So, basically, I just want Skye to be an Avenger. Also note that I rewatched Avengers to write this, but have made many modifications because, well I can. I'm only writing Skye's part mainly, so just assume everything else is the same and I didn't write it because that would have been boring. Hope you enjoy! This is certainly different from what I normally write.

Disclaimer: Everything Marvel is a mess when it comes to rights, but I can guarantee I own none of them.

Skye had been at the safe house for three days, and was finally beginning to feel at home when the doorbell rang. Shocked that a super secret safe house even had a doorbell, Skye didn't even consider the possibility of opening the door being a bad idea. May would have shot Skye if she knew, but luckily it was not a threat at the door.

It was Director Fury.

Skye had met him once before on a mission, but she had never seen him looking like this. The man looked as if he'd had a whole building collapse on him. Perhaps he has. Skye mused. I'm pretty out of touch here. Anything could have happened and I wouldn't have known. It was a terrifying thought, and it was probably a good thing she was wearing Simmon's power-dampening gloves because otherwise the earth would have probably been trembling. For Director Fury to be here then something had to be very, very wrong, and Skye was already scared enough as it was.

"Agent Skye," he greeted plowing through the open door and into the house. The Director looked around, silent for a moment, until he had Skye completely on edge. "A few hours ago, while experimenting with some alien tech, we had an unexpected visitor, from another planet. His name is Loki, Coulson may have mentioned him." Of course he had. Skye knew all about what happened in New Mexico, and it wasn't pretty. "One of my best agents, Clint Barton, has been compromised. This is no idle threat Agent; the world is at stake. It's with that in mind that I have come to offer you a new position. You've done a remarkable job on Coulson's Bus, but considering your new abilities, I think there may be another program in which your talents would be better suited."

Skye felt the folder titled Avengers Initiative rest in her hands. She didn't even need to open it to know the contents. As much as Fury had tried to keep it a secret, anyone who knew anything about Shield knew of this little program. Coulson had been working on it before the Bus, so naturally he'd told Skye despite it being classified. (They didn't do secrets on the Bus.)

"I figured Coulson had told you," Fury's voice held a hint of humor that made Skye cringe. Fury wasn't an evil man, but everyone knew he wasn't the joking sort either. "So what do you say?"

Skye was pretty sure the man was out of his tree. She'd had her powers for less than a week and had, in that time, she had almost killed everyone who got close to her. There was a reason she wore power-dampening gloves. "You're kidding right?"

"Do I look like a joking man to you Agent Skye?

"Well, no, obviously not but… I have no control."

Fury chuckled again, "You'd hardly be the least volatile member of the team. Do you forget who this bunker was built for?"

Oh, even better. Not only would they have the girl who created earthquakes around, but also the guy who turns into a giant, green rage monster. It was a perfectly safe combination of course! "Yeah but he… he can do science-y stuff. I'm good with computers, sure, but you have Tony Stark. You don't need me for my computer skills. You want me for my powers, and I don't know how to use them."

"Then learn," Fury ordered, no hint of sympathy in his voice. "This threat is real, and the world needs people like you if you are to survive. As a Shield agent you are being transferred to a new team. If you will not join this team I will accept your resignation right now."

Resignation? That was a low blow, even for Nick Fury. If he knew anything about her, and surely he did, he knew how much being an Agent of Shield meant to her. He had to know that. The choice between being an avenger and quitting Shield was no choice at all.

"Don't all the Avengers need codenames?" It was the stupidest excuse Skye could come up with for not joining, but she couldn't just give in. This was a terrible, terrible idea.

Fury knew that as well, but he smiled. The world needed the Avengers, and that was what Skye was. "Welcome to the team, Quake."

Skye arrived at the helicarrier the next day, wondering what on earth (or more specifically, off earth) she'd gotten herself into. The file hadn't been particularly large, but from Skye's understanding this was the biggest threat earth had ever faced. There was an alien brainwashing Shield agents and Avengers candidates, and Skye was part of the world's only hope. They were basically doomed.

"Agent Skye," the girl turned around to see a woman standing there. "The Quinjet with Agent Coulson and Captain Rogers is just landing. The debrief is going to start soon."

As the agent went back inside, Skye continued to look out over the water. This was her new life, where she was an asset more than an agent, and a powerful force of nature. Gritting her teeth, the girl slid her power-dampening gloves off and dropped them in the water. She was here as Quake, not as Skye. This was her new job, her new responsibility, and it was about time she accepted it.

