Hey everyone! I'm baaack! And I know you all are expecting the new chapters of "First Times" and I promise they'll be uploaded soon, hopefully by this weekend, but in the meantime I thought I should share my prompt fics from the Coulson/Skye tumblr fest over here! I managed to write only 3 fics so I'll be posting them every day! Without further delay, here's Day 1: Undercover! ^_^
A/N: I should point out that even though I brought Daniel Quinn again into this story, it is different than the chapter from "First Times" cause like the summary says, its about Skye going undercover alone! ;)
"Are you ready for this?" Coulson's calm voice sounded reassuring as he watched Skye wear the tiny microphone attached to her earrings patiently, knowing that he was trying to make sure that he was ready for this as well.
"Of course I am A.C. Why wouldn't I be? After all the training I've been through, everything's going to be fine!" Skye replied back with her ever-so famous smile as she finished prepping for the mission. "I know it's my first time undercover alone and normally I wouldn't be expecting this; but since we're talking a simple recon then I'm ready." She added as an afterthought knowing that Coulson was just checking to see if she was okay.
"You're right. Yes, it is a simple recon mission." He nodded, wondering to himself if there was more than just his concern for sending her out into the field alone. "May, are the comms set up?" Coulson turned around from the driver's seat of the van to glance behind and saw Agent May finalizing the last checks of their communications.
"We're good to go." May confirmed as soon as she finished tapping some keys on the computer Skye had set up for them.
"Wish me luck guys. I'll see you in an hour." Grabbing her handbag from the dashboard next to Coulson, Skye knew it was time to slip into her role and finish the job quickly and smoothly.
Before either one of the agents could say anything else, she was out the van and heading up the street towards one of Los Angeles' 5 star hotels - Ritz Carlton. Skye fidgeted with the straps of her heels for a moment on the sidewalk; if there was one thing she didn't enjoy about dressing up while going undercover was the fact that not only did she have to wear a peach bandage dress but 5 inch high heels to match as well. Groaning inwardly as she finally neared her destination, Skye swore that she would kick off the shoes as soon as she got the chance. Which probably wouldn't be until she finished her mission and got back to the van safely.
"Focus, Skye, focus." She repeated to herself softly before remembering that Coulson was probably listening to her at this very moment and abruptly stopped talking.
It was easy to forget that while both the agents inside the van could hear everything around her, the microphone they had borrowed from FitzSimmons was not a two-way device. Knowing this meant a tiny set-back, Skye insisted that the mission go on as planned since this was their one chance at getting access to sensitive information which S.H.I.E.L.D. deemed to be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands and since she was the only person who fit the profile apart from Simmons, there was no time to lose.
"I've reached the hotel." Skye whispered softly as she entered the lobby and shifted the sunglasses she was wearing to rest on her head, knowing that the camera embedded inside was already running diagnostics of the entire hotel. "Heading towards the ballroom now." She did feel her heart beats rising a little as she mingled with the crowd easily, knowing that the main part of her mission lay behind the double-doors at the far end of a very large corridor.
Sensing a few people staring at her, Skye chose to keep her head held up high and let the confidence show as she passed everyone in her path; it wasn't hard for them to realize where she was walking towards and once they saw her reach the doors to a particular ballroom, they went back to their own things. A quick I.D check from the bodyguard stationed outside was the only 'security' that she encountered and once her fake identity was greenlit, the doors opened for Skye and she was finally in.
"Piece of cake." Smiling brightly to keep up the appearances, Skye found herself sucked into a different world almost instantly.
The moment she had stepped foot inside what was usually a private and secret ballroom, Skye observed many things in those few seconds where she stood in one place - there were dozens and dozens of other girls in the room with her, all dressed similarly, flirting seductively with plenty of older men who ranged from rich to richer to richest everywhere she turned. This was the high-class escort service headquarters she had just infiltrated.
"Ah! Ma belle cherie! You are here, welcome, welcome!" A heavily accented Frenchman appeared out of nowhere in front of Skye and kissed the top of her hand. "Please, make yourself comfortable. You look gorgeous! He is waiting for you. Come!" The frenchman led her to a private booth located near the bar where the man behind this entire business sat, working on his phone while surrounded by two of his regular girls. When he saw Skye standing there, he turned to her.
