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It's been at least three days since she's been home. While it was always common for Skye to have a go-bag near her at all times, this time it almost made no sense since she did call this apartment home. But the bag was missing along with herself, and the times that she did see Alexander was passing, fleeting glances, awkward smiles and waves.. and.. well.. her vanishing.
Purposely.
But, knowing full well he would be at SHIELD, Skye sneaks her way back into the apartment, shoes immediately kicked off, bags tossed to the ground, a box taken from one of them as she carries it straight to the bathroom, closing the door and locking it right behind her.
*
Alex really doesn't know what's going on. Skye's been avoiding him, and she hasn't been sleeping at home. But of course, rather than confront the situation and talk it out, he's been silent, expecting that it's something she needs to work out on her own. But three days is a long time to go without really talking, or anything else. The mind works overtime when it has no additional input, and all of the overthinking has led Alex to some really unpleasant conclusions, and they have just made him more upset. Skye would have seen it, in those passing glances, and it probably wasn't making things better.
One of the nice things about working at SHIELD, even in such a contracted capacity as he is, is all of the exposure to spies. You pick up some things. And one of those things is following people who don't want to be followed. Granted, it's easy when you know where they're going and how to get there, but when Skye took off to head back to the apartment Alex wasn't far behind. And it's not long after she gets back home, locking herself in the bathroom, that Alex comes through the door to the apartment as well, and he's not in a good mood. "SKYE!? WHAT THE FUCK." He didn't see her go into the bathroom, and so he instead just starts looking around the apartment for her. "Where are you?!"
*
There was a little sigh as she sits down upon the toilet, pants down around her ankles, little tube pushed in between her legs as she lets out a sigh to let everything go. And it went quick! Cause as soon as she heard Alex swear, she nearly rips the thing away from herself, immediately capping it and shoving it down her top as she quickly finishes doing her deed.
"I'm in the bathroom!" She shouts out, quickly flushing the toilet, washing her hands with a quick scrub and a gathering of the evidence. Shit shit shit shit.. where to put it?! Thankfully, the door was still locked.
*
Alex rushes to the bathroom door, and turns the knob as if to open it. Of course, it's locked, so he can't. What the hell? "What the hell are you doing in there?" He asks, his voice impatient. "And why have you been avoiding me? And where have been been sleeping?!" All questions he needs a real answer to, because at this point the answers he has imagined don't make him very happy to think about. Maybe she found someone else? Someone without such a bizarre family? Whatever the case, he needs to know what the hell is going on.
*
She jumps at the sound of the doorknob jiggling, immediately kicking the bags and the box behind the toilet, her hair immediately pushed and smoothed back as she opens the door with a heavy-handed snatch.
"Alexander Cutie-Patootie Aaron, if you do not STOP yelling at me, I'm going to walk out that door and never come back. I .. I mean it!" He scares her when he's like this, but in her young mind, it was endearing. "Just.. I just wanted space, okay? I haven't been with anyone else."
*
Alexander's worked himself up into a bit of a state, and the expression on his face when she opens the door is almost on the verge of an angry panic, but when she gives the explanation he at least looks like he's making the effort to calm himself down. And it's.. sort of working? "Well fuck, Skye," he says, standing in the door without moving, just staring down to her. "I'll give you space if you want space, just fucking tell me next time, okay?" He lets out a long breath, and the anger on his face fades some more. "Did I do something?"
*
She was tense, just a little bit tense, but he eases up and she sighs just a little, leaning against the doorframe with her hand still upon the knob, wedging herself in between to keep it hidden just a little. "Sorry." She says quietly, her eyes closing briefly. "No. No. I.. I just.. had.. I don't know. I just .. you're perfect. Okay?"
*
Alex can tell she's not telling him everything. She's afraid. He would know, what with his whole 'god of fear' motif. But he won't push it. She'll tell him when she's ready to. Right? "… Okay." It's a hesitant acceptance. "Look. I get this is all a bit much, sometimes. So if you need to take some time for yourself, just tell me, okay? I can clear out, or you can take off for a bit of a break.. just, don't shut me out."
