answer when I asked him the same thing,” Maria said, Skye nodded and asked where it was and if she could read it, when they were done eating. Her soulmates answered with that she could, and Maria said it was on her tablet.

So now Skye was sitting in the living room on a cushion that was still on the floor, and reading the file she had been searching for, for so long. The more she read, the more upset she got. It was Melinda who got to Skye first when they could smell Skye’s distress. Skye didn’t say anything, she just clung to Melinda and almost shoved the tablet into Maria’s hands. When Maria asked if they could read it, Skye just nodded.

Melinda stayed with Skye. She could get the run down or read it later, right now her Omega needed her. She was glad about the progress there had been for the past few days, she just wished that it hadn’t been because Skye had been sick.

About twenty minutes later the others returned except Maria, “Where’s Maria?” Melinda asked.

“She's calling Fury,” Natasha said looking down at Skye who had fallen asleep.

“Was it bad?” Melinda asked, when Bobbi curled into Skye’s other side and Natasha next to herself.

“Yeah, it was or is, that’s what Maria is trying to figure out with Fury,” Natasha answered.

“But you may have to read it yourself, it’s horrible and sad,” Bobbi said looking at Melinda, who looked to Natasha for confirmation. Natasha nodded once, Melinda sighed and pulled Skye closer to her.

Skye woke up about a half an hour later to the sound of mumbling, opening her eyes she could see Bobbi, Melinda, and Natasha, “Where is Maria?” Skye asked.

“Hey, she’s speaking with our boss about the file,” Natasha said.

“I can’t believe it, my long search, was a disaster. Hundreds, if not thousands, dead,” Skye said sobbing. “I don’t get it though, if I was there, how did I get to the stats, or does it have nothing to do with who I am, but then how did it get connected with my file at CPS? I just don’t get it,” Skye had untangled herself from Melinda and Bobbi and stood up to pace.

“Skye, we will get answers, but you are getting worked up, and it won’t help, especially when you were just sick and still need to rest,” Melinda said, standing in front of Skye to stop her from pacing.

Just then Maria came out of the office, “What did Fury say?” Bobbi asked, directing the focus away from Skye and Melinda.

“He found another document that told CPS to move Skye around, she should never be at a place too long, and if it looked like the foster place she was at wanted to adopt, she was to be moved immediately. It said it was to keep her safe, from what, the document didn’t say,” Maria said. Skye looked troubled, she was trying to speak but nothing came out, her breathing was quick. Melinda pulled Skye to her, and Skye immediately calmed down a little.

“Who ordered it?” Natasha asked in a deadly tone.

“Fury has been looking for the past few days, looking for connections between Skye and the mission in China. He found that it was one of the junior agents that was on the mission in China, she faked the clearance level for the protocol to move Skye around,” Maria said, taking a deep breath.

“Where is she now?” Bobbi asked, also in a deadly tone.

“Dead. All of the agents, whether they were on the main team or the backup team, are dead. The agents on the main team all died during the mission in China, but the backup team all started showing up either tortured or murdered not long after returning from the mission. Linda Avery, one of the junior agents on the backup team, was the last to die. She is the one who dropped Skye off at the orphanage. She had just dropped Skye off there, two days before. There is still one agent out there, Lumley, he was also a junior agent and disappeared shortly after Avery was found dead,” Maria said.

“Does Fury have an idea of what went down?” Melinda asked.

“Yes, he thinks that Skye was born in the village in Hunan and that she was rescued by SHIELD, but when they returned to the US, and started getting tortured and killed, Avery put Skye in the system to protect her from whoever was killing them off. Lumley was the only one to get away,” Maria said.

“So, you and Fury think that someone is looking for Skye, and willing to kill to get to her?” Natasha asked,

“Yes,” Maria nodded.

“What are you not saying, Maria?” Bobbi asked, Maria looked a little nervous.

“You saw that the mission report was in the Hunan province and that it was about an 084,” Maria said.

“Yeah and?” Bobbi asked.

“Fury thinks that Skye could be the 084 or had been exposed to it. He thinks it’s weird that Skye was the only survivor from the village, that she was clearly, and maybe still is, hunted. He checked some of Skye’s old foster homes,” Maria said taking another deep breath, “some of them have been killed in accidents, some have died in house fires, and some have been murdered point blank,” Maria said looking at a very quiet Skye in Melinda’s arms.

“Yeah, that’s it, you are not going anywhere, and we are teaching you how to defend yourself,” Natasha said, determined and demandingly looking at Skye.

“ Natasha ,” Melinda hissed glaring at Natasha.

“What? I know we have a deal, but that was before we knew that there was a psychopath after her,” Natasha said firmly, Natasha and Melinda were staring each other down, while Skye still hadn’t responded to anything.

“ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!” Maria yelled, taking Skye from Melinda, and sitting her down on the cushions. Natasha and Melinda finally noticed that Skye was just staring out in thin air.   

“Skye, are you okay? Can you hear me?” Maria asked gently, Bobbi was standing between Maria, who was trying to get Skye to respond, and Melinda and Natasha, who both looked guilty or ashamed. Maria made the decision to release soothing pheromones, as the first one of them to ever release any pheromones around Skye. Skye blinked, letting out a whimper, Maria was quick to bring her into a hug.

Melinda, Natasha, and Bobbi stared at Maria when they smelt her pheromones, they had not really talked about when they would start using them around Skye, considering her bad experience around Alphas and pheromones, but considering that Maria was a Beta, it was not as bad. If it had been one of them, they wouldn’t know how she would respond, but Skye seemed to respond positively to Maria, both before and after her pheromones were involved.

It was around ten minutes later, Skye had calmed down and the others had sat down. Bobbi had gone to the kitchen and got some tea and coffee, and a hot chocolate for Skye.

They have been speaking about what Fury told Maria for the past hour, “What is an 084?” Skye asked, finally asking the question, which had been bugging her.

“Uhem it’s an object of unknown origin,” Maria answered, Skye frowned at that.

“And your boss thinks I’m an object?” Skye then asked.

“No, no of course not, he believes that you are connected to an 084, you are no object!” Maria said.

“What do we do now? I am pretty sure that Natasha still won’t let me leave now?” Skye asked.

“Damn straight I won’t,” Natasha said, Melinda glared at Natasha again.

“I’m pretty sure that none of us really want you to leave. I know that you have a deal with Mel and Nat, and that Maria and I have agreed on too, but in light of this new information, we would really like you to stay close. We need to think of something else, I was thinking we get a bigger place, for the five of us. I don’t really see it going well in a few months if Skye decides to stay with us, with the plans on when and where Skye will stay, and moving from us to you, it wouldn’t be right,” Bobbi said.

“I mean we would be four people paying the rent or mortgage,” Natasha started to say but was interrupted by Skye.

“You mean five, if we do this, I’m not going to be a stay-at-home Omega, I will work, got it,” Skye said, and Natasha looked taken aback but nodded rapidly.

“And we wouldn’t want you to be a stay at home Omega,” Melinda said, amused by Natasha’s reaction, “but would you be okay to be with us? I mean it is going to be difficult, not just for you, but for us too. I know you are worried about us tearing each other to pieces, but we will not, we will probably argue, but I know we will do our best not to get forceful with each other,” Melinda said.

“Yeah, I think so. I’m still not in love with the idea, but it's been a good couple of days, even with me being sick. I think I would be okay, living with all of you,” Skye said, she was terrified at the idea of some psychopath looking for her out there.

“So, we are getting a bigger house?” Maria asked.

“Yeah I was thinking, an area for the two of us, an area for Mel and Nat, and an area for Skye, so if she wants to be alone, she can, and a big kitchen,” Bobbi said.

“You know Bob, I like that,” Natasha said, smirking at the reaction she got from Bobbi, being called Bob.

“Before we talk more about house buying, we need to buy some new clothes for Skye. I was thinking about tomorrow?” Melinda said, looking at Skye with her don't argue with me look. 

Skye swallowed and nodded.

“Good, should we continue our Harry Potter marathon?” Melinda asked, when the others agreed they put on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The next day they went to buy Skye some new clothes. Skye tried to convince them she did not need that much new clothing when they kept throwing things in the basket or showing her to the dressing room to try out whatever they found for her.

After five hours and three different stores, Skye had a brand-new wardrobe, “I think that was everything,” Melinda said.

“Argh finally, I am exhausted!” Skye said, slumping against the car, then there was a rumble sound.

“And hungry I would guess?” Maria asked amused, Skye huffed.

“Come, let’s go get something to eat,” Natasha said, gesturing to a fast-food place beside the parking lot they were in. “Relax Mel, we will work it off, and beside it is only this one time,” Natasha said when Melinda looked about to object to the place.

“Fine,” Melinda said, shaking her head.

Maria slung her arm around Skye’s shoulder as the five of them walked to the fast-food place. They went to stand in line while looking at the menu. When it was their turn, the man behind the counter, who was clearly an Alpha, smiled a welcoming smile, looked them over, stopping at Skye for a short moment, “What will it be?” he asked.

“What would you like?” Natasha asked, looking at Skye so she could order first. The man sneered at Skye but did not say anything.

“Um- I- um,” Skye was clearly intimidated by the man, an Alpha, who looked pleased with himself for intimidating the Omega. Maria moved to behind Skye, so she wouldn’t run out of the place, Bobbi and Melinda moved to stand a little in front of Skye, and Natasha stood closest to the counter. 

“Do you have a problem?” Melinda snarled at the man.

“Omegas do not come before an Alpha, they eat what they are told; you don’t ask an Omega you tell them,” the man said back. The other employees looked on, there were a few Omega’s that flinched at the man’s words, the Betas and other Alphas moved between the offending Alpha and their Omega coworkers.

That caused Melinda, Natasha, and Bobbi to growl at him, Natasha even garbed his shirt. “What did you just say?” Natasha growled, most of the other customers who were at the restaurant, were looking at the scene now.

“I am the manager here, what’s going on?” a new man asked.

“Your employee here was acting intimidating towards a customer,” Natasha said, still holding the man and glaring at him. She was both glad and pissed he didn’t try using his pheromones, glad that Skye wouldn’t suffer, but pissed she couldn’t punch him repeatedly.

The manager sighed, “I am terribly sorry, let me take your orders, and your food will be on the house,” the manager said, also an Alpha, and by his tone it was not the first time something like this has happened. Natasha let go of the rude Alpha, the manager told his employee, soon to be ex-employee, to go wait in his office.

“What can I get you all?” the manager asked with a smile. Melinda looked to Skye, who still looked affected, but she managed to order a bacon-cheese burger with some extra crispy french-fries and a coke, the manager smiled, and looked to the others who ordered similar items.

“All right it will be brought to your table as soon as it’s done,” The manager said, giving them a smile and a nod before he walked over to his office.

“Are you okay?” Melinda asked, after they had sat down, with Skye in between herself and Maria, and Natasha and Bobbi across from them.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Skye said quietly, “it isn’t the first time something like that has happened, just last week it happened. An Alpha basically took all the money I had saved and my van with almost everything I had,” Skye said sadly, taking a small salt pack from the small bowl on the table, and started to play with it. 

Melinda pulled Skye into her side and nuzzled the top of her head, a short moment later a worker came with their drinks. Melinda saw Natasha and Maria nodding at each other, knowing they would ask Skye small probing questions, so they could find the Alpha who took everything from her.

“Was it a nice van?” Bobbi asked after they had gotten their food, apparently Bobbi would be helping. 

“Not really, it was a big piece of junk, some would say, but it worked, and I loved it. It was a 1983 GMC Conversion. It smelled, but it was my home, and I kind of miss it,” Skye said smiling thinking of her van. “I usually stay in LA in the winter months, but I couldn’t go because my van needed a new tire, and I didn’t have the money until last week,” Skye trailed off.

“What did you do about food, water, and um shower and stuff?” Bobbi asked, the last part was asked a little awkwardly.

“Uh it had a little sink and toilet under the sink; there are a lot of places where you can refill the water tank, and empty what has to be emptied,” Skye said.

Again, Melinda saw Natasha, Maria, and Bobbi, this time, look at each other and nod, knowing that they now knew enough about the van, now they just needed to find out about the place where she had the tire changed.

Shaking her head, “So, Skye, know any good places to eat in LA?” Melinda asked, Skye’s face lit up.

“Yes, I do know this one place, it is a small diner, they let me park in the alleyway just beside them, and the old lady who owns it, usually lets me eat there for free or at a discount. It was of course the food that was close to going bad, or a little burned, but I am fine with that,” Skye said.

“What diner? It sounds like a place we all should visit,” Bobbi said.

“Ruthie's Skillet, and I would love that,” Skye said, smiling at Bobbi.

They ate the rest of their food in silence, the manager apologized again when they were ready to leave, they nodded at him and went back to the car.

The rest of the three Alphas and Betas vacation went amazingly. Skye had said that she wanted to stay with them, they had celebrated it with good food and wine, and vodka for Natasha. Skye tried some of her vodka and wished she had not.

It was the day before they had to go back to work; and Maria asked Skye the day prior if she wanted to come and talk with Fury, Skye had said only if one of them were with her; it was decided that Maria and Melinda would be the ones to accompany her.

“How are you feeling about tomorrow?” Melinda asked, sitting down beside Skye on the couch. 

Skye looked up from her computer, “I don’t really know, I am nervous. The rumor online about Fury is that he is, a um dick, and an Alpha,” Skye said, the last part as a nervous mumble.

“Yeah, he can be a dick and he is an Alpha, but he is also our friend and he will not hurt you. We won’t let him. He is impressed by your skills, and he will probably offer you a job,” Melinda said.

“Really?” Skye asked.

“Really, really,” Melinda answered, bringing Skye into her side for a hug.

They had learned that Skye loved to hug or cuddle, once she lowered her guard a little, she was still a little hesitant, but they were working on it; maybe it would be better once, they found a bigger house, and Skye had her own space was contributing to the bills, which she was still insisting she would do.

It was funny, they knew Skye loved and thrived when they took care of her, but she insisted she would not be a burden for them, even when they kept saying that she was not. Hell, they loved it, when she let them take care of her.

“Hey, what are you two doing?” Bobbi asked when she came into the living room and sat down on Skye’s other side.

“Nothing much, just relaxing,” Melinda answered, sending a small glare at Bobbi over Skye’s head.

Skye knew exactly what Melinda was doing, it was both amusing and scary when they got all possessive over her, but until now they had been almost polite towards each other. 