"Ms. Bennet, so good of you to join us tonight. Allow me to introduce myself, Daniel Quinn at your service." The man was none other than Ian Quinn's younger brother and another enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Please, call me Chloe. How may I be of service to you?" Turning on the flirting to a high degree, Skye immediately sat down across from Quinn Jr. and waited for his next move.
"Well... as Jacques has informed me, you are one of our newest recruits. Normally we don't sign on anyone unless they've been vetted and adhered to our requirements. You my dear, are quite exemplary if I may say; but now I must be blunt with you. It seems that one of my girls has found herself tangled up in some personal mess or the other tonight and that means I'm one escort short. I know you weren't expecting to be working on the first day of your new job but surely it won't be a problem?" Daniel presented his problem to her, watching to see the reaction on her face.
If Skye was taken aback by the sudden revelation of what Daniel Quinn was asking of her, she didn't let it show. This was a very big problem, completely unexpected and out of the blue. She had not planned on having to actually go through with the cover for several hours! Her mission was only to scope out the area and check to see what was important so that when the team moved in, they'd have eyes and ears all over the place. For a moment, Skye wondered what was going on back in the van. Surely Coulson and May had heard his proposition and were thinking of pulling her out; she couldn't let that happen, the situation she'd been placed in was tricky but maybe it would also provide an even bigger opportunity to fulfill the greater overall mission tonight itself.
"No, that won't be a problem at all Mr. Quinn." Skye knew this was a big risk and going against protocol was probably not the best idea but if her idea worked then maybe she'd be able to retrieve all the information that they needed before the night was up. "What is it exactly that you need me to do?" She asked, leaning forward on the table, knowing he had to be distracted and by focusing on the cleavage her dress showed, it worked to her advantage when Quinn made a mistake.
"Take the key to our personal and private Presidential Suite from Jacques here and find yourself someone in need of company tonight." Quinn ordered her but from the pause in his voice, Skye sensed that there was more to come. "Listen carefully to what I'm about to say next because it is imperative to our operations here and part of your contract that you signed; each of these men here are very important people and most often than not, they come here with a little something important, a pen drive or a file or memory card. What I need you to do is get hold of an important piece of information and bring it straight here at midnight. After that, we'll talk about the next part in our services. Understood?" Explaining the basics of what he needed Skye to do, Quinn immediately dismissed her and resumed his work.
Skye followed Jacques back to the center of the ballroom, processing everything she had just learned; the methods of how Daniel Quinn was managing to steal information from these businessmen by using these escort girls as a distraction seemed a little incredulous and over-the-top to her but if they had all learned anything about Quinn Jr. it was that he enjoyed mixing pleasure with work. Realizing that she needed a chance to explain her idea to Coulson and May, Skye dodged a handful of 'suitors' who had finally caught sight of her and made for the bar which was surprisingly less crowded.
"I know you guys are still listening and if I can just explain myself, I think I have a way to make this work in our favor." It was a little dangerous to be talking to herself out in the open but Skye took the chance.
However, before she could say another word, Skye sensed another presence nearby and swung around in her seat, hoping to just shoo whatever grey-haired, pot-bellied man tried to touch her without causing a scene but stopped herself when she saw the person standing there.
"Hey there, can I buy you a drink?" It was Coulson. He was here. Inside the ballroom with Skye. And dressed a little differently than what she remembered from... before. How long ago had it been since she last saw him?
"Coulson! What are you doing here?" Skye hissed as he sat down on the bar-stool next to her trying to focus her thoughts and not let them stray elsewhere.
The task to not notice that Coulson had changed out of his suit jacket to something more casual proved to be a little hard, he was dressed in a black leather jacket that seemed to match his white shirt which was slightly unbuttoned and his tie slightly loosened. A few seconds later she realized that he blended in perfectly with the other men surrounding them.
