Skimmons Post finale Nightmares

Skye woke up with a jolt as Jemma screamed next to her and she sat up in a panic, no matter how many times this happened it never got any easier for her. The scientist was kicking and clawing at invisible water and her head was extended up while she screamed and yelled for help, sometimes she would yell out Wards name. Skye took the woman’s shoulders and shook them with one hand while checking her head for a fever with the other. Jemma woke up with a yell and panicked even more as her limbs got caught in the blankets and Skye was forced to take her hands away from the flailing arms. Jemma jolted up, smacking her head on the pillow that Skye had nailed to the top of the bunk weeks ago since the scientist bloodied her head during a dream. The soft mass took away from the severity of the impact but Skye cringed at the thump it created. 

“Jemma! Jemma! It’s okay, you’re fine, you’re here! I’m right here baby.”

But the agent’s words fell on deaf ears as she continued to yell, kicking at the covers and backing harshly into the wall. Skye got a quick kick to the side of her face but she shook her head and continued to try to talk her girlfriend down. However, no matter how many times the agent said her name or tried to comfort her, the scientist still never snapped out of the nightmare. Realizing that nothing was working and that Jemma was going to hurt herself at this rate, Skye grabbed a pillow and used it as a flimsy shield against the scientists kicking and got next to the woman. She dropped the pillow and proceeded to pull her arms around her struggling girlfriend, keeping her arms from moving to much while the agent wrapped her legs with her own, almost in a wrestlers pose. 

“Jemma, Baby I got you!”

Several elbowed ribs later and a bruised chin, the scientist’s eyes finally snapped open with a loud whimper. She looked around, suddenly realizing where she was and the agent immediately let go afraid of scaring her even more. The scientist took deep shuddering breaths before backing into the corner, her back turned to Skye and her face hidden. Skye watched from on her knees, her face red and her eyes wide. She reached a shaking hand towards the scientist. 

“Jemma?”

Her voice was soft and genuinely curious but as her hand touched the poor scientist shoulders, she jerked away, smacking into the corner making Skye cringe and pull her hand away. 

“Get away from me!”

Jemma’s voice wasn’t really her own as she thrashed a hand in Skye’s direction. The agent looked down, she was crying now but she wiped her face and cleared her throat lightly.

“Baby?”

“No!”

Came the harsh reply. The scientist was sobbing loudly from the corner, not that Skye could see her face but she could see the shaking. Under normal circumstances, the agent would have her arms around her while she cried, being there to comfort her and not being able to help of even touch the scientist broke Skye’s heart. 

“Get OUT!”

Skye understood that this wasn’t Jemma talking but the words hurt her anyway. She understood that Jemma was still partially inside the box or swimming for both her and Fitz’s life and that it would take time for her to completely come back to reality and Jemma lashing out was juts a side effect of this. So even though the agent cringed at every word, she remained behind Jemma on the bed. She was on her knees with her arms supporting her and her head down, waiting patiently while Jemma cried in the corner, sometimes shouting random insults. 

Skye didn’t know how long it took but eventually the scientist’s sobs decreased into light crying and she finally and slowly turned her head away from the corner to her girlfriend sitting quietly behind her. She sniffled and looked around, reality creeping back into her eyes and recognition of what was happening. Skye looked up and Jemma put her shaking hand over her own mouth as she realized everything she had said and done. 

“Oh, Skye… I--I’m so--”

“It’s okay, baby, I’m glad you’re back.”

Skye smiled reassuringly but the look of horror didn’t leave the scientist’s face. She turned around slowly and reached a tentative hand out, Skye opened her arms with a sad smile on her face. Jemma quickly crawled over into the agent’s arms, holding desperately onto her waste, still crying but for different reasons now. Skye was holding her tightly while stroking her hair and rocking back and forth lightly. 

“I--I didn’t mean any of it!”

“I know, sweetheart, I know.”

“Skye, I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t be.”

She pulled the scientist up so that she was looking into her eyes, making sure that she understood that everything was okay and she was telling the truth. 

“It’s over now. And don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

Jemma cried softly at those words and limply fell back into Skye’s arms. The agent continued to rock and stroke her hair. 

“It’s going to get better, I promise you, baby.”

Jemma smiled in spite of everything and hummed lightly into Skye’s chest, letting the agent hold her tightly.  A few minutes later and Jemma turned her head up towards the agent, never moving away. 

“You’re perfect, you know that, right?”

Skye scoffed 

“As if.”

Jemma smiled tiredly, reaching a hand under Skye’s arms and touching the bruise that her foot caused on the agent’s cheek.

“No I mean it, you’re perfect.”

Skye didn’t answer as she continued to hold the scientist.

“Thank you, Skye..”

The agent looked down for the first time.

“For what?”

“For not leaving.”

She added slyly 

“And for being perfect.”

Skye kissed Jemma’s warm forehead, letting her lips linger for a few moments

“Not in a million years.”

They didn’t move for a while after that, until the door to their bunk slid open slowly, just enough for Tripp’s hand to enter. They couldn’t see anything but they figured the rest of the team must have been there due to the light mumbling they heard. He reached in and placed a bottle of water on the bed and as the team handed him things he placed them with the water. One by one, a bottle of Advil, an ice pack, some gauze, and one of May’s night shirts, (sure enough, Jemma looked down and her thin night shirt had been ripped up pretty badly). The last thing he put on the bed was a cup of tea in thermo mug, Jemma reached over and squeezed his hand thankfully before he respectfully shut the door and they heard the rest of the team walk away. Jemma leaned on Skye as she picked up the tea and took a small sip, Skye had already placed the ice pack on the throbbing bruise on her face. 

“I love you, Skye”

“I love you, Jem, more than you could possibly know.”

Skimmons Protective Mama Jemma

Skye’s phone buzzed in her pocket, she jumped a little and pulled it out. Normally she wouldn’t even acknowledge phone calls like this when she was in the middle of a mission, however, this was the phone she reserved for her 13 year old daughters calls. She picked up the phone and whispered into the screen. 

“Hey sweetheart, is everything alright?”

She heard a sniffle on the other end and her heart dropped. 

“Um.. I’m okay, but..”

“What is it, baby?”

Her daughter almost never called her during the day when she was at work so this was a strange happening. Chloe took a deep breathe on the other end, she then told Skye everything in a hurried voice

“Well, I’m in trouble at school and they’re sending me home. I tried calling Momma but she was dealing with something dangerous and they wouldn’t let me talk to her and I told the principal that and I told him that it wouldn’t be very long until she could talk (Which was true) and he told me to call you because wasn’t supposed to be there. I told him that you have a dangerous job and that I wasn’t supposed to call you but he told me to call anyway, I’m sorry mom.”

When her daughter was finished with her incredibly fast story she let out an exhale as if she hadn’t taken a breathe through the entire thing. Chloe was a very shy girl and had never gotten in trouble in school before and Skye wasn’t sure how to handle such a thing.

“Don’t worry about it, baby.. Um.. Well I’ll call your mum so she can come pick you up because I won’t be home until tonight. But what did you do to get sent home.”

“My shirt.”

Skye stopped for a second, confused.

“Wait, what?”

“I wore a tank top this morning.”

“Yeah, I saw it..”

“And my shoulders are showing and I guess it’s against the dress code…”

Skye scowled 

“You’ve got to be kidding me..”

Chloe started getting upset on the other end.

“I have that test today! I studied.”

Her voice broke and Skye’s heart shattered, she had never wanted to kick another human being so bad before.

“Sweetie! Sweetie! It’s okay, you’re not in trouble and I’m going to call your Momma and she’s going figure something out okay?”

Chloe sniffled.

“Mmkay..”

“That’s my girl, I love you! And I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“I love you, see you soon.”

She kissed the phone and then ended the call, promptly dialing Jemma’s number and putting it to her ear.

“Hello, Skye?”

“Yeah, hey--”

“I’m sorry I can’t talk long, Chloe just called me and I need to call her back.”

“Yeah, about that, I just talked to her, she’s being sent home and apparently they were being real assholes about the whole thing.”

“What on earth for?!”

“Her shoulders were showing.”

“What.”

It wasn’t a question, more like an icy statement of hatred and Skye could practically feel the anger coming from the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, I’m pretty pissed too. Anyway, they need you to come pick her up…”

There was no answer from the other end so Skye continued

“I gotta go now, baby.. Okay?”

