This is an AU where the team have never met each other before. There's no Shield in this universe but there are some pretty nasty private corporations and agencies. Emily is a figment of my own imagination, I do not own Agents of Shield, nor any of its characters.
Mornings in the coffee house were always busy. There were people wandering in half-asleep, looking for their morning pick-me up, there were the busy corporate businessmen who were always on on their phones and always seemed in a bit of a rush. Then there were the stragglers. Emily referred to them as the Meal people. They always stayed for at least an hour and bought some sort of croissant or bagel. For the most part they were always the same 3 people.
One was a woman in her thirties, a popular household blogger. She often sat near the window and paused every so often to stare out the window at the passing people or to feel the sun on her face. She would hang out in the coffee house and write new entries for her blog after she had dropped off her kids at school nearby. She only stayed for breakfast. By 11 she was out the door, no doubt running more motherly errands.
Another one of the Meal people was a young man in his twenties. He had wide rimmed glasses and always began to blush when he spoke to Emily. He usually camped himself on one of the tables closer to the counter. He looked away from his book every so often so he could catch a glance of one of the baristas, Emily. The baristas had collectively decided that he had a crush on her but was just too shy to show it. They didn't feel intimidated by his staring so they left him to be.
The third and final Meal person was a young woman, in her mid twenties. She always ordered a light hot chocolate and then made her way to the back of the shop, close to the emergency exit. She would type furiously on her laptop. She stayed the longest out of the 3 meal people. She stayed all through lunch and only ordered a sandwich. She always seemed anxious, her eyes constantly flickering back to the front door. Emily had tried to elicit a conversation from her but only got her name, Skye.
"Thats a pretty name!" She had commented when she introduced herself, Skye only shrugged as she continued typing on her computer.
"Thanks. I picked it out." Emily could tell that the young woman was in no mood to continue the conversation, so she picked up the woman's cup and refilled it. She left her to her typing.
This one particular morning started out the same, for the most part. They had the usual flow of customers. Blogger mom came in and set down for work, and hopeless romantic set up his book.
"Good morning and welcome to the coffee shop how may I help you?" She looked up, and her breath caught in her throat. The man before her was tall and brooding. She could see the outline of his muscles through his thin jacket. He had beautiful brown eyes and his lips were pursed has he studied the order board behind her.
"I'll have a cup of dark with a turkey sandwich and a bag of chips." Emily had to tear her eyes away from his hulking arms to write down his order.
"N-name?" She hiccuped,
"Grant. Grant Ward." Even his name sounded dark and masculine. She turned and went to work on his order. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He walked past the counter and towards the back of the shop. He settled into the table closest to emergency exit. Skye isn't going to like this. She thought has she grabbed the chips and placed them on the tray. She walked over to the Grant and set the tray down in front of him. He flashed her a smile of thanks and took a sip of the coffee, opening up the newspaper that was tucked under his arms. Emily nodded and headed back towards the register, where someone was waiting.
It was another half-hour before Skye walked in. She was in the middle of ordering her usual hot chocolate when she noticed Grant sitting in her seat.
"U-um, who is that?" She asked, gesturing towards Grant.
"New customer. Grant Ward. I can ask him to move if you want?" Skye shook her head,
"It's fine. It doesn't have my name written on it. He got there first." Emily shrugged and went to go make Skye's hot chocolate. The young woman made her way to a table closer to the middle of the shop. She sat down and gingerly pulled out her laptop. She seemed a bit more agitated, her eyes flicking between the screen and the door much more than usual. Emily set down the hot chocolate infront of her. She could see the tension in the woman's shoulder,
"Are you sure you don't want me to ask him to leave? If he's making you uncomfortable-"
"No! Its fine!" Skye interrupted, her agitation showing in her voice, "It's fine! Please, just leave it alone." Emily held up her hands in surrender and turned back towards the register. She continued working, keeping Skye in her periphery. She saw the anxiety in the young woman's face. She kept looking over at the door then over at Grant.