"Helping you of course. We couldn't let your cover get blown and endanger your safety." Signalling to the bartender for drinks, Coulson turned to face her, "And judging from what I overheard you saying, there's a plan to turn this situation around?" He didn't let on that the moment he'd heard Daniel Quinn ordering Skye to 'pick up' some random man to seduce while stealing critical information, Coulson had practically left May alone in the van without saying a word as he slipped inside to make sure that if she needed a partner, he would go through with whatever ingenious idea forming in her mind.
"Oh. Okay then." Skye suddenly felt this wave of relief flooding her as she realized that without even knowing it, she really hadn't thought about what exactly she would do if one of these men tried to get her alone in a room. "The plan might sound a little easy to you and Agent May, who is still listening right?" One nod from Coulson told her to continue, "Basically, we have the key to unlocking every secret that Quinn Jr. has in his possession. The key I took from Jacques is for the Presidential Suite but I also managed to get a hold of the personal suite key from Daniel Quinn himself; when we were sitting at the table, all the cards from his wallet happened to be on full-display so I snatched it when he wasn't looking." A twinkle in her eyes showed Coulson that she was being completely serious.
"Wait, are you telling me that you have access to Daniel Quinn's room on you Skye?" He couldn't believe her words, it was good luck and her clever thinking that made this great news already.
"I do. This means that we can get inside the room and find all the files that he's been stealing from all these... men here and also everything else he's involved in right now. All we need is a pen drive of our own to store the information." Skye explained, sounding quite pleased with herself.
"You know what, this might actually work." Just as he started to say those words, Coulson remembered a key point from Quinn's orders to Skye and realized they probably didn't have everything thought of. "What about the information you have to deliver to Quinn at midnight?" Without that, Skye was still in danger of being discovered.
"That's where Agent May comes in. And FitzSimmons actually. We need to get another pen drive from them delivered to us before midnight which will be filled with false information about Coulson's fake identity and make a switch; Quinn's files for this one. It can work. Although, I guess that would mean we actually have to find FitzSimmons first." As she finished speaking, Skye remembered that both Fitz and Simmons were on another mission with Trip halfway across the city possibly.
"Leave that to me." Coulson replied as he bent down to Skye's ear and whispered into the microphone earring she was wearing, "May, I need you to contact Agent Triplett from the Bus and get to them before midnight." For a moment, Skye didn't even register what was going on, all she could think of was how close Coulson was to her, his warm breath tickling one ear and feeling his hand on her waist just before he pulled back.
Without thinking twice, Skye reached out to take a hold of that very same hand and bring it to her waist again. Standing up from her chair, she closed the distance between them, knowing it was something she needed to do. And maybe even wanted to do.
"Skye..." Her name barely left his lips before Coulson felt her finger on them, stopping him from saying anything else.
"Relax A.C. We have to flirt a little if Jacques has to see me taking someone up to the suite in a few minutes. Otherwise both our cover's will be blown." Skye didn't even know she could sound so sensual when it was needed but she could see the effect it was having on Coulson.
"I don't think this is enough." Once Skye let him speak again, Coulson surprised her by following through without another word.
"Oh really? What do you suggest then?" Deciding that if he was going to be like this, Skye wasn't about to let Coulson take all the credit for being a good undercover agent.
She started to play with his tie wondering what exactly he had in mind because if she hadn't known that he was up to something, Skye might have reacted with a louder gasp when Coulson pulled her down to his lap without warning and gave her a grin. There was more to his plan though; the bartender had left two tall glasses of strawberry champagne on the counter next to them and with one very knowing look, Coulson glanced at the glass first and back to Skye. It was a bold move but they could hear Jacques voice getting closer and he needed to up the ante a little. Without hesitating, Skye fished a strawberry out and took a bite before bringing it to his lips, watching as he held onto her wrist letting her feed the berry to him. In that second, both of them felt the cover of an escort and her suitor slip a little, revealing Skye and Coulson to each other once again. They were so close now that both their heartbeats seemed like the only thing that could be heard, but there was more to it; when she found his eyes and stared into them, she felt as if she saw something hidden there... a hidden desire perhaps? Her own feelings were no secret to herself; she had been harboring a minor crush on her boss since the day he met her, but now she couldn't help but think maybe it wasn't as simple as minor anymore. She also knew, somewhere in the back of her mind that they were still on a mission and it was entirely possible that Coulson was very good at his role.
