It was just her luck, really. Her really sucky, terribly bad luck. The moment she finds a family, a family that actually wants to keep her…and it all blows to pieces.

Skye sat cross-legged on her bunk, holding her new SHIELD badge in limp fingers and just staring at it. How long has it been? Four…five days? She supposed she wasn't even a SHIELD agent anymore; SHIELD didn't exist anymore.

But she had been so happy when she got her badge! For the first time in her life, Skye was officially part of a family. No one would ever know just how proud she felt when Agent Garrett said," I'm a SHIELD agent…just like you."

Because that son of a bitch turned out to be the goddamn Clairvoyant; a Hydra sleeper agent. As the Clairvoyant, what he did was atrocious and completely unforgivable. But as John Garrett…what he did was so much worse.

He trained Grant Ward.

"Where's Ward?" she asked Coulson when the Bus left without him.

That bastard was who Ward looked up to; who spent years and years conditioning him to be the perfect soldier.

He acted so normal on the phone, talking to her about Tom Brady and that he would see her soon. She was looking forward to it too.

And then not an hour after they touched down in Canada, Coulson angrily demanded his phone back to make a 'final phone call'. Less than ten minutes later, he returned and it just like that, all of Coulson's spark was gone. His shoulders sagged and his eyes were red and sad.

"Skye, I'm sorry." That's what he told her. SHIELD no longer had control of the Fridge, Hydra did, and Skye thought that she died right then and there. Ward was at the Fridge! Skye knew him well enough that he'd rather die than let Hydra take the base, he was…

"Skye," Coulson's hand reached out, as if wanting to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder but thought better of it," There's more…"

And that's when Skye's world fell apart. Ward hadn't died in the attack on the Fridge…He had been part of the takeover.

Agent Grant Ward was Hydra.

Grant Ward followed orders. He said so himself; he didn't make the calls; someone says 'Go kill that guy,' and Ward did it.

Stupid Garrett. Stupid Hydra. Stupid Ward and that stupid way he asked her out, kinda (does going out for a drink count as a date?) and the stupid kiss in that stupid closet in the stupid Hub. She hated it. She hated how much she cared about him, hated how he knew just how to get under her skin, hated that he always promised to protect her, hated that he once told her he didn't want her in SHIELD because he was worried she'd be killed.

"Argh!" she yelled in frustration and threw the badge against the wall. It clanked –quite satisfyingly- against the concrete wall before it fell to the floor.

Stupid Grant Ward.

…..

"Right now, we need allies," Coulson spoke. He was as no nonsense as he always had been when briefing for a mission," Ones we trust."

"But sir," Fitz interjected," We can't trust anyone. We still don't know how deep Hydra goes."

It was a hard truth, and everyone hated it. No one hated it more than Coulson. The not knowing, the betrayal: people they've known for years, friends, partners…betrayed by all of them…

But even in all times of darkness, Coulson knew there was always a silver lining. "There are a few," he said quietly, already knowing exactly who they could trust. People who would never side with Hydra, not even if their life depended on it.

"I've got a few calls to make."

….

The first of Coulson's 'allies' arrived in two days, time in which Skye still refused to leave her room. Everyone else had already met him, everyone except for Skye, of course. So he decided to introduce himself.

Despite a SHIELD level, password encoded lock on Skye's door, it suddenly opened with a swoosh and she literally jumped in the air.

"Ah, so she does exist," Tony Stark waltzed in like he owned the place. Skye could only gape at him –and wonder if she was hallucinating- as he glanced around her small room in curiosity. There were papers everywhere, both with encryption codes and some doodles of her own, a few laptops that she had 'borrowed', her bag and messy laundry, and then the two laptops balanced on the bed in front of her. "You know, when someone finally decided to tell me that Agent Coulson was alive," he continued, nonchalantly as if he barged into unsuspecting girls' rooms all the time," I could hardly believe it. But when he told me he had a protégé who specialized in CS…well, I had to see it for myself. I assumed he was making you up."

