When Skye walked into the Triskelion she was amazed by how many people were there at seven am. It was usually busy but something major must have happened, especially if Maria was caught up in the middle of it. Crates of weapons were being pushed though the space, with many agents bustling around them. The crates had 'STARK INDUSTRIES' painted on the side, and they looked like they had been confiscated.

She didn't look too closely into it and decided to head for the commissary, certain that the gym would be busy until late that morning. She made a beeline for the coffee machines, planning to get a large cup before heading down to the hangar. Skye wasn't sure but she thought Bobbi might be down there running a check on whatever plane they were taking, so she poured a second cup and picked up two pastries, though unsure if Bobbi would even want the coffee or food. She walked the long way up to the hangar, avoiding any busy corridors so that she wouldn't spill them.

When she made it to the plane, she found Bobbi stood talking with a few technicians, arranging supplies. Skye kept her distance, waiting for Bobbi to finish talking before offering her the coffee. It didn't take more than a minute for Bobbi to finish her conversation and head further down the large hangar. Skye began walking toward her, speeding up slightly to catch her while she was walking.

"Morse." Skye called when she was a few feet away. "I figured you'd be here." She smiled, handing over a coffee and a pastry.

"Thanks for this. I've been here since late last night; this whole Stark thing has everyone spread pretty thin." Bobbi sighed, bags visible under her eyes.

"What is going on with that? I saw them moving some of his weaponry when I came in." Skye asked, taking a sip of her own coffee.

"The Air Force picked him up this morning and we've been handling the clean up." Bobbi explained before taking a large gulp of the scalding liquid. "He escaped from a heavily armed group of terrorists while wearing a giant metal suit that could fly, Hill's been up to her ears in work trying to keep it under wraps. Luckily, nobody's dug up anything too worrying but she's sending a team in to deal with him."

"Sounds like a pain in the ass." Skye rolled her eyes, almost certain that it would mean many more sleepless nights for her honorary sister. "They won't be able to contain it forever and then they'll have to deal with the thousands of big bad guys who want to make the same thing."

"I barely managed to get out of the mess thanks to Sitwell practically demanding that I join the clean up that's heading out to look for the suit. I think that was the first time I actually liked Agent Hand, given that she'll be sending us locations and targets." She joked, slowing her pace as they reached a quinjet that was already being prepped.

"Don't let her hear you say that or she'll think you don't appreciate her." Skye smiled, finishing the last of her coffee.

"Who doesn't Barbara appreciate?" A very tall, very muscular man asked, walking up to the pair. He gave Bobbi a quick hug before directing his attention to Skye. "I'm Mack; I usually work on engineering when Barbara here doesn't need me to punch a few guys." Bobbi rolled her eyes at this.

"Agent Barton, specialist. Though my only missions have been with Agent Morse here so I'm not really living up to the whole one man strike team." Skye nodded, her smile having now gone.

Mack nodded, apparently having heard about her before. "You'd be the impulsive newbie, I've heard good things."

"One can hope." Skye smiled awkwardly, wanting desperately for the encounter to be over. She wasn't a big fan of new people, despite how well her therapy had gone.

"She's just getting back into the field remember, so play nice." Bobbi spoke, a harsh warning lacing her words. "Skye, did you want to head down to ammunition with me? I can't sign off on any arrows since they're restricted to you and your brother."

Skye was glad of the escape and quickly nodded her head, not wanting to admit that she wasn't fond of their situation.

"I'll finish up on the jet." Mack nodded before heading back into the quinjet.

"Not a fan of people?" Bobbi asked as they left the hangar, not wanting to jump to too harsh a conclusion.

"Not new people." Skye shook her head. "There's a reason why I opted to become a specialist, I don't play too well with others, it comes from living in an orphanage while you're a kid."

Bobbi nodded, knowing that Skye wouldn't open up to her. She shouldn't have hoped that the younger agent would open up, she was part of the mission that broke Skye, it was a miracle that she even agreed to join the team. "There are only a few agents left to meet. Agent Hartley, who you met briefly and Agent Carter, who joined the same year myself and Isabelle joined. We all shared a dorm at one point or another."

"Sounds like you've had this planned out for a while." Skye frowned, unsure if she would be able to handle being in such a big group. Sure she was a good enough agent to lie bout it, but that didn't mean the walking lie detector next to her wouldn't realize straight away.

"Not really." Bobbi shrugged, thinking back to when she had first been approached for the assignment. "I wanted to work with people I trust." Bobbi took a moment before continuing, not sure how Skye would react. "You were actually at the top of my list. You're a good agent; I could easily put my life in your hands and know that you'd make the right decision, even if I didn't think it was right at the time."

"At least someone has faith in me." Skye muttered, remembering her brother's insistence that she needn't go out into the field yet. Sure he might have just been feeling lonely but he was so close to being cleared for field work that he wouldn't have to spend more than a week alone in their apartment. Besides, the last thing Skye wanted was to spend more time in DC; she had gotten very bored of the city very quickly.