“Okay then, so Skye are you feeling okay, about tomorrow?” Bobbi asked, Melinda snorted, very amused that she herself had just asked the same.

“Humph, what was that for?” Melinda asked, when there was a small jab in her side.

“You know why,” Skye said, giving her a pointed look, Melinda just smirked at Skye when she had turned her attention back to Bobbi.

Bobbi looked confused at the interaction, but when Skye turned back to her with a smile, she found that she did not really care. 

“Melinda just asked the same, I am nervous, but otherwise I am okay, I think,” Skye said.

“That’s good, you don’t have to worry too much, you will have Maria and Melinda with you, and Natasha and I, will not be far,” Bobbi said. Skye smiled at Bobbi and nodded.

Natasha and Maria came a few minutes later, and sat down, “Are you ready for tomorrow?” Natasha asked. Skye couldn’t contain her laughter, neither could Bobbi, Melinda could deny all she wanted, but Skye heard her chuckle too. Natasha and Maria didn’t have a clue to what was happening in front of them.

The five of them were at the checkpoint in front of the Triskelion, “Commander Hill, welcome back, who is with you in the car?” a woman asked.

“Hi, Hayward, thank you. I have Romanoff, May, Morse, and a guest with me. Her badge should be there, the name is Skye,” Maria said nodding at the woman.

“Ah yes, I can see that, here you go, and have a nice day,” the woman said, handing Maria a badge with a nod.

“Thank you, you too,” Maria said, handing the badge to Natasha beside her and driving off.

“Here Skye, you need to wear this when we get into the building,” Natasha said, handing Skye the badge.

“Okay,” Skye said and put on the badge.

They had parked the car and were on their way to Fury’s office. Natasha and Bobbi said they would be in one of the break rooms nearby; Maria knocked on the door, when they heard an “enter,” they walked in.

“Hill, May, welcome back,” an Alpha male, assumingly Fury, said from behind his desk.

“Hello sir,” Maria said, and May nodded. “Skye this is Nick Fury, our boss, and Nick this is Skye,” Maria said.

Skye did not really know what to do so she waved awkwardly, “Hi,” she said, he gave her a nod back.

“So, I would like to hear a little more about how you got that file and how you got into Romanoff and May’s house,” Fury said.

“Um, I don’t know, not really. I mean it took a while before I found the file, your system is good but, not that good. As to how I got into Nat and Mel’s house that's easy, seriously the panel is outside of the house, well it is only wires, but still, it was easy,” Skye said.

“Our technicians said that only one of the windows was disabled. They did not even know that that could be done, especially when you did not have access to the settings or control systems, so how did you do that?” Fury asked.

“I just did, messing around with the wires and stuff,” Skye answered.

“Messing around,” Fury said, disbelieving in his voice and body language.

“Okay, I would like to offer you a job, but considering who your mates are, we have to keep your identity a secret to most of the organization, as protection, and I don’t think we need to send you to the academy, but a SO will be appointed to you,” Fury said.

“SO?” Skye asked.

“Supervising officer, a trainer you could call it. This person will teach you the rules and protocols we have, but I have a feeling that your mates want to help with your combat training,” Fury said.

“Ah okay, that sounds okay, but I am not really into the big brother company thing,” Skye said.

“That is okay, we have a lot of freelancers and consultants that feel the same way, I even think some of our agents feel like that,” Fury said.

Before Skye made her decision, she looked over to Maria and Melinda in confirmation of what Fury said to be true, both responded with a nod to say he was being truthful. 

Skye turned back to Fury, “Okay what would I be doing on a daily basis?” Skye asked.

“Well, first you will have a few weeks with your SO, learn from them, and during that time, I would like to know how you got past the alarm system. I would also like for you to take a look at our cybersecurity and improve it,” Fury said.

“Okay, that doesn't sound so bad,” Skye said.

“Great, but first we have to register you in our database. Only agents that are level 9 or higher can see the real file on you, others will just see a consultant file,” Fury said.

Skye looked nervously at him and then Melinda and Maria, but nodded in acceptance. “So, it will appear that I am only a consultant, but I am really an agent?” Skye asked in confirmation. 

“Yes, that’s correct, it is all for your protection,” Fury said, Skye looked to Melinda and Maria again, both of them smiled at her. 

“And then when your fill has been processed, and office set up, I would like you to take a look at this, when you have time in between the other tasks you have been given,” Fury said, pulling an absolutely ancient laptop from a drawer in his desk and setting it in front of her. “Your first task will be to crack this. We have had it for years, and no one has been able to get it open. I think maybe you can,” Fury said, her hands itched to get a hold on the old computer, loving the challenge.

“You will have an office in the consultant wing of the teaching department, a few floors down from here, beside Melinda’s department actually, so you will be close to one of your mates,” Fury said.

“When do I start?” Skye asked.

“Hmm, what about today, when we are done here?” Fury asked.

“Fine by me,” Skye said, still eyeing the old computer.

“Do we have to be worried?” Maria asked, nudging Skye.

“What?” Skye asked, looking confused at Maria.

“With the way you are looking at that computer,” Maria explained, Skye scowled at her. Melinda chucked, hugging Skye with one arm.

“Don’t tease her Maria,” Melinda said.

“Fine, fine,” Maria said.

“Can we move this along,” Skye grumbled.

Maria and Melinda walked with Skye, who had the old computer in hand, to the tech department. Skye was told that it would raise suspicions if Melinda were to go with her and Maria, but she would be just across the hall, if Skye needed anything. Melinda said goodbye at the door and also offered to take the old computer with her, she told Skye she could lock it in her desk for her. Skye smiled and looked to Maria for permission, when she got it, Skye gave Melinda the computer.

“And here is your office miss Sutter” Maria said, they had settled for the last name of Sutter for Skye.

“Thanks, it looks a little bare,” Skye said.

“Yes, but on the plus side, consultants can decorate their offices how they want. You also won’t be interrupted as much, since there is a small divider between the full SHIELD employees and the consultants. This end is primarily for the consultants and the other for the full SHIELD employees,” Maria said.

“Cool,” Skye said.

“So, what do you want for your office?” Maria asked.

“Can I have a mini fridge?” Skye asked.

“Yes, what would you like it to be filled with?” Maria said.

“Uhm,” Skye just looked at Maria.

“What about water, soda, and energy drinks,” Maria said more than asked.

“Sure, that would be nice,” Skye answered.

“Then I will put that in, when the other fridges and break rooms are restocked, so will yours be,” Maria said.

Skye chose not to say anything in response to that, but she did ask if she could get a small soft rug and a beanbag. Maria said that wouldn’t be a problem, they also ordered a desk, a chair, and some shelves. 

“So what kind of snacks do you want?” Maria asked.

“Umm some kind of trail mix, hummus, peanut butter, pretzels, granola, chips, and jerky,” Skye said, Maria looked at her, before nodding. 

“And some fruits,” Maria said.

“And some fruits,” Skye parroted, which earned her a small glare from Maria. 

“Why do I get a feeling that you are going to be trouble?” Maria asked/half joked, Skye just smirked.

“And why do I get a feeling that you are going over budget for my office?” Skye asked.

“I’m not going over budget, Fury raised it for your office,” Maria said.

“Ah ha,” Skye exclaimed.

Maria shook her head, “Come on, we have to go meet your SO, she should be in the conference room soon,” Maria said.

“Who is my SO anyway?” Skye asked.

“Her name is Victoria Hand, she is level 8 and will be the next head of the Hub in a few months, so she was the perfect option,” Maria said.

“What is she like?” Skye asked nervously.

“She can be a bitch sometimes, but she is a good person,” Maria answered.

“Does she know about us?” Skye asked.

“No, not yet, but she should, that way she can better train you,” Maria said.

It didn’t take long for them to get back up to the upper floors. Maria opened a door to a conference room and they were greeted by a tall woman with a red streak in her dark brown hair. 

“Commander Hill, I was told that I would be assigned a recruit,” Victoria Hand said when they walked into the room.

“Hand, that is correct. Skye, this is Victoria Hand, Hand this is Skye,” Maria said.

“Hi,” Skye waved her hand.

“Hello,” Hand said, putting out her hand to shake Skye’s; Skye took it and shook her hand. 

“Let’s sit down so we can talk,” Maria said.

Victoria Hand massaged her head, “So, you and Bobbi share a soulmate, an Omega soulmate, with Romanoff and May? And I will be her SO? She is going to work in IT on floor seven as a consultant, on paper at least, but in reality, she is an agent?” she asked.

“Yes,” Maria said, Hand sighed.

“Okay, but I am still leaving in a few months, how will that work then?” Hand asked.

“We were thinking, remote counseling and a few face-to-face meetings, where either you come here, or Skye comes to you,” Maria said.

“Okay, I am assuming we start today or?” Hand asked.

“Yes, if you could take Skye down to get her badge and ID, and then give her a tour. After that, it is up to you as to what to do,” Maria said, Hand nodded in response.

They all stood from the table and Maria and Hand shook hands. Maria then turned to Skye, “See you later, and don’t worry we are all close by if anything happens,” Maria told her, they hugged and then Maria left.

“Well shall we?” Hand asked.

“Yeah,” Skye answered, together they walked to IT on the ground floor. “So, why are there so many IT departments?” Skye asked.

“The different departments do different things, for example the ones on floor 3 and 9 are the same, they make sure every agent's computers and connections work as they should, they also make sure every piece of tech in the conference and briefing rooms work, along with working closely with some of the mechanics. And the one we are going to now, on the ground floor, makes sure we receive the correct badges, and visitors get the right ID; they work closely with security. The department you will be working in works with security and mission operation. Due to your status as a consultant, people will only see or know you to work on a few projects, but in reality, you will have a few more projects,” Hand answered.

After Skye had gotten her badge, they went to Victoria’s office. Skye became nervous sitting in front of the tall Alpha.

“Relax Skye, I was just checking how you would do under my judgmental look, you did very well. Most of the agents in SHIELD, almost piss their pants. You only looked a little uncomfortable,” when Skye scowled at her, she smiled, “and even glared back, I like you!” Hand said, Skye huffed. Hand stood up and went over to one of the bookcases and took something from it. “Here, I want you to read these,” Hand said, handing Skye three big and heavy binders.

“What are they?” Skye asked.

“The top one it all of SHIELD’S rules, the second is protocols, and the last one is guidelines for consultants,” Hand said.

“When do you want me to read them by?” Skye asked.

“Hmm, as fast as possible, I will quiz you from time to time. Let’s put these in your office, and then go on the tour,” Hand said.

Later, when Maria came and picked her up from her office, Skye was playing on her phone and didn’t hear Maria arrive. Maria just stood by the door for a moment before knocking on the frame, Skye jumped and fell off her chair. “You okay?” Maria asked, rushing to Skye’s side.

“Yeah, you just startled me,” Skye said, accepting Maria’s hand to help her up.

“Remind me to tell Hand to work on your awareness of your surroundings,” Maria said, causing Skye to groan. 

“Was it that bad, with Hand?” Maria asked amused.

“No, she’s cool, I just have one question?” Skye said.

“Yeah, what?” Maria said.

“Her judgmental look, is that a thing?” Skye asked, looking around, to see if anyone was looking at them.

“How did you do?” was Maria’s answer.

“So it is a thing!” Skye exclaimed.

“Yes, and you still have the same pants on, as you did earlier, so that’s good,” Maria said, only to have Skye huff.

“She said I did very well,” Skye said.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Maria said, still amused and it showed in her tone.

Skye took the three binders she had been given, and gave them to Maria, and walked out. Maria stood still for a moment, looking between the three heavy binders in her arms and to the door a few times, before running after Skye.

“Hey, these are heavy!” Maria said when she caught up to Skye.

“Why do you think I gave them to you,” Skye said, smirking.

“You are lucky you are cute,” Maria said.

“This way,” Maria said, gesturing to a different way than Skye was heading, Skye gave her a weird look.

“Isn’t the way to the garage, this way?” Skye said, pointing to the direction she wanted to go.

“It is, but we are taking another way, the others are waiting for us,” Maria said, turning and walking in a different direction, looking back to check if Skye was following her, which she was.

A few minutes later Skye saw Natasha, Melinda, and Bobbi.

“So, Maria, why did you change the plan about meeting at the car?” Natasha asked.

“And why are we meeting in a dark corner, where no one ever comes?” Melinda asked, while Maria disposed of the binders in Bobbi’s arms.

“Because we are taking a different route, a route that only Fury and I have had access to, until now,” Maria said, taking her ID-card and just waving it in front of the left corner of the wall, where a door appeared. “Come on,” Maria said.

“Um, Maria why didn’t I know about this?” Bobbi asked.

“You weren’t cleared to,” Maria answered.

“Uh,” was Bobbi replay.

“Don’t worry Bobbi, we didn’t know about this either,” Melinda said.

“You four will from now on, we also have a small private parking garage that also has access to the main one,” Maria said.

“And what are these?” Bobbi asked.

“Skye’s homework from Hand,” Maria said.

“Okay?” Bobbi said, confusedly looking at Skye.

“What? They are heavy, so I gave them to Maria,” Skye said, Melinda gave Skye a wink and took two of the binders and handed one over to Natasha.

“Melinda, Natasha, and Bobbi, I have your new IDs. Skye yours is already equipped with the necessary code,” Maria said.

“Um Maria, not that all this isn’t nice and all, but why?” Skye asked,

“Both Fury and I thought it would be best, as a protection if something should happen, we can all get away fast and undetected. This will also provide us with some privacy when we all walk together. It’ll also protect you Skye, it would be very dangerous for you, if the wrong people learned about you and us. Then there is also the whole 084 business; it will be best too, if people around here didn’t see you with one of us all the time, people would get suspicious,” Maria said, Skye swallowed the lump in her throat, but nodded.

They soon came to an elevator, Maria pressed the button to the lowest level, “On the top floor is a small break room that we can use sometimes,” Maria mumbled. They quickly made their way through the private garage and then to their car.

“Why was it again we only took one car?” Bobbi asked.

“Because we all wanted to drive with Skye on her first day,” Natasha answered.

On the way back to Melinda and Natasha’s house, Maria informed the others that Victoria liked Skye.  

Chapter Text

It has been a week since Skye’s first day. Her first week she was mostly following Victoria around, as Victoria said she could call her when they were alone, if not it was Agent Hand. Her own office was finished on her third day, so she was sent there when Victoria had a meeting, to read up on protocols.

Skye liked Victoria, the Alpha was stern but also kind and easy going when she noticed Skye wasn’t up for a stern SO, but Victoria did demand respect. Skye was surprised she wanted and did respect the Alpha. It was one of the only times Skye had met an Alpha, or any person really, that she respected so quickly. It wasn’t the same as with her soulmates, she felt a different type of respect for Victoria.

She had mentioned it to Maria one day on their way home, it had only been them in the car, since Victoria and Maria had been in a meeting and Skye was working on something Victoria had put her on. Melinda had gotten off earlier, and Bobbi and Natasha were both on missions.

“Well it could be that you just like Victoria or she could be your Alpha,” Maria said.

“But aren’t Natasha, Melinda, and Bobbi my Alphas?” Skye asked, confused.

“No, they are your soulmates, not your Alpha,” Maria said wondering if Skye had ever been told about how their dynamics worked.

“I don’t understand,” Skye said, and was also starting to get upset.

Maria could smell fear, anger, confusion, and nervousness, coming from Skye in waves so she pulled over the first chance she got and parked the car.

Turning to Skye, she could see how Skye was trying to control herself. Maria laid a calming hand, or so she hoped, on Skye’s thigh, it worked as Skye looked over to her, “Skye, what do you know about dynamics?” Maria asked, Skye blinked.

“We just have them, it’s how the world works,” Skye answered, uncertainty in her voice.

“That’s not entirely true, do you remember when you told us about the Alpha that stole your van from you, and his Beta?” Maria asked, when Skye nodded she continued. “How did you know he was his Beta?” Maria asked.

“I’ve seen it many times, Beta's and Omega’s following Alpha’s around and just doing what they say. I’ll never understand why they would do that, and the way he was around the Alpha was like that,” Skye answered.

“Do you know how an Alpha gets a Beta or Omega to follow them?” Maria asked.

“Yeah, they um they, don’t they just do?” Skye said, Maria smiled a sad smile.

“No, Skye, it’s a feeling. Like you have said yourself, you feel something around Victoria, you want to respect her and already do, and you want to follow what she says, and if she is your Alpha, she will feel the same,” Maria said.

“Wait, are you saying I will become some mindless fool following Victoria around like a lost puppy,” Skye asked both destress and disgust in her voice and scent.

“NO,” Maria said firmly, not liking the idea she put in her head. Skye flinched back at the tone Maria used.

Maria softened when she saw how she scared Skye, “I’m sorry Skye,” Maria pleaded, Skye looked at her and nodded softly. “What I meant was it isn’t like that. Or if Victoria is your Alpha, she won’t do that to you. She will respect you, she may already know if she is or not, and is just waiting for you to say something. Just because she is your Alpha doesn’t mean you have to follow her in that way. For example, Fury is actually my Alpha, but I don’t really follow him in that way,” Maria told Skye.

“But I have heard you curse him out and even threaten him,” Skye said, Maria smirked.

“Like I said, he is my Alpha, even if I don’t follow him, we are still bonded to each other. Not as close as if I followed him, and very far from a soulmate bond,” Maria said.

“So if Victoria is my Alpha, I won’t have to follow her. Could I get another SO if it doesn’t work between us, if I say no?” Skye asked.

“It’s a choice, and you could get another SO even if Victoria is your Alpha and you choose to follow her, but you have to talk to Victoria about it,” Maria said.

“I think I understand now, but would you come with me?” Skye asked with pleading eyes.

“Of course, anything,” Maria answered, giving Skye’s thigh a small squeeze before driving off again.

When they got home, Melinda was waiting with food. Skye was quiet and distant thinking of her conversation with Maria in the car. She hadn’t known that it was a choice to follow an Alpha, and the possibility that Victoria was her Alpha, and how to bring it up with the women. Maybe she should just ask Maria to ask Victoria if she had noticed anything, but she got the feeling that Maria would only come as a backup.

Melinda watched Skye push her food around and not eat anything. She looked to Maria in question, but Maria shook her head and mouthed “later”. Melinda nodded but still kept an eye on Skye, who had taken a few bites.

That night when Skye had gone to bed, Maria explained what had happened on the way home. 

“I think Victoria could be good for Skye, and if they are bonded, she has a safe place away from us if she needs it,” Melinda said.

“Yeah, three Alphas and a beta for soulmates can’t be easy,” Maria said.

“Especially when they are two soulmate pairs,” Melinda said, Maria chuckled at that.

“Yeah,” Maria said.

Over the next few days Skye talked a lot with Maria, getting her opinion about how she should bring it up with Victoria about her possibly being her Alpha, or if she just liked Victoria. Maria told her that she was very blunt with Fury at the time, but it was up to her how and if she even wanted to bring it up.

Natasha and Bobbi had come back from their missions on the same day, just at different times. Skye was happy to see them but did not like the bruise Natasha had on her face, or that Bobbi had her right arm bandaged. They both insisted that they were fine, Natasha said one of the men she was fighting got lucky.

Bobbi said she cut herself jumping out of a window. Skye nodded but sat close to them that evening and at breakfast, she had pulled them down beside her that morning. She still had her spot at the table, while the others rotated their spots, to keep it fair, Bobbi had said in the beginning of their vacation almost three weeks ago.

She mentioned to the rest of her mates what her and Maria had been talking about. Bobbi complained in a whiny tone they probably won’t see her as much if that was true, Maria had rolled her eyes and told her to shut up, and that she knew that wouldn’t happen. Natasha said she supported any choice she made regarding Victoria, so did Melinda. Bobbi was still sulking and mumbling things like couldn’t that have waited a little while longer and it was hard enough, Maria just shushed her again. Skye was strangely amused by Bobbi’s sulking, and let it show, which only led to more sulking from Bobbi.     

It was a Wednesday, Victoria was quizzing Skye on protocols.

“We have a breach in sector 5A,” Victoria said.

“Close V5 to 9, A1 to 4, post guests on the roof, basement exists, and the main entrance, and send a strike team in,” Skye said, some of the parts clear and others a little uncertain.

“Very good,” Victoria said, nodding her head in approval and looking down at some papers and writing something down. Skye smiled at the praise, she had not gotten a lot of it growing up, of course there was a lot cheering for her in The Rising Tides, but that was not the same.

No, Victoria was proud of her, not what she had done, it was just something Skye knew, she could feel it and that meant something for Skye.

“Victoria?” Skye asked softly.

Victoria looked up, “Yes,” she said with a soft look in her eyes.

“Um, I don’t know how to ask about this, or if I even should, it’s just, you know,” Skye groaned when she couldn’t voice her question, she should have waited for Maria to be with her.    

“If this is about if I feel a connection with you, as in the Alpha Omega dynamic connection, then yes I feel it, but I was waiting for you to say something,” Victoria said sitting up straight, it almost looked like Victoria was trying to look stronger and more appealing.

Skye tilted her head at the action.

“Have you been thinking about it, or do you want to talk about it first?” Victoria asked.

“I have talked a little about it, over all things, with Maria, and I have given it a thought, but I am still unsure,” Skye answered, Victoria nodded.

“That’s good, in the end no one can force you to take up the bond completely,” Victoria said.

“What about you, how long have you known, and do you want the connection?” Skye asked, biting her lip.

“I have known for about a week and a half, and yes I have been thinking about it, and talked with my soulmate about it, Isabell or Izzy, she is also an Alpha. And yes, I do want it, but if you don’t I will respect that, as any sane Alpha or Beta should,” Victoria said.

Skye sat still thinking about what Victoria said, she would have to bring another Alpha into her life, if she agreed to the connection with Victoria. She didn’t know if she could do that, if it had been a Beta, it would be easier, even if said Beta would be Victoria’s soulmate.

“Do you want to meet her before deciding anything, I know you don’t like or trust Alpha’s much? You can bring Maria if you want?” Victoria asked in a curious voice, bringing her out of her head. Skye looked up and gave a small nod, Victoria smiled at her, a real genuine grateful smile, “Thank you,” Victoria said, Skye didn’t know how to react, so she just nodded.

They went back to Victoria quizzing Skye.

It was Melinda’s turn to drive her home since Maria had been called to another base and wouldn’t be home until late that night.

She did tell Melinda and Bobbi, who was still on the bench, as Bobbi called it, due to her arm, but Natasha had been sent away again. Bobbi told Skye that she knows an Isabella that is called Izzy in SHIELD but didn’t know if it was the same person; if it happened to be the same person, she was cool and funny.

Skye asked Bobbi a few more questions about her, before Melinda put an end to the conversation. She stated that she was only getting more concerned about meeting Victoria’s soulmate and connecting with Victoria, that she should take a break.

Skye knew Melinda was right, so she asked Bobbi what she had done all day.

The next day Skye awoke to Natasha’s soft voice telling her she had to get up, and that breakfast was ready.

“Nat, your back,” Skye said, Natasha smiled.

“Yeah just got home a few minutes ago, barely beat Melinda to the door when I heard she was on her way to wake you up. I also heard you have been busy, with conversations with Victoria,” Natasha said.

“Yeah, like I told Maria last night, it just happened,” Skye said, Natasha only smiled.

“We’ll see you in a minute,” She said before leaving the room.

Skye dressed before going to the kitchen where Melinda, Natasha, and Maria were sitting at the table.

“Good morning Skye, did you sleep well?” Maria asked.

“Yeah, thanks. Did you all sleep well too?” Skye said, they responded with various yeses.

“Where’s Bobbi?” Skye asked, taking a piece of toast while Natasha pores some coffee for her, Skye smiled at Natasha in thanks.

“In the shower,” Maria answered, Skye nodded and looked for the jam for her toast. Maria handed it to her, “looking for this?” Maria asked.

“Yes, thank you Maria,” Skye answered.

Skye started to eat, she did notice both Maria and Natasha were just staring at her, even Melinda but she only glanced up a few times from the paper she was reading.

“Okay guys, we talked about this, I don’t like you staring at me while I’m eating,” Skye said with a small whine.

“Sorry,” Maria said, looking away with a blush and also looking slightly ashamed.

Natasha also looked away, “It’s hard not to sometimes. You look very happy today, so it’s harder,” Natasha grumbled. Melinda gave Natasha a small slap on the shoulder, “What I mean is, it’s always nice to see you, even if you aren’t happy, well I mean we want you to be happy,” Natasha said rambled.

“Don’t you think it would be best to be quiet right about now, Nat?” Maria asked, amused.

Natasha looked around and nodded when she saw not only was Maria amused but so was Melinda; Skye also looked like she was having a hard time not laughing.

Skye was on her third piece of toast when Bobbi arrived in the kitchen with damp hair, “Good morning,” Bobbi greeted.

“Morning,” Skye said back.

“So, what's the plan for everyone today?” Bobbi asked.

“Paper work,” Melinda answered dryly.

“I don’t know, I’ll figure it out when I get to the Triskelion,” Natasha answered.

“Meetings mostly,” Maria said, Bobbi then looked at Skye.

“I am meeting Victoria and then I have a meeting with Fury. He wants to know how I got in here today, and if we have time today, I’ll take a look at the security servers. If not, I’ll take a look at it tomorrow when I finish with whatever Victoria gives to do,” Skye said.

Bobbi sighed, “What are your plans for today Bobbi?” Skye asked.

“I have none, it’s boring to be benched,” Bobbi said.

“You could always watch Star Wars,” Maria said, Bobbi looked like it hadn’t occurred to her that she could.

“Well now I know what to do when you are gone,” Bobbi said, to the amusement of the others.

Chapter Text

Victoria had rescheduled their meet up to after her meeting with Fury, she said she was needed to oversee a high class mission, but she gave Skye a drill to run over before she was meant to meet Fury.

When it came to her meeting with Fury, Skye had been positive she could explain how she had tricked the alarm system on Melinda and Natasha’s house. However, she couldn’t explain more than how she did it, not how she knew it or anything, just the steps, but when another agent had tried it, it had failed.

Skye was confused. She had explained every step and when she did it in front of Fury and the tech agent who had tried, it worked and even after the agent had seen how to do it, he still couldn’t do it.

Fury had dismissed the agent and told Skye to follow him. She took her bag and Fury took one of the SHIELD issued tech bags with them. When they were in front of his office, he told Skye to break in.

And that was where she was now, staring at Fury.

“You want me to break into your office?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes, no one has ever done it before, and I still have my theories about you, so try,” he said.

“How long do I have?” Skye asked.

“Until your SO arrives,” Fury said, sitting in one of the chairs in the small waiting area, while his secretary, who had just been sitting and listening, had her mouth open in surprise.

She looked through the bag Fury had taken, and then gently opened the small panel by the door and took a look.

“Hmm, I need my computer,” Skye mumbled to herself, and luckily, she had it in her bag that she had been carrying, so she plugged it in and started working.

After a half hour, Maria showed up only to see Skye sitting on the floor muttering to herself in front of Fury’s key panel with tools around her, her computer by her side, and wires sticking out. Fury in an armchair watching, and his secretary trying to work but was gobsmacked at both Fury and Skye.

“What’s going on here?” She asked, Skye didn’t show that she heard her, Fury turned to her.

“She’s breaking into my office,” Fury answered, Maria just stood there sharing a look with the secretary, before giving up on trying to understand why, and sat down beside Fury and handed him some papers and reports.

Skye was tapping away and messing with the wires for another hour and a half, the secretary had left to get her lunch a few minutes ago, when they heard a click, then a hiss, and they then saw Fury’s office door opening.

Skye turned around while saying “Done” when she noticed Maria.

“Hey, Maria, when did you get here?” Skye asked.

Maria smiled at how cute Skye looked at the moment, with messy hair and clothes. How it got that way, Maria didn’t want to think about. “A while ago, I did say ‘Hi’,” Maria said.

Skye looked a little sheepishly at that, and stood up, Maria came over to her and started to straighten out her hair and then clothes.

Fury cleared his throat, “Are you two done with that?” He asked, again Skye looked a little sheepish, but Maria stood proud.

“For now,” Maria said, smirking down at Skye who looked away, Fury rolled his eyes.

“Can it lock again, or do I need tech to come here and fix it?” Fury asked Skye.

“Um, it should be able to lock again, and open like normal. You only told me to open it. I didn’t do damage to anything really, but maybe have your tech look at it later or run a scan on the system tonight just to be safe. It will work fine for the rest of the day, but tomorrow not so much,” Skye said.

“What do you mean?” Fury asked.

