Chapter 8:
"I answered all of your questions." Natasha said, "Now you answer mine."
Skye sat up from the training mats, arms aching from all the punching around. The hacker looked up to her supervising officer. "Shoot." She then quickly added, "Figuratively."
Natasha rolled her eyes at the fresh agent in front of her. It has only been a day but she managed to answer all of the questions from Daisy, excluding information that is yet available to her.
"Where did you learn to fight?"
"Orphanage." Skye answered shortly. Instead of the typical 'I survived NYC' t-shirt, she should get one that says, 'I survived the system'.
"With who?"
"Some random man." Technically it was true, just not the whole truth. A random man did train her.
Natasha rolled her eyes, looking like they're both keeping things private. "Why did you agree to consult for SHIELD?"
Skye shrugged, "After the whole Stark disappearing thing, I just wanted to do something right for everyone. Not just for my friends. I also wanted to see how SHIELD functions."
"Where did you learn to hack?"
"Myself and strangers online. Did some Rising Tide jobs to earn some quick cash. Did get close to some members." She wiggled her eyebrows, hoping that it would explain. "First thing I did was change my name to Skye Murdock." Her face cringed in distaste of the name that the nuns gave her.
"What was your name?"
"No." Skye answered, "I will literally vomit on the spot."
"Why Murdock?"
"My brother." A soft smile painted her face, "We took care of each other in the orphanage. At one point, we were being transferred together, probably because of the name change. Nobody wants to take siblings away from each other."
Natasha nodded. "Education?"
"Online school for high school. Masters in Computer Sciences. So it's actually, agent Skye Murdock, M.S.." She said with a smug smile, "My brother kept me on the legal path." She stood up and rolled her shoulders. "Without him, I would have joined Rising Tide and done more than just a few jobs for them. Probably still out in some stupid van to expose SHIELD secrets."
Natasha snorted, "I could see that."
Skye threw her empty water bottle at her, "Rude. Any other questions?"
"None, I'll learn as we go. Your other SO will be showing up in a few minutes, he's my partner"
With protest in her muscles, Skye stood up. "Who is he?"
"Agent Barton. Also known as Hawkeye. Level 7." A man appeared and held his hand out. "Your SO."
Natasha handed him the tablet she kept on her during all of the tests she had to endure. "Looks like you're in good condition." A grin appeared on his face, "We're going to make you a mini-us." He said and motioned to Natasha and him.
"You're in for a ride." Natasha said with an equally terrifying grin. "Wonder what they'll call you after your debut."
That got her attention, "What do they call you then?" She asks with a interested look.
"Black Widow."
–
She never had such hate for the two agents. It has been a year, her stamina is maxed the fuck out. So did her skills. It's quite enjoyable when young cadets just stare at her. She was the one to make such a huge jump in levels already.
Her skillset was just huge now. After a month of in depth training, she got to go undercover. Which was fun, Skye liked being fake, it came to her easily. Weapons came easily to her as well, having even mastered a few of them. Clint had tried to get her to use a bow, but she flat out refused to do so. Of course, she knows the basics and can get a hit each time. But archery really isn't a thing that she enjoys.
What she does enjoy is, kali sticks. Especially modified ones, she likes tasers. She also likes guns, like, a lot of guns. Snipers are fun as well, she likes to camp out just having the patience. It even allows her to use some advanced methods, like the fantasy integration. A technique where you create a scenario with your target, making them memorable in your mind.
–
Half a year later and a few levels up in clearance, she was sent in for a deep undercover mission, normally they're longer than five months, but she had already completed the whole mission in the span of two months.
The real shocker was when the extraction team came to help her exit the scene. She did a double-take of the person who pulled her into the quintjet. "I'm assuming Kate was an alias." She says, no malice behind her voice.
The person in front of her that she knows as Kate nodded. "Agent Bobbi Morse. I'm assuming you've been taking SHIELD by a storm, Agent Murdock?"
"I can only take things by a storm." Skye scoffed as she sat down in one of the seats, quickly sending a salute at the pilot in acknowledgement. "I'm also guessing that you're the mystery agent to put in my recommendation at SHIELD, Agent Morse?"
The woman gave her a smile, "Guessed correctly. You would be a good communications agent, but it turns out that a specialist fits you way better."
Skye smiles, "How have you been, Morse?"
"Good." She hesitantly looked at Skye, "You're not mad?"
"Would you be the same friend as you acted before or be a whole lot different?"
"Pretty much the same, just less bratty."
Skye let out a laugh, "You were a genuine friend, Morse. We could just catch up like old friends." She said, a slight tinge of hope.
"We can go for a drink." Bobbie agreed.
—
After another solo mission that included going over international borders, she deployed in Indonesia. On orders of Fury to retrieve information in the form of a file. Which was a real pain in the ass, because the owner happened to be the owner of a security company. Skye just knows that she'll have no other choice but to fight.
Indonesia happens to also have a large number of earthquakes. It also happens to happen after she is deployed outside of the compound. While most earthquakes take about 30 seconds to settle again. This one didn't, it lasted about 4 minutes.
Skye made use of the confusion and made her way through hallways. Chunks of plaster fell down around her as she struck trained guards down on the ground with ease. She even felt comfortable, it felt as if her body came to a rest.