Skye was a part of the team, but she was also a fangirl. The moment she stepped towards the main area and saw Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rodgers and Bruce Banner talking, she almost fainted. They were legends. Sure, there was a lot of bad stuff in there too, but Robin Hood is regarded as a hero despite being a thief. Hulk and Black Widow were superheroes no doubt; it didn't matter that Romanoff had no actual powers.

The two looked up as she approached her new teammates, and Skye found herself thinking back to when she first joined Shield. Back before Ward was revealed as a mole and Skye had powers, she'd just been a girl pulled from her van by men in suits. Now she was the woman in a suit (combat suit, but whatever). She wasn't exactly the newbie anymore (though compared to Agent Romanoff, everyone was a rookie.) Still, it was odd for Skye to think that neither of them had been on the team for longer than her. They were equals, and it was a scary thought.

"You must be Agent Skye," Banner greeted with a wide, toothy smile. "I don't want to overstep but the reports said you'd just recently gained your powers and are having some issues with control. I'd be willing to give you some pointers, if you want them."

Skye noticed Romanoff pretending not to judge, but the assassin obviously didn't like the idea of another lose canon on the team. It appeared that she had yet to realize that the whole team was just a bunch of lose canons-herself included.

"I'd like that," Skye told the older man thanking whatever God there was that her powers weren't as horrible as Bruce's. "Let me guess, the method involves lots of yoga and fruit smoothies?"

Banner laughed, and Skye decided she liked him. He was so even-tempered considering what was inside him. If Skye didn't know better she'd have believed he was really just there to tract the Tesseract.

But she did know better. There were plenty of scientists out there, but not that many with powers like Banners. If they were going after aliens they needed all the destructive force they could get, hence why their lead scientist was actually the Hulk.

"If you want to be doing yoga, just join May for one of her Tai Chi sessions."

Skye turned around and found Coulson standing behind her, Captain America to his right. Wow. She was surprised he'd even managed to form a complete sentence. Skye may be a bit of a fangirl, and she'd probably die when Tony Stark showed up, but Coulson lived for Captain America. When they found him in the ice, Coulson had taken vacation time just to go watch the frozen man. It was a complete obsession, and sort of cute. "You know AC, I'll pass," Skye replied with a sad smile. Something told her she won't be back on the Bus with her SO anytime soon. "Want to introduce your friend?"

"Captain Rodgers," he introduced for himself, stepping forward. They both knew that everyone was aware of whom he was, but Skye suspected he was uncomfortable with that fact. He had only been out of the ice for two weeks; in his mind this was still the forties, not the age of Google. "Aren't you a bit young to be on this team?"

Skye was 21; she was definitely not too young. "Aren't you a bit old? I mean aren't most 93 year old men in nursing homes? I hope this won't be too much exertion for you."

Agent Romanoff laughed at the jibe, and the tension amid the whole group diminished. They were all obviously uncomfortable with the situation, but Skye made them feel much more at ease. She was good at that.

As the group made their way into the main room, Skye was shocked by the sight. She'd been to Shield facilities before of course. She'd lived on the Bus for over a year and a half, but this was a new experience all together. There were probably fifty or a hundred computers all manned by agents. So this is what it means to be communications division Skye realized. In another life, this could have been her.

But it wasn't. She was on this helicarrier for the same reason as freaking Steve Rodgers, and she couldn't forget it.

"Thank you for coming Doctor," Fury greeted Bruce, which Skye felt a bit odd. Everyone was there, yet Fury didn't really seem to mind. He also didn't seem to notice the obvious lack of Tony Stark. Either Iron Man overslept, or he'd ditched. Skye suspected the former over the latter. Whatever else he may be, Tony Stark was a superhero who protected people. Besides, being an avenger was a good way to inflate one's ego, which Stark was fond of.

Bruce only nodded, "Thank you for asking nicely, so how long am I here?"

Fury finally looked to the others gathered. He spoke still only to Banner though, which in an odd way unnerved Skye. It almost felt like the rest of them were never leaving. "Only until we find the Tesseract and then you're free to go."

They continued speaking about that matter, but Skye was distracted. Agent Romanoff was a little ways away from the group, crouched down by a computer showing Agent Barton's file. Without thinking, Skye approached the older woman and spoke. "My partner, well my SO, he was compromised too. You're lucky to know it's not his own free will that chose the enemy over you. We'll get him back soon, you don't have to worry."

