Hit and Run

There were quite a few surprises in store for me the days that followed our encounter with Dr. Hall. The first was that May had been serious in her offer to train and guide me. Like getting my ass kicked nightly serious. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. I did eat mat occasionally, but most of our training was spent doing yoga and stretches. Which was fine by me because I could actually breathe and hold a pose for a few seconds no problem, or mostly no problem. Plus I wasn't exactly in a position to argue anything against May since she was doing this out of what could be the dwindling kindness of her heart. I didn't want to spend all my good will a week in. Coulson had of course noted the time I was putting in and seemed to be quite accepting of it. I think he was glad I was putting my feelings about Hall into a much better and more productive outlet.

I soon grasped what May was going for though as I worked on keeping my heartrate steady. The woman did have a productive and guided method for teaching. I doubted I was her first student anyway. Before I learned anything combative I had to learn control. Only by having control over myself was I going to be to seem like I had control over the situation. That meant I had to keep my emotions under tight control… be at peace with myself or something like that. Which was actually something I sorely needed to master with all the slips I had been making recently. I couldn't let myself fall off the deep end anymore. This was my wake-up call and chance to get a grip. I had to seem like I had it together. No more crying on missions. No more feeling guilty about the lies that were necessary to tell. No more sleeping with Ward.

Speak of the devil, Ward was the next surprise. The man seemed to sense that I wanted nothing to do with… our dalliance and thus never even brought it up to me privately. He also gave no sign of it publically. There were no awkward looks on his part at least. He was very good at pretending at everything was okay- treated me exactly as he had before without a hitch. Meanwhile, I was looking everywhere but at him and having my skin crawl as my mind refused to move on from what had happened and playing it back over and over. God, I wish I had been drunk so I forgot that the next morning instead of vivid remembrance. What had I been thinking? I hadn't been at all. So now I felt like I couldn't stand next to him and be anything but awkward. I tried to hide it under our usual banter and just pray no one noticed. I mean I was no Ward, but I hoped most of this stuff was internal and not a neon sign to the others.

Skye also had a few things up her sleeve. She seemed to have turned over a new leaf in her training, mostly. She still said 'Bang!' whenever she fired a gun, but she seemed to be working with Ward in a much greater capacity than before. The tension between the two of them was continuing to grow to everyone's notice and it somehow made the pit in my stomach even bigger. Skye was one of my best and only friends, but I felt like I could never tell her what had happened. She would ditch Ward as her SO in a heartbeat, and I wasn't going to risk the only thing she seemed to actually want like that. She wanted to be a real S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and I was going to make damn sure she was for the both of us. So I kept my mouth shut.

But the most surprising thing of all was the reaction of Fitz-Simmons when I finally worked up the courage to head into their lab that first day. I had a Pop Tart in my hand and was ready to beg them to forgive me for what had happened to their mentor. I barely got in the door when Jemma tackled me in a very unexpected hug. I just stood stock still while she pulled away and looked me over with Fitz hovering just behind her. "I'm sorry I couldn't save Dr. Hall," was all I could manage to say.

Simmons shook her head at me, eyes locked on mine. "We're just glad you're okay." She then pulled me in for another hug as I looked at Fitz over her shoulder- managing a small wave that he reciprocated. "We are sad about Frank, but I couldn't even imagine what we'd be like if we lost you."

I was pretty much floored. I knew they were my friends, but the two of them just cared about me so much. I think that was the final piece of the puzzle after May's words that helped me move on. I had been so dumb not to look for connection here when I so desperately needed it, but I wasn't going to ever make that mistake again. When Simmons pulled away, Fitz gestured for me to join him. "I'll let you hold this still while I do some work on it." He was letting me touch his stuff. He did care.

I approached him and placed the Pop Tart on the bench between us before grabbing what looked like a pistol. It was my way of saying the same thing back. "Thanks Ash," he said with a gentle smile before shoving it in his mouth. I couldn't help but roll my eyes while laughing that the nickname apparently wasn't a one-time thing, but was secretly thrilled beyond measure.

"It was a one time thing, Lee," I responded with the nickname of my own as he started up his soldering iron, trying not to flinch as he brought the heat towards what was in my hands. "It was a guilt Pop Tart."

"Well, chances are you're going to make something explode in here with just your presence and owe me another one tomorrow," he said cheekily before getting to work.