Another earthquake hit Indonesia as she walked out to the extraction site with files in her hands. Gossip spread like fire and she was soon dubbed as Tremors, the agent who fought through two earthquakes on a solo mission personally assigned by Fury.
After that mission, she barely had time off. Tremors was in high-demand. She was sent on missions alongside Clint and Nat. Sometimes Bobbi, but she was sent to go undercover right after her Indonesia mission.
–
The quintjet landed and Daisy frowned as they looked at the paper map. "What are we doing in Iowa?" She asks, looking at Clint, who manned the transport.
"This is top secret. Just so you know." Clint said as he turned towards his friend who he trusted with his life. "We're visiting."
Skye just huffed but stood up either way. Whenever Clint was being cryptiq it was about a prank to their friend Nat. Which, of course, Skye just had to participate in. She liked seeing the ginger get so riled up.
She followed the two older agents out of the aircraft and onto a farm. Walking up to the door and looked intrigued as Clint knocked on the door.
A soft 'oh' escaped her lips as Clint was attacked by a boy and a smaller girl. They were ecstatic about seeing their 'papa' and 'aunty Nat.'. Skye looked down when someone tugged on the hem of her shirt. "Are you a friend of papa?"
Skye crouched and smiled at her, "I'm a friend of your papa. Who are you? Also a friend of papa?" She asks with a glint of amusement in her eyes.
The little girl huffed at the adult, "No!" She protested, "I'm his daughter, Lila!"
With the same tone, Skye held out her hand for the small Barton to shake, "Well, Lila. I'm Skye Murdock."
The little girl looked at her with big eyes and mirrors Skye's smile. Shaking her hand, Lila turned into a ray of sunshine. "Nice to meet you."
Skye turned her attention away from the mini-Barton, seeing that all the other adults had disappeared. Small hands took hers and started pulling. "Where are we going?" She asks with amusement as she lets the little girl drag her away to gods knows where.
She felt her heart ache when she entered the homey living room. She never had that, a smile plastered her face as she saw Barton cuddle up with his wife and Natasha play a game with the little boy.
"Laura, this is Agent Skye Murdock, also known as Tremors." Clint said as he let go of his wife, who stood up. "This is Laura Barton. Ex-SHIELD."
Skye held her hand out, "Nice meeting you-" She was wrapped into a hug by the older woman, "-oh." It was the moment she realized that no-one had hugged her in a while. The only person who really did was Pepper and her brother, Matt.
Who she hadn't seen in a few months due to her sudden popularity. She felt her heart ache a little more when she remembered the last time she saw Matt. Matt who was going to graduate in a month. She felt pride flare up in her.
"You can take the bedroom next to Natasha's. I can set it up while you get your stuff." The woman said with a smile, "Clint should've told me that visit would come."
Skye smiled, "I can set it up myself, no worries." She said, "I'll just go ahead and get my bag out of the quinjet."
The three agents had spent a whole week on the farm. Fury had given them the time off under the orders of 'team building'. Skye had never felt so relaxed in a while and just smiled all the time. She definitely needed the time on the farm, especially after the last mission she had went on.
By the end of the week, both kids and mother were comfortable around her. She fitted in just fine. Before she left, she had gotten multiple drawings from Lila and a nice stone she fished out of the water with Cooper. She will literally kill anyone if they touch it. They even called her 'aunty Skye'. Which melted her heart.
Then it was time to leave. They were sent orders from Nick Fury to go to the new facility called 'Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility' in Nevada, which was an absolute mouthful.
–
When the three landed, they all walked out with bags over their shoulder. Looking around the new facility, Skye whistled. "Nice place you got here." She grinned.
"Thank you." A familiar voice said, Skye looked up at the source and grinned.
"Hey Uncle Jo." She said and grinned even brighter when she saw his posture falter a bit. "How have things been."
"Things have been just fine." he replied. "It could be better, but just fine." A hand clapped on the Directors back, Phil Coulson appeared.
"Skye!" he said, happily. He is her handler, along with Black Widow and Hawkeye. The trio. She doesn't know how it happened but Skye took a shine to the man, something like a father figure to her. Especially when he was always there to wave her off whenever she went on a mission or returned. Tending to her wounds and telling her about his days, he even told her how proud she was of him when she got the new nickname 'Tremors'.
Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug. "Phil!" She said happily, "How have you been?"
"Good!" Phil replied with vigor but quickly let go when he saw that Fury was glaring at him. "Right," He cleared his throat, "You're going on a mission, Agent Romanoff. Details are on your tablet. Read up and wheels up in 50."
The spider smiled before an agent appeared next to her to guide her to the lounge. Then there were two left.
"Agent Barton. You're with me," Uncle Jo said before walking away, before the older man parted, Clint squeezed her arm and hurried after the Director.
Then she was left alone. "Want to talk about your date in Portland." She asks with a glint in her eyes that just knows.
"I'm sure I would bore you with the details." Coulson waved it away.
"Never." Skye said and linked their arms together. "You can tell me over some dinner, I'm so hungry." She complained.
Phil just laughed as he started telling her about his time in Portland. The man was happy about his favorite cellist.
A/N: A bit of a filler chapter! Just to show how Skye is loved by many