Natasha rarely showed much emotion, but her disdain was obvious. "I'm not a child who needs to be coddled. Agent Barton is the enemy whether or not he chose to be. He will be dealt with."

Skye, probably because she was stupid, didn't let the subject drop. "It's okay to be worried about him. He's your friend so you love him."

"Love is for children like you," Natasha brushed off standing up and ignoring the file before her. "I owe Clint a debt he'd prefer me to act on by killing him before he could damage anything else. Perhaps you should have killed your partner before he did that same thing."

Skye wasn't sure how to respond to the woman's cold words, but was luckily saved by Coulson speaking. "Skye, do you think you could track down Loki before the computer programs do?"

"No," she admitted. This was top of the line Shield technology; she couldn't beat it. "But I can reach out to my contacts, see if anyone has been recruited by him. An alien offers them a device which can show them the truth of the universe and most members of the Rising Tide would say yes."

Natasha muttered something in Russian. "I got shot through the leg because of Rising Tide. You are one of them?"

"I was," Skye admitted. She wasn't exactly ashamed of the Rising Tide. There was a lot of information that needed to be spread. Since joining Shield, however, she'd begun to understand that confidentiality could be beneficial as well though. "And whatever they are they're useful. I'm sure I can find out a thing or two."

Fury nodded, "Do so then. Banner, any other ideas?"

While Bruce started muttering about things that would make Simmons jump for joy, Skye pulled out her trusted laptop and started messaging some of those people she suspected would be the first Loki could recruit.

"He's going to be at a gala in Germany," Skye hadn't expected anyone to get back to her so quickly. "And I just got myself an invitation."

Everyone turned to her, and even Natasha looked impressed. "Skye can go in that way, Rodgers and Romanoff won't be able to get in but they can cover the perimeter and try to look for Agent Barton," Fury directed. Without another word, everyone set into motion moving about. Skye couldn't help but feel like there was a blatantly obvious lack of plan. She didn't even know how they were getting to Germany.

"It's Ian Quinn all over again."

That had been one of Skye's first missions, and she had been dangerously close to joining the bad guy. "Except now I can pull the trigger," Skye reminded thinking of the disastrous meeting with Donny she still had nightmares over. "It doesn't matter; I doubt a bullet could take down Loki anyways."

"Skye," the man called grabbing her wrist before she could run away. "Are you okay? I didn't know until yesterday that Fury was bringing you on. If I'd known he would I would never have let him know about your powers."

Like he had a choice. Protocol said that she had to be on the index, and she now was. "I'm fine. May taught me how to keep my pulse-rate even and I've been trying to." She showed him her watch. "I can do this, and if I can't, well I need to at least try."

"After this is over you and I are going to go and find Cal." Skye hadn't even thought of her father yet today; it had been nice. "And I'm sure May will even give you some relief for being an Avenger."

And Skye was sure she wouldn't be going back to living on the Bus, but she didn't say so. Admitting to the reality would only help to make it real. Being a superhero seemed more possible than never marathoning Doctor Who with Fitzsimmons again. "Ah a day off, one can only dream AC. Enjoy your dreams of Captain Rodgers, I've got to go stop an alien."

Skye got back to her 'room' (cough cough cot), and was surprised to find Natasha there. The Black Widow wasn't known for her friendliness, but she'd been overtly callous to the youngest member of the team. For her to be here now… Well Skye was surprised to say the least.

"I figured you didn't have anything to where," she finally said holding out a skin-tight black dress. "Have you ever gone undercover before?"

Skye let out a little snort of a laugh. "Plenty of times. Gotten shot a few too though so I must not be that good at it. Thank you, for the dress."

"How old are you Skye?"

There was a, not gentleness per say, but a softness to her tone. Within a second, Skye understood why the woman was so much harsher to her than to the boys- Skye reminded her of herself. "I'm twenty one." Or something along that line. Not knowing her exact birthday made it a bit difficult to know.

"And how old were you when you joined Shield?"

"Nineteen."

Natasha nodded, and tossed over the dress. "Don't let Loki touch you with his scepter, it gives him the ability to control people's minds." Like Agent Barton's. "And don't get shot. I like that dress."

Skye knew she should let the woman go, but she just couldn't. "Natasha," she called after the assassin. "I know it bothers you, seeing someone my age working for Shield, but it's different from what you were doing. Shield is the good guys."

