Chapter Text
End of Part 2: Memorial
“She wouldn't have wanted a funeral.” Jack told Tony again, sounding frustrated. Steve finished pulling on his clean shirt and stepped into the room.
“Tony, listen to him.” Steve murmured, quickly gathering what the issue was.
“We don't have anyone. No one would come.” Jack told Tony again, shaking his head quickly. “Besides, she wouldn't want that much attention. No funeral.”
“Well, we have to do something. I'm doing something.” Tony said firmly, crossing his arms defiantly.
“We have your blanket, from the park.” Steve offered to Jack. “We forgot about it in the chaos of you two leaving. It's still in interrogation.”
“We could have lunch in the park.” Jack nodded. “She would like that. She loved that park.”
“Then it's settled.” Steve announced, cutting off Tony's retort with a firm look. Tony sighed and tossed his hands up.
“Fine.”
“Can I go get the blanket?” Jack asked. Steve nodded and he headed for the elevator.
“Tony, I know this isn't what you want...but it's not about you.” Steve told Tony.
“She should have the best.” Tony growled, taking a long swig of bourbon. “I want her to have the best.”
“Well, for Skye – simple is best. Jack was right – she loved that park. It would be a fitting memorial.”
“Do you think they Erased her?” Tony asked, quickly wiping his cheeks. “Tasha said the Eraser was too hot to get into. The scientist ordered the guards to do it.”
“I don't know Tony. You have the hard drive. Follow her a little further.” Steve shrugged, swallowing back his own tears.
“I don't think I can do that.” Tony frowned. “Not right now, at least. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Well, tomorrow then.” Steve replied, working to make his voice kinder. Everyone had their masks on and it was resulting in some pretty harsh sounding conversations.
“It was bad, though. Right?” Tony asked, pulling at his hair. “Bad enough that she broke out to erase it. Bad enough that she didn't want us to see.”
“I'm going to go help Jack,” Steve growled, turning and walking from the room before he lashed out at Tony. He wanted to bury those images. He wanted them out of his head. But Tony kept bringing it back up and he was dangerously close to losing his cool. His imagination was good enough at conjuring images of what she could have erased; he didn't need Tony's speculation to add to it.
0-0-0-0-0
“I brought another blanket,” Clint said softly, joining the team in the park. Jack had picked a spot against a tree. Steve seemed to understand the significance, but it was lost on everyone else. He tossed the blanket out, spreading it on the grass.
“I got coffee,” Tasha offered, smirking slightly at Steve. He chuckled lightly, recognizing the logo on the cup. Tasha sat next to Jack, throwing her arm around his shoulder. “First time I saw Skye, you were getting coffee with her.”
“Coffee you had to buy her cause you couldn't convince me to go on a date with you,” Steve added, smiling fondly.
“I still hold that it was a good choice,” Jack grumbled. He tried for a smile, but failed.
“Some...what did she call him? A pansy? Some pansy said something to you and she knocked him out.” Tasha smirked, nudging Jack. Tony laughed lightly.
“I didn't know that.”
“I told her to stop punching everyone who was unkind.” Jack laughed wetly. “She just snorted and told me that he needed to learn to take a punch.”
“Knowing what I know about Skye, I don't really think that was a fair expectation.” Clint chuckled, flopping back on the blanket. “My first impression of Skye was over the intercom. I was listening in to your elevator conversation.”
“Oh God. The elevator conversation.” Steve groaned, rubbing his hands over his face.
“First thing I heard her say was something about boo boos.” Clint chuckled. He pointed a finger at Steve. “Said you had to kiss them all better.”
“He was grumpy.” Tasha nodded. “His crush was a baddie. Skye suggested I put him in a better mood. It was the suggestive eyebrow waggle that almost did me in.”
“Oh, God. She would.” Jack chortled. He had gotten a jumbled version of the story from Skye over the last few months, but it was an unspoken rule that he wasn't allowed to ask Skye about Steve. It made her sad to talk about him.
“That's when the internet theories made their appearance.” Clint laughed, throwing his head back. “Nat had to bail. She couldn't keep a straight face.”
“You were crying in the back room,” Tasha shot back.
