"Skye are you in position?"

"Ready. Waiting for target to exit building. Tell me when you engage."

"Will do. Standby."

Skye steadied her breath and shifted her position to a more comfortable one. No matter how much training, even with someone as skilled as May, the body could only handle being in one unmoving position before it became uncomfortable. She checked her sight again and waited for May's signal.

"Engaging now."

Their target was a Hydra member, Hector Sanchez, who apparently had displeased his superiors. He retaliated and was now on the run from them. He wasn't alone however. Skye had found a list of thirty men who would follow Hector even to their death. S.H.I.E.L.D had found that Hector was moving to one of his nearby safe houses where he was to regroup with all of his men. At the moment, only five of his followers were with him.

Skye was jostled out of her thoughts as she heard gunfire on her comm. A momentary fear took over her as it always did when the team was on a mission and gunfire was involved. She smiled to herself when she realized that was practically every mission the team went on. She focused her eyes through the scope on her sniper when May told her that the target was coming to her, planning on escaping out the back exit.

While Skye was getting better and coming into her role as a field agent, she still wasn't comfortable with actually killing people. The sniper was instead loaded with night-night bullets as the team dubbed them. She saw the door open and the man run out. Even from this distance she could clearly see the fear in his eyes. She slowed her breath, aimed her sights at the man's torso for the largest target and was about to pull the trigger.

What she didn't expect was the hand that clamped around her mouth and hauled her to her feet. She instantly went into fighter mode and tried to bite down on the hand only to find that it was covered with a thick woollen glove. Acting on instinct she brought her elbows back into her attacker's ribs while her foot tried to stomp down on his toes or shins. A grunt sounded from who she now knew was a man and he stepped back. Skye didn't hesitate and used the momentary advantage to turn and face her opponent. The first punch took him by surprise and it caught him in the side of the head.

Recognizing that the fight was not in his favour, he jumped back to give himself room.

Skye for the first time was able to focus on who the man was. He seemed to be around 6 feet though that was all she could really tell. He was wearing an all-black outfit that looked to be designed for stealth, much like her own. His face was covered by a hood and scarf, leaving only his eyes visible. She was surprised when he spoke to her.

"I didn't realize that they trained hackers to fight in S.H.I.E.L.D. If I had known, I wouldn't have been taken off guard. Well done Skye." Well that surprised her. This man knew her and while his voice was familiar, she couldn't make it out.

"How do you know me? I didn't think men that would follow Sanchez were that smart."

"What? I have no idea who Sanchez is. My business with you has nothing to do S.H.I.E.L.D or this Sanchez guy. But I do need to take you with me and I figured you wouldn't come willingly or that your team would let you." He stepped forward now and held out his hands in a somewhat apologetic gesture. "So I'm sorry for this."

Skye had no idea who this guy was but all she knew was that he could fight. She held her ground for the first couple of blows but soon a punch broke through her guard and then an elbow followed by a hook. She was going to call for backup when in an extremely impressive move, he had taken her down and managed to remove the comm form her ear.

"Who the hell are you!?" She was breathing heavily and blood was dripping down the side of her face. Her opponent she noticed was breathing evenly as if he had never been hit.

"I'm someone you know but I can't tell you more than that. I'm sorry for this but I need you to come with me." Their fight resumed and twenty seconds later Skye was being cradled in the man's arms as he carried her away.

Skye awoke peacefully. Part of her training was to wake without letting others know that you have done so and while she was still a somewhat heavy sleeper, she was able to keep her breathing at a steady pace equivalent to someone who is asleep. Focusing her senses, she first tried to figure out where she was. She could hear no cars outside indicating she was either away from an urban area or somewhere underground. Next was to see if there was anyone else in the room with her and their approximate position. This was easy from the soft singing that could be heard from whom she heard was her attacker. A moment of confusion came over at the easiness of the situation.

She dismissed with the thought and now focused on herself, trying to see if there were any injuries or restraints to her.

Her head slightly ached though she assumed that was from the beating she had received on top of the rooftop. As far as she could tell, that was the only physical damage done to her. Her pride was a little sore at having been snuck up on and beaten in a fight easily. With a heavy heart she realized that Sanchez probably got away and the team's best chance at finding him was now gone because of her.