“Well, like I said, I didn’t do any real damage on a short term basis, but the long, aka tomorrow, there will be damage, just a little,” Skye said gesturing with her thumb and index finger.

“I’ll let them know to come later and look it over,” Fury said, then he turned to Maria.

“Hill, your girl just did something only one other person has managed to do, but in only a fraction of the time and with less equipment,” Fury said, impressed and very, very glad that she was an ally. He still won’t say that Skye was one of them, the girl was still wary about S.H.I.E.L.D. and her soulmates. He could see that Hill and May were good at handling Skye, and never overstepped her boundaries, he could also see that Hill and May were over the moon to have the girl close to them. He hadn’t seen Skye around Romanoff and Morse much to say anything about how they affected Skye and the other way around.

Fury went into his office, gesturing for Skye and Maria to follow. He sat down in his chair behind his desk, Skye and Maria sat down in front of him, waiting for him to start.

“I would like to do some tests-” Fury started to say but was interrupted by Maria.

“Absolutely not will I have you do any test on Skye, and neither will the others. I am pretty sure that Romanoff will kill you, if I don’t kill you first,” Maria said in an angry tone, letting some angry pheromones out, she had also stood up to stand closer to Skye.

Fury raised his hands. He knew that Maria was telling the truth and he took the threat seriously, “Maria not those kinds of tests, I simply meant like just now with my door, those kinds of tests,” Fury said calmly.

Maria calmed down a little but did move the chair she had been sitting in closer to Skye, who hadn’t said a word. Maria looked at her with concern, did she frighten Skye with her pheromones?

Maria was about to ask Skye if she was okay, but before she could, Skye chose that moment to ask Fury a question.

“Do you think my ability, if we can call it that, with computers and systems, can have something to do with what happened in Hunan? That I may be or have had contact with an 084?” She asked, pretty much ignoring Maria.

“Yes, especially when you can’t exactly explain how you are doing what you are doing, or why, beside the step by step, which does not work when other agents try doing it, or how you know it,” Fury said, Skye nodded.

“If I agree, what kind of tests would they be more precisely? Would you be the one conducting them?” Skye asked. 

Fury looked thoughtful for a moment, “I would be involved, of course, but I was thinking your SO and maybe your mates should do it. As for what tests they would be, I don’t know yet, I would have to discuss it with your mates and Hand, if we do this of course,” Fury said, again Skye nodded.

“I’ll think about it and talk it over with the others,” Skye said, this time it was Fury’s turn to nod, while Maria was just staring between them not liking where this was going or that Skye was avoiding her.

“Sir, agent Hand is here for Miss Sutter,” Fury’s secretary said through the office telephone.

“Thank you, she will be out in a minute,” Fury answered, he then turned to Skye and Maria, the latter didn’t look very happy and kept glancing over at Skye who was still ignoring her.

“We can discuss this, all of us, next week, I’ll have a meeting set up,” Fury said.

“Okay,” Skye said, and Maria just nodded. She wanted out of here and to get Skye alone, so they could talk. Fury dismissed Skye, and Maria made to follow when Fury called her back, reminding her that they still had other things to go over. Maria cursed to herself and sat down again, watching Skye walk out and close the door.

Skye and Victoria decided to join Melinda for lunch, well Victoria did it because it looked like Skye needed to be close to a mate who wasn’t Maria. Victoria noticed the way Maria looked at Skye and the way Skye was avoiding Maria’s gaze, and the way Skye’s shoulders sagged when Fury called Maria back. So yes, maybe some supervised time with Melinda would do Skye some good, even if Skye tried to hide she was upset about something. She was positive it had something to do with Maria, but what? Could it have something to do with the hint of Maria’s pheromones she could smell?

Victoria texted Melinda telling her not to ask, that she bring lunch for her, herself, and Skye and for her to come to her office to eat.

When Melinda arrived, she was about to ask Victoria what was happening, but stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed Skye tapping on her computer, which wasn’t weird, she was on that thing more than not, but it was the way she was both tapping it slowly and the way she looked and composed herself.

Melinda had never seen Skye so guarded, not even when her and Natasha caught her in their house and the days following, she turned towards Victoria with anger in her eyes.

“Hey, I have just picked her up from speaking with Fury and Hill,” Victoria defended herself.

“Then why is Maria not here?” Melinda asked.

“I think it was her that upset Skye,” Victoria said quietly and calmly.

Melinda was taken aback by that. She looked like she wanted to hunt down Maria and demand to know what happened, but didn’t, she could do that later. Right now, Skye looked to be needing her more, she walked over to where Skye was sitting.

“Hey,” Melinda said, sitting down beside her on the couch, Skye looked up and gave her a small smile.

“Hey,” she said back.

“I brought lunch,” Melinda told Skye. Skye looked up to see the food on Victoria’s desk, she closed her laptop, and walked with Melinda the short distance over to the desk and sat down.

They ate in mostly silence with Melinda glancing over at Skye multiple times. Once they were done eating, Victoria excused herself and left the room, so Melinda could talk with Skye.

“What happened?” Melinda asked.

“Nothing,” Skye answered.

“Skye, I know something happened and so does Victoria, that’s why she texted me to come,” Melinda told Skye.

Skye looked at Melinda, “She did?” Skye asked, Melinda nodded.

“We were in Fury’s office, him, me, and Maria. I had just broken into his office,” Skye started. Melinda really wanted to know why she broke into Fury’s office but didn’t interrupt Skye.

“He told me to, by the way, but we sat down, he started to say he wanted to do some tests and Maria almost blew up on him. She was angry, and she used pheromones, a lot,” Skye said.

Now Melinda understood, Maria was strong, extremely strong, even for a Beta, no wonder Skye was a mess.

“Come here,” Melinda said, standing up and opening her arms. Skye was hesitant but slowly she stood up and walked into Melinda’s patiently waiting arms.

Melinda was sad that it took so long for Skye to stand up to let her hug her, Skye usually almost always jumped at the chance for a hug. Damn you Maria, Melinda thought to herself.

Skye untangled herself from the hug a moment later, and dragged her feet over to the couch again, pulling her computer on her lap. She looked up at Melinda and then glanced at the space beside her and up at Melinda again.

Melinda understood, so she sat down beside Skye, and now she could see what Skye was doing, she was running drills that Victoria had given her.

Victoria came back ten minutes later, Skye had moved to lean on Melinda, and Melinda had an arm slung over Skye’s shoulder.

“See you later,” Melinda said, carefully nuzzling her nose on top of Skye’s head, she felt Skye nod her head. Skye sat up, so Melinda could stand up, another look just to make sure Skye would be okay, Melinda gave Victoria a nod, and left to go back to work, even if she rather wanted to take Skye home.

But on the way back to her office, she made up her mind to go find Maria. On her way, she bumped into Natasha. Melinda filled her in on what she knew, and Natasha followed Melinda, they agreed to check Maria’s office first, but on the way, Fury walked by, he didn’t even look at them, just said, “Upper gym.”

When they arrived in the upper gym, Maria was the only one there. She was beating the hell out of a punching bag, without having wrapped her hands.

Natasha and Melinda shared a look at that, Maria knew how to wrap her hands and that she should have.

“Maria!” Melinda called out, Maria stopped but didn’t turn around.

“What happened?” Natasha asked, trying very hard not to rip into Maria, as she was the one who was the closest to Skye and now Maria could have ruined it for them all in the long run.

“I’m not in the mood for a lecture, I already feel like shit,” Maria said, still not facing them.

“You should, so now tell us what happened,” Melinda said in a hard tone.

Maria sighed, “We were in Fury’s office and he said he wanted to do some tests. I saw red, lost control, and jumped to the conclusion that he wanted to experiment on Skye. I didn’t even let him finish what he was saying. If I had, none of this would have happened,” Maria said, still not facing them.  

“That isn’t like you Maria, you are always level headed, even in extreme situations, that's why you are the deputy director. You need to put on your big girl pants and make it up to Skye,” Natasha said, stepping closer to Maria and turning her around, she was tired of talking to her back.

When Maria was turned around, both her and Melinda could see how the whole situation had affected Maria. Maria had been crying, there were still tears in her eyes and down her cheek.

“I don’t know how,” Maria admitted.

“You need to figure it out, and preferably today or tomorrow,” Natasha said.

Maria let out a frustrated huff, “And how should I do that, she practically ran away from me,” Maria snapped at Natasha.

“Arguing won’t help here, and Skye will need time for herself to gather her thoughts. I would like this to be resolved just as quickly as you two, but Maria you can’t rush this, take it slow, show her you are remorseful for what happened, and want to make it up to her. Don’t say you don’t know how,” Melinda interrupted them.

Maria nodded her understanding and went to take a shower, Natasha turned to Melinda when Maria was gone.

“What was that?” Natasha asked.

“Nat, you know if we start fighting we will make it worse. Skye’s number one fear is of us fighting. Bobbi will properly give Maria an earful when we get home, we just need to distract Skye when she does,” Melinda said.

“Fine,” Natasha grumbled.

They had decided that Maria would drive home alone, or Maria had suggested it and Melinda and Natasha agreed to it.

Melinda and Natasha came to Victoria’s office to pick up Skye.

“Hey, are you ready to go home?” Melinda asked, Skye looked nervous and kept looking over at Victoria.

Natasha observed Skye and Victoria, and listened to Skye stammer, “You’re not coming home tonight,” Natasha said sadly, Skye looked down.

Melinda picked up what Natasha meant, and the way Victoria was ready for anything, if she read her body language right.

She looked at Skye and she smiled sadly, “It’s okay, we understand, am I guessing right that you will spend the night at Victoria’s?” Melinda said, Skye nodded carefully.  

“Okay, but remember we are only a call or text away if you need anything,” Melinda told Skye. Again, Skye nodded and hugged Melinda and then Natasha, which both Natasha and Melinda took as a good sign.

“Take care of her,” Natasha both told and asked Victoria at the same time, Victoria nodded. Natasha, satisfied with that, looked back at Skye, who looked relieved, smiling at Skye, who gave a small smile back, and Natasha left the office.

Melinda followed soon after, having done almost the same as Natasha, just to be sure that Skye would be okay at Victoria’s for the night.

When they got home, Maria and Bobbi were talking in the kitchen, and Bobbi didn’t look very happy, they looked up when they entered the kitchen.

“Where’s Skye?” Bobbi asked.

“With Victoria, she’s not coming home tonight,” Melinda answered, Maria tried to make herself smaller.

“I’m sorry,” Maria told them, Natasha and Melinda nodded that they knew, Bobbi on the other hand glared at Maria.

“Let’s not fight, yes Maria fucked up and needs to fix it,” Natasha told Bobbi, just like Melinda had with her earlier that day. Bobbi huffed and sat down, still sending small glares at Maria.

When they went to bed, Melinda and Natasha could hear Maria and Bobbi alternating from arguing to planning how Maria should apologize to Skye and make it up to her, to arguing again, to having sex, Bobbi clearly in charge.

It was a mess that they had gotten in. Hopefully they could get Skye to come back tomorrow, if they couldn’t, they just had to suck it up and be patient.

Chapter Text

Skye followed Victoria to her car two hours after she had said goodbye to Melinda and Natasha.

She was sad, she already missed them.

But as Victoria had talked to her about what happened earlier right after lunch and Melinda had left, that it could be a good idea to spend some time away, maybe just the night or it could be longer, Victoria told her she was welcome at her place as long as she needed.

She had accepted her offer. She needed to think, even if she missed her soulmates and it hurt a little thinking about leaving them just for a night, but Maria had really scared her, so she took Victoria’s offer.

Victoria lived close to the Triskelion in an apartment with her soulmate Izzy. Victoria asked if she should text Izzy and ask if she could spend the night somewhere else, but Skye declined. She didn’t want to ask someone to leave their own home, just so she could sleep on the couch. 

Victoria smiled and joked that Skye wouldn’t be the one asked, she herself would tell Izzy to sleep somewhere else, but it fell flat, Skye didn’t think it was funny.

Victoria and Skye walked into the apartment, it was an open floor with a big kitchen and living room, she could see a door that was open that led to a bedroom and another door which could be a bathroom since there wasn’t any other doors beside the closet by the front door.

Skye froze when she noticed that there were three other women in the apartment that were sitting on the couch. They all looked at her causing her to take a step to the side so she was behind Victoria. She didn’t know that there would be more people here, she had thought only Victoria's soulmate would be here, not two more people.

“Izzy, I didn’t know we had guests,” Victoria said, not moving away from where she was standing.

“It’s just Kara and Sharon, they are hardly guests, they are our Betas after all,” one of the women said, Izzy, a tall brunette too, Skye would guess.

“But who is this?” Izzy asked, standing up, and yes, she was tall.

“This is Skye, she needs a place to sleep tonight, and I offered our couch,” Victoria said, Skye saw Izzy’s eyes light up.

“Skye your rookie and possibly Omega, that Skye?” Izzy asked with a grin.

Victoria looked down at Skye then up at her soulmate “Yes,” was all she said.

The two other women stood up, one with black hair around her own height, and the other was a blond who was also taller than her; now she could smell their Beta scents.

She glanced up at Victoria who was looking at her again. Skye swallowed the lump in her throat and gave Victoria a little nudge with her shoulder to make her go first. Izzy grinned at the action and even more as Victoria moved slower than normal and let the young Omega woman be almost glued to her hip, but she frowned that the Omega didn’t exactly touch her mate, even if it looked like the Omega wanted too. Maybe it was just because they weren’t bonded yet, which she really hoped the Omega would agree too.

“Skye, this is Isabelle or Izzy my soulmate, Izzy this is Skye,” Victoria said, shaking her out of her thoughts. Izzy reached out her hand to shake Skye’s hand, but Skye looked like she wanted to run, she looked to Victoria who laid a hand on Skye’s shoulder and shook her head at her, so Izzy pulled her hand back and gave Skye a smile and a nod, which Skye returned with a small smile.

Victoria then laid her attention on the two Beta women who didn’t move a muscle.

Victoria introduced the woman with black hair first as Kara Palamas and she was Izzy’s Beta. Kara had gotten the hint and didn’t put her hand out, but did as Izzy smiled and nodded, and she too got a small smile in return, next was the blond haired woman.

“Skye, this is my Beta, Sharon Carter,” Victoria told her, Skye looked closer at the woman, she stared a little longer than she had with Izzy or Kara.

Sharon didn’t move, she could feel Victoria’s gaze on her, but she didn’t move her eyes from the Omega. It wasn’t a dominant stare she gave the Omega, she knew if she did Victoria wouldn’t be pleased with her at all. No, she tried to make her eyes warm and as welcoming as she could.

