A/N: I'm glad to hear that you guys are still enjoying the story! Here's the next chapter =).

The sun was sitting on the horizon as Leo and Skye strode into the park, Skye's hand securely clasped in Leo's.

"Where are you meeting him?" Skye asked quietly as they strolled around, pretending to admire the colourful flowerbeds.

"I'm not entirely sure," Leo replied honestly. "He just told me to come here and he'd take care of the rest."

"Isn't it a little public? Especially for a secret meet?"

Chuckling, Leo squeezed her hand reassuringly. "He's a smart kid; he'll figure out how to talk without attracting attention." Leo knew that he should be keeping an eye out for Sam, but he was finding it hard to focus on the mission with Skye next to him, the light of the setting sun bathing her face in warmth and making strands of her hair glow golden. She took his breath away with every smile, which was a problem because she smiled at him often.

"I think that's him," Skye's voice broke him out of his thoughts and he realized that he had been staring at her. Thankfully, she seemed to be too preoccupied with the mission to have noticed his attention.

A figure in a black hoodie and jeans caught Leo's attention. His hood was up, obscuring his features, but he was staring directly at Leo from a yard away. Then, the figure inclined his head to the left meaningfully and started in the direction he had indicated.

"That's our cue," Leo tugged Skye's hand and the two set off after Sam, hoping to find the vital information they needed.

...

"Why'd you bring her along?" was the first question Sam asked once they had reached their destination - a dried up creek bed underneath a decrepit bridge. He gestured at Skye for emphasis.

Leo forced himself not to glare at the boy, reminding himself that they needed his help. Still, he didn't like him being rude to Skye. "She's my wife," he finally replied. "We can trust her."

Sam didn't look convinced and the wary look certainly didn't leave his eyes. "I don't trust anyone," he whispered hoarsely. "If he finds out that I'm here, even…" They didn't need to ask who 'he' was - Ryder was clearly the one in control of the poor students and the school.

Skye stepped forward, a look of compassion on her face. "Sam, don't worry about that. If you help us, we…" she hesitated and glanced at Leo. He nodded, understanding that she was asking permission to break their covers. "We can arrange protection for you. We know people, people that can keep you safe."

Sounding doubtful, Sam asked, "Why should I believe you?"

Leo reached into his pocket, pulled out his SHIELD badge, and held it up for Sam's inspection. "That's why."

Instead of looking relieved, Sam looked even more apprehensive. "You're some kind of government agent? You're not going to arrest me, right?"
"Of course not," Skye interjected soothingly. "We just want to protect you in exchange for information about Ryder and the school."

There was a moment of silence as the young man thought, then reached a decision. "Okay," he agreed. "But I want that protection."

"Start from the beginning," Leo ordered, nodