A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay in posting. Thank you to everyone who sent supportive thoughts or prayers for my family. My brother in law survived his surgery, though recovery is still uncertain. We'll just have to see how he does.

Chapter 10

Skye finished loading the schematics into the computers on the Bus just as May came into the room. She set it up on the main screen with the rest of the data organized for easy access. May looked over the screens and nodded. "Good work," she said to the younger agent. "I just asked Captain Rogers to join me; we'll sort out our plan and then brief everyone."

"Right. I'll get out of your way," Skye replied as she hopped off the table she was sitting on.

"Skye, wait." Skye paused just inside the doorway and turned back to look at May. May returned her look steadily. "Coulson told me what happened, that first day in New York. I'm glad you're happy, Skye."

Skye smiled and her eyes softened as she nodded. "I am; with them in my life, I'll never be alone again. But I miss the old team sometimes, too."

"You probably always will," May agreed with a nod. "No two teams are ever alike. But you'll find your place."

"I know. Thanks, May."

Steve stepped into the room with a smile for Skye and a nod to May. "Everyone's still in the lab," Steve told Skye as she left. She nodded and left the room with a smile of thanks.

When Skye entered the lab, she received smiles of welcome from Bucky and Fitz and smiled back. It surprised her a bit to receive a nod and a tight smile from Mack, but she nodded back as she moved to Bucky's side. Bucky wrapped his arm – the metal one – around Skye and she leaned lightly into him as she listened to the discussion she'd walked into. Bucky was describing some of the tech he'd used under HYDRA's control, and Mack was making notes while Fitz listened raptly.

Skye smiled to herself; Bucky didn't know much about computers or cell phones, but he had been taught to use a number of espionage devices as well as modern weapons. She knew he didn't talk much about those days, but it seemed that he was happy to tell Fitz about the kinds of things he'd been given to use. If she had to guess, Skye figured Bucky hoped SHIELD could counter or reproduce those items and that by sharing what he knew, that he could make up for some of the damage he'd caused.

After listening for a while, Skye unlocked her tablet and went back to work on the data from the HYDRA location. She was perfectly content to work with Fitz's excited chatter and Bucky's quiet voice in the background. There were a couple of archives with odd chemical formulas that Skye flagged for Simmons to review, and some strange schematics that Skye forwarded to Tony as well as flagging for Fitz. Anything she found on organizational matters she tagged for Coulson and Steve, though she'd set those up for Steve to review later.

Time passed quickly for the group and all too soon they received a call to their briefing. They filed into the command center, Skye and Bucky moving to one side of the table while Mack and Fitz settled at the other side.

"Okay, everyone, this is what we're going to do…"

It was dark when the team crept up to the research facility. Skye and Bucky were the first in position, and Skye immediately pulled out her laptop and started working her way into the security systems. The place only had two entrances, and most of the facility was built into the mountain itself, so they were splitting into teams of three. Fitz and Mack would be with Steve; May would join Skye and Bucky as soon as she had the Bus locked down safely.

"I'm in," Skye said quietly, knowing their earpieces were sensitive enough to pick up even a whisper unless there was a lot of background noise. She looked up to meet Bucky's eyes and saw May approach as well.

"We're in position," Steve confirmed over the radio. "How long until you can disable security?"

"Whenever you're ready, but we'll only have a few minutes until they notice. I'll loop the camera feeds, so they'll only show the same images. But they seem to check their systems regularly; we could have two minutes or ten, but probably not much more than that."

"Right. You've got your target and we've got ours. As long as we all focus and stay in our groups, we'll be fine." Steve's voice was confident and reassuring.

"Skye, JARVIS and I will monitor the security while you're on the move. When you get inside, we'll have your back," Tony chimed in. "Just leave the access point open on your tablet while you're busy."

"Got it. Everyone ready?" Skye waited for confirmation, then activated her security hack. She waited until the tablet had the connection and her program confirmed activation before she closed the laptop and dumped both in her bag. "Security disabled. Time to go."