"Just the fact that you still believe that tells me you have a lot of living to do, Skye." She went to close the door, but her voice carried through. "So like I said; don't get shot."

It was probably the nicest thing Natasha had ever said to anyone.

The gala was extravagant. A string quartet played, people drank champagne, it looked like any other charity fundraiser ever. Considering how much the tickets were going for anyone who got them legally (aka not Skye), it wasn't surprising. The place was set for a perfect night.

At least until Loki strolled down the stairs, and started attacking guards.

While everyone ran the other direction, Skye kicked into action, glad Natasha had lent her a short dress, she ran towards him. He was surprised to say the least about there being an agent there already, but he acted quickly. The illusion on his scepter faded away as he swung it towards Skye, who blasted it, and him, backwards.

She stood shocked. All she'd done was push out her hands, and a burst of seismic energy had burst through. Loki was shocked as well. He thought he knew all of Fury's heroes, but this girl was a stranger. She was powerful though, and Loki knew how. One of the many things he'd learned how to do was identify an Inhuman when he saw one.

"And to think, I'd been told your people died out," he smiled getting up from the ground carefully. Skye attempted to knock him again, but found her power unreliable. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "You just went through the mist, didn't you? You don't understand how it works. I can help you with that."

Skye saw his scepter coming towards her chest, but she was rooted to the spot in fear. Her powers were completely out of control and she knew it. The earth was quaking beneath her, and if she moved the whole place could very well collapse. Maybe the whole city.

The pointed stick pressed against her, but Skye felt nothing. She was still Skye, not under Loki's control. The alien didn't seem to realize that though, because he dropped the scepter to his side and began walking. Without thinking about the consequences, she followed suit. Loki trusted her at the moment, trusted her to be under his control, and she could use that to her advantage.

Calmed by having a plan of sorts, the energy within Skye dissipated. She felt normal again by the time she got outside, and ran right into Agent Barton. He pulled his bow, expecting a fight, but Skye made no move at him. He was actually being controlled, and she wasn't going to hurt him. Besides, it would destroy her cover. "Loki is continuing his part of the mission." Whatever that was, Skye didn't know, but it sounded good. "I am to go with you."

Barton didn't even question it, but led the way to a quinjet Skye behind him. Whatever this control was, it gave him unwavering faith in the mission, and he seemed to know Skye had been touched by the scepter. Lucky for her, he didn't know it hadn't done anything.

Much to Skye's surprise, they took off the moment they reached the plane. They never intended to wait for Loki, which could only mean that Loki had another ride out of here. That certainly didn't bode well for Shield.

As Skye and Clint flew from the sight, Captain America was getting his butt whooped by Loki. The alien might just have won had Tony Stark not shown up guns at the ready. And the alien just might not have been taken if he hadn't wanted to be.

But the Avengers were too confident in their success, and too worried by Skye being missing, to take much notice of how easy it had been. Unwittingly, Skye actually had helped Loki.

"She's nowhere to be found," Steve admitted looking around the crown and back in the gala hall. "Any luck Romanoff?'

Natasha was talking to the elderly man who'd stood up against Loki, and didn't like what she heard. "I saw that girl, sure," he responded. "Brave one she was. Ran right at the guy, but I saw him touch her with some sort of stick. Didn't see much after that."

He didn't need to. Natasha cursed in Russian before speaking over their coms. "Return to the helicarrier. Agent Skye has been compromised."

Skye and Barton landed at some base, and refueled quickly. While they did, Barton brought Skye to see the Tesseract that was being loaded on a different plane for a very different destination. (Where she didn't know. No one around here asked questions because mine control.)

From the minute she laid her eyes on the Tesseract, however, she understood why no one was questioning anything. It wasn't just the stone in Loki's scepter, it was the one in this cube. Skye could hear it calling to her, showing her the truth of the universe. Before her eyes flashed the image of all the stones, melding together in a glorious union of color and beauty. And the power… it reminded Skye of the Obelisk, multiplied by a million the stone radiated the pure power of the universe, and it was truly awesome.

Skye turned and punched Clint Barton in the face with her power.

The man fell backwards, and quickly sat up rubbing his eyes. "How did you? Who? How did you know that would work."

Skye turned back to the Tesseract, knowing this was the true Clint Barton before her. It had worked, just like the stone told her it would. "How could I not?"

