I am so sorry about the delay since the first update! Life got in the way, as it does. This is a really short chapter, but I wanted to reassure you guys that this fic is still being written. Although I will warn you that the next update might be a while...

Thanks to the guest Lucia for her reviews, which reminded me that I needed to update this fic.

Enjoy, and please review!

"That'll be two bucks, miss." The man behind the counter tells me in a gruff voice. I chuck the amount over at him and pick up my coffee to go, hurrying from the shop. Because yes: even when I'm on the run, I still need my coffee.

Back in my van, I glance at my map again. I'm close to DC now, but a part of me wonders whether I'll even be able to catch Ward when I reach the city. He's still a specialist after all, so he's not going to be easy to find. But I have faith that I'll be able to spot him. I mean, how many guys have hose cheekbones?

I have no idea what I'm even going to say to him once I find him. What, I turned into some kind of freak, and now SHIELD wants to contain me, so can you help me? I doubt that will go down very well, especially since the last time I saw him I put four bullets in him. But I'm going to rely on the part of him that might want to help me, to honour the past. Our past.

I know that Ward is my only hope. Other than him, I have no-one else who will be willing to help me. From here, if he denies me, I'll have nowhere to turn to. Cal, my father, is too crazy for me to even consider finding him even if he holds some answers I seek. And Raina, who changed with me… She's no longer an option either. Although SHIELD means well, I can't trust myself with them. With Simmons and her 'help', Coulson and his confinement, the others with their distrusting looks… I can't go back to that.

I survived on my own once. I can sure as hell do it again. I tell myself determinedly. I've never needed anyone before, so why should that change now?

.

I sip at the steaming drink, deciding to finish my drink before driving off. While I drink, I open up the laptop I recently… acquired (yeah, you got me, I stole it) and start running my usual algorithms: trying to find any traces that might indicate that SHIELD is onto me. As usual though, I find nothing, because even if SHIELD is following me, why would they leave any traces for a known hacker to find?

I start driving again, keeping to the speed limits carefully. I don't exactly want to be pulled over for speeding, especially since I'm technically a so called SHIELD terrorist. As I drive, I wonder what Ward's doing in DC. Is he alone? The search I used to find him only gave me a brief glimpse of him on a security camera. And there's no guarantee that he'll even be there anymore, but if I stop holding onto that hope, I'll just collapse in on myself, not unlike what happens to everything around me after I release one of my earthquakes.

I hate my father.

I accelerate slightly, overtaking the nearest car.

I hate HYDRA.

I check my gas levels, and realise that I'm going have to stop at a gas station soon, or I'll run out of gas to keep driving.

I hate this ability.

My hands tighten on the steering wheel as I feel the familiar surge of bees within me, as my stupid, stupid power makes itself known as I think about it.

I hate it all!

My van shakes slightly, and I force myself to calm down. I can't afford to unleash an earthquake here, on the road. Keep calm, Skye. Just keep calm.

But most of all, I hate SHIELD. My so called family, the only people that really cared about me, were scared about me. So I hate them, because they made me feel like I belonged… and then they ripped that out from underneath me.