With a sigh, she forced the self-pity to the back of her mind and focused on getting free of her captor and helping her team. Since she had awoken there was something nagging away at the back of her mind that something was off. It was the way the man was singing with an actual lovely voice, or the fact that she was lying on a bed with no restraints. 'Jesus' she thought to herself. 'How the hell could I have missed that? May would definitely be pissed if she ever found out.' One eye peeked open slowly to stare at a wall. 'Damn my sleeping habits. How do I always manage to face a wall?'

Hoping to catch the man by surprise, Skye suddenly threw herself out of the bed and made a break for the door. She quickly threw it open and continued down short hallway. Glancing back to see that no pursuit was forthcoming, she totally missed the bar that was around the wall. A groan escaped her lips as the ache in her head instantly grew. She opened her eyes to find the man staring down at her, a hint of amusement mixed in with his questioning face.

'Now why would you go and do something foolish like that?' the face seemed to say. Skye looked between the man and his outstretched hand before slapping it away and rising to her feet. The man stood patiently as she dusted herself off. She cast what she hoped to be a discreet glance at the hallway she tried to run down, judging distances and making mental notes of where her captor was and for sure remembering to duck under the damn bar this time. She was about to make a break for it when the soft voice of her captor stopped her.

"I wish you would hear what I have to say before leaving." She took note of the fact that he said 'leaving' instead of 'escaping'. Curious she thought. Almost as if he doesn't think of this as a kidnapping. "So you're saying that you'll let me go once I hear what you have to say? Just like that?" The man paused a moment before nodding. "Just like that." Well, Skye thought, this situation wasn't in any of the S.H.I.E.L.D manuals she had spent hours studying. 'How To Act If Your

Kidnapper Is Really Nice and Says You Could Leave.' No she would have for sure remembered that.

"And what if I try to leave right now?" It was a gamble. "Then I would let you go." Skye raised an eyebrow at the answer. "I've had time to think while you were knocked out, a little over an hour," he added seeing the question rising on her lips. "And I realized that sneaking up on then fighting with and knocking someone out is a terrible way to ask for a favour. So if you want to leave, I will let you do so."

Now Skye had to hear what this man wanted from her. "I'll listen." The man nodded once then gestured for her to follow him back to the room. She resumed her spot on the bed while the man pulled the chair he was sitting on earlier and moved it to sit across from her. She noticed that the only other things in the room was a desk with a laptop on it, a guitar in one corner and a punching back opposite from that. Skye thought that she was becoming good at figuring people out by their actions or belongings but the more she discovered about this man the more confused and intrigued she was.

"Do you have any questions before I begin?"

"Your name would be a good start."

"I suppose it would. My name is Sam."

"No last name?"

"Davenport."

"Alright Sam, on the rooftop when we were fighting, you spoke as if you knew me? Do you? And do I know you?"

"To say that I know you now wouldn't be entirely... accurate. You seemed to have changed a lot from when I was talking about. But yes I knew you were a member of The Rising Tide. One of the best actually."

"How did you know that? We were a pretty close knit group and to be honest, I was pissed that S.H.I.E.L.D managed to find me." "Its because I was a member of it too. Well sort of."

"What do you mean sort of? I'm sorry but you don't really look like the common hacktivist." Sam smirked a little before it fell off his face as he continued to speak.

"I was an associate of one of your members. I'm not sure if you knew him but his name is Klay Anderson?" Skye nodded at this. "Yeah. I never met the guy but I knew who he was. One of the guys who first formed Rising Tide, right?"

"Yeah I think so. Anyways, you're right I'm not a hacktivist but at the time, Klay didn't need one. You see two months ago once Hydra was exposed to the public, Klay stopped tracking S.H.I.E.L.D and instead focused on them. I guess that's good since they're focusing on the actual bad guys now." Skye was relieved to hear that he knew who was actually bad and that she was working for the good guys. "So let me guess. Hydra didn't like that and Klay was made a target?"

