Kayla jumped slightly as she heard an annoyed cough beside her, and looked towards the agent sitting next to her, who ushered towards her leg. She cursed herself as she realised her leg had been nervously jumping up and down for the last few minutes, clearly irritating the nameless agent at the desk next to her. It was a nervous tick of hers that should have been left behind with the rest of her tells, after her intensive training. She knew why her nerves were shot, as she looked to her left, and the empty desk beside her. Skye had been missing for over 48 hours. She had left work, gone home and somehow disappeared. There was no trace of her anywhere. She could have filed a missing person report, but she knew how dangerous that could be. A Hydra agent going missing was unacceptable, and it would be assumed that the resistance had either captured or recruited her. However, that didn't mean she couldn't pull a few favours where she could. Deciding it was as good a time as ever, she stood up from her desk, made her excuses, and marched towards the office of one of the only people in the world she completely trusted. Not that he always made it easy.
"Sir, can I have a word?" Kayla inquired, knocking on his open door.
"That depends on what you want to talk about" A gruff reply answered, making Kayla roll her eyes, as she shut the glass door.
"Now, that is no way to speak to your sister" Kayla mocked, an amused look on her face.
"It is when she's been hounding me for classified access for the past two days" He stated.
"I just want to check Skye's movements around the base on the day she disappeared. Why is that such an issue, Ken?" Kayla asked, emphasizing his name with a teasing tone.
"Because, Kayla, you're not even a Level 1 agent. That means no classified information" Ken pointed out.
"Then I suppose it's a good thing I have such a helpful, Level 8 cleared, brother to help me" Kayla replied, with a sweet smile, as she sat opposite him.
"I've already checked the CCTV feeds" Ken admitted, surprising Kayla.
"Really?" She questioned.
"I was Skye's S.O once. We made a good team" Ken shrugged.
"You've barely said two words to her all year, seems like you really care" Kayla mumbled, raising an eyebrow.
"That's because I'm this thing called a professional, Kayla. You should try it sometime" Ken mocked.
"Oh, haha. Did you find anything?" Kayla pressed.
"She came into work, stayed at her desk most of the shift, ate her lunch with you, and then left. Nothing out of the ordinary" Ken exclaimed.
"It doesn't make sense. She wouldn't just leave without telling me" Kayla sighed.
"We're not going to be able to keep this under wraps much longer. It's already been noticed that she hasn't been to work" Ken advised her.
"I know. And when they do realise she's missing they'll think she's d…de…de..." Kayla trailed off, rubbing her hand over her face in annoyance.
"Defected?" Ken guessed as Kayla nodded.
"She wouldn't have…done that. She's loyal to May. She would never do anything against her wishes" Kayla insisted.
"Under the right amount of pressure, anyone can break," Ken told her.
"Look, I know her, okay? Something bad has happened. We need to find her" Kayla informed him, as Ken noticed the small tremors that were beginning to show in Kayla's hand.
"I'll keep searching CCTV" Ken replied.
"What if the resistance has captured her?" Kayla worried as Ken noticed the tremors had begun to take hold of her whole left arm.
"Then we'll deal with it" Ken insisted, as Kayla nodded.
"Are you alright?" Ken couldn't help but ask, a moment later.
"I'm just stressed" Kayla suggested, holding her left arm to her side with her hand, trying to lessen the tremors.
"…Are the tremors starting again?" Ken inquired.
"No! No. I'm fine. I just need to…to…I need Skye back…" Kayla trailed off, annoyed that she lost her words once again.
"You expect too much from people, Kayla" Ken shook his head.
"What does that mean?" Kayla scoffed.
"The more you expect from people, the more disappointed you'll become" Ken advised her.
"…Wait…wasn't that in the fortune cookie you got last week for Chinese night?" Kayla realised.
"…Get out my office, brat" Ken replied, as the siblings shared a small laugh.
Her smile dropped from her face the moment she left her brother's office, as she made a beeline for the ladies' toilets. Once she had checked she was alone, she grabbed onto the basin, trying to stop the shaking coming from her body. It made her feel so weak that after almost three years, the 'incident' still had such an effect on her. The tremors were one thing, but when she lost her words…that was far worse. Still, she didn't regret the decisions that led her to be injured. However, being stupid enough to end up in a pod with Fitz falling into the ocean, that she did regret. She should have known how Simmons would react to finding out that her entire team had secretly been Hydra the whole time.
"You can't shoot us, Jemma. We both know you don't have the stomach for it" Fitz goaded Simmons, as she held a gun towards both Fitz and Kayla.
"You're right…I don't. Get in the pod" Simmons ordered them, as Kayla frowned.
"What? Why?" Kayla questioned, as Jemma pointed the gun her way.
"Get in the pod" Simmons insisted.
"Just put the gun down-" Kayla began, but was cut off when Simmons shot her in the thigh, looking as shocked as the pair did.
"Jesus!" Kayla groaned, falling to her knees, as pain shot up her leg.
"Please…just do as I say!" Simmons exclaimed, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
Fitz reluctantly helped Kayla to stand up, bringing her arm over his shoulder, and pulling her upright. Simmons kept the gun trained on his head as he pulled her into the pod, glaring at Jemma as he did so.
"What's the plan, Simmons? Going to send us for a swim?" Fitz suggested, a mocking tone in his voice.
"Something like that" Simmons mumbled, as she went to the controls and locked them in.
"Simmons, I know you feel betrayed right now but…this wasn't personal. We had a job to do" Kayla tried to explain, as Simmons scoffed.
