"Who would have thought pizza would be so cheap in Milan?" Skye grinned at May's back as she placed the boxes on the table in the darkened hotel room, knowing the woman was rolling her eyes. "One veggie pizza for you, one mushroom to split, and one with everything but the kitchen sink for me."

"I'll be sure to remind you to do some extra pushups tomorrow to work it off." May shifted from her position at the window overlooking the city to glance over at Skye. "Any word of trouble?"

"Nope. She's been quiet the last few days." Pulling out a slice of her pizza, Skye gestured out the window. "She still in her apartment?"

"Yes. She's been very careful not to attract any notice, though I can't blame her. We're not the only ones watching."

"What?" Skye dropped her food and picked up the extra goggles to search the nearby buildings. "Where?"

May gently corrected her line of sight until she could see the line of a rooftop in the dark. "If you look very carefully, you'll see the silhouette of a sniper. I almost missed it myself; just happened to be looking there as they switched shifts, and it still took a minute to realize what I saw." Skye lowered the goggles and raised her eyebrows in question. "They're too good for local law enforcement."

The younger agent nodded in understanding. Hydra. "Great. So what do we do now?"

"I've already let Coulson know. He wants us to bring her in; it's too risky to let anyone else get there first." May grimaced slightly. "Never mind the fact that last time she was taken in, it took a strike team of 6 with a full support unit."

Skye shifted uncomfortably. She really didn't like being caught in the middle of May and Coulson's arguments. "We both know that was only a precaution. And she'd cooperated with her handler for more than 5 years, we have no reason to expect her to be overly hostile. We can approach her directly."

"Remind me how many people are currently in the hospital with ruptured ear drums, or worse?"

"But I don't think that was on purpose. Think about it, May," Skye reached over to the files nearby. "Four robberies with the same M.O., glass surfaces shattered by high frequency sound waves, but the first three without witnesses or casualties, and all four done late at night. I don't think she expected anyone to be there."

"She's still dangerous."

"Only if we present a threat." Skye pressed. "We don't have a single instance of her deliberately attacking anyone. There's no reason to assume she'll attack us."

"All right. But we're going in armed and wearing head gear." May shook her head as her trainee started to protest. "That's the condition. She can't expect any less after the last few weeks."

Skye grimaced, but she agreed. "We going in now, then?"

"The sooner we move her, the better."

The two women silently changed into professional suits with light body armor beneath, and checked that both of their ICERs were fully loaded. Skye pulled out the headgear provided by Fitz, specially designed to filter out the vibrations produced by their target and protect their hearing. Unfortunately, they looked like old-fashioned pilot's headphones painted bright orange, meaning they'd be spotted as soon as they put it on. Skye carefully repacked them into a shoulder bag that could keep them hidden, along with a couple of other goodies, until they were in the apartment building, then went to the computer to file a quick notice with the Playground that they were initiating contact.

"Time to move."

Skye nodded sharply and closed her laptop. Hefting the shoulder bag, she followed May out of the hotel and into the streets.

At 10 PM, the local residents were still in the midst of dinner. Laughter and talk floated from the open-air residents in the cool autumn air, and Skye felt a small twinge of envy. The last time she'd been in a restaurant was - she quickly cut off that line of thought, and focused on the task at hand. She mentally reviewed the blueprints of the building and local map; both agents had memorized them on their flight into the country. May led them on a round-about route to the target's apartment building in order to avoid notice by the other team, or at least prevent them knowing which direction they'd come from. Once inside, they'd be on the third floor of the building with three possible exits. Skye just hoped the woman wouldn't disappear while they were out of sight. Operations were so much easier when they had satellite support, or at least an extra pair of eyes to leave at the surveillance point.

Eventually they arrived at the building. Skye easily bypassed the door security system and got them into the lobby. In the elevators, she passed a set of headphones to May and placed the other ones on her own head. "I feel like we should be listening to an 80s mixtape," she joked.

May just looked at her. Skye shrugged, knowing it was as close to a laugh as she'd get right now. She also pulled out the backscatter glasses, offering them to May who shook her head. Skye slipped them on as the elevator chimed and opened the doors.

Once on the third floor, the two found the door marked 304 and knocked sharply. Skye took position to be seen through the door's viewhole, while May stood off to the side with her hand resting lightly on an ICER. "Daniela Moretti?" Skye called. Watching through the door, she saw a petite woman come up carefully to the door and look through the viewer. Skye held up her SHIELD badge. "We're here to help."

The woman turned and ran from the door, and Skye swore. Before she could react, May kicked in the door and rushed into the room. Skye ran in after, calling, "Daniela, we don't want to hurt you!" She nearly ran into May's back, who had taken a shooter's stance with the ICER aimed at the woman in the bedroom before her. Skye stepped around her, taking in their target. She was a few years older than her, with gray starting to appear in her short dark hair. Slightly overweight and dressed in leggings and an oversized shirt, she looked about as dangerous as a housefly as she held her back against a wall and trembled.

Trying to keep May at the edge of her vision, Skye inched forward with her hands out, plainly empty. "My name is Skye. We're here to help."

"No, you're not," Daniela squeaked out. "You're here to take me away again."

Skye winced. "Only because you're not safe here. Not while Hydra is still out there."

"And how do I know you're not Hydra?" The woman demanded. "You're all the same. You just want to use us!"

Her voice pitched high, and Skye saw May wince behind her. Please don't let the headgear fail. "Daniela, I don't know how I can prove that to you here. But there are others out there, and they will hurt you if they find you."

"No. I'm safer on my own. I can protect myself."

