Authors Note: Hi everyone thank you for the feedback I'm so glad you agree Agent Hand makes the perfect baddy. I am sorry that I killed off Sitwell but I think it made the point about just how dangerous these people are. As for protection I did mention that Skye was on the shot in chapter 2 but contraception is never 100% so you never know.

Their captive sat cuffed to the chair in the interrogation room, glaring malevolently at the wall. Ward, May, Coulson and Dex were observing her on the screen outside and deciding who would do the talking. It was May that had brought her in after she gave Ward the slip and a split lip, which had made him hate the traitorous bitch even more.

"I think it best that Agent May and I take this, Hand is an experienced agent trained in interrogation tactics she'll be hard to break. I want Skye kept away from her, she's been through enough there's no need to expose her to this. It's no secret that she has always hated Skye, she won't hesitate to try and screw with her head the last thing we need is for her to succeed" Coulson reasoned. There was also the fact that he did not trust Agent Ward to be in the same room as Hand, the way he was glaring at her made his intentions perfectly clear.

"Sure thing Phil, Me and suit here will go take care of the kids. Knowing Skye like I do Jem and Fitz won't be able to keep her away for long" Coulson was right Ward should not be near that woman, she gave Dex the creeps and that was saying something. He wasn't easily spooked but there was something very unsettling in her stare.

Ward was still glaring at Victoria Hand she was as much to blame for Skye's ordeal as Hyde, Miles or Grayson. One of their own, an agent that had been entrusted with their location when they'd been holed up at the lake house, she sold them out and for what? It didn't make sense she didn't need the money, as far as they could see she had no scandalous secrets other than that she was a member of a psychotic order hell bent on using his girlfriend as a human lab rat. If it were possible his face soured further at that thought, yeah he could see why Coulson didn't want him in the room with her he didn't trust him either. They needed information from her and he knew she would use his emotions against him because it's exactly what he would do.

Slowly he came out of his hate coma and nodded his assent, Dex was right to Skye would want to know what was going on and there was no way he was letting her near this room. She'd come so far these last few days...he couldn't let Hand undo all that even if he had to tie her to the bed in his bunk. "Yeah lets go" he chanced one last glance at the screen before he followed Dex out of the room.

"Well that was easier than I thought it would be" May stated.

"Yes...he's worried about Skye which is better than him being hell bent on murdering anyone who ever looked at her the wrong way. We still need to watch him Melinda he's not himself, he hasn't been since Skye was shot" the old Ward had been predictable a perfect agent that followed orders and respected protocol but this Ward was unpredictable a complete unknown.

"Well then let's get this over with" she was ready for the fight of her life, bringing Hand in had been the easy part getting information out of her was going to be the real challenge. This was the problem when you played by the rules it seriously limited the tactics you could use but torture had always been a bug bear for Melinda ever since Bahrain. She wouldn't resort to that even if her fellow agent wasn't taught to withstand such methods, any information they did extract would be highly questionable.

They entered the room Coulson taking the chair opposite Hand, Melinda retreating to a dark corner of the room behind the rogue agent. Victoria remained silent; she did not acknowledge their presence just continued to stare at the same spot on the wall. It was Coulson that broke the icy silence "So, Agent Hand I suppose you know why you are here" he stated his gaze cold and hard a look he very rarely wore.

She surprised them both by answering they had expected her to remain silent "Yes Phil I know why you brought me in but it won't do you any good, you'll get nothing from me"

"We have our ways agent as I'm sure you know" his tone was deadly.

"I highly doubt you would resort to torture Phillip, don't forget I know you. You cannot deceive or trick me so you may as well just lock me up" she smiled sweetly at him.

"No I wouldn't Victoria but there are people on this plane that would, If you don't comply maybe I will just walk out of this room and let one of them take over" he mimicked her smile.

She snorted "Your agent Ward? as I recall he couldn't even bring me in without the Cavalry over there, why exactly would I be afraid of him?"

"Because very recently agent Ward killed 8 men with his bare hands and you threw him and my niece under the bus not to mention the fact that you almost certainly helped to conceal Miles Lydon and Andrew Graysons entry into the US so they could lure her into Hyde's grasp. I suppose you are aware of his feelings for Skye if he is willing to kill for her imagine what he would be willing to do you" he smiled knowingly as a look of worry marred her features, it was a fleeting look before the hard mask came down but he had gotten to her.

"I'm not afraid of Grant Ward" she spat.