"He's not wrong," Simmons of course took his side as she returned to her work. They ended up being right of course, but then he burned my finger and decided to call it even as I sat there glaring at him- hand in a beaker full of ice Simmons had thrown together.

It was about half a week later, most of that spent in the lab where Skye frequented as well, that we received word from May over the intercom that we were changing course for Sweden. I was with Fitz-Simmons and unfortunately Ward waiting for it to be time to land and get to work. I was ready to step back into the ring and deliver a knockout this time. I had a few days' worth of training on my side. What else could a girl need?

Ward was examining a blue bullet Fitz had been working on for the past few days along with the pistol. He practically ran back and forth between the two like a madman. Jemma told me that was normal though when he had multiple projects. I had even started playing a personal game of how many laps he took around the lab in a minute. The record was eight. But I wasn't thinking about that now, instead focused on trying to stand as far away from Ward as possible without looking obvious about it. I had chosen Simmons at her computer as my excuse this time, pretending I could comprehend what she was looking at.

"I only get one shot," Ward reminded Fitz as he studied the bullet. Ward was always very critical when Fitz asked him to examine his day's work. I thought it kind of made him seem like an ass, but I get why he was being so pressing about it. We did need the weapon to work properly with everything we were sure to see. "And it has to knock a person back as well as out."

"Which is why we're working on this little beauty," Fitz said with pride as he showed off the pistol. ".45-claiber cartridges, semi-automatic, and has some of Ash's blood for luck."

"My finger and I still haven't forgiven you for that!" I shouted over my shoulder. He gave me an apologetic look that was completely sarcastic, so my only answer was to turn back in a sarcastic huff. Ward looked a bit confused but the two of us were having a great time. That was all that mattered in my book.

Fitz got his attention back by inserting the magazine into the pistol. See, I was learning gun words. Things were improving on all fronts. "Each mag contains eight therapeutic rounds of dendrotoxin."

"In case you miss!" Simmons said brightly, only to receive a look from Ward that made her smile awkwardly. "Or have multiple assailants."

"Nice cover," I whispered, trying to keep the laughter contained to my head. She just rolled her eyes and went back to work.

"Yeah, w-we're gonna have this new night-night pistol working in no time," Fitz smiled about his progress. Simmons had finished her part with the bullets a bit ago and it was all up to him now. "Okay?"

Ward seemed to accept this with a nod, starting out of the lab for the metal stairs. "Great. But we're not calling it that." Fitz let out the littlest, most pathetic gasp as Jemma could only look at him with a smirk.

"Ah, told you." His attention then turned to me, looking for any sort of anchor.

"I like it. He's just got a stick up his butt like usual." Ward turned to look at me and I instantly found my eyes locked on the ground like some sort of wild reflex. I felt a blush rising in my cheeks, but desperately tried to hide it before looking up again. He was thankfully already out the door and I buried my sigh of relief with a laugh as Fitz sat back down staring at his invention, clearly being moody over Ward's words. His arms were behind his head as he just stared down at the pistol almost as if trying to melt it with his gaze. He clearly looked up to the guy and once just wanted one of these meetings to pass without Ward saying something that put his invention down. I went over to him, sitting on the edge of the desk and just staring at him.

"What?" he said finally, looking up at me after a moment of awkward silence as I had fully intended and wanted him to acknowledge.

"You're brilliant," I said with a shrug. "Just thought you should know." It wasn't very difficult to make Fitz smile or laugh, but it was always worth it tenfold. Plus I felt like he just needed to hear the truth sometimes with how much of a bully he was to himself. Sometimes I even thought he was worse than me, which was something I thought I would never say. He sat forward, hands moving into his lap. I instantly shot back up before he could respond to head back by Simmons and pretend I understood what she was talking about again. I didn't quite make it over however as Coulson made his way into the lab and earning all of our attention.

"I'm taking Skye and May," he informed us in his businesslike tone, the one that meant we really needed to listen. It was mission related. "There was a very… interesting robbery of some diamonds to add to some recent cases in Milan and Monte Carlo on the underground. Thief did it completely with her eyes closed." Well, alright then. That certainly put this up our alley. "Fitz-Simmons, I want you to see if you could pull anything on the CCTV cameras. Call me with any news." The two of them nodded, Fitz grabbing his tablet to get to work. "Crawford, I want you and Ward to get in contact with Swedish customs. You should talk to them since you'll be more… patient." I couldn't help but snort at that, making my boss smile. "I want them to ID a picture we find to see if she's already left the country. Likely given she doesn't seem to stick around." I nodded, secretly dreading working with Ward but unable to let anyone know that. He dismissed us with a nod, leaving me to give the two a salute as I started out of the lab.

