May didn't find it remotely surprising that Skye didn't like being blocked out of the mission process. To be honest, she'd expected it from the moment she set foot on the plane. A hacker would never be happy being told they couldn't know something.

She sat down on the couch with a huff. "How is this even supposed to work?" She asked testily. "You're level seven, but you've got a psychic connection with Coulson. I'm not even a SHIELD agent and I've got a connection with you."

Melinda raised an eyebrow. "Which you wouldn't exploit for information."

Skye sighed, "No, but- I could. So could you. Isn't that a problem?"

"SHIELD doesn't know about sensates." She said. "So no. It's not a problem."

"Why though?" Skye asked. "Shouldn't we be on the index or something?"

"Do you want to be?"

Skye glared at the ground. "No, but-"

"Look, being sensate can be dangerous." May said, "It can be the best thing that's ever happened to you, but it can also kill you. My cluster's parent told us how they used to be scared all the time. Of being captured, experimented on, killed. So we don't tell anyone."

Skye still didn't look happy.

Melinda rolled her eyes. "Just go with it." She said, "And cheer up. Izzy and Tori are at the Hub."

That got her. Skye looked up with wide eyes. "Really?! That's awesome!" She paused for a moment, biting her lip. "I- do they want to meet me?"

"Of course they do." May sighed, "They love you."

Skye smiled shyly. "They do? Wait, how'd they- they can't visit me."

"No." She agreed, "But they can visit me."

Skye grinned. "They hang over your shoulder like little angels?"

"The most annoying angels in the world."

"I resent that." Izzy said, "I'm not the one who abused our connection to watch Survivor when I was on a mission. You still owe me for that."

May smirked. "Go to hell." She muttered. She actually felt... good.

Skye was looking at her. "They here?"

"Izzy."

"Cool." Skye said. "Uuh, hi Izzy."

Izzy beamed. "I'll see her soon." She said, "I can't wait."

Melinda gave a tiny smile and Skye's eyes widened. "What'd she say?"

"She can't wait to meet you."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Feeling Fitzsimmons' excitement about visiting the Hub was almost unnerving. Skye knew that the two of them got excited about most things, but a giant building full of boring paper pushers?

"Oh honestly Skye, it's more than just some filing cabinets." Jemma's voice interrupted.

They were in the lab on the Bus, packing up equipment to take with them. "Yeah." Fitz said, "There's some great labs."

Skye shrugged. "You guys have a lab here."

Jemma shot her a reproaching look. "Bigger labs."

"There are bigger labs?" Skye asked, keeping a straight face. "I thought this was the biggest lab ever."

When they gaped at her, Skye couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing. Fitz glared and Jemma rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, really funny Skye." Fitz muttered, stowing the night night gun.

Skye giggled, and some of her apprehension eased. No matter what, they were still her cluster. Her friends.

Walking into the Hub was weird. Some instinct told her to run away. It was so clean and organised and everyone was wearing the same suit. She felt small. Even more so when everyone but her got a badge. She wasn't really part of this. Not yet.

May's hand brushed her arm in a way that would be an accident from anyone else, and she felt a little better. She wasn't a part of SHIELD yet, but she was a part of them. Skye smiled tightly as they walked towards another agent. "Is there any chance we can run a check for the redacted file?" She asked Coulson softly.

He looked to her, preparing to be the bad guy, but couldn't when he saw the look in her eye. He softened. "I'll look into it." He said, "I promise. But for now we have other matters to deal with."

Skye curbed her impulse to argue, opting instead to remain silent. It was hard, but she needed to earn their trust back. Earn her way into SHIELD.

That didn't mean she was happy when her bracelet snapped to the wall, effectively shackling her. Skye scowled. "You could have just said 'wait here.'" She muttered.

"We'll be back." Was all he said.

Fitz and Jemma hovered awkwardly around. Skye could feel their desire to go to the labs. "Just go." She muttered, annoyed at the world. "I'll be fine."

Jemma bit the inside of her lip. "We'll grab that cable you were looking for, so you can connect your laptop to the holotable."

Skye forced a smile. "That'd be great, thanks Jemma."

She watched them hurry away. Now she was alone. Until Coulson and May came back to pick her up. Like she needed supervision. Like she was going to do anything.

Skye sighed. This sucked. She couldn't blame anyone. It just sucked. She hated that they didn't trust her. She hated that they had a reason.