"He isn't the only man on this bus close to Skye, you may not know that we were able to lure Major Dexter O'Neil out of retirement just recently but he has proven to be very useful. He is an experienced Black Op's specialist with a knack for extracting information. I could always ask him to join us" he sat back and let that sink in for a moment, the major was an unknown to Hand sure she would have read his file if she knew he'd come to Skye's rescue but she didn't know him like the rest of them.

"I was aware, I really expected better from you. Tell me do you plan on getting to the point or are you just going to bore me to death?" she drawled.

"Very well how about an easy question then, how did you know Aiden Ross?"

"As far as I was aware Aiden Ross was one of your brother's research assistants, based at the sandbox until his treachery was revealed causing him to flee to lands unknown" she smiled sweetly.

Coulson took the photographs that Sitwell had taken from the file he was holding and slid them towards her. "I'm sure when you had agent Sitwell killed you thought that your assassin had wiped all the information he had gathered on you. It seems however they were not thorough enough; my agents were able to recover a pass worded file containing these along with emails and phone records. It seems that you know Mr Ross very intimately indeed, given that you know him to be a murderer and a traitor I wonder why an upstanding agent like yourself would enter into such a relationship."

She took the photographs her finger lovingly stroking over Hyde's image, the gesture made May scowl and Coulson's stomach clenched. "It's complicated" she murmured.

"Uncomplicate it" his voice was sharp, her expression when she looked at that bastard had just confirmed what he suspected and it made him ill. He could understand if the man had blackmailed her into helping him, if he had exploited some deep dark secret but the fact that she was obviously in love with the sadistic prick boiled his blood.

"Aiden and I until your agent Ward murdered him had been in love for a long time, I was a young agent fresh out of the academy he was a lab assistant one thing led to another. Do you need me to draw you a diagram" she sneered.

"If you were so in love why did you not go with him when he ran?"

"I was not suspected and when I told my superiors that I had no knowledge of his and Grayson's plans they believed me. Why would he tell me after all? Grayson asked me to stay on be his eyes and ears and look out for the girl, he knew she'd resurface eventually. We met when we could, I had to be careful but 21 years later and you only just figured it out I'd say we did a pretty good job of hiding our intentions"

"Yes you did Victoria but why? How could you when you knew what he was what he did to those women was horrific what they are still doing to innocent people"

"Grayson is only doing what is necessary to protect mankind's future in the last few years our world has nearly been levelled twice how long before the avengers and the asguardians can't save us? Your niece has powerful gifts that we cannot begin to understand unless we study her, her race seeded half the universe before they were driven to near extinction. She holds the key to our salvation you don't wait until the enemy is on your door to build an army, you build your army so big that no-one dares to come knocking" well that just seemed to be the company line at Johnson International.

"Excuse me if I don't believe that Andrew Grayson's intentions are quite so noble, it seems he has learnt nothing from the world builder's history. You have absolutely no idea what my niece is capable of and you want to mimic her abilities in others? Even if it were possible how on earth does Grayson expect to control them?" he was incredulous how could they be so foolish he'd been so focused on finding Skye he'd not really had time to think about the implications of what Grayson was trying to achieve.

She shrugged her shoulders "I'm sure Aiden and Andrew will have come up with something".

"Anything they come up with would have to completely remove a person's free will agent Hand. You are talking about slavery here or..." that collar! The medieval torture device that was currently sat in FitzSimmons lab, the one that had permanently scarred Skye that was how they were going to do it. They'd torture them into submission his stomach roiled again, he was relieved that Grant was not here to hear this. May had obviously had the same thought because she paled in the corner. "How could you be so blind not to see this, your an intelligent woman how could you condone this?"

"It's necessary" her voice was cold as ice.

"Necessary? How could this be necessary? Even AIM used willing volunteers you are talking about creating a new race of slaves!" he couldn't keep the disbelief from his voice.

"That's the thing about S.H.I.E.L.D Phil you were never able to make the hard calls, you put your faith in a rag tag band of hero's and hope for the best but at any moment they could desert you and then where will you be? Alone and powerless we are not the top of the food chain anymore something has to be done, you may not like Aiden's methods but the man had a vision" she gushed when she spoke of him.