"Why don't we see where that key takes us?" Coulson's soft voice broke through Skye's chain of thoughts. That and the fact that he was now tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and continuing to gaze at her in a way she'd never seen before. Their drinks were long forgotten and Jacques was nowhere near them but if they even remembered where they were, neither let on to that fact.
He was also in deep thought about the woman sitting on his lap just then; it had occurred to Coulson as soon as he ran out of the van to come and 'help' Skye before anything happened to her that maybe he was not acting as he normally would have. If there was anyone else instead of Skye, he still would have stepped in, but... maybe he wouldn't feel as if the line between being undercover and his own self was starting to blur. It was hard to figure out but whenever Coulson was around Skye, she just seemed to make him smile more often, encourage her out-of-the-box ideas, question everything they came across, but also teach him new things, discover aspects of himself he never remembered were part of him already and want to find ways to be a better agent, a better man, a better person. For himself... and for her?
Without saying anything else, Coulson and Skye found themselves back to reality and knew they had work to do which took precedence over themselves. Draping his arm around her shoulders, Coulson led her to the elevators, making sure to pass Jacques as they did and knew her cover was safe when he started whispering and making Skye giggle. Even in the elevator, which was most likely filming everything on a camera, the two of them didn't let go of each other but rather after a quick silent question for permission, Coulson kissed Skye on the cheek before moving to her neck and began to leave tiny pecks down to her shoulder. When the elevator reached their floor, Skye led him straight to the Presidential Suite which was coincidentally connected to Quinn's room and since only the corridor was filled with more cameras, they were safe once the door shut behind them.
"A.C. We need to talk." Skye breathed once they were safe away from being monitored by Jacques. She couldn't let this go; whatever she was feeling right now, it wasn't just the adrenaline of an undercover mission, it was bringing up something much more real and she needed to know if he felt the same way too.
"I know. Let's get started with what we came here for first. Then, we'll talk." Not letting go of her hand, Coulson gave her a small smile, before walking with her across the suite and to the doors which would get them to Quinn's suite from inside.
It took them only a couple of minutes to examine the entire bedroom which was identical to theirs before Skye found the laptop hooked up out in the study. By the time Coulson joined her side, she had already started it up and was running several programs simultaneously to make sure that all the necssary files were being transferred to their memory card. Once it was underway, for the next two hours, they returned back to their room. When Coulson went to change into something 'more comfortable' to keep up appearances, Skye decided to order for several fancy items of the menu so that no one would suspect anything else other than an escort doing her job right. She had already thrown off the heels as soon as she entered the room and changed into a hotel embroidered robe by the time Coulson came back and sat down on the bed next to her.
"This is nice." Skye mused out loud, knowing that no matter the circumstances and everything else that came with the package of being undercover, it was good to have Coulson with her, even if it was intended to be a solo mission.
"What is?" Curious to what Skye had to say, he looked over to her and saw the beautiful woman he worked with every single day, staring at the view from their window, admiring at the paintings on the walls and yet, to him, it was as if he could only see her. It was a new feeling but not unknown. Coulson had always cared about Skye very deeply but this was different.
"Being able to relax while on a top secret undercover mission." She explained and giggled at her own statement. Skye was aware that Coulson was watching her and felt a blush creeping up her neck, the same place he had been kissing her only minutes ago. Should she say something now? Be the first to bring up the question? What exactly was it that she wanted to ask?
Almost as if reading her mind, Coulson moved closer to Skye and touched her cheek and then moved to her ear as he gently removed both the earrings and kept them aside. Whatever they talked about next was something he wanted it to be private. His thoughts may have been conflicted earlier when he had flirted with her at the bar, all sense of logic disappeared the second he had kissed her cheek in the elevator and then some; but now that they were here, in this room together, alone, it was time to talk. Whatever he felt for Skye, Coulson was not about to take advantage of the situation that being undercover provided.
"Why did you come in to save me A.C.?" Skye whispered as she finally dared to break the silence that hung around them; it was not uncomfortable at all but rather made her feel safe enough to know that they could talk freely.
