Disclaimer: Here's Chapter Four (as promised!) All rights go to Joss Whendon, Marvel and the Marvel crew. This chapter is based on Agents of SHIELD 1x04, Eye Spy. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Four: Please Don't Die
"I don't understand why you won't let me drive," Skye huffed, from the back passenger seat. Grant sighed.
"One, because you have no idea where you're going. Two, whoever's controlling Amador doesn't know you're here." She remained silent. "And that is the way it will stay."
"What if I-" Skye began.
"Nope."
"Or they-" Grant smiled at her with fake sweetness.
"None if that will be an issue."
"You seem pretty confident, Robot."
"Don't call me that, Rookie."
"Don't call me Rookie," she shot back. Grant threw his arms up in surrender. "But why won't it be a problem if someone tries to kill me? Really, you're concern is very touching," she remarked sarcastically.
"Because you are going to stay right here."
"I'm sorry what?" She must have misunderstood him.
"Oh, yes, love," he answered smugly. "You are going to be locked in this car. The windows are tinted and bulletproof, it can fly-"
"No wonder you named it 'Short Bus,"' Skye muttered.
"Hey."
"You are never allowed to name anymore modes of transportation." Grant chuckled.
"Like you could do any better."
"I could," she replied, indignantly.
"Well, let's hear it."
"Hang on a sec... I gotta think of a good name..." Grant ended up waiting an hour and by that time they had reached the research center in Belarus.
Skye watched in horrified amazement as a message appeared on her computer screen. "It would suck to live like this." The young hacker barely suppressed a shudder. "Wondering if someone was watching you." She handed the chip back to Ward.
"Testing back scatter..." Ward touched the rim of the glasses and he could see, literally everything.
"Alright, good to go." She handed him the earpiece that was essential to their communication.
"Remember," Grant warned. "I can't look at you, much less help you."
"Right. Don't expect help from you."
"And do not leave this vehicle no matter what happens."
"But-" She protested.
"Skye!" His voice was tense and sharp. "Promise me you will stay here, where it is safe."
"I promise." Skye watched as her SO got out of the car and walked towards the building. He looked very professional... Calm, cool and collected. Then again this was his job... He did it everyday. She couldn't remember a time she felt useless.
"Don't worry, Grant," she whispered. "I'll be watching..."
As soon as Ward entered the research facility he heard Skye talking in his ear. Literally. He sighed. If she asked him what to do if she had to use the bathroom or if there was anything to eat because she felt "peckish" he was going to lose it. And Grant Ward prided himself as a man who concealed his emotions. But Skye had a talent for bringing them out. "Fitz and Simmons are prepped for surgery," she said. "It should be any minute now." The few moments of silence was like heaven for Ward... She always talked...
"Hey, remember you have man hands so don't look when you scan the card," she warned, nervously biting her nail.
"I know," he replied, scanning Amador's card. The scanner turned green and Ward proceeded down the East Corridor.
"Careful! Mirror!"
"I don't need your help," he hissed, avoiding looking at the mirror. The security guard gave him a weird look.
"Too bad," she shot back. He had reached the end of the hall. To his left, a security guard was in a room, on his laptop. Two words appeared on the window. *TARGET CONFIRMED.* Followed by two more. *STAND BY.*
Skye's anxious voice crackled in his ear. "What do they mean by "target?"
"When someone says "target" it's never good... Especially for the target... Let's hope it's a knockout, not kill."
"Grant, you should get out of there," she pleaded with him. This was bad. He resolutely shook his head.
"No, I've come this far... I'll finish this. Whatever it takes.
"This not the time to be Superman!" She was border lining on hysteria.
"Do you think I look like him?"
"What?" She was lost.
"Do you think I look like Clark Kent?"
"Huh... Maybe a little bit... I mean with the dark, perfect hair, hot body and glasses-"
"Excuse me?" Grant was sure the earpiece had malfunctioned... It SOUNDED like she said he had "perfect hair and a hot body..." He must have misheard. Skye sighed. Men. They could be so clueless...
"You're not awful to look at..."
"Thanks, Rookie." She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic.
Another message appeared in Grant's line of vision. *SEDUCE HIM*
"Help!"
"I'm sorry... Did you just say help? Because a minute ago you said you didn't want or need my help..."
"That was before they asked me to go all out on this guy!" Skye couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. He was panicking... Agent Grant Ward was panicking and Skye though it was hysterical. "I'm just going to knock him out," Ward decided.
"Wait," Skye hissed. "It said seduce not kill. You may need him..."
"I don't thing I'm his type..."