"Well, looks like I'm off to brush up on the Swedish I never learned," I said with a sarcastic smile.

"Have fun," they both waved me off in unison before beginning their usual banter. I was almost starting to get a word in these days. It was pretty exciting.

I grabbed my tablet from my bed and pulled up the function that would let me translate sentences to Swedish when I called. I was pretty excited to use it for the first time. I stepped into the Briefing Room to see Ward already had someone up on screen and was now digging through diamond purchasers. "Akela Amador?" I questioned. Coulson had barely left and we had this already.

"Coulson has his suspicions," Ward answered. "Call them up and see if anyone saw someone that matches her description." I went to do so, dialing and desperately trying to keep things from getting awkward. "You know you don't have to act like that," he said as I waited on hold. "It happened."

"Well, it shouldn't have," I couldn't help but snap. I was not prepared or ready to have this conversation. Not when I had to listen to some sort of Polka tune through the earpiece that had to have been repeating for about the sixth time. "I wasn't thinking."

"Doesn't mean you have to act like a crazy person," he countered. "It's good to scratch the itch every now and then. Especially with all the stress we're put through. I mean, you've obviously done it before. So have I." I could tell he meant to weirdly comfort me with those words, but they actually made me lose close to all my color. Was that true? Was it that obvious? Had I done something like this before? Had I once been in a relationship that I just couldn't remember now? What if there was a boyfriend I couldn't remember? Was he aware of what I had been planning to do? What if there was a husband who was at home wondering why his wife ran out on him instead of making the casserole he wanted for dinner? Oh my God, what if it was something in high school under the bleachers? I think my heart stopped just at the thought.

Ward seemed to realize that he somehow managed to break me from the lack of expression on my face, shaking his head. "I'm just saying. Don't feel bad. No one needs to know so you can stop freaking out around them. You were emotional. And I'd be willing if you ever were again." Gross. Gross. So gross. I could just picture Skye's face falling without even knowing why if she heard that.

I went to retort when the Swedish customs office decided to bail me out. He was a true friend like that. He was pretty quick to identify the woman Ward had up on screen as well. He was even kind enough to find out where she had gone once she landed.

"Who is she?" I asked Ward after I had my information and hung up.

"She used to be an Agent. They thought she died on a raid she led seven years ago. Coulson obviously had some doubts though- he trained her." Well, that explained it. This was another personal case. I felt my heart constrict a bit but went into some of my deep breathing exercises. I could handle this. I was going to prove myself this time around and even if I didn't they wouldn't hold it against me. She had already turned to the Dark Side and it wasn't my responsibility to save her if she was too far gone. That was a reference. I knew it was, but I couldn't place to what. God, having amnesia sucked. Had I mentioned that recently? It was like forgetting your keys… all the time.

"Interesting," I condensed my thoughts into one word, examining her face. I wonder what had made her turn. I could never imagine betraying Coulson for anything and I had barely met him. She had been trained by him.

The man himself was back a few minutes later with Skye and May. "The nice man at Swedish customs not only told me that Amador left the country under an alias with a hard-to-fake Swedish passport," I pitched my work, "but that she flew into Belarus and then got a train ticket for some town called Zloda I think is how he pronounced it."

Coulson nodded, almost having expected this. "I've put together a list on individuals who could fence that many diamonds," Ward went up to bat as the monitor screen switched to his work. "There's been no contact or activity."

"Maybe she's saving them for a rainy day, buying something special," Coulson approached the screen with his hint of humor that I appreciated. "Let's focus on finding Amador."

"I'll let HQ know she's alive so they can assist with the manhunt," May brought up, clearly not exactly in favor of Coulson having picked something this close to home.

"I'd like to hold off on that for now," he disagreed, earning quite the look from her. "Until we know more. Contact Belarus authorities. Find us a place to park the Bus." He turned back to Ward and me. "Put together a list of inns, hostels, and pensions near Zloda. There can't be many of them. We'll find her."

Ward and I both set us with a nod- I was already pulling up locations on my tablet. "I'll talk to them," I informed him with some authority as we left. It almost felt a little normal even. I forgot how good it was to give him a hard time. "I have more patience after all."

