Summary:It's been 2 years since the Battle of New York and Skye haw gone undercover in the Rising Tide. She'll have to break her cover as new information comes to light, end up becoming part of a team as she uncovers hidden plots, tries to make sense of where her powers are coming from and reconnect with people she knew long ago but have changed just as much as she has
But the best part?
The person she killed, and has been mourning ever since, is not only very much alive but also has absolutely no idea who she is.
Notes:Book 2 is here! A few more notes in the end, explaining a few things, but for now... enjoy the chapter and thank you for the support :)
All rights go to Marvel
Chapter 1: PilotNotes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
"Jane! How are you this fine morning?" Miles' voice echoed through the speaker of my phone.
"Oh you know, working as always". Despite my voice sounding as if I was smiling, I wear a frown on my face as I explained my day. "Remember the info that you send me about a Chitauri Neural Link in Paris?", I rhetorically asked. "Well, let's just say that if S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to get their hands on it they are gonna bump into some competition" I actually giggled at that, trying to sound as genuine as possible.
The laughter that I heard from the other end of the line let me know that the guy was very pleased with my work. "Now that's what I am talking about Jane. I knew I could trust you to make the information go public. And talking about trust, did you hear about the guy who jumped out of a building today?"
I had to admit that this got my attention. "No? Why did I not know about this?"
"Only because it just happened and reporters aren't that fast into delivering the news" I could tell that whatever he would say next he was very proud of, as he made one of his signature dramatic pauses to build up tension. "But I have footage with this 'Hooded Hero' and I want someone I trust to make it go viral as soon as possible. What do you say?"
"Send it over our secure line" I replied without even thinking about it. If this was what I was thinking it was about, then I didn't want anyone else to get their hands on that video before me.
"Perfect!", he exclaimed. "I knew this was going to make your day, and speaking of which… what do you say to meeting up at some point? Haven't seen you in a while J, I miss you"
I thanked God that this was just a voice call and not a video one because I couldn't help myself from rolling my eyes before masking my tone to that of a woman who was head over heels for that man. "You have no idea how much I've missed you too babe, but you know it's safer for us to stay separated for long time periods. People know who we are and I have no doubt that S.H.I.E.L.D. or any other government agency is looking for us. I promise you that when we meet, it is going to be memorable" I mastered my inner seductress Natasha and have one of my best performances, and from the long pause that followed I knew I had nailed it.
"I think you have a package in your mail, consider it an early gift. See you soon" and with that the call was terminated.
I swore when Fury made me take this undercover operation I knew that I had to get deep into the hacktivist's organisation and gain some trust. What better way to gain trust other than making out with one of the higher ranked people after all. But it still didn't mean that I liked what I was doing for the sake of S.H.I.E.L.D.
But I was the only line that filtered what many of the Rising Tide video's included as they soon realised I was one of the best hackers they had ever seen and most of their information ended up going through me before being released to the public. That allowed me to sneak some extra coding lines in the video, letting the agency know what was going to be released a few minutes earlier than it was released to the public. This allowed them the chance to try and fight back my programs and shut some of the videos or information before they even saw the light of day. Only some intel that I knew wouldn't really hurt S.H.I.E.L.D. were truly released to the public, I had to maintain my cover after all.
And this was how, after six months of working from my van I finally got a video which truly intrigued me. I let my face-recognition program run as I viewed the minute long sequence with a man jumping off a building, landing without breaking a bone and then running away.
Hooded hero indeed…
And one thing was for sure. If what I just saw was true, then I had to find him. He could be scared, but from the looks of it he knew how to handle his powers. So the most important thing at the moment was that he would not be found by the wrong people.
But I knew it would take me at last a couple of hours before I managed to track him down, talk with him and head back. And if my location tracker was correct, which always was, then that video was filmed from one of the labs that I had pinpointed as Centipede's ones. I had been gathering information on them for a while and if this guy was linked to them then I couldn't wait any longer to let S.H.I.E.L.D. know of my findings for the organisation that went really far to make sure people didn't learn about them.
True, I hadn't gathered much but it was enough to kickstart a S.H.I.E.L.D. investigation. So, I uploaded the video online, making sure I left a little gift for my friends back at the agency to find. Hard enough to encrypt so that I would have the time to meet this mysterious hero, but easy enough for them to be able to actually crack.
Hill's POV
"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for, agent Ward?"
This was how my debriefing of Ward started after he successfully managed to get the Chitauri Neural Link from France before anyone else got their hands on it. I wasn't normally the one to debrief agents after a mission, I had better things to work on. I was the second in command after all, having a Clearance Level 9 which only one other person had. But that day was different.
That day was different because Fury decided that it was time for Phil to go back into the field after the Battle of New York. It was a miracle that he had managed to tame the guy for these past two years but they still passed all too fast in my opinion.
So there I was, making Ward a Level 7 agent, with him getting the information that Phil was indeed alive. And of course this came as a shock to the man I used to train while in the Academy.
"Director Fury faked your death to motivate the Avengers" he stated as the three of us headed towards the command centre so as to inform him of his new position in Coulson's mobile team.
"Well, the death of a common ally is a particularly effective team builder" I stated back. These were some basics that they all learned in the Academy and I had to restrain myself from hitting him at the back of the head from saying something so plainly obvious.
But of course Phil was quick to intervene. "Plus it wasn't that much of a stretch. I stopped breathing for about 40 seconds"
"Hey, it gets longer every time you tell it" I continued walking and they followed from the back. It was a practised reply really, because although he had no idea I remembered very well what had happened during that fight.
"Yeah, well you get shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini you can tell it your way" he said without missing a beat. Just as I did before. The only problem here was that in his case, it was not a practised reply but a genuine one. A reply that originated from memory. "I was looking at the big white light and it felt like a lot more than just 8 seconds"
"Do they know?" The younger one asked. "The Avengers? That Fury played them?"
Before I had a chance to reply, Phil took the reins of the conversation once more. "They are not Level 7" he spoke and I heard the slightest of sorrow slip into his answer before he recomposed himself. "Got out of the ICU, Fury stuck me in a grass shack in Tahiti" and with that the talk about the Avengers was over.