"I... honestly, I don't know." Coulson sighed as he thought about it, the decision had been made in a split-second and maybe he could say that his plan was to just give Skye someone to work with and keep the mission safely on track. "When I heard Quinn telling you to spend the night with one of those men downstairs... I didn't really know what you were going to do and I thought... that if you had a partner who could help you get through this then we'd be able to figure out our next move together." It was the truth for it had been his first thought back in the van.
"Well now that you mention it, I had no idea about what I was going to do if you hadn't come to my rescue really." Skye said to him honestly, "Maybe I would have picked up the first guy I saw, brought him up here and knocked him unconscious until midnight?" She debated out loud, thinking there was possibly several problems with the idea.
Hearing her suggestion made Coulson chuckle as he knew that Skye was being as serious as she could get when it came to dealing with a crisis not unlike the one they'd found themselves in; what was initially supposed to be a solo recon mission had suddenly changed into a duo 'spend the night together' mission. Maybe it was the hastiness and unexpectedness of the change which had inevitably led to him also understanding that it was very likely he did have some feelings for Skye.
"You never cease to amaze me with your ideas you know that? I'm being serious here. Skye, you are truly a remarkable woman and..." He paused for a second there, wondering how to phrase his next words to her; whatever this was between them, the last thing he wanted was to rush into something when they still were on a mission.
"And...?" Hearing the tone of his voice, Skye instantly perked up and wondered where this conversation was going.
"I think we both need to take this slow... whatever happened downstairs... I don't regret any of it and I wasn't completely acting, but... I want to know that both of us are sure of what we're getting into." Coulson hoped that Skye wouldn't see this as him not wanting to see this through, the question was figuring outwhat exactly this was first.
"Okay. You're right A.C. We don't have to do anything else tonight; maybe it would be better if we took our time and by going slow we'll be able to find all the answers together." Skye understood where he was going with this and she was just glad to know that her feelings were not one-sided at all.
"That sounds like another good idea of yours." He felt enamored by her as cliche as that sounded but there was no other way for Coulson to explain how he was feeling with her by his side.
"In the meantime... we still have a few hours to kill right? Why not spend it by relaxing and just taking a breather from everything? Have you ever been inside a hotel like this before?" That twinkle in her eyes from earlier had returned and Coulson knew there was definitely something exciting on her mind, something that he was curious to learn about.
"Have you?" He asked her, wondering where she was taking this.
"Yeah, a few. Don't ask me the details on that... now. I'll get to that later... but, seeing as we have very limited options since we're confined to this suite, I was thinking of showing you what secrets this room may hold." Skye gushed as memories from her past life returned and the idea of sharing them with Coulson made it feel special.
"By all means, I'm listening." Intrigued to see what Skye had thought of, Coulson focused his attention solely on her and watched as a new side of the woman he had known for almost a year now revealed itself in front of his eyes.
Seeing that he was all ears, Skye instantly felt her old self coming to the surface; as a young teenager she had spent many a nights sneaking her way into hotels whenever she found herself in a new city and every time she always discovered something new. And so, for the next hour, she went on recalling all the memories she still held onto; wandering around the room sometimes, checking to see if there was a secret here or there, behind a painting, hidden inside the closet, and knowing that Coulson was following her every step of the way. She was not just telling him about trivial things but showed him a part of her past life which was important to her and Skye knew that everything which had led to the moment tonight was worth all the surprise it had brought. After a while, the two of them retired to the bed where they lay down side by side... talking mostly, although this time Coulson was the one telling Skye about how his earlier missions after joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as a young recruit had taken him to new countries all over the world where he had seen wondrous sights. They seemed to have lost track of their surroundings for when the clock on their bedside struck 11.30 pm and a *click* was heard outside the room door, Skye and Coulson both were on high alert.
"The only people who have access to the room are Jacques and Quinn himself." Skye whispered to Coulson; neither of them were armed but they were also not busy getting intimate either.
