I couldn't resist posting the next chapter right away...

They had driven for another 20 mins before Ward pulled into a private airfield on the outskirts of the city.

"Get out." Ward ordered as he stepped out of the sedan, not even bothering to take the keys with him.

Wordlessly he led her towards a military plane with a white eagle insignia she recognized... S.H.E.I.L.D. Nobody really knew what that stood for or what they did. Skye only knew that they had descended on New York after been destroyed and disappeared afterwards just as quickly without a trace. There was not a single other person to be seen anywhere on the airfield which only make Skye more apprehensive. The Agent walked up the already open cargo hold into into the plane that was ready and waiting. He had planned all of this.

"It's a 13 hour flight. Buckle up." Ward said, nodding towards they cold metal cabin lined with seats and cargo bays before disappearing into what Skye could only assume was the cockpit.

Skye crossed the cabin numbly to sit on one of the seats that lined the sides. With still shaking, clammy hands she buckled the harness and jumped as she heard the cargo hold ramp slam shut. The plane immediately began taxing down the runway and Skye gripped the seat with white knuckles when it suddenly accelerated down the runway. She gasped as she felt the tell tale dip in her stomach that told her the plane had left the ground. She was flying 13 hours, god knows where with a man she didn't know that had just killed someone right in front of her. As the weight of the situation slammed down on her Skye couldn't hold in the sob that wracked her body, making her entire body shake and her gasps echo off the sterile metal walls. She sat there crying for longer than she cared to keep track off before the exhaustion of her tears suddenly caught up with her. She didn't know how many hours she had sat in her seat and sobbed or how many hours blissful sleep had claimed her for but Skye was suddenly awoken when someone kicked her foot.

Startling awake, Skyes puffy eyes snapped up to see Agent Ward standing over her. Thankfully he had taken a moment at some point to wash away the blood spatter across his cheek. She watched him take in her disheveled appearance and the obvious proof she had been crying before crossing the cabin to take the seat directly opposite her.

"Who's flying the plane?" Skye asked worriedly, later amused that in this crazy situation that was her first question.

"There's this thing called auto pilot. We are over the Atlantic Ocean." He replied with an amused smirk, the first emotion Skye had seen cross his features.

"Where are we going?" Skye questioned further.

"That's need to know and you don't. I need to know why those men were after you." Ward said, his tone turning confrontational. Skye squirmed in her seat as this began feeling more and more like an interrogation.

"I don't know. I swear." Skye answered, tears threatening to spill over again.

"Why were you in that van?" The Agent pressed further.

"I... It's my home. I have lived in it every since I ran away." Skye answered. "Don't you already know all this? You are the one that found me there."

"I was given co-ordinates and an extraction order. That's it. What were you running away from? Who do you work for?" Ward stood up, towering over Skye as an obvious attempt to intimidate her.

"No one! I ran away from the foster system when I was 15. I don't work for anyone. I'm nobody!"Skye yelled, her stubborn side beginning to break through her state of shock. "I'm not with the CIA, NSA, S.H.I.E.L.D. or any other acronym you want to accuse me of!"

"How do you know about S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Ward asked, his eyes narrowing with distrust.

"I saw the emblem on the side of the plane! You think I'm an idiot?" Skye shouted back, unbuckling her harness so she could stand even though Ward still towered over her.

"No average civilian even knows about S.H.I.E.L.D. so who the hell are you!"

"I'm a hacker, okay. I hack into agencies like your beloved S.H.I.E.L.D. and make sure the public knows what it needs to."

Ward scoffed and turned away from her.

"A hacker? Seriously? Why the hell would S.H.I.E.L.D. send me to protect someone hell bent on taking us down?" Ward yelled.

"I don't know! No one has ever tried to protect me in my life! None of this makes any sense." Skye screamed, her fiery exterior cracking once more as her tears burst through again. Before Ward could interrogate her any more she ran out of the cabin and back to the cargo hold, slamming the large metal door between them. She knew it wouldn't stop him from coming after her but she prayed he wouldn't.

Skye collapsed against the wall, sliding down until she was tucked in a tight ball clutching her knees as the shaking took over once more.

Ward didn't go after her straight away but after an hour he figured she had cooled down enough. He went into the cargo bay to find her huddled on the ground. He sighed and decided to try for a slightly different approach. Ward crouched down as Skye peek up at him between wet eyelashes.

"Look, I'm sorry." He said and Skye almost believed him. "I'm not a... people person."

Despite the situation, Skye couldn't contain an undignified noise that was somewhere between a snort and a scoff.

"But..." Ward continued, struggling to his a smirk at her fire. "I don't have nearly enough information here. I was sent in to extract you just as a team was closing in... no intel, no background. Just that I was to keep you safe and await further orders. I don't know enough to do my job here. I need you to tell me what you can. Not just for my sake, but for yours."

"So he swaps the napalm for honey..." Skye mumbled to herself, running her hands through her hair in frustration.

"What?" Ward asked with a confused look.

"Nothing... Look I'm telling you the truth. For years I have just been in my van, minding my own business. Well not that you can really call hacking minding my own business but no one even knows that it's me that's doing the hacking. I'm not involved in anything. I don't even really know anyone."

"No one in your past? No family?" Ward prodded further, though with slightly more tact and empathy than his first approach.

"I don't have any family. Like I said, none of this makes any sense." Skye sighed, frustrated and over the pointless questioning.

"Alright fine." Ward sighs, standing up and offering Skye a hand to help her up. "Maybe my contacts in Italy will know something."

"Look I know I'm not a secret agent or whatever the hell you are but don't you usually just call up HQ and ask what the hell is going on?" Skye reluctantly let him help her up, not wanting to upset the tentative truce they seemed to have reached.

"Usually, yeah." Ward answered. "Not that I should even be telling you this but the only other detail I got about this mission that it was to be off radar. I was to go dark and await further instruction, no matter how long that takes. You aren't the only one none of this is making sense for." Ward grumbled as he walked back into the cockpit.

Skye just watched his retreating back, more confused than ever.

As always, please review.