“Steve's face...” Clint giggled. “I thought his ears were going to melt off his head.”
“She had a fantastic sense of humor.” Tony smiled. The group fell silent, staring up into the clouds instead of looking at each other. It seemed colossally unfair that the day was so nice. Warm, but not hot. A slight breeze to keep the bugs away. The sun out, but not glaring down on them. It would have been Skye's perfect day at the park. Tony cleared his throat loudly. “My first impression of her was a mix of being impressed by her skills and her concern for you.”
“When she found out we had you, the first thing she said was that she would come fix it. We just needed to let you go.” Steve nodded.
“In the interrogation room, she brought herself, essentially, but the first thing she asked when she saw you was if you were alright. Then she broke you out of your handcuffs.” Tony nodded. “She didn't take any shit from us. She wasn't afraid to call us on our shit – nobody does that. She smacked Clint within minutes of meeting him...”
“...bumped hips with me when Steve wouldn't let her properly introduce herself...” Tasha added.
“Called me out about my behavior towards you.” Steve muttered, ducking his head.
“And she surely wasn't afraid to throw in my face just how much power she had over me and my system.” Tony nodded.
“She doesn't...didn't,” Jack corrected himself and swallowed hard, “She didn't take shit from anyone.”
“My second impression was that she was a firecracker.” Tony grinned. “Her easy humor. God, the way she laughed at our theme music.”
“You had to turn away,” Jack laughed lightly. “We saw you trying to wipe the smile off your face.”
“She just got me.” Tony shrugged. “Our sense of humor is the same. Maybe that's why I was so taken with her so quickly.”
“The first time I met her, I didn't realize she was the girl from the park. I didn't realize she was with you.” Steve admitted, ducking his head. “Never got a good look at her with you. I was being dumb, mocking that I could lap her during my morning run. I was disappointed when she didn't seem frustrated...so I tried harder.”
“You winked at her.” Jack chuckled.
“I winked at her.” Steve nodded. “Stupidest thing I've done in a while. The next time I lapped her, she stuck her foot out and tripped me. I had to tuck and roll to avoid face planting into the concrete.”
“Ah, Face Plant.” Clint smirked. He liked that Skye picked him a nickname that reminded Steve of his stupidity. There weren't very many people who could put him in his place.
“She apologized for tripping me, even though I was being a jerk.” Steve smirked. “Then she went on to say she was glad I wasn't injured because she didn't want to have to explain to the Avengers how she hurt their Grandpa.”
“New job title,” Tony chuckled, pointing a finger at Steve. “Avenger Team Captain and Resident Grandpa.”
“The first time I remember seeing Skye,” Jack said softly. “She was sneaking into our room after a test. We thought she was a scientist, but she knew the language. It's hard to learn our language. The words are language specific; it sounds like jibberish, but we would have known. We would have known she wasn't one of us. She calmed us right down, then fixed us up. She was our angel.”
“How old were you?” Tony asked, flipping over to play with a few blades of grass.
“I don't know.” Jack shrugged. “Young.”
“You were ten when she broke you out,” Steve mused. “How many times did she visit?”
“I don't know. A lot. Sometimes we were too fucked to even notice she was there. But then we'd wake in the morning and be healed...and we just knew she had been looking out for us. She was always looking out for us.”
“You heard what she said,” Steve said quietly. “It was worth every second for her. She loved you. She died thinking of you.”
“Just ignore the bad stuff and remember that,” Clint nodded. “Remember how much she loved you.”
“Do you guys mind if I stay a little longer?” Jack whispered. “Alone?”
“Anything you need.” Tasha nodded, getting up off the blanket. She pulled Clint up, giving Steve and Tony a look that suggested they start moving.
“We'll see you back at the Tower?” Tony asked, picking up the extra blanket.
“Yeah.” Jack nodded. He saw Steve's disbelief and smiled sadly. “I don't really have other options right now, Steve. You even have our van. I promise, I'll be back. I just need a little time.”
“Okay,” Steve nodded, trusting his word. Clint waited until they were a good distance from Jack, checking over his shoulder that he wasn't listening.