I couldn't say that I was not glad for that.
So as soon as Ward finally left to gather his stuff and meet Coulson and the rest of the completely sketchy, in my opinion, team I left to go and take my mind off things. He talked about Tahiti, this magical place, and it pained me to see him so unaware.
"He really doesn't know, does he?" Doctor Streiten asked as if he was reading my thoughts.
"He can never know", was all I mastered to say before walking away and towards my office where I opened my computer and checked if there was any new video posted by the Rising Tide.
True, Coulson and his team was currently going to get a member which was pinpointed thanks to Skye's undercover work. Also, true, that it was the second intel she leaked us about the hacktivist group in the same day so the chances of getting anything new were low but it wouldn't hurt to check. After all, only Fury and I knew of Skye's whereabouts or her actual status in general.
Skye's POV
It was easier than I expected to find out the identity of the guy.
Mike Peterson. 34. Recently unemployed and father to one boy named Ace. This was all the information I need to know before I went out to track him down and meet him.
True, I did check a bit of his background and the guy seemed like a straight up dude. No criminal records or anything, just the unfortunate event that had him lose his job. And he just wanted to provide for his child. I didn't know whether or not he was actually connected to Centipede, but he did jump off one of their buildings, so I had to keep that in mind. But as I already said, he was a decent guy. I doubted he would get mixed with that kind of crowd.
And as he was recently fired from his work place, he was currently looking for employment. Which is exactly what I found him doing as I sat across from him in the cafe I tracked him down to. I parked on the back and went in, only to see him going through the job list on a newspaper.
"I know you don't know me but I want you to act natural, pretend that we are talking" I said when he looked up to me.
"We are"
"See, you already get it. The thing is that we never know who is listening" my voice was quieter than normal, but not whispering. I adopted a body language that indicated I was just chatting with a friend to help my case.
"I don't even know who's talking" he was so confused.
"I am really sorry, where are my manners? I am Jane" I gave him my undercover name, so in case anything happened and he had to look for me in the Rising Tide he wouldn't raise any suspicions. "And you are the Hooded hero".
"No–No, you got the wrong guy. I am just a factory worker" he replied and I could tell that he was growing anxious about this whole interaction.
I better go straight to the point then. "You've got the wrong approach" I stated. "I am not here to let people know it's you, make you famous. I know how hard it can be to have to hide, alright? And I know you are just trying to live a normal life, find a job, but you can't" with that he closed the newspaper he was looking at, clearly irritated.
He let out a sigh as he let his back rest to the cushion behind him. "What would you know about it, huh?"
"More than you think, okay?"
"Look, lady. I am just a guy" he tried.
"Not anymore, you are not. Not after you rescued that lady from the building. You did that, someone filmed it and the video went viral. You are a hero now. Like it or not, you don't have a choice and you cannot walk away from this. With great power comes…" my mind backtracked to the battle of New York, "…a tone of weird crap that you are not prepared to deal with" was the closest explanation that I could find.
I stopped talking and looked him in the eyes. All I saw was exacerbation. In the terms of, 'who is this crazy lady that just came and sat in front of me'. And soon followed what I expected as he made a move to stand up. "I think we are done here"
Without even hesitating, I reached out and placed my hand on top of him. Didn't grab him as this probably wouldn't really help into making him trust me, just touching him to get his attention. "Look, if you need anything you can find me in my van, it's right on the back. I am good with computers and know how to make people disappear. I could help you create a new identity, okay? Just think about it" I kindly smiled at him. With that, I retracted my hand, stood up, walked off and left him in the cafe as I opened the door to my mobile office.
Give him a new identity I would, was he to ask for it. That didn't mean that I wouldn't let S.H.I.E.L.D. know of his whereabouts as well, just in case anything ever happened.
I was playing around on my computers, gathering all the information that I had on the Rising Tide and Centipede and storing them in a secure location. I knew that the agents were coming. It was a good three hours by the time I uploaded the video and truth be told I expected them to be here sooner, I should really have a chat with Fury when I got back about their Communications graduates.
I looked up to the hula girl that was moving from side to side as I my vibrations picked up two sets of steps walking towards my van. It was about time to go back, wasn't it? I took a deep breath and prepared to meet the agents who would most likely put a black bag over my head, lead me back to their base of operation to 'interrogate' me. That would be the drill were I just a member of the Rising Tide.
But the plan was to show them my badge, sure they would ask questions but at least we would all save ourselves from the whole black-bag situation. The door on the side of my van opened from the outside and I turned around, ready to take out my badge when my eyes landed to the agent on the left.
My whole world stopped at the moment when I laid eyes on the man whose face still haunted some of my guilt-filled nightmares.
"Phil?" I barely managed to whisper, still in shock, before the bag was thrown over my head.
My question didn't seem to phase the man at all as the agent he was with dragged me out of my van and threw me in the vehicle they came to my location with. I snapped out of the daze I was in as the hand that was wrapped around my upper arm tightened and probably bruised the skin underneath.
Without too much of an effort I punched the guy that was holding me in the chest, releasing the tinniest vibration into his ribcage. Not enough so that he would understand that the pain that spread on his ribs was not solely from my hit, but enough so that he curled up on his seat, giving me enough time to take off the bag that covered my eyes.
"Coulson!" I loudly exclaimed as I felt the unmarked vehicle come to a harsh stop. By the time I could see straight Coulson, who was up until now driving, had turned to look back with a gun steady in his hands and trained at my chest. "What the fuck Phil?!", this time I yelled, not being able to hold my temper any longer.
His expression never changed from that of utter confusion as the situation had clearly not turned out as he had planned it to. But what scared me the most was the lack of recognition on his eyes. It was as if he was looking at a stranger. And as if all this wasn't enough to make me feel like someone had stabbed me in the heart with a knife, the words that came out of his mouth finished the job.
"Who the Hell are you?!"
Notes:So, a few things for everyone to know. We're going more in the 1st Season of AoS. Some chapters are more similar to the series, some I have changed a bit up cause, you know, it is an AU after all ^^'. Just like with Book 1, I will be posting a chapter a day until I finish this Book, and then it depends on if I have started posting for Book 3 (which I am currently developing the plot for). As for the titles, I am using the titles of the episodes I take content from in the first chapter that this contents appears in.
