It happened too fast, and he knew it.

She had remembered the technique he'd shown her months ago, easily maneuvering to his firing side and getting under his arm, managing to bend his thumb and grab the barrel in a matter of a few seconds. The gun out of his grasp, he had been about to congratulate her when she had gone one step further. Before he knew it, she had twisted his arm behind him and kicked the back of his knee, effectively pinning him to the ground. It had surprised him, but he could've fought back harder.

One look at her face told him that she knew it, too.

"Damn it, Ward, you have got to stop going easy on me." Skye held out a hand to help him off the ground, and even though he didn't need it, he let her. He had a feeling she was going to go on another rant again. "Okay? I told you I wanted to train harder. What happened with Quinn was, like, the worst thing ever, and I never want to be vulnerable like that again. But I can't do that unless you stop acting like I'm going to explode whenever you touch me."

He held up his hands, trying to pacify her. Her face was angrier than he'd seen in a long time. "Skye, I know, all right? But you're still recovering." He didn't think it was possible, but her glare intensified. Ward tried to find the right words to explain. He wanted Skye to be protected probably more than she wanted it herself, but he knew he had to make sure she took it easy. He'd seen too many of his classmates wash out at the Academy because they tried to jump back too quickly after an injury. And Skye hadn't just busted her knee. She'd been shot in the stomach. Twice.

"Look, it's going to take some time before you're back at the top of your game."

"Ward, I'm totally-"

"And that's nothing to be ashamed of," he continued, talking over her. "So we're going to start easy and increase the difficulty when I say you're ready. Besides, Simmons will have my head if I overwork you."

Skye's face relaxed a little. "Yeah, right," she said, lightly punching his shoulder. "I think you're just getting lazy." She was teasing him, but he couldn't manage to drudge up a smile in return.

"I'm not kidding." She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation.

Skye was still a complete mystery to him, an enigma more puzzling than an 0-8-4, but Ward was slowly learning how to interact with her, and had figured out that the quickest way to disarm her fury was through humor. He knew he was setting himself up for ridicule, so before he could think about it too much, he placed his hands on his hips. "I believe her exact words were," he began, raising his voice to a pitch that probably defied the laws of masculinity. "Agent Ward, if you so much as raise her heart rate above 67.3% of her target or force her to exercise for longer than the 26 minutes Dr. What's-His-Face recommends in this article from a journal you've never heard of, I will positively scream and for your punishment, I shall subject you to a unique form of torture in which I will outline in detail the origins and development of literally everything you eat."

Ward felt his cheeks burning. That was a bit more than he had originally intended, and he knew his British accent was ridiculous. (He had never been able to master it, despite being fluent in six languages.)

He looked up, expecting to see a smile on Skye's face, but all he saw was pure shock, her mouth open in what had to have been complete disbelief. Damn. Still swinging and missing.

"Oh…my…God," she finally managed to get out, and he was relieved to see her break into a huge grin, even though he knew that she was most definitely laughing at his humiliation and not at his terrible endeavor to be funny. She shook her head, and looked like she was trying to choose the best way to make fun of him, but she simply laughed again because she didn't have to. He had successfully embarrassed himself all on his own. When she had calmed down, he noticed her gaze wander to somewhere over his right shoulder. Her eyes widened as she clapped a hand to her mouth, barely containing another snicker.

Ward froze, and closed his eyes. He was regretting his poor attempt at humor more and more with every passing second, and braced himself for the voice of the person he knew was standing right behind him.

"Oh, dear. Was that supposed to be me?" He turned around slowly to see Simmons standing on the stairwell, her arms folded. "You're nearly as bad as Fitz. For the last time, that is not how I sound." Ward steadfastly avoided her eyes as she came down the steps, and he felt a little better when he noticed that she was giving her stern face to both him and Skye. "And while I'm sure you specialists are quite used to getting shot at and jumping right back into the field, I think we can all agree that Skye's circumstances are just a tad more severe."