“Yeah. Be careful.”

Jemma’s voice was deeper and shorter than usual.

“Oh, and Jem…?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go to prison, okay?”

There was an angry mumble on the other end and Skye couldn’t help but smirk as she suddenly felt bad for whoever was about to get yelled at, Jemma was the sweetest person the earth.. Except, of course, when it came to her baby girl. 

Jemma practically burst through the front doors of the middle school, fuming and swinging her big purse dangerously. From the entrance she could see her daughter sitting in the office with her head down and a towel over her shoulders, she cursed under her breathe and walked angrily to the clear office. However, her attitude changed as she dropped down to Chloe’s level and she smiled reassuringly at the 13 year old.

“Hey, darling, are you okay?”

Chloe nodded sadly, her lips pouting slighting.

“I’m sorry, Momma.”

Jemma placed a soft hand on the young girl’s cheek and brushed back her hair.

“Don’t apologize, sweetheart, this is ridiculous and I’m talking to your principal. What hour did you say your big test was? 6th?”

Chloe nodded.

“Well that’s only a couple of hours from now, why don’t you go over there and study some more before the test and I’ll handle this debacle, okay?”

“But I thought I had to go home?”

“Nonsense, you’ve been studying for a week for this test, you’re not going to miss it over something as silly as this, at least not if I can help it. You put the work in and you haven’t done anything wrong.”

Chloe smiled and Jemma kissed her daughter on the head sweetly. The secretary, who had been giving them strange looks the whole time had already called the principal and the tall, grey faced man walked in and stood in front of Jemma, Chloe remained seated in the chair.

“Mrs. Simmons.”

Jemma stood up and shook his hand rather coldly.

“It’s Dr. Simmons, Principal Jones.”

“Ah, yes, My mistake. Anyway, Dr. Simmons, it’s school policy that she has to go home because her shirt is too revealing.”

Jemma crossed her arms and flipped her hair.

“ ’To revealing?’ It’s a tank top. And she has a very important test that she’s been studying nonstop for in two hours.”

He took a deep, agitated breathe.

“I’m sure she will be able to make it up.”

“That’s not the point. You pull MY daughter out of class. You treat her like some kind of juvenile delinquent. You make her call her mother to tell her she’s in trouble and then cover her shoulders up and detain her.”

He put a finger up,

“Ma’am--”

“All because she’s wearing a tank top that’s showing her shoulders?! It’s 104 degrees outside!

The principal shifted uncomfortably 

“We’re just trying to reduce the amount of distractions in class. And, of course, it‘s school policy.”

Jemma’s face was appalled as she put a hand on her hip and leaned towards the principal angrily. 

“If you’re sexualizing a THIRTEEN year old girl’s shoulders then you, Sir, are the damn problem!” 

Jemma backed away, surprised at her own temper and looked down at her daughter who she just remembered was still there, she took a breathe, not looking at the principal and put a hand through her daughter’s hair.

“Why don’t you hop on over there,”

She pointed to a study table outside the office

“While principal Jones and I have a civil discussion about this.”

Chloe jumped out of her chair, smiled at her mother and headed to the table with her books in hand. She pretended to be studying but she couldn’t help but watch the silent fight going on the office, she had never seen her mother quite so angry. She was yelling and waving her hands angrily, the principal seemed to have been trying to calm her down until apparently something she said got him angry as well. Eventually, the two adults were both yelling and the secretary was watching them wide eyed with a hand over her mouth, in shock. The pricipal stormed out after a while and her mother immediately pulled out her phone, talking to someone adamantly.  She messed with her phone some more before walking out of the office and heading to where Chloe was sitting. 

“How is it going, darling?”

“Good… Do I have to go home?”

Jemma laughed, rubbing the top of Chloe’s hand reassuringly.

“No, darling, I just called in some reinforcements and we’re going get this fixed. Not only for you but also for any other poor girl having her education compromised because of some perverted official. Anyway, you don’t need to worry about all of this, You just focus on that test you’ve been working so hard on.”

Jemma left her daughter at the table and returned to the conveniently clear office.

 A half and hour later and Skye walked through the school’s front door, her face was worried but it lightened up as she saw Chloe sitting the table and she immediately went over to the studying child. 

“Hey sweetheart, where’s your mum?”

She pointed down the hall 

“They walked over into the conference room. I thought you weren’t going to be able to come home till tonight?”

‘Yeah, I was but your Mum texted me and said that you two were still at the school and I figured I should probably come over here and make sure your Mum doesn’t murder anyone.”

She laughed but Chloe looked up skeptically 

“Momma wouldn’t hurt anyone, would she?”

Skye laughed and put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

“No!…No.. I mean..”

She looked down the hallway debating

“Probably not… But.. You are our baby girl, after all.”

Skye smiled deviously and sat down next to Chloe, her head tilted like she was about to tell a secret.

“Did Uncle Fitz ever tell you about the time they took you to the park?”

Chloe shook her head.

“Well, and don’t tell your Mum I’m telling you this because she’s always been afraid it would bother you but, anyway, when you were around three or four, your Mum and uncle Fitz took you to the park and Your Mum nearly got arrested. Now, I’ve only heard this story from Uncle Fitz’s stand point because I was at home when this happened. But, apparently, While you were there, this bad guy thought that you were Fitz’s daughter because he was holding you and your Mum was sitting down. Well, He put you down in the sand box and left, I guess to get drinks or something and this sicko thought that you were alone. He went over to you and I guess tried to take your hand, like to take you away … Well your Mum ran over and maced the guy, right? Anyway, all I know after that is that your uncle Fitz had to pull your Mum off this dude.”

Skye looked up at the wall, proudly with a smile on her face.

“The guy walked away with a concussion, a broken nose, two broken ribs and a broken hand… Not to mention the cuts.”

Chloe hung onto every word with wide eyes, she was smiling with her mouth open in disbelief.

“How did Mum do that!?”

“Well, sweetie, your Mum may be a scientist but she’s also a shield agent and she’s been trained in self defense.”

Skye paused, a look of pride still on her face over her wife’s achievement.

“Also, there’s the three bricks that she stole from the hospital on the day we took you home… She keeps those in her purse.. Anyway, do you know who she’s talking to?”

Chloe shook her head, still reeling from the story 

“She said that she called in reinforce--”

Before she finished, the doors opened and three people walked in, looking serious. The first was a red headed woman, she was thin and professional looking, carrying a briefcase, Chloe had only seen Pepper Pots in magazines so far. Behind her walked a dark haired woman who looked like an agent like her mom, she had never seen her before but from the looks of her she had probably heard her name several times. Lastly, Captain Rogers walked, he was in a professional attire and he was looking around skeptically. Chloe had met him only once before when Coulson brought him to one of their dinners, plus she had a whole stash of Captain America merchandise that Coulson had given her throughout the years. 

Skye’s mouth dropped

“Oh good lord… what the hell did that man say to your mother..?”

Skye stood up and took a deep breath before ruffling up her daughters hair lightly.

“Well… I.. Am going to go and make sure that these favors your Mum called in don’t have anything to do with burying something. Your test is in a couple minutes, right?”

Chloe nodded, still staring at the three superhero looking people.

“Good luck, baby and I’ll see you afterwards.”

She left and walked over to the people, the dark haired woman was the first to speak.

“Agent Simmons.”

Her mother nodded

“Agent Hill.”

They walked down the hallway as the bell rang and students poured out of classrooms, Chloe picked up her stuff and headed for her test.

An hour later and Chloe was heading back to the office, a smile on her face and a piece of paper that had a circled 98% on the corner. She hesitated before walking in, not sure what she was supposed to do but the secretary motioned for her to come in and sit down. She wanted to know what was happening but everything seemed unusually silent. Fifteen minutes later, however a group of people were walking down the hallway next to them, these included Ms. Potts and Agent Hill along with what looked like the entire school board. Chloe stood up and walked out of the office into the hall looking for her moms. They were standing next to each other that the other end talking to Captain Rogers, smiling and laughing. She walked up shyly and stood just behind Skye’s arm, Skye put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Whatever happened, it seemed her Moms’ venture was successful in protecting the  girls at least in that particular school. Captain Rogers looked down and held out a hand for Chloe to take, she reached up and shook his hand nervously, he smiled.

