The Pilot

Skye could barely suppress a smile when the door of her van was yanked open and she saw her father standing there with an agent she's never met. Though she was saved from blowing her cover with her facial expression when a black bag was roughly put over her head. She was kind of excited to see her parents new digs, she hadn't seen them in almost six months. She'd been placed on and off this undercover op in the rising tide for almost three years, making relationships and gaining trust, hacking into designated SHIELD files, keeping these 'hacktavists' away from the files that really did go bump in the night. She knew someone would be out to see her soon, she left the same address on both videos, hoping to draw SHIELD's attention to project centipede. Clearly the bag over her head meant she was supposed to carry on with her cover story. Hopefully though, she would get a second with her parents, she originally took this op to give her parents some 'us time' after her dads 'accident' as Skye liked to call it. She for one didn't like to remind herself her father had died. Skye hadn't expected the cover to last this long this go around, and she missed them more than anything, back door emails weren't enough for her, but seeing her Dad standing in front of her, tampering his grin down to a small smirk had Skye letting out a small huff under her hood and letting a large smile take over her face. Her training had kicked in and she knew she was in the back of a SHIELD SUV, when the vehicle stopped and a strong arm grabbed her out she knew it wasn't her father guiding her. Without her previous knowledge of it, she could tell she was on a plane, with each set of stairs she acted as clumsy as possible, she was just a young trouble maker hacking SHIELD from a laptop in her van, she wasn't a level nine agent who had graduated at the top of her academy classes, with a phD, 4 black belts, and a pilots license. When her hood was yanked up and she was forced in a chair she stopped herself from smiling and had the decency to look scared. Her eyes immediately trained to the man who hadn't changed her diapers, assessing his threat level. She could tell by his build and posture that he was a specialist, and to be on her father's new team he had to be a good one. She could also read his body language, and it was clear he was not used to teamwork, if they were trying to work together it wasn't very convincing. He clearly needed to hear Fury's 'one man' speech.

"You're making a big mistake" She said, deciding to go with the usual.

"You don't look that big" The agent quipped back. 'Oh, he's funny, if only he knew'. Skye thought. Her father looked at his fellow agent with reproach before he spoke up.

"Sorry for the lack of finesse, Agent Ward here has a little history with your group... The rising tide" His voice was calm and steady while Ward continued to glare at her from his position at the senior agents side.

"I don't know wha..."

"Okay there are two ways we can do this" Skye felt her sarcasm bubble at his lack of approach, her father watched, just the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

"And is one of them the easy way?" She quipped.

"No" His face remaining impassive.

"Oh" Skye played along, looking worried. This whole stint made it crystal clear that she was meant to keep her cover, though she wasn't sure why she wasn't informed before she was 'aprehended'… something she'd have to take up with her S.O. when she reported next.

"What's your name?" Phil finally questioned. She looked around with faux apprehension.

"Skye" She answered timidly.

"What's your real name?" Ward questioned, and Skye decided this whole bad cop thing wasn't really working for him.

"It can wait" Phil response was quick, almost too quick making Skye's gaze turn to him. "There's another name we need, a certain hero" Skye just looked at him dubiously.

"What makes you think I know that?" She just shook her head. Her training told her they needed to protect this guy but her cover told her the hacktivist she was pretending to be would never hand over such information so easily. She'd have to go along until Phil gave her a reason to give it up.

"Well, you made a little mistake, the phone you filmed the hooded hero with had the same cryptographic signature as a few of the rising tide posts" She's worked with her dad enough to know that he was teeing it up for her up to play right along with her cover.

"Wow, yeah, was that a mistake or am I now sitting in the center of your secret headquarters? What is this a plane? I got inside, and by now you've discovered you can't beat the encryption on my equipment so you got nothing" She finished with a smirk. She missed having these little matches with her dad.