Clint looked at the stone, and remembered hearing the voice. It was gone now though, along with Loki's influence, yet it was clear Skye could still hear it, calling. "You're an alien, are you?" If only the alien influence of Loki could allow for Clint to hear the voice, it made sense for that to be the case for Skye.

"I do not know what I am, but I am certainly inhuman, yes," she admitted tearing her eyes away from the siren voice of the Tesseract. "Whatever I am, it's as old as this stone, and far older than mankind, that's for sure."

Clint didn't understand, and he didn't even know who the girl was. "Loki wasn't controlling you. For the same reason you can hear the stone?"

"The infinity stone in both the Tesseract and the Scepter is affecting me differently." That name, infinity stone. Skye wasn't exactly sure where it came from, but it certainly felt right. "I do not know why."

Clint noticed the ground starting to shake around them. It took him a split second to notice that Skye was the one causing it, and he pulled her away from the Tesseract. Quickly enough, the quaking stopped, and the girl's eyes cleared. "Thank you," she whispered shaking her head, glad for the voice to be gone. "I'm sorry I didn't even realize… I don't have much control… Coulson was going to help me learn but then Fury…"

"Coulson?" Clint repeated and Skye nodded. "So you're Shield then, that's good. What's your name?"

"Skye."

No last name, well Clint knew a thing or two about people who didn't have last names. "Okay, Skye, so what do we do now? Breathe and focus on what we need to do now?"

Skye did as he asked, and calmed down enough that her powers settled. "We need to carry on like we would if we were still under. Do you remember what the plan is?"

"I was going to lead a team to infiltrate the bunker and free Loki," Clint realized eyes wide. "Nat's on there."

Yes, they all were. "Okay then. We need to carry on as if we're going ahead with the plan but instead of freeing Loki we're going to make sure he doesn't escape. First we need to figure out where the Tesseract is going."

"If we ask everyone will know we're no longer under the scepter's influence," Clint reminded her and the girl cursed. Her mind whirled, trying to figure out a way for them to stop Loki's endgame without actually knowing what it is.

"Then we place a tracker on it," Skye decided. If they at least knew where the Tesseract was going they could stop it before it was turned on. "That way once we join up with the rest of the team we can go and destroy it. Hopefully, without Loki there telling them to turn it on, it will just be lying dormant when we get there."

"Hopefully," Barton repeated obviously doubting their luck. "Wait a minute what do you mean the rest of the team?"

Skye laughed, and smiled to herself. "Oh haven't you heard, Hawkeye? We're a part of the Avengers."

Clint found Skye a tactical suit that fit her well enough, and they loaded on board with all the brainwashed strike members. Once they were in the air, Clint let out a small nod from the driver's seat, and Skye pulled her icer on them. Once they were all sleeping soundly, Skye moved up front to watch the view with Clint.

"Tell me," Clint asked a smile creeping up his cheeks. "How did Nat react to you being a part of the team?"

He knew her better than anyone, so why was he even asking? "Poorly, though she did request I didn't ruin her dress by getting shot, so that's good."

"That's about as high a compliment as Tasha ever gives," Clint chuckled to himself knowing exactly the look she must have had while saying it. "Don't be too hard on her, it's difficult for her. Any girl she ever became friends with she later had to kill. And if she's mean to you it's only because she's trying to drive you away. For your sake, and for hers."

Skye had been guessing that as well. Seeing her, someone so young, fighting must remind Natasha of herself. And the woman probably wanted a better life for Skye, a life away from Shield.

But once you were a part of Shield, you could never really leave it. Not really. "But it's different, me working for Shield. I don't kill people for them." Tell that to Donny Gill… or even Trip.

"Look kid," Clint answered with a sigh. He had two decades on Skye; she could practically be one of his kids. "If you've been with Coulson you're lucky. He's one of the good guys, but not all of Shield is like that. Sooner or later you're going to encounter the darker Shield. When you do, tell me it's any different from her working for the KGB."

Natasha had said something along the same lines, but Skye still found it hard to believe. Sure, Shield had their issues, but the organization itself was built on a principle of protection, a principle Skye believed in. On the Bus they'd worked not as a team, but as a family, and they'd been damn good at their jobs. A lot of people were living because of them, and those who weren't… well Skye tried her best to forget about them.

"We're getting into radio range," Clint announced a few hours later, waking Skye from her dazed nightmares. She'd dreamt that they were back on the Bus, and Ward was there with his Medusa lackeys. Skye had tried to fight him, but as she did he morphed into Coulson, and he was the one she ended up stabbing. "Hey, kid, you okay?"