He tried to nod at her, letting her know that he had been saying exactly the same thing, but she must have taken his gesture as sarcastic because she turned on him. "And honestly, I can't believe you would think that a rigorous regimen would be appropriate for someone at her level of recovery. As her supervising officer, you should know better. We have no idea how exactly the GH-325 has worked to heal her damaged tissue, and continuing in this manner could potentially reopen her wounds for all we know. All of our hard work and her progress will have been for nothing." She breathed out heavily, and he glanced away from her intense gaze, staring at the ground as her words sunk in.

If anyone had told him the first day he had met Simmons that in a few short months, she would be able to reduce him to feeling like he'd been sent to the principal's office, he would've scoffed in their faces. He took a deep breath and looked at her, trying to put as much sincerity into his expression. "I'm sorry, Simmons." Her eyes softened a little, but he still saw the fear and anxiety in her face. It was the same fear and anxiety he felt in his chest whenever he thought about those days when they didn't know if Skye was going to make it.

"What? No, Ward." He turned to see Skye looking at the two of them like they'd lost their minds. "This is ridiculous. Simmons, I'm fine. You seriously need to stop worrying about me. Besides, it's not like he's punching me in the gut or anything." She patted her stomach. "Everything's a-okay right here. I mean, besides the fact that I need to do some serious crunches because being under Dr. Simmons's house arrest has effectively erased any advance towards a six-pack I had before."

Simmons didn't smile, and her voice was quiet when she responded. "You nearly died, Skye. It's nothing to joke about." Skye must have noticed how much this was affecting her friend, because whatever retaliation she undoubtedly had planned remained unspoken. "Come on," Simmons said a little more brightly, turning around to open the lab doors. "We need to check your vitals."

Skye wasn't going to give in so easily. "But we're not done yet!"

"Yes, you are," Simmons replied crisply. "We'll be arriving at the Hub in twenty minutes."

Ward was momentarily thrown. He hadn't known about that. "The Hub? We just refueled. What do we need to go to the Hub for?" He glanced over at Skye, expecting to see the same confusion on her face, but oddly she didn't look very surprised.

Simmons shook her head. "Haven't the faintest. But during our last rendezvous there, I only got a measly five minutes with the new chem kit, so I for one am not going to waste a single second on this bloody airplane when we arrive."

"Yeah, I wouldn't get your hopes up." They all turned around to see Fitz entering the lab. "Do any of you not look at a calendar anymore? The Academies just had their graduations. The place is going to be swarming with new agents getting briefed."

An unreadable expression passed over Simmons's face, and she groaned quietly. "Damn," she muttered. "Maybe I will stay on the Bus."

"I'll stay with you," Skye sighed. "Last time was not fun. At all."

Ward smirked as he remembered the bracelet she'd hated so much. She didn't have to wear it anymore (she'd definitely earned her place on the team now), but she probably still saw the Hub as a boring facility in which she was not allowed to play with any of the computers.

"Actually, Skye," he said, putting together some of the pieces in his head. "Since you're no longer under surveillance, Coulson's probably gonna want to get you your Level 1 badge. It's kind of overdue."

Skye looked at him with skepticism, probably assuming that he was teasing her. When she saw that he wasn't joking, her face lit up. "Are you serious?" He nodded, barely fighting back his own smile at seeing her so excited. "Oh my God, did you hear that, FitzSimmons? I'm gonna be a real S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!"

Simmons gave her a weak smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, but Fitz's grin was bigger than Ward had seen in a while. "About damn time," he said.

"Wait, you said we're gonna be there in twenty minutes? What are we waiting for? Come on, Simmons. We have charts to fill out and you haven't gotten to play Dracula yet today." Simmons rolled her eyes and followed Skye to the back of the lab, muttering something about blood samples and how it was a wonder any of them had survived without her.

She found the letter on the floor of her dorm room the morning of graduation. She looked at it curiously, wondering who would bother to personally slide the note under her doorway instead of depositing it in her postbox in the lobby.

She was surprised to notice that the letter was sealed with the famous S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia, the eagle staring up at her from the red wax. She hadn't seen a real wax seal in ages, and thought red was an odd color choice, but she couldn't stop the small shiver that traveled down her spine as she wondered what could be inside. She ran her finger over the crest, hesitant to break something so beautiful, but her curiosity won over. She tore the envelope open.