Skye let Bucky pull her to her feet and she followed him as quietly as she could. May moved like a shadow behind her, silently watching. In only a moment, they were through the fence and approaching the building; they moved from shadow to shadow to the door. Skye confirmed that the electronic lock was disengaged before Bucky pulled open the door and darted inside. "Clear," he murmured, and Skye followed him in.

They quickly made their way to the emergency stairs on this end of the facility. Their target area was basement level ten; a genetics lab where two assets were supposedly in containment. The team moved swiftly down the stairs, thankfully encountering no resistance on the way. "Target floor reached," May told the other team quietly while Skye grabbed her tablet to unlock the stairwell door. "Going in."

With a nod to Bucky when she was done, Skye stepped back to let him open the door. Both her soulmates had made it perfectly clear that under no circumstances was she to go through a doorway without letting someone more experienced clear it first. She was learning a lot, but they were rather paranoid about her safety and she had decided that this mission was not the time to argue. So she waited.

The sound of gunshots had May ducking through the door quickly, with Skye right behind her. Their stairway exited into the middle of a corridor; Bucky was making short work of six guards down the hall to the left, but three more had emerged from doors on the right. May quickly occupied two of them, leaving the third for Skye to deal with – which she did, pulling her ICER and downing the guard.

They quickly regrouped, dragging unconscious guards into side rooms and locking them in. Skye shorted out the electronic locks on those doors so they couldn't be unlocked; they'd have to be dismantled to get the doors open. Then they moved swiftly down the hall to the labs.

Skye waited, back to the wall beside the door, as Bucky kicked the door in and darted into the room. May followed quickly, with Skye just behind her. Two more guards were quickly taken down, leaving the room occupied by them… and two scientists, looking startled as they froze at Bucky's growled command. The room was mostly empty, with a few half-packed boxes beside the scientists.

May cursed, but went with Bucky to restrain the scientists for later questioning. Skye began scouring the room, looking for anything that might be considered an Asset. Her eyes were drawn to the far end of the room, seeing a row of large windows. A series of switches on that wall turned on lights behind the window, revealing a series of windowed rooms – or cells. Empty cells.

"I think this one's a bust," Skye said as she turned her attention to the desk and its remaining contents as well as the boxes.

"What 'assets' were you studying here," May demanded of the two cowed scientists sitting quietly in the corner. They stared at her, silent, until she levelled a gun at them. "Tell me."

The younger of the two, a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties at best went wide eyed and words began to spill out. "Just genetic aberrations. If humans are to maintain racial superiority, we need to know what causes some people to develop powers! We need to figure out if we can induce these powers in others, to keep developing culturally and genetically! Like those two kids we-" She was abruptly cut off when the other scientist pulled a small knife out of his lab coat pocket and stabbed her before May could intervene.

"Damn it!" May cursed as she wrenched the knife away from the man. He just glared up at her and a crack was heard from him just before he began to foam at the mouth.

"Cyanide," Bucky grumbled as the man died in May's grip. "Let's grab this stuff and get out of here. Skye's right, I think we're too late. They've clearly been moving out of here for a while."

"Kids," Skye said quietly from her place by the desk. "She said they were studying a couple of kids. Kids with powers, I'm guessing."

"Breathe, Skye," May said as she stepped over to the younger agent. "Focus. Figure out what we need to take, so we can find them next time."

With a nod and a sigh, Skye squared her shoulders and turned her attention back to the boxes. Most of them were carefully stored lab equipment, but one held a collection of paper files. Some with photos. "I think this is the only one we need. Unless Jemma needs more vials and research equipment."

"Can't hurt, if we can get it out of here," May replied with a shrug. They were just about to close up the boxes when an alarm went off. "Damn. Leave it for now. Skye, do you need the whole box or just a few files?"

"There's only a handful of files in here." Skye quickly shoved the dozen or so files into the bag with her laptop. She was about to swing it onto her back when Bucky took it from her. "Bucky," she complained.