Also, you might have noticed that the rating changed. That's because in this Book we have some heavier stuff, like PTSD and Flashbacks (for which I will of course let people know in the notes so that they are aware when they are mentioned in chapters).
And finally, we're getting properly the Skye/Jemma tag. Sorry if people thought from the first book that this was not going to happen. It's also very much a slow burn, for that I am not sorry. My Beta really didn't like how long it took for them to get together, but I like to let the relationships develop and not force things if I can, what can I say. As far as relationships are concerned, we also have some minor Natasha/Clint action in the background (but very minor -- squint and you'll lose it).
... I think that's it for now. I hope you all will enjoy the second Book as well. I love to hear what you think of the story, so feel free to drop a comment if you feel like it :) Hope you all will have a great week!
Chapter 2: Don't Touch LolaNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
"Who the Hell are you?!"
I looked deep into his eyes, and the lack of recognition remained at large. And even if he could lie to me in my face, his heart wouldn't be able to. My vibrations picked up on his heart rate. And just like with a lie detector, I knew that every word he spoke was something he truly believed in. "You were supposed to be dead" I whispered, my mind backtracking to the events of that awful day.
His expression changed as he took a deep breath and looked at me dead in the eyes. The steel determination in his gaze let me know he wasn't playing around. "How do you know that? Or me in that matter? What does the Rising Tide have on me?"
His seriousness let me know that he wasn't playing around. Trying to recompose me, I took a deep breath and slowly raised my arms, trying to show that I meant no harm. His heart rate was still going a bit crazy after what had just happened but he was calming down. "Nothing, the Rising Tide had nothing on you". At that, he narrowed his eyes as he clearly didn't think I was telling the truth. "And I know you because I was in the Helicarrier before the Battle of New York. I was there when you died," I said. It may not have been the whole truth, but it was a correct statement. "Look", I continued, "I am a high-Level Clearance agent who had been undercover in the Rising Tide for the past half a year, okay? Deep undercover, no-one apart from the Deputy Director and the Director know about it"
All the talking had given enough time for the agent next to me to recover from my punch-vibration combo and he went to grab his weapon. I could easily disarm him, or both of them for that matter, but I had a couple of good reasons not to. For starters, this wouldn't make them trust me more. And then, I couldn't use my powers since only the Avengers, the pirate, Maria, and Jemma knew that 'Quake' and 'Skye' were one and the same. And if I went around blasting people all the time, even with my hacking abilities I wouldn't be able to keep my secret. So, as far as anyone knew I was a simple non-powered human.
With the other agent's gun trained on my skull, Coulson spoke again. "Why don't I believe you? If you were such a high-Level agent I would know of you. And more importantly, you would know of me being alive. So tell me, why should I believe any word you say? And if you were an agent, then where is your badge?"
I highly doubted that telling him that it was dropped in my van when they grabbed me would earn trust points. So I searched my memory and came up with only one idea that could potentially earn me some of those valuable points. "Sierra-Kilo-Juliet 08-Uniform-7342"
Coulson's eyes flickered at that. "How do you know that number?"
"In the same way that I know Alpha 946430," I said with confidence. "Wanna give her a call? Tell her that you have her old rookie, she will know what I mean"
"Make sure she stays put, agent Ward," Coulson said as he lowered his gun and took out his phone, before pressing it to his ear, calling my almost S.O.
"Why, Ward," I said turning to the agent who was deadly serious. "It couldn't possibly be agent GrantWard, now could it?" I smirked when he tightened his hold on his gun. "I would put that down if I were you" I pointed at the gun. "I actually bet you 10 bucks that you will be told to do so in the next seconds" I teased.
"Bet's on" his reply only made my smile grow larger on my face.
I lifted my hand, open palm, and started counting down from 5. The moment I closed my last finger Coulson's voice came from the front part of the car, "Lower your gun, agent Ward". He passed me the phone, a look of confusion on his face, and then opened the door for me to exit. The moment I was outside the door behind me closed, giving me some privacy for the phone call.
"Skye…"
The moment I heard her voice it was like this was the last straw to keeping my emotions in check. "What in the world Maria?" I hissed. I didn't dare to scream because I didn't want the two men listening in our conversation. "How the fuck is Phil alive? Or maybe you want to tell me how I am a total stranger to him? Huh?"
"Skye, I need you to calm down okay?" She said with a voice that let me know I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter and she was only asking out of kindness. I took a few deep breaths, calming my nerves before she spoke again. "Good. Now, I need you to listen very carefully. I can't say much on the phone and I need you to not question me now. What I want you to do is lay low and be normal. They don't know, not even him"
"Fine," I said back. "I will help them out, I was the one who made them come to me in the first place. But don't think for a second that this is over. Not with you and not with the pirate. We will have a nice long chat as soon as possible" it was not even a question, no. This was a demand.
"We will" she verified and her tone let me know she was genuine in her answer.
"You bet we will. Want me to give you Coulson?"
"Yes," she answered. Just before I lowered the phone from my ear, I heard her call my name. "And Skye? I truly am sorry"
With that, I opened the door and passed the device to its rightful owner. I saw Ward shooting me daggers as I extended my hand. He grunted, the frown on his face becoming worse as he placed the money on my palm just as "Roger that" echoed from the front.
"So, I am guessing we were heading to your base?" I questioned. "Lead the way" I smiled at Coulson and sat comfortably in my seat.
The moment we parked the car I was out and walking to my van which was brought by some other agents at the same location. I walked in and grabbed my USB sticks that were filled with the information needed as well as my badge. Then I followed the others to a ramp that led to the inside of the 'Bus', as the agents were referring to the airplane. I couldn't help but notice the cherry-red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette that Coulson loved so much.
He was leading us to what could only be a briefing room for me to give him any information he might need. So, he had gone off ahead and was at the top of the spiral staircase when he noticed that I wasn't following and that my gaze was trained to the beautiful vehicle.