“How did your test go, miss Simmons?”

Chloe held up the paper, wordlessly, blushing slightly. Her moms were practically radiating with pride. 

“That is incredible, I, personally was always terrible at science growing up and I know It’s only gotten harder. You’re as intelligent as your Moms, I cannot wait until you’re running things around here.”

Chloe blushed and then muttered sweetly,

“Thank you, Captain Rogers” 

The principal walked by them, he was carrying a box of belongings and glaring at the floor. The women glared at him as he walked by and Skye pulled Chloe closer to her side. As he walked away Jemma continued to glare at his back, a protective sneer on her face.

“I can’t believe that creep was running our daughter’s school..”

“I know, but at least he’s out of here now.”

Jemma continued to grumble, never taking her eyes off the spot where the principal had walked.

“I swear.. If he looks at my baby.. Or any of these babies in this school.. I’m Gonna..”

She mumble the last part angrily.

“I know, baby, I know.”

“Perv..”

“I know.”

  

Skimmons Long Distance AU Continued

Skye stood rigidly in front of a dank public restroom mirror, she hadn’t been running but she was breathing excitedly, she had just got off the plane and was now taking a good hard look at herself. Her skin was blotchy and her hair was stiff and slightly tangled from the long ride there, her clothes were at least three days old and as she realized after sniffing under arm, she was slightly stinky. She took a deep breathe and suddenly everything seemed terrifying and now she felt absolutely insane for dropping everything and heading over to meet a woman she had only seen through the screen face to face. She shook her head and plopped her one bag onto the questionably sterile counter, in it was everything she owned anymore and she felt a bit like crying now that she was here. She had lost contact with Jemma a few days ago and she was worried that the scientist thought she had left her, and she was almost glad that the other woman didn’t know when she was coming since she didn’t want her to see her like this for the first time. 

Skye forced herself to smile despite everything and the strange looks she was getting from the women coming in and out of the bathroom. 

“It’s okay, Skye, you’ve worked with less.”

Maybe she looked a little crazy talking to herself but she ignored the sneers and dipped her hands in the sink water and running her hands through her thick hair, she reached in her bad and grabbed a comb before attempting to pull it through her locks without any luck. 

“Screw it, I’ll put it up.” 

She had a tiny bit of foundation left in her bag and she worked to get the last little bit out and wiping it on the particularly blotchy sections of her face and under her eyes to hide the dark spots. 

A lady walked by who didn’t look quite as mean as the others and she stopped her, trying out her puppy dog eyes. 

“Excuse me, miss, you wouldn’t happen to have any perfume that I could borrow, would you?” 

The lady smiled and handed her a little bottle, she thanked her profusely and sprayed it everywhere, it wasn’t her first choice of scent but it was a million times better than B.O. She gave the nice lady her perfume back and then dug around in her pockets, pulling out two crumpled up dollar bills and a nickel, she sighed and looked back at the mirror. 

“Well Skye, at least you know she doesn’t love you for your money.”

She left the bathroom and made her way down the street, she was only a few blocks from where Jemma worked and she was going to need that time to make herself brave. She looked around at all the shops, a couple of them were selling flowers but they were all priced to high for Skye’s $2.05. She looked at the ground, she had promised roses and everything had not turned out as planned. However, Skye wasn’t going to give up that easily, she may not have a steed or even a scooter but she wasn’t going in there without any flowers. She looked around to the residential houses on the other side of the street and smiled devilishly. 

“Oh yeah..”

She made her way to the beautiful and rich homes, trying her best not to get noticed. She went through about three houses before finally looking through a hole in the fence and seeing a big Rose bush, full of both red and yellow roses. She looked around her and then hoped over the fence, her feet made a loud crunching sound as she hit the ground, she winced and stopped moving for a second before sprinting over to the bush. The thorns ripped up her hands and she realized how hard it was to cut the stems without any scissors, but she got enough to be considered a bouquet and arranged them clumsily before carefully climbing out of the yard undetected. She casually wiped her bleeding fingers on her pants before scolding herself as the blood showed darkly and obviously on her jeans. She found a water fountain and washed the stems off so that you couldn’t see her blood on the thorns and she then quickly made her way to the large, futuristic building where Jemma worked, rolling her eyes at her own clumsiness and talking to herself, harshly.

“Hi Jemma, yeah I’m that chick you’ve been talking too, will you go out with me? I’ve got two bucks and I swear I’m not a serial killer. Please ignore the blood on my knees. I’m not insane.”

She felt horribly out of place in the professional and high tech building, everyone there was either in an expensive suit or in a lab coat with expensive looking equipment. She patted the modest laptop in her bag.

“Don’t beat yourself up, I bought you for 300 bucks at a pawn shop.”

She made it to the front desk on Jemma’s floor where a proper looking woman was sitting and juggling around three different ringing phones with ease while pointing people in different directions. Skye wasn’t sure if she should talk while the woman had a phone to her ear but the lady waved her to speak up.

“Um, yes, I’m here to see Jemma Simmons.”

“Do you have an appointment with Dr. Simmons?”

“Um.. No but--”

“You’ll have to make an appointment. Over there”

She pointed to a huge line of people in front of a desk.

“She should be able to see you within the next month.. Next!”

Skye clenched her jaw shut, holding onto her bag with a fist. She didn’t go to the huge line of people and instead walked down the hallway while the lady was busy with someone else. She needed to hurry since the roses were already wilting slightly. She found a lab coat with chemistry glasses on top of them lying on an empty lab cart and she swiftly put them on, hoping silently that whoever these belonged to didn’t have pink eye or something, that would be just her luck. After that, no one took a second glance at her. She just wanted to meet the woman, this was beginning to feel like some horribly planned heist however, her heart jumped as she saw the door at the end of the hall and she walked up, cautiously. There were two names on the door; Dr. Jemma Simmons and Dr. Leopold Fitz and they each had a list of their doctorates under the name. Skye’s mouth dropped as she saw the list under Jemma’s name, she knew that she was a Dr. In Biochemistry but there were at least four other doctorates in fields she couldn’t even pronounce. Another wave of self doubt rushed over her and she debated just dropping the flowers and hitchhiking back home, she was only a hacker for hire, this woman was leagues above her, however she put her hand on the doorknob and took a deep breathe. She originally wanted to burst in and surprise everyone but instead as she turned the knob and opened the door, she walked slowly in in, holding her head down shyly. The room she walked in was empty but on one side was a huge window revealing a massive lab. She shed the coat and the glasses, laying them carefully on the ground and walking tentatively to the window. The two scientists were turned around and working lazily, lost in their own little world, Skye knocked on the glass, terror filling up her chest. Jemma didn’t look up but Fitz did and Skye could see his eyes roll and his mouth moving. Jemma practically dropped the piece of equipment in her hands and turned around on her heel. The scientist’s face lit up and she ran to the glass putting her hands on it excitedly, she was jumping up and down like a child at the circus. Skye could see her mouth moving quickly but she couldn’t hear anything through the glass even though the scientist definitely seemed happy. She put a finger up and stripped off her coat and glasses before disappearing on the other side of the room. Skye looked at Fitz for some answer and he moved his hands in a washing motion before gesturing to his whole body, Skye gave him a thumbs up to show him that she understood and then turned away from the glass. It seemed to take forever with Skye standing awkwardly, feeling Fitz’s eyes on her back, finally a door slid open and Jemma practically ran out, patting her hair down and straightening out her stripped sweater. The woman was a billion times even more beautiful in real life and Skye felt a lump in her throat as they both stopped and stared at each other with smiles on their faces. Skye wondered whether Jemma had the same lump in her throat. 

Jemma took a couple of steps foreword before reaching out her hand as far as it would go and Skye immediately did the same, they giggled as their fingers touched for the first time. Jemma hopped up and down for a second before dropping her hand and  wrapping her arms around Skye’s waste. Skye wrapped her arms around Jemma, keeping the roses away so that the thorns wouldn’t catch on her sweater. Jemma let go and backed away shyly, holding her hands in front of her.

“I’m sorry.. I was just so worried about you.”

She laughed awkwardly, kicking her feet on the ground and blushing.

“You are so beautiful in real life.”

Her face dropped and she started back tracking.