"It weighs next to nothing for me. You need your manoeuvrability if we run into more people," Bucky said with a shrug, but his tone was firm. "Move now, argue later."

"Fine, but this is so not over." Skye swept past Bucky to follow May out into the hallway.

"Come to level twelve, if you can," Steve's voice came over the radio. "We could use some backup."

"On our way," May replied as she darted to the stairway doors again. Thankfully, they were still unlocked and the group moved down quickly.

Everything went smoothly for Steve and his team right up until they hit their designated target on the twelfth floor. It took them a little longer to get there; their entrance was harder to get to and further from the nearest stairway. They didn't meet any resistance getting in, though, which Steve found more than a little strange.

Steve and Mack both heard the commentary from the other team, but they didn't respond. There was no point. Fitz didn't have an earpiece because he didn't work well with distractions, but neither Steve nor Mack had any intention of leaving him alone.

Unfortunately, that peace had only lasted until they exited the stairwell. A large group of soldiers with a few scientists carrying boxes and cases were halfway down the very long hallway. The sound of the door behind them caused several soldiers to look back. One of them triggered an alarm, and the rest quickly started shooting. Steve quickly shoved Fitz back into the stairwell and with a quick roll settled himself into the doorway of an empty closet. Mack quickly took up position in the stairway door and returned fire as Steve triggered the comms to request help from the other team.

Steve heard a commotion several minutes later and saw the soldiers rearranging themselves to deal with another set of targets. They grouped into a shoot-and-move pattern, clearly herding people and equipment towards another location. Steve and Mack followed on one side, Fitz ducking into empty rooms and doorways as he crept along behind; after a few moves Steve started to see May and Bucky doing the same from the other end. He hoped they might be able to cut the group off from their goal.

Luck was not on their side, however; after a few more tense minutes, the group started funnelling into a large doorway. When all that was left were the soldiers guarding the door, Steve went into action. He dove into the hallway, throwing his shield to take out men and weapons. He saw a flash of silver as Bucky jumped in from the other side, and then a shadow detached itself from a doorway and resolved into May as she kicked the gun out of another soldier's hands.

A mechanical rumbling and the sound of an engine whirring to life echoed through the open doorway as the group took out the last of the guards. Steve and Bucky ran into the room, May hot on their heels while Skye and Mack stayed back a little until Fitz made it to the group. The sounds got louder until they had to shout to talk.

"What's going on?" Skye called, triggering her earpiece as well in hopes that someone might hear her.

"Underground hanger!" May called back. "They've all loaded onto a plane."

"Skye, can you block that door?" Steve yelled, getting her attention. Skye darted through the doorway and looked around; the ceiling – heck the whole room – was cut from the raw stone of the mountain and a blast door in the wall was open at the end of a short runway. A pair of SHIELD-style quinjets were just lifting off the ground while a third stood open with a man on the ramp. Steve stopped, startled, as he met the man's eyes and saw recognition flare and he in turn recognized the face. He threw his shield, but not fast enough to hit before the ramp closed.

"No, not without bringing the mountain down on our heads!" Skye yelled over the noise of the planes' engines. "It's just not that focused, more's the pity." The group watched as the planes took off and out the hangar doors. The room seemed to echo the sudden silence after the planes were gone.

"We need to get out of here," Bucky said into the silence. "They know we were here, and if we don't want to meet with a strike team, we need to leave."

"Copy that," May answered. She spun on her heel and headed back for the stairway they came down. "Let's go get those boxes and get back to the Bus. Anybody hurt?" Everyone's replies were negative, thankfully.

Skye approached Steve where he stood still staring after the plane. "Steve?" she said softly.

"That man. I recognized him, and I'm pretty sure he knows me too."

"Who is he?"

"A man who should've died decades ago. But he looks the same; no older than he did during the War." Skye cursed softly under her breath but didn't interrupt. She just looked up at Steve, and he finally looked down to meet her eyes. "His name is Baron Wolfgang von Strucker."

TBC...