"Yeah that's correct. That's where I come in. A friend of a friend knew the guy and he told him that I was a good fighter.

He contacted me and asked if I would like to make a little money by protecting him for a couple of days. I of course was wary so I asked him from who and he said that it was just a few street thugs. I figured no problem." His voice, Skye noticed was slowly turning from calm to angry.

"The bastard. "He spit the word out as if it was poison. "If only he was honest. I would have never gotten involved with him or his business. A couple of gang thugs I can deal with no problem but Hydra? No I had to learn the hard way that you don't fuck with Hydra." Skye noticed that his hands were clenching and unclenching on the arms of the chair. Whether Sam was aware that he was doing it she couldn't say.

"So what happened?" Skye prompted gently. "We had a couple of run ins with some Hydra guys that I took care of. I didn't kill them though now I wish I did. Maybe they would of left him alone."

"So they kept coming?"

"Yeah then we hadn't heard or seen them at all for a week. We thought they had decided to give up. I was so wrong." A look of anguish crossed Sam's features and Skye gave him a moment to collect himself. "Klay in order to thank me for saving his ass said he would take me and my girlfriend out for dinner. He was also pretty wealthy so he also gave me a cash bonus." A laugh suddenly escaped him and he stared into Skye's eyes as it finished. She noticed with a sense of growing worry that there was no humor in it.

"I never should of trusted the bastard. He lied about who I was protecting him from and who else knew what he was lying about. We left the restaurant and was going to leave when Klay said he had to go make a call. Next thing I knew, three black trucks pulled up and a bunch of Hydra agents jumped out. I tried to fight them all off but then one of them grabbed Allison and threatened to kill her."

"Then a man stepped out and I knew he meant business. He told me that Klay was the one that was searching him up so he had to make him stop. When I made it difficult for him he said I needed to be crossed off."

"So they went through all the trouble of tracking you because you spoiled a few of their plans? That doesn't really sound like Hydra."

"That's the thing. They went through no trouble. Klay sold me out. Said he would work for them if they left him alone. When they didn't bite, he offered to lead them to me. I told them I would do whatever but to let Allison go... I would of done anything to save her."

"Sam... what happened?"

"I had to watch as that Hydra bastard killed her." A far away look came into Sam's eyes and Skye felt her heart breaking at the story. She tentatively placed a hand on Sam's shoulder causing him to stare into her kind brown eyes.

"So how did you escape?"

"I didn't. He let me live. I guess he figured that living without her was more cruel than dying. So he left while I held her in my arms."

"Sam... I am so sorry. No one should ever have to go through something like that." Sam stayed silent but nodded once. No more was said between them for the next couple of minutes.

"But... I still don't get why you need me."

"To find Klay. I asked a few more Rising Tide members before you and a couple of them tried. None had any luck.

Apparently he was one of the best and knew how to hide his tracks well. The last one, a guy named Miles said that if anyone would be able to find him that it was you."

"So Miles found me and told you where I was?"

"No. He told me how you now run with S.H.I.E.L.D and that he wants nothing to do with them and that I shouldn't either. But I'm running out of options and I'm desperate."

"So how did you find me then?"

"I have a friend who's been monitoring Hydra and he found that something was going down with that Sanchez guy I'm guessing. I came to the area he told me and I found you."

"I see." Skye was torn. On the one hand she wanted to help this guy but she also had a duty to her team. They were busy tangling with much bigger Hydra foes to be bothered by this one. Also she cost the team their last Hydra member so her asking to focus on another one would not go over well.

"Look I know I just dumped a lot on you but I need your help."

"I want to, honestly I do but it's just that-"

"I can pay you. I mean I don't know if it'll be a lot from the funeral to the help of the other hackers to the engagement ring and the stuff for the-"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off as the door to the room was kicked open by Agent May. Trip quickly came in after her and immediately went to attack Sam who he thought was the enemy. Skye tried to tell Trip to stop but May was already dragging her out of the room.

"Come on Skye was have to go." Skye could hear Trip and Sam as they fought behind her and she broke free from Mays grasp.

"Skye what the hell we have to go!" She mad a move to grab Skye again who shook her off and took a step back, holding her hands up to stop May.

