Disclaimer: Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that this chapter is shorter than previous ones. Sry for that but future chapters will be longer I promise. Thanks for the follows and favorites. Again I own nothing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe except my own imagination and of course…my OC characters. Enjoy.

1 minute and 26 seconds early

Skye

I can't believe this-can't we go one day without dealing with the heaping pile of crap that is Hydra, is it too much to ask for? It was supposed to be a simple mission; find "The Sword", see if he's with Hydra or not, and bring him in, it's supposed to be that simple. So far this simple mission has gone from a piece of cake to a total cluster—okay-take a breath and just calm down Skye.

Ya can't let Jax see you get all nervous, especially since I still have no idea if he is with or against Hydra. Hell-this whole thing could be some sort of trap. Because as far as I know, me and Coulson are the only two people left that still have the original GH-325 still in our blood. This could be their way of getting it.

"Just keep it up. Let'em think that we're just out for a stroll." He seems so calm. It's like he's not even worried about the Hydra goons that are following us knows; or maybe he can that I'm nervous and he's just trying to help me relax. Either way, I've got no choice but to follow his lead, at least until Coulson comes to the rescue.

I look up at him and smile-like I'm just some ditsy out of towner who's fallen for his big city charm. I swing my arm around his waist to make it look more convincing to the goons following us. He looks at me and smiles like I do, and leans in close to my ear once more. "That a girl. We're gonna take a left up here, into the alley, where there's no civilians. Ok."

I gotta say-if he is a Hydra agent he's a damn good one. I think he's even better than Ward is or was at least. But still, there's something about him that makes me think that he isn't with Hydra; I can't quite put my finger on. I just-feel like I can trust him not to hurt me, but I can't rely solely on how I feel and I certainly can't trust…not yet at least.

As we nearly reach the alleyway, I turn my head to the right a little-it's too tempting to turn around to see if they're still following us. "Resist that temptation. Just keep your eyes forward or on me." How did he…? Did he just read my mind?

"I know it's tempting to look but trust me-they're still following us." Ok, so he didn't read my mind at all, he's just more experienced than I thought. It's a good thing too-cause otherwise this whole thing would be really awkward he could read my mind, especially what I was thinking about him at the diner.

He leans in close enough once again and I begin to feel his warm breath on my ear; it feels kinda weird-but also kinda exciting at the same time. "What level agent are you?" he asks. And once again I'm brought back down to reality, "Level 2, but after this I'll probably be demoted back down to a level 1." I try joking around a bit-my way of trying to ease the tension, but he doesn't seem to be affected much.

"Okay; and what's your combat specialty? Hand-to-Hand, pistol, knives…" he's continuous barrage of questions is starting to get a bit annoying, but I understand why. He needs to know what I'm capable of, but since I'm not sure of his intent I decide to fib a little. "Some hand-to-hand, mostly pistol." He looks at me once again, giving me a fake smile as we turn into the alleyway; no turning back now.

Before I realize it, he grabs my hand and we both start sprinting, that is until we find that we've enter dead end alley. I look around hoping to find some way out, but all I could find is an old fire escape off to the right and what I hope is just a giant rat running off behind some old beat up steel trash cans.

There is no way up to the fire escape as the ladder seems to be mysteriously missing. He looks behind us, then back at me and asks "You have a weapon on ya?" I pull out my Icer which I had hidden inside my bag and showed it to him; he tilts his head a little and says "Hope you're a good shot."

We both take cover against the wall…wait a sec. He doesn't have a gun, or knife or any kind weapon for that matter; well, I hope he's as good at hand-to-hand as he thinks he is. I take the strap of my bag and swing it over my head, lying it down on the ground behind me. I pull back the slide of my Icer, which cocks back the hammer in the process and I wait anxiously for the action to start.

Jaxx

She seems a bit anxious but prepared nonetheless; I'm guessing she's seen more action than she's letting on. It doesn't matter-I've gotta focus. I can hear 3 different footsteps coming closer as well as-SHIT! How'd I miss the other 2.

I look behind us and up just as the first guy appears on the fire escape. "Sky-fire escape!" she quickly turns around, and fires off two shots both hitting the guy square in the chest. The guy slams against the wall before falling forward and flipping over the railing. Damn-her reaction is faster than I thought. I hear a familiar sound as the guy lands awkwardly on his back.

His neck must've snapped from it impacting the ground; the sound was further amplified as it echoed off the brick walls. I look over at the girl and I can tell she heard it too-her face told the whole story. She didn't mean to kill him, I can tell that much. She hesitantly lowers her gun a bit just as the other man quickly appears-filing out an open window and he fires 3 shots.

She flinches with each bullet that impacts the brick wall behind her-shooting fine mortar dust onto her dark brown hair. She isn't firing back at him, she just froze. I kneel down, picking up a pebble which lay next to my feet, and took aim at my target. Hey, I've worked more with a lot less.

I throw it just hard enough to hit him in his right eye causing him to hold his now bleeding eye. He also drops his gun which clanks against the metal railing before falling to the ground. Sky finally recovers taking a knee before taking aim once again, and firing 3 shots into his chest.

He slumps over the railing, his arms dangling down; she lowers her gun and stands back up, leaning against the wall. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. I glance at her weapon hand in time to see it start to tremble. He must've been her first actual kill-the first is always the worst and it never gets easier.

She opens her eyes and looks at me-her expression quickly tells me what I need to know as she quickly raises her weapon. Before she has time to fire, I quickly do a roundhouse kick, connecting to someone's lower jaw. He flips and spins through the air before landing excruciatingly hard on his side.