“I-- I  mean you were beautiful on the computer as well.. I just mean, you know off it and not so pixilated.”

Skye laughed, surprised that Jemma seemed so impressed with her. 

“I understand, you are too.. Beautiful off the screen I mean.. I Uh- I brought you flowers.’

Skye handed the homemade bouquet to the scientist and she took it excitedly sniffing the pedals and closing her eyes. 

“They’re perfect, you certainly do keep your promises don’t you?”

Skye smiled, looking away.

“Heh, hardly” 

Jemma walked over slowly and tentatively reached her hand up, pulling a piece of Skye’s bangs out of her eyes, she seemed a bit scared, as if she were worried that she was stepping out of line but Skye gave her a little smile to reassure her.

“You poor thing.. You look exhausted.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me…Um.. So I was wondering if maybe we could do something, you know, tonight after you get off work?”

Jemma’s face looked much braver than before as she smiled and lightly tapped Skye shoulder as if finding any excuse to touch her.”

“Nonsense! Silly, I finally get to see you and touch you, I’m not staying here!”

Skye was legitimately shocked, Jemma seemed to always be tied to work. The scientist walked over and pulled out a little communication panel ( That would have been useful when she first walked in), she pushed the button.

“I’m taking the rest of the day off, mmkay Fitz?”

The other scientist walked over and hit a button on his side.

“Yeah I got it here. Now that you’ve finally got to meet her are you going to finally stop talking about her EVERY minute of EVERY day?”

Jemma’s entire faced flushed red and she looked at Skye, shaking her head sweetly before hitting the button again.

“Oh.. You.. Shut up.. Fitz..”

In a poor attempt at a comeback. She looked at Skye apologetically and smiled.

“He’s always joking around. Anyway, would you like to come to my flat to relax a little? Then maybe we could go out to a nice dinner?”

Skye rubbed her neck nervously

“I would love that more than anything but.. I don’t really have that much cash on me right now… Or you know.. Anywhere.”

“Oh I’ll pay for everything!”

“I can’t ask you to do that, Jem.”

“Nonsense!”

Her voice dropped, sweetly and hesitantly.

“You came all the way over here to see me, it’s the least I can do.”

“Skye nodded in defeat and walked over to open the door for the scientist and bowing dramatically, she giggled and skipped through the doorway, waiting for Skye to get next to her. She looked down and then looked at Skye.

“Would it be alright, If -- If I held your hand?”

Skye giggled a little sadly.

“There’s nothing I want more. I mean, If you’re alright with your coworkers seeing me with you.”

Jemma had already grabbed her hand happily but was now looking at Skye confused. As they walked 

“What on earth do you mean?”

Skye quickly responded, now worried that she had said the wrong thing.

“Well, I just mean, It wouldn’t bother me if you didn’t want your colleagues seeing me with you.”

She laughed trying to ease the moment.

“I don’t want to embarrass you, that’s all”

Jemma looked up at her as if she had just said she saw a unicorn.

“Skye, that’s ridiculous, if anything…”

She paused thinking about her words carefully 

“I want to.. Show you off a bit. I know that sounds terrible but I do hope everyone I know sees us. Why would you think that I would be embarrassed by you?”

“Well, lets face it, Jemma, you’re way out of my league and.. I saw all those doctorates on your door, you’re super smart, and beautiful and successful and I’ve never been any of those things. To be honest I’m a little surprised you even wanted to date me.”

Jemma leaned her head on Skye’s shoulder as they passed a group of scientists and squeezed her hand.

“None of those things matter, Skye. You’re absolutely perfect to me, gorgeous, resourceful and kind despite the whole world up against you. Don’t ever think that you’re not perfect to me. Plus, Skye, if I wanted to date some twelve Doctorate, rich, know-it-all prick, I would have dated somebody in this building.”

Skye wanted to cry as Jemma continued talking, some of it was probably because she was terribly exhausted but a lot of it also had to do with how Jemma held on to her as if she were a treasure. At one point while they were walking Jemma stopped a woman and held out her flowers, exclaiming joyfully.

“Look at these roses my girlfriend Skye gave me! This is my girlfriend, Skye by the way!”

Skye blushed and leaned over as they walked away from the slightly confused woman.

“Who was that?”

Jemma laughed 

 “I have no bloody idea”

They finally made it to the bottom of the building when Skye stopped Jemma just before they were about to go through the doors to the outside, the day was much more beautiful than Skye remembered and the sun was making everything bright. Jemma looked at her curiously.

“I just-- I just wanted to say that I’m so happy I finally got to meet you face to face. Being able to talk to you in person and hold you was worth every minute of waiting. I‘m no catch, especially right now but I sure do love you, Jem.”

Jemma walked over until they were only a couple inches apart, she leaned over and placed a soft, lingering kiss on Skye’s cheek before pulling away slowly, still looking into her eyes.

“Truth is, Skye.. You swept me off my feet.”

  

Skimmons Long Distance AU

The laptop started ringing in that familiar tune, the Skype logo shining brightly through the dark room. Skye grumbled and looked at the clock; four O clock on the dot as always. She turned over and hit the answer button, still dragging her face from the pillow, however, she couldn’t help but smile as the picture popped up and a cheery voice broke through the morning silence.

“Good morning!”

Skye sat up lazily and wrapped the sheets around her shoulders, rubbing her eyes, she giggled when she saw the scientist’s ridiculously happy face. 

“Good morning, Jem.”

Her voice was thick with sleep.

“Tell me something, how is it that you’re this awake? It’s not that much later where you’re at, is it?”

The scientist peered into the webcam, her face dangerously close to the camera. Skye had tried to get her to realize that she didn’t have to be that close for her to be able to see her through the computer but after a few weeks, she just gave up and started to enjoy the details she could make out through the video.

“Oh, I’ve been up for a couple of hours now. I’m sorry for waking you up again but I promised you that I would call today but I have to be in the lab in about fifteen minutes.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry”

Skye laughed, her long distance girlfriend was so apologetic about everything, it was adorable. 

“It’s not your fault, silly.”

Jemma giggled, the red in her face coming through the video. 

“Anyway, did you get to talk to your boss about that vacation?”

Simmons’ face fell slightly.

“Yes, but unfortunately it will probably be farther away than I first thought.”

“Oh really? How long?”

The scientist counted the days in her head, rocking back and forth and Skye figured that this wasn’t a good sign.

“Six or seven months? Around that.”

“Why so long?!”

“Well, just work, I’m afraid…”

She paused, looking down at the ground in disappointment.

“But I promise that we’ll get see each other after that! The minute I’m off, I’ll get out of here and go and see you.”

Skye felt bad about the urgency in her girlfriend’s voice, almost as if she was afraid that Skye was about to call the whole thing off or get bored waiting, she couldn’t stress enough that that wasn’t going to happen. They sat for a couple minutes, not looking at each other until Skye looked up, wide eyed and awake. 

“Well, what if I come over there?”

The scientist seemed genuinely confused.

“What?”

Skye scootched closer to the camera, still wrapped in the sheets. 

“I work from the computer, I could come down there any time I want to.’

“It would be pretty expensive to get down here, baby, and I know that your job doesn’t pay that well…”

“I could sell some stuff!”

Skye was suddenly very excited. Jemma put a hand over her mouth, thinking everything through.

“Well… I--”

A Scottish voice broke into their conversation from outside of Skye’s view, but from the sound of it, the man had been sitting on the other side of the room. 

“The machines are up and running, Jemma, Time to go!”

“I’ll be there in a second, Fitz!”

Jemma turned back to Skye, her eyes still wide and hopeful and Skye leaned forward even more, they were running out of time as always and she had to get her point across quickly. 

“Just think about it, Jem, I’ll sell some stuff and get a plane ticket over there. I’ll burst through your lab doors, roses in hand on a white steed (I don’t actually know how to ride a horse so it’ll probably be a scooter) and I’ll sweep you off your feet. I’ve planned this out a billion times in my head!”

Jemma giggled, she had a huge smile on her face now and her eyes were bright, imagining everything Skye just said, the Scottish voice interrupted their moment again.

“Jemma!” 

The scientist turned around, angrily, lifting off her chair for a moment to get a better look at her lab partner. 

“JUST A MOMENT!”

 She turned back to Skye, sweetly, her face still red.

“So… What do ya think?”