"May you don't understand. Trip needs-" a cry of pain distracted them as they saw Trip stumbling out of the room, nose bleeding while blood was flowing freely down his face.

"Damnit. Skye go up the stairs and find Coulson, he's ready to bring you back to the BUS." Skye tried once again to interrupt but May shouted "Trip take her" before going in to continue fighting with Sam.

"Come on girl. Trip said as he hoisted Skye over his shoulder and ran down the hall. Skye started pounding his back and screaming to set her down. Confused, Trip did just that.

"What's wrong Skye?"

"We have to go back and help-"

"May can handle herself now we have to move before reinforcements show up."

"Damnit Trip!" "Skye what the-" Trip had no time to react as Skye punched him, effectively knocking him to the ground dazed. She made to turn back and stop May when he felt something slam into her back. Seconds later, the world went black and she once again fell unconscious.

This time, Skye woke with a jolt. She quickly gathered her bearings and looked around the room, recognizing it as one of the medical areas on the BUS. She saw Simmons walk in and she smiled at her.

"Oh you're awake now. Good to see that you're not-"

"Where is he?" Skye demanded, her eyes glaring daggers at a confused Simmons.

"He.. oh you mean Trip. He just got patched up and-"

"I don't care about Trip right now." She ignored Simmons' shocked face and continued on. "I'm talking about Sam." Jemma had to wonder if Skye was really okay or if something was wrong with her head that affected her way of thinking. "Sam?" She asked tentatively.

"Just get out of my way." She pushed past Simmons and made her way up to find Agent May, Trip and Lance watching as Coulson was in the middle of interrogating Sam. Lance noticed her first and turned to greet her.

"Ah there's Sleeping Beauty. Have a nice nap did you?"

"Shut it Lance." Trip raised an eyebrow while Lance scoffed. Skye ignored both of them and locked eyes with May, anger rising in them at how she handled the situation. "How long has the interrogation been going on?" May looked Skye up and down once, noticing her body language and the look in her eyes. She didn't think Skye would have been

this pissed at having been put to sleep with the night-night gun so she assumed something else was wrong.

"About twenty minutes. Once Trip and I secured him, we brought him back and Coulson started once he came to check on you."

"Why did it take two of you?"

"Because the man sure knows how to fight, said Trip, rubbing his shoulder and wincing. It was now that Skye noticed that both he and agent May had bandages on their arms and foreheads where bruises and cuts could also be seen. 'Well no wonder he beat me so easily. He managed to handle May and Trip.'

"So you're saying Sam did that to you? To both of you?" she added, nodding her head to May who's eyebrow rose at the name. Trip nodded once and Skye locked eyes with May before muttering something to herself and pushing past the three.

"What was that Skye?"

"I said good." Trip's face dropped while a small smile broke out on Lance's. May stayed expressionless. "Skye what's wrong with you?" "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? All of you? Sam was innocent and didn't deserve any of this. I was trying to tell that to you, to both of you" she gestured to a now guilty looking Trip, "but no you wouldn't listen. You had to come in and fight first and ask questions later, by way of interrogation."

"We thought that he had kidnapped you."

"He did at first but if you guys noticed, he wasn't aggressive at all and we were having a conversation. I would of explained that all to you but no you had to go and fight an innocent and sweet man." She looked between the two and saw Trip with his head down and shamefaced, while May held her gaze evenly, still wearing that unreadable expression.

"So yeah I'm glad he did that to you. I'm going to go stop this." Neither of the three tried to stop her.

"Do you think she was never read fairy tales as a kid?" Lance asked. Trip scrunched his eyebrows and gave him a baffled look. "What the hell are you talking about?" "Skye," Lance clarified. "She didn't like my Sleeping Beauty comment," he elaborated with somewhat pained expression. "She was put in a bunch of orphanages and foster homes you idiot." Lance had a blank look on his face and May just scoffed. "You're an idiot Lance."

The door to the interrogation room burst open and Coulson looked up in annoyance and then surprise once he saw it was Skye. Sam, who had stayed quiet throughout the entire process looked as well and stared at her curiously. "Skye? What are you doing?"