Someone grabs the collar of my jacket, but I quickly take his wrist and twist it. He quickly lets go just as the other guy throws a fist at my face. I use goon I already have to block the thrown punch-the guy wrenches his head as he uses his free hand to hold his nose. I place a kick in the blonde goons' stomach just before I swing the other around-planting his face into the brick wall.

He falls to the ground wailing in pain as he held his now bloody nose-serves him right. Mr. Blonde gets up and reaches into his jacket, possibly going for a gun or a blade-I'm not about to let him get the chance to use it. He wasn't expecting me to leap towards him so quickly, but I grab his shirt collar and toss him against the wall.

One head-butt to his face and he quickly drops whatever he was going for. I place one foot on his chest, then I fall backwards and using the momentum I throw him far enough that he hits the wall opposite. I roll over onto my stomach in time to see him lying on the ground. That should've been it, until I heard the distinct sound of a hammer cocking back. Looking to my left I see the blonde has Sky in a choke hold with a gun to her head. "Slowly…" he says, as blood runs down outta his now broken nose.

Skye

Damnit! I should've kept a better grip on the gun and made sure Mr. dye-job here was really out. Now he's got me in a choke hold and my gun pointed at my head; lucky for me it's an Icer, but still I don't have any idea wait it would do to me at close range. Jax just looks at me, calm and collected-he doesn't even look exhausted at all.

I look over at the other guy, who looks completely trashed and pissed. He cracks his knuckles, getting ready for some payback; I look back at Jax who still looks calm-he looks at the guy holding me hostage and ask "Ok, just take it easy. Alright…Can I ask one question?" WHAT! Really! Now he wants to ask a question?

The thug tightens his grip around my throat; I can't help but reach up clinching his denim jacket. "What's the question?!" he spittles out some blood, which almost hits my cheek. Jax looks at me and says "Sky…What comes after L?" Huh? What kind of…then I remember-he smirks at me before winking. I smile a bit as I reply "Bow." I goon looks at me-loosening his grip on my throat a little. "WHAT?" he asks, guess it was time to show him.

With every bit of strength I have, I swung my arm downward, landing my elbow between his legs. His grip around my throat quickly loosened as he clutched what's left of his family jewels with both hands. I lift his head up just a little, and then I bring it down onto my knee with enough force to rebreak whatever is left of his nose. He falls to the ground unconscious-that's when I turn to Jax who is about to get rushed by the last goon standing.

I spring towards my gun and took aim only to see Jax doing a roundhouse catching the back of the goons' skull behind his knee. Once he had him on the ground he clinched up and twisted his whole body just slightly, but it was enough. The sound of his neck snapping pinballed around the alleyway-I couldn't help but twitch a little as he did it.

He released the goon and slowly got to his feet-he just stands there, staring at the lifeless body which lies at his feet. I lean against the wall, sucking in air as if it were my last. I lean forward and start massaging my neck- "You OK?"

I look over to see him no longer staring at the corpse-instead he was walking towards me. He gently touches my chin and lifts my head; I wasn't expecting him to be so concerned for my well-being and to be honest, it feels a little strange.

"I'm good. Thanks." He let's go of my chin and that's when I notice his bloody knuckles. I take his hand without thinking, "You're hand…" I inspected his hand, trying to find the source of the blood. "I'm fine…" he says as he slowly pulls his hand away.

He reaches into his back pocket and pulls 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000out an handkerchief, using it to wipe the blood off his knuckles. "It's not mine." His behavior has changed, like he too wasn't expecting me to be so concerned which, I'm not…really, much. Where's Coulson when you need him?

And just like that he comes around the corner, his Icer aimed, his trigger-finger poised. He looked disappointed when he saw that the action was over and done. He lowered his gun, looking at me, concerned. "You good?" he asks. I nod, saying "We're good." I look at Jax then back at Coulson who seem to have locked eyes.

For nearly a minute the two of them simply stood there, staring at each other-neither one showing any hint of emotion. "Jax," Coulson says, Jax lifts his head up a little before replying "Coul, been a while." A.C starts walking over to him, passing by one of the few goons still left groaning as he slowly stirs.

He kept his eyes on Jaxx as he fired a shot into the stirring goon, who now lays unconscious. Coulson offered his hand, which Jax took; "Glad to see you haven't lost your touch." A.C smirks, as the two shake hands before giving each other a hug. "And you still know how to make an entrance I see." The two of them share a chuckle, like they were the best of buds.

As he holsters his gun he looks around at the dead and unconscious goons which littered the alleyway. "A bit excessive don't you think?" Coulson jokes. Jax chuckles a bit "You said the same thing on that Tijuana job, remember?" Coulson looked a perplexed; meanwhile I'm standing like a newb, in awe of their conversation.

"They still have your picture up in that bar y'know." Jax grins from ear to ear. Coulson's face looked surprised as he said "Really?" he couldn't hide the shock in his voice from Jax or me. The two of them share a laugh as I continue to stand there, wondering what our next move should be.

I clear my throat, which seems to get their attention long enough for me to say "Yeah, sorry to break up this little conversation you two got going on, but," Coulson quickly realized what I was going to say, he was now in "Director" mode, meaning that the time for reminiscing is over.

"You're right," he states. "Jaxx we need your help finding someone. A Dr. Streiten, formerly SHIELD. It's possible that Hydra has him and are using him to-" Jax holds up his hand, interrupting A.C is never something you want to take lightly.

"I know." He says calmly. Both me and Coulson lock eyes for a moment, sharing a confused glance. "There's something I need to show you…both of you, but first," Jax looks around at the bodies that were littered around us, "We need to clean up."