Hello! I said I would post this before the last episode but I just couldn't find the time. Let's say this is a prequel for T.R.A.C.K.S so, if you haven't seen that episode yet, this won't ruin it for you. Also, this is a sequel to my other two Skyward stories: "Protective" and "A bottle and a friend". I'm proud of this, I think it fits so well with the show and I also loved the last episode. Can't believe we have to wait another month… and with that… event that happened (don't want to spoil it).
Anyway, I highly recommend my other stories, I mean… If you have want, if you have the time. It's not completely necessary to read what happened before, but it help to enjoy this one. The other are really short, come on… you can do it!
I don't own any of this amazing characters.
LATER
FitzSimmons were in the lab, arguing about chemical compounds and some sort of device. Skye walked in quietly.
"It's very easy to create a syringe, Fitz. It's not easy to determine the concentration of the serum at this scale-"
"It's not a syringe! How dare you. This is a complex device that-"
"Guys!"
"It could be too lethal, or—" Jemma replied.
"Hey guys!.. Fitz!"
"What?" The engineer turned to Skye.
"What are you doing?" She asked with a hint of mischief in her voice.
They both started talking at the same time, yelling at each other and trying to explain the process. Skye fought a laugh. Her friends still arguing about which part of the process was more difficult or important until Agent May's interrupted their banter with an announcement.
"Setting course to The Hub. Lock it or loose it" They all heard on the speakers.
"Oh dear, I can't go back there" Simmons said a little worried.
"Why? You love The Hub" Fitz replied a little concerned.
"If it's because you like shooting agents don't worry about that. Agent Claw blame that one on me"
"Agent Claw?" The scientists asked at the same time.
"Yeah… like in Hand, but terrifying. See what I did there?... No?" Skye's smile faded when Fitz and Simmons just frowned at her bad joke. "Whatever" She rolled her eyes "They don't have wanted posters all over the place with your picture. Relax" She said to Simmons.
"But what would I do if I see Agent Sitwell, I can't look at him!" The agentstarted panicking.
"You can shoot him" Fitz mocked and Simmons smacked his bicep with her hand, making Skye laugh. She didn't notice when Grant entered to the lab and stood behind her so, when he spoke she almost jumped out of her seat.
"We'll be a few days….oww…you ok?" Ward said when Skye looked at him like if he was a ghost.
"Eh… yeah. A few days what?" She swallowed and avoided eye contact. Why? She wasn't a… shy person, or the kind of girl who could get all awkward because of a stupid kiss. She blinked a few times and concluded that she wanted to get out of that confined place.
"At The Hub" He finished "HQ is going to put a big operation on The Clairvoyant before he or… it…. can create new soldiers. We'll get our new mission in there, Agent Sitwell-"
"Oh dear" Simmons sighed and started walking out of the room "I don't want to hear it"
"Hey, wait!" Skye followed her, taking the opportunity to leave the room too. "I kind of need to talk to you"
"Oh, please, Skye, if you want to keep mocking me about that… incident, I'm just glad that they blame it on you. I would have never-"
"Hey! stop… unraveling. Geez. It's not about that, but thank you for being such a good friend, by the way" She sighed "I wanna talk about something important. I mean, whatever it's not important" Skye tried to explain while they were walking upstairs.
"Is it important or not?"
"It's just this stupid thing" She looked around to see if there was someone near them "Come on" taking Simmons' hand, they walked towards Skye's bunk.
"Can you please stop being so mysterious?" The scientist stood in the middle of the tiny room.
"I kissed Ward" Skye let out, making her friend's jaw drop as she sat in the bed. "I mean, he kissed… We kissed. It's not a big deal but It feels kind of awkward, I mean-"
Simmons interrupted her speech "Finally!" She said with bright eyes and a big smile.
Skye frowned, looking frustrated "What do you mean 'Finally'?" She faked a British accent with the last word.
"Because you two look adorable together!" Jemma added, still smiling.
