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

Chapter Twelve

Phil’s Office

Melinda didn’t bother knocking. She just stormed into his office and closed his door behind her. “What’s wrong with Skye?” were the first words to leave her mouth. She had grown to care for the girl in recent times. “Clint mentioned that she was sleeping?”

Phil was pulled from his pondering at the sound of her voice. He turned his blue orbs onto the beautiful Chinese woman walking towards his desk. “She’s fine,” he assured her. “There was an incident and she needed to be sedated.”

Melinda’s eyes widened. What? “Sedated? What incident?”

Phil had been going over how he would tell Melinda this for the last thirty minutes. He had noticed the bond that had been forming between the two and knew Melinda was starting to care for girl like a daughter even she wouldn’t admit it. She would see it as a betrayal to the one they lost. “I think Skye’s an empath,” he divulged, letting out a sigh.

Melinda stopped just before Phil’s desk. Empath? “What?” she asked in disbelief. “What are you talking about, Phil?” she demanded as she placed one hand on her hip and let the other fall by her side.  

Phil locked his eyes with hers. “Skye seemed to be having some type of attack inside of her over an hour ago,” he shared, honestly. “Apparently she was in some sort of pain not long after you left my office, try to pass it off as a migraine or something. Anyway they tried moving her from the kitchen to couch and she passed out for a moment. Once she regained consciousness the pain started again, it got so bad that Simmons had to sedate her.”

Melinda was frozen in her spot. She caused pain on Skye. Why did she keep hurting people? If Skye had been feeling what she felt at the time, Melinda knew what kind of pain the younger woman would have been in - twenty five years of built up pain.  

Phil had noticed Melinda’s frozen state and saw the sadness that she was trying to mask - etched across her beautiful face. He quickly pushed his chair back and stood to his feet, he then rounded his desk and hurried to her side.

“Mel?” he expressed, touching her arms. “Don’t blame yourself,” he told her as his eyes caught her’s. “Come sit down,” he suggested, leading her towards the couch by his door. She didn’t fight it.

The two sat down beside one another in silence for a moment.

“I just keep hurting people,” she expressed, coldly, staring dead ahead.

Phil turned his head to the side, his eyes fixed on her as he grabbed her hand and laced their fingers. “Hey, we didn’t know that she could sense our emotions. It wasn’t just you that she was feeling. I asked Ward why didn’t he come and get me when this was happening and he said because Skye told him ‘Keep them apart for now’. That was around the time I was thinking about Ana after you had left my office.”

Melinda swallowed at the mention of their daughter’s name, closing their eyes.

Phil hated seeing the woman he loved like this. “You wouldn’t intentionally cause somebody you care about pain, Mel,” he expressed, raw emotion his his voice. “I know you,” he told her, giving her hand a squeeze.

Melinda opened her eyes and turned her head to the side, her orbs clashing with his. She saw tenderness and warmth in his eyes. It was the same look that he use to give her back in the early days and some of the later days before Bahrain happened.  

The two shared a look for a long minute. It was like the early days - they were talking with their minds. A form of communication they learned to keep their relationship a secret since agents dating back then was forbidden.