Ch. 11

I saw Ward come up behind the supersoldiers and I let out a sigh of relief. However, another ten of them poured out of the building after Ward, guns drawn, yelling at him to put down his weapons. It was sixteen of them and two of us. Still, I'd seen worse odds. I was about to make a grab for the gun at my head. It was a risky move that both Ward and May had taught me, one I still hadn't mastered at that angle and at such close range. Ward saw me tensing and slowly shook his head as he lowered his weapons, dropped them to the floor and raised his hands.

00000

They took us to a different facility, hours away from the compound Ward had infiltrated. Once we got there, they put us in the same room, but kept us in two different cells that were located a few feet apart. Ward paced his cell like a hungry jaguar, occasionally stopping to test the strength of one of the bars or to try to pull on the door.

"We should have tried. Against those soldiers. We might have been able to make it," I said bitterly, sitting on the cold concrete, feeling miserable.

"He had a gun. To your head. Whatever you think about me, I'm not superhuman. Against a couple of them, maybe, but sixteen? No way. Part of tactical training is running the odds, Skye. There was only one way out of that scenario where you stayed alive," he maintained.

"But . . . " I started to argue.

"Skye," he interrupted me, "I couldn't do it. I couldn't risk losing you. At least now, we have a chance."

"A chance?"

"Believe in our team. They believe in us. They'll find us," he promised.

00000

After a few hours, a woman in a yellow flowered dress waltzed in, beaming when she saw us.

"Hello, my name is Raina. Oh, this is wonderful. It's like Christmas. A S.H.I.E.L.D. operative and a hacker," she gloated.

She made her way to Ward's cell, her eyes trailing over him as she licked her lips. "Agent Grant Ward. I can't wait to see what happens when you cross our serum with your level of S.H.I.E.L.D. training. What a lovely treat!"

"I'm not going to do your dirty work," he informed her coldly.

"Somehow, I doubt that. I feel like I might have some way to compel you to be compliant," she smirked and turned to me.

"And, Skye, well, your file is even bigger than his. What fun we're going to have with you!" she said, clapping her hands together. "You already know how to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database. What other kind of mischief can you do?"

"I'm not going to be your puppet," I declared with a confidence I didn't feel.

"You know, once we've implanted a bomb in someone's brain, it's amazing how helpful they become," Raina said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "It's late, so we'll get started in the morning. I swear, this is going to be so much fun."

She left then, her dress swishing as she sauntered away.

"She's insane. Like she has literally lost it. I know it's supposed to come off as all creepy and mysterious, but she's a few bricks short of full load," I said, once she'd gone.

"You're right," Ward agreed. "Well, we've got the night. Let's figure out a way out of here."

"I thought we were going to wait for our team?" I wondered.

"I'd rather get out of here before you have your upcoming surgery, wouldn't you?"

I blanched at the thought. "Yes. A thousand times, yes."

It was going to be a long night.