It was ten minutes to eight and the rest of Bobbi's team would soon be arriving; apparently this was how things usually worked with the small group. They would flip a coin to decide who would prep the jet, and according to Mack he always found himself on the prep team. He didn't mind though, he actually knew how to fix anything that was broken. But it was enough to make Skye anxious. She wasn't fond of making connections anymore, she didn't like it. While yes she had been undercover, it sill pained Skye to kill people she had come to know as friends, even though those false friends were completely evil. She had to remind herself that she wouldn't have to kill these friends.

"Morse." A loud voice beamed.

Skye turned to see two women stepping up the ramp of the quinjet. One she recognized, the other she didn't. The first was Agent Hartley, one of the women who had brought Skye in. She hadn't changed much, only built up more muscle and had longer hair. She seemed more like Mack, waiting for someone to need her to throw a punch. Bobbi was the opposite, trying to be as strong and as nimble as she was able, and like Skye in the 'go in alone and get it done' mentality. The second woman seemed like Bobbi. She was blonde, not much taller than Skye and was stunningly beautiful. Skye didn't quite understand how all of the female agents who needed to go undercover, and preferably unnoticed, tried their hardest to look as breathtaking as possible. Surely the point was to get in and out with no one suspecting you, not to make all heads turn your way and make yourself the centre of attention. Though in some mission files Skye had read, it managed to distract the person they were supposed to capture or kill.

"Izzy, Sharon, meet Skye." Bobbi spoke after exchanging small talk with the two. "She will hopefully be joining our little band of brothers should heaven forbid she actually like you." She winked to the two, trying to dress down Skye's obvious distaste for strangers.

"Nice to meet you Agent Barton." Izzy smiled, holding out a hand for Skye to shake, which she did so hesitantly. "If your skills are anything like when we first met you'll be a great addition."

"If that's true then I look forward to working with you." Sharon smiled politely before moving to interact with Mack.

Skye was bombarded with questions from Izzy, who apparently wanted to become fast friends. Despite how unpleasant it was, Skye had to admit that it was working and her liking for the other agent had increased dramatically. She had learnt that Izzy hated the colour pink, enjoyed watching reality TV and had gotten away with many drunken outbursts while she was at the academy purely by bribing the agent in charge with copious amounts of alcohol, cake and the odd flirtation. According to Bobbi it was a sight to behold, watching her then eighteen year old friend seduce a man who never smiled and always refused to engage in conversation. Izzy swore that she never slept with the man but Bobbi would laugh that she slept with a lot of the other instructors at the academy instead, missing off the part that she had hooked up with most of them after she graduated.

"It's nothing on you; you slept with a target for information after your mission was over." Izzy had accused while they were somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.

"I married a target." Bobbi rolled her eyes, remembering the six months she had spent with Hunter. "Believe me it was nothing romantic and I don't intend to be seeing him again any time soon." Bobbi got distracted when her phone rang, interrupting her story.

Izzy let Bobbi take the call and directed her attention to Skye. "Got any stories of your own?" She asked, having noticed Skye's silence.

"My brother did catch me shirtless with my boyfriend once." Skye remembered, shaking her head at the memory. "He was supposed to be on a mission with Natasha and Maria was on the helicarrier for a few days. I'd brought my boyfriend back to our apartment, though it certainly wasn't the first time so I guess we thought we'd be safe. We were on the couch, making out, and he pulled my shirt off right as my brother stepped through the door."

Izzy had broken into a fit of laughter, imagining the look on Clint's face.

"But that's not the best part." Skye spoke, trying to hold back her own laughter. "He was making out with Natasha so neither of us noticed for like a full minute."

That pushed the two women over the edge and they began crying with laughter, trying desperately to stop.

"What's so funny?" Bobbi asked when they had mostly stopped laughing.

"Don't worry about it." Skye shrugged, having finally stopped giggling.

"Well I've got something that'll probably set you off again." Bobbi spoke, directing her words at Izzy. "The first informant we've got to speak to is none other than my ex-husband."

And I certainly did send them into laughter again. Bobbi chuckled slightly, amused by their reactions, but more because she noticed how comfortable Skye was. If she'd known that all it would take to break down Skye's walls was a few crude jokes then she would have made Dr Garner open his sessions with them. She did like seeing Skye smile again, like Mexico had never happened. But it obviously had and it would take a lot more than one conversation to bring out the old Skye. But it was nice to see that she was still in there, even for a short while.

AN- Here's the latest chapter. I was struggling with writer's block for a little while because I was constantly rewriting the conversation Bobbi and Skye had on their way to ammunition. I am finally happy with it though and am really pumped to write Skye meeting Hunter because I think there's the potential for it to be a lot of fun. As always I am amazed by the reception I've gotten and I am so pleased that you are enjoying the story. Don't forget to let me know what you think and follow the story if you want to read more.

Amy x