All of Me - Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D

Chapter 73

 

This chapter contains scenes from CATWS

CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE

Somewhere over the North Atlantic Ocean

23:33

Melinda had placed the bus on auto pilot for the night and then had locked the cockpit from the outside. Only she and Phil knew the access code. It had been a couple of hours since she had seen or heard from her daughter. Phil had popped his head in around thirty minutes ago to update her on everything that they had in motion. He had mentioned seeing Skye and Grant still in the Command Centre and passed John sitting at the bar, watching them.

As Melinda approached the Command Centre, she spotted the bar area empty and was curious to where John Garrett was. She knew that Phil would be keeping an eye on him via surveillance from his office while he was aboard. They didn’t trust him just freely walking around while their daughter was aboard.   

Melinda spotted Skye and Grant still in the Command Centre. Grant had his arms around the back of Skye as she had her head resting on his chest - her own arms wrapped around him with both of their backs leaning against the electronic table as their eyes were glued to the large screen that had several small ones running different searches and programs.

Melinda quietly approached the opened door of the Command Centre and stood in the doorway for a moment, just watching the two young agents. Melinda still couldn’t wrap her mind around everything that has happened in the last twenty four hours. She was still hesitant about fully trusting Grant Ward after what he revealed, but also knew that they wouldn’t have the upper hand with all this HYDRA crap if he hadn’t come forward.

Melinda still couldn’t believe that she had lived with him on this bus for several months and never once suspect anything. He had seemed like any other Specialist, closed down and withdrawn. She knew that Maria had given him the highest marks since Natasha in Espionage, but she still felt like she should have known.

“Mom?”

Melinda was pulled from her thoughts at that word. 'Mom'. That one word held so much power of her and tugged on her heart strings. A ghost of a smile splashing across her lips as she focused her attention on her daughter who was now facing her direction, along with Grant. He had pulled her back into a side hug.

Skye’s attention was fixed on her mother. She had sensed the older woman’s presences as soon as she had approached the Command Centre and was curious to why she hadn’t said anything yet. Skye knew that John and Antoine had both turned in for the night so she wouldn’t have to worry about them overhearing anything that was said.    

Melinda cleared her throat as she took a few steps into the Command Centre. “I just come to check on you guys on my way upstairs,” she casually revealed. “Had a feeling that you would still be up.”

Skye leaned her head back on Grant’s muscular chest, listening to his strong heartbeat through his grey shirt. They had both changed into their sleepwear after their ‘shower’ and heading back here. “Like mother, like daughter,” she grinned.

Melinda felt a smile tug at her lips. “How about you call it a night?” she suggested, softly. “You’ve been at this for hours and your programs are still running. There is not much you can do but wait. It could take days before you locate him or even get a hint to where he could currently be. You need sleep, Xiǎo jiāhuo,” she informed her daughter before glancing towards Grant. “Both of you.”

Skye wasn’t sure if she would be able to sleep, there was just too much on her mind for it to switch off. “I will if you and dad are gonna do the same,” she shot back, noticing how tired her mother looked.