Previously: Bobbi knocked out Graviton with a high powered weapon, and now the man is hiding somewhere in the city. Either the gun or Graviton's powers shorted out the city powers, and now comms are out too. Skye was going to stay in the van with Fitzsimmons but ended up rendezvousing with the rest of the crew (without her laptop). Now they've split to see if they can find the super-villain.

Chapter Forty Three

Scouting parties.

Scouting parties to find an evil, working for aliens, super-powered maniac in Italy. With the radius of looking at just about… everywhere in the city.

Coulson obviously didn't have high hopes to find the man this way. He'd sent off most of them, but left Wolfe and Mack behind to set up the device. Coulson stuck around to ward off anyone remaining or trying to come back to the area, because using the machine on Hall would affect a decent amount of space.

So the rest of them went on foot to find a man who was obviously hiding with the intentions of herding him back, but unable to call for backup even if one team found him.

Ward didn't really appreciate comms as much as he should have until this moment. There were missions that he'd gone dark on, but it was usually somewhat planned. It was usually possible that the someone in an entire city would have a form of communication.

The only upside to the situation was getting to spend time with Skye, as he'd been partnered with her. Because she'd had so little training and he was one of the best. And Ward assumed, because Skye was the one person he'd proven true loyalty to.

Hunter had gone with Triplett while May had gone with Bobbi. Less space getting covered while in teams, but more likely to not die with two people.

"If the comms do come back up, I'll honestly be able to run them from my phone," Skye'd been saying. "What caused the outage anyhow?"

"Hall had a freak out when Morse shot him that weapon," said Ward. "Caused some kind of pulse and for him to lose control."

"Ah, so that's why we're looking for randomly floating objects?"

"It might have caused his powers to overload," Ward explained, the best of what he'd caught on before Skye had showed up. "Or anything, really. But unless he is having a sort of power freak out, I highly doubt we'll be able to spot him."

Skye nodded. "Like a needle in a haystack. Or like… a hiding person in a giant city full of people that could be anywhere."

Ward smirked at that. "Right."

"Her gun was kind of awesome though," Skye mused as they walked. Ward didn't have his weapon out, but his hand stayed securely on it. Skye trailed behind him. "I mean, I didn't get to see the blast or anything… but the size of it!"

"Have you heard of her before?" asked Ward.

"Awesome-gun toting girl?"

"Yeah. Bobbi Morse."

He looked behind himself, and saw Skye wracking her brains with a furrowed brow. "Maybe. Name sounds kind of familiar, like I've read it somewhere?"

"Maybe you saw it while looking through files," Ward guessed. "Apparently she's a top SHIELD agent."

"Really? That's nifty. For her to have shown up and all."

Ward huffed a laugh. "Yeah. Definitely nifty."

"Weird that she brought her ex-husband along, though…"

Ward cocked his head curiously. "Hunter?"

"That's it. Forgot his name for a second. They do not seem to like each other very much, but I guess if they're both good at what they do…"

"Yeah," agreed Ward. "It is weird."

Morse bringing Hunter along would have been weird… if it hadn't been by chance that the two had run into each other in the first place.

Skye might have only known Hunter a few hours longer than Morse, but he'd driven the hacker there. Stayed with them at the BUS. He'd been with her just as much as anyone else since she'd gotten back from the Skrulls. Skye wasn't one to just forget names.

Were the powers getting to her? Ward didn't like the thought that she was becoming so overwhelmed by her abilities already that it was causing memory gaps. Brain damage. He had no idea what this Terrigen process really entailed anyhow, but Wolfe stressed she was different and the process could be bad for her.

It worried him, but he'd decided to keep it to himself so he could keep an eye on the girl.

Ok maybe he'd pry, just a little.

"You sure your headaches are ok?" Ward asked. "Don't try to shove them off to the side just because we have other issues going on as well. Your health is important and we don't understand what's happening to you just yet."

She rolled her eyes. "I told you I'm fine, Ward."

"You were willing to give yourself up for the sacrifice, don't pretend that telling white lies about your health is an insane prospect."

He felt a hand on the back of his shoulder, pulling him around to face her. "You're calling me a liar?"

"I'm saying you stretch the truth when the greater good is at stake."

She seemed to mull that over. "It's possible," she conceded. "But in this instance, here and now, I'm not."