*
There was a touch look of sadness that crosses her face, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly as she closes her eyes. This was all.. just silly right? It was just a dream.. plus, she was making good headway at SHIELD and everything was starting to look okay. The little beep of her watch causes her brows to raise, knocking her out of her little thoughts. "Okay." She says, killing the conversation rather quickly.
"Mind washing the dishes for me? I want to try cooking for once.." She smiles at that, her hand reaching up, hesitantly touching upon his arm. And then she gives him a playful shove, before closing and locking the door behind her.
*
"Okay," Alex says, letting a smile touch his lips as he shoves her, and backs out of the doorway to let her pass. "Yeah, sure," he says and starts toward the kitchen. Something is still wrong, but at least she's acting closer to normal, so he'll take it as a win. Alex turns on the water, and starts rinsing plates once he's there, giving glance back over his shoulder toward Skye. Maybe a change of topic. "So, I had the most fucked up dream the other night."
*
Skye sits down upon the toilet, her hand tucking into her shirt to reveal the little white thing, looking towards it carefully, then falls upon her knees in search of the box. Hearing his words, her brows furrow, her head lifting from underneath the sink. "Yeah?" She calls out, ducking her head back under again, pulling out the box to compare notes with a press of her lips together.
Her eyes dart back and forth, and soon the items were thrown into the bin as she slowly crawls back towards the wall to sit, her fingers within her hair to pull with slightly gritted teeth, trying her best to will herself to not cry.
*
Of course, Alex can't see any of that, with his hands in dishwater, playing the part of the good domestic partner. "Yeah. I don't remember much of it now, really, but I woke up in the middle of the night and it was all really.. vivid. You were there, I think? I remember a big tree, and bugs? It was really.. really weird." He shakes his head, and lets out a little laugh. "Meant to tell you about it, but.." But that's about when she started get cagey. So, there's that. "What are you doing in there? Are you feeling okay?" Indigestion? Ran all the way back home from work because you didn't want to use the toilets there?
*
She listens, drawing in those few little breaths, slowly leaning forward to crawl towards the sink to push herself up. She runs the water to wash her hands, using those same hands to idly clean her face as she lets out a breath. "Hey.. that -does- sound weird." Weird enough that she remembers it. And remembers it well. "Uh.. was I pregnant? In the dream?!"
The door was opening soon, and as she makes her way into the kitchen, her hand pressed to his shoulder to lean up to give him a kiss upon the earlobe. "Oh, I just wanted to come home. I'm trying to avoid being experimented on." With that said.. "I.. ran into Maximus too. That guy that we overthrew in that.. place where I turned into.. that.." She grunts a little, then goes to the fridge to open it.
*
"Uh," Well that's a random question? Alex pauses, and gives a smile when Skye kisses him. He picks up and sets a small stack of plates on the shelf in the cupboard, having washed them. "Maybe? I think there was a kid there? It's pretty hazy." Alex turns to face Skye, leaning against the counter as he watches her. He nods, in response to her explanation. No-one likes being experimented on, after all. "You ran into the crazy king of a place no-one had ever heard of, here in the city? What the hell is he doing here?" But then, where else would a deposed dictator go? Wait, shouldn't he be in like, Inhuman jail, or something?
*
Maybe? She sighs a little, feeling a bit relieved. It was all a dream, she wasn't starting to go crazy. "Honestly, it sounds kind of weird. I had one the other night. And then last night. That one I remember well. I was in a cafe with the biggest burger the world has ever seen, it was filled with all of the fixins' and I couldn't finish two bites. Whenever I bit it, it grew back." She shakes her head, pulling out random items to set them upon the counter top, her hands smacking against them.
"Yeah, actually." She wasn't going to tell him where she was, but.. god. Why would she keep everything a secret? This is bad. "Outside the Baxter Building. He lives there." She says with a nod. "He said he could help me find out who my parents were. Since.. I am .. you know. Yay orphan.."