"A bat shit crazy vision" May piped up from her corner "You're as crazy as he was, blushing over him like a fucking school girl. The man tortured innocent women for kicks; you obviously weren't doing it for him. You murdered Sitwell, I'm not interested in semantics before you tell me that technically you didn't, he's dead and for what so you can protect a group of twisted psychopaths. Even if you learn to understand the girls powers what makes you think they'll succeed where Bruce Banner, Aim and Centipede failed? I'm so sick of this Jekyll and Hyde shit. You're all the same spouting all this BS about the greater good and necessary sacrifice but I don't see you or Grayson lining up to slap on a collar and have that poison injected into your veins. That girl is not a plaything she's a human being and it's about time someone remembered that. If you or Grayson or anyone else tries to take her again then you better be prepared for one hell of a fight". Coulson looked almost astonished such an outburst was unheard of from Melinda, indeed even the arrogant Agent Hand was taken aback.

She recovered herself quickly "I think that is the most I've ever heard you say Agent May, you can't protect that girl forever we already got hold of her once it's inevitable that we will again"

"Just watch me bitch" and with that May strode out of the room she'd had enough crazy talk for one day. Hand wasn't telling them anything they didn't already know and she wouldn't they'd need to find Grayson themselves. She needed to lock that collar away so if Hand did manage to get free she couldn't slap it on Skye, having that woman onboard made her seriously uneasy a feeling that she did not relish.

"Hmmm I didn't think she had it in her" Hand stated.

"You'll be surprised what Agent May is capable of, Where is Grayson?" he knew it was pointless but he may as well ask.

"Come on now Phil, do you really expect

me to tell you that? Besides I couldn't even if I wanted to because I don't know. You are not going to find him until he wants you too and by then it will be too late" and with that she shut down, this interview was over he wasn't getting anything more out of her but he hadn't expected too.


It was the early hours and Skye couldn't sleep she tossed and she turned and eventually she gave up on sleep. All of a sudden she found herself in the lounge, one moment she was stood by the bed she shared with Grant and then in a flash she was in the middle of the common area. She whipped her head back and forth, had she gone mad? Was she dreaming? She pinched herself "Ouch" no definitely not dreaming. OK so she could teleport? She knew exactly what FitzSimmons would make of that but then they had also told her that there was no such things as telepathy or telekinesis and yet apparently she had been telekinetic in her youth.

If you had told her a month ago that she could turn solid metal to dust with powerful electric bolts that shot from her hands she'd have called you captain of the crazy ship. Was it really so impossible to believe that she could do this? Well there was only one way to find out, she'd been thinking of slipping off into the lounge when it happened so maybe if she thought about say...another flash and she was stood by the refrigerator in the kitchen huh. This was going to do nothing for her motivation; she could just see Grant's disapproval now but it was kind of cool very star trek. It would certainly make sneaking around so much easier in fact there was somewhere she was desperate to go or rather someone she was desperate to see another flash and...

"Hello Skye, I wondered how long it would be before you found your way here. I didn't expect such a colourful entrance but I'm glad to see you're getting to grips with your abilities" Agent Hand looked the young hacker up and down and smiled it was almost genuine; it made the hairs on the back of Skye's neck stand up. This was so not a good idea; maybe she should just pop back into Grants bunk.

"How did you know I'd come?" her curiosity got the best of her, damn it.

"Because I know you and I know you can't resist the lure of answers, that's how Aiden and Andrew trapped you in the first place" there was that creepy smile again.

"Who's Aiden?"

"Oh I do apologise I believe you call him Hyde" Skye blanched at the mention of his name as a hundred memories hit her like a freight train.

"Oh"

"Oh, Indeed. You had better ask me what it is you came here to ask me, I doubt we have long before lover boy or super uncle come to your rescue" Skye couldn't understand how anyone could be this relaxed and well arrogant when they had been cuffed to a chair for so long. She'd been cuffed in here herself in her early days with S.H.I.E.L.D and she didn't remember feeling so chipper.

"Is he going to give up?"

"You're an intelligent girl Skye what do you think?" her voice was almost sympathetic or at least less mocking.

"Hmmm I didn't think so, you know I never really liked you but I didn't think out of everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D that it would be you that sold us out" she really had been shocked.

"It's nothing personal Skye; it's a necessary evil to protect our world. Your race were peaceful people they would want you to help defend your world. It's selfish not to share your gifts with the world how many people have died? How many more will die in the future? Why would you not help them all they need is your DNA that's all" she almost sounded reasonable.

"He tortured me..." she couldn't keep the hurt from her voice.

"I know, I'm sorry I didn't know about that truly I didn't I know you think I hate you Skye but that's not true. All I want all we all want is to ensure humanity's survival, I know you want that too. I promise you, you won't be harmed again not if you come in voluntarily"

"And if I don't?"

"You love your friends don't you? Your uncle, Grant? What do you think they would do if anyone tried to take you again?"