XXX

Soon enough all of us excepting May were loaded up in one of our white vans for the long drive to the inn where someone had spotted a match for Amador when we called them. She wouldn't stop raving about her really- called her an angel. Apparently there weren't many like her in these parts. I was stuck in the back being thrown one way and then another- Ward's fault since he was driving, Fitz-Simmons both next to me clutching cases of equipment. Skye was just in front of us doing the same thing, looking almost nervous in a way I hadn't seen on her before. I had made a mental promise to talk to her later… and beat up Ward if he had done something. The two symbiotic scientists were rambling on about some sort of physicist while I just kept looking out the window from behind Coulson. I wasn't sure how much of the world I had seen before, so I was trying to soak up everywhere we visited. Maybe one day I would recognize somewhere as home even.

"You guys are only here to search for Amador electronically," Coulson turned and blocked my view as he addressed my neighbors. "You won't even leave the van."

"Then I can't help but inquire why Ashleigh's here," Simmons spoke up. She then cast a glance my way. "No offense meant of course. We love having you."

"She's moral support," Coulson turned back. "She'll do her job to keep you all from letting anything do less than your best. And you won't let her touch anything expensive in return." Well, that was certainly flattering- the first part. It was always good to hear what Coulson thought of me- that it was still really good and positive things. His faith really hadn't been shaken. It was like your dad noticing the goal you scored at your soccer game.

"Bus to short bus," came May's voice over our intercom.

"Go for short bus," Ward said without hesitation. He was back in full Agent mode, suit and all.

"Next time I'll decide what we call ourselves, okay?" Coulson almost sighed. Ward didn't even seem to take a beat for the admonishment. I don't think cool code names were in his code and I'm sure Fitz agreed with me.

"HQ has requested a status update."

"What did you tell them?"

"That we're tracking a potential suspect… nothing more." May wasn't giving the game away. She was trusting Coulson despite her instincts which was very interesting to me. They must have quite the history to have something like that between them- a lot of honesty and trust. The earned kind.

"I owe you one."

"More like three." We soon reached our destination after that, Ward pulling to a stop on the outside of the little village she had been placed at. I wanted to go exploring with the two of them, but knew Coulson was counting on me to hold down the fort. And I would hold it.

"If Amador's here, she'll have to contact her buyer," Coulson prepped everyone but me really as he and Ward readied their guns. "Scan for cellphone transmissions, encrypted e-mails, anomalous broadcast signatures. Call us if you find anything that indicates her presence." With that, he was out the passenger door.

"Maintain radio silence unless you really need help," Ward added. He glanced at me as he opened his door. "Make sure they hold to that." He was stepping out as I felt the need to ask the obvious follow-up question.

"But what exactly defines needing help?" All I got was a door slamming. "Jerk." The three of them set to work with their equipment while I climbed into the front seat to stay out of their way. I wouldn't last long if I got caught up in all that- probably make something explode and take everyone with me.

"There's barely any electricity in this town," Simmons told the group pleasantly, trying to keep spirits high. "Can't be too hard to find our mystery woman."

"Unless she already knows we're here," Skye countered mysteriously. It was pretty easy to see what she was getting at. I had wondered about it myself. I mean I had a tattoo that was about something that hadn't happened yet. Maybe it wasn't that far out there.

Simmons seemed to catch on too, but reacted with more disbelief than I was inclined to. "No. You're not suggesting some sort of precognition or telepathy because-"

"I know… it doesn't exist," Skye grumbled. "And not long ago, I would have dumped ESP in the 'aliens and portals are for crazy people' pile. But now…" She was cut off by her computer beeping. "Found a server," she told us. The monitor switched to what seemed to be some sort of television program, intercut with breaks of black and white lines appearing.

"There's something encrypted here," Fitz noticed and began typing away on his end. I just observed them all until he stopped. "Do you know if Ward packed any snacks? It was a long drive and I'm hungry."

"And I also have to use the washroom," Simmons added.

"I'll call him," Skye reached for the phone, but I grabbed it first.

"He said only unless we need help," I reminded them all. They all merely gave me looks. "Coulson put me in charge and I'm not going to let you screw it up. We're fine." They were still staring, so I needed to kick my leadership up a notch. "Simmons, I know you hate the idea but there are perfectly good trees right behind the van. We're outside town. No one will see." She looked horrified by the idea, but it was the only option we had if she couldn't hold it. "Lee, you're lucky I have your back. I packed some cookies for myself, but I guess I'll share." I had figured as much when I thought to stuff them in my pocket as we left.

