I know, Coulson's OOC here, but I love the idea of a softer, more fatherly version of him. It's too lovable to leave be. :)

A brush of cool air awoke the young maiden from her cursed slumber, not the kiss of a royal or the touch of the reaper, just a chill blowing breeze. Her eyes opened, the long lashes flicking up with a gentle flutter. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw the sinful eyes of her dark lover, his skin - the color of burnt umber - barely reflecting light and the claws on his fingers sunken into the woodworks of her ceiling.

A lustful burn was in his eye as he took in the sight of her stretched out on her bed in her silken nightgown. He gave her one last glance before releasing the ceiling and flapping his enormous wings, carrying his weight over to the window.

She leapt out of her bed and cried out 'Don't go!'.

Her forbidden love with this dark creature was dangerous for her and her kingdom. But the pearl teeth that flashed a grin at her from the window sent her heart soaring and she could barely hold it in. The creature stalked across the room, reaching out one clawed hand to trail down her neck, sending shameful shudders down her back...

BAM. The slap on the table nearly sent Skye's tablet across the room and a shriek came out of her mouth. "What?" she demanded, whipping around to glare at...May.

She bit her lip and retreated her head, watching her superior officer come around the side of the couch.

"What are you reading, Skye?" May asked, hands on hips.

Skye turned off her tablet and stuffed it into the sofa cushion. "Nothing," she shrugged, trying to keep the blush from her cheeks. She knew that May would most likely judge her for what she was reading, but the motherly figure whom she adored was giving her a look that told her she was already judging her.

"Oh come on, May. Don't tell me you didn't read scandalous books when you were younger?" Skye chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning forwards to rest them on the arm of the couch.

One eyebrow rose up slowly and May moved around to sit next to her. "I didn't often read romance novels," she said.

Skye spun to look at her and laid back. "Why not? Because it reminded you too much of your life with Coulson?" she said in a teasing tone and laughed, but it died after May gave her a look.

"Because I didn't need to go to books to find a man who caught my interests. The one I had was more than enough," she said, her eyes clouded slightly, distant in a way. Abruptly, she stood up again, suddenly very stiff. She was normally stiff, but this was more than usual. "Let's not do this."

Skye stood up and put a hand on her arm. "Hey, I didn't mean to pry, or open any old wounds. I'm sorry," she said, pursing her lips together tightly.

The older woman turned to look at her, a glare settling in her eyes and she pulled her arm back. "I didn't ask for your sympathy."

If anyone could make something sting, it was May, not because of the exact words she used, but because of the coldness in her voice. Skye bristled and bit back. "I wasn't offering it," she took a step back, trying not to let her pain get the best of her.

After having discovered her powers, Skye knew what she was capable of and did her best not to get too emotional, afraid of tearing her friends to pieces. She already knew the consequences of her powers, Trip was gone and that meant a world of loneliness for her. She tried to lose herself in books and work, but wherever she went, Trip wouldn't be there. And that's what hurt the most.

May caught the pained expression and sighed softly, but it was too late. Skye had already gathered up her things and was on her way back to her room, where she collapsed on her bed and let out a slow groan. She was on edge more and more since Puerto Rico, and she didn't know how to control herself if she got out of hand.

A soft knock came on her door and she flipped over on her stomach. "Yeah?" she called out, hoping it wasn't May.

The tense feeling in her chest loosened up some when Coulson's tender voice came through the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," she repeated, but this was one of defeat. She knew she couldn't win against these people, she wouldn't be able to have some alone time, they would always be there wanting to help. And she loved that more than she could stand, she wanted to hate them for it, but instead she gave in.

The gentle features of Phil Coulson's face poked through the door and he gave a little smile. "Hey," he said smoothly and she responded in much the same fashion. "You okay?" he asked, slipping into the room.

She nodded slowly. "Yup...you know when you're talking to May and you say something that hits a little too close and she suddenly gets really far away and hard to reach and then she just brushes you off like it was nothing?" she asked, quite quickly and she turned to fix him with a stare.