Jemma bounced in her seat, she bit her lip and smiled at her girlfriend, then she answered shyly, 

“I-- I’d like that very much.”

“Then it’s a date!”

They looked at each other for a few moments, smiling and thinking about the future, Jemma was the first to speak.

“I’ve got to go, Baby, I’m sorry.”

“Okay, sweetie, go and do lots of science today! And be careful!”

Jemma smiled.

“I promise.”

“Kiss before you go?”

The scientist nodded.

“Of course.”

They leaned forward at the same time kissing the camera and making an obvious kiss noise to make up for the distance before Jemma shut the laptop and Skye looked around happily, planning to get to work so that she could finally see the woman whom she was almost certain was her soul mate face to face for the first time.

Skimmons Daughter/Nightmare

“Mommy! Momma!”

Skye and Jemma Simmons heard the little scream from the next room and their feet were on the ground not a second after. They went from sound asleep to racing through their room and into the hallway at break neck speeds. 

“Oh my God, Skye, Chloe!”

Skye reached the door next to them first, bouncing clumsily on the door frame and turning on the light, she had a wooden bat held at the ready. Jemma was directly behind her with a much more advanced Shield weapon and a cell phone. They both scanned the room in a panic however, their wasn’t anything out of the ordinary but their four year old was sitting on the floor next to her bed, crying loudly and holding her arm, trying desperately to climb back into bed. Skye rushed forward and plopped on her knees in front of the little child. 

“Sweet heart, are you okay? what happened?”

Chloe crawled quickly onto her momma and grabbed her hand, she immediately started trying to pull Skye up on the bed. She didn’t hesitate and instead picked the little girl up and sat down on the bed, looking worriedly at Jemma who was still holding the stun gun at her side.

“The monsters are under the bed!”

“Monsters? Oh baby, you must have had a bad dream and fell off the bed.”

The child shook her head adamantly, still crying while Skye wiped the tears off her face and pulled away her long and now tangled lochs. Jemma had come over and was now sitting next to them, her hand resting lightly on the toddler’s head.

“Precious, I checked this room for monsters, remember? And I made sure that there were none when you went to sleep.”

Chloe gave a little sniffle, looking at her mommy with wide, unconvinced eyes and Skye rocked her a little rubbing her unscathed arm reassuringly.

“It can’t hurt to check again, right, Jem?”

Jemma nodded before taking her hand off her daughter’s head and sliding down onto the floor, using her cell phone as a flashlight she reached under the bed and moved some of the toys around while Chloe watched, highly concerned from on top of the bed with Skye. She made sure to check every corner, partially to appease the scared child but also so that she was convinced that nobody was hiding under the bed. After she had checked everything, she pulled out a big pink stuffed monkey, smiling sweetly. 

“See sweetheart? It’s only Ms. Monkey, poor thing.”

Jemma brushed off the stuffed toy gently and smoothed out its bright pink fur.

“She must have fallen under your bed, darling that’s probably why you  had the nightmare.”

She handed the toy to Chloe who grabbed it gratefully, her tears finally starting to dry but she looked up disconcertedly and added in a whisper.

“Did the monsters take Ms. Monkey?”

Jemma chucked a little, shaking her head. 

“No, darling.”

Skye smiled and pulled the child and the toy closer, adding matter-of-factly   

   “Ms. Monkey was probably just checking the perimeter and got lost, she seems like the type of monkey that has everything under control but might lose her compass once in a while.”

Chloe seemed satisfied with this answer and nodded her head, still holding onto the toy tightly. Skye let go with one arm while the other held on to Chloe, the child, who thought she was about to get up, gave an upset little cry.

“Don’t worry, baby, I’m not going anywhere, I’m just checking your owie.”

She examined the little one’s elbow which wasn’t hurt that badly, simply scrapped, Jemma looked over her shoulder and checked the scratch as well. 

“I’ll go get some disinfectant and a band aid.”

The scientist was back a couple minutes later with the supplies, she sat down gently next to Chloe and Skye, she patted the arm down with the disinfectant, the child jerked a little due to the slight sting and Skye pulled her a little tighter to her chest. Jemma placed a Hello Kitty band-aid on the scrape, giving the area a little kissed before making sure it was placed tightly. Chloe looked at the spot, touching the pink insignia gingerly.

“What about Ms. Monkey?”

Jemma pulled out another Hello kitty Band Aid, smiling, she pulled the wrapping off and proceeded to try to place the band aid on the monkey’s head before Chloe stopped her and pointed to another spot on the toy’s forehead.

“Her owie’s over here, Mommy.”

“Oh, my mistake”

She placed the band-aid and gave the monkey a little kiss just as she had done for her daughter. Skye rubbed her arm and kissed the top of the child’s head. 

“You ready to go back to sleep now, baby?”

Chloe shook her head, pouting as she pushed closer to her Momma. Skye smiled wrapped her arms around both her daughter and the toy.

“Well, what if we stay here with you and make sure Ms. Monkey doesn’t wonder off and the monsters stay away, huh?

The four year old nodded reluctantly and let Skye pull her on her lap to the back wall. Jemma put some pillows behind her wife, before turning off the light and climbing into bed next to them. Chloe ended up practically sideways with her head on Skye’s chest and her legs on Jemma’s lap along with the monkey. Despite everything, Chloe fell asleep very fast in her moms’ arms and didn’t stir one bit. Skye and Jemma made sure that she was asleep before they said anything, looking at each other sweetly in the dark.

“You know it was probably that movie you let her see yesterday.”

Skye scoffed quietly, a half smile on her face. 

“ As if, I found her looking through one of your terrifying Microbiology textbooks, it was probably that that gave her a nightmare, I know it gave me one.”

Jemma rolled her eyes, barely noticeable in the dark. 

They reached their arms over and held hands over the sleeping child, smiling as they slowly drifted off to sleep. 

“I love you.”

“Not as much as I love you.”

Skimmons: Jemma gets powers

“Hey, baby be careful.”

Skye walked over slightly hunched over in the van to where Jemma was gathering her stuff for the mission ahead. She turned around and met Skye before she got to the door, wrapping her arms around her neck, a sweet smile on her face. Skye gave a half smile, partially happy and partially concerned.

“I promise.”

Skye hung a little bit on the scientist’s shoulders, keeping her head away from the top of the van. 

“You better, and I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Jemma lightly kissed the agent. 

“I know you will.”

She giggled a little bit and then turned back around, grabbing her bags and throwing them over her shoulders. She opened the van doors and hopped out clumsily making Skye chuckle. She turned back around and looked at the agent before heading over to where Fitz was tinkering with some kind of gadget. 

“We should be out of there in a few hours if every thing goes well. Are we doing anything special tonight?”

Skye was leaning halfway out the van, a little smirk on her face and random wires hanging off her neck. 

“Well, if you’re not to tired when you’re done I certainly have a few things in mind.”

She winked and Jemma blushed, avoiding eye contact with Fitz who had heqrd the exchange and was now attempting to make himself invisible. She took a few steps backward with a giggling smile on her face. It never ceased to amaze her how even after over two years together, Skye still managed to make Jemma feel like a crushing schoolgirl. 

“Well.. I’ll try to conserve my energy.”

She winked, stumbling a little bit before gaining her footing and grinning. Skye laughed and blew a quick kiss, before returning to the back of the van and closing the doors. Jemma smiled and walked over to Fitz, he pretended to be enveloped in his work and she pulled some more equipment out of her bags. Coulson was waving them over to a couple of jeeps that had just pulled up, their transport apparently. Fitz got up and walked with Simmons, both of them carrying lots of equipment, Fitz looked over, a mischievous grin on his face. 

“So… ‘Conserving energy‘ are we?”

Simmons gasped a little and hit the engineer with one of the bags on her shoulder, scolding him with an embarrassed smile. He winced a little bit as the heavy bag hit him, laughing he lightly pushed the scientist, making her rock with the swinging bags. 

“You’re horrible, Fitz”

He laughed.

“Yeah but, I’m not the one who said it, am I?”

She hit him with another bag and smiled professionally at Coulson as they reached the Jeeps, where May and Tripp were also leaning on the large vehicles. They didn’t ask any questions and instead just packed their stuff in the back of the jeeps. No one looked particularly stressed out for this mission, it was supposed to be a simple snatch and grab of an Asgardian object, which normally included days and days of research and examination, however, based on the descriptions, they had already encountered this object and they all expected to be back at the bus pretty soon. Coulson crossed his arms, he seemed calm and almost absent minded. 