She stared at him hard, and he felt himself crumble. What if his own worry was making the situation worse for her? What if he was only working her up with his own feelings for her? She was even touching him… maybe her brain was being flooded at that moment.

"Sorry I pushed, then," he said, and she dropped her arm from his shoulder. "And… if I'm worrying too much."

"Aw, you're worried about me?" she asked, in a voice Ward thought people normally set aside for when they were talking to puppies or something equally vulnerable.

"Of course," he said hesitantly, assuming she would know that already. His feelings were on his sleeve with Skye now, something he wasn't sure he was entirely comfortable with. But Skye knowing how he truly felt, he'd decided, could only be a good thing. "I'd just hate to cause any more distress than you've already been through."

She snorted. "Why would that cause me distress? It's… nice. Knowing people care and all."

"I'm glad you're adjusting," Ward said wholeheartedly. Skye just smiled, and they started up their walk again. "You know, it suits you."

"What?"

What does she mean 'what'? She should know 'what'. And he doesn't know what to call 'what'!

"Your… gift."

"Oh," she said, almost shocked, a little coy. "Thank you."

It was barely a response, but he let himself ramble. "You just already care about making others feel good, it only makes sense."

"Right."

"Are the colors frustrating?"

"The what?" she snapped, then sort of recoiled and she continued in a softer voice. "Colors…"

Great. The worry was building up again. He hoped it wasn't too noticeable for her. "Skye… do you not remember the colors?"

"I…" She looked lost. "No, of course I do. I mean, they were just here a little while ago."

It was like she was backpedalling. She was nervous. "It's ok if you don't Skye," he assured her. "It's ok if they're gone too. But if something's wrong, we need to get you examined…"

"Whoa, no way! I am not going to the doctor while all of this is happening."

"Think about what's happening to you!"

"I am fine," she told him indignantly. "I can control this."

"I'm not worried about whether or not you can control it, I'm worried about what it's doing to you!" he said.

She stared at him with a defiant little expression that was incredibly Skye. That she was begging him to challenge her to an argument she was sure to win. But she shouldn't be walking around if she couldn't keep memories from the last few hours straight.

In the car, she'd begun to explain what colors went with certain feelings. Even told them what she was seeing on each of them at the time.

"Do you remember what colors went to what emotions?"

She blinked.

"What? No! Are you testing me? God, I am not listening to this…" She blazed ahead of him hotly, but a few strides of his longer legs let him catch up.

"You had it pretty well pegged in the car."

"Well… it was fresh on my mind in the car."

"And it's not now?"

"No!"

"So you found a way to turn it off?"

"Um… not exactly," she mumbled, her tone far more anxious than he'd like. Her eyes shifted. "Maybe."

"Skye, we need to talk about this-"

And then it hit him.

It hit him like a freight train.

(One that had a thirty minute delay, damn it. He should have noticed sooner).

Skye wasn't having memory gaps. She was getting information wrong. She was taking what she saw and was trying to sew it together, acting the part well enough to convince him she knew what she was talking about. But she kept messing up. Specifically…

She was messing up things that happened after Skye had been with the Skrulls.

The next moment was spent rushing an arm to Skye's neck, pinning her up against the wall roughly. Her eyes held shock and betrayal, and at this point Ward didn't know if he hoped he was wrong and this was truly Skye, or if it was actually an alien, and that the hurt wasn't in Skye's genuine face.

"Where is the real Skye?" he growled at her. She looked terrified under his grasp, clawing at his arm.

"What? I am real!"

"Prove it," he spat dangerously.

She was near crying under his grip. "I-I don't know how!"

"What color did you say my aura was in the car?"

The question tasted funny on his tongue. It sounded like magical crap, really. He couldn't believe this was happening, that Skye had somehow transformed into someone who belonged on SHIELD's Index.

Or that he was possibly holding her alien doppelgänger.

She shook her head desperately. "Please, Ward…"

"Do not avoid the question," he said, pressing harder. But he held back from hurting her too much. If this really was Skye… well, the stakes were too high to go full out specialist just yet.

"I don't know…" she sobbed. "I don't remember, I swear!"

Ward breathed out hard through his nose in frustration. He tried a new tactic. "Who is Lance Hunter?"

Her head shook frantically. "He's just some SHIELD agent, I guess!"

Mercenary. She'd have known that.

This was becoming painfully obvious, but he still couldn't help but doubt. He had one tactic left.