Skye in the end gave Sharon a small smile as she had the others but also a small wave of her hand, Sharon smiled back, Victoria who was standing behind Skye relaxed.

“Come on, let’s sit,” Victoria said. Skye sat down at the end of one of the couches with Victoria beside her, the three other women took the other couch.

“What can I offer you to drink Skye?” Izzy asked.

“Um water or tea would be fine,” Skye said, Izzy nodded.

“And you Vic?” Izzy asked with a smirk, knowing that her lover hated her calling her that, she got a small glare her way.

“Tea,” Victoria answered, she noticed Skye glancing at her when Izzy called her Vic and knew it would be a problem later for her, she just hoped that Kara and Sharon wouldn’t give the girl more ammo.

Izzy went over to the kitchen area to make some tea for Skye and Victoria.

“So, Skye, Victoria hasn't told us much about you, only that you are a consultant ,” Sharon said putting consultant in air quotes, Skye looked at Victoria.

“Do they know?” Skye asked, Victoria nodded her head.

“Yes, they know you are only a consultant on paper and that you have soulmates in Shield, nothing else,” Victoria said.

“Well that’s not true, I know you are mated to Bobbi. She couldn’t shut up about you, on our last mission,” Izzy said, coming over with the tea.

“Really?” Skye’s soft voice asked.

“Uh yeah, she got all embarrassed after and asked me not to tell anyone,” Izzy said in an amused tone.

“Wait, isn’t Bobbi bonded to Maria?” Sharon asked.

“Yeah, she is, why?” Izzy asked.

“It was just something Nat said on our last mission together,” Sharon started then she looked at Skye, who tried to hide behind Victoria’s arm.

“You are bonded to them all, right?” Sharon asked, now Kara and Izzy also looked at her.

Skye tried even harder to hide behind Victoria, but Victoria didn’t let her and when she looked up at Victoria with both pleading and questioning eyes, Victoria gave her a small smile and wrapped an arm around Skye.

“It’s up to you,” Victoria whispers in her ear.

“Yeah, I am, but no one is really supposed to know,” Skye said looking at Sharon.

“Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone,” Kara said, with Izzy and Sharon nodding along.

“Are they fighting?” Izzy asked, looking concerned.

“Um, not that I know of,” Skye answered.

Victoria pulled Skye a little closer, and Sharon tilted her head still looking at the Omega.

Sharon then stood up and went over to the other couch sitting down on the arm rest beside Skye, Victoria was following Sharon’s every move and narrowed her eyes when Sharon sat down.

Skye looked up at Sharon; she had also followed every move the Beta had made.

“What happened?” Sharon asked, looking down at Skye who gulped.

“Um,” Skye started only to stop and look back at Victoria.  

“You can tell them if you want,” Victoria said, sending a quick warning glare at the others that Skye didn’t see.

“We were in a meeting, Maria, Fury, and me, and Fury said something that set Maria off,” Skye paused to take a sip of her tea and then take a deep breath, “and she sent out a lot of angry pheromones,” Skye trailed off, not willing to continue.

Both Kara, Sharon, and Izzy winced.

“Yeah,” Skye said awkwardly.

Izzy cleared her throat.

“So, what are we doing tonight and what do people want to eat?” She asked, she wanted to change the subject as it looked like Skye was uncomfortable talking about it.

Kara and Sharon started coming up with suggestions for food and activities for later, they were talking so fast and over one another that Skye could only understand every other word, she looked at Victoria and Izzy to see if they understood anything, it looked like they did.

“What about you Skye? What would you like to eat?” Izzy asked her, interrupting Kara and Sharon.

“Uh, um, I am fine with anything, I am not picky,” Skye told Izzy.

“Okay, Vic?” Izzy asked.

“Korean or Chinese would be nice,” Victoria said ignoring Izzy calling her Vic.

“Okay, Kara here is some money if you would go and pick up some Chinese and Korean, the places we usually order from are near each other, just order what we usually do,” Izzy said, handing the money to Kara who nodded and left.

They talked about everything and nothing until Kara got back with the food, Skye and Victoria had moved over so Sharon could sit on Skye’s other side.

After they ate, Izzy pulled out a bottle of Vodka and Tequila, both were about half full.

“Izzy, we have work tomorrow,” Victoria said when she saw the bottles.

“Come on, Vic, just a few,” Izzy said.

“Fine, but only a few,” Victoria said sternly, Izzy nodded in acceptance.

“What do you want Skye? I can mix it with something if you want,” Izzy asked Skye.

“Vodka, and no thanks, I would like it neat,” Skye said, taking the offered shot glass and knocking it back.

Skye shuddered at the feeling and taste.

“Do you want one more?” Victoria asked, now understanding why Izzy insisted on a few drinks, to make Skye relax a little.

As the evening moved along it looked like it was working.

Skye woke up hungover. She groaned and stretched her body, but as she did, she fell off the bed, she landed with a yelp, and then she heard a groan from under her.

Wait, a groan? She looked around her, it wasn’t the bed at Melinda and Natasha’s house she had fallen off from, but it was a couch.

Then she remembered what had happened last night, she had been having shots with Victoria, Izzy, Kara, and Sharon, and maybe she had one too many.

But back to the groan she heard, she looked down and saw Sharon laying on her stomach.

“You can move now Skye,” Sharon mumbled.

Skye jumped off of Sharon fast, now realizing she was still on top of the Beta.

“I am so sorry Sharon,” Skye said mortified by herself, Sharon sat up smiling at her.

“It’s okay Skye, no harm done,” Sharon told Skye.

“Do you know if there is any aspirin somewhere?” Skye asked Sharon.

“Here,” Victoria said, coming over with a glass of water and some aspirin, making Skye jump.

“Thanks, what time is it?” Skye asked.

“7, do you want to shower? I think Izzy, Sharon, or I have a clean shirt you can wear,” Victoria said, Skye nodded, she could use a shower.

Victoria told Skye to go ahead, the only shower they had in the apartment was in the attached bathroom in Victoria and Izzy’s bedroom.

After Skye had showered, she, Victoria, Sharon, and Izzy ate breakfast; Kara had been called in before Skye woke up.

After they were done they made their way to the Triskelion. Skye was a little nervous, she spoke to Maria about how she felt about what happened, she really had talked a lot about how she felt about pheromones in general with any of her soulmates; maybe that was a conversation that needed to be held and soon.

Chapter Text

When they arrived back at the Triskelion, Victoria and Sharon walked Skye to her office, where she then sat down with a groan.

“Okay, your officer is nice,” Sharon said and pretty much jumped to sit in one of the beanbags Maria had gotten for her.

Victoria rolled her eyes at her Betas action, she pulled a bottle of painkillers from her bag.

“Here, if you need them later,” she said, handing Skye the bottle, Skye smiled at her.

“Thanks, I think I will need them later, I am so hungover,” Skye said, taking the bottle and setting it down on her desk.

“Well, I need to go, I have to oversee a mission, see you both later,” Victoria said, and walked away after both Sharon and Skye had said see you later or waved at her.

“You mind that I hang here to work?” Sharon asked.

“No, not really,” Skye said, shrugging.

“Great, thanks,” Sharon said, pulling out her tablet; she started to write mission reports and prepping for her upcoming mission.

Skye also started her work; she had one drill from Victoria that took her about ten minutes to complete. Afterwards she leant back in her chair, suddenly remembering the old laptop Fury gave her that she hadn’t had time to look at yet. It was in her bag. Her plan had been to work on it the day before, but then with everything that happened she wasn’t able to, however, now she could. Neither Victoria or Fury had given her anything else to do and she wasn’t scheduled to look at the systems until next week.

Grabbing the laptop and charger she powered it up, just as she pushed the power button there was a knock on her door.

“Come in,” Skye said a little louder than normal so the person who knocked could hear.   

Melinda, Natasha, and Bobbi came in, they did a double take at Sharon sitting in her office and the painkillers on the table.

“Hi Sharon, what are you doing here?” Bobbi asked, Sharon nodded at the three Alphas in greeting.

“Well Skye said I could stay here and work, it is a very nice office,” Sharon said.

“Did Izzy pull out the alcohol last night?” Bobbi asked, sitting on the other bean bag, while Melinda and Natasha sat down on the couch; Sharon sat her tablet aside.

“Yeah, she did, and you have got a lightweight,” Sharon answered with a small laugh in her voice. No one got the chance to respond or say anything before Sharon was hit with a paper ball in the face.

Sharon was startled at the sudden attack, every eye turned to Skye, Skye just gave them a what look.

“Wait, you know?” Bobbi asked.

“About all of you, yup,” Sharon answered.

“How?” Melinda asked.

“Well those two can’t shut up,” Sharon said, gesturing to Natasha and Bobbi.

When Melinda gave Sharon a look to continue, Sharon smirked, and Bobbi and Natasha looked nervously at each other.

“Izzy said on her last mission with Bobbi, Bobbi couldn’t shut up about Skye, and the last mission Nat and I did, Nat mentioned it a few times too. It was easy to figure out after that,” Sharon said, still smirking. She was hit with another paper ball, Sharon gave Skye a wounded look.

Skye only narrowed her eyes at the Beta, who was having too much fun, teasing her soulmates.

Sharon raised her hands in surrender.

Natasha stood up and went over to Skye, who looked up at Natasha in question. Natasha took one of Skye’s hands and pulled her to her feet, dragging her over to sit between herself and Melinda.

“I didn’t take you to be clingy Nat,” Sharon joked, only to receive a glare from the Black Widow.

“You are having too much fun right now Sharon,” Skye said, making herself comfortable at Melinda and Natasha’s sides.

“Only a little,” Sharon answered laughing.

“Careful or I'll sit on you again,” Skye threatened.

“Sit on her?” Bobbi asked, raising a brow at Skye.

“She did fall onto me first thing this morning and just didn’t move,” Sharon said.

“I was tired, I had a headache, and I had just fallen off the couch,” Skye defended, Sharon only laughed, which made Skye huff.

Melinda and Natasha had been looking at each other during Sharon and Skye’s banter. It seemed like Skye had had fun last night, and that Skye and Sharon were likely to get into trouble or cause shenanigans.

Sharon left twenty minutes later as she had a briefing for her upcoming mission.

“How are you feeling?” Melinda asked, running a hand through Skye’s hair. Skye was laying down, now with her head on Melinda and her feet on Natasha who was drawing patterns on her legs, she needed to take some more painkillers for her head.

Skye hummed.

“I should talk to Maria,” Skye mumbled, snuggling closer to Melinda.   

She had missed them, and she felt that she may have needed them a little more yesterday after the incident with Maria, because she felt very clingy right now.

“How about you talk to her tonight at home? If you want to come of course,” Bobbi said. 

“Yeah, I do want to come home tonight,” Skye answered, looking over at Bobbi, who smiled back at her.

“Do you want something special to eat tonight?” Melinda asked, very happy Skye would be coming home with them today.

Skye turned her head to look up at Melinda.

“Can it be your fried chicken?” Skye asked.

Melinda smiled knowing Skye loved her fried chicken; she didn’t want to brag, but her fried chicken was amazing, never dry and seasoned perfectly.

“Of course it can, would you like corn or mashed potatoes on the side?” Melinda asked.

“Hmm corn, carrots, and garlic bread?” Skye asked, Melinda nodded. She was still trying to get Skye to eat more and healthier, so her asking for carrots was a good sign in her book.

Skye sighed in content after a moment.

“We should really get back to work,” Melinda said, gently shaking Skye’s shoulder since her little Omega was falling asleep, Skye whined at that.

“Do you have a lot to do, Skye?” Natasha asked.

“No, I don’t really have anything to do until next week, but I was getting started on cracking that old laptop when you came in.” Skye answered.

Bobbi’s phone rang at that moment.

“Morse,” Bobbi answered.

“Yes sir, I will be there in ten,” Bobbi said.

“Sorry, I got to go,” Bobbi said, Skye stood up so she could hug Bobbi.

“See you later,” Bobbi whispered in Skye’s ear, Skye nodded.

Melinda also got up to leave.

“I also have to go, but call me if you need anything,” Melinda told Skye while hugging her, Skye nodded.

“I will,” Skye said, Bobbi and Melinda then walked out.

Natasha stayed, Skye tilted her head in question, Natasha smiled.

“I still have forty minutes until I have to meet my friend Clint for training,” Natasha said, lifting her arm so Skye could snuggle into her side.

Natasha’s arm was barely up before Skye was under it and leaning heavily on her.

“How was it at Victoria’s?” Natasha asked.

“It was fun. I like Sharon, Izzy is also pretty nice to be around, and Kara is cool too,” Skye said.

“That’s good to hear, have you decided if you want Victoria as an Alpha yet?” Natasha asked.

“I think so,” Skye said.

Natasha smiled at her.

“Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?” Natasha asked, poking Skye on her side, Skye squirmed.

“I think I wouldn’t mind having Victoria as my Alpha or Sharon as my Beta,” Skye said. It sounded like Skye was still unsure, but Natasha knew that Skye wasn’t unsure anymore.

Skye had also let loose last night among three people she didn’t know. She hadn’t really done that with them yet, Natasha was a little jealous, not that she would admit it.

“When will you tell Victoria?” Natasha asked curiously.

“I don’t know, maybe tomorrow,” Skye answered, Natasha nodded, and they fell into silence again.

Skye was working on the laptop; the person who had encrypted that thing was good, very good, like insanely good. She was very impressed. The first thing she did was look to see if it would delete itself if messed with. Surprisingly, it hadn’t, so the content had to be very important to not be deleted, especially with this level of encryption.

She had been working for two hours when there was a knock on her door, she went over to open it since she needed to stretch her legs anyways, and the encryption allowed her to stop for the moment, it was like layer on layer on layer of a maze within a maze.

When she opened the door, a man was on the other side.

“Miss Sutter?” He asked.

“Um, yes, that’s me,” Skye answered, confused as to who this Beta was and why he was there.

“Delivery,” he said, handing her a bag, and walked away.

Skye frowned, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion, and closed the door; as soon as she did that, she could smell something delicious. Opening the bag, she saw her favorite Thai takeout, there was a note in the bag too.

Thought you might want something better than what the cafeteria offers.

~ Maria

Maria had ordered her food; Skye didn’t really know how to feel about that, but it did put a small smile on her face, feeling warmed by the gesture and getting hungry.

