Title: Favor
author: Cindy Ryan
notes and summary: see part one

"We'll fix this."Jemma promised as she held a bag of ice to Leo's head.

Leo allowed his eyes to close. He was beyond tired and his head hurt. But then it was nothing he hadn't endured before. They'd all done missions hurt that was part of being an agent. This was different. This was rescuing one of their own from a psychopath who had claimed to be one of them. There was no rule book for this one.

"Did I lead him to us?"Fitz wondered as he forced his eyes open and slid off the exam table. "Can't be that much air traffic in that area. Or did..."

"Stop, Fitz."Simmons ordered gently. "This wasn't your fault. This wasn't anyone's fault. We both know Ward. If he wanted to find Skye and take her he'd find a way."

Fitz stood a few inches from Jemma. It felt like he'd known her forever. She'd been such a part of his adult life. In such a short span of time things had changed, tumbled and started to right themselves again. More than anything he wanted to believe Jemma when she said they'd fix this. It was what they did; what they always did when confronted with a problem. This was no ordinary problem. This was a proverbial can of worms that nobody knew what would happen or how to predict any possible outcome. Skye's powers were a wild card enough toss in Ward and her father and Hydra and it was a mess with a capital M.

"I-I'm going to clean up quick. I'll meet you at the briefing."Leo stated as he stepped around his lab partner she handed him the bag of ice.

Leo smiled briefly and reached out to brush his fingers of his free hand against Jemma's right cheek. She didn't pull away and that added to the confusing tumble that was their lives. A discussion for another time. Leo let his hand fall away and he quietly left.

Consciousness slowly returned to Skye along with pain. She found herself completely disoriented. As memories returned the disorientation grew worse. Where were Fitz and Hawkeye? Had they been hurt too? Instinct was telling Skye to be cautious, that she wasn't safe.

Carefully Skye opened her eyes and blinked in surprise. She was in a bedroom of a cabin but not the cabin they'd been in. Her hands were bound by shackles which Skye knew was the cause of the pain cousing through her. As she moved her legs Skye found one foot handcuffed to the footrail. She heard noises from the living room. Skye knew now that Ward had taken her from Coulson's safehouse. The question was had he kept her for himself or handed her over to Hydra?

Looking around at her prison which was slightly out dated but comfortable Skye had a feeling this wasn't a Hydra holdout. The realization that she was alone with Grant Ward and helpless caused a shiver to run down Skye's spine. No she corrected herself she'd never be helpless. Even with her hands bound and her powers controlled she still had options. As long as she had options Skye would never be helpless. She had to hold on to that until a rescue came. Skye had to believe that despite everything that had happened her team would still come. They were family and family always looked out for each other; no matter what.

"If anybody's looking for a half-time rally speech this won't be it."Phil Coulson began as he faced the group gathered in the conference room. "We've been divided plus hurt and angry with each other and by each other. Grant Ward took advantage of that and Skye paid the price."

Leo, Jemma, May and Mack seated at the table were silent. As were Bobbie, Hunter and Hawkeye who leaned against opposite walls.

"Skye has not vanished into thin air and I don't believe Hydra has her. That may be Ward's endgame but we have time to prevent it."Coulson continued grimly."Ward knows us knows how we operate but we also know him. Grant may think he knows all our tricks but he doesn't. May?"

May hit a spot on the center of the table's touch screen and the main video screen on the far wall flared to life. It showed a frozen image of a dirt road and a retreating truck.

"We caught a break."May explained taking over the briefing. "Ward didn't dismantle all the surveillance cameras. There were two but they're far enough away that we can't get the license plate. Which doesn't matter since the odds are good the truck is stolen. However the safehouse is isolated for a reason we can track it a long ways before he has to switch cars."

"Our focus is getting Skye back but there's another wildcard we need to keep an eye on."Coulson hit a illuminated square at the top of the table and the video screen switched to another image. "Zabo knows his daughter isn't with us."

"So Skye could go from one crazy frying pan to another."Mack surmised with a shake of his head.

"Ward won't share so this could get ugly very fast."Hawkeye interjected quietly

"Which is something we want to prevent. We're splitting up into two teams. One to track and keep an eye on Zabo the other to find Skye."Coulson ordered as he stepped away from the table. "May has your assignments. Let's get to work."

/Hang in there, Skye./Coulson thought. /We're coming; we'll find you. I promise./

Grant lightly kicked open the door of Skye's room. In his left hand he held a plate containing a ham and cheese sandwich. In the other a bottle of water. He'd set up a video camera in the room so he'd know when she woke up. The glare Skye shot him when Grant entered would've frozen hell as the saying went. He ignored it and placed the plate and water on the floor where she could reach it.

"I figured you'd be hungry."Grant began as he stood.

Skye kicked at him with her free leg missing by a mile. She did succeed in knocking over the water. He leaned down and righted it putting it back within reach.

"It's not poisoned."Grant said as he straightened meeting Skye's gaze. "If you want me to eat it first I will."

"Surprised you're not letting me starve."Skye commented quietly. "That's more your style."

"You can hate me all you want; I've earned that. But if I wanted you dead you'd be dead."Grant stated as he walked through the open door his hand resting on the handle. "Eat, get some rest and we'll talk in the morning."

Cal Zabo literally did a happy dance around his hotel room. Moving him away from the laptop and the video call he had just connected to. A video call Cal didn't think would go through let alone be answered. She'd given him the number for emergencies and this could certainly qualify as that.

"Cal?"A female voice called gaining his attention.

"Sorry. Got excited figured you'd changed the number."Zabo replied as he quickly sat back down in front of the laptop. "You look beautiful."

"Cal."Jiaying replied patiently. "It's a little busy here so if you could tell me why you called."

"Our daughter."Cal stated instantly serious and sober. "She needs your help."

"You want me to bring Tasha in?"Hawkeye asked Coulson as they exited the conference room.

Coulson shook his head. "Not yet."

"Do you really think Ward's endgame is to turn Skye over to Hydra?"Clint asked as they entered Coulson's office and Clint shut the door behind them.

"I honestly don't know."Phil replied grimly as he sat down behind his desk. "He's proven he's willing to do almost anything for the highest bidder...to be on the winning side. But I've seen how he's been around Skye the last few times...there's something there...some undertow...some..."

"Unfinished business."Clint finished quietly as he gripped the back of the chair. "Yeah, I noticed that too."

"That's why I'm leaning toward the theory that Ward is his own endgame. He wants Skye perhaps with the added bonus of using her powers for his own private plans. Either way she's vulnerable the longer she's with him."Coulson stated as he stood.

"We'll bring her home."Clint promised as he walked to the door.

"We have to."Phil said solemnly. "This team's been through too much already."

Clint nodded grimly and left.