SUMMARY: Skye and Ward are on a mission when something goes terribly wrong. They're trapped... in a walk in freezer. Oh boy.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The plot in this particular little story is brought to you by one of the reviews, from a guest. Here's the prompt you suggested, I hope you enjoy it! I must say, this chapter actually really difficult to write. It reminded me sort of House, actually. I'm sort of iffy with this chapter, but here you go!
Thanks so much for the positive feedback, everyone! I can't believe I'm already up to the fourth chapter, I haven't updated so rapidly before. It only shows how excited I am for the second season, I suppose.
CHAPTER FOUR: Locked In
"May and Simmons, stay on the plane. We don't know who's after us, and you'll need to watch out for us. Skye, Ward, search the facility. Stay undercover, do you hear me? We don't want anyone finding out we were here. The place should be empty, but please keep quiet. Fitz, you're with me. We're going down to the cellar, you can set up your equipment down there, right?"
Skye would have stayed to listen, but Ward was already dragging her away from the group. She followed after him with a huff, scouting the house casually as she followed after her SO, who was checking everything thoroughly. They were in some sort of rich man's house. It was probably the home of some famous chef, as there were various clues everywhere and a chefs hat draped on one of the doors. They made their way into the lounge, which was fairly spacious and obviously architecturally designed, with a modern theme.
"I don't know why Coulson's so uptight about this mission," Skye said, watching as Ward pulled open a drawer and rifled through it messily.
"He's got a lot on his plate," Ward replied, shoving the drawer closed and advancing to the next room. Skye drifted after him, peering around the room. It was a more casual living room, cluttered and warm, but it had a more friendly feeling.
"Yeah, I guess," Skye nodded. She moved over to the fireplace, leaning down to study it. "This fireplace hasn't been used in... forever."
"Wow, a hacker noticing those details? I'm impressed. But yeah, it only makes sense. The people who lived here passed away in a car crash a long time ago."
"And no one's inherited the house?"
"The will went missing, supposedly. No one owns the house, because.. who knows what the owners wanted. None of the family can make up their minds about it," Ward shrugged.
Skye straightened back up, peering at the top of the fireplace. Ornaments and picture frames decorated the mantelpiece, and she picked up one, brushing the dust off with her hand. In the picture was a family portrait, one of a warm looking man, a pretty woman and the cutest little girl she had ever seen.
"That's sad."
Ward didn't answer that, instead gesturing to her. "Come on. The kitchen's up next."
"Oh joy." The kitchens were cool. Like, seriously cool. It was like a professional chef's place (which now that she thought of it, made sense) with decor tastefully placed. She let out a light laugh and went to lean on one of the polished stainless steel benches. She found herself staring down at her distorted figure. "This is so cool."
"Don't get used to it. We're just searching the place, and then we're going back down to Coulson, okay?"
Skye rolled her eyes at him. "You're no fun." She grinned suddenly, striding over to one of the doors as her beady eyes picked up something. "Hey look, it's one of these huge walk in freezers. I've only seen them in movies. That's so cool!"
"Skye.."
"Oh come on," Skye hopped into the freezer room, surprised to find that it was still in working order. Why is the power still on in a house that's practically been abandoned? She peered out the door at him, holding it open with her fingers. "Don't be a killjoy. How often do you get to explore a mansion? A mansion, Ward." She gave him her most winning smile, and just like she'd hoped, he fell right for it.
She moved aside to give him room to come in. He grumbled, but stepped right to the back of the room with her. The door clicked closed softly behind her, something that she should have seen "See?" She told him innocently, a 'told you so' tone in her voice. "It's not bad to have a little bit of fun, right?"
"We're not supposed to be having fun," Ward reminded. "We're supposed to be working."
"Yeah," Skye grumbled. "I thought working for what's practically the FBI would be more interesting."
Ward sighed in exasperation at her, but only nodded at her, reaching for the door handle. "Let's go, Skye." He reached for the door handle and tugged on it, only for it to rattle uselessly. "Skye.." His voice was low, as if he was fully expecting what was to come next. Skye felt dread sink down to her feet, and she nudged him aside to try the door for herself. It didn't budge.
"This is why you shouldn't listen to me sometimes. Or ever."
...
Skye was glad that she had put on some extra layers for the day, as the freezer was, as the name entailed, freezing. She looked over to Ward, who was sitting across the freezer room from her. Not that that was saying much, the freezer wasn't exactly massive. If she leaned over, she could reach him easily.
"You know, this is the part where you're supposed to lend me your jacket," she joked.
Ward only shook his head at her, smiling faintly. "You're warm enough," he nodded.
"Grant Ward, everybody. Always such a gentleman." That was enough to earn a small smile, and Skye grinned in return. She sighed suddenly, turning to the door. "We've been in here for an hour, Ward. It's already hard enough to talk to you without being forced to. And it's cold."
"Coulson will come soon. They're not going to just fly off without us," Ward reassured. His dark clothes looked strangely out of place in the frosty white freezer, Skye noticed.
"Yeah, I'd hope not. Although who knows, Coulson was pretty sore after I beat him in battleship the other day."
"Battleship?"
"You taught me well," she smiled at him, tightening her jacket around herself.
Suddenly, Ward heaved himself to his feet, making a racket as his jacket brushed against the various storage boxes stacked on the shelves. He extended a hand out to her with an expectant look.
Skye frowned at him, staring at his held out hand. "You want to dance?"
"No, rookie," Ward said patiently, although she could see the familiar tell-tale sign of fond exasperation in his eyes. "We're going to train."
"We're going to train?" Skye questioned him incredulously, staring at him. "Seriously? Now?"
"It's supposed to be a tender gesture, Skye," Ward sighed.
"You suck at being tender," Skye grumbled, but she got to her feet obediently. "Alright then. What's first on Freezer training 101?"
...
They'd finally given up on training. At least they were warmer now, but every time they breathed a puff of clear white air would come out of their mouths. It reminded Skye of the days she had spent at the orphanage, where on especially cold days, all the kids would pretend that they were dragons.
"It's been two hours. How long do they need to realise we're missing?"
"This was your fault in the first place."
"Hey, you followed me in!" Skye snapped her head up suddenly as she thought of an idea. "Ward! We're stupid. Have you tried your communications yet?"
"Yeah. Funnily enough, the reception's not so good in a freezer." Skye's hopes plummeted and she sighed again, pulling up her legs against her chest. Of course Agent Grand Ward had thought of that option already.
"So we're seriously stuck in a freezer. This is not how I wanted to spend my day."
"Strangely enough, me neither."
Just then, the pair heard a familiar voice, muffled but still there, calling for Skye and Ward. "Simmons!" Skye cried, and the two leapt to their feet, banging on the door.
"Simmons! We're in here!"
Soon enough, Simmons was prying open the door, and Skye had never been so happy to see the scientist in her life. She tackled Simmons in a hug. "Thank God!"
Simmons looked bewildered at the two, eyes wide. "How long have you been in here? I should check you over."
"Wait, Simmons-"
The door swung shut with a clang as Simmons moved forward.
"Welcome to the club, Simmons."