I was so certain of what was to follow that I beat him to it. "Don't touch Lola" I said with a smile on my lips as I restarted my walk and reached him. "I know"
I all but heard his jaw snap close at that and he narrowed his eyes at me. I had a feeling that I wasn't his favourite person in the world at the moment. "This way," he said with an authoritative tone as he passed me and led me to a room filled with computers, and other, systems and a table in the middle.
"How about we take it from the start" and with that he gave me permission to update them on everything that I knew.
I took my badge out and showed it to the two people in the room. "I am agent Skye. As I said before I was undercover in the Rising Tide. The Director was the one who gave me the mission and I was instructed not to have any contact with anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D. so as not to tip them off" I simply recalled.
"If you are so good that the Director put you in that position, then why were we able to track you down?" Ward spoke.
"Because I wanted you to, T1000. You know better than agent Coulson here how good I am with computers, given our shared time in the Academy" with that I saw recognition finally shine through Ward's eyes.
"Wait one second. Skye? As in–"
"Yes, Ward" I cut him off. "Skye as in 'rookie', 'kid' and all the other beautiful nicknames that you had come up with at the beginning of my stay".
"You know her?" Coulson asked.
Wards eyes snapped to the senior agent and then back at my face as he replied. "Yeah, she came to the Academy in the year that I graduated. I haven't really seen her since"
I so enjoyed seeing Ward at a loss for words but we did have more important things to worry about. "Now that this is over, and as I said before, I wanted youto track me down. I didn't know which team would pick me up, but I know that agent Hill was monitoring the videos that I was uploading for the Rising Tide. I left the same cryptographic signature in the video with the Hooded hero with ones that I uploaded while undercover knowing that S.H.I.E.L.D. would pick it up"
After my explanation had finished the room filled with silence as what I had just said was being processed by the two. "Hill did verify what you said when we spoke on the phone, so I don't see why you would lie about anything. What's the reason you blew your cover then, agent?"
I flinched a bit when he called me 'agent'. This formality between us was something new as he wasn't Phil anymore for me. But agent Coulson, former Deputy Director and highly praised agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who gave his life trying to protect the world from Loki. "Centipede"
"Centipede?"
"It's a really well-covered operation. I haven't managed to find much but everything I have on them is right here" I said and handed over one of my flash drives. Then as I gave the second one I continued, "And this one has everything I managed to get on the Rising Tide. Names, aliases, bases, everything. But what matters now is Centipede. And more importantly, the man that you came to look for when you came for me. Mike Peterson"
"Wait, how do you know his name?" Ward asked.
At that, I did roll my eyes and pointed at my chest. "Hacker, remember?"
Coulson who had gone over to the computer system typed the name that I gave him. "But still. Our face-recognition system couldn't identify the guy. The videos quality was awful" he let all the information he could gather appear on the screen.
"I may be S.H.I.E.L.D. but I have some programs on my own. I am the best hacker that S.H.I.E.L.D. has after all. I don't say it was the easiest thing in the world, but it was easy enough" my hands were folded at my chest and I looked around. "I am guessing you already have a team at the scene?"
"In fact, we do. We will wait for them to get back so as to get all the data we need and see how we proceed"
"Isn't time off the essence here? The sooner we find him the better and we already know the name" Ward chimed as he bounced from one leg to the other. The vibes he sent off clearly indicated that he wanted this mission over as soon as possible. Only I didn't know whether this was because of my presence or not.
"We should wait for the others" I said just as Coulson opened his mouth. "We don't want to rush in and it's important to know the whole situation before going in. I know you were trained as a specialist, but this is a team and agent Coulson is your leader, if I am not mistaken. Trust in him" I said and saw a smile appear on Coulson's face that was accompanied with a nod.
This was the first time he smiled at me since we met this day. The same smile that he used to give me all those years ago. We might have gone off to a rough start, but we would work it out. We always did.
Notes:Just wanted to say thank you for the support :) You are all amazing
Chapter 3: Meeting The TeamNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
It's late in the afternoon when the rest of the team joins in. I had spent the last couple of hours playing around in the computer systems of the Bus, finding more information on Mike Peterson. This is how I stumbled upon the news feed with him going back to the factory and attacking the man who fired him.
This was not the same person that I had talked to the same morning. The Mike that I met was not a violent person, he just had a lot of crap being thrown his way. I let out a heavy sigh. "He just needs a break" I accidentally spilt.
"Then let's try to give him one" I turned around to see Coulson standing at the door of the room. "The others just came in. It will take them a while to process what they found but they should be ready to go in half an hour. They are downstairs in their lab, are you ready to meet them?"
I shrugged at that and followed the man who I knew, but didn't recognise me, to the back towards the cargo hold. "I talked with Ward while you were in here. And he informed me that you might be familiar with our science duo" he said and stopped on the top of the spiral staircase. He just pointed downstairs with his chin before saying, "I'll see you in the debriefing room in 40 minutes" and then just walked away.
This had me confused, I would have guessed that he would at least stick around to introduce them to me, or at least introduce me to them. Who knew what was going on in this man's head…
I found myself descending to the lower floor and standing outside of the lab, where both of the science people had their backs to me as they worked on something really focused. I pressed the switch for the door to open and was about to call out to them. But the sound of the door seemed to do the trick as one turned around and I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Fitz?" I mouthed, my voice betraying me at the last minute. Jemma would, more often than not, send me pictures of both of them working and so I didn't just have the image of him from 8 years ago to rely on for reference.
He didn't, however, seem to have any idea who I was. "Who are you?", he asked in his polish Scottish accent. And then I remembered that my presence in the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility was top secret so Jemma wouldn't have had the chance to tell him of our interactions nor send him any pictures of me.
"Come on, Fitz. I don't think I have changed that much" I kindly smiled at him.
My voice seemed to make the other person in the room stop whatever they were doing midway and sharply turn to look at me. Just as sharply I inhaled with an audible gasp escaping my lips. Next thing I know I am wrapped into a fierce hug. Just for one second though, as in the next, the grip that the girl had on me disappeared as she took a step back and hit me in the bicep. "How dare you? One day everything is fine and next thing I know I haven't heard from you in months?", she said with an angry expression on her face.
