CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
A MONTH

SAPPHIRE WOKE UP THE NEXT morning with a sharp gasp falling from her lips. She looked around, pulling the door open and closing her eyes in relief when she saw that she was still on the plane. She sat there on the bed, running a hand through her waves, and trying to catch her breath. Another nightmare had plagued her dreams, and it had felt so incredibly real, she swore that she could feel the needles stabbing into her skin.

     "Hey." A voice made her jump in surprise, looking up to see Daisy Johnson standing there with a tray of food in her hands. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

     "It's alright." Sapphire whispered, nodding her head and swallowing thickly.

     "I brought you something to eat." Daisy told her, nodding her head towards the food. "I didn't know if you wanted me to bring it to you, or leave it in the kitchen, so I just opted for the former."

     "I have legs. Just because I was captured for two goddamn years doesn't make me useless." She stood up, snatching the tray from Daisy's hands before sitting back down on her bunk, placing the food in front of her.

     "No, I know that." Daisy nodded. "Just wanted to be nice."

     "Don't. It's overrated." Sapphire replied. Daisy opened her mouth to say something else but before she could, Sapphire was closing the door, leaving her to privacy. Daisy stood there for a moment before closing her mouth and pursing her lips, nodding her head as she turned on her heel and walked away. She made her way down to the lab where Jemma and Fitz were currently resided in―︎like always.

     "You never told me your sister was a bitch when she first woke up." That was the first thing she said when she entered the lab, making the scientists look at her with furrowed eyebrows.

     "I didn't think she was." Jemma shrugged her shoulders. "If I'd known, I would've warned you. I swear it."

     "She's probably trying to get used to being back home." Fitz tried, and Jemma nodded in agreement. "She hasn't been home in two years, who knows what the hell those people did to her."

     "I tried bringing her food this morning, she snapped at me and told me that she wasn't useless and then said being nice was overrated. So, clearly something happened whilst she was gone. She seems cold, and mean, and I don't like her." Daisy scrunched her nose slightly and placed her hands on the table.

     "She isn't a fan of the whole opening up thing." Jemma informed. "Just give her a little while to settle back in, give her the chance to have a decent conversation with you, and as long as you don't say the wrong thing, she'll like you. It took her a month to like Fitz, you can't do worse than him."

     "A month?" Fitz asked with furrowed eyebrows. "It did not take her a month. She liked me within the first three days."

     "So she told you." Jemma laughed. "As soon as we were alone together, she would complain about how much she didn't like you and your curly hair. It took me a week to try and even convince her to not be so harsh on judging you. After a month she got used to you, and she gave in. I felt very victorious then."

     "A month?" He asked once again in disbelief, his eyes narrowed. Daisy smiled in amusement whilst Jemma just nodded her head head. Fitz scoffed. "That's unbelievable. I dealt with her sarcastic attitude and her constant nagging for years, only to find out that she didn't like me the first month we met!"

     Daisy smiled, holding her hands up. "I apologize for bringing the conversation up."

     "Thank you, for that. He's going to be on about this for days." Jemma sighed, shaking her head as she glanced towards the man she loved as he continued to mumble about how it took Sapphire a month to like him. The woman rolled her eyes and Daisy gave her a small pat on the shoulder before making her way out of the lab, just in time to watch Sapphire make her way down the stairs in a full set of different clothing.

     "Ah, the queen arises." Daisy tried, only receiving a glare in response as Sapphire walked past her. She clicked her tongue and nodded her head before catching Fitz and Jemma's eyes, both of them having furrowed eyebrows. "See?" She called before huffing and walking up the steps.

     Sapphire made her way down the halls until she found herself in the training room. She pulled her hair up in a pony tail and started to punch the punching bag, letting out all of her anger and pent up emotions. The poor punching bag was destroyed after five minutes. "You look like you could use a sparring partner?"

     Sapphire turned her head to see Melinda May standing there. A small sigh fell from her lips before a small smile fell on her face at the sight of her friend. She placed her hands on her hips before nodding towards the mat, "I wouldn't mind letting my frustrations out on somebody. Is there a bone you would like to keep unbroken before we start? Any special request?"

     "I wouldn't worry about that." Melinda smirked, moving to stand in front of Sapphire as she pulled her hair up in a pony tail. The two took their stances before Melinda nodded and they started fighting. "How are you?"

     "Fine." Sapphire answered, ducking under a kick from May before using her own leg to kick May's feet from under her. The woman fell but was quick to catch her fall by rolling and quickly jumping up, landing a punch to her side. Sapphire barely noticed it.

     "You sure about that?" May asked. "I overheard you snapping at Daisy for bringing you food. Which is something I never thought I would witness."

     "Yeah, well, I just woke up and she was in my personal space." Sapphire waved it off. May grabbed her arm before flipping her and pinning her to the ground. Sapphire swallowed, catching her breath as she looked up at her.

     May looked down at her with furrowed eyebrows. "You know you don't have to be okay, right? You can tell me if something's bothering you."

     "I was imprisoned and tortured for two years, Melinda. What the hell do you think is bothering me?" Sapphire snapped before quickly removing her arms from May's grasp and flipping the woman off of her before standing up. "My bed's too soft." She muttered before walking out of the room, a concerned Melinda May watching her leave.