"Hey." An unfamiliar voice said, and Skye looked up to see a woman walking towards her with two take-away coffees in her hand. She had dark hair and knowing eyes. "You look like you need this."

Skye frowned. "I- uh, thanks." She said, taking it. "I'm- Skye."

"Isabelle Hartley." She greeted. "Boring place to hang out."

Skye shrugged, "Well I don't have that much choice in the hanging out part." She said, tugging at her wrist. "I don't know why a SHIELD agent's buying me coffee. Doesn't this mark me as some kind of..."

"Outsider?" Isabelle finished. "Well, kind of. I had to wear one of those myself for a while. It's been upgraded a bit since then."

Skye's face twitched into a smile. "Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. I used to be a merc. They don't trust us much either."

Either? "What do you think I am?"

Isabelle's eyes narrowed, taking her in. "You're a hacker, right? I mean, you look strong enough, but not merc level. Put your age on top of that, and how paranoid they have to be to give you one of those... I'd say hacker. Not that that means you can't be good for SHIELD."

Skye nodded. "Yeah. I- I made a dumb mistake, I-" She shook herself. "It was just dumb."

Isabelle shrugged, leaning against the wall and taking a sip of her coffee. "Probably." She acknowledged, "But everyone makes dumb mistakes from time to time. It's not the end of the world." She paused. "Do you want me to drink some of that to prove it's not poison?"

Skye jumped, "No, I- sorry, I just kind of..." Isabelle nodded to the cup and Skye took a grateful sip. "Nice." She said appreciatively.

Isabelle grinned, "Yeah, not many places around here that make decent coffee." She nodded across the atrium. "It's right over there, left at the stairs." She smirked. "I doubt your supervising officer would show you. Mellie hates coffee."

"Mellie?" Wait...

Just as Skye started to get suspicious, the doors slid open, May emerging. She crossed her arms, trying and failing to look annoyed. "Are you done messing with her?"

Skye's wide eyes flickered between them as Isabelle pulled May into a rough, one armed hug, laughing softly. "Missed you Mel."

"Shut up Izzy."

Skye beamed. Izzy. "Oh my God, I- hi, it's so great to meet you."

Izzy smiled, "Likewise." She said, still holding on to May. "You're not as tall as you look from Mel's eyes."

May punched her on the shoulder and Izzy drew away, mocking pain. Skye couldn't help the happy, bubbly feeling inside. There was a certain lightness to May that she didn't usually see. She had a feeling the height thing was an ongoing joke. "Yeah, I'm not that tall." She said, "More than some though."

May glared. "I can leave you here."

Izzy grinned. "I can let her out." She said, "See how much trouble we can stir up together."

Belatedly, Melinda realised that these two meeting was probably a terrible idea.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Skye knew that she should help Fitz with the doors. But to be honest, it was just too funny to watch him struggle. She could feel that May was amused too, so she didn't feel so bad. Besides, none of them were helping him. It wasn't until the doors locked him in that she felt motivated to help him access the door panel to open them again.

Fitz stomped out, unhappy. "Well a lot of bloody help you were." He grumbled, going to his trolley.

Coulson hid a smile, walking to him. "Fitz, we're going to need you to come and meet Agent Hand. All of you actually, if that's alright. We'll have someone send your tools to the Bus."

Izzy grinned, walking with them. "Agent Hand." She said ominously, but there was a glimmer of humour in her eyes.

Skye cocked her head. "Is she okay?"

She missed Coulson and May's smirks, "Victoria Hand is a terrifying, dangerous woman." Izzy said seriously.

"Oh stop." Victoria said, catching them unawares before they made it to the conference room door. "You're making me blush."

Skye looked from May, Coulson, and Izzy, and back to Agent Hand. Agent Victoria Hand. "Oh." She breathed, "Victoria Hand." She said softly to Fitz and Jemma.

Jemma squeaked, but Skye knew that they hadn't got it yet. "Guys, Victoria Hand." She said, "Tori."

Fitz choked on air, "No way."

Jemma was almost bouncing. "Oh, this is amazing!"

Coulson could feel the amusement of the others. It was kind of cute. "You know, they didn't geek out when they met me." He said. "Do kids not think I'm cool?"

"No one thinks you're cool Phil." Tori said flatly.