"We have a fairly strong coincidence, you being on the scene right before it went up in flames. Wanna tell me what my team is gonna find there?" He answered, dropping the file in front of her. Implying she could have blown up the building, he was good. Skye just glanced at the file before looked at him scared again. "How did you know the hooded man was in the building?"

"Did you blow it up to draw him out?" Ward threw in walking right up to her so she had to look directly up at him. Skye was appalled at his interrogation tactics, she knew everyone couldn't be trained by Romanoff but wow.

"Did you?" She snarked back.

"That's not our style" Phil answered.

"I was just kidnapped by your style" Skye quipped, and she heard Ward huff, 'Oh, he was one of those guys', she thought. "SHIELD covered up New Mexico, project Pegasus, of course you'd be covering up centipede" She continued, waiting to see the reaction her got. She watched Ward take a step back and rub his ear, mouthing centipede to Phil. Skye was stunned, she's been leaking it to them for months, how had they not discovered it yet? Could she have been any more clear? She was out of contact for six months only communicating through rising tide posts, and only two check ins with her SO and they really hadn't found centipede with what she had given them. Had all of that work been for nothing? She let her shock shine through as she decided to mock them. "Holy no way" she smiled. "You don't know what that is, billions of dollars of equipment at your disposal and I beat you with a laptop I won in a bet?" She asked as if it was ludicrous. Her father played right along, though Skye could see his masked confusion.

"You need to think about your friend, we're not the only ones interested in people with powers. We'd like to contain him yeah, the next guy will want to exploit him, and the guy after that will want to dissect him" Phil continued, and she acted as if what he said really did scare her, as Ward placed a hand on the table to lean down in her face.

"What is centipede?" Skye figured he was supposed to be scary, but she couldn't help but spare a glance at the hand he was resting too much weight on and the tie dangling too close to her. She could use that desk to give him a concussion before he could even blink, but she guessed he didn't think she was 'that big'. She upheld her scared face but she could feel her hand twitching to yank that tie so she pushed her chair back suddenly. She saw Ward glance at Phil and he just shrugged as if to say 'let's see where this goes' . Ward backed off and sat in the flight chair as Skye began to pace.

"Centipede, it was chatter on the web" Her father watched carefully, knowing her tone meant they were dangerous. "and then gone, I traced the access point back to that building" she explained.

"What were you after?" Ward questioned, she wanted to question why he would interrupt a suspect instead of letting them continue, you always learned more when they continued.

"The truth" She quipped back irritated at being interrupted. "What are you after?"

"World peace" She looked him up and down as he stood up, his snark belaying the fact that he thought she was full of crap, also that he was about to blow this interrogation. "You sudo anarchist hacker types love to stir things up" He continued as Skye looked at him and she crossed her arms urging him with her eyes to continue 'Just keep digging buddy' she thought. "But you're never around for the fallout" He said walking up until he was inches from her "people keeps secrets for a reason Skye" She let his closeness intimidate her.

"Well just because you're reasonable" She poked him hard in the chest. "And firm" She continued. "Doesn't mean that you're not an evil, faceless government tool bag"

"Just give us your guys name" He huffed, and she withheld her smirk, she was getting to him, which she decided was what she wanted.

"He's not my guy!" She huffed right back.

"You understand he's in danger" Phil butted back in, though he meant it to mean something different, the warning on her fathers face clearly meant 'stop pushing buttons'. Skye had seen it too many times to mistake it. Skye just turned to face him instead of Ward.

"Then let me go! Let me talk to him! Me, not the T one thousand here" She said, gesturing to Ward.

"You want to be alone with him, of course" Ward said as if it explained everything and made his way closer to Phil "She's a groupie, all this hacking into SHIELD tracking powers" Ward explained, Skye watched her father shake his head and contain an eye roll. He obviously didn't know what to took to hack shield, let alone from a laptop in a van. "She might as well be one of those sweaty cosplay girls crowding around Stark tower" he finished as Phil pushed himself out of his chair.

"What!" Sky rebutted, offended, but she couldn't resist. "I would nev- one time" She said as Phil opened the door.