"They wouldn't let them"

"No they wouldn't but you realise just how lucky Grant was to escape with his life the last time he rescued you, he may be lucky the next time as well and the time after that but eventually he'll meet his match. He will die defending you Skye, you will lose him and Phil, Melinda, Jemma, Leo, Dex and anyone else that stands between you and your enemy's. They are desperate for this; they want so badly to defend our planet. There are dangerous people out there Skye Loki, the chitauri, frost giants that's the tip of the ice berg. Somewhere out there is a race so violent they managed to wipe out your ancestors the most powerful race in existence. You can save us all, all the people you love from meeting the same fate or you can hide away while they all die to protect you"

Skye tried to digest that as crazy as Anderson and his goons were she was right about one thing, her team would all die to defend her. He would die to defend her, when she thought about losing him it eclipsed all the pain that Hyde had inflicted on her. There was no escaping the fact that one day she would lose him and it would be because of what she was. They'd never be able to lead a normal life, not that she'd ever lead such a life before but when she'd pictured her future. She'd seen a beautiful suburban home, the sweeping lawns, a white picket fence, a dog and kids. She'd never thought about marriage and kids before Grant but she'd wanted all those things with him and now that was impossible. She didn't believe that Grayson or Hand were interested in the greater good, she knew that Hand just wanted to sweet talk her into going back to Grayson and that was not happening but she had to accept that she was bad for Grant.

"You're right about one thing I'm no good for him, being around me's going to get him killed but I will never give that man what he wants. You're a liar just like him you don't care about protecting humanity that's not what this is about he wants an army and I don't know why but I will find out" she would learn to use her abilities if only so she could take down the man that murdered her parents and all those innocent women.

"Well it was worth a try you were stupid enough to fall for it last time" they were back to mocking again. Well she'd got what she came for, she could find out the real reason for Grayson's intended super army by herself she didn't need hand for that.


"Well I've had just about as much crazy as I can stand for one night, hope you enjoy rotting in prison for the rest of your life" and with that she popped back into the lounge.

Grant was waiting for her arms folded across his muscular chest, a pissed look on his face he knew exactly where she'd been and although he was shocked by her entry he recovered himself quickly.

"Where were you?" his voice was deadly quiet, oh boy she was in trouble. He'd made her promise specifically that she would not go and see Hand that she'd trust Coulson and May to deal with her just like he was doing and she'd just broken that.

"I couldn't sleep, I went for a...walk" she tried but the look he shot her told her he was not impressed.

"I know you went to see her Skye, Dex was monitoring that video feed he saw you...whatever you just did in there. Just how long have you been able to do that?"

"Since about 30 minutes ago, it just happened OK I couldn't sleep I thought about sitting in the lounge and I just kinda popped in here and then I thought about getting a glass of milk and I was by the refrigerator. I didn't mean to go there but I was thinking about her and it just happened I'm sorry OK. I trust Coulson and May to handle her but I have to know if there's ever going to be an end to this" he shook his head he was still furious with her but when her eyes shone with tears like that he couldn't stand it. He walked over to where she stood and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I know you want answers Skye but she's as crazy as Hyde and Anderson, she murdered Sitwell, she sold us out and then she helped him get into the country so they could take you. You cannot trust a word she says, she'll screw with your head. I just got you back I don't want to lose you again" his voice was thick with emotion.

"I don't want to lose you either Grant and if I were a stronger person I'd let you go, I'm being selfish because I can't bear to the thought of not being with you" she cupped his face and looked deep into his warm brown eyes as tears cascaded down her face "I'm no good for you, what I am it'll get you killed, you need to walk away because I'm not strong enough to" her words cut him like a knife, he couldn't breathe.

"What? Did she tell you that?" he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"She didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. When I thought about our future before we knew what we do now, I saw an end to all this I saw marriage and a house and kids but now all I see is death. You deserve a normal life Grant when all this is over you deserve to be happy. I can't give you that" she smiled sadly at him, that stupid bitch Hand had really done a number on her. He couldn't walk away he wouldn't.

"Skye you can still have all that, we can have that if that's what you want. When we catch Grayson this nightmare it'll all be over" he looked at her tears in his own eyes willing her to understand, he'd give her the world all she had to do was ask.

"For how long a year, two until someone else crawls out of the woodwork? This is the only way to keep you safe, to keep them safe. I have to leave, I have to go it alone after Grayson" Go it alone? Leave?