Coulson laughed softly. "Oh, trust me. I know. I've known May for 27 years and she's always been like that, so don't you worry, it's not just you," his smile was infectious and a similar one appeared on Skye's face. "I've heard the nastiest Melinda's got to say, and it was all directed at me. But I still know that in the end, she doesn't mean any of it."

Another sigh escaped her mouth, through the grin and she nodded a bit. "Thanks, AC," she said, standing up. "So, I would assume we've got work to do?" she asked, nodding towards the tablet in Coulson's hand.

He stood up and held it out to her. "You tell me."

She frowned and looked down at the tablet. It was a list of searches, specified to keywords, in this case, keywords like 'Hydra'. She scanned through them. "Why is," she checked the tablet again. "S.T.A.R. Labs looking into Hydra? There's about 17 searches here relating to Hydra, including 'Yggdrasil', 'Johann Schmidt' and- are you kidding me? 'Hydra; evil conspiracy theories'? Do they have a college student there?" she gave Coulson a disbelieving look. "I think they were probably hacked by some kid looking to get them in trouble."

Coulson reached out and flicked the screen sideways, it flipped over to display a staff list for S.T.A.R. Labs, he tapped the name 'Cisco Ramon'. A file came up, a picture of a young man was on the left. The date of birth section read; 12/9/89

"God, he's just a kid!" she exclaimed, squinting and looking at the picture. "Why are we looking into this kid specifically?" she asked.

"Because, it was pinged from his computer."

Skye nodded thoughtfully, then frowned. "Hang on, how did you find all this out? I'm your computer girl and...I didn't look this up."

Coulson smirked. "Turns out, Lance is good for something other than hitting people. He just clicked whatever he could see that seemed to make any sense until he found what we needed."

"Oh, okay." She bit her lip.

He leaned in a bit. "He's definitely not you, but he's at least better than me. Come on, let's make sure he didn't break something."

Skye chuckled a bit and followed, giving a reluctant shrug.

They found their way back to the computer room, where FitzSimmons, May and Bobbi were. Skye gave a small smile to May and then fiddled with the computer until the search list appeared on the big screen and she began scrolling through them. "Hm," she frowned and studied the details - timestamps, location, results, etc.

She brought a map up and found S.T.A.R. Labs, honing in on Central City. "Not too far from Starling, we went there to check up on your old buddy Bobbi, remember?" she said teasingly, flipping through more results.

Bobbi scoffed and folded her arms. "Slade Wilson was not my buddy, he was...hotter than that," she glared at Lance, who had appeared in the doorway with a snort, upon hearing what she said.

As Skye was scanning for S.T.A.R. Labs, the screen cut short and then was replaced by a video feed of a man. He was dressed almost entirely in yellow, and his eyes glowed red. It was hard to focus on him, as he seemed to be hovering back and forth. His body was almost vibrating and you couldn't get a good look at his face or any of his features.

They all leaned in, then FitzSimmons and Skye jumped back when a contorted voice boomed out of the speakers. "Stop looking into us," it demanded, before the screen went black. When it lit up again, the man was gone and the search map of Central City was gone also, it was all replaced by a geometric grey pattern with 3D red text that read 'LOCKED'.

"What in the hell was that?" Fitz squeaked as the lights in the room began to flicker, before going out entirely.

"I don't know," Coulson said darkly. "But I intend to find out. May, go make sure we're still staying in the air. When you're done with that, set a course for Central City. Skye, figure out what happened, take Fitz. Simmons, go check on Mack. Agent's Morse and Hunter, you're with me," and with that, the Director disappeared out of the room.

All of them exchanged a small look, before following their orders. They were under attack - for once it wasn't Hydra - and were all determined to find out who it was and stop them before someone got hurt.

(Bobbi and Slade...I couldn't help myself. *evil laugh*)

Again, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

I'll be sure to update as soon as I can, you just sit tight and try to hope for the best. 8D

God Bless,
-Nicci