“You four are going to retrieve the object and search the area for anymore artifacts, I’ll be in the van with Skye in case of complications and you require assistance. Keep in contact and update the progress of the mission every hour.”

He nodded and headed off, Fitz and Simmons split up with the engineer going in the jeep with Trip and Simmons going with May. Despite the mission ahead, Jemma continued to think about the evening after the end of the mission. She couldn’t be blamed, the entire team was tired and they had a long shore leave ahead of them. The details of the situation and mission had already been explained in detail so for the entire ride over the scientist looked absentmindedly out the window, an arrangement that was ideal for the naturally quiet and reserved May. If she had gone with Tripp she probably would have had to make up some sort of interesting conversation, she looked in the rear view mirror at the jeep behind them. Tripp and Fitz were discussing something passionately, she smiled and shook her head, they were probably arguing about Pokemon. 

They arrived at the site and waited while May and Tripp scanned the area before letting the two scientists go into the ruin where the 0-8-4 was spotted. Fitz walked into the door and began setting down the equipment, Jemma, however held on to her bags. She spotted the item and immediately felt a little drop of disappointment in her chest, the information, although physically accurate, didn’t explain the full spectrum and Simmons knew the minute she saw it that this was something that they had never come across before. Fitz, who had just put down all of his equipment, stopped and looked at what Simmons was staring at, he understood immediately the slightly annoyed look on her face. They stood there for a few minutes simply scowling at the 0-8-4. 

“Fitz! It is highly active, we can’t just move it!”

The gunfire outside was getting closer and although the two scientists trusted May and Tripp to keep the baddies out of where they were, the ruin walls were beginning to tremble with pieces falling from the edges. Contact had already been made when everything went south which meant that Coulson and Skye were probably almost there. Hopefully with reinforcements. 

“We just need more time!”

“We don’t have more time, Jemma!”

“Fitz, don’t!”

Simmons lurched forward to shove his hand away from the spherical object, only to have her own hand lightly brush the side. Apparently that’s all it took as the previously dormant object lit up violently, Simmons felt a surge of heat and electricity as her body was thrown backwards by the force of the sphere. There was a loud ‘crack!’ as her body hit the wall behind them and her whole world went black even before the scientist hit the ground.

Jemma woke up with a jolt as everything came back to her like a brick wall and she shot forward ready to jump back into the situation. 

“Hey, Jem! It’s okay, you’re back on the bus. Lay back down, I’m right here, I’ve got you.”

The scientist felt a gentle hand on her collarbone, pushing her lightly back down to the pillow. Jemma’s eyes focused on Skye’s worried face as she fell back. The agent was fidgeting around nervously, watching Jemma closely, she grabbed a little rag that she had setting a bowl and set the cloth over the scientist’s forehead. Simmons took a breathe of relief as the cool cloth took away some of the uncomfortable heat in her head. 

“You still have a fever.”

Simmons attempted a nod, she was severely light headed and the back of her scull was throbbing painfully. 

“What happened? Is everyone okay?”

Skye shook her head and rolled her eyes, still dabbing the cool cloth over her girlfriend’s forehead.

“Yes, everyone is alright.”

She helped Jemma sit up and lean on the pile of pillows behind her, the scientist still looked dazed.

“Unless you count Dr. Simmons, who got thrown into a rock wall, suffered a concussion and nearly lost her right arm.”

Jemma looked down at her arm which was carefully bandaged all the way to almost her armpit. She lifted it off the bed next to her, there wasn’t any pain at all, in fact she could barely feel anything. 

“Fitz’ll be back in a little bit.”

Jemma looked down, never meeting the agent’s eyes, she bit her lip uncomfortably and reached the undamaged hand over to Skye’s free hand. 

“I’m sorry, Skye, this must have been scary for you.”

Skye took the scientist’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly, adding a kiss on her knuckles for measure.

“Hey, it’s not like you could have seen this coming, I’m just happy you’re alright.”

Jemma smiled, laying her head sideways to look at the other woman. Suddenly she looked around quickly, scanning the room in a panic.

“The 0-8-4! Where is it?! Did we get it out?!”

She sat up, ignoring the dizziness, and swung her legs off the little bed, still looking around intently.

“Whoa! Whoa!”

Skye didn’t even let her feet hit the floor before she grabbed her legs and put them back on the bed and pushed her back on the pillows. She replaced the fallen cloth, a little harder this time and kept her hand in front of the escapee patient. 

“Uh-uh! You’re not going anywhere! You just got electrocuted and thrown into a rock wall, you’re keeping your ass in bed until you’ve healed all the way.”

“We don’t know what happened! I need to go see that artifact!”

Skye shook her head stubbornly. 

“Stay. In. Bed. Doctor’s orders.”

“You’re not a Doctor, Skye.”

“No but I’m your girlfriend. And I say your ass is staying in this bed until you‘ve had plenty of rest.”

Simmons giggled at Skye’s little rant and laid back on the bed attempting to pout angrily even though the effect didn’t really work through the smile she kept cracking. 

“You know, Doctor Skye is a bit pushy.”

“Yeah well, patient Simmons is kinda rowdy.”

She winked and leaned foreword, planting a kiss on the scientist’s still warm forehead before moving down to her smiling lips.

A few days later and Jemma was allowed to leave the hospital bed and go back to work, she was determined to figured out what the cause of the object’s reaction and, of course, what it was exactly. Her arm, which still wasn’t hurting, looked awful, it was healing but it had the resemblance of a direct lightning strike. The explosion left vein shaped bruises and marks all the way up her arm and her skin was a bluish purple color. However, she still had full use of it and the marks were going away a little bit each day. In fact the incident faded from her mind as she learned more and more about the artifact until it suddenly became relevant again when she was working on a specific part of the object. Without paying attention, she reached up above her to grab something out of the cabinet, realizing to late that it was shut, however, instead of the shock of impact, her hand went straight through the metal doors. She looked up at the strange prickling sensation that was pulsing through her hand only to scream and fall backwards. A concerned Fitz came running through the door and Jemma gave him some made up excuse to calm him down. She then retreated to a back room, shaking and looking at her arms, she should have told Fitz what had happened but honestly the idea that something happened to her in the explosion didn’t scare her as much as the thought that her teammates and of Skye worrying or treating differently. 

A couple of days went by and Simmons realized that she could phase her entire body through any kind of solid object without any effort, it wasn’t painful or difficult for her but she still hadn’t told any of the team even though she almost got caught mid-phase by Skye a few times who simply attributed her nervous behavior as a side effect of the incident and brushed it off and instead tried her best to be supportive.  

Jemma had never kept a secret from Skye, however, she was thankful for this new found ability whenever the bus went down and they all ended up trapped in the rubble. She had already figured out that anything she was holding was able to phase through matter just like she was. She held on to Skye as the screeching of metal and the flashes of broken wires surrounded them. Everyone seemed to be in different places on the ship but at least she had Skye, she let the two of them fall directly through the bottom of the ship and she pulled the agent out, laying her gently on the ground. Skye had screamed all the way down and she was still in complete shock as her girlfriend ran back through one of the walls of the crashed aircraft, One by one, she got everyone out safely and they were transported to a medical facility.

Simmons, in an attempt to get away from the stares and worried looks of her coworkers, found an dim empty closet in the hospital and took a seat in the corner. Everyone was getting examined and she was pretty much the only one without any wounds. She hadn’t been there for very long when the door opened, letting in an intense stream of light from the outside, Skye walked in and shut the door, she sat next to Jemma and took a deep breathe. Jemma kept her head down. 

“Well.. Wouldja Look at that, we’re back in the closet”

Simmons giggled and shook her head, still not looking up.

“How long have you known?”

“Just a few days…”

“So.. The explosion?”

“Yeah”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jemma looked up at Skye who didn’t seem angry or disappointed, instead she seemed worried and analytical.

“I guess.. I was afraid. And I was pretty sure that the effect was temporary. I didn’t-- I don’t know I suppose I didn’t want to worry you or anybody, especially if it would just go away. Believe me! I feel terrible about keeping it from you, I just felt it was necessary. I‘m so sorry”

“It’s okay. I just-- I want you to know that you can always tell me anything. That’s what I’m here for.. We’re in this thing together, right?”