I tossed the bag to him and he started working on them. "You're the best, Ash."

"You'd better save one for me," I told him with a fierce point before turning to Skye. "I know you're nervous and want your S.O. for this as a security blanket and that's okay. But we have your back. You're in the van and nothing's going to get to you." He look told me that wasn't her biggest issue. "Plus, the two of them will be fine. They've been doing this a lot longer than the rest of us." This seemed to be more what she was looking for- of course Skye wasn't being selfish and thinking of herself. I should have known. I put the phone in my lap and leaned back with crossed arms. "Now all of you get to work."

"I'm trying," Fitz let his frustration out as he typed in front of the screen, "but I can't seem to stabilize it. There's an encrypted local signal competing."

"Mirror it over. I have a couple of Rising Tide exploits that might work." Fitz apparently did just that as soon the images were n Skye's screen and she went into one of her flurries of typing that one couldn't make rhyme or reason out of. "One last thing." She somehow got even faster and soon on both screen there was the image of a street in black-and-white. "Ta-da and you're welcome."

They all gathered around the image as it went to color, showing a van parked on an idyllic street. Something about it sent a shiver down my spine, but I couldn't place just why at the moment.

"Russian TV is kind of boring," Skye commented as it just hovered on the van. It was creepy and weird and just didn't make sense at all. This wasn't just some joke channel. It meant something. And then it hit me like a shot.

"It's our van," I whispered. Sure enough, the image switched to black-and-white once again and confirmed it. It showed the inside of the van with three figures in the back and one in the front. I waved my hand and saw the figure in the front wave theirs as well- putting the nail in the coffin for me. "It's our van," I repeated louder, earning everyone's attention. I reached for the phone in my lap.

"Ashleigh!" Simmons called with worry and I saw that the image was now moving towards the van at a very rapid pace. Something was coming right for us and we didn't have much time at all to even figure out what it was.

"Brace yourselves!" I shouted in warning, hands slamming into the passenger seat in a desperate bid to keep me steady as something large collided with the van and rocked it. The phone flew out and fell under the seat to my dismay. Everyone else was sent tumbling over one another with equipment flying every which way. But they all seemed to be alright.

"Let's get out of here!" Skye decided, moving to the passenger's seat. I nodded and turned to face the wheel, only to freeze in realization. It couldn't be but I knew it was true. I knew was the blank space in my mind was trying to tell me. She was looking out my window at where Amador was backing up a vehicle of her own, preparing to strike again. "It's her. What are you waiting for?"

I turned to her and I must have been white as a sheet, knuckles clenched on the wheel in terror. "I don't know how to drive." The others seemed to catch on a moment later, eyes going wide as I can only look at them in horror. She was coming at us again and all I could do was mutter to myself in panic. "I don't know how to drive. I don't know how to drive. I don't know-"She rammed us again with such force that it sent the van tumbling down the ditch on the side of the road. I managed to stay in the driver's seat when we landed, hand curled around the arm rest beside me for dear life. The only view from my window now was that of the grass and dirt we had landed in.

The moment things settled my mind instantly went to the others in the car. I had to get them out of here in case she came back. I was the most qualified to defend us, but I had the feeling it wasn't going to be much of a fight. I sat up, muscles groaning from the knocks they had taken. "Boss says everyone out now!" I ordered, moving towards the back of the van and grabbing the phone from where I spotted it on the ground as I went. I managed to kick the door open with a few kicks spurred by adrenaline and climb out. I turned and made sure everyone followed, heart getting lighter as Simmons joined me followed by Fitz and then Skye cradling her left arm. We'd deal with that later.

Amador's vehicle seemed to be gone- no sign of it other than the dent in our car. I looked everyone over and let out a huge sigh of relief. We were a bit worse for wear, but we were okay. Wordlessly I dialed the phone and didn't even wait for Ward to speak when he picked up. "We need help, Ward." The line went dead and I knew they were coming, sinking down into the grass with relief. A moment later Skye was right next to me.

"How do you, the Agent who can fly a plane, not know how to drive?" She gritted her teeth in pain and I could see part of her arm was already swollen. She had broken it for sure. But her tone was joking, trying to make light of a situation like always.