"It was not my fault!" I hurried to reply, raising my hands in a non-threatening manner. "The pirate sent me on a mission and I couldn't contact anyone"
"You could have given me the heads-up!"
"It was a last-minute thing! You think I wouldn't let you know I was going if it was up to me? It was bad enough the first time you saw me after the Academy, you think I would want to face your passive aggressiveness again?" I tried to reason. And when I saw her face relaxing I knew my plan worked. So with my hands open as they were, I invited her in another hug, which I returned tenfold this time. "I missed you" I whispered in her ear.
"I missed you too" she whispered back.
The little bubble we were in was popped by Fitz clearing his throat. "Uh, Jemma? What is going on here?" He asked as we parted and turned to look at him.
Jemma made a move to speak but one smile from me had her pausing. "Would you mind introducing us?" I asked her with a wink.
I was so thankful at that moment that Jemma grasped everything so quickly because she smiled mischievously back at me. "Why, of course. This is Leopold Fitz" she said and pointed at her lab partner.
"It is great to meet you," I said, but didn't stop there. "But seriously. Leopold? Do I have to call you that?" The smile never leaving my face.
"Oh please don't" he replied as if it was an automatic reply. "You can call me…" he trailed off just as his eyes shined with recognition and a smile was plastered on his face. "…Leo or Fitz. Whatever you prefer" he extended his hand for me to shake. "Is there a surname I should know of, Skye?"
"It's good to see you buddy" I brought him in for a hug and he didn't fight it, though he was a bit hesitant about it. We hadn't seen each other for a while after all.
"It's good to see you too," he said back. "What happened to you? All I ever learned was that one day the whole Academy was in lockdown and everyone was looking for you" he said looking back and forth between me and Jemma.
I knew that Jemma was either looking at me or had suddenly found the floor all too interesting, so I decided to grab the reigns of the conversation to ease her nerves. "A lot, that's what has happened. But more importantly", I clapped my hands, "I heard you got some interesting information for us. Phi– Agent Coulson said to meet in the debriefing room in about 30 minutes" I walked towards the computers at the far end of the lab and the science twins followed suit. "You will be ready by then, right? I would hate to think that you've lost your touch" I clearly directed that at Fitz.
He all but pushed me aside to keep working on his current project. "Of course not. It will be ready" he said as he restarted his work.
I turned around to see Jemma looking at me. "Don't you have anything to work on?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Not at the moment, no. At least until Fitz here finishes his part there is nothing I can do" she replied and I knew she was telling the truth. If it came to work, Jemma would never lie about it.
At that moment a thought crossed my mind and it must have shown in my face because the next thing I know is Jemma asking me if everything was alright. "Yeah, I was just thinking. I know I just met agent Coulson…" I had to lie at that point since neither of them knew about my history with the man "…but he doesn't seem like the guy who would let you go in the field alone. And, don't get me wrong, but I doubt you're clear for combat. So, who was the agent that came with you? I saw Ward when they came to pick me up but I am guessing there is another one?"
"Oh, you've seen Ward again. That's good. At least he won't be too shocked when we head upstairs" she provided just as Fitz made a signal for her to step closer. He said something that didn't sound like English to me, but Jemma seemed to understand the whole of it. "I need to work on this at the moment, but I am sure you can meet her. The other agent I mean. She is the pilot, so my guesses are that she is at the cockpit" and with a nod she turned to Fitz and began her work.
With that, I headed upstairs. Passing the common room I saw the team captain going through the files that I managed to get with my research. I knocked on the door to get his attention and he smiled at me. "You know we have a handful of time before meeting here, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. I do. It's just that FitzSimmons is working at the moment and I don't want to interrupt" I smiled back. "I heard that there is another member in the team that I have yet to meet and that she is at the cockpit? Is it okay if I head there or do you want to introduce us in the meeting?" I felt like asking for permission would get me on his good side and it would show that I respected him. I did, I truly did, but finding out he was alive after I killed him was kind of a shocker and my initial behaviour towards him mustn't have shown as much.
He seemed to be thinking of my proposal but eventually just pointed me in the right direction. "Go down this corridor, it's the door at the far end". I made a move to go, but he called me. "Skye?", this had me stop short. "Just, don't take it personally if she doesn't warm up to you. Or talk" and with that, he continued looking through the files.
I wondered what that was about, but I guessed that I was about to find out.
Finding the room wasn't too hard. The Bus did have a lot of rooms, more than a normal aeroplane would host, but it was still not that large. And after having read the manuals for every S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle and aircraft, kind sponsorship of the one and only Clint Barton, navigating myself was easy.
The door to the cockpit was not fully closed, only about three-quarters of the way there, but it was still not open enough for me to peek inside without having to open the door any further. So, trying to be polite and not scare the agent off, I gently knocked on the frame and gently pushed my way in.
"Agent Coulson said I could find you here," I said but the woman who was sitting at the pilot's seat just continued checking the plane's mechanisms as if she hadn't heard me. Had I not have my vibration to detect the small change in her heart rate, then I would have believed that this was the case indeed. "I don't know if he filled you up on what happened when you were in the field, but it seems that I am a new addition to the team, at least for this mission" I tried but was still not acknowledged by her. Seeing that this was a pattern that was not going to change I concluded it was time to end this very fascinating one-sided conversation short. "I am really sorry to have bothered you, this was not my intention. I will see you in a few minutes in the debriefing room". I started making my exit but stopped at the door and before closing it I made a last-minute decision. "You should know my name at least, for when we are debriefed. I am Skye" I whispered to the woman before starting to make my way to where I had just left Coulson.
My vibrations picked up her movement of looking at the door where I had just passed through but I didn't make my way back. I would meet her face to face sooner than later either way.
Notes:A bit smaller chapter than my more normal ones at this point, but I really wanted to break it there so that we can move to more proper episode content from the next one.
To alcalde1000 who asked when we'd get to see May's and Skye's reunion, I know this was not much, but we have more of an interaction in tomorrow's chapter.
Chapter 4: Somebody That I Used To KnowNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
After not really talking to the pilot I went back downstairs to the lab. I sat quietly and watched as the science twins worked. They would murmur words here and there but other than that it was as if they spoke telepathically. Before I knew it was time to meet the others, so after checking my clock once more I called them over and together we headed to the upper floor.
