Skye wasn't worried about Steve. She was not.

He was a super soldier, and Avenger and she liked that he went out and did stuff like this. It made him interesting. He could take care of himself in situations like this. Which was one of the things she loved about him.

But it also meant that sometimes, he was flying planes with bombs on them, that made him crash into the ice and be frozen for almost seventy years. And right now, he was fighting Hydra, the worst of the worst.

So yeah, not worried at all.

"C'mon, Simmons and I need more players for scrabble!" Fitz was half-begging.

Skye chewed on her lip as she sat in her bunk, trying to entertain herself. She didn't know why she hesitated, it would be the perfect distraction. But still, there was a reluctance there. She sighed then, smiling and giving in. She stood up, kicking Fitz in the butt to get him to get out of her bunk. The game started slow, Skye using her own hacker terms while Simmons used her science-y ones. Honestly, Skye wasn't sure why anyone played with Fitzsimmons anymore...they always kicked everyone's asses before coming to a standstill.

"Have you heard from Steve yet?" Fitz asked, munching on a bowl of pretzels.

"Nope." Skye tried to play it off casually. "He's probably fine. Just fighting aliens and the like...normal stuff," Skye insisted, smiling.

Fitz and Simmons shared a look but said nothing. She was right. It was normal...for him. And them, to an extent.

They played Scrabble for about thirty minutes, until Skye was about to melt from the fact that she was losing, horribly. She excused herself to go into her bunk for a few minutes. She promised Simmons she wasn't going to go hide away. She hadn't even been hiding. She'd been waiting.

Still nothing. She slipped into the cockpit then, sitting next to May. If anyone understood how this felt, it was her.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"He's not your team member. He may not call for help," May finally said. Skye knew that. She knew that her relationship with Steve was radically different than whatever the hell May and Coulson were.

"I want to have his back."

"He's an Avenger."

"So is Coulson," Skye said it quietly, repeating the words she'd once heard Fury speak. She wasn't supposed to have heard that.

Skye swore she saw a smile ghost across May's face. She knew it was different. Even though Coulson had his own extraordinary aspects - the man had died - it wasn't the same as Steve. Steve was a superhero. He was genetically engineered to be a super soldier. He'd fought 'Gods' and aliens. Hell, he'd fought S.H.I.E.L.D before.

"I'm not a Civ. I don't want to feel like one," she grumbled.

May gave her one look. One look that said loads. She wasn't a Civ. She was an agent. While Steve fought the threats no human could tackle, she fought evil almost every day. She didn't have to feel like a Civ.

The message came at 2 am. Encrypted, poorly she might add, and blaring across her phone, her computer screen. Hell, the TV might have been on red alert.

There were coordinates. The message was 'Under American Skies'. She knew. She knew. She figured out the location and barged into Coulson's room, shaking him awake.

She waved a pair of car keys in his face. "Skye..."

"What would you do?"

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He grabbed the car keys from her, much to her surprise. He couldn't do this. Coulson stood up, and tossed Skye something else in the dark of night. Skye fumbled with the keys.

Lola. She flung her arms around him. "Thanks, A.C."

"Do me a favor?"

She nodded. "Anything."

"Put on some pants before you go."

Skye obliged, then raced to Lola. She revved the engine as he lowered the cargo hold. She was wary to buckle up before the car flew out. In the wee hours of the morning, the world seemed peaceful. Skye found herself in the same solitary comfort that she was used to from her van days. The coordinates that she'd been sent led her to a deserted parking lot, right as the sun threatened to begin its ascent. She didn't climb out of Lola at first. A massive, silhouetted figure emerged from behind an abandoned warehouse. Skye tensed up, getting ready to speed away.

But when he came into the light, Skye was taking in the sight of her boyfriend. She grinned in spite of herself, stepping out of the car and waiting for him to come to her.

He was sweaty, he looked tired and beat up. And yet he was was still ungodly hot. "Hey Soldier," she said quietly, drawing a smiling from Steve. He wrapped his arms around her and Skye pushed up onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips to his once, twice...three times. At least. She eventually stopped for breath. "Half-dead superheroes a good look for you," she smirked.

"If you two aren't busy..."

"Clint, leave the Capsicle alone. We've all done it before." Tony.

"I was under the impression Skye was off limits."

"Nat!"

Skye closed her eyes, smiling to herself. She untangled herself from Steve, turning around to face the Avengers.

"I thought the human custom was to kiss after victory," Thor mused.

Skye crossed her arms. "Are you guys even a real team? Or a traveling comedy troupe?"

Tony extended his metal-clad hand for a high five.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "We have an encryption. We need you to...decrypt it."

Skye looked at all of them. "Your team is literally comprised of two geniuses and two masters of stealth and breaking-and-entering and you guys can't decrypt this?"

Natasha shrugged. "It's good. Really good. Steve says so are you. Besides, last I heard, you were closer to certain aspects of Hydra than we were."

Lowblow. Skye felt a little sick at the mention of Hydra. But she could do this. She nodded and Natasha took over in Lola's driver's seat. Clint climbed in the back. The others could get to the location on their own. In the passenger's seat, Skye began running everything she knew about S.H.I.E.L.D and Hydra security systems. This had to be serious, if they were calling her in. Tony had a decryption device. He'd shown it to her.

"There seems to be Stark tech protecting the encryption, along with standard S.H.I.E.L.D programs and god knows whatever Hydra uses," Natasha explained, driving well over the speed limit without blinking. It was as if she knew what Skye was thinking. She was good like that. Skye tried to focus. Two a.m. and she was kind of bleary. But her crazy good hacker skills were needed. She had to out-Stark Stark. She could do that. Right?