"It happens," was the only answer I could give. And I don't think there was a moment I hated that more. I was so relieved that my friends were alive that it was making the weight of the lies I told crush the wind out of me. Everyone had trusted me with their life in that moment, but I hadn't really earned that. They didn't know who I really was. I didn't even know who I really was. "Skye?" She looked at me, smiling. "I'm not-"

"Everyone okay?!" came Coulson's frantic voice from the top of the bank, clearly worried about us. I was about to shout up and answer, but the two had already slid down the slope to meet us. Ward's eyes locked immediately on Skye's arm while Coulson's looked over all our faces before ending on mine.

His gaze was so intense it made me uncomfortable, so I felt the need to just throw something out there in my usual manner. I slowly rose to me feet, wincing at pain that was now shooting into my ankle. I looked the scene over, gaze stopping on the smoking van. "I…I think we might need to find a new ride home, sir."

Nobody laughed out loud, but I liked to think they did on the inside.

XXX

We ended up having to call the authorities to give us a ride back, Ward going with Skye to the hospital where she would get her arm put in a cast. The moment we walked up the ramp it was immediately clear May was not happy about the situation. She stared down at us from the metal balcony above the lab, eyes narrowing as they landed on Coulson. It looked a fight was brewing over Amador and my aching ankle was kind of leaning me towards her point of view. She quickly stepped away and he followed, myself and Fitz-Simmons going to the lab instead of even trying to get involved. We sat mostly in silence as they looked over the equipment they had grabbed out of the van for what we could still use or had to toss to their dismay.

Skye and Ward arrived close to an hour later, but the way she came bounding up the ramp you wouldn't think she had just had the cast now encasing the entire lower half of her left arm put on. She dropped her bag on one of the tables and pulled out her laptop. Ward just moved right past us to join May in her fight against Coulson. He hadn't said much, but it was easy to tell he was pretty angry we had ended up in that scenario- especially Skye.

"I'm close to recovering the data signature from the encrypted broadcast," she told the group of us, typing hindered greatly as she struggled under the weight of her cast. "Wireless in the hospital was terrible though so I didn't get very far. Give me a half-hour and I think we can start watching back."

"Someone's fired up," I couldn't help but comment as she went right back to work. Even Fitz-Simmons seemed completely exhausted by her at this point.

"Coulson needs us to figure out who this is," she replied. "Plus we need to save him from the Ward-May double team that has to be happening right now."

She was done in fifteen, pulling up the feed that had been watching us in the van. I quickly ran- well limped to grab the others while Fitz-Simmons helped Skye put it up on the big screen. When I walked into the office I got the definite impression I was interrupting an argument, but plowed ahead anyway before leading them back. They didn't say a single word… which was super unnerving let me tell you. You could feel the tension in the hallway.

When we all entered the lab, the group had the feed up on the main screen. It strangely enough depicted Amador wiping away the perspiration from in front of her mirror, the image once again in color. Coulson made his way next to Skye, taking it in.

"Are we recording this?" he asked. Skye immediately fiddled with some buttons on a remote in her hand.

"Uh… we are now."

The image was now much clearer, allowing me my first real good look of Amador. She didn't seem as scary as I had built her up to be in my head. She almost looked… normal. "Whoa…" Fitz breathed from next to me.

"How are we seeing this? Where's the camera?" Coulson questioned. And I realized quickly how good and valid the question was. It almost made no sense. But then my head went a bit scattered as she proceeded to grab a metal instrument and went about poking her eye. It made a chill run up my spine and I had to turn away with my hand up, noticing Fitz was doing the exact same. I almost felt like I wanted to gag just from the thought of what she might be doing.

"It's her eye," May spoke up. I caught up in that moment, burying my nausea to look at the screen once again in fascination. "She's the camera." This was then confirmed as she closed it, the world becoming like it had when she had been looking at the van. It gave us a very personal look at the machinery in play around her right eye and suddenly I was glad Fitz hadn't shared any of those cookies.

"It switches to backscatter when she closes her eyes," Fitz observed. Coulson was just staring at the image in fascination.

"You're a robot," Skye muttered. It only took me a beat to realize she was addressing Ward and then the smile was almost too hard to wipe off my face. "Can you do that?"

He ignored her though, looking at our two tech experts. "Who has tech like this?"