"Ward" He said, making it clear he was to follow. As soon as the door closed Skye smiled. She knew they would be back relatively quickly, they were on a plane so whatever her father was getting to make her looked dooped into telling them her info couldn't be too far. She hoped she'd get a chance to find out why Ward was such an awful interrogator. Skye almost laughed to herself when she realized her father never introduced himself, only Ward and she wondered how good Ward could be if he never caught it too. She sat herself back down in the chair Phil had just vacated schooling her features to look apprehensive and waited for them to come back.

When they came back in and stood in front of her Phil was holding a injection gun and a vile of green liquid. 'ah, the good old truth serum' she thought, this would be fun, she knew her father couldn't use it on her, it would blow her cover, so she covered her anticipation with apprehension.

"This is Q-M-B-T sixteen" Phil said, holding up the vile. "it's the top shelf martini of sodium pentathlon derivatives, it's a brand new and extremely potent truth drug" He explained as Ward came behind her placing a hand on her shoulder as she squirmed looking frightened then glared at her father. "Don't worry the effects only last about an hour" He finished as Ward walked over to the other side of the table.

"Then you'll have a nice little nap" He tone was too smug. This was obviously going to be his punishment for royally butchering the interrogation, not that he knew that. He was setting himself right up. "And we'll have all the answers of- Hey! What the hell?" He said as Phil jammed the gun into his arm, dispensing the serum.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Phil had the decency to look remorseful.

"No!" Ward exclaimed, a little upset "But you've lost your mind! You should never do that to a member of your team! And yes, it did hurt a little bit but I always try to mask my pain in front of beautiful women because I think it makes me seem more masculine. My god! that stuff works fast" He said siting down, Skye thought 'you're not so bad yourself hot stuff' as she gaped at her father. She knew it was coming but it still got her every time.

"Don't trust us, ask him whatever you'd like" Phil smirked at her before he turned to leave.

"Wait, you can't just, this is definitely not protocol" Ward exclaimed as Phil closed the door, he then turned to look at Skye, as she removed her vest, pushing her chest toward him.

"You seem nervous Agent Ward" And Skye totally noticed his eye lingering on her chest before looking back at her face. As she leaned forward on the table an unmistakable smirk on her face.

"Did Agent Ward give you anything?" Phil asked as he watched a slumped over Ward on the security feed.

"He told me he's been to Paris but he's never really seen it, and that he wishes you stayed in Tahiti" Skye answered as she made her way into what she could only assume was the planes command center.

"It's a magical place" He smiled as she reached him at the computer table. She covered her grimace at his words by observing all of her surroundings, seeing if any other agents were around. When she met his gaze again her father smiled widely at her, and she couldn't help but return it.

"Hi Daddy" She said before moving in for a hug, he wrapped her up tightly in his arms.

"I missed you, Skylar Mae" He murmured quietly before he pulled away to assess her like he does Lola for any damage. Finding none he just smiled and kissed her forehead. "The rest of the team should be back any minute, Hill will brief you later but you're to keep your cover, I'm supposed to offer you a position, that's all I know. Your mom... she's got her agent face on, so don't read too much into it, you know that's not her" Phil told her softly. Skye nodded, it had been hard on all three of them for the past eight years, Especially Skye and her mother. After their mission in Bahrain her parents came back different, mostly her mother. She was still her mother, but not like Skye used to remember, where mischief used to sparkle in her eyes it was now dull, and she wasn't as warm as she used to be, her mother was getting better, Skye knew that, especially after Phil died. She had come a long way, but Skye knew she would never be the same. Skye sometimes had to look to her father for reassurance, that the person she was to everyone else wasn't her mother. That the cold and silent, stony faced woman she was to everyone around them wasn't in fact her mother and though she was barely still the woman she used to be, she was still Skye's mother, and Phil's wife. He must have known she'd need it now, before she saw how her mother was with field agents. Skye gestured to the screen in front of them and her dad played the clip of Mike in the factory on the news report.