He looked back at Skye and she really wished she was wearing more than a pair of sweatpants and one of Ward's T-shirts (she may or may not have a drawer full of shirts and sweatshirts she's stolen over the months). "Does he even know how to use a computer?" he asked suddenly, honestly curious.

"Uhh," Skye blinked rapidly," What?"

"Agent Coulson. Coulson. Phil Coulson. Phil," he waved his hand," Whatever you want to call him."

"Umm…A.C?"

"A.C!" he pointed at her dramatically, a little bit too excited," I like it." Okay, if this was a hallucination, she was pretty sure they weren't supposed to last this long. Or be about Ironman. Wasn't she supposed to hallucinate about Ward, or Hydra, or her past, or something else?

Because there was no way the real Tony Stark had barged into her bunk in a super secret hideaway, catching her hacking into the Federal Aviation Administration mainframe on one computer, while another was trying to find it's way into the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The 'hallucination' snapped his fingers in front of her face," Hey, anybody home?"

Skye jumped; because hallucinations do not snap their fingers in your face. "Holy shit!" she cursed, rather loudly, and all of a sudden a whole slew of other curse words slipped out of her mouth.

Stark thought it was hilarious.

Once he managed to stop laughing, yet still grinning like a madman, he stuck out his hand," Nice to meet you. Tony Stark."

Skye seriously wanted to just roll up into a ball and die. What a way to meet your idol. And he just had to barge in and not give her time to make herself presentable! Still, she was rightly freaking out in her mind as she shook his hand. "Skye."

The handshake was short and to the point and she was fairly sure her own hand was trembling in shock. "Well," Stark clapped his hands together," I'm going to go find a snack. Then you can come out of your lair and share with everyone why you're hacking into the FAA and ICAO."

Then he sauntered out, whistling a jaunty tune.

'What the fuck just happened?'

….

Outside of Skye's room, Coulson stood with arms crossed and a disgruntled expression on his face. "Whoa," Tony Stark halted in his tracks and held up his hands in defense," It's like running into the father while sneaking out."

"I'm not the one you'd have to worry about," Coulson said simply, without telling who on their team would be most likely to kill him. Then with a sigh, he lowered his arms. "How did it go?" he asked," I was hoping her role model would be able to get her to come out."

"I just didn't think you'd barge in unannounced," he added sourly.

"I think she took it rather well," Stark said, then pointed with his thumb at the now closed door behind him," Did you know she can swear in three different languages?"

No, Coulson did not know that, and it was enough for him to crack a smile. It had been interesting to hear the rather laid-back teammember swear enough to make a sailor blush. If only Fitzsimmons had heard her.

"So, Coulson…" As the two began walking, Stark asked," Why did your hacker lock herself in her room?"

As soon as he asked, he knew it was a mistake. Any trace of a smile Coulson once had was now gone. Stark liked to think he knew Coulson well enough to know that his expression was now one of pain, of hurt, and then there was the anger. Lots and lots of anger. "It's…" he sighed, heavily as if the mere mention of it was a heavy weight on his chest," It's been a hard week on everyone."

While that was true, Stark knew it was more than that. But for sake of friendship, he didn't press further on it and just nodded in agreement.

Instead, he asked," So who else on our wonder team have you called in? Cap? I'd imagine he'd be the most pissed off right about now. And he doesn't even turn into a hulking green rage monster. Shame."

All this time later, Coulson wondered just why Banner continued to be Stark's friend.

"Captain Rogers' status is unknown," he said instead," No one can find him or Agent Romanoff."

'Really? They both disappeared?' Stark thought, mildly interested then shrugged it off. For now. He'd bury his nose into their personal business as soon as he could anyways. Mentally, he counted off all the Avengers. "So that leaves…Thor and Hawkman."

"Hawkeye," Coulson automatically corrected him, then shook his own head when he remembered that wasn't Clint's name. "Agent Barton," he amended.