"Oh, so now you have a type? Aren't you just FULL of surprises! Can you zoom in for me?" Ward obliged, zooming in on the target. "Cheap haircut, five o'clock shadow... Nope, odds are you two play for the same team. You're going to have to bromance him... Talk sports, vodka, the Victoria Secret Catalogue... Be friendly Agent Ward! Can you do that? Please don't die..."
Grant took a deep breath and scanned the security card. When the card reader turned green he pulled the cold, metal lever and entered the room. Immediately the man behind the desk stood up, barring the way to another door. Grant figured he had to get through that door. The man would present a problem... While he was shorter then Grant, he had a much heavier build and a gun. The security guard began speaking in rapid Russian.
"Show me your identification," he demanded.
"Please tell me you know how to speak Russian," Skye hissed through clenched teeth. Grant had to repress a smile as he began to search his pockets.
"How about that game last night?" The security guard ignored the question.
"Your ID?" Grant patted the breast pocket of his suit and groaned.
"I think I left it at home... Had a wild night last night. Met these two Ukrainian girls last night..." He winked. "Didn't sleep much." He shrugged. "You know how it is right?" The security guard stared at him. "Yeah?" No response. "Yeah?" The guy remained stoic. "Guess not."
Grant grabbed the man by his coat and bashed his head once, twice against the desk. Skye stared in horror at the crumpled body. "Don't kill him!"
"Relax, he's not dead. He'll just wake up with a really bad headache..."
"Or a concussion," Skye cried.
"Yeah, that too," Grant replied. He causally stepped over the fallen guard, scanned his card and entered another room. Two men were seated at a long wooden table typing on typewriters. They glanced up at Ward and returned their attention to the papers before them.
"What now? Are you supposed to grab one of them?" Skye asked. "Or both of them?!"
Grant walked around the room, his brown eyes scanning each blackboard. The blackboards were filled with complex scientific and mathematical equations, symbols that Grant didn't even recognize. This was FitzSimmons area of expert ease... They would have a field day here. One particular equation caught his eye... It was, by far, the largest equation, taking up half of the blackboard. The equation had many intersecting lines, some vertical and others perpendicular. There were little circles mixed in, some filled and some blank. Another message appeared. *MISSION COMPLETE. GOOD LUCK.*
Grant hastily exited the room, breathing a sigh if relief. However, when he reached the unconscious security guard, the relief was gone. On the computer monitor a timer had appeared. It was blinking red and had nine seconds on it. Grant sighed. "Figured out what I needed the security guard for... His password." There were two seconds left on the clock.
"Maybe I can talk you through a hack...? Give me a sec." Skye's disembodied voice echoed in his ears. The timer hit zero and alarms started to blare.
"No more seconds," Grant replied, reaching down and pulling a gun from the security guard's holster. "Meet me at the South Side of the building, ASAP.
"Gotcha." Skye closed her laptop and got out of the car, only to sit in the driver's seat. "Which way is south?"
Ward ran down the hallway and paused at a green wall. He touched the glasses and saw through the solid metal walls. He aimed the gun and fired just as the armed security guard was about to come out if the room. He shot one, two, three security guards before running down the hall.
"Ward?" Fitz's voice could be heard in his ear. That's the last thing he needed... An annoying, Scottish teddy bear buzzing in his ear.
"What do you need, Fitz?" He was beyond pissed.
"You sound winded... Is now a bad time?" Grant ducked behind a steel column
"Yeah, a little!"
"Well it's not so good for me either... Considering I'm holding a still-attached prosthetic eye that could explode at any second."
"Otherwise exposed or shielded?" Grant asked, becoming distracted. Skye's gasp of horror made him look up. He saw his reflection. "Cut it now. Cut the wires now!" He yelled to the scientist.
"What's happening?" Ward could hear the faint voice of Aleka Amador.
"Oh, no problem... Ward just exploited the search..." Ward peered around the corner, checking to see if the coast was clear.
"Coming your way," he said to Skye.
"I don't know what that means," she yelled. "I don't know where the hell I am!" Ward heard shouts behind him and a bang. He instinctively ducked as the bullet sailed over his head. He aimed his pistol and shot at the window. The bullet shattered the glass and Ward rammed his body into the window. Skye could not believe it. The idiot jumped out of the window!
He hit the dumpster on his back and knew there would probably be a mark there in the morning. He stood up, brushed glass from his suite and looked behind him. "Come on, Skye," he prayed. He jumped down from the dumpster, landing on two feet. He looked up just in time to see a black SUV speeding towards him.
Skye almost hit her SO... She pressed down on the car's brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt. Grant glared at her before hurrying around and sitting in the passenger seat. "Lets go," he said buckling his seat belt.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
A/N: Please R&R and tell me what you think! But no flames! They will be used to roast marshmallows...