Skye grumbled at being called kid, but nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine, what are you going to tell them?"

"Huh, maybe the truth. It would certainly be a first," Clint chuckled radioing in. "Shield vessel 12, this is 661 Bravo with Agents Barton and Skye. We have multiple compromised agents and a few wanted all unconscious. Over."

The pair waited for a response, because the person on the other end was probably running to go and figure out what the heck was going on. Before they got an answer though, they saw steam rising from the ship.

"Screw this," Clint growled landing the plane and jumping out, Skye behind him. Inside the main area, the place was a mess. People ran screaming, and from the one word Skye could make out, it appeared something had sent Banner off.

"I thought you'd been compromised!" Steve yelled over the sound of the engine the Hulk had smashed. "What happened?"

Skye looked at the panel Steve was working on, and rewired it as she spoke. "Long story short the scepter didn't work and Barton and I placed a tracker on the Tesseract and came to help."

Steve looked glad for it too, because she'd figured out the wiring much quicker than he ever could. When looking at it his first response had been that it was run on electricity.

"Here," Steve told her handing the com with Stark on the other end over. "You'll be more help to him. I need to go find Romanoff, last I saw she fell through when Bruce destroyed the lab floor."

Skye put the item in her ear, and heard Tony Stark talking about polarity. "Steve, you there?"

"Steve went to help Agent Romanoff," Skye answered over the coms. "I rewired the panel to provide a better flow of energy. What else do you need?"

Tony didn't even take a beat to wonder who he was speaking to. Despite all the jokes, he knew how to be serious. "I need you to pull that lever when I say." Skye nodded despite him not being able to see, and jumped towards where it was. Unfortunately, she wasn't a super soldier, and fell a bit short. Hanging on to the edge, Skye thought of Ward's words from so long ago, 'when you're hanging off the edge of a building you'll want to do one more pull up.'

Skye never thought she'd be grateful for the traitor, but she was. Pulling herself back up onto the ledge, she managed to pull down the lever right as Tony called out now.

"Nice work," he told her flying towards where she was. "Now let's go see if we can stop the Hulk."

By the time they got into the helicarrier again, the Hulk didn't need stopping; he'd already been thrown from the plane to God-knows where along with Thor. Loki too was missing, but Skye, suspecting that he had no idea the plane went wrong, found him in the plane they had brought here.

"Sorry buddy," she told him as she, and the rest of the Avengers appeared in his path. "But you're not going anywhere."

"So, did we win?"

It was a stupid thing for Tony to say, but Skye had been about to reply 'yes' when she heard Fury's voice over the com. "Agent Coulson is down."

Loki began to laugh at their agony, but quickly stopped after Skye turned to him, his powers flaring, and sent the whole ship he was in flying. Steve pulled her back, terrified of how much damage she could do, but no one was stopping Natasha. As Steve pulled Skye from the room she knew Loki would live, but he would much rather he hadn't.

A few hours later, Skye, dazed beyond compare, stumbled into the conference room, and found Coulson's Captain America trading cards stained with blood on the table. No one could say a word before she walked back out and locked herself in her room to sob.

Skye didn't remember how it got there, but Coulson's miniature Lola was in her hands. Knocking softly, Steve opened the door to find her playing with the stupid figure. "Was he married?"

"No, but he had a family." Truer words had never been spoken, and Skye knew it. She was part of his family. Her May, Fitzsimmons… Who was going to tell Jemma? She'd be destroyed. "He had a family…"

Steve sat down on the cot next to Skye. "I'm sorry, he seemed like a good man."

"The best," Skye admitted sniffling. "He always believed in the best of people. He was raised with stories of you and your heroicness. He believed that any person could become a hero if they were good men before they were good soldiers."

It had been a long time since Steve heard those words. "I think he cared about you. I think he thought you were a hero."

"He was an idiot," Skye muttered putting Lola Jr. on the side table. "I'm not a hero, none of us are. We're time bombs and Loki exploited that."

"And he's paying for that," Steve reminded her knowing that Natasha cared about Coulson more than anyone. Loki was certainly regretting his choices at the moment. "We won Skye."

She looked up at him, the ancient yet young hero of her hero, her dead hero. "Even without Loki they can still turn on the Tesseract. Are you sure we've actually won?"