"So, do I" Jemma replied, as alarms began to go off inside the pod.
"What…she's turned off the buoyancy feature…" Kayla trailed off, looking at the control pad inside the pod.
"I never pictured you as a coward, Simmons. I suppose I was wrong" Fitz informed her.
"Jemma, we're your friends. If you drop us, you might as well be pulling the trigger!" Kayla exclaimed.
"You betrayed me first. I'm loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. You're bad people" Jemma cried, not turning around to face them, as she pulled the lever.
"No, no! Stop, Simmons!" Kayla screamed as doors behind the pod began to open.
"I'm sorry" Simmons sobbed, resting her head against the control panel, as the pod was pushed into the sea.
"It's now or never, Kayla" Fitz announced after he had finished setting up the device to blow open the pod doors.
"I suppose today is as good day as any to die" Kayla mumbled, as she pushed herself up into a standing position.
"Now, this is near empty, but I've rigged it to let out a burst of very high pressure...should force breath into your lungs, but you have to hold on to it, okay? Hold on tight" Fitz explained, handing her the oxygen device.
"There's only one" Kayla stated.
"Yes, there is" Fitz replied, as the pair shared a look.
"Then you're taking it, don't be ridiculous!" Kayla insisted.
"I'm the one who made the device, so logically I get to decide who uses it-" Fitz began but Kayla cut him off.
"This isn't logically at all, Fitz! I'm injured, and I'm not important. You're Madame Hydra's second in command, for God's sake!" Kayla pointed out.
"Yeah, well you're my friend!" Fitz retorted, surprising them both by his outburst.
"And you're my friend, Fitz. Which is why I can't let you do this" Kayla said, as Fitz let out a groan.
"I'm your senior officer, as I'm sure your brother has taught you, that means you do what I tell you" Fitz went on.
"Oh, screw chain of command. Hell, screw Hydra!" Kayla exclaimed as Fitz gave her a shocked look.
"Kayla, we're doing this my way or not doing it at all" Fitz began in a warning tone, as Kayla shoved the oxygen device into his hand.
"Tell my brother I'm sorry" Kayla mumbled, as she pulled Fitz into a hug, which he stiffly returned.
"You can tell him yourself," Fitz told her, thinking she meant to apologize for taking the oxygen.
"And Ward…tell him…oh, he'll know" Kayla mumbled, as she moved them so that her back was facing the pod door.
She then reached behind Fitz and slammed her fist onto the red button on the device, hearing Fitz scream in her ear, as the water shot into the pod.
Kayla shook her head, as she tried to clear her thoughts and forget the painful memory. Pushing up from the basin, she began to make her way to one of the large gyms inside the Triskelion, hoping to take her mind off her injury and Skye's disappearance. She walked towards her locker and took off her black leather jacket, stuffing it inside, as she heard a banging sound coming from the gym. She couldn't keep the smile off her face, as she spotted the almost empty gym, apart from a familiar figure, who was currently pummeling a punching bag. She didn't even need them to turn around to tell who it was.
"Is the bag putting up much of a fight?" Kayla blurted out before she could stop herself.
"Better than some agents" A reply came, and Kayla could practically hear the trademark smirk.
"Well, looks like you've scared off most of the competition" Kayla pointed out, referring to the empty gym.
"All except you" Ward replied, finally turning around.
Kayla almost audibly groaned as she felt her heart flutter inside her chest, annoyed that one little smile could cause such a reaction in her.
"I don't scare easy" Kayla shrugged, trying to maintain a neutral expression.
"Care to put your skills to the test, Rookie?" Ward smirked, as Kayla rolled her eyes.
"You haven't been my S.O for almost three years, Ward" Kayla pointed out, as she approached him.
The last thing she wanted to do was to spar with the 'best since Romanoff', but she could never refuse the offer to spend time with Ward.
"Well, I've been thinking maybe that could change. Your probationary period is almost over. Someone's going to have to train you to become a Level 1 agent" Ward went on, as the pair took up a fighting stance.
"Don't sound so enthusiastic, Ward. People will start to talk" Kayla teased, as she sent two punches his way, which he easily blocked.
"Or your brother could be your S.O?" Ward suggested, throwing his own punch, which she ducked to miss.
"And just like that I'm sold on you again" Kayla mumbled.
"You know most of what I know, I learnt from him. He was my S.O" Ward explained, as she sent a kick this way.
However, he caught her leg before she could meet her target, holding her in place, as she raised an eyebrow.
"You were guarding your side before you kicked," Ward told her, his hands still wrapped around her thigh, as she tried to stop the blush creeping up her face.
Without warning, she used her centre of gravity to drop to the ground, pulling them both to the mat below. This meant that Ward lost his grip on her leg, but he was now lying on top of her, his hand resting beside her head.
"Nice move…lacks technique" Ward informed her, as Kayla shook her head, with a smile.
"Agent Dixon?" A voice suddenly announced from the edge of the room.
Ward let out an awkward cough, as he rolled off of her, as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
"The Doctor would like to see you" The nameless agent announced, as she and Ward shared a look.
Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! So I'm back with the sequel, and as you can tell things are very different. I was thinking about creating a different document to add this to, but I thought if I keep the sequel on this document you guys can easily read back the story. I haven't kept to the Framework storyline completely either, as there was a Team Bus, Fitz and Kayla were dropped into the ocean by Simmons etc. Please ask away if you're confused about anything, I'd love some reviews:)
Guest: I hope this sequel is what you were hoping for:) Thanks for the review!