Natasha drove them to faceless office building number 100000 and Skye swallowed. A front for a Hyrda op, probably. And this was her time to break in. She'd done break ins before. But with her team, following a plan that she knew. And improvising was fine with certain enemies...she wasn't sure that she wanted to play those games with Hydra.

She and Natasha made quick work of the security system. The team slipped inside the building quickly and began leading Skye to the central hub. She could do this. This was her talent. Her calling, so to speak. Yet she still managed to feel like this was her first mission again. That was, she felt that way until they sat her down at a gorgeous computer, with two thin, clear touchscreen monitors. Her fingers found the keys and the system booted up.

Steve joined her and Natasha and Clint ran outside.

"He'll go to the roof and spot Stark and Thor. Banner's out back," Nat explained. Skye nodded, watching her load her guns and Steve remove his shield from his back. If Hydra burst in, they'd be guarding her. Skye pulled a flashdrive out of her pocket and plugged it in, starting the decryption program.

"Do you carry those around in your pocket?" Steve asked, mildly disbelieving and mildly impressed.

"You guys called me. You called me for one reason, I came prepared," she rolled her eyes but she was smiling. It was thrilling, doing this.

Once she stopped talking, there were only a few noises. Her fingers against the keys, the computer noises and some branches hitting the windows were the only things to be heard. Hydra could bust in at any minute. Skye took a deep breath. She passed the securities that were identical to S.H.I.E.L.D's. Hydra's were down. Now for the Stark tech.

This could take a few minutes.

There was a crashing noise and Skye nearly jumped out of her skin but she stayed seated, eyes on the screen and fingers moving at an ungodly pace. "Nobody gets to her," Natasha barked before disappearing. She'd use her assassin stealth to take down whoever it was.

"That's one instruction I didn't need. As if I'd let anyone get to her," Steve muttered, eyes searching the room.

Skye could hear the grunts and snaps and all of the other sickening noises of fighting. They didn't both her. "I'm in! What do you need me to grab?"

Steve turned to look at her when someone came up behind him, whacking him on the head. He stumbled and Skye stood up, panicking. He blinked his eyes, looking bleary and unfocused. He paused but then turned around, bashing his shield into the assailant. "Everything you can grab! Especially project Ladon!" he shouted.

Everything? "Shit."

Okay, Ladon first. Skye poured over files until she found the ones she needed, starting the transfer. Once that was done, and she could block out the sounds of Steve just feet away from her keeping Hydra away from her, she could pour over file titles and sizes at her will. She grabbed at will and randomly, grabbing as much as she could. The lives she could save...

This wasn't Hydra's central hub. Their darkest secrets and goriest skeletons would be hidden far away. But this? This was better than nothing. This would send her team on missions. This would create a chink in Hydra's armor that they sorely needed.

"Skye! We gotta go, are you ready!" Steve asked.

Skye finished up, feeling the seconds eek by slowly. This was it. She shoved the flashdrive down her bra. "Skye, duck!"

Right as she ducked, the window shattered and there was shouting. When she stood up, Tony was standing right in front of her. "Hold on tight kiddo. Cap's got this. We gotta get you out of here safely." Skye grabbed onto the Iron Man armor. He secured one hand behind Skye and took off into the Skye. It was surreal. Skye had dreamed of flying ever since she was a little girl, curled up in an orphanage bed or a foster family's bed and hoping for it to get better.

It was better than anything she'd imagined. She looked down, at Steve. He watched her fly away, a smile on his face before he started fighting again.

"Loverboy will be done soon. You'll get him back."

Skye laughed, looking around her instead of just down at Steve. It really was extraordinary.

Skye was in Steve's bed, alone, when she felt the mattress shift. Skye bolted upright but wasn't greeted with an intruder.

"Steve."

He was beat up. He looked like a mess. A hot mess. Skye smiled gently, resting a hand over his face and gently padding her fingertips over his bruises and scrapes. He didn't even cringe. "You did it," he smiled.

"What can I say, I'm the best."

He laughed quietly, sliding his hand up to cup her face. "I'm a wreck, aren't I?"

"Such a wreck," Skye nodded. Steve started to pull away but Skye slid her hand back into his hair, making him stay. "A fuckin' gorgeous wreck," she corrected, pressing her lips to his. It was gentle and warm and Steve pulled himself closer to Skye, bringing his second and up to her face and kissing her breathless.

This was what she got for dating an Avenger. Other men came home cranky or tired. Steve came home with cuts and gashes. Sometimes he'd have to be admitted to the hospital. She was just lucky that he didn't have to go this time. And he'd have to deal with her going against terrorists and Hydra and all sorts of evil. They had to trust that the other knew what they were doing. But that had been built into their friendship, hadn't it? Trust was there from the beginning.

Steve finally pulled his lips away from Skye's and she took a moment to breathe in nuzzling her nose against his. "I'm gonna go shower."

"You know I'm gonna join you."

Steve quirked an eyebrow. "Not for dirty reasons, you perv. Though, yes. Let's not rule that out. I need to make sure you're not broken, alright? Make sure I don't need to call Simmons," she explained

Steve consented and picked her up out of the bed. He carried her into the bathroom, and Skye began helping him out of his Cap gear. He helped her out of her clothes.

Skye hadn't realized she'd been staring until he nudged her playfully. Skye smiled and she let out a slow breath as she examined him for more than just her own pleasure. He was alright. Of course he was alright. Skye felt something settle in her then. A kind of warmth and joy that felt like...love, maybe. The seeds of love, not the full-blown thing. She'd felt it once before. Too recently.

Somehow, she didn't panic though. She felt safe, starting to offer her heart to Steve.