Before she started to eat she connected her own laptop so some of her programs could run to try and help break some of the encryption, she would watch both laptops while she ate.

She was almost done eating when there was another knock on her door, she didn’t want to get up, so she again spoke loudly for the person to come in.

It was Melinda who came in.

“Hey, I can see you have eaten,” Melinda said, gesturing to the small container in Skye’s hands and sitting down on the couch.

“Yeah, Maria ordered it for me, and some weird dude came and delivered it,” Skye said, shoving the last bit of food in her mouth.

Melinda chuckled at her little mates’ action and smiled at Maria’s gesture, she was positive that Maria would get Skye more than just lunch.

“Yeah, the food delivery procedure is for the delivery drivers to leave the food at the front desk and then an agent takes it to where it was meant to go,” Melinda said.

“Uh, I did not know that” Skye said, she then looked over at Melinda.

“Have you eaten lunch?” Skye asked, Melinda smiled at Skye.

“Yes, I have. I just wanted to come and see if you have, I had a feeling that since you are working on the old laptop, you would forget to eat,” Melinda said.

“Yeah, that sounds like me,” Skye said.

It was the end of the work day when Natasha came to pick her up from her office. When she arrived, Natasha knocked on Skye’s door. She didn’t hear a reply, so she knocked again, still nothing, so after a moment Natasha carefully opened the door.

What she saw made her smile, Skye was sleeping bent over her desk with two laptops running code. Natasha had no idea what it meant, she could hack, but she wasn’t as good as Stark or Skye.

She pulled out her phone and took a picture before walking over to Skye, shaking Skye’s shoulder.

“Skye, you need to wake up now,” Natasha said.

Skye groaned and stretched her body.

“Is it morning already?” Skye asked, and Natasha couldn’t contain her laughter.

“No, Skye, it is 4:30 PM, we need to go home. Melinda is already home making dinner, Bobbi and Maria are helping,” Natasha said.

Skye yawned and ran her hands over her face.

“Uh, I think I dozed off for a moment, give me a moment to pause and pack this,” Skye said, pointing at the laptops. Natasha nodded and cleaned up a little in Skye’s office. There were empty cans and water bottles, a Thai food container, and other food wrappings from Skye’s big and private assortment of snacks.

After Natasha had done that, she sat down on the couch and watched Skye. About ten minutes later, Skye closed both computers and packed them in her bag.

“Ready,” Skye said, smiling at Natasha.

They took the secret tunnel down to Natasha’s car, and soon they were on the way home.

Skye was preparing herself for her talk with Maria tonight. 

Chapter Text

They were five minutes away from the house when Natasha spoke up.

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah, fine. Why?” Skye asked.

“I can smell you,” Natasha said, looking briefly over at Skye.

“Sorry,” Skye said quietly, trying to get most of her pheromones under control, so it was only her Omega smell that was there.

Nowadays people only let their dynamic scent show. A few decades ago it was different, Alphas put everyone down whenever they could, especially Omegas. You were taught from a young age to control your pheromones, and she was usually good at it.

However, ever since she met her soulmates, she has had a hard time doing so when she is upset, nervous, or scared.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s natural. No one can have 100% control of their pheromones. It is impossible, so don’t feel bad; you don’t need to pull it in, we don’t mind. We actually love it when we can smell your pheromones, even your I am scared scent,” Natasha said.

“But that doesn't mean we want you to be scared of us,” Natasha quickly added.

“I know, I am just nervous, you know,” Skye said.

“I know what you mean, Melinda and I were also hesitant at first. Melinda had been on a mission a few years before we met that ended very badly. I can’t tell you what happened, she will tell you when she is ready. I had just been brought into SHIELD, and was in a bad place mentally,” Natasha said, and then took a deep breath.

“When I was growing up, I was raised to be the perfect assassin. I was brainwashed, beaten, given all sorts of drugs. I ran away one day, lived as a mercenary until SHIELD found me. Clint was meant to kill me, but he didn’t, he brought me to a safehouse first and called Fury. They gave me a chance, and then I met Melinda, and after almost a year we couldn’t stand not being around each other, so Melinda and I gave it a chance, and here we are five years later,” Natasha said, smiling over at Skye.

“You have only been together for five years?” Skye asked in disbelief, Natasha grinned at her.

“Yes, it feels longer sometimes,” Natasha said.

“And I’m sorry,” Skye said.

“For what?” Natasha asked, a little confused.

“For how you grew up, no one deserves that,” Skye answered and looked down to her lap.

Natasha had a sad smile on her face when she reached over and laid her hand on Skye’s thigh. They had been parked in front of the house for a little while now, not that Skye had really noticed, or maybe she was stalling, Natasha didn’t know.

Skye looked at Natasha’s hand, it felt comfortable.

“Thanks, and you are right. No one deserves to grow up in an unsafe and unlovable environment,” Natasha said, lifting her hand from Skye’s thigh to her chin and lifting Skye’s head up to look in her eyes.

Skye held Natasha’s eye contact for only a moment before looking away, she still couldn’t move her head as Natasha was still holding onto her chin.

“We should probably go inside before the others send a search party,” Natasha said, dropping her hand.

Skye looked around, her eyes landing on the front door, she took a deep breath before nodding at Natasha. They stepped out of the car, Natasha took Skye’s bag and her own, before they went inside. After taking their jackets and snow covered shoes off, they went to the kitchen where they could hear the others.

Bobbi was at the counter chopping the corn, carrots, and potatoes, and Melinda was prepping the chicken; she could smell the homemade garlic bread in the oven.

Bobbi turned around first, she wiped her hands clean before walking over to Skye bringing her into a massive hug, lifting her off the ground.

“I am so glad that you are here,” Bobbi whispered in Skye’s ear before setting her down again.

Natasha had gone over to Melinda to give her a hug too. After Bobbi had let Skye go, Melinda walked over to her and gave her a hug too.

Maria was sitting at the table farthest away from Skye’s spot, looking nervous at Skye, and between the others in the room.

Melinda guided Skye over to her spot and sat her down, before going over to the chicken again, Natasha came over and sat beside Skye.

“Skye, do you want something to drink?” Maria asked a little cautiously.

“Uh, yeah, thanks,” Skye said, looking over at Maria.

Maria got up and went to the fridge. She took out a cactus cooler that she knew Skye loved, almost as much as Bobbi did.

“Nat, Bobbi, Melinda, do you want anything?” Maria asked while she was there.

“Water would be nice,” Melinda said. She had just taken the bread out of the oven and put the chicken in.

“I would like a CC too,” Bobbi said. She called the cactus cooler CC sometimes, to try and sound cool, Maria didn’t have it in her to say she sounded silly.

“A water for me too,” Natasha said, nodding at Maria.

Maria got all of their drinks and sat them on the table before sitting down again.

Melinda and Bobbi also sat down.

After ten minutes of mostly small talk about what they had done that day and if there were any upcoming missions, and Maria and Skye glancing at each other, Melinda had had enough. She waited till Natasha was done telling them she was going on an undercover mission the next week before she spoke up.

“Okay, you two need to talk it out,” Melinda said, everyone knew who she meant.

“I honestly don’t want to talk about it,” Skye said quietly, looking down at a spot on the table in front of her, and playing with the cap on the can of her cactus cooler.

“Why not?” Natasha asked curiously, looking Skye over.

“I just want to move on, I know Maria didn’t mean to affect me like she did,” Skye mumbled, still not looking up.

“I know that you want to just move on Skye, we do too, but we have to at least have a talk about our pheromones as a whole,” Melinda said.

Skye didn’t look very happy about it; she had a feeling that it was an important talk in a soulmate relationship, and if they had the talk it would be like a next step in their relationship, and she didn’t know if she was ready.

Could she just say yes to just talk it out with Maria instead? Would they be mad at her, for not wanting to take the next step?

“Why don’t we wait with that for a little while,” Maria spoke up.

“Well, we can, it’s just so it doesn't happen again,” Melinda said.

“We have only really smelled each other's pheromones by accident,” Bobbi said.

Both Maria, Natasha, and Melinda looked away, Bobbi narrowed her eyes at Melinda and Natasha.

“Why are you two looking away like that?” Bobbi asked.

“Well, you remember how we met Skye, right?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah I don’t see why, uh,” Bobbi started, but then realized what Natasha said. Yes, if someone broke into her and Maria’s apartment she would probably do worse to the person.

Which reminded her that they probably needed to sell it soon or rent a smaller place until they found a big enough house.

Skye sighed.

“Can we just forget about it please? I know Maria and I really need to talk, not that I really want to,” Skye said, before looking at Maria and then the rest of them. “But can we just go to another room and talk?” Skye said, looking over at Maria, who looked around before nodding.

“Do you want to talk now, after dinner, or tomorrow?” Maria asked.

“Is it okay if we do it now, before dinner?” Skye asked, looking between Melinda, Bobbi, and Natasha.

Bobbi and Natasha nodded.

“Yes, it's fine, dinner won’t be done for a little while,” Melinda said. Maria and Skye went to the office, so they were in a more neutral place.

Bobbi, Melinda, and Natasha watched them go to the office.

“So, how long do you guys think it will take them?” Bobbi asked.

“Don’t know, Skye has been alternating between wanting to talk to Maria about it, just ignoring the situation all together, and to being a little scared, so who knows,” Natasha answered, still looking at the door.

“We can’t do anything besides wait and cook the last of the food,” Melinda said before putting Natasha and Bobbi to work, so they didn’t worry too much.

The food was almost done, and the table was set about forty minutes later, they had, or Melinda had, decided to take it slow, so Maria and Skye could talk in peace.

They hadn’t heard or noticed any pheromones from the room, Melinda took that as a good sign, but now she couldn’t keep the food from over cooking anymore. She asked Natasha to go look for Skye and Maria and tell them if they were ready, that dinner was ready.

She didn’t even mind that it was Skye that had asked for most of what was on the table, and that there was a slight chance that Skye wouldn’t be hungry.

She was just happy that Skye and Maria were talking in a room alone, and hopefully they would have made up.

Natasha nodded and walked over to the office door, she knocked before opening the door slowly, what she saw made her smile.

Skye and Maria were sitting on the floor, Skye was pressed into Maria's front and Maria’s arms were tightly wound around Skye with her nose in Skye’s hair.

“Hey,” Natasha said quietly, Maria looked up and Skye turned her head.

“Hey, is dinner ready?” Maria asked.

“Yes, are you two good?” Natasha asked, both Skye and Maria nodded.

“That’s good, do you need help getting up?” Natasha asked with a smile.

“Yeah, my foot is asleep,” Skye said, Natasha chuckled and went over and pulled Skye up. Skye was leaning on Natasha and wimped a little with her foot still asleep. She moved it around a little to wake it up, but Maria who was still on the floor took it and started to massage it.

A moment later Skye said it was awake and Maria let go, and Skye stood up straight; Skye’s stomach also took that moment to rumble.

“Thanks,” Skye said, looking at Maria in thanks for the little massage and ignoring the rumbles her stomach was still making.

“No worries,” Maria said, finding it amusing.

“Come on, let’s feed the beast,” Natasha said, dragging Skye with her, Maria wasn’t far behind.

“Argh, there you three are,” Bobbi exclaimed.

Everyone shook their heads and Skye’s stomach again made a little noise.

“Oh, so it was your stomach, for a moment we thought it was an earthquake,” Bobbi joked.

Maria gently elbowed her in the side.

“Don’t tease her,” Maria said.

Melinda came over with the last of the food and sat down beside Skye.

“You good?” Melinda asked quietly, so the others didn’t hear as they were busy serving themselves some food and talking. Skye nodded, it had been clear to everyone that both Maria and Skye had been crying but none commented on it.

Melinda gave Skye a nod and a little pat on her hand before starting to serve herself.

Chapter Text

It had been two months since Skye and Maria had made up, they refused to say what they said to each other and also told the rest of the group that they never would, after that Melinda, Natasha, and Bobbi stopped asking.

Skye had accepted Victoria as her Alpha, and by default Sharon as her Beta. She had spent a few nights at Victoria and Izzy’s, and even one at Sharon’s.

Victoria was to leave in two weeks, and Skye would miss having her around, but knew she could call anytime. It helped that Sharon would still be around, alongside Kara.

Her relationship with her soulmates had improved a lot. She had spent some nights with each couple. They had only slept, she hadn’t kissed any of them yet, but she would admit that it was getting harder and harder not to fall for them completely.

It had only been around three and a half months since Skye met her mates, and she was surprised that nothing bad had happened, with the exception of the incident with Maria.

There had of course been some bickering between the two couples but nothing major.

It was a Sunday, and everyone had a day off. Maria and Natasha had offered to go to a bakery to get some bread for breakfast, Melinda was making pancakes, bacon, and eggs, and Skye and Bobbi were setting the table.

“They have been gone a long time, haven’t they?” Skye asked, they were gone when she woke up and that was almost an hour ago.

Melinda and Bobbi glanced at each other.

“Yeah, but they should be here soon. I’ll text Maria to see where they are,” Bobbi said, almost running out of the room, Skye looked after her with suspicion, she then looked over at Melinda who was busy with the pancakes.

“What’s going on?” Skye asked Melinda.

“I don’t know, they are likely on their way back, and you know Bobbi and her Danishes,” Melinda said.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Skye said, narrowing her eyes at her.

Bobbi returned at that moment, she stopped in her tracks at seeing Skye trying to stare Melinda down, and Melinda just stood and looked innocent, it looked really weird and very funny.

“Hey, they are two minutes away, they ran into some… trouble, but everything is taken care of,” Bobbi said.

Skye looked over at Bobbi at what she said, and how she said it.

“Are they okay? And what kind of trouble?” Skye asked, narrowing her eyes at the blond. She knew they were up to something, but she didn’t know what, she knew it wouldn’t be bad, or so she hoped.

They heard a honk, and then another that sounded familiar to Skye. It was a sort of broken honk, like when you are sick, and your voice is cracking when you speak.

It took her a moment to remember that it sounded like her van’s honk, causing her eyes to widen. She looked up at Bobbi, who had a grin on her face, and then she looked at Melinda, who had a small smirk in the corner of her mouth.

Skye ran to the door, flinging it open, and there it was, her van in the driveway with Natasha stepping out of the driver's side door.

It was painted a light blue color, but it was hers.