Suddenly the door opened roughly. Skye jumped up when two men in suits entered the building, guns drawn. She shut her laptop and picked it up quickly. The woman made her way to the back of the shop towards the emergency exit. The men had spotted her and were demanding she stop. She turned as she approached the door, the men were closing the distance. Emily stepped out from behind the register, trying to stop the men in suits but Grant stepped up from where he was sitting and stood in front of Skye, "Excuse me! What do you think your doing? You can't just come in here with guns blazing!" The men paused for a moment, surprised by the man's outburst. "Leave before I have them call the cops!" Emily put on hand on her hip and juggled a phone in the other, she gave the men a glare. Grant could feel Skye shaking behind her. The men looked at each other, annoyance crossed their faces as they slowly lowered their guns,
"You don't know what you're doing. Just hand over the girl. Nothing will happen if you do." Ward didn't move. Emily began to slowly dial 911. The taller man narrowed his eyes at Skye, who was peaking out from behind Ward, "This isn't over. These people won't be able to protect you all the time!" With a huff the men turned and rushed back out. Emily followed them out, noting that they jumped into a black SUV and squealed off down the street. She wrote down the license plate and headed back inside.
Grant had sat Skye down and was trying to get her to stop shaking. Emily went around and made sure all the customers were all right. Hopeless Romantic approached her, asking her if she was okay. She brushed him off, her only concern, the young woman hyperventilating in the back. She grabbed a paper bag and brought it to her, kneeling in front of her next to Grant,
"Hey, its okay. Relax, they can't hurt you." Emily handed her the bag. Skye accepted it gratefully. She took deep breathes in and out, inflating and deflating the bag as she began to calm down.
"Do you know who those men were?" Grant asked gently, Skye nodded, "Did you know what they wanted?" another nod. Skye moved the bag away from her face so she could speak,
"They're part of Brennan Cybernetics. They're a powerful contracting company connected with the intelligence community. I've been...digging… into their company, finding out about all their dark secrets." Emily noticed Skye's voice waver at the word "digging." There was something she wasn't telling them. "I thought I was being careful. I don't know how they found me." Grant grabbed Skye's shaking hand. He turned to Emily,
"I've got her, go make sure everyone else is taken care of." Emily nodded and looked back towards the front of the shop. Many of the customers had returned back to what they had been doing, before. A line had started at the register. She looked at the clock, Crap, it was almost noon, the lunch rush was just beginning. She made sure Skye was safe with Grant then rushed off to fill orders.
Grant watched Emily as she rushed back to work. For a barista she sure was brave, stepping forward when they had first barged in. He focused his attention back on Skye. She had calmed down considerably. She wasn't shaking any more. Her eyes flitted between him and the door. She was still terrified that the men were going to return. Grant took note of her laptop, it was inches away from her hands, it looked well loved and worn. He grabbed her hands and drew her attention back to him,
"Are you sure you're okay?" A nod. Grant motioned towards the laptop, "Is that yours?" another nod, he looked into her big brown eyes, "You weren't just 'digging' into the company were you?" she shook her head, "You were hacking them, weren't you." Skye hesitated before nodding her head slowly. She looked away, clearly not wanting to continue on the subject, Grant tried something else, "Do you have any place to go?" Skye nodded slowly, she looked a bit unsure,
"I have a van. Its parked around back." She pulled her hands back when she saw Grant's confused look, "Money's a bit tight. It's the only 'place' I have." Grant furrowed his brows and pursed his lips,
"We can't have you staying in your van while these men are after you."
"Where do you suggest I go?" she asked in a small voice,
"I know of somewhere!" They jumped as Emily appeared behind Grant, a steaming pot of coffee in hand, "Sorry about that, but I know someplace where you can go." Skye raised an eyebrow, "My uncle, he lives on a ranch about 20 minutes out of town. Its nice and secluded, and not to mention he's a retired government agent. I swear its as secure as Fort Knox!"
"Are you sure its safe?" Grant asked, he wasn't to sure about leaving the homeless girl in the care of some uncle out of town,
"I'm positive! From experience, its nearly impossible to sneak in without getting caught," Emily insisted, "Besides, Uncle Phil is more than happy to have guests!"
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