"A kitten massaging another kitten is adorable. We look like nothing because it's just wrong… And I'm a person, and he's a robot, and it's just… eww!" Skye grimaced with disgust and Simmons looked disappointed.
"Really? Was it that bad?"
Skye, opened her mouth, trying to find the appropriate word, then she closed it and then opened it again "I wouldn't say… bad" She said while avoiding Jemma's curious eyes. "The… quality of the kiss is not the point. I just don't want to mess this, already very complicated situation, up" She sighed.
"But why is it so complicated? You're clearly interested enough to make such a big deal about something that you said yourself it's not a big deal"
"Stupid genius" Skye muttered and then spoke again quickly "It's so complicated because we're all friends, and we are people living in a freaking plane, and he's my S.O. and I have to deal with a lot of crazy things about me that I don't even understand and the last thing I need is May kicking the crap out of me"
Simmons frowned "Wait, why would May…. Ohhhh!" Her eyes were wide open and her jaw dropped again. By that time, Skye realized that she had said too much. She bit her tongue and closed one eye while Jemma was just shocked. "OH… MY…!"
"No, no! Simmons! Shhhh! Forget what I said!"
"This is a crazy place. Now I want to go to The Hub"
"You know what? Forget that this conversation ever took place. And don't tell anyone!" Skye said while rubbing her eyes.
"But you need advice!"
"I don't need…." Skye sighed, "I'll just… go" She looked down and opened the door but then almost crashed against a wall of muscles.
"Do you want to play a game?" Grant said when Skye jumped a step back.
"Damn it, Ward! You gotta stop doing that!" Now she was mad, even more when she didn't need to be facing Simmons to feel her incriminatory look behind her.
"I'm going to leave you guys alone" the scientist smiled and walked closer to them "You know, to play your game" She continued walking backwards with a suggestive (and creepy) smile until she walked downstairs. Grant frowned and looked at his rookie, who covered her face with her palm.
"What the hell was that?"
She faced him "I have no idea" She pouted and shook her head. "A game you said?"
"Yeah, I know a very fun one" He said with arms crossed and blocking her way out of the bunk. Skye took her time to appreciate the way his t-shirt tightened against his muscles in that position. "It's called training" He added, sounding very serious.
"Oh god" She breathed out. "It's like 11:00 am"
"Yeah, but you didn't show up this morning. Were you trying to avoid me, rookie?" He teased, catching her by surprise, because it was the robot… teasing with an evil smile on his face. Simmons was right, that plane was a crazy place.
"Of course not. I just didn't feel like training" She looked down.
"And that's why you should train" He said in a lower voice "Come on. You and I still have a lot of things to talk about, and I bet you'll find punching stuff a great therapy"
She smiled, the awkwardness suddenly gone. His voice sounded reassuring, and even if she was, somehow, trying to distract herself with other issues the pain about Coulson's revelation was still there. "Let me punch you and I would call that a therapy" Skye mocked, trying to enlighten the mood.
He waited for her to change and then they walked downstairs. FitzSimmons were back on whatever they were doing in the Lab. Ward checked the bandages that were wrapping her hands, as usual. This time, there was a hint of a smile n his face. He kind of enjoyed her contact and to be honest, he also enjoyed the kiss.
Skye noticed that there was no punching bad, just him. "So, Are we really going to fight?"
"If you think that you can take me down, rookie" He teased while the hacker just glared at him. She was assessing the situation… Grant was a really big guy. Suddenly he stepped forward, making her jump back and protect her face with her arms.
"No, no, no, no! slow down!"
"Come on, you can do it" He pulled her arms down and help her to get in a fighting position. "Your enemies won't stop if you beg him mercy, Skye. Focus on my movements" He approached her again, slower, and she was able to avoid his fist. "See?
Skye nodded. After a few months she had to admit that her S.O. had managed to teach her a lot. In no time she was throwing punches at him too, even if she couldn't hit him once.