Skye laughed, muffling it immediately. Tori shook their hands in turn. "Nice to finally meet you in person." She said, making quick eye contact with each of them.

Fitzsimmons were stunned into silence, so Skye replied. "Yeah, you too." She smiled. "It's great to put faces to names."

"Well there's one more face then." Tori said, opening the door, "Everyone, this is Bobbi Morse. She'll be leading a two man operation to Ossetia to disable the so called overkill device."

Bobbi. Skye thought. Well, at least she knew this was another sensate beforehand. They were falling out of the woodwork at the Hub.

The conference room was darker than Skye expected. It smelled like leather and air fresheners, which wasn't surprising. There was a large screen on the wall, currently turned off, and a round table surrounded by office chairs before it. She considered making a joke about doctor strangelove when she saw the weird light suspended from the ceiling, but held back.

There was also a woman, younger than Skye expected. She had long blonde hair and wore a black T-shirt and jeans. She was also really tall. Skye needed a picture of her and May standing side by side. She looked up when they entered. "Hey, the whole gang's here."

Tori rolled her eyes. "They would be if we knew who was in your cluster Barbara."

Bobbi glared. "Sorry not everyone's as friendly as you Victoria."

Tori smirked. "This is Bobbi Morse." She introduced to the kids. "Don't call her Barbara or she'll bite your head off."

Bobbi grinned. "Only if I think you're cute." She said, throwing Fitz a wink. He turned red, eyes flickering to the floor. Bobbi looked between them all. "Everyone been briefed on the mission?"

Skye looked around. "Uuh, no?" She said, "But I don't know if I'm supposed to."

Tori raised an eyebrow, and Skye wondered if May got that from her, or if it was the other way around. "Agent Morse is going to be leading a two man operation to disable a dangerous device in hostile territory."

Something about the way she said it made Skye uneasy. Or maybe she was just picking up on Fitz's feelings since Bobbi was still looking at him in a way that seemed to say 'fresh meat'. "Who's the other agent?"

Bobbi raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?" She said to Tori and the others. "You trying to get me to tell them?"

Tori shrugged. "It was worth a shot." She said, stepping forwards. "Agent Fitz, we need someone who can disable the device on site." He stared. Skye could feel his dread, mirroring hers and Jemma's. "I think you're the man for the job."

Fitz swallowed, straightening. "Yes ma'am." He said seriously.

"And there's one more thing." Tori said, now visiting them all. "Officially this mission has no extraction plan. You two are not supposed to know this."

"What the hell?!" Skye burst out, unable to keep quiet. "They wanna leave Fitz to die?! That's bullshit!"

She refused to feel ashamed when the others stared, and Izzy spoke. "Officially?"

Tori nodded. "Also officially, you have a plane and a decent pilot." She said, "Which won't have another mission until Agents Fitz and Morse have completed their mission."

They all paused, absorbing the information. Coulson smirked. "Tori," He said, "Are you trying to encourage us to break the rules?"

She raised an eyebrow and Izzy and Bobbi smiled. "All I'm doing is explaining the situation Phil. Do what you want with the information."

He grinned easily. "Spoilsport."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Fitz was quiet on their drive out to the border. He was scared. He knew that the others were worried about him. They couldn't hide it. He understood. But he had to be strong. He could do this.

Bobbi glanced over at him from the driver's seat. "You been to Ossetia before?"

Fitz shook his head quietly.

"It's nice. Some of the locals are... less nice." Fitz remained silent, toying with his tools. Bobbi cocked her head. "Have you... been in the field before?"

Fitz looked up, surprised, and shook his head. "No. Couldn't even pass my field test."

"Ugh. That sucks." Bobbi muttered. "You'll be fine, okay? Fighting's what I'm here for, and trust me," She tapped her temple, "It's not just me."

Fitz hesitated. "Wh-why don't you tell anyone who they are?"

Bobbi looked at him and smiled. "Cos they don't want me to. They'd rather keep to themselves, and I'm not gonna be the asshole that sells them out."

"Are they in SHIELD?" Bobbi raised an eyebrow and Fitz scrambled to apologise, "Sorry, I didn't mean- I'm not trying to find out who they are, honestly."

Bobbi shrugged. "The others are, all the time." She smiled, "They think I don't know, but..."

Fitz looked down. "Sorry." He muttered.

"It's okay." Bobbi said, "I get it. Hell, it'd make my life easier, but... I can't do that to them."