Another noise, another click and then the doorknob was turning. Whoever was outside the door was about to walk in and if Skye and Coulson were caught, their mission was over just as it was about to end. Quickly acting on a sudden impulse that suddenly came to her mind, she rolled over from her side of the bed so that she was on top of Coulson and kissed him without a second thought. The moment her lips touched his, Skye felt Coulson's arms wrapping around her waist as he flipped her over so that she was under him now but neither of them broke apart; if anything, he deepened the kiss once Skye's lips parted allowing him entry as his tongue fought for control, capturing the moan that threatened to escape her mouth; her hands were now tangled in his hair and...
"You know, I would say 'get a room' to both of you but..." A familar voice echoed across from the corridor causing Coulson and Skye to pull back once they recognized who was speaking.
"May? How did you get in here?" Slightly red in the face and with a disheveled look no doubt, Coulson was surprised to see her in the room, with a knowing grin forming slyly on her lips.
"Swiped a key from downstairs. I come bearing something that's important to the mission?" May didn't say another word except to show that she had a memory card on her which she handed over to Skye who was now blushing fully and staying silent about what Agent May had just walked in on.
"Yes. Right, the fake information in exchange for Quinn's." Coulson did remember that this was what the plan had entailed; he just seemed to have forgotten how late it was.
"Exactly. Skye needs to be ready within the next half an hour and then we'll head back to the Bus once she's safely out of here." Trying not to sound obvious, May reminded them of the mission.
"I... I should probably go and get the other pen drive from next door." Grabbing her dress which she'd discarded after changing into the hotel robes, Skye left Coulson and May in the suite and made her way towards Quinn's room.
Just before she did leave through the connecting doors, Skye could have sworn she heard May's next words to Coulson which sounded a lot like "If you ask me, taking it slow is something that's well overdue in your case Phil." Smiling to herself and then realizing that Agent May probably knew that she and Coulson did have feelings for each other and was obvious to her... she really had to get back to the Bus as soon as it was possible. Knowing that all she had to do was swap the memory card with the USB drive and get the fake information to Quinn once the clock turned midnight, Skye felt the weight of the mission being successfully accomplished when she stepped outside the hotel doors and into the cool breezy air of Los Angeles almost 45 minutes later.
Coulson had gotten back to the Bus with Skye and May a little over two hours ago but sleep was the last thing on his mind; after all that happened with him and Skye... the sudden kiss... May walking in on that... Skye's mission... actually possessing all the information that S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to take Daniel Quinn down, it was a constant chain of thoughts which were abruptly interruped when he heard a knock on his office door. Without thinking twice, he crossed the room and opened it to reveal Skye standing there, dressed in her usual clothes again, but still looking as beautiful as ever. It occurred to him in that second that he hadn't actually voiced that thought out loud yet but before Coulson could say something to her, she'd already entered.
"Skye..." He was interrupted as soon as her name left his lips.
"I heard what Agent May said about us earlier and I think she's right... taking things slow is something that has been way overdue for us." Skye had the familiar look in her eyes which told Coulson that she was thinking up another plan.
"So what do you suggest?" Echoing her own words from earlier that night, Coulson waited to see what she had to say to him.
Instead of words, Skye opted to go for showing Coulson just what she had in mind when she closed the distance between them and reached out to touch his cheek as she kissed him again. It was very brief and made him realize that he didn't want her to stop just then but when he touched her lips with his fingers, Coulson met her gaze as well and saw something in them.
"A better first kiss." Was all she said to him before she brushed her lips against his, waiting to see how he would react to it as she stepped back.
"Well then... I give myself to you." Coulson grinned as he stopped her from retreating any further when he wrapped his arms around her waist letting Skye take control.
She had not removed her hands from around his neck and instead moved them up to touch his cheeks as she came closer to him, closing the distance between them until they were so close that Coulson could feel her heart beating, knowing she could feel his heart beats as well. Skye ran her fingers in his hair and felt him leaning down so that she wouldn't have to stand on tiptoe to finally kiss him. Properly this time around. Her lips met his and she let all instincts take over; gently biting his lower lip, Skye grinned when she felt Coulson let her tongue slip inside; but she was surprised when he pushed her against the door, locking it and then decided maybe it was better to leave this to the expert. And so she surrendered herself over to him that night.
Thoughts? R&R! ^_^