"That's nice. Keep your guard up"
They continued and she was kind of proud of herself. After her first encounter with Ian Quinn she decided to become something more than just a hacker, or as her S.O. said, commit to the grater good. She wasn't sure if all the suits were that… heroic, but at least her team was and maybe all the agents who died trying to protect her, they all thought that she was worth it, and she was going to prove it, starting by finding Quinn and The Clairvoyant, specially because they made it personal when they took Coulson. Almost without noticing it, her fist landed on Ward's right cheek.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" She rushed towards him to inspect his face.
The agent was proud of her too, maybe not the part when she apologized but she was getting really good. "Maybe we should just talk" he said with a hint of a smile.
"You sure? Because it's really creepy stuff" Skye looked down "I know you're my bro and all but…" She finally returned his gaze, with a sad expression on her face. Grant placed a hand on her shoulder. He was about to talk when May chose that exact moment to appear.
"Care if I join?" She asked both of them already wearing her training outfit. Skye, again off her guard, took a step back almost instinctively. She thought about the kiss again and then the picture of May kicking her ass appeared in her mind for some reason.
"Of course not" Skye forced a smile. "In fact I think that there's gonna be just the two of you because I… have just remembered that I need to talk to Coulson…. About Quinn?... We're really busy with that" She was talking little steps in the direction of the stairs during her speech. Ward frowned.
"I thought we were going to talk" Her S.O. said calmly, but her body kind of froze. She looked at May, the agent didn't even seem to be paying attention, but still, for some reason, she was panicking.
"Yeah… later. I promise. Don't worry. You're still my bro… like, a big brother… annoying and… " She faked a laugh "and… I'll just go." Skye turned, closed her eyes and clenched her teeth while she jumped two or three steps at the time.
"What was that?" May asked a little confused.
The specialist cleared his throat "Uhm… just Skye being Skye. I guess that's better than seeing her sad and quiet"
May showed a fight position and Ward did the same "I could just tell you… if you want to know…" She could guess it was all about Skye's secret.
"We'll talk later" Then he tried to change the subject "Are we still keeping our little bet?" He gave her a suggestive smirk.
"You'll have to hit me first, Agent Ward" May teased, with an expression that almost looked like a challenge.
And the Agent obeyed, trying to take her down immediately.
"Damn it, Skye, you're really making a big deal out of it. Just stop it… you have more important thi-" She was walking at a rapid pace and too distracted to notice Coulson walking towards her and, of course, she crashed against him "Woaa!"
"Why are you talking to yourself?"
"It's a memory exercise" She pulled a straight-lipped smile.
"Interesting" Coulson replied with that tone of his. "I need to talk to you, it's about Quinn"
"Oh, really?… guess I have super powers after all" She muttered while lifting and eyebrow, then her expression faded.
"Skye!" Coulson pulled her back from her thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"It really helps to keep the mind busy, trust me. And I'm getting the feeling that you'll enjoy to catch this guy"
She smiled "Let's get his billionaire ass" She smirked.
A few days later, they had a their target. The plane was back on the air and Ward just staring in silence while a very serious Skye talked to Coulson about a purchase made by a technology company. Their boss seemed pleased, he gave new orders and the young recruit walked away with her laptop, again, just like she did for the past few days every time he wanted to talk.
"Hey! Agent Ward" Coulson said for the third time.
"Yes, sir?" He finally looked at his superior.
"I'm going to have a little talk with the Italian police. I need you to set a covert op" Grant received a folder from his superior.
"Understood" The agent nodded. When Coulson was about to leave the agent spoke again "Is Skye still busy, sir?"
"Yeah. She found our guy… kind of" Coulson caught a disappointed look on Ward's eyes "I thought you would be proud"
"I am, sir. I just wanted to make sure she was ok. We were going to talk about something"
Coulson didn't say anything.
Grant sighed "Well, I have work to do" He could talk to Skye later.