"That's not him, not the guy I met, he just needs a brake" Skye said looking at her father.

"Then let's give him one, what have you got?" Skye put the license she snagged off Mike on the computer table and waited as it scanned. She heard the rest of the team making their way up the ramp and moved a respectable distance away from her father, looking at the holocom in front of her as if she'd never seen anything like, when in reality, she helped Tony Stark program and encrypt these bad boys.

"Agent May will escort you, and on your way out wake up Ward" Phil said and Skye knew exactly what he was doing, giving them a chance to say hello. Skye looked at her mother and with a single nod she made her way back down to ramp and out to the hanger to wait for her there while she woke Ward. She smiled as he mother made her way back down the ramp, she knew they didn't have much time but she still wanted a proper hello instead of the stiff glare she accepted as Agent May's form of introduction. As soon as Melinda came around the side of the vehicle Skye's arms were around her.

"Momma" She whispered into her shoulder as her mother held her tight.

"Hello to you too Baby girl" Melinda let out a soft chuckle, rubbing her daughters back before pulling away, giving her daughter the same once over Phil had. "Your father didn't tell me it was you we were picking up, I think he wanted to test me just for kicks" Melinda told her and this time it was Skye's turn to laugh.

"That's dad" Skye smiled before her face turned serious. "How is he? Really?" Her tone revealing her skepticism. She watched as her mother's face morphed into an expression that Skye knew meant she was about to imitate her husband.

"It's a magical place" Melinda's voice morphed to sound creepily like her father's.

"So he's the same then" Skye nodded before walking to the opposite side of the car to get in as her mother did the same and they took off. Skye just smiled, she's an only child, it has always been just her and her mom and dad, and she was happy to be right back where she belonged- with them.

Later that evening Phil snuck Skye into his office and as she suspected Commander Hill's face filled the screen in front of her. Before Phil could close the door behind himself Skye turned to him.

"I'll get you when I'm done" She told him softly, knowing he wouldn't like being ushered out of his own office. She heard the Commanders faint chuckle as she watched her father's eyes narrow, then he threw a look over her shoulder at his sister on the screen before nodding and leaving, closing the door behind him. Skye turned around to face her Aunt and smiled.

"Commander Hill"

"Agent Mayson, sorry for the lack of notice at being picked up by SHIELD six-one-six. When we picked up the information you were sending through Director Fury thought it would be more useful to keep you on hand" Maria told her getting straight to the point. "Your orders are to keep your cover, we believe it would be a more useful asset for you to remain a contracted asset than a highly ranked agent for the time being" Skye read between the lines almost instantly.

"Who?" Maria just chuckled at her niece, the young woman was by far one of the best agents she had, and that isn't even her being biased.

"That's for you to find out, according to Fury it's just a hunch, but you know as well as I do what that means. Agent May is there to monitor Coulson, she has a direct line to Fury if need be, but Coulson isn't who he wants you to keep an eye on. Wether its on the plane or off, you need to keep your eyes and ears open, and report anything you see or hear to me, even if it's just an itch, you're good, Fury knows that and he trusts your instincts" Skye nodded her head rapidly trying to assess the information she was given. Monitor and report.

"Is there anything in particular I should be looking for?"

"Anything out of place, no one can know what your true objective is, Agents Coulson and May have already been informed you are to keep your cover and everything else is classified. Agents below level eight don't even know who you are and the offhand that some do it's only your name on our tech. Fury has always wanted to keep it that way for this reason. Triplett and Morse have been sent your cover sign on the chance that you run into them and anyone else can be spoken too if need be but mostly you'll find yourself on six-one-six. Fury's direct words were to only break your cover if a situation is life threatening" Maria answered and Skye scoffed she knew she was going to get a vague answer but damn.