Jemma nodded 

“Of course we are. I’m sorry.”

Skye reached her arms out and pulled Jemma close to her, the other woman wrapped her arms around the other’s waste and laid her head on her chest. 

“It’s in the past now, Jem. We’re back in the closet. May’s about to strangle Coulson cause she told him not to take that mission and Fitz and Tripp fell asleep together and I love you so let’s move on. Hopefully to a bed of some sort. In a nice hotel. With chocolates.”

Skye kissed her head and Jemma closed her eyes, and held onto her girlfriend tightly.

First Sam/Steve! Freebird! OTP: On Your Left!!!

Some nights you just don’t win, Steve thought as he slowly put a jacket on and opened the door just before weakly leaning on the sturdy door frame and closing his eyes. After all this time he actually got better at dealing with the nightmares that plagued him night after night but lately they had been taking their toll on even the great super soldier. He could stay up for days at a time on missions and work but the worst part of these nightmares was the constant fear of sleep that he began to feel and he was tired but sleep seemed to be a distant thing.  He would lay down on the marshmallow bed and look up at the ceiling, tired and tense, only to panic even more with the knowledge that if he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep he would be plunged once again into cold water or see the bloody and terrified confusion of his best friends face as he hit him in the face once again with that metal arm. Steve would be jerked awake, sweating and breathing heavily, in shock once again over every even in his life that he would prefer not to relive. 

And it had been like this basically since the fall of Shield and the return of Bucky, nights and nights of Steve either not sleeping out of fear or only sleeping a for a short period of time before he would be consumed with the shock of the nightmares and wake up alone and in pain. However, Captain America was anything if not positive and every morning he would put on a smile and go jogging and then go through the events of the day as if nothing had been wrong. Most people never guessed that there might be a problem but Steve often wondered if Sam, a man whom he often thought about how thankful he was to have him by his side through all of this, saw right through the show. Thankfully, as was the way for Sam, he never pried, and would only put a hand on Steve’s shoulder every now and again, reminding him that he wasn’t alone. 

Most mornings he was fine, he could push past the fatigue and face the world but he was beginning to worry about his ability to do that this morning but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. He pushed himself heavily off the door frame and took a few steps forward, shaking his head trying to wake himself up, he took a breathe and headed down the stairs. He realized to late that he probably should have taken the elevator as every step down felt like a shock to his body. He was halfway down the floors when everything seemed to shut down, he forgot about everything he had to do that day and he forgot about jogging or talking to people. He slumped down forcefully onto the side of the stairs, sitting down weakly on the step while holding on to the bar with both hands. He leaned his head on the arm closest to the fall and stared straight ahead, expressionless and wide eyed. Everything in the world disappeared except for that one little piece of light blue wall that he stared at intently without even meaning to. He didn’t know how long he was there but he thought that people had passed him at some point, they didn’t stop to talk to him though, but he couldn’t be sure, that may have simply been his imagination.

He would have stayed there forever. Until he heard the sound of shoes on the stairs, they were coming up rather than coming down. He wanted to look up to see who was there but his eyes were locked on that little piece of wall and everything else was still grey. The footsteps go closer and he figured that they too would pass him like the others had done but these stopped near him, at this point they could have been Bucky’s footsteps and Steve probably would have let him kill him. A face lowered itself into Steve’s line of sight, however it wasn’t Bucky’s face. Steve still didn’t move or look away, Sam looked back checking to make sure that he wasn’t staring at anything in particular before looking back at him, a mixture of worry and understanding on his face. He didn’t look confused or scared like a lot of people might have if they stumbled on the same sight, but he rarely did. That was something that Steve loved most about Sam Wilson, he always seemed to have everything under control when no one else did, even Captain America. 

Sam reached out a cool hand and placed it lightly on the side of Steve’s face, the chock of having somebody touch him made him jump violently. Sam’s face expressed more sadness than worry now as he looked critically at Steve’s condition. He shook his head lightly, in less of a “Hopeless” way and more of a “I get it” way. He took a breath and disappeared from Steve’s line of sight, Steve wanted to see where he went in a moment of panic but his eyes wouldn’t move. After a moment he felt Sam sit down next to him, a warm and comfortable bulk after being alone for so long. Sam reached up, over the super soldier and lightly pried his hands away from the bar, they were shaking but Sam held on tightly as he pulled Steve over and away from the wall until he was leaning on the “pilot’s” shoulder with his arm around him. Steve slid down slowly until his head was resting on Sam’s upper chest, he could feel every even breath that Sam took and he felt the panic dissipating from his chest as the other soldier held him. His eyes were still wide open with a view of the other man’s grey shirt and arm rather than the cold wall. They stayed there like that for a long time with the only thing said from Sam when he pulled Steve tighter towards him with one arm.

“It’s going to be okay, man”

The words were quiet and soft, disappearing back into the silence until Steve doubted that he even heard them at all or if it was just his mind playing tricks again. It seemed like a long time before anything happened until Sam lightly patted Steve’s shoulder and shifted his weight, speaking clearly for the first time. 

“Come on, man, let’s get you to bed.”

He calmly stood up and Steve looked up at him with the same tired and confused eyes. 

“You need rest.”

Sam reached out a hand but when Steve didn’t take it he leaned over, wrapping an arm around his waste and pulling him up and letting the super soldier’s arm droop over his neck. Steve fumbled for a second and Sam put another firm hand on his stomach steadying him.

“I got you, don’t worry.”

They made their way the few steps up to the platform, with Sam supporting Steve and making sure he didn’t fall. Before they started up the next flight of stairs Steve pulled away slightly and Sam steadied him once again. 

“Sam, I--”

“Don’t man, I’m not going anywhere and you need to sleep. We’re in this together, remember?”

They began to make their way up the stairs slowly and evenly, a small, tired smile made it’s way onto Steve’s face and he gave in, letting Sam support him up the stairs. Sam looked over at Steve and gave a little smirk as they made their way up the stairs.

“What no snarky reply? Well, now I’m really concerned. But don’t worry, one good long sleep and you’ll be back to making lame forties jokes in no time, I promise.”

Steve chuckled despite of everything. They finally made it to the right floor and Sam slipped a hand into Steve’s pocket, pulling out the apartment keys before using his free hand to open the door. He kicked the door shut and led Steve to the bed where he made him lay down, despite Steve trying to remain sit up. He made his way around the apartment, closing all the curtains and plugging up any little sources of light from the outside before he clicked the light off. 

Steve felt the fear quickly rising up in his chest again and he pushed himself up, shaking until he felt the bed lower slightly as someone else got on it. He felt Sam’s arm wrap around his waste as he pulled him back on his side tensely. However, as Sam snuggled up closer to his back, the fear disappeared again and he smiled to himself, hoping that this was the way it was going to be for the rest of his life. He closed his eyes for the first time in a while and held on to Sam’s hand has he fell asleep, no longer worried about the nightmares. 

Skimmons College AU

Dr. Simmons was an admittedly tough professor and even the best of students had difficulties keeping up with her detailed and intricate lectures. Skye was certainly one of the students having the most difficulties; with a previous 4.0 her grade was now plummeting due to the strain of this class. However, most of her troubles didn’t come from the material, she was severely intelligent but while the young professor was talking, the student could feel her thoughts slipping from academic to much more intimate. She really couldn’t help it, Dr. Simmons expressed the perfect trifecta when it came to what Skye was attracted to, she was intelligent, stunningly beautiful, also her personality was a natural mixture between quirky and passionate. So you couldn’t blame her when during the lecture hours her mind would wonder through the various details of her professor’s body. 

And now, here at the end of the semester with a barely passing grade and Dr. Simmons was not easing up any, Skye began to worry about both her chances of passing the class and of perhaps getting with the gorgeous professor. Dr. Simmons continued to lecture quickly, barely noticing the people in her class, entirely wrapped up in her own little scientific world as the students typed furiously in an attempt to write down the important points in her monologue. Everyone except for Skye that is who, for one in the entire year had put the laptop away and instead let herself focus entirely on the mannerisms of Dr. Jemma Simmons, also, letting her imagination go wild. Skye, although a generally good student was known for being brave and getting her way. It was an attitude that she had to learn while living at the orphanage, it was a way to survive and now it became just a way for her to get what she wanted. 