Now he was definitely hoping it wasn't really Skye.

His fist hit her face once. Twice. She sobbed harder.

Oh god Skye, forgive me.

He was going in for the third punch when he was stopped. A hand curled around his fist, and Skye looked up through a curtain of messy hair. Her cheeks were already blooming red.

Her eyes were dark and sinister.

She pushed him with a harsh force of her hand so he stumbled backwards, his arm being forced free of her neck with the shove. His Skye wouldn't have been strong enough to do that.

The alien laid her head back on the wall, looking a little tuckered out and disappointed. But decidedly, evil.

"Guess my first day on the job isn't going too well…" she commented offhandedly.

Ward had his gun out now. An ICER.

"Where is Skye?" he asked firmly.

The alien looked decidedly unimpressed. "Dude. Are you threatening me with a toy gun?"

"Trust me, if you make me use this it will only mean that you're going to wake up in a world of hurt."

She snorted. Like, in amusement. "Oh wow. Feisty Ward! Kind of like a kitten."

The comment wasn't entirely un-Skye-like, and it threw him. He repeated. "Tell me where the real Skye is."

"Oh, I don't know," she threw out. "I mean, definitely with Paibok. But I'm not sure where he took her. He's definitely one for games, so I doubt they're back at the ship yet."

Ward stared.

"Change back," he ordered.

"I'm sorry?" she said through a laugh.

"Stop looking like her."

She tapped her chin. "Mmm, nah."

He grabbed the shoulder of her shirt, shoved her right back up against the wall as he held the gun to her head. She only laughed.

"All up close and personal. Oh, I like it, Ward!" she proclaimed, and then cocked her head to the side. Her voice lowered. "And that's really all you want to hear from this body isn't it?"

He could make a threat. He should. But he just sort of snarled.

"Skye knows exactly what you think of her. How obsessed and in love you think you are. That's why she's using you, you know. She'll never trust you, but she knows you're enough of a sick stalker to help her out in a jam. Which, let's face it, she is definitely in one of those at the moment."

The thing was taunting him, baiting him, and it was working. Working because those could all very possibly be true. This Skrull did know what Skye thought of Ward. It was just whether or not what she was saying was genuine.

"Cute," Ward said.

The girl smiled. A toothy, excited grin. "It's working, huh? Wow, she is really under you skin!"

He allowed himself a dark laugh. "If you think hurting my feelings is going to help you, you might as well give up now."

"Well, we did just have a pretty big chat about feelings a minute ago, didn't we? I think you're more of a teddy bear then you let on, robot."

The nickname triggered him, and he hit her head up against the wall. "Change. Back," he ordered again. He wanted to look this thing in the eyes.

"I really think that would be stupid of me."

"If you think I'm not going to hurt you just because you look like her…"

She rolled her eyes. "No, that's not it! I mean, the girl is wicked annoying. Probably be nice to take out a few of your frustrations… No, I'm more wondering how you're planning on explaining to the team that you beat up the favorite little hacker."

She looked at him from under innocent eyebrows.

"I'm telling them you're a Skrull."

"But are they going to believe you, Ward?" she asked earnestly. "You're a traitor. For Hydra. Skye's the only way you even get the benefit of the doubt. Without her you're just… unredeemable."

That was it.

He punched her in the head. Hard, and she slumped to the ground.

He needed her knocked out; the Skrulls were too strong for him to be dragging her through Rome. ICER would have kept her out for too long.

But what would Coulson think, when he'd drag Skye's unconscious body back to him? He hoped the man would believe him. Perhaps he shouldn't chance it...

No. He had to get back to the team. He had to know where Skye was, the real Skye. If she was in the van. If she was out in the streets. He needed the team's help. Anything less would be selfish.

Ward picked up the alien from the ground and threw her over his shoulder, beginning to walk back where he'd come from.

A/n: Ah yes, Skrull Skye as expected. Well, not for Ward. Slow on the uptake, that man.
We'll see what the other Skye is up to in the next chapter. (which may have a longer delay on than usual, just so ya know).

A lot of you like my Bobbi/Hunter interaction and I'm very glad! Unfortunately they're only background characters in this story and I won't really be focusing on them. I posted a story starring them this week though, so you can check that out if you want :) It's called Of Cupidity and Calamity, and it's quite a different tone than this one. (And my first time writing in the present tense!)

Thanks for reading and reviews!