My file, with all the information on Mike, was on the holo-table. The moment the three of us stepped inside Coulson started bringing everyone up to speed. "Michael Peterson, factory worker, married, one kid. Gets injured, gets laid off. Wife jumps ship. Good guy, bad breaks" he stopped walking around the table and folded his arms over his chest. "Best guess is somebody tells him they can make him stronger again, make him super"
"Who has the tech to do that?" A voice that I heard for the first time since I boarded this plane was heard. "And why would they want to?"
My head snapped up as my eyes trained on the woman who must have been the one who was in the cockpit. The voice, in combination with the face, let me know who she was without her having to introduce herself. May...
My mind went blank for a minute before Fitz started speaking and I focused on the screen where a CCTV feed was shown. "Well the man is angry at the other man"
I rolled my eyes at that. Seriously Fitz? You spent a good solid half an hour to come up with that? And the silence that filled the room let me know that everyone was thinking the same as me. So, of course, and Jemma had to jump in to rescue him from complete humiliation. "The data is very corrupt"
"Yeah" Fitz scoffed. "Like Cold War Russia corrupt. I can't sync the time code without–"
Well that was something I could work with. "What if you had the audio?" I interrupted him and every person in the room turned to look at me. "I have been running surveillance in the lab for a while now, so I had a mic pointed at the window and placed nearby. It was destroyed when the blast occurred but I have the digital files in my van. There is too much background noise for me, but you could probably–"
"You can clean that up, can't you?" Simmons jumped in turning towards her partner. "Find a sync point and use cross-invalidation" and that was how they started speaking in their own language and getting lost in an argument that didn't sound like English to anyone but the two of them.
I knew that the two of them could get lost in their heads so I called them out. "FitzSimmons" I looked at them intently and they seemed to snap back to reality.
"That audio would be great thank you very, very much," Fitz said at the same time Jemma replied with "We will take that audio please", followed by a kind smile.
"Your van's here, as you know, wanna head down and work on it?" Coulson asked.
"I won't be able to encrypt the files from here. The encryption's coupled to the GPS. Get my van back to that alley and then I'm in business" I started heading outside.
"If you knew you were being picked up by a S.H.I.E.L.D. team why link it to the GPS?" Ward had to ask.
I turned around to look at him. "Because, Ward. For whatever reason, and despite my confidence in my skills, someone could have intercepted my video and track me down before you did. It was a failsafe in case something went wrong"
Coulson cut in, trying to end this argument. "Agent May will escort you"
One look at the back and I could tell that May wasn't too keen on spending alone time with me. I knew it had been some time since the last time that I saw her, but she seemed so different so… cold, comparing to my memory of her. And despite me wanting to talk with her, the situation didn't thrill her and I didn't want to bother. "It's okay, I can go on my own"
"It was not a question. Unless it's extremely important I never send one agent alone and this doesn't classify in the category. You and agent May will head to the alley, do your part and then head back here. Understood?" His tone wasn't harsh, he just didn't leave any room for disagreement.
"Yes, sir" I smiled kindly and looked back at May, waiting for her to lead the way to the cargo hold.
May's POV
"Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Skye asked while driving towards the alley. Ever since we started making our way to our destination no one has said a thing and the tension in the room could be cut with a knife.
Just as I had done for the past twenty minutes, I just stared out of the front window. I would love to have something to do with my hands right now, but seeing as Skye was driving I was just sitting in the shotgun seat doing nothing to help me pass the time. "I'm driving on the way back" I broke the new wave of silence that enfolded us
"Nope" She replied taking a sharp turn left while popping the 'p'.
I stared at her, and I knew she knew I was staring at her as my expression said it all. "Wanna try that again?", it was as if I was asking.
"My van, my rules. Plus, I am fairly confident my Clearance Level surpasses yours at the moment, so you really don't have any saying in the matter" we reached the alley and she pulled the handbrake, coming to a full stop.
I immediately stood and went to exit the vehicle from the side door. The reason I would go with her if asked was that this was protocol and since Skye would be working from in here I had to be the one keeping a look out and making sure the area was secure. But I think that Skye knew as well that I just needed my space. I was too overcrowded for one day, first having to drive the two scientists to the field and now this. I knew she wanted to ask and just before I managed to exit her voice stopped me.
"Melinda" she called just as my hand reached the door handle and I stopped my movement. I could tell that she was tired of the whole situation just by the sound of her voice. "Look, I don't mean to push, okay? I haven't seen you in years and today hasn't been the best day for me. I found out that Phil was alive, but he doesn't remember me. I have been beating myself up for the last couple of years hoping that I could have somehow saved him and then I have this blow up in my face. And then, I see you but you are not the same person you were. True, it's been many years since then. Hell, I am not the same person I was back in the day. I just wanted to say that I am sorry. Sorry if for whatever reason I did anything to hurt you, I am sure I didn't mean it. And I will leave you alone from now on. But just so you know, if you need anything all you have to do is find me"
I stood there for a few seconds before grabbing the door handle. "Let's get this over with and head back," I said as I exited and left her to work on her computers. She let out a sigh but didn't ask any more questions.
As I was surveying the area I stole glances of Skye typing codings on her computer and talking at Fitz on the phone at the same time. She had been right. We were different since the last time we met. I knew what had happened to me, a lot of people thought they did but only a trusted few knew the actual story of what occurred in 2008.
The main question in my mind was what had happened to Skye?
I didn't know that she was back in S.H.I.E.L.D. and that had me wondering whether the others knew. They hadn't mentioned anything the last time we spoke. And what was that, that she said, about Phil not remembering her? What was it that occurred those years we were apart that transformed her into the mature person I had in front of me? No more was she the young, reserved girl that I knew, and nowhere in sight was her bubbly side that she had reserved for when she spoke with Natasha, Clint, Phil or myself. And then, she said that she has a higher Clearance Level than me?
From the moment I laid my eyes on her, I could tell that she was tired. But it was not the type of exhaustion that happened because she didn't sleep well at night. No, this tiredness I knew all too well. It was the type that was built inside over time.
"That should do it," she said as she closed her laptop screen.