“I'll hang out. Somewhere high. Keep an eye on him.” He offered. “I know he wants to be alone, but we promised to keep him safe.”
“Keep him safe,” Steve nodded. “We'll see you back at the Tower.”
“Gotcha.” Clint replied, then headed off in a different direction.
“Hey, don't forget, she cared about you too.” Tasha said softly, bumping her hip into Steve's side. Steve just hung his head, unsure what to say in response to that. Tony hummed his agreement with her words, which only worked to stoke the red hot coals of Steve's anger. They were laying in wait, simmering beneath his calm demeanor. He would use that anger to get whatever answers he could get. He felt detached pity for what he was going to do to the scientists when they found them.
“She didn't care enough to let me protect her.” Steve muttered, then stormed off before he took his frustrations out on his teammates. They didn't deserve it.
“The kid's got a damn hero complex,” Tony muttered.
“Kid.” Tasha snorted. “He's easily twice your age.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I also know what he means.” Tasha said sadly. “She should have taken us up on our offer.”
“Agent Rogers, you're needed at headquarters.” An agent that Steve didn't know informed him, calling him through the Tower phone.
“I'm taking a sick day.” Steve replied, clutching Jack. They were bundled under a blanket, watching the flash drive Tony had made of Skye and Jack at the bunker. They were taking some time alone to try and replace their last memory of Skye with a happy one. Jack had come back from the park visibly distraught. Clint had returned shortly before the man, shaking his head silently. Tasha grabbed him and dragged him to their floor. Already, Tony was having his own private time with Pepper. Steve had someone for him this time – someone who needed him just as much as Steve needed him. Steve couldn't help but wish it was Skye bundled up with him, though.
He had an awful feeling that he would always crave her attention. How was he supposed to use his computer without thinking of her lessons? How was he supposed to make any jokes, without thinking of their pranking? How was he supposed to sit in the common area and look at the heating and cooling system, the community table, or the massive entertainment system? How was he supposed to look at Jack and not feel instantly protective, just like she had been? She had ruined him. He was a ruined man. Again.
Heartbreak hurt just as much in this new century.
“Sir, you're needed.” The agent repeated.
“I'm not coming in.” Steve growled. He felt bad (just the tiniest bit) for being so forceful with the agent, but his point wasn't getting across. He wanted to be left alone to grieve. There was literally nothing that could make him go into headquarters right now. No mission was that important. He clicked the call off, then powered it down so no more calls could come through. They could call someone else to save the world today. He was off duty.
0-0-0-0-0
“I know you're mad at her. At Skye.” Jack stated lightly. He was fiddling with Steve's tablet nervously.
“I'm not mad at her.” Steve sighed. And he wasn't. Sure, she had made some ridiculously stupid choices because of her stupid pride, but he was regretful – if anything. He regretted not being able to convince her to come back. To stay. To be safe. He was mad, but not at her. Never at her.
“You are.” Jack rebutted. “You're mad cause she hid us in that bunker for months instead of coming back to the Tower and asking for help.”
“I'm not mad.” Steve repeated, though the stern tone of his voice did little to convince Jack.
“Can I explain? Why she wouldn't come back?” Jack asked softly. He was afraid of angering his comfort source. His person. His new person...
Was he that pathetic that he always needed someone looking out for him?
Simply put, yes. He was self-aware enough to realize his support systems were vital to his well-being.
“Please.” Steve whispered. Maybe some logic behind her choices would ease the twisting knife in his gut; the terrible ache in his chest. Jack smiled softly and handed Steve the tablet. His hand shook as he went to swipe across the screen. He had never shown this to anyone.
“Um...so, this is me.” Jack said softly, showing Steve baby pictures of himself. His parents were in many of the pictures, smiling proudly as they held him. He was their first born. Their miracle baby. They had spent a good deal of time and money trying to get pregnant. After five years, they had finally succeeded. Jack kept swiping across the screen, showing Steve his childhood. Jack progressively got older, until he was five. He was normal. He was happy.
Then he swiped to the article of his parent's plane crash. The small plane was wrecked across two fields; the article showed the wreckage in the picture. Another smaller article showed a picture of Jack, at five years old, crying his eyes out in the back of an ambulance. He was clutching a metallic silver blanket.