"Coulson get out now." "What? Skye you can't just-" "I said out. Now!" The tone in Skye's voice left no room for argument. Coulson cast a look between Sam and Skye before adjusting his suit and leaving, making a point to close the door behind him.

He went out to see the three Skye had just left along with Simmons watching the monitor. They all turned their gazes to him and stared for a couple of seconds. Lance opened his mouth to say something when Coulson cut him off. "Not a word. May what the hell was that?"

"Not sure," May answered while looking back to the screen once more. "Skye said that Sam was innocent and that she wasn't his prisoner and then went and threw you out. "Sam? He told me his name was John Smith." Coulson looked around at the raised eyebrows and sighed. "God damn it." "I know right." Lance said. "I personally thought he looked more like a Joseph to me." He looked around to see the four unimpressed faces and he mumbled to himself. Trip thought he heard him say "well he does" and dismissed the smartass mercenary.

"Well he seems nice enough to have a private conversation with" he noted instead, indicating how Skye and Sam were talking quietly facing away from the camera so the lip reading system couldn't pick up what they were saying.

"Well whatever they're talking about, Skye better have a damn good reason for it." As if she could hear them, Skye turned to look at the camera and shot a glare at the group watching. She turned back to Sam and whispered something to him before exiting the room. She came out once again and stood with a hand on her hip as she regarded the group with a look of disapproval.

"I'm going to tell you guys what went down and you're all going to listen without interruption. Then we'll see how everything goes from there. Any questions?" Lance raised his hand. "Good let's begin."

Skye went through the story from when he was in position ready to stop Sanchez when Sam tried to take her. She explained waking up, unharmed and unrestrained and how she tried to escape (she left out the part about running into the bar) and how Sam said he would of let her leave if she wanted to. By this point she could see that Trip, Simmons and Lance were all confused much like she was while May and Coulson wore troubled looks. She finished the story by telling it the same way that Sam had told her. When she found herself struggling to keep her voice steady, a new wave of empathy for Sam washed over her as she thought about how hard it must have been for him. When she finished, Jemma was the first to speak.

"That's awful. I can't imagine what he's going through."

"Aye. I mean sure my ex-wife was terrible and I probably dodged the bullet but that would still mess me up pretty bad." It was after this that the group turned to look at Coulson and May, the two most senior members of the team for their opinions.

"It is terrible that it happened-" "If it's even true" May cut in. Coulson shot her a glare and was about to continue when Skye cut in. "Wait what!? May what the hell does that mean?" May found herself once again challenging Skye's gaze with her own and found she didn't like it, much less from her trainee. "This may all be one big elaborate plan by Hydra or from Sanchez. He stopped you from taking Sanchez right as he was about to get away and then took you."

"Yeah. Where he said I was free to go and didn't once try to stop me." "Look Skye, I'm just trying to get all the angles on this to be ready for anything." Skye was about to argue when Coulson decided to cut in and prevent the already tense situation from escalating. "Look Skye we can't just drop our mission for one civilian no matter how tragic his life has been. We have to look at the bigger picture here."

"Then I'll help him without you guys so it doesn't take away from the Team," Coulson was already shaking his head before Skye finished. "You're a part of this team and right now, the most important for tracking down Sanchez again.

We missed our best window of opportunity and he's probably already with the rest of his men." Skye tried to ignore the accusatory glances that Trip and Lance shot at her. Sure it was Sam's fault that she couldn't take out Sanchez but it's not like he knew what was going on. A worm of doubt found its way into her thinking as she remembered May's accusation of Sam working for Hydra.

"So what? We just let him go and have him look for Hydra on his own, involving multiple other hackers and endangering not only himself but all of them too? I thought the point of Shield was to protect people."

"Yes. To protect people who can't protect themselves. Not to help those who go looking for trouble for revenge." Skye found herself really not liking May at this point. "Fine. I'll go tell him that he has to find a way to deal with not finding the man who killed his girlfriend."

