Jab, jab, jab, jab. Right hand, left hand, jab, jab, jab.

"Don't hit the bag in a pattern," Grant admonished. "If you did that out in the field you would already be dead." He strode over to the punching bag to stand next to Skye. "What you need to do is change it up, never go for the obvious places and never fall into a pattern."

Skye had learned a long time ago to just stand there and nod. If she said something smart he would just begin the lecture all over again.

"Observe me," Grant's body became taunt and he protected his face with his fists as he stared the bag down. Skye had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing. He looked so serious.

As Grant began a series of hits and sometimes kicking, Skye took the opportunity to check out what was going on in the lab. Jemma was waving her arms excitedly and talking in a very animated manner while her partner in crime, Leo, looked like his lunch wanted to vacate the premises.

She wondered what they were doing and wished this lesson was over already. While it was exciting to learn about defending herself, it became boring after they started pushing two hours long.

There was no sign of May or Coulson. Not that, that wasn't unusual. May was probably in the cockpit and the other in his office where he spent most of his days. She was beginning to run out of excuses to see him. Would it kill the guy to interact with his own team when they were not on a mission? She kept thinking about the way he had brushed her hair out of her face and wondered if it had meant something. More than likely it had been a fatherly gesture and she was taking the small action way out of proportion.

Grant took a step back and breathed deeply through his nose. "Do something like that," he said.

"Do I have to do what you did exactly?"

He gave her a look. "Weren't you paying attention. I said not to fall into a pattern. Do whatever you want, just become creative."

"Creative, huh? I can do that," she gave him a cheeky grin. She could tell he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her. That or not wrap his hands around her neck and strangle her.

"Or you could just incapacitate a man with three moves," May said behind them.

Skye nearly jumped out of her skin. When had she shown up? "How do you do that?" She asked once her heart rate and had gone down.

"Observe." May stepped forward, looking at the punching bag, then suddenly whirled on her feet and punched Grant in the kidneys. He grunted, staggering back, surprised by the blow.

The Asian woman did not let him catch his breath before following him and hitting him in the sternum, immediately following it with a chop to the neck. Grant collapsed on his knees, trying to force air into his bruised windpipe.

"That was so cool!"

May gave a slight nod with her head. "We're to meet in the briefing room." With that she gracefully walked out of the room, leaving Skye alone with her very angry S.O.

She smiled at him nervously. "You have to admit that was some sweet moves."

"Oh, yes, it was lots of fun being incapacitated by the Calvary. I can now cross that of my 'Must Do Before I Die' list."

Skye hid her smile with her hand.

Grant sighed. "Let's go." She followed him out of the room watching as he massaged his throat.

They were the last to arrive in the briefing room, the room Skye had secretly dubbed as the Room of Awesomeness. It was where she could hack into just about anyplace in the world with a super sweet piece of Stark technology that didn't even deserve to be called a computer.

AC was leaning over the console studying something on the screen. When Skye moved behind him to see what he was looking at, she came face to face with Doctor Silensky's profile. In spite of herself, she flinched as she stared into his wild blue eyes.

Coulson moved over to allow room for her. "We have yet been unable to locate the doctor, though S.H.I.E.L.D. is confident that he will resurface eventually."

"Yeah, to try to abduct Skye again," Grant growled. He was still unhappy about Coulson's decision to let her have her freedom back while on the plane.

"Hey, I can take care of myself," Skye interjected. "I think I have this fighting thing down pack. I could beat the crap out of him with both hands tied behind my back, blindfolded with, err, alligators chasing me.

Simmons giggled before controlling herself and hiding her smile behind her hand. Even AC looked amused. In fact, the only ones who didn't find it funny was May and Grant, but the former wasn't surprising since she didn't find much of anything funny.

"See what I mean?" Grant said. "She's not ready."

"She's fine as long as she stays on The Bus with us."

"Yeah, and she's still here," Skye huffed. "And feeling really unappreciated since everyone's talking about her like she's not here. Great, now I'm starting to do it."

"Skye's safety is not why I called this meeting," AC said. "We never did retrieve that alien artifact from New Mexico. In all the excitement it was put on hold, but now we need to get it. S.H.I.E.L.D. has reason to believe that some rather unsavory characters are after it and we have to get to it first. Because of the threat to Skye only some of us will be going."

"What?" Skye cried out in outrage. "Why am I being punished because of a nut job who's after me for some reason?"

"It's not a punishment," Coulson tried to calm her. "We're taking precautions, that's all. We are not entirely sure who we'll be up against in New Mexico, so it would be difficult to divide our time between the mission and keeping an eye on you."

"Didn't you hear me? I can take care of myself!"

"I'm sure you can. All the same, I would rather be safe. Myself and Simmons will stay behind with Skye while the rest of you will go to New Mexico on your own."

"Are you sure that's wise, sir?" Grant asked. "Perhaps me or May should stay."

"No, the situation sounds dire out there and you may need both of your expertise to make it in one piece. I think Simmons and I can handle it."

"I don't know much about fighting or guns, but I will help protect Skye."

Grant didn't look convinced. And frankly neither was Skye.

"Seriously, this is a big waste of time. We all could go."

"The decision is final," with that Coulson walked out of the room.

"I guess that's, that then. C'mon, Fitz, load up. We leave in 1300."

"Wouldn't it be better to leave in an hour from now?" he asked as he followed the agent out of the room.

Skye heard Grant sigh. 1300 is an hour from now, Fitz." She didn't hear if the scientist responded.

"I should probably help him pack," Simmons said. "He always seems to forget something.

When it was just May and Skye left, she crossed her arms in defiance. "Can't you change his mind?"

May shook her head. "No, he's a stubborn son of a bitch."

Skye made an angry noise.

"Think of it this way," May said slyly as she headed for the doorway. "You'll get some quality time with Coulson."

Skye tried to will herself not to blush, only to epically fail. "I-I d-don't know what you mean."

"Uh huh," was all she said before disappearing.