I nodded at her and decided to at least speak to her. I knew it mustn't have been easy for her to keep quiet for so long. "Let's head back," I said as I stepped closer to the van.
I was just about to climb in when someone fell from the sky and pushed me to the side of the van. I barely managed to turn around and see who it was before he grabbed onto my jacket and, with more strength than he should have, threw me to the wall making me fall to the ground and black out.
When I came to, my head was pounding. I jolted up only to see that the van was nowhere in sight. Cursing I supported myself on the wall I had bounced off before and called Coulson.
"May," he said
"He took Skye," I told him, not even bothering to place the word 'agent' before her name.
He paused on the other end of the line before he continued. "You're all right?"
"We'll deal with that later, at length" I grunted. "Right now we need to figure out where they went and when we do, I need someone to come and pick me up," I said before ending the call.
This didn't make any sense. I knew what Skye could do. Or at least what she used to be able to do, but I highly doubted that she was any less trained than the last time that I saw her, she did become an agent after all. So I was certain that Skye would be okay, and I believed that she could have taken the guy out. Hell, I could have easily done that myself had he not surprised me by almost jumping on my shoulders. So why would she let him take her?
Notes:Did I come up with the title because of the Gotye (feat. Kimbra) song with the same title? Yes, yes I did.
Also, fan fact, this was also one of the titles that I was considering for Book 2 but didn't go with it in the end.
Chapter 5: Union StationNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
One moment May is about to climb in the car to drive us back to the Bus and in the next Mike has jumped on her and thrown her on the wall. Her body fell on the ground with a loud thumb and he was staring down at her, so I had to get his attention. "Mike, what are you doing?"
He turned to look at me, a very unsettling look in his eyes. "I need your help and no one else can know about this. You need to help save us" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I was getting ready to restrain him and bring him in when he finished talking, but something he said grabbed my attention. "Us?"
With that, he reached out and brought a child closer to him. The boy, who I recognised as his son from the pictures I had seen, grunted from his father's forceful grip. Well, shit… I thought as the man helped the child in the van. I was not going to take a father down in front of his child, he didn't need to see that. He didn't need to remember his father that way. "Don't cry, okay? Stay strong for me Ace. What are we?" He asked his son as he climbed in himself.
"We're a team" the boy replied without hesitation.
His answer brought a smile to the father's face, who then slammed the side door of the van closed. "That's right" and then he turned to me and commanded, "Now drive".
And drive I did, until I reached the destination that he had asked me to, Union Station. The sun was just rising by the time we arrived at the train station. Since he and his son wouldn't have been able to board an aeroplane, I guessed they didn't have their passports with them, the train was the best solution to travel.
As soon as I parked the van I grabbed my laptop and started working. First things first, I needed to let Coulson and the others know my location. I was really hoping that May was fine, and if she was half the bad-ass I remember her being, she would have already been up and about, informing the team leader of what was going on. Bypassing security and hacking into the secure channel from the Bus wasn't all that hard, given that I was the one who had updated a major part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cybersecurity. Also, I couldn't just text them where we were, even Mike was smart enough to recognise that, so longitude and latitude would have to suffice.
"Why is this taking so long?" Mike came up front and looked at my computer just as I opened a file with his name.
I had to buy as much time as possible for the others to get there, so even if I could easily erase all of his files a lot faster I was dragging the whole process as much as I dared to. My eyes travelled to the USB stick that I had connected and where all the files were being transferred to. "Look, I can't go any faster, okay? Trust me, it's not like I am deleting a Facebook page. I'm bypassing the license bureau's AES protective data stream and so on and so on. Chill, I will let you know as soon as I am done"
"How do I know you can really do this?" He asked, looking between me and the screen where his files were being deleted, one after the other.
I side looked at him, before resuming typing. "I've done it before…" my mind travelled to all the times I had to start over before I got back into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar after leaving the agency, "…more times than I would like count", I whispered the last part as Mike returned to his son in the back of the van.
Having extended my vibration mind map to the surrounding area I knew two things for certain. One was that the whole station was crowded with people who didn't know what was about to go down. And the second one was that the vehicles which were parked only a few feet away and people who were closing in were not just civilians, but agents. And so I braced myself for what was going to happen.
"Mr. Peterson, good morning" Coulson's voice came through a speaker. "We are not a threat. We are here to help" at that Mike started looking around trying to find an exit. "But you are in danger and we need to take you in"
"What did you do?!" He yelled at me, as his face flared red at some point.
What in the world is going on… I thought. I knew that Centipede was trying to make super soldiers, but it looks like whatever they gave Mike wasn't stable.
He glared at me, then at the door and he grabbed my upper arm while he punched the van's door with the other, sending it flying over the agents who barely managed to duck out of the way. Ace was lifted off the vehicle and on the street as his father took him by the hand and lead the way towards the station.
The place was so crowded we bumped into a lot of people when we walked in. I had to wait for Coulson to come. My eyes scanned the area and I spotted a group of Mexicans who seemed just like the kind of people I was looking for. With no hesitation in the least, I pushed towards them and kicked one hard in the balls. "You're right" I yelled at the top of my lugs. "He is a little bitch!"
The others of the group didn't hesitate to attack Mike who let go of his son and myself as he took on the other four people.
"Ace, Ace, come here," I said to the boy and led him towards the exit, where I was hoping for Coulson to appear and he didn't fail to deliver. Ward passed us without sparing a glance as he ran towards Mike who was looking around for his boy, after having finished with his brawl. "Take him and tell the cops not to shoot," I said to Coulson and I turned around, heading to the stairs, hoping to get to a higher ground.
"Agent!" Coulson yelled back at me but I didn't stop, only slowed down a bit and it was enough for him to continue. "He is not stable. FitzSimmons are working on a solution but we need as much time as we can get".
At that, I nodded and headed to the door which led to the stairs only to find it locked. "You have to be fucking kidding me!" I yelled to no one in particular as the exit remained locked even after kicking it with all my strength. Looking to the chaos that was prevailing all around I made a split decision that no one would pay any attention to me and I lift my hand, ready to shake the lock apart only for Mike to drop off the sky and land right next to me.