"No! Skye that's not an option I won't let you, your wrong. Your strong Skye you can protect yourself, you can protect us. You just have to learn to control your abilities that's all and we'll all help you OK, I'll help you but you're not leaving me" he sank to his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her as close to him as he could. He buried his head into her stomach.

She couldn't take it, seeing him like this begging her to stay "Please Grant, I'm trying to save you" she sobbed.

"If you want to save me you'll stay" he looked up at her, he didn't care that he was begging that his dignity had be thrown off the bus. If that's what it took to make her see sense then that is what he would do. "The only person that can hurt me is you, if you tell me you don't love me and you leave me that's the only thing that will kill me Skye is losing you. I know that its hard right now, I know these bastards want to tear us apart but we can't let them. We can take the down together me and you and the team but if you leave then all those people that died your mom, your dad, Sitwell they've died for nothing. They wanted you to live not just to exist, not just to hide away or become some psycho's lab experiment. If you leave you'll end up right back where you were" he was grasping at anything he could think of to make her see.

She could barely see for tears as her body shook, why was this so hard for him to see and then she realised it clicked in her brain. A small voice piped up in her head, the one she'd always imagined had been her mother's "He's right". She knew if their roles were reversed that she could never let him go, so how could she ask him to do the same, how could she hurt him like this. She sank down to her knee's and pressed her forehead to his "I'm sorry, you're right...I just I can't stand the thought of losing you, of being the reason that your gone".

It took him a moment before what she'd said sank in "I'm right here Skye, I'm not going anywhere without you" as sweet relief seeped into his veins, his anger long forgotten. He just about managed to get the next sentence out he hadn't cried like this since he was a child "Please don't ever do this to me again Skye, I can take anything else but this" she couldn't respond chocked with tears she just nodded.

He kissed her hard and she matched his fervour they were overcome with pure need, they'd had so many close calls but this was by far the worst because it was Skye herself who had almost put an end to them. He tore the clothes from her body, within seconds they were naked. She straddled his lap as he pulled her onto his hard length; he had never needed her so badly in all his life. There was nothing slow or romantic about this, this was raw emotion and animal lust brought on by a conversation that had too long been put off. They drove each other onwards and upwards his hands digging into her hips controlling the pace. She had seen him like this in battle, this was Grant the alpha male he was claiming her marking her as his. "Your mine" he growled, she'd never heard him utter such a possessive thing before but she nodded her assent she was his, there was no doubting that, she was foolish to think she could let him go.

They were exposed emotionally and physically, making passionate love in the middle of the lounge for all to see but neither of them cared. She cried out his name as stars exploded behind her eyes, her body convulsing around him not long after he found his own release. They held each other tightly gasping for air, she buried her head into the crook of his shoulder and he stroked her hair gently.

"I love you so much" he whispered in her ear "you're all I want, all I need. You have to be mine"

"I am yours Grant" she soothed.

"No you don't understand, you have to be mine officially" he looked her dead in the eye.

"What are you saying" this couldn't be going where she thought it was, could it?

"I've been meaning to ask you for a while, when he took you I realised then you were the only woman I ever wanted. There's not been a good time to ask you, I was going to wait until Grayson was out of the way but then you tried to leave and...There's never going to be a right time and I know this is not the most romantic proposal in the world. I could do it better if you want but I can't stand it anymore. Marry me Skye, be my wife I know that I'm hard on you and that I'm terrible at feelings but your teaching me and I think I'm learning. You've made me a better man since the moment I met you, you make me see things differently, you make me question everything, you make me forget all my pain and you soothe the darkness in me. So just marry me and I'll do everything I can to make you happy and keep you safe"

She froze that had to be the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her, how had this happened how had she gone from trying to leave him to him proposing. Grant Ward proposing who knew he'd be so good at it too, he was watching her intently as she digested all that he had said. She didn't think she had ever seen him look so vulnerable and she'd just witnessed him cry. There was only one answer she could give, because she was his body and soul. She needed him like air to breath, she would have laughed at her own stupidity but he was waiting.

She put her lips to his ear and whispered "Yes" and then her lips found his again. There happiness in that moment was a blazing light that chased away the shadows that had blighted them. Leaving him was not the answer they would deal with Hand and they would discover the reasons behind Andrew Grayson's super army and then they'd take him down together. She would learn to control her abilities and protect the ones she loved and in between she would live the life her parents had died to give her.

Authors Note: eek so I hope the ending of this chapter makes up for all the emotional turmoil, sorry guys but it's a conversation they needed to have and we're going to get to grips more fully with Skye's abilities in the next chapter.