"So…what? Do we shine a hawk silhouette into the sky?"

For a brief moment, the image of a 'Hawkeye signal' flashed through Coulson's mind, and then he imagined Barton doing his best Batman impression. He managed to contain his sudden urge to laugh, but the grin spread across his face regardless. "He might ask for it to be a regular thing."

"But I already called him in," he continued," He'll arrive shortly. No later than tomorrow."

"And our great god of thunder and shiny metal?"

Coulson shrugged at that one," Even if we could find a way to contact him, this is a little bit…below his jurisdiction." 'True,' Stark had to grudgingly admit. Anything less than alien was hardly an Asgardian's business. Now, if they were facing another alien invasion that'd be something else…

Just as Skye perfectly predicted less than five minutes ago, Simmons tackled her into a hug the instant she stepped foot into the 'war room' of the Bus. Then came the lecture about how unhealthy it was to lock oneself in their room for two days straight. Then Fitz forced her to sit down and eat a sandwich.

To which Skye promptly burst into tears, making Simmons cry and further confusing the hell out of Fitz. "Wh-what did I do?" he quite literally flailed and if she wasn't feeling emotional overloaded, Skye would've laughed at how he looked like a dancing monkey," It's the sandwich, isn't it? Jemma makes them so much better, but there really wasn't much of anything edible in the kitchen. So I thought a peanut butter and jam sandwich would-"

"Fitz, you're rambling," Simmons calmly reminded him and he snapped his jaw shut with a soft click.

"No, no. You did nothing wrong, Fitz," Skye told him and tried to wipe her eyes, but more tears just replaced the ones lost," I'm just…it's all just so overwhelming, and then you two are so amazing."

She smiled weakly at Simmons, whom she knew as her best friend and knowing that a year ago she couldn't have even imagined a friendship like this. "Just..thank you guys. I don't know what I'd do without you. You're the bestest friends ever."

Simmons and Fitz smiled back and Jemma wrapped her arms around Skye's shoulders once again. "That's not even a word, sweetie," she couldn't help but saying though, causing Skye to laugh. After a moment, they beckoned Fitz to join in. Who was he to say no? And soon the three friends were hugging tightly, just thankful to have a friendship like this.

It was this moment when Coulson, May, Trip, and Stark walked in. "Is this a private party or can anybody join in?" Coulson asked, smiling wryly. The three of them stepped back, chuckling lightly and wiping their eyes. Fitz turned around and pretended he wasn't just crying.

"Always have hugs for you and May, A.C." Skye smiled widely at him. Coulson smiled back…that was Skye's real smile. He almost forgot what her real smiles looked like and it warmed his heart to know that she was feeling better.

May huffed lightly in a form of laughter and shook her head with a small smile. "I'll pass."

"Stark tells us you have something, Skye," she continued, getting down to business as usual.

"Oh, yeah." And just like that, Skye eased back into her hacker role again. With a swipe of her hand, she 'threw' open two screens onto the large screen on the wall. One was a map of North America, the other of the world, with lines crossing all over each. There were many colors and lines and they had absolutely no idea what they were looking out. "We know Hydra is mobilizing, right? That means they need to amass a large force in one location. I've figured out a way to track their progress."

"They've had over 70 years to build their army," Trip spoke up," How can you track that?"

"They've been spread out all around the world," May replied, figuring out what Skye was getting to," After they've taken out SHIELD's bases, they'd still need to regroup back to their own headquarters."

"And that means planes," Skye finished," Lots of them."

"Is that what these are?" Trip pointed to the two maps," Plane routes?"

Skye nodded," Every single one since the Hub was attacked."

Stark spoke up for the first time, and that's when Skye finally noticed he had been snacking on chips while watching. "Only helicarriers have cloaking capabilities, and we all know Hydra doesn't have their hands on any at the moment, thanks to Cap. Even if Hydra's using SHIELD aircrafts, they still can't evade detection." He looked at Skye with an approving expression," Well done. You've tracked every single plane in the world using a couple laptops?"