"We don't," Fitz quickly answered, unnerving me a bit. "Not like this. Not that small and internal. That's at least a decade ahead of anything I've seen." I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all. I even turned around, not wanting to stare at it any longer- especially as she moved the tool towards it. Fitz turned his attention to Simmons. "Though, now that I've seen it, I could maybe approximate it… the backscatter x-ray, a micro-transceiver that somehow doesn't fry her brain, an internal power source…"

"All miniaturized," Simmons added with amazement. "Honestly it's-"

"Genius," they both finished at the same time. There was a clicking sound.

"We have to bring her in," I heard Coulson decide. I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Fitz smiling at me.

"She opened her eyes. It's okay now." I nodded, turning back around to see we were indeed just watching Amador stare at herself in the mirror.

"We have to take her out," May disagreed and that tension was instantly back. "She's a weapon." Oh boy. Not in front of the kids please. The parents shouldn't fight in front of the kids. We all looked anywhere but at the two of them as May made her approach. "I'll call H.Q. and see if we can bring a task force in to help us."

"Our team can handle this," Coulson disagreed, both of them never raising their voice an octave. "Find her and get Crawford to-"

'I get it," May interrupted and I was so thankful. I didn't need the pressure of the end of that sentence. "You feel responsible… maybe you pushed her too hard. But she tried to kill four members of our team."

"If she wanted us dead we'd be dead." He did have a point there. It was minute, but it was present. My eyes went back to the screen where Amador was digging through her drawer at what must have been the hotel she was staying at.

"We got lucky. You want to risk our lives again?"

"You told me you were ready for combat, that you had my back." She seemed to have found what she was looking for in terms of a piece of paper.

"Don't ever doubt it," May made clear. It was interesting to see her techniques in practice. There was a calm there I could certainly see now. She was in control of herself- measured and calculating. "But you are defending the girl at the expense of the team." Now she had a pen and was beginning to write something.

"Because we protect our own."

"With all due respect, sir, she's not one of our own," Ward joined in- the first of us to dare. But then I realized what she was writing. It may just change the entire situation.

"Guys!" They all turned their attention back to see the note read 'Can I sleep?' "She's asking for permission." And then typed words appeared at the bottom of our screen- in her vision. 'Stand by…'

"She's not being watched," Coulson realized.

"She's being controlled," I agreed. The entire mood of the room shifted as everyone put together what that meant- what that must be like. And here I thought I had little control over things and was whining about my situation. This woman was literally being controlled by her eyeball.

"We have to find her," Coulson decided, turning to us to give orders. May didn't look at him. "We'll take shifts watching the feed. Sooner or later, she'll look at something that will clue us into her location."

We were all surprised when May spoke up after a beat. "I'll take first watch." We all nodded in agreement, agreeing on other shifts before heading out of the lab to get some rest. Since May was taking up a shift I figured that meant no training for the night, though I vowed mentally to at least work on some of my deep breathing techniques.

I looked back at May as I was almost out the door and was surprised to see that even though I would have thought she lost the fight she seemed completely fine. Almost as if she had gotten exactly what she wanted but was so good we couldn't tell. But maybe I was reading too much into it.

XXX

Well, here is the awaited front half. I will keep to my word about both this week and the second half will be up soon after- by the end of tomorrow at the latest. I swear on the monkey Fitz will one day get.

I just wanted to take a minute and thank all of you for your support. We've hit over fifty follows and it's the fastest this has ever happened to me. So thank you for embracing this story: 1hannahgirl, 06bromleys, AllyCatt12, Analyne, AnimePrincessRach, Anna the Viking XD, BlackVeilBridesLoverX3, Bruno Santos 30, Carly Carnations, Constellations15, Cow-Lover2214, DarknessHitsMe, Ever Autumn13, Flyotter, GiraffePanda2, Just Lindsey, LeopardFeather, Lift the Wings, LittleMagpie, Lizard Queen of Mako, MeemZ101, MiaR, Midnight Reader16, MilliePrue-BellatrixLestrange, MulishaMaiden, NN010, Raven Darkov, Richelle Manuel, Rkatp, SerenityPax, Seth Motley, SimplyKelly, TS3KayMaire, The Calm Spy, The DeadlyJeux, TheGabification, Triggerfinger213, YellowLaxr, alliesmithok, ballet022, blamethegnomes, clairecat1994, funkyauthor, gnarley, horsegirl177, lula. , lynneniko666, m0nalisaat0ldalie88, penguinashleylover, romanogersfeels, sarahrachel21, the perks of being yourself, and of course wades wife. Thank you all for your love.

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