Her eyes scanned the message, and her heart began to race. She could hardly believe what she was reading. Could this really be for her? Surely this was meant to be some sort of prank. She wasn't a freshman anymore, but she was still one of the youngest graduates to pass through the Academy. Perhaps some of the older students had thought to put her in her place with this. But no. Her name was clearly written at the top of the page, and it was signed by a Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. operative. Some of her classmates were cheeky, but they were not so mad as to forge the signature of a superior officer.

After she had memorized its contents, she took a match to the letter, letting the ashes fall through her fingers into the rubbish bin.

Skye exercised every bit of self-control she possessed to keep from jumping up and down as they entered the Hub. She decided that she would be on her best behavior, and followed closely behind Coulson so he would know that she was very, very serious about getting her badge.

It was a good thing she had already been to the Hub, because if she had been as awestruck as she'd been the first time, she would've definitely lost her group. The lobby was packed with people, and most of them didn't look like they could be much older than her. Skye was a little irritated that the Academies happened to send all their graduates on the one day she was becoming a fully-fledged S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. She let out a long sigh. Today was probably going to be a lot of waiting around, something she had never really been good at.

As they waited to pass through security, she and Fitz made up a game they decided to call Sorting Hat, and it was proving to be much more entertaining than she would have originally presumed.

"Oh! What about him?"

"Definitely Operations."

"What makes you say that?"

"The look in his eyes, obviously. That blank stare. He looks like he's never assembled a reflux accumulator in his life."

"No, I'm not so sure," Skye shook her head. "I mean, look at his arms. There's, like, no muscle there. There's no way he can be Operations."

As they made their way into the main atrium, Fitz opened his mouth to argue further when a high voice coming from off to the right somehow made itself heard over the din.

"Leo!"

A small girl who looked like she could've still been in high school ran up to Fitz and latched her arms around his neck. Skye simply stood there, stunned. Fitz seemed surprised at first but smiled after a second and hugged the girl back. They obviously knew each other. What the hell? It wasn't every day girls threw themselves in Fitz's arms. Did he have a girlfriend she didn't know about? Skye dismissed that crazy idea. No. That was impossible.

After a few seconds, the girl pulled away, but not before Fitz had brushed his lips on her cheek. It wasn't very romantic, but it was the most affectionate she'd ever seen Fitz. The curiosity was killing her. Who was she?

"So, how do you like the Hub? Have you gotten your badge yet?"

"Oh my goodness, Leo, it's amazing." Her brown eyes lit up as she babbled on about how excited she was to see the labs and how she couldn't believe he was there and there was something in there about science but Skye couldn't exactly follow because she was mostly distracted by trying to peg her. She had a familiar-looking face, but Skye was fairly certain she'd never seen her before. She had always been good with faces, and this one was startlingly beautiful. Her golden hair fell in loose curls on her petite shoulders, and there were two perfect dimples on her cheeks when she smiled. The accent sounded British, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Skye looked over at the rest of the team and was glad to see that most of them seemed about as clueless as she was. Good. At least she wasn't the only one out of the loop this time. She turned to Simmons for help, but the biochemist's eyes were dutifully trained on the ground. Uh oh. Now Skye was even more intrigued.

Fitz and the mystery girl were still in their own little world. "Oh, I'm so glad to hear your mum's doing better. And what about the twins? Is Lucy still-"

Fitz laughed. "Threatening to move out if she doesn't get a car? No, I think she's calmed down a bit, but Mum's still worried about her. Rosie's just got head girl, though."

"Really?" Her smile was so genuine that Skye felt the edges of her lips curl up of their own accord. This girl's energy was infectious. "I'm so pleased. I knew she'd get it. She'll be perfect. And how's little Colin?"

"Not exactly a wee lad anymore," Fitz sighed. "When he assembled his first circuit board at Christmas, Mum said, 'Not another one.'"