Skye blushed under the praise from her role model. "Um, yeah. It took a while though, I had to go over records from every country that monitored airspace. China was especially hard to get into."

"Good job," Coulson agreed, then staring at the maps, he added," I doubt Hydra's using Southwest Airlines though, can you delete all commercial flights?"

A few clicks later, nearly 70% of the lines disappeared. Only three colors remained. "Okay," Skye announced," Green is all private places and jets. Red is military. Black is unknown."

"Those unidentified planes are most likely SHIELD aircraft," May mused," The private jets are of no consequence. Most are too small to transport men and arms."

Click. Click. All green lines disappeared, leaving only red and black. "Can you isolate which ones are U.S. military?" Coulson asked.

Skye shook her head. "I'm still working on that," she admitted," It's hard enough tracking Air Force, but a lot of movement has gone off the books in the past week. I can't tell the difference between a drill flight, and what's mission, and what's Hydra."

"You've still gotten pretty far. This gives us more than we had a week ago. There's a pattern here somewhere, we just need to find it."

…..

It was difficult, almost nigh impossible, to find some peace and quiet around here. There were always people moving around, at all times of day, even in the deep night like right now. It was nothing like the Bus, and Ward couldn't help but make the comparison. The first night, he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, instead lying awake and listening to Hydra agents move around outside his door.

But…at least he had solitude. At times; Garrett relied on him for so many things. Ward liked that; that even after so much time away under deep cover, his S.O. still valued him as his right hand man. But however good he was, Ward was still only human and even he needed to sleep.

Which is what he probably should be doing right now. Garrett wanted to take back the Cube tomorrow and Ward needed to be in top form. But as always, the noise kept him awake and all he could do was lie on his bed and stare at the brick ceiling.

It was times like this that his thoughts liked to wander.

And he'd never admit it to anyone, especially to Garrett, but more often than not those thoughts wandered to Skye. Not to Hydra, not to SHIELD, not to Coulson, not to anyone else on Coulson's team. Always to Skye.

And Ward hated it.

Garrett was suspicious enough as it was. Ward had mentioned Skye's name a few times too many in the first couple days, had disapproved of Garrett having her shot for his own sick curiosity, and still his S.O. teased him about it. Every chance he got, Garrett brought it up –yes, Ward was attracted to her, liked her even- and it was like he was flaunting it in his face. And despite how Garrett treated it like it was a little candy crush –he actually called it that, word for word- Ward still saw the beginnings of flickering doubt in his eyes. It was like he was wondering just how much Ward liked Skye, and how far he would go for her. If he would stop at yelling at his S.O… or if he'd take it further.

Ward didn't like being doubted by his S.O.

So he threw himself into his Hydra work. Told them every secret Coulson ever told him, even got Garrett the gravitonium, gave Raina the hard drive from Skye. It appeased Garrett greatly, until it was discovered Skye bested them.

It scared Ward that he felt a little bit of pride for his once rookie. Even though she was probably halfway across the world, even though she foolishly trusted him with the hard drive, Skye still managed to make a fool out of them. It was just her style; if anyone tried to get that intel, then it would disappear forever. She liked holding all the cards and was too stubborn to lose; if she couldn't have her way, she'd light the cards on fire.

And now there was little chance of getting that information back, not without Skye. But by the time they figured this out, the team already knew of Ward's betrayal.

The last time he heard Coulson's voice on the phone, it had been to hear his former C.O. yell profanities at him, telling him how they had footage of Ward's part in the attack on the Fridge. Ward had picked up that phone, fully expecting to hear Skye's voice again, not to hear," You traitorous son of a bitch! You'll burn in hell for this!"

Garrett laughed so hard that he nearly split a rib.

Ward barely managed a chuckle. All he could think of was the last time he talked to Skye, mere hours before.

"Ward…Be careful."

"You, too."

He'd never get that drink, after all. All he'd ever have…was a kiss.