"You're a good friend."

She smiled. "Thanks Fitz."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

When the two had made it into the truck, Bobbi smirked. "EMP?"

Fitz brightened, pulling it out of his back pocket. "That obvious?"

She shook her head. "No. Not to them, and that's what matters. Great job."

Fitz grinned, returning the device. "Thanks."

They both stilled at the sound of shouting, then gunshots. "Head down." Bobbi said softly, inching towards the opening.

Fitz fought to keep his breathing steady. Just stay calm. He thought. Then Skye was there. "Fitz what is it, what's going on?"

"Now's not really the time Skye." She said tightly.

Bobbi seized the barrel of the gun that started to move back the tarp, driving the butt into their would-be attackers face. She drew her batons and jumped out of the truck, felling their attackers. "Fitz!" She called.

"Come on!" He cried, sprinting away from the truck towards the border.

Bobbi caught up easily, eyes scanning for assailants. When they finally made it to cover, both were breathless. "I don't know why you weren't cleared." She gasped, "If you can make that run."

Fitz panted. "A-are you saying that I should have died just then?"

Bobbi groaned, leaning against the dried up rainwater pipe they'd found themselves in. "I mean- maybe? I'm sorry, I'm not helping."

"You think?!"

Skye and Jemma appeared, "Fitz, oh my God, are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine guys, except for the part when I should have died!"

Bobbi held up her hands, "I said sorry, jeez."

Fitz scowled, but none of it seemed to calm down Skye and Jemma. "Wait, you could have died?!"

Crap. "No, but I'm fine, really."

Bobbi snorted. "Aaand he sticks the landing."

"Shut up." Fitz muttered, and Bobbi grinned. She liked these kids. Like a little troupe of ducklings.

She spoke up, "Look, I swear he'll be okay." Bobbi said, mostly to Jemma. She could see the silent panic. "I know what I'm doing and he knows what he's doing. He's got you guys, and I've got... well, my guys. So we'll be good, just relax." She spoke now just to Jemma and Skye, "You guys freaking out isn't helping him."

Skye swallowed. "Right, okay."

"Yes, of course, we just need to calm down." Jemma took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Bobbi smiled. "It's okay. You guys are new to this. And hey, if you ever wanna talk... well, you can always find me now."

Skye shifted. "Thanks... Bobbi."

The two of them vanished.

Bobbi gestured for them to crawl further into the pipe. "We should stay here for tonight." She said, "Wait for it to blow over. We'll have enough time to get there tomorrow no problem."

Fitz nodded. "Jemma made me a sandwich." He said, "If you want some."

Bobbi grimaced. "Sorry buddy. They've got dogs tracking us. And, you know, dogs like sandwiches."

"Oh. Right."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Fitz couldn't help but feel immensely proud of himself. He'd done it. He even kicked a couple of bad guys, and that never hurt. He was back, he was safe, and so was Bobbi. The mission was a success, even with the 'unexpected' rescue at the last minute. May gave him a nod as they walked through the Hub, and Coulson smiled, patting him on the back. "Great job Fitz."

He smiled shyly. "Thank you sir."

And sure, May Coulson and Izzy had pulled off the extraction, but Skye was the one who almost knocked him over with the strength of her hug when he made it back, and Jemma was the one who made him feel like he'd really done something. Neither of them even poked fun of him when he excitedly told them what had happened, even though he knew that they already knew.

That was just what friends did though. Right?

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Melinda could feel Skye's emotions at the information Coulson was giving her. Disbelief, happiness, relief. He clearly hadn't told her everything, or those emotions would be a little different.

When he returned to the office, she turned her head. "What'd you tell her?"

He sighed, "The truth. That a SHIELD agent dropped her off at the orphanage."

She shot him a reprimanding look, and Phil sat down. "What good would it do?" He asked tiredly. "It'd just torture her. I can't do that." He hesitated. "Some secrets are meant to stay secret."

May made no move to agree or disagree. She knew that Skye didn't feel the same way about secrets as they did.

"Will you help me find out what happened?"

Melinda sighed internally. She was keeping secrets from Phil, Tori, and Izzy. From Fury. Now she would have to keep secrets from Skye too. Not that it mattered. They weren't that close.

Besides... this was for Skye. She needed the truth. This wasn't something she would let go. Melinda sighed. "I can try." She said softly.