*
Alex lets out a little laugh at Skye's explanation of her dream. "The brain does crazy things while we sleep, hey?" Now he actually hops up on the counter, though he makes sure Skye still has plenty of room to work on her food. "I guess fallen dictator's gotta live somewhere.." Still seems strange to him that he's just walking around free in the world, though, considering that he tried to kill her.. speaking of which.. "The guy tried to kill you, didn't he? You sure you can trust him?" And then, as if a light went on. "What were you doing at the Baxter Building?" Please be work-related.
*
"Yeah!" Skye peps up a little, laughing a bit as he hops up upon the counter top. She looks up towards him, her hands bracing against the edges of it, her head slowly nodding. "Yeah.. I mean, yeah he did. He said he did.." Which was strange that Skye would even let that ride. "But he was surprised of what happened. I .. guess since I'm his subject he wants to take care of me." She moves to step in between his legs, then leans her head forward to rest against his chest. "I think he's alright. Maximus is better than Blackbolt."
Though, his questions about the Baxter Building has her freezing, she looks up towards him with a slight, searching his eyes for just a moment. "Looking around, why?"
*
Alex wraps his arms around Skye in an embrace, holding her lightly against him. "You're not anyone's subject," he comments, giving her a squeeze. He doesn't care for any of them. Maximus, Blackbolt. That whole thing is just.. suspect. One of them tried to kill her, one of them tried to keep her prisoner. At least, that's how he sees it. "But if you trust him, I guess it can't hurt to see what he knows." Alex gives a bit of a shrug without pulling his arms from her. "I was just curious, is all. Thought maybe you were checking out a lead on the Director, or something." See, work-related!
*
"I know.." She murmurs quietly, "I.. don't know how to feel about trusting him, but he's probably the only one who can really tell me who my parents are and where to find him." She smiles a little, then shrugs her shoulders. "No. I haven't heard anything, haven't found anything. I really don't know where to look. In fact, maybe we should do something about that later." She sighs again, leaning into him once more. "Alright.. this.. stuff. We need to go grocery shopping."
*
Alex leans forward a bit and gives Skye another squeeze. "Okay. Grocery shopping." Work can wait, right? Surely no-one will give them a hard time about just leaving in the middle of the day? They can pass it off as 'investigating a lead' or something. Maybe someone at the grocery store saw Peggy recently.. "You sure you're okay?" He knows she's not, but he wants to hear her say it.
*
She leans away from him again, this time resting her chin upon his chest as she gives him a rather, silly and childish nod. "Yes. I'm okay." She says quietly, her arms wrapped around his waist to lightly toy with the notches of where his belt would be. "I think I'm just hungry, and a little tired." She lies openly. "So, I think you're going to have to order pizza or something." She smacks his bottom, then steps away from his embrace to begin replacing the food. "I think we should at least try to.. you know.. make an effort with learning to cook. Maybe there's someone at SHIELD who can teach us."
*
"Well, we'd save a lot more money that way.. and probably be healthier?" Alex smirks, and shrugs a bit while Skye replaces the food. "But for now, pizza sounds good to me. I'm actually starved, too." It's their staple, after all. Why mess with it. He hops down from the counter, and meanders over toward where the phone hangs on the wall, lifting up the receiver. "The usual okay with you?" He starts to dial. Yes, he has the number memorized. Yes, they order pizza often enough that the guy who works the counter down there knows Alex by voice alone. Don't judge. "So hungry I could eat my own arm off," he comments idly while the phone is ringing. That doesn't evoke an image of cannibalism, right?
*
Once the food was put away, Skye watches Alex as he begins to place the call. Everything felt right about this moment, even his idle words about eating his own arm and the way he stood near the wall to make the call. She approaches him from behind, leaning up to give the back of his neck a kiss, his upper bicep a fond squeeze as she heads off towards the living room in search of the bedroom. She was tired, a good nap would do her wonders. At least he'd get her up once the pizza arrived! Right?
*