Work Text:
Phil was late. Very late. Skye was never going to let this go–mostly because this was the third time this week he was late picking her up from work. Really, he didn’t know why she insisted on working in that coffee shop when it was all the way across town. There were plenty of places to get jobs closer to home or the office, but his daughter insisted on this one. Something about ‘not wanting her FBI dad scaring away all the cute boys.’ Which Phil thought was stupid because Skye had no business talking to boys in the first place, and he wasn’t even FBI-he was CIA. There’s a difference.
He parked Lola and walked into the store, calling out apologies to Skye as he walked. And stopped dead inside the door.
There was a man holding a gun to Skye’s head as she held open the cash register, shaking horribly as she did so. Phil curled his balls into fists, glaring at the man as he looked up at him.
“Who the fuck are you? You better not be the cops, man or I’m going to blow this bitch’s head clean off–” He shook Skye by the arm and gestured with the gun at her temple.
“No! No, don’t do that! I’m not the cops.” Phil put his hands out in front of himself, taking a short step forward, “I just came to get my daughter from work.”
“If you aren’t the cops I don’t care what the fuck your doing, just get over by the wall where I can see you.” Phil looked at Skye as he started moving towards the wall, trying to give her a reassuring smile. She was mouthing the words ‘Dad’ and ‘help’, and his heart squeezed in his chest.
As he reached the wall, he got a look around the corner leading to the back door and alley way. The door was busted open, leaving the man’s exit way clear. Phil sneered, realizing his daughter was being help hostage by a petty thief. Then he saw something move in the alley, and a petite woman was moving silently into the hallway.
Skye was collecting all of the cash from the register, shoving it in a paper baggie usually used to hand baked goods to customers. When the register was empty, he grabbed her and started pulling her backwards.
“Time for the money in the office.”
“I don’t know the combination to the safe, though!”
“Well, you’d better be a damned good guesser or I’m going to kill you.” Skye whimpered, and called for him again. They turned away from Phil, and he immediately started moving to follow them, pulling his gun from his waistband. The woman was no where to be seen in the hallway, and Phil hoped she’d gone to get help.
He heard the office door creak open, and then there was the sounds of a scuffle and a gun going off. He bolted towards the sounds, and Skye came running out to him.
“Dad, a woman, he shot her, they’re fighting!” Skye was crying now, shaking and clinging to his arm.
“Stay here, Skye. And call the cops!” Phil ran down the hall, shoving open the door all the way. Inside, the robber was trying to push a knife down on the woman, and she was using one hand to hold onto her side and the other to keep the knife up and away from herself. Phil took aim and shot the knife out of his hand, surprising the robber. He looked up at Phil, and scrambled up.
“Freeze,” Phil clicked the next bullet into place, and aimed at the robber. He looked around wildly, grabbed the money bag, and tried to bolt past Phil. Phil grabbed him, and slammed him into the door frame, sending him to the ground. The woman was standing up slowly, still holding her side, but now with the robber’s gun in her hand, aimed at the guy. Phil moved around the door frame to look back out at Skye, and saw police rushing down the hall towards them.
——
Skye was sitting in Phil’s arms, crying with a blanket draped over her shoulders. He was stroking her hair, and talking quietly with her so she was slowly calming down. The woman, a Miss May, was sitting on the ambulance cot. The wound of her side was just a graze, a scratch more than anything. Phil was talking to her when he could, between police, paramedics, and Skye.
“Thanks again, Ms May, for saving Skye.”
“Melinda. I can probably afford to be on first name basis with the guy who saved me.”
“Alright, Melinda. How’s your side.”
“I won’t be sparing for a few days, but other than that totally fine.” Phil went to ask her something else, when Skye mumbled something quietly.
“What was that, honey?”
“I said, I never want to feel that helpless again.” Phil was surprised. Skye had just gone from terrified to angry. Angrier than he’s ever seen her.
“We’ll get you self-defense lessons.” Phil assured her immediately, kissing her forehead. He had been trying to talk Skye into lessons for years. Skye nodded, and walked away, climbing into Lola.
Melinda moved to sit next to him, looking off towards Skye.
“You know, I own that self-defense school down the road. I can teach your daughter for you.”
“Really?” He looked at her fully in the face now, kind of surprised by how pretty she was, “I’d ask if we could discuss this over coffee, but…”
“That’s okay, I hate coffee anyways.” Knowing perfectly what he meant.
“Oh.” Phil went quiet for a few moments, “How do you feel about tea?” He asked, smiling at her. She gave him a small smile in return.
“Pretty good.”