Skye’s mouth was hanging upon seeing her old van, before anyone could register what was happening, Skye had run up to Natasha and flung herself at the red-headed Alpha.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much,” Skye kept saying, hugging Natasha tightly.

“It was our pleasure, we would do almost anything for you,” Natasha answered, hugging Skye back.

Skye pulled back, she had tears running down her face, she looked at the others, before launching herself at Maria, then Melinda, and lastly Bobbi.

After Skye had spent fifteen minutes hugging and thanking them, Natasha handed her the keys.

“I’m sorry but all of your stuff is sold or thrown out, but the Alpha's mate had this,” Maria said, handing her the hula girl that the mate had been dangling in front of her when she had come for her van.

Skye’s tears started to flow again and without thinking she flung herself at Maria again and kissed her.

Maria froze when she felt Skye’s lips on hers, but she was fast to respond, it was a short kiss.

The others were also frozen at seeing Skye kiss Maria. Bobbi had a small silly smile on her face seeing it. Melinda and Natasha were both happy but also extremely jealous. They knew there would be a time that Skye kissed one of them as the first, they just wished it would have been them.

When they saw Skye move away from Maria they composed themselves, and just smiled at her. Skye for her part became red in the face when she saw everyone staring at her.

“Thank you, guys, this means a lot to me. How did you even find it? I didn’t tell you what auto shop,” Skye asked.

“No, but you gave us enough information to find it,” Natasha answered.

“How can I ever thank you enough for this?” Skye asked, wiping her tears away.

“You already have thanked us,” Melinda said giving her the look, to not argue, Skye nodded.

“Why don’t we go eat and then we can look your van over, if you want,” Bobbi said, everyone agreed with that.

It had been a few days since Natasha and Maria had come home with her van, her hula-girl sat on her nightstand.

Skye was sitting on her bed with her computer when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Skye said, Natasha came in and sat down at the end of the bed.

“Hey, is dinner ready?” Skye asked, closing her computer.

“In a few, yes,” Natasha said, looking over at the hula-girl, Skye followed her eyes to it.

“It means a lot to you,” Natasha stated.

“Yeah, it does. I got her from a foster parent, one of the best. She was the best, I knew that she and her mate were talking about adopting me,” Skye said, still looking at the item.

“What happened?” Natasha asked both curious and concerned.

“Car crash,” was all Skye said, taking her eyes away from the hula girl.

“I am sorry,” Natasha said sympathetically.

“So am I,” Skye said, sniffing a little. Natasha didn’t think, she just moved over and held Skye close, she was glad that Skye snuggled into her.

They had improved but sometimes Skye would still be hesitant around them in some situations, mostly new things that they would do together, but it was not often anymore.

“We better go, before someone sends a search party,” Skye joked, Natasha chuckled, letting go of Skye.

When they came into the kitchen Bobbi was setting a big pot on the table.

“You are just in time,” Melinda said.

“Skye?” Natasha asked ten minutes into dinner.

“Yeah?” Skye said, looking over at Natasha.

“Do you want to meet Clint and his family?” Natasha asked.

“You mean Clint as in Hawkeye the Avenger?” Skye asked, Bobbi, Maria, and Melinda smiled at Skye’s antics.

“Yes him,” Natasha answered.

“Is he okay, I mean you mentioned he was brainwashed by Loki, and your friend got killed?” Skye asked, squirming a little in her seat.

Natasha knew why Skye asked, Clint had been angry at himself for what happened, and Laura had called her a few times for help. The first time Laura had called was before she had met Skye. When she arrived, Clint was just sitting on the floor of the barn with a bottle beside him, it was open, and Natasha could see that almost nothing was taken, so that was a good thing. She had spent a week with them, and in the end, Clint had promised to not touch any alcohol for a long time.

She had also visited a few times, the last was the previous month. Clint and Laura had asked about meeting Skye, she had answered that she would talk with Melinda and Skye about it, and then as an afterthought also included Maria and Bobbi in that conversation.

When Clint and Laura had heard that her and Melinda’s third was also Maria and Bobbi’s third, Clint had laughed for the first time since the Battle of New York, and Laura had just said poor girl.

“Yeah, he is okay. He has been on missions; he is like his old self, as long as no one mentions New York or Coulson,” Natasha said, Skye nodded and looked to Melinda, Maria, and Bobbi.

“I am fine with it, Clint is a nice guy, his wife is a mother hen, but very sweet,” Bobbi said with a grin.

“It is your choice, and Natasha and Melinda will be there, so I am good,” Maria said smiling.

“Okay, he is an important person in your life,” Skye said.

“Great we just need to find a weekend we are all off, well where I am off since you and Mel usually don’t work on the weekends,” Natasha said, looking over at Maria.

“Fine, I will see what I can do,” Maria said, shaking her head.

“Thank you, Maria,” Melinda said.

“By the way Skye, Fury asked me to ask you how it’s going with the old laptop?” Maria said.

“Maybe tomorrow or the day after that, I don’t want to meet the person who encrypted that thing. Seriously, it is really good. It is annoying that I have spent so much time on it,” Skye said, annoyed.

“How do you know you are almost in?” Bobbi asked. They had done some tests with Skye, Fury highly suspected that Skye had some power related to electronics.

Skye just shrugged which was common when asked how she knew something about time related tasks or how to hack things.

“I will let him know and remember-” Maria said until Skye interrupted.

“Don’t look at what is on the laptop, call you and Fury when I am in, and wait for instructions, I know,” Skye said, taking the last bite of her food that was on her plate.

Maria huffed, while the others laughed.

Chapter Text

Skye had finally gotten into the old laptop, she was so tempted to see what was on it but didn’t. She called Maria and Fury to inform them, Fury had said to bring it to his office, and that had been the last time she had seen it, that was two weeks ago.

Victoria also made her move to New York to run the Hub. Her soulmates had also started to train her in combat, she hadn’t looked forward to it, she hated running, doing pushups, pull ups well everything about it.

Her soulmates thought it was funny and teased her.

However, today Skye was packing. Melinda, Natasha, and she were going to Clint’s. Natasha had told her about his farm and two kids, Cooper, and Lila, and his wife Laura.

Both Clint and Laura were Betas, so was Cooper, but Lila was an Alpha and a little ball of energy. Both Cooper and Lila were still too young to have grown into their pheromones, so Skye wasn’t worried about that. It would have been pitiful and humiliating for Skye to be scared of a child, it was the meeting new people she was nervous about.

“You ready?” Natasha asked from the open door, startling Skye, making her jump.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Natasha said.

“Yeah, I am ready, and it's okay I was just thinking,” Skye said, shutting the weekend bag she was borrowing from Maria.

“They will love you. Lila loves new people. She will also love having a new person to call auntie,” Natasha said, the last bit very amused.

Skye looked at Natasha with a look of ´what’.

“She won’t if you ask her not to,” Natasha reassured Skye, who nodded.

Skye said goodbye to Bobbi and Maria.

“Take care of her,” Maria told Melinda and Natasha, while Bobbi was helping Skye with the bags.

“Of course,” Natasha said.

They had been able to borrow, with the help of Maria, a Quinjet, so the travel time was shortened by a lot of time, but there was still a two and a half hour drive from the air-strip to Clint’s farm.

They were twenty minutes away and Skye was getting nervous. Melinda and Natasha had managed to distract her doing the flight and the drive up until now. 

So, Natasha decided to climb to the back to sit beside Skye, they didn’t speak for the rest of the drive.

When they parked the car in front of the farmhouse, Skye saw two people at the porch, one she recognized as Hawkeye, or Clint, and a woman beside him that must be his wife, Laura.

“Hey Natasha, Melinda,” the woman said, embracing Natasha and Melinda.

“And this must be Skye,” She said looking at Skye, Skye gave her a little smile and a nod.

“Hello Laura, it is good to see you again,” Melinda said, walking over to stand beside Skye, after giving Clint a nod.

Natasha was beside Clint looking him over.

“Yes, this is Skye, Skye this is Laura, and over there is Clint,” Melinda introduced, Clint waved to her from where he was.

“Hello Skye, welcome, let’s go inside, there is no reason for us to just stand here,” Laura said, taking Skye’s hand and pulling her inside with her. Skye looked back to see Melinda and Natasha grinning at her, she narrowed her eyes at them, as they disappeared from view.

“So, how long do you think it will take for Skye to love Laura?” Clint asked.

“Hmm, maybe the day after tomorrow,” Melinda said, Natasha scoffed at that.

“More like by the end of the day,” Natasha said, swinging an arm around Melinda as they walked in, with Clint following them.

When they entered they could hear Laura in the kitchen, Skye was already sitting at the table with a plate of food in front of her.

“What have you done with the kids?” Natasha asked, sitting beside Skye. Melinda took Natasha’s other side and Clint went to help Laura in the kitchen.

“They are at the neighbors, they should be here in about an hour, so we have time to eat lunch,” Laura said, her and Clint coming with their plates.

Laura sat on Skye’s other side with Clint sat beside his wife’s side.

Lunch was mostly quiet for most of the people sitting at the table. For Skye, not so much. Laura asked Skye so many questions about almost everything, favorite color, place, food, animal, etc. but nothing about her growing up to which Skye was glad, she had a feeling that either Melinda or Natasha had warned her not to.

When they were done eating, Laura again took Skye by the hand and dragged her over to the couch, calling over her shoulder to Melinda, Natasha, and Clint to do the dishes.

Skye was sitting between Laura and Melinda, well she was leaning against Melinda, when the neighbor came over with the kids. The kids' faces lit up seeing Natasha and Melinda.

“Auntie Nat! Auntie Mel!” the little girl, Lila, yelled and ran over to Natasha and jumped into her arms. The boy, Cooper, was more relaxed and walked in a fast pace over to Melinda, Skye had sat up so Melinda could say hi.

After Cooper had gone over to Natasha did Lila let go of Natasha and ran over to Melinda, jumping onto her lap.

Skye had been watching the two kids and her soulmates interact, right now she was watching Natasha and Cooper do some hand signs and handshakes.

Skye then felt eyes on her, she turned to see that Melinda and Lila were looking at her.

“Hi, I’m Skye,” Skye said shyly, looking between Melinda and Lila.

“I am Lila, are you my new auntie?” Lila asked with big eyes.

“Um,” was all Skye could say.

“Lila!” Laura scolded, the girl grimaced at her mother's tone.

“Sorry mom,” Lila said, and Laura looked pointedly at her daughter.

“And?” Laura asked. 

“Sorry Auntie Mel, sorry Auntie Nat and sorry Skye. I didn’t mean to int- intertr- intrude,” Lila said, having a little trouble with the word intrude, clearly Laura or Clint had talked with their kids not to ask about their relationship, and the little girl forgot.

“It’s okay little bug,” Natasha said, coming up behind the girl and ruffling Lila’s hair.

“Auntie Nat!” Lila whined, trying to straighten it again Melinda chuckled and helped Lila with her hair.

“It’s fine,” Skye said when Lila was looking at her with a sad expression. At Skye’s words, Lila wiggled away from Melinda to sit in between Melinda and Skye.

Cooper then came over and put out his hand.

“Hello, I am Cooper,” He said, Skye smiled at the young boy and put her hand out to shake his hand.

“Hey Cooper, I am Skye,” she said, when they let go Cooper sat down on his mother’s other side.

That night Laura had shown Skye to the room she would share with Natasha and Melinda. The bed was big enough for three, and she had slept in the same bed with them before so that wasn’t a problem, it might have been if she hadn’t.

Skye collapsed onto the bed, Melinda and Natasha chuckled.

“You good over there?” Natasha asked.

“If I eat anymore I will explode, and I am so tired I can most likely sleep for a week,” Skye said.

“We told you Laura was a mother hen, we also warned you about Lila,” Melinda said amused.

“I don’t know if there is enough to talk about for the next two days, between Laura and Lila and their endless questions,” Skye grumbled.

“What do you think about them?” Natasha asked, sitting beside Skye’s outstretched form.

“They are nice, I really like Laura. Lila is fun, so is Clint, and Cooper is just a very sweet boy,” Skye said. Natasha smirked at Melinda, and she couldn’t wait to tell Clint that she was right. 

Chapter Text

The rest of the weekend was spent playing games, talking, watching a few movies, just having fun in general, and eating a lot of food. Skye even helped Laura cook a few times.

It was the last night, they would be leaving in the morning, Clint was joining them on the trip home.

Laura, Melinda, and Natasha were in the kitchen cooking dinner, Clint and Cooper were building something with Legos, and Skye and Lila were sitting on the couch watching a movie.

“So how is it going with all of you in that small house?” Laura asked Melinda and Natasha.

“It’s hard sometimes, there has been a few altercations between Bobbi, Maria, and Nat and I, but nothing big; we try to hide them from Skye as best we can,” Melinda said.

“Hmm, I can’t even imagine how you are doing it,” Laura said.

“We are looking to buy or rent a bigger place, so we, as in me, Mel, Bobbi, and Maria, aren't stepping on each other's toes,” Natasha said.

“That sounds like a good idea, get a little space between the Alphas and Beta so you don’t rip the heads off of each other,” Laura said both seriously and half joking.

“No, we have promised Skye and each other not to let it go that far, and if we can feel it going there, the parties involved will leave for a few days to cool off,” Melinda said.

“Seems like you have a good plan to protect Skye,” Laura said, and she was impressed with them and their focus to make Skye happy.

Clint then came in, followed by Copper.

“Hey boys, what’s up?” Natasha asked.

“Uh nothing much, we just got thirsty,” Clint said opening the fridge and pulling out two bottles of water and handing one of them to Copper. 

“And how are the girls?” Laura asked.

“They seem good, they were watching some show Lila likes,” Clint said.

“I thought they were watching a movie?” Melinda said.

“They did, but it ended,” Copper said, sitting down on one of the island stools, Melinda nodded at the answer.

“What is for dinner mom?” Copper asked.

“We are having lamb with mashed potatoes and veggies, and homemade bread,” Laura said to her son, who’s face lit up, he loved lamb.

Soon after Skye and Lila joined them as the food was finishing cooking.

Skye sat down between Natasha and Melinda, while they ate the lovely food. It was one thing Skye would miss about Laura; she made such good food.

Later, when the kids were in bed, the adults sat in the living room with some tea and coffee.

“So, Skye, how is your training going?” Clint asked, he had wanted to ask that for a long time, but he had promised Laura to wait for the last day.

“It’s going fine, I think,” Skye answered.

“She is doing good, Hand is doing a good job, with the protocols and all the red tape,” Melinda said.