So as the class dismissed she stayed still, waiting patiently for the rest of the students to say their good byes to Simmons and meander out. Simmons, who didn’t have another class that hour, straightened her papers and obliviously picked up her books before realizing that one of her students had stayed behind. She then put her books down and slipped her glasses back on, looking curiously at the other woman. 

“Skye? Do you need to talk to me?”

Skye got up for the first time and slowly made her way through the desks towards the large desk in the front of the room where Simmons was standing in anticipation. 

“Yeah, actually I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things actually.”

“And what are those, exactly?”

Skye reached the desk and put her hands on the edge, looking sideways at the professor.

“Well, first of all, I’m worried about my grade in here.”

Simmons adjusted her glasses and nodded

“Yes well, you’re a very attentive and hard working student, but I have seen that your work has been slipping lately. I’d be willing to work with you, especially if the problem is personal.”

“I really appreciate that.”

“Is there anything you would like to talk about? I know that issues with home life can affect one’s ability to accomplish tasks and focus.”

“Yeah.. There’s a couple of things I might be having issues with when it comes to both school and personal things.”

“Well, if you would like, I could assign you some extra credit, with your grade hanging on the edge, I thing that the extra points would help raise your grade considerably.”

Simmons smiled, happy that she could help one of her students. Skye grinned, mischievously. 

“That would be great, thank you.”

“No problem, I’m happy to help.”

Simmons made to get her things rounded up once again before Skye spoke, this time with a slightly deeper and slower voice. 

“I’ve also had issues with distractions as well.. You know.. In class.”

“Oh really? What exactly are the distractions that are giving you so much trouble?”

“Well.. It’s really just one main distraction..”

Skye leaned forward on the desk until she was very close to the professor’s face.

“And you can’t really help it, so..”

“I’m sorry?”

Skye grinned, looking into the beautiful wide eyes of Jemma Simmons’.

“Don’t be.”

And Skye went for it, she leaned over the rest of the way and planted a light and tentative kiss on the scientist’s lips, despite being a bit taken aback, Simmons never backed away and instead closed her eyes for the remainder of the kiss. Skye leaned back, a cocky smile on her face, and pulled her bag over her shoulder before heading for the door. She looked back at the blissfully stunned professor before exiting the room. 

“I’m glad we had this talk, Professor Simmons. 

Skimmons Elevator

“Let’s go, Jem, I’m starving!”

Skye paced in front of the hotel room door, waiting impatiently for her fiancé to get her stuff together so they could go eat. Simmons was tracing every inch of the room in search of some little lost necessity of hers.

“I’m coming. I’m coming, just give me a minute.”

A little noise of triumph came from the other room and Skye looked over to see Jemma walking over holding a little container of chap stick.

“Really? That was what all the fuss was about? We could just got you a new one.”

“Perhaps, but why?”

Skye shook her head, a little exasperated smile showing through, and opened the door as Simmons walked past her into the hallway of the dinky old hotel that they were staying at for the time. The situation had made them tense and it was certainly putting a bit of a strain on their relationship as they tried to juggle the chaos at work with the emotional ups and downs of being engaged.  They continued chatting as they walked down the hall towards the elevator, they weren’t going very far but Jemma still insisted on bringing two purses and an emergency kit with them anyway, she was anything if not prepared. They pushed the button and entered the elevator where, after punching the correct floor, Skye took the left corner and Jemma took the right corner. 

“I wish they still played music in these things.”

“Yes, that would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

They were about halfway down when everything stopped and the lights flickered off, both the women were jolted down with the sudden stop. 

“What happened?”

Skye’s voice was panicked and high, she remained in the corner while Jemma stood up and rummaged through her bags.

“The electric must have gone out. A lot of these old places don’t have the back up generators that the cities do. I’ll see if I can get a call out.”

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number only to put it down a few seconds later. 

“Damn! Cells out too”

She turned around and started searching through her bags for the flashlight that she had brought, completely oblivious to Skye whose breathe was becoming increasingly more erratic and panicked. 

“I suppose we’ll just have to wait it out.”

“How long do you think it’ll take?”

The scared tone in Skye’s voice caused Jemma to look back, it was so unlike her fiancé’s strong and confident voice.

“Probably not very long.. Skye, are you okay?”

There was no reply and the scientist turned around and made her way to the other side where Skye was, in the dark lighting it was nearly impossible to make out her features. Jemma slowly got down on her knee’s, trying not to jostle anything or fall in the dark. She reached out an uncertain hand to the corner where Skye was sitting, The woman flinched violently as her hand came in contact with the agent’s arm and her breathing became more rapid.

“Skye.. Are you.. Are you claustrophobic, darling?”

She was answered with a tiny sob and suddenly the weight of the current situation became clear to the scientist. She grabbed the little flash light and turned it on, facing the ceiling. Skye jumped again and now Jemma could see some of the discomfort her fiancé was going through, the agent was pressed as far back as humanly possible into the corner. Her knees were drawn up and she had her arms wrapped around her legs which were shaking, her face was nearly buried next to her drawn up legs. Skye’s eyes were dilated and wide as she looked straight ahead intensely at nothing in particular and her face was red with drops of sweat falling over her puffy cheeks. 

“Baby, don’t worry, we’re going to get out of here very soon now.”

The encouragement had absolutely no effect on the panicking woman and Jemma looked around hopelessly for help that wasn’t there. She reached over slowly and gently wiped some of the sweat off Skye’s brow and lightly pushed some of her hair away from her eyes.

“Skye, baby, I need you to lie down for me, okay”

She moved her hand down and tried to move the panicking woman’s shoulders down a little but stopped when Skye tensed up and pulled away, her breathing getting increasingly worse until Jemma was legitimately worried that she would pass out.  She moved a little closer and blocked Skye’s line of vision until she had no choice but to look the scientist in the eye. 

“Skye, do you trust me?”

The agent paused before nodding, tears beginning to fall down along with the sweat. 

“Okay, so I need you to trust me when I say ‘lay down’. I’m right here and we will get through this, okay. Now come here, I promise I’ve got you.”

She pulled on the agent’s shoulders again, this time Skye let her pull her down to the floor where she closed her eyes and tried yet again to breathe properly. Jemma moved her leg underneath the agent’s head, she stroked her hair lightly and hummed an old nursery rhyme that she had learned back in school. Skye’s breathing was still labored but as she lay using Jemma as a pillow with her eyes squeezed shut, she slowly began to calm down, it wasn’t great but she wasn’t hyperventilating anymore.  Jemma looked around willing the power to come back on, she guessed that she could probably figure out a way to get the elevator moving again but she was afraid to leave her Fiancé’s side. Skye opened her eyes and looked up at the scientist, inhaling two quick breathes consecutively.

“Thank you, Jem..”

Jemma looked down and tilted her head. 

“For what?”

“For taking care of me..”

The scientist smiled and put the cool side of her hand on the agent’s hot cheek.

“I’ll always take care of you, Skye, I promised that long before we were even together.”

Skye closed her eyes again as another wave of panic swept through her.

“Yeah, I know.. I just-- I just feel so weak right now..”

“That’s okay, Skye. That’s why we have each other.. We’re not always going to be strong but we always know we have each other to lean on so you don’t always have to be strong because I’ll be here to help you back up when you fall. And I know you’ll do the same for me..”

Skye’s eye’s had begun to wonder as Jemma spoke softly and sweetly until she looked almost as if she was about to fall asleep.

“Yeah, but you take care of me a lot more than I can take care of you.”

Jemma laughed 

“I doubt that somehow.”

The women were just starting to calm down when the lights flashed on and the elevator creaked alive violently with a jolt downward. The women jumped and grabbed each other instinctively. Jemma got up and hit another button with more force than was usual for her, Skye took a few more deep breathes and then smiled as the doors opened back on their floor. She practically ran out into the hallway despite the fact that she was still rather weak from the experience. She looked around and then turned around to face Jemma.  

“Wait.. We’re back on our floor.”

“Yes.”

“What about the food?”

Jemma took Skye’s hand and led her down the hallway to their room, the event had finally hit her and she look pale and tired now that she knew Skye was going to be okay.

“We’re ordering a pizza, darling."