Masquerade

Skye wasn't entirely sure why Coulson thought it was necessary to send her undercover at Stark Industries annual masquerade ball. May had a better chance of passing for a wealthy benefactor than the young hacker did, even Tripp was a better choice, if he could pass for a general he could pass for a millionaire looking for a tax right off. Yet still Coulson insisted that Skye was needed for this particular op. It wasn't that the job was hard, it was just surveillance but Skye just wasn't into undercover work, after all Quinn's party had ended up with her in the pool and the train had ended up with two bullets in Skye's stomach. Both those jobs had just been surveillance as well and Skye wasn't exactly looking for a repeat of either one, but Coulson wouldn't listen to the hacker's calm, if somewhat loud, reasoning. So now Skye found herself a guest at one of Tony Stark's famous parties, surrounded by people that had more money than some whole countries. Years ago Skye had only dreamt about being surrounded by so much wealth now she had other dreams, more realistic ones, like making it through the night without punching a billionaire who got a little handsy when filled with alcohol, which was a challenge in itself.

Standing as far as she could get from the masses without looking suspicious Skye groaned into her ear piece, "Why am I here? It's not like Stark needs protection, I may or may not have seen Captain America making the rounds."

Coulson's voice came over the ear piece, "Rogers is there?"

Skye supressed a smile, "Not the point." The hacker sighed, "Why am I here, sir?"

Coulson seemed to pause before answering, "It's one of the few places one of our undercovers could make contact without looking suspicious talking to a stranger. Besides you looked like you could use some fun."

Skye straightened slightly, "Wait, I'm meeting someone? Who?"

Again Coulson paused, "You'll know him when you see him." Before Skye could speak the Director of SHIELD spoke again, "Now stop talking before someone notices. Have some fun."

Skye sighed but didn't speak again, Coulson would just order her to be quiet again anyway, instead she returned to the crowd of people who mingled around the dance floor and the bar. Skye searched for her contact, the one Coulson assured her she would recognize, the sooner they met the sooner Skye could leave. The problem was Skye didn't recognize anyone, and the masks didn't exactly help the situation. What if the contact didn't recognize her with her mask on, Coulson may not have thought of that but Skye also knew she would stand out too much if she took the mask off, the mask gave her at least some anonymity and meant people wouldn't recognize her if they saw her at another event. So the mask stayed on as Skye mingled, still searching desperately for her contact, Coulson's man undercover. Skye gave a brief thought to where this man was undercover, especially if a party hosted by Tony Stark was one of the few places he could meet. HYDRA was an option but Skye doubted Skye would let anyone remotely related to the organization near one of his parties, the chance was still there but it was slim. Which left the military or one of the independent contractors that had sprung up since SHIELD's fall. Skye honestly didn't care, she just wanted the man's intel, once the hacker got that she could leave and spend some time thinking up a punishment got Coulson for not mentioning she was here to meet a contact.

Skye was aware that her searching had drawn any attention until she heard laughter from behind her. The hacker turned to find a red haired woman standing behind her.

The woman smiled, "That's no way to find Prince Charming."

Skye smiled weakly, "I gave up on Prince Charming a long time ago."

"Good," The woman nodded as she turned back to the party, "Love is for children anyway."

Skye raised an eyebrow at the comment but let the woman walk away.

There was a sigh of relief over the comms from Coulson, "Don't respond but that was close." The Director of SHIELD actually sounded concerned, "That was the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff." He paused briefly before continuing, "If she had made you then you would be dead, a spy is a spy to her, be it HYDRA or SHIELD."

Skye didn't respond, just adding the incident to list of things she had to repay Coulson for when she got back to the Playground. She pulled herself from the crowd, hoping some distance would help her see Coulson's contact, and maybe keep the hacker from having any more run-ins with former soviet assassins.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

Skye spun to face the voice and froze, completely lost for words. Skye had known Grant Ward was out of jail, after the incident with his brother Coulson had agreed that maybe the ex-HYDRA agent deserved a chance at forgiveness, as long as it wasn't anywhere near the Playground. Ward's desire to help had sent him undercover in his own brother's political organization. That had been months ago and Skye hadn't heard a word since, part of her had wondered if Ward had run straight back to HYDRA despite all his promises. Apparently not.

Skye had forgotten how good Ward looked in a suit, how good he looked clean shaven. Coulson had been right, even in a mask Skye recognized her for S.O. and she had to admit he looked good.

Finally finding her voice again Skye sighed, "You're my contact?" She pulled out her ear piece, she didn't want to deal with Coulson right now, Skye would deal with the Director of SHIELD later.

Beneath his mask Ward raised an eyebrow, "Coulson didn't tell you?"

"No," Skye snapped, moving away from the crowd where they wouldn't be heard, "I assume you asked for me."

Ward shook his head following Skye away from the crowd, "No, I would have talked to anyone Coulson sent." He smiled weakly, "Although I suspect Coulson sent you to ensure I actually showed."

Skye crossed her arms as she turned to face Ward, "Yeah, well, you lost a lot of trust."

"I know," Ward admitted, he glance around the room taking a step towards Skye, "Can you hide your hatred for a couple of minutes? We're meant to be flirting, having fun."

Skye sighed, uncrossing her arms, "Fine. Give me your intel so I can get out of here."

Ward held out a hand, "Can I at least have one dance?"

Again Skye sighed, she knew this was one of the ways Ward could pass her the intel discretely, she took Ward's hand, "One dance, I get the intel and then you're gone and I'm gone."

"Your rules," Ward agreed, leading Skye out onto the dance floor. The first thing he did was slip a USB into Skye's hand, everything he had gathered on his own brother over the last couple of months was on that USB.

Skye thought about pulling away as soon as the intel was in her hand but she couldn't, she didn't want to. This was the man she remembered, the SHIELD agent, not the HYDRA agent he had become. She didn't complain when Ward pulled her closer.

"I've missed you," Ward whispered.

I've missed you too, Skye thought but didn't say out loud, "How's working for your brother? Did he recognize you?"

Ward smiled, "He wouldn't recognize me if I punched him in the face."

Skye took a step back, "Tell me you didn't."

"I didn't punch a senator," Ward assured her, "Even a bastard one at that."

"Good," Skye replied, letting out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, "Getting arrested wouldn't help anyone."

The song ended and Ward led Skye off the dance floor, "I here I thought you didn't care." He let go of Skye's hand and smiled weakly, "I guess you're free to go."

Ward turned to leave but Skye grabbed his hand, Ward had changed and maybe he finally deserved a chance, she smiled, "Coulson told me to have some fun."

Ward raised an eyebrow beneath his mask, "So…"

Skye smiled brightly, leading Ward back to the dance floor, "So maybe we could have another dance."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was bored and I'm not sorry. This has nothing to do with any of my other stories it's just something I've been thinking about.

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