Skye latched the door behind her with a sigh.

Today had been a bad day. Even now, days later, she could still feel the surge; wreaking, writhing and...calling her. Its relentless whispers were a soundtrack she'd endured but not without effort. Every night, while she slept, it showed her – in terrible detail - what could be done. What she really wanted. And, color her surprised, it wasn't Ward.

Well, it was, sort of.

Whatever was pulling her towards him was just as strong as that first time he'd said the words - irrevocable, apparently - but it wasn't the worst. The worst was the ceaseless slideshow of images presented to her of the dark at its highest octave. Day or night, they flashed across her vision: How her powers could be applied, to strangers, but also her nearest and dearest. How they could be used to give her what she always craved. That was more seductive than any man, even Ward. And she couldn't get them out. No matter how hard she trained, how long she meditated, or how many times she….nothing was working and it was getting painful to hold it all in.

Vowing to forget it, she made for her bunk, shedding clothes as she went, until she slid naked under the sheets. She'd run five miles this morning, done two hours training, and she still felt as wired as the moment she'd stepped out of the room with Greta Benzi.

Their interrogation was going well. Greta was confessing to everything they asked of her - after Skye had taken a few minutes alone, with cameras out. AC was struggling not to ask, she could see it in the way his mouth went flat when she asked for the blackout. He'd probably decided he didn't want to know - and who would? Who wanted to see a monster do its thing - even if it was on your side?

Good thing Greta's intel had been very detailed so far, from Hydra's dead drop protocols and transmission hierarchy to the way she felt as she'd set her brother's dog on fire, just to watch him die… Skye rubbed her aching eyes, but the glee with which Greta described breathing in the sweet smell of burning canine hair and flesh was something she'd never rub out.

Throwing off the sheet, Skye took to the floor, pushing up and down until her arms screamed. She'd wanted to keep silent but the pressure was only getting worst so, last night, fed up and almost tearful with frustration, she'd told May. Only to have her blink a few times and then silently lead her to the training room. That workout had almost killed her and it hadn't down a thing to power down the source.

Obviously, she'd left out a few key things when she'd told May about her powers becoming active - like how Ward's command that had started the whole thing and his perverted theory that sex between them was the only preventative against her going full darkness. Ward would laugh if he could see her now. Good thing he was long gone.

She thought back to his face as the guards sprang them in the room downstairs. Of how that incredibly handsome face hardened as he took out each guard with systematic ruthlessness that no regular soldier could even hope to match, and the hallway was a wasteland of groaning bodies.

'Come with me!' he'd shouted as the last body fell from his grip to the floor.

Skye, frozen against the wall, could only shake her head, 'No, no, no!'

Sirens began pounding the walls. Emergency code 100 had just been activated. They had less than two minutes before the entire place went into complete shutdown. With a curse, he'd leapt over the bodies as if they were litter on a sidewalk, taking her face roughly into his hands. Those amber eyes shining, 'I'm the only one who can help you now, Skye! You have to trust me.'

It was the word trust that did it.

Roughly, she tried to push him off, 'Get off me.' as blue wisps began to climb up her arms.

Smirking, Ward pulled her closer to skim his mouth across hers in a feather-light touch, 'Come with me, Please.'

Weakened by the tender pleading in his voice, she let her head fall to his chest, 'I can't...'

'Yes, you can.'

'No, I really can't. AC needs me.' More footsteps thundered above them, sirens wailing now. She pushed at him until he let her go, 'Go! Now! Seriously. You won't get out after meltdown begins.'

He'd shrugged. 'Maybe I'll just hide out here until you're ready for me.'

'Don't be stupid. No one is worth dying over - especially not me!'

Without warning, he'd hauled her in and kissed her as if she was his last meal on death row. 'You are, but I'm more use to you alive, so I'll go. For now. But I'll come back for you, I swear.' Skye was ashamed of how much she'd wanted that to be the truth.

'Good to know - now, please, run!' she said, pointing towards the nearest exit. She'd never know how he got out - only that he did. Search teams had been deployed around the clock to sweep every nook of the Playground but had found no trace. He was really that good.

It was a shame that he'd turned to Hydra, she could've learned so much from him.

Best marks in espionage since Romanov. She remembered the way Fitz had said that with pride in those early days on the bus - then with such bitterness afterwards - and, at the time, she'd actually scoffed: That mummified Robot was good at spy games? Yeah, right. If only she'd looked a little harder, thought a bit more on why he would need to be so unassuming, so persona-less. The sheer naivety of being sucked in, when she'd dedicated her life to exposing lies, still made her close her eyes.

Angrily, she grabbed a swimsuit and her pass. Time to try a swim.

But she never made it to the pool.

Sixteen days earlier…

The door to Vault D opened soundlessly. Agent Coulson swept down the stairs to glare angrily at the younger man sitting on the bed. 'Whatever it is you're doing, it stops here and now.'

Ward raised an eyebrow, 'OK…'

'You thought you were so clever but you forget I've been around much longer than you. Longer than Garett even. '

Ward stiffened. 'I've no idea what you think I've done but –'

Coulson held up a hand. 'Save it. Tell me how Raina is communicating with you.'

Ward's eyes narrowed. 'How do you know it's Raina…?'

Coulson blinked. 'You didn't know who it was? And yet you were willing to share intel on us? On Skye. You make me sick!' With that, he picked up the tablet and turned it to face Ward, 'Here's what you've done.'

Ward's confusion was obvious. 'But that's…'

'Yes, and you've just given him exactly what he wanted. You monsters have to stick together, I guess.'

A/N: A momentary diversion while I make up the next bit. Hope you're still with me and enjoying this story? Comments/reviews welcome.