The next article described the early evidence of tampering with the small plane's engine. The next three articles detailed how the engine had been tampered with, the landing gear disabled, the stuck throttle. Someone had forced that plane to crash. Each article reiterated how lucky the boy was to survive; how no one could figure out how he had survived. Jack swallowed hard and swiped again.
The next screen was an entry form, filled out by the responding officers, to foster care. Just until family could be located for him to live with. The forms filled out by his aunt and uncle, releasing him into their custody. The forms for missed well-being check ins. The forms for retraction of care. The article of their deaths. Two adults and a small child were found in their home; the bodies were too decomposed for proper identification.
“It wasn't you.” Steve whispered, pointing to the gruesome picture Skye must have gotten from the State Medical Examiner.
“No. That's when they took me. No one looked because they thought I was dead.” Jack whispered back. Whispering seemed appropriate for this conversation.
“Are you sure these are your...”
“Yes.” Jack whispered, swallowing hard. “I remember...I remember the door bell ringing. I remember my aunt getting tea. I stayed upstairs; I was still grieving my parents – I didn't care about visitors. Then they were shouting and glass was breaking and...”
“It's okay,” Steve interrupted, pulling Jack into a tight embrace. “You don't have to tell me all the details.”
“I saw them...on the way out.” Jack whispered. He pulled up other files, this time of children Steve recognized from the van. “Each of us were taken with no regard for the people around us. They kill without mercy, without discrimination. This girl, Lucy, lost a baby brother. We don't know why they took her and not him. Nick's dad was a Marine. Not an easy target. The icing on the cake was Nicole. Her foster dad was a cop. They took her during a police function. They took her from over fifty armed police officers.”
“We're a little better than regular police officers,” Steve commented, though he could see where Jack was going with this. Jack actually chuckled at that.
“That's true. But there are only six of you. Dr. Banner doesn't like Hulking out, so you guys tend to leave him towards the back. Even if all six of you were present, which you never are, you would be over powered. They would be prepared for you. They know everything about you and you know nothing about them.”
“Stop being so...reasonable.” Steve sighed, rubbing his eyes.
“See why she wouldn't stay?” Jack whispered. “Even with your offers...she wouldn't risk you. She never thought very much of herself. She wouldn't risk your safety for her happiness.”
“My safety wasn't her call to make!” Steve ground out, trying to stop his hot tears from escaping.
“Yeah, well...she never was much good at listening to other people's logic when she was sure she was right.” Jack replied. His lip quirked up slightly, before falling into a frown. Soon, his tears joined Steve's.
“Can we watch the movie again?” Steve whispered. Jack didn't reply, just grabbed the remote and started the slide show over.
0-0-0-0-0
“You think ignoring your phone is going to make them go away?” Coulson asked, getting off the elevator on Steve's floor. Steve groaned loudly.
“Go away, Coulson. I'm taking a sick day.”
“Is that her?” Coulson asked. Of course, he already knew it was her. He had seen the picture on the mission board. But this was different. Jack shifted on Steve's shoulder; he had cried himself to sleep an hour earlier.
Steve just nodded. His throat felt like it was swollen shut. He was sure he had never cried so much in his life. He hadn't even cried this much over Bucky. They were at war – to some extent he was aware Bucky could get hurt, could be killed. It felt different with Skye. He wasn't prepared. Somehow her paranoia never infected him; she was just running from some vague someone. He had never contemplated her getting hurt or... She was too good to get caught. (But they were better).
Coulson sat next to Steve and watched some of the flash drive, chuckling at the prank Skye pulled on Jack. He had walked out of the shower with purple hair. Skye's laughter filled the room. “Now I understand why Stark is so taken with her.”
“Coulson, please.” Steve begged. He was going to break down again and he didn't want to do it in front of Coulson.
“You have a kid that is throwing a temper tantrum, trying to get your attention.” Coulson commented, frowning like he was disappointed. “You don't get sick days when kids are involved.”
“Which?” Steve asked, cocking his head.
“I don't know. Fury didn't say. Wash up, I'll drive.” Coulson countered. He smirked slightly. “We can take Lola.”