"He made it personal." Skye and Steve turned to where Tony was speaking. "Loki went after the one guy was honestly good in Shield. He wanted it to be personal. He's an egotist, trying to hurt us most, where would it hurt us most for us to lose for real?"

Skye, pulled from her mood at the thought, looked up the tracker on the Tesseract. "They're going to release it over New York, in front of everybody. Loki thought that people would flock to him once they saw him as their rightful ruler. If something happens in New York everyone sees."

"That son of a bitch," Tony realized knowing exactly where Loki had been heading to meet the Tesseract.

Twelve minutes later, Skye, Clint, Natasha, Tony, and Steve loaded on a quinjet, and soared away from the helicarrier. "How are we supposed to stop soldiers who aren't receiving any orders?" Steve asked over the loud engines. "If they're not following Loki, who are they following?"

"The Tesseract, it's not like anything of this earth," Skye explained thinking of the ethereal voice she'd heard. "It can speak to you, or something else, someone else, can speak through it like Loki spoke through his scepter. I suspect Loki was never really in charge here and that whoever was controlling Loki has now taken a more direct approach."

"Oh great," Clint muttered from the pilot's seat. "We're fighting an enemy and we don't even know who it is. Oh that's just great."

"If anyone doesn't want to go through with this they don't have to," Steve reminded them standing up. He looked especially to Skye. "Some of us have already been through enough."

Skye shook her head. "If there is one thing I know it's that Coulson believed in Shield's mission of protecting. I'm not going to let him down and let the world end."

"Then it's settled," Steve agreed with a nod. "We'll honor Coulson by stopping this."

Skye shook her head again, knowing there was no honoring to be done. "No, we won't honor Coulson. We'll avenge him."

The Avengers made their way to New York City, but not quick enough. Eric Selvig already had the whole machine set up by the time they got there. Tony left to try and shut it down, but Skye doubted he could. There was no logical appeal that would do anything. These orders were coming from someone far away, and he couldn't be found.

The sky opened up above them, and a monstrous sight came out. Aliens, real, bonifed aliens, burst through the portal. Skye found herself rooted to the spot in fear, and the city quaked around her. Natasha, realizing what happened, slapped the girl. "If you can handle this leave," she ordered her look harsh. "Because this is going to be enough of a mess without your powers destroying the eastern seaboard. You can stay and fight, or you can cower in fear. It's your choice, but you have to make it now, and not look back."

Skye looked at the elder woman, and with a deep breath, spun on her heels and shot away a half dozen Chitauri soldiers. When Skye turned back around, she saw Natasha was running off, but she could just make out the smile lining the assassin's face.

A scream pierced through the air, and Skye turned to see a young girl pinned under a Chitauri weapon. This time Skye didn't even need her powers, she just ran towards the alien with everything May had ever taught her and it went down. She scooped up the little girl, who, much to her surprise, wasn't crying. "Thank you Miss," she whispered as Skye handed her over to a police officer. "You're my hero!"

Blushing from cheek to cheek, Skye ran back into the fight.

The battle was going poorly, but when they got the news that Natasha could close the portal everything looked up… Until Tony spoke. "I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip," Steve countered, and Skye laughed to herself. She could hear silence on the other end of the coms as everyone else wondered what sent her over the edge.

"Oh Christ, don't fly into the portal Tony, someone just give me a lift and we can all survive this fight." No one knew what she meant, but soon enough Skye felt herself in Thor's arms (and man were they nice) rising up to meet Tony. "On the count of three you let go of the nuke," Skye ordered Stark. "One, two, three."

He did as she asked, and Skye let out a burst of her energy, knocking the nuke into the portal. "Now!" they all called to Natasha, who closed the portal right as the blinding light of a nuclear reaction appeared. As they dropped down to the ground, Skye watched all the remaining soldiers fall. It appeared that once their ship was destroyed so where they. Cool.

"You're lucky you could even breathe up there," Steve noted once they landed in the rubble. "That was a risky move Skye."

She looked around at the destroyed center of the city, and noted, much to her amusement, that the only letter left on Stark towers was the A. "Well, I did sorta save everyone, so I'll consider it worth the risk."

"He is right, a human could not survive at that altitude," Thor mused looking at her. "I do believe I know what you are. There was a race long ago called the Inhumans. They were created by the Kree as weapons, but were supposedly destroyed when they could no longer be controlled. I believe you to be proof that that wasn't the case."