"Yes ma'am. I'd like to request the personnel files of Ward and Fitz-Simmons along with academy records and field reports" Given that she was an expertise in pattern recognition and analysis she knew this wasn't something Maria would have a hard time giving her. She would need as much data as she could get. "Are we to resume this method of report?"As she got the affirmative from Maria she watched as the older woman hit a sequence of keys on her side of the screen but didn't disappear indicating that their transmission was no longer recording.

"I don't like Ward" The statement made Skye's eyes narrow. "I can't make anything official, but by the look on your face you felt it too, so it can't just be his flourishing people skills" Maria huffed and Skye just nodded in agreement.

"I'll keep an eye on him, maybe see if I can be a trainee, get him to be my SO?" Maria just nodded in agreement. "Does Dad know Mom is here to report on him?"

"No" Skye let out a small huff.

"Well that will go to hell in a hand basket later"

"All of it will, which is why he can never know what we do" Skye just nodded at her Aunt in agreement. Skye hated keeping secrets from her father but she knew this one was better left that way. "How is your mother in the field?"

"I have a feeling she'll be requesting to be more than just the pilot soon, if she hasn't already, she won't like seeing Dad in danger, and while they both know I can take care of myself, playing a defenseless hacker will revert both of them to the way there were when I was five. You should have seen the way Mom took down the Centipede rent a cop earlier" Skye just rolled her eyes to convey her point as her Aunt laughed. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them" Maria nodded at her words, some of the tension easing off her shoulders. "How have you been?" Skye questioned her Aunt "Still ridiculously busy?"

"Fury's toned it down a bit, I've been keeping tabs on the Avengers mostly, Banner is holed up with Stark at the tower, god knows what they're getting into. Nat went with Clint to see his family. Steve has been off the grid, checking in every other week" Maria probably shouldn't be telling her this, but technically her niece had the clearance and she was for the most part friends with half of the Avengers anyway. When she noticed the large smile overtaking her nieces face she realized her mistake immediately.

"Steve huh?" Skye's smile didn't look like it could get bigger but somehow managed to. "You better not tell Dad you're on a first name basis with Captain America" Skye was full on giggling once she got that out and Maria couldn't help but laugh with her, she knew her niece could keep a secret so she just raised a perfectly arched brow.

"Little more than a first name bases" Skye bit her lip hard so she didn't squeal but her eyes were sparkling so much Maria thought she might cry.

"He is such a hunk" Skye finally got out. "I mean really, I am so proud to call you my Aunt right now" Maria just laughed, glad she had told Skye, she could use some laughter after all the work she's been putting in since New York.

"It was only dinner and a kiss goodnight, Skylar Mae" Maria tried to say seriously, Skye just giggled more.

"Dinner and a kiss that will lead to more dinners and kisses and bow chicka wow wow" This had both women laughing again.

"Okay, this conversation needs to end now" Maria said, though a large smile remained on her face. "Stay safe and be careful Sklar Mae and I love you" Skye's smile got even brighter.

"Ditto, Love you too Aunt Maria, over and out" She said before the screen went black. She schooled her features quickly, she couldn't wait to find a moment to tell her Mom about this. She found her father down in the lounge, she assumed everyone must be asleep. She nodded at him and he got up to follow her to her bunk. He glanced around before entering with her. She turned to face him and he just smiled softly at her.

"Your mother requests you for tai chi in the hanger at four AM" Skye huffed a bit but nodded. And her father squeezed her arm gently. "We're glad you're here Mae" He said before kissing the crown of her head and leaving her to get some rest.

AN: Hey all! Just thought I'd give a little more detail after the first couple chapters! Most of the story will be episode AU's or tags like this one, some will be of my own creation.

I always saw Skye as being held back by the foster system hence her advanced skill set in this story. Her high clearance level is sort of a riff off Quake being level 10 from age 17. Excuse the CaptainHill references, I'm a sucker for it. There will be another chapter somewhere that will explain Hill being Coulson's sister, if you were wondering. Anyway, hope you enjoy!