"Where is my son, Jane?" He asked, not so politely, and before I even had the chance of thinking of an answer a gunshot was heard and the bullet missed Mike's head by a thread. The hooded hero in turn kicked the door open and pushed me through as we climbed on the stairs, but I did manage to see the face of the person who shot us even if that was really briefly.
By the time we reached the upper floor, I was sure that there was a really nasty bruise on my bicep, with the form of Mike's hand. "Mike, just stop! You gotta stop!" I told him. "These people are trying to help you, I am trying to help you"
He looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "You work with the government?" The disbelief was clear in his voice. Then this disbelief turned into anger as he closed in on me. "Where did you take my son?"
"Listen to me," I told him, having raised my hands so that he saw I was not a threat. I was slowly walking backwards, towards the edge of the floor so that if Ward or Coulson were down we would be more easily spotted. "Agent Coulson has your son, okay? He is one of the good guys and I am sure that he has made sure Ace is fine" He walked with me close to the rearing.
I got a glimpse of an officer walking carefully towards us. The moment my eyes landed on his face I knew it was the same guy who tried to shot at Mike before, and I would bet my life that he wasn't a real policeman. He lifted his gun and aimed it at us and I made a really quick decision, hoping to be the right one. Mike had stuff in his system, stuff that was an experiment trying to make him a super-soldier. And if my brief encounter with Captain at the Battle of New York was any indication, then what I was about to do wasn't going to kill the guy, because I really didn't want him to die.
The moment the bullet left the man's gun, I had pushed Mike out of the way, using a few of my vibrations for an extra push, and he was falling. The second thing that I had done was protect my upper body and head with a vibration shield. It was just like the one that I had used in the Battle of New York to protect Natasha and Clint at the beginning of the battle, only this one was a lot closer to my body, thinner and barely seen with the naked eye unless you knew what you were looking for. And, boy was I glad that I used my powers at that moment.
My body jerked and I fell to the ground, as pain flared in my right shoulder area where the bullet was deflected. I was momentarily stunned from what happened that I didn't get right back up, or tried to find cover.
Thankfully I didn't need to.
Because as soon as I lifted my head to see what's happening and as the guy was refilling his gun with a sickening smile on his face, May came out from behind him and kicked him in the back of his knee, making him fall to the ground and then with a round hound kick at the base of his neck, he was knocked out. Just like that. Just as I had guessed, she was no less of a bad-ass than from what I remembered.
My left hand was gripping my injured shoulder and by the time I made a move to stand May was by my side and helping me up. "Let me see," she said but I brushed her off.
"We need to go down there" I replied and made a move to pass her but she was having none of it.
She pushed me back, right on the shoulder as I hissed in pain, not having expected her to do that. "We are not going anywhere until I take a look at that shoulder" her voice left no room for disagreement. "Coulson and Ward have the situation under control, now stop being brave and let me see" she waited with her arms folded at her chest.
"There is nothing to see," I said as I lifted my hand to reveal an extremely bruised shoulder. I couldn't risk making the shield thicker so that the enemy wouldn't see it so I was left with this collection of blue and black lines extending from my shoulder to my collarbone. But I was not complaining in the least, this pain was so much better than being potentially shot in the shoulder. A gunshot there can be from fatal to crippling and in need of immediate medical attention.
May, who had the same non-expressive mask since the moment I saw her, examined the wound, her hands pressing slightly at the bruises as she watched me carefully to assess the situation. But now that I knew what she was doing it was easier to conceal my pain, I was partially trained by Natasha Romanoff after all. "You are not wearing a bulletproof jacket" was all she said, as she lifted an eyebrow.
"I was lucky. Something must have intercepted the bullet's course and slowed it down"
It didn't sound convincing even to my own ears, and she stared at me hard. I stared back at her just as hard. Years ago I would be very intimidated by that look on her face, but things have changed and I could hold my ground against her. Based on Maria the team was completely unaware of my powers. Well, this was not completely true, given that Jemma was there, but this did apply to the others. Maria promised to explain everything, and until that time comes I will be as normal as I could possibly be.
My thoughts were interrupted as the sound of a gunshot echoed through the station and I sharply turned to see Mike on the ground and Jemma rushing to him. I lifted my head and spotted Ward and Fitz on the other side of this upper floor and my best guess was that they must have solved the problem of the stability of the super-soldier serum. Or at least find a temporary solution to it.
I looked back at May. "Should we join the others?"
Without as much as a look, she turned around and all I could do was follow her as she headed to where Coulson and Jemma were. By the time we reached them, the other two members of the team had joined them.
"Skye, what happened?" Jemma rushed to my side as soon as she saw that I was holding my shoulder. She pried my hand away and looked at me in shock. "How did you manage to get bruised like that?"
Then I looked at her. Pointedly.
Despite her not being my doctor for the last couple of years, I was really hoping that she would understand what I was trying to tell her. When she seemed unable to decipher my look, my eyes briefly travelled to the other members of the team and then back at her, shaking my head oh so slightly.
"She said that when the guy shot her something changed the trajectory of the bullet and slowed it down, only leaving a bruise" May interrupted when I didn't reply and I could feel four sets of questioning eyes turning my way.
"That's some luck" was Ward's input to the conversation as he half-closed his eyes in suspicion.
"It really is, Ward," I said with a fake smile on my face.
"I really can't believe that Skye. The chances of something like–" Jemma's rambling was interrupted with me sending a small vibrational wave her way to try and make her understand. She finally, finally, seemed to grasp what I was trying to tell her before and she gaped. "Yeah, the chances are really low. I am really happy though that this was the case, otherwise you would have been in big trouble". She turned to Coulson after that. "Sir, if it's okay with you I would like to make sure that Skye's shoulder is fine, would it be okay if I further examined her in the Bus?"
"Of course" he replied though he was still looking at me with suspicion. "Agent Skye was working with us on this case so we need to debrief her as well. I will drive the two of you while Ward, May and Fitz will take the other car".
Something told me that the small trust that I had earned from Coulson a few hours ago had just gone out of the window and we were back at square one.
Notes:I think generally Skye and bullets don't have the best relationship. Not on the show and definitely not here.