So she was a race separate from humanity… well that was both terrifying and slightly cool. "Hey, anything you know I'd love to hear."

Thor was about to answer her when they heard the raging scream of the Hulk approaching them. He was still smashing everything and Skye thought for a second he'd smash them, but he didn't. The second he reached the other Avengers he just stopped, and there was something so entirely Bruce in his face. Perhaps they weren't as different as some would believe them to be.

They went out to dinner that night, and ate in silence. There was little to say considering everything that had happened. They'd just stopped an alien invasion and a nuke. It was certainly an interesting day, yet there was nothing left to be said.

The next day, Thor left with Loki and the Tesseract. No one had even tried to fight him on that decision. Thor was Asgardian, and he was responsible for Asgardians. In a similar way Skye would be responsible for any Inhumans they faced, and Steve for any genetically modified super soldiers. It was an unspoken rule, but it made sense. Everyone was responsible for that which they understood, because you can't fear what you understand.

Three days later, most of the Avengers met up in a graveyard. Bruce had disappeared, Thor returned to Asgard, but the rest of them needed to pay their respects to Coulson. Without his death they would never have banded together the way they did. He was the real hero of the hour, and nobody forgot it.

Skye hadn't seen any of her family from the Bus since she left, but when Jemma came running at her nothing had to be said. She'd been pretty horrible to Skye because she was scared, as Skye had been. Now they understood better. "So, an Avenger," May commented looking over towards Skye's new teammates. "You know Fury asked me to join, but I told him to screw off. It's much more your style."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Only May could tell Nick Fury to screw off and actually get her way. "So what are you all doing? Have you been reassigned?"

They all nodded. "We're heading to the Parthenon, some Shield research facility," Fitz answered for him and Jemma. "Mack, Hunter, and Bobbi have already gone to the Hub; May will join them there."

Skye wasn't surprised that their newer recruits weren't at this funeral. That just wasn't their style. "Fury made Clint my new SO," Skye admitted looking over to where the older man was standing with some woman and a couple of kids. "I don't know exactly where we're heading, but I'm sure I'll end up running into you sooner or later."

"I'm glad Fury didn't try to get us back on the Bus," Jemma admitted looking to where Coulson's picture sat above his casket. "It just wouldn't have been the same without him." The world wouldn't be the same without Coulson, and none of them needed to say so.

A few days after the funeral, Skye finally found out where her and Clint were going to be running ops out of. Why they needed two Avengers at a research facility, Skye didn't know, but she was happy being so close to Fitzsimmons. Clint seemed happy for the assignment too, but when asked why by Skye he only replied, "it's close to my home."

It would be a few weeks before he'd trust his partner enough to show her exactly what that meant.

"Skye," Maria's field office worked out of the Parthenon, so both girls had gotten pretty close. "Director Fury is in my office, and he wants to talk to you."

A chill ran down her spine as she climbed up the infinite steps to Maria's office, but Fury didn't look ready to kill her when she opened the door. "Maria said you wanted to see me sir?"

"You're going to want to sit down for this," he answered tossing a file on the desk. Skye looked over it, and saw the words Classified: Level 7 blaring out at her.

"Last time I checked, I was only a level 2, sir," Skye looked at the man wondering if he'd been hit on the head at some point of the attack. "What's this that you decided to tell me about it?"

Fury sat forward in his chair, and looked at the girl. "Something that none of the other Avengers can know. I wasn't going to even tell you, but I made Coulson a promise. I owed him this much to keep it."

Coulson? Skye missed the man more than anything, and hearing his name stung. He was her father, not Cal, and missing him had consumed far too much of Skye's thoughts over the past week. If Coulson wanted her to know this then….

Skye flipped open the file, and Skye was shocked by what she found. "Is this true?"

"Every word of it," Fury admitted with a nod. "Project Tahiti was designed in case an Avenger should fall. When one did, I saw it only fit to use it." Skye looked back down at the picture. Coulson looked like Hell, but he was alive, he was really and truly alive. "Now that you know, perhaps you can get back to work and this time actually focus on it."

Yeah, now she actually could.

What do you think? Certainly different from my norm but I haven't had much time to write lately so I'm a bit rusty. The next chapter will be up soon, as it's short, but then chapter 3 with Captain America: Winter Soldier and chapter 4 with Age of Ultron will take some more time. After that I'll just have to update when movies come out, because there isn't much else I can do.