"Daniela -"

"I said NO!" May's left hand instantly pressed to the headgear as she winced and a glass figurine near her shattered. Though Skye registered the higher pitch, she was glad it didn't hurt. Something must be wrong with May's headgear.

But then she heard a rattling sound, and whipped her head around to find it. The walls were trembling, and the furniture near it shaking ever so slightly. Turning back to Daniela, she saw the woman pressed up against the wall as her entire body vibrated. Her face was drawn into a look of intense concentration, her eyes closed. The noise grew and bits of plaster cracked on the walls and ceiling.

"Daniela, stop!" Skye stepped forward, a hand outstretched and voice raised to be heard over the groaning of the building. "Daniela, you have to stop!"

But the woman opened her eyes to glare at Skye, and she yanked up her hand, opening it with her palm facing Skye and May. Skye felt a shockwave throw her across the room. A chunk of plaster fell onto her shoulder, and she instinctively rolled under the bed. Only moments later, the ceiling crashed down, and then the floor dropped out from under her.

{ ~ S.H.I.E.L.D. ~ }

Skye coughed as the dust settled around her. She crawled out from under the bed, thankful it had shielded her from the worst of the concrete and plaster. "May?" she called out, but received no answer. Panicked, Skye tried to orient herself - May had been near the room's door, so if she'd been pushed back, she would be toward the center of the building.

Skye scrambled over the debris, looking for any sign of her supervising officer. Finally, she caught a glimpse of bright orange. "May!" She stumbled over and fell to her knees, pulling at pieces of rubble to clear May's face. She pressed her fingers to the carotid artery and leaned down to place her cheek near May's mouth, and sagged in relief as she detected both pulse and breath. "C'mon, May, I need you to wake up."

She worked as quickly as she could to unbury her S.O., distantly aware of a growing buzz from curious bystanders. She kept her face down and kept calling to May until she reached a large cinderblock that lay across the woman's hips. Struggling to find purchase underneath, Skye strained to lift the block, but only slipped and fell in the surrounding debris. She swore and wiped at the sweat and tears on her face. "Come on, Skye, you can do this." Firmly setting her feet, she reached down again and tried to lift, but it hardly moved. "Damnit!" she screamed, looking around for something to give her better leverage.

Finding nothing, she desperately reached down again. As she started to lift, she sensed another person coming up beside her and also reaching to lift. This time, the block moved enough to shove off May. Skye nearly landed face first when the resistance suddenly disappeared. Arms grabbed her and pulled her back, with a sharp, "Watch out!"

Skye felt a chill run down her back at the familiar voice, and shoved her way out of the encircling arms. Backing away, she looked up into the face of Grant Ward.

"What. The. HELL!" she shouted, grasping at her back for her ICER. Finding nothing, she lifted her hands up into an offensive stance. But Ward was already moving again, clearing the rest of the debris that covered May. He glanced up quickly with a glare, as if to ask whether she was going to help. Gritting her teeth, Skye joined him. In the distance, she could hear sirens wailing. She reached down to pull up May. As she tried to lift her into a fireman's carry, the weight lifted and she saw Ward lifting May up into a cradle.

"What are you doing?"

"She needs to get to a hospital, and I'm assuming you don't want to answer any questions when the ambulance gets here." He quickly picked his way through the rubble, Skye following behind.

"Well, yes, but what are you doing?"

"We can use my car."

This isn't real. I've hit my head and I'm hallucinating. Confused, Skye followed behind until the reached the car in a nearby alley and Ward opened the back door to gently place May inside. That was when Skye spotted his firearm peeking tucked against his back. While he was still burdened by her S.O., Skye grabbed the gun and stepped back to point it at him. He spun around quickly, giving her a wary look. Slowly, he raised his hands. "Get away from her, Ward."

"Skye -"

"I mean it, Ward!" She tracked him as he slowly stepped away from the passenger door. Still keeping her finger on the trigger, she shifted into a one-handed grip and held out the other palm up. "Keys."

"You need someone to put pressure on her bleeding, Skye." She kept her hand out, freezing her expression as she imagined May would. But Ward was just as stubborn. "Do you want her to bleed out on the way there? Or stand here until some cop finds us? I'm just trying to help."

It was hard to see him in the darkness, but a splash of light across his face revealed his frustration. Inside the car, May moaned a bit and shifted, though didn't revive. This is all my fault… Skye let out of groan of irritation, and dropped the gun. "Fine. But I'm driving."

"Fine," Ward agreed as he tossed the keys at her. He crawled into the back seat as Skye started up the car and tucked the gun beside her seat, then she roared out of the alley.

All through the drive to the hospital, she kept a watch on Ward in the rear view mirror. May was going to kill her for this, for letting him touch her again. But Ward kept a professional distance, only sitting close enough to keep pressure on the wound in May's upper leg. In one brief look, it almost appeared that he was reaching to brush the woman's hair from her eyes, but then he shifted and resumed his double-grip on the wound.

She screeched into the entry to the pronto soccorso at the hospital, and jumped out of the car as someone ran up to her. "We need help!" she cried. "We were in an accident, and my mother, she's hurt -" Soon, she was pushed aside as orderlies lifted May onto a gurney to wheel her inside. Dimly, she registered Ward telling them something in Italian, and then she followed May inside.

The next few minutes were a blur as she gave the front desk their cover story - her mother was in Italy on business, and she'd come to stay with her for a few days to enjoy Italy. Once the fake names were in the system and she was assured that May wasn't seriously injured, just a deep cut that was easily taken care of and a concussion.

Skye thanked the staff, then guardedly made her way to the entry area. Looking around, she saw no sign of her former teammate.