The girl scrunched up her face in sympathy but clasped her hands together over her chest. "Oh, that's positively adorable. I can't wait to see him again. It's been ages." She paused before placing a hand on Fitz's arm and lowered her voice. "And how are you, Leo? Is everything all right?"

He gave her a small smile. "Yeah, everything's fine." Skye saw through his fib, knowing that he was probably leaving out a lot of the dangerous stuff the team had been involved in over the past few months for her sake. But Skye could tell that Mystery Girl wasn't fooled, either. She must have thought it was not the right time or place to press further, though, because she simply smiled at him and nodded before looking over at Simmons.

Her confident demeanor seemed to diminish a little. "Hello, Jemma," she ventured timidly. "It's good to see you." Simmons simply gave her a tight smile in response, looking extremely uncomfortable. Everything about this encounter was so weird. Skye needed some answers. She was about to open her mouth and ask the question she knew everyone else wanted her to ask when she was caught off-guard as Mystery Girl trained her gaze on her. Skye was startled even further when the girl's smile grew wider.

"You must be Skye. I've heard so much about you."

Skye was so shocked that it took her a few seconds before she replied. "Really? From who?"

"Leo, of course. He talks about you almost as much as he talks about Jemma. Trust me, that's quite a lot."

Skye shook her head in bewilderment, and turned to look at Fitz, whose face had turned red and who was actively avoiding her gaze. She was about to respond, but the girl had already moved to the person standing next to Skye.

"Agent Coulson, it is an absolute honor." She shook his hand vigorously, and the look on her face was one of pure awe. Skye tried not to laugh at Coulson's expression, which exuded the same confusion she was feeling at the moment. "Your courage and bravery in the Battle of New York was truly inspirational, and I was so delighted to hear of your survival."

Despite the fact that Coulson was as much in the dark as Skye, he had never been immune to flattery. "I like her," he said, smirking at May.

Skye could tell May was trying not to roll her eyes for Mystery Girl's sake, who was positively beaming. Coulson turned back to face her, and looked as if he was about to ask who on earth she was (as nicely as possible, of course), but she had moved on again.

Her enthusiasm became a little more subdued as she stood in front of the Cavalry. "Agent May," she nodded politely. Skye expected May to give her her signature cold stare, but to her surprise (Skye had lost count of how many times she'd been surprised in the last five minutes), May simply gave the girl a small smile and a respectful nod in return.

Finally, Mystery Girl had made her way to Ward, who had his arms folded and who was the least successful out of all of them at hiding his confusion. The girl had been a constant flurry of motion since Skye had laid eyes on her, but one look at Ward made her movements still and Skye noticed her eyes glistening with tears. What the hell was going on?

"Oh!" she exclaimed quietly. "You must…be Agent Grant Ward." Her voice cracked as she gave him a watery smile.

"Yeah…" Ward said slowly, looking completely baffled and slightly alarmed. He fidgeted a little. "But…most people don't…start crying when they meet me…"

Maybe it was the strangeness of the whole situation, but before she could stop herself, Skye snorted. She tried covering it up by clearing her throat, but everyone's eyes had already focused on her. "Well, I mean, not right away, but you have made people cry, Ward."

Mystery Girl seemed slightly embarrassed. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. It's just that…" She paused, looking at Ward again. "Thank you…so much…for saving my sister's life."

Something played at the edge of Skye's mind, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Ward simply looked more confused. "Your sister?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Yes, of course." Her face faltered. She turned her head to glance at Skye, and as her eyes traveled over the group, it looked like something clicked in her head. They were all looking at her politely, but something had definitely been lost in translation.

"Do…none of you know who I am?"

There was a brief pause as the four of them looked at each other and then slowly shook their heads. Skye figured it out a second too late. It was in the look of panic that flashed over her face. Skye had seen that face before.

Mystery Girl fixed her eyes on Simmons, the panic in her expression replaced with hurt. "You didn't tell them about me?"

Simmons glanced up, guilt written clearly on her face. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ellie Simmons...my sister."

A/N: I'm almost completely certain that Simmons is an only child, but I thought it would be fun to play around with the idea of her having a sister. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story! Any feedback is greatly appreciated. :)