“And combat, shooting?” Clint asked.

Skye groaned and leaned on Melinda, hiding her face, while Natasha and Melinda were laughing.

“Skye is doing fine when she wants to train, we haven’t really started shooting practice yet,” Natasha answered.

“I hate it, I hate running, punching, and all of that,” Skye said.

“But it can save your life one day, just knowing a little of how to defend yourself, Clint did the same with me, so I know a little, and I have taken some classes in town,” Laura said.

“I know, but I hate it, I like sitting with my computer,” Skye said.

“You don’t hate it that much, stop being dramatic,” Melinda said, amused by Skye.

“Me dramatic, I don’t know what you are talking about,” Skye huffed.

The others in the room chuckled, and it wasn't long after that that they also went to bed.

The next morning after they had eaten, they said goodbye to the kids and Laura. The kids obviously didn’t want them to leave, and when told that they had to, they demanded, more Lila than Cooper, for them to come back soon. Clint had said he would, while Nat and Melinda said they would try, with Skye nodding between them, the kids accepted that.

Laura told them to be careful and kissed her husband goodbye and hugged Natasha, Melinda, and Skye. Skye noticed her whispering in Natasha and Melinda’s ears and them nodding, but just shrugged it off as nothing.

The drive was mostly spent with Natasha and Melinda telling Clint what had happened at SHIELD during his leave that he could know about, of course.

When they reached Quinjet, Skye sat in the back with Melinda, since Clint wanted to pilot, and Natasha sat up with him.

Skye was texting Bobbi, who was getting impatient to have her home again. Skye almost shook her head at that, Bobbi had been on missions that had lasted longer than three days.

“What has gotten you so amused?” Melinda asked from beside her.

“It’s just Bobbi, she can’t wait for us to come back,” Skye said.

“And with us, you really mean you, right?” Melinda asked.

“Maybe,” Skye said.

When they entered the house a few hours later Skye was attacked in a big hug from Bobbi.

“Bobbi, I need to breathe,” Skye grunted out, Bobbi let go but was still very close and she had a small grin on her face, that Skye, Natasha, and Melinda noticed.

“What is it Bobbi?” Melinda asked suspiciously.

“Come to the kitchen and hear it,” Bobbi said dragging Skye with her, Melinda and Natasha looked at each other before following.

In the kitchen where Maria, Bobbi, and Skye were sitting, there was also food on the table. Bobbi had claimed the seat beside Skye, and Maria, the one at the end of the table, the seats that were left were the one in front of Skye and the other ones were the one in front of Bobbi, and at the other end of the table next to her.

“So, what is going on with you two?” Natasha asked, Maria pulled out three pieces of paper and gave one to Skye, one to Melinda, and one to Natasha.

On the paper was a picture of a house, and a little info on it.

A three story house with a big basement divided in two, one half for parking and the other was empty. The first floor had the front door and basement, a big common room with kitchen, a pantry, closet, a half bath, and two bedrooms. The second floor consisted of four bedrooms, two of them had an en suite bathroom and a balcony, and in the hallway was a three-quarter bath. The third floor, that was also the smallest, was a bedroom with an en suite bathroom, another small room, and access to a terrace. Other than the three floors, there was a small front garden and a bigger back yard.

Skye whistled at the listing.

“Am I right to assume that you think this is the right house?” Melinda asked.

“Yes, Skye has the top floor for a bedroom and maybe office, we can share the second, since the two bedrooms with baths are on opposite sides of the house with two rooms, a toilet, and the staircase between them, and then we can still make two other offices and two guestrooms,” Maria said.

“Hmm, I think we have to see it first and see how secure we can make it. Where is it located?” Natasha said.

“I can call the agent in a moment and make an appointment, it is in the Alexandria area,” Maria said.

Natasha nodded, Melinda looked thoughtful, and Skye was now staring at the paper like she only now realized that it could be their new home.

Maria had left to go make the call, she came back not long after saying she had an opening tomorrow at one, and since they had the day off, they took it.

The next day they left to look at the house, they were waiting for the real estate agent to arrive and show them around, but the three Alphas and the one Beta were already looking around the front of the house.

When the real estate agent showed up, they all shook hands, and she introduced herself as Jessy, a Beta. She was happy to show them the house and very welcoming, she did however give Skye a once over, when she realized that she was an Omega that had two pairs of soulmates, Skye just gave her a small smile.

When Jessy had looked Skye over, they knew why she did so, she was clearly concerned for Skye. Natasha decided she kind of liked the Beta, Melinda and Bobbi however pulled themselves to their full height but not in a threatening way, Skye would not be pleased with that, no it was more like to show the Beta they didn’t like what she was assuming and they would show her Skye wasn’t in any danger with them, and Maria could feel a headache coming on.

When they went inside Melinda and Bobbi were beside Skye, the house was much bigger than they expected, they could all live there comfortably. Natasha was satisfied with the house and they could secure it much better than the old one, they could even put in a home gym in the basement, there was a lot of space for all of their cars and Skye’s van, and yes, the bedroom on the top floor was perfect for Skye. Natasha had seen Skye’s face when she saw it, even the whole house, and it was nice and closer to the Triskelion with more options to lose an eventual tail.

They informed Jessy they would like to buy it, Jessy nodded and pulled out the paperwork and computer, to check their credit. About an hour later they were handed the keys to the house, and Jessy shook their hands and congratulated them and left.

Bobbi pulled Skye into her side.

“Well it needs a paint job and we need to install motion sensors and cameras around the property,” Natasha said.

“We can speak to Fury about that, I am also sure we can keep this place out of the SHIELD servers,” Maria said.

“What do you think of the place Skye?” Melinda asked.

“I love it,” Skye said with a smile on her face.

Chapter Text

Over the next few weeks the five of them spent their time working and talking about the move into the big house, and how to set up security. Natasha suggested that herself, Maria, and Skye should be in charge of it, since Natasha was called the best spy alive, Maria was the deputy and could get her hands on what they may need, and Skye could work on it, make it better, and watch for weaknesses.

So, before they moved furniture and stuff in, they set up the security cameras around the house.

That was what they were doing now, Skye was sitting on the floor, in what would become the living room, with the computer that would be running their security, Natasha and Bobbi were on the roof setting up cameras, and Melinda and Maria were doing the same in the back garden, they had already set them up in the front yard.

Bobbi came down the stairs and walked over to the kitchen to grab some water.

“Hey, Skye, how is it going?” Bobbi asked, taking a sip of the water.

“It is going fine, can you toss me that screwdriver,” Skye asked pointing at the screwdriver on the kitchen island.

“That’s good to hear, and sure, here,” Bobbi said and tossed over the screwdriver, not even bothering to ask why she would need one.

Skye tried to catch it, but it didn’t really go like she had hoped, she joggled the screwdriver a couple of times before dropping it completely on the floor, Bobbi was chuckling from the kitchen area.

“That’s not funny,” Skye said playfully glaring at Bobbi.

“It was a little. So how far is it coming?” Bobbi asked.

“Didn’t you just ask that?” Skye smirked at Bobbi.

“No, I asked how it was going, not how far,” Bobbi said smirking back at Skye, who just huffed.

“Well then it is almost done, just waiting for the last of the cameras to be fastened and connected,” Skye said, not looking at Bobbi.

Bobbi was about to say something then Maria put her head in the door to the back yard.

“Bobbi, you might want to go back up to Natasha, she is getting impatient waiting for you,” Maria said.

“Uh better go up there then,” Bobbi said hurrying up the stairs, Skye shook her head.

“Skye are you getting hungry? Melinda and I were talking about getting something,” Maria asked.

“Yeah, a little, what were you thinking about getting?” Skye asked.

“We don’t know yet, do you want something specific?” Maria asked.

“No, not really,” Skye said, Maria just smiled and nodded, and went upstairs, probably to ask Natasha and Bobbi what they wanted.

Melinda, Bobbi, and Skye were painting one of the guest rooms one Saturday and started normal enough, but Bobbi was starting to act weird. She kept looking at Skye with a small smirk. Skye was about to turn so she could look at Bobbi and ask what Bobbi was thinking but before she could she was hit with paint on her shoulder.

“Bobbi!” Skye yelped.

Bobbi laughed, Melinda had turned to see why Skye had yelped, only to see a big paint spot on Skye’s shoulder and Bobbi laughing. She was quick to realize what had happened, she decided to avenge Skye, so she dipped her paintbrush in the paint before coming up beside Bobbi and smearing the brush in Bobbi’s face.

This time it was Bobbi’s turn to yelp and Skye to laugh. Maria and Natasha came in the door just as Melinda was taking the paintbrush away from Bobbi’s face, they had heard the commotion from the other room that they were working on.

It took them two months to set everything up and move their furniture and stuff into the house. They would have been done earlier but they wanted a room to set up the computer for their security, so they had a room in the basement built.

They were hosting a housewarming party, there weren't many people there, only themselves, Clint, Victoria, Sharon, Kara, Izzy, and Fury.

“Damn, it is a nice house you have found, and awesome gym,” Sharon said, she was in the kitchen with Melinda, Maria, and Izzy.

“Thanks. The neighborhood is a good one too, we were lucky,” Maria said.

“Plenty of room for all of you and a few more even,” Izzy said with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking, but I don’t think we are ready to even talk about that,” Melinda said giving Izzy a small glare, Maria and Sharon chuckled at them.

“Do you feel the same Maria?” Sharon asked.

“Yeah, I do,” Maria said, they then heard Skye squealing from the living room when they looked over they saw Kara and Skye tangled up on the floor laughing.

Melinda and Maria were smiling at the sight, while Sharon just laughed, and Izzy shook her head.

A few weeks later Fury asked Skye, Maria, Natasha, Melinda, and Bobbi to come to his office.

He looked apologetic but didn’t say anything until they were all sitting down.

“Out with it Nick, what is it?” Natasha said.

“We have gotten reports that the Rising Tide are getting ready for something big and are looking for new members,” Fury said.

“That’s not how it works with them; they don’t actively look for members,” Skye said, everyone knew that Skye was still technically a member, but hadn’t been active for some time, and she had given SHIELD some of their names.

“That is true, but they are now, so it must be really big,” he said.

“So why are we here?” Maria asked, already having an idea for what he wanted.

“I would like for Skye to go undercover with them,” Fury answered knowing he should just get it out.

“What if they know it was Skye that gave us some of them, what would they do to her?” Melinda asked.

“We have no reason to believe they know it was Skye, we can come up with a cover that she has been hiding because there was someone following her,” Fury said.

“I don’t like it,” Bobbi said.

“None of us like it, but it will be up to Skye. If she says yes, I will respect that, but if she says no, you can’t make her,” Natasha said, at the last part she looked at Fury, he nodded that he understood.

Everyone then looked at Skye waiting for what she would say.

“Can I think about it?” Skye asked, she knew she wanted to talk to her soulmates.

“Of course, but I can only give you two days. Here are some of the intel we have gathered,” Fury said handing over a folder.

“Before we leave, if I say yes, do I have to leave?” Skye asked.

“Yes, they know you lived in a van and were in hiding, so it would be suspicious if you suddenly lived in a big house with four other people that could easily be tied to SHIELD,” Fury said.

“It would also be practical if you did live in your van,” Fury then added.

Skye nodded, and looked down at the folder, Fury told them they could go home for the day and talk.

When they did get home, they sat down on the couch, no one said anything at first.

“Okay, we need to talk about this,” Bobbi said, getting both annoyed and anxious by the silence.

“What do you think Skye?” Melinda asked.

“I don’t know, I mean I know that they wouldn’t stop trying to reach their goal, whatever it is, but I don’t know if I want to leave,” Skye said.

“How fast do you think you can get the intel,” Natasha asked, having a feeling that Skye would likely take on the mission.

“I don’t know, first I need to gain their trust again since I have been gone so long, but after that, not long. I was one of their best after all, and I think I can regain their trust pretty fast,” Skye said.

“How long?” Melinda asked, coming to the same conclusion as Natasha had.

“Maybe six months, a year max, it all depends on them believing I just went dark for these past months,” Skye said.

Maria shuffled closer to Skye and took her hand.

“Do you want to go?” Maria asked.

“I mean, yes, it doesn’t sit well with me that they are looking for members,” Skye said.

“Okay,” Maria said.

“If you do this we are upping your training and setting emergency beacons, and trackers in your van, and probably some other stuff too, and weapons,” Natasha said.

“Is that necessary?” Skye asked.

“Yes,” came the reply from Natasha, Maria, and Bobbi.

“But I have a question, won't they know your code has been incorporated into SHIELD?” Bobbi asked.

“No, they won't. The codes I used when I was in the Rising Tide were different from the ones I used for SHIELD, even here, it is different. I don’t like to use the same code for different things,” Skye said.

“So, you have at least three different signatures when it comes to hacking and cybersecurity?” Natasha asked, it hadn’t even come up before, Natasha actually liked learning new things about Skye.

“No, I have a lot more, but the Rising Tide only knows of two of them,” Skye said.

“Will you tell us how many you have?” Bobbi asked.

“Hmm, nope,” Skye answered, Bobbi pouted at the answer, causing Skye, Natasha, and Maria to laugh.

“Melinda? Are you okay?” Skye asked, Melinda had been silent for a while.

“Yes, I just don’t like not having you near us for however long,” Melinda said. Skye could see Melinda was upset and tense, so she got up and moved over to Melinda and snuggled into her side. It didn’t take long until Melinda was calm again and was enjoying herself, with Skye nested beside her.

The next day Skye informed Fury that she would take the mission, but only if Victoria was her contact, since none of her mates could do it, so he accepted the term.

They agreed to talk as often as they could, and Skye said she would come by when she could get away. Natasha and Bobbi were thinking they could sneak into her van if they were in the same area and also had the time for it.

Skye’s van was also getting a lot more security, as Natasha had demanded. As Natasha had also demanded, Skye’s training also got an upgrade, Skye hated it but did it anyway.

It was the night before Skye was leaving, to make contact with other members to make her presence known again.   

They had spent the whole day together, they made food and they all slept in the living room on the floor on cushions, like they had in Natasha’s and Melinda’s old house when they watched Harry Potter.

It was a tearful goodbye the next morning, where they asked Skye if she was sure that she wanted to do this, but Skye said yes and she was the best option to figure out what they were up to, it could be nothing, but it could also be very damaging.

Skye got into her van, after giving each of her mates a hug and a kiss and set the course to Los Angeles.