"Fiancé." a voice behind them corrected. Six pairs of eyes turned to look at Sam who had exited the interrogation room without them noticing. "I said I could pay you but it wouldn't be as much because of the funeral and other things. What I didn't get to say because of... an interruption," he gave a pointed look to Trip and May. "was that it was also because I bought an engagement ring. I asked her at dinner that night and she... she said yes," A small smile touched Sam's face and he looked down at his feet as if he was in his own world of memories.

The group stayed quiet while they all shared private glances, each trying to figure out how to handle the new twist on the situation. "Look Sam," Coulson started, "we're really sorry about your fiancé." "Allison," Sam said quietly. A sad look crossed Coulson's features. "About Allison, but we have other business to take of. Mainly that man Sanchez that we were going after."

"What about when you caught him?"

"What?"

"Once you have him. Could you guys help me then?"

"It will probably take a while. Even when we find him, he's bound to have most of his men with him and this team isn't big enough to take down all of those men." Sam looked troubled for a moment before directing his question to May.

"How many men would he have with him?''

"From what out information tells us, at least twenty five, probably more if he pays off some people or hires others." Skye moved and placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Sam I really want to help but Coulson and May are right. We can't just let Sanchez go free and focus on this. I'm really sorry."

Sam was quiet as he digested the information. He nodded once before muttering a quiet "thank you for your time" before moving to exit the BUS. The group parted and Sam continued walking with his head down. His leg suddenly gave out and he toppled over to lean against the wall. Sensing that something was wrong, Simmons quickly ran over and supported him. "Sam?" she asked seeing the pain that was written on his face. "What's wrong?" His breathing had picked up and his voice was pained when he answered "My leg gave out. I think its when May kicked it to bring me down." Skye quickly walked forward and moved to inspect the leg, finding it to be a dark purple colour from being bruised. She spun quickly and her eyes blazed as they stared at Coulson and May. "You didn't have Simmons check him out!?" she hissed. Coulson looked down in shame while May stayed still.

"Damn." Coulson whispered to himself. "Simmons," he called louder. "Take Sam down to be examined and make sure he's okay to move about. "Got it sir."

Down in the lab, Sam was sitting with his shirt off while Simmons was busy wrapping up his leg. He had multiple cuts and bruises on his face and back from his fight with May and Trip. While Simmons didn't feel entirely comfortable with the situation, she did feel sorry for Sam and the awkward silence wasn't making her job easier. She was trying to figure out what to say when, to her surprise, Sam spoke. "Thank you." He said kindly. "Think nothing of it. This is what I do." She stepped back at once and looked him over before nodding both to herself and to Sam.

"Well you don't seem to have any serious or long lasting injuries but I would stay off that leg for a while. And no heavy lifting or anything too strenuous for the next couple of days." Sam nodded and slid off the table, retrieving his shirt and slipping it over is head. "Where will you go?" Probably back to where I took Skye." "Not your home?" "I don't have a home without Allison. Or even a home really. I sold it to help pay for hackers." Jemma considered the answer for a second before continuing hesitantly. "I know its not my place to ask but..." she looked to Sam to gauge his reaction and she continued when he nodded. "Why are you so obsessed with finding this man? I know you must feel terrible after what happened to Allison and you're hurting but she wouldn't want you to throw the rest of your life away to go after the man who killed her."

"It wasn't just her who he killed."

"Oh.. but Skye said that's all you told her."

"It is. I wasn't sure if I should of revealed so much at the time."

"Oh. Then it's okay you don't have to-"

"Allison was pregnant."

That stunned Jemma into silence as she took a second to process what he had said. Her mouth hung open and tears started to form in her eyes. She tried to say something, anything that would offer comfort to the man in front of her but nothing came. She watched silently as a single tear rolled down Sam's cheek. "Thank you again." With that he turned.

The scientist felt her heart break as she watched the man exit the BUS. She knew two things.:

Sam was never going to stop hunting Klay or the Hydra member until he or they were dead. And she had to find a way to help him.

A/N: As per usual, comments and critiques are welcomed. And as always, likes and follows are much appreciated. Let me know what you guys think and what you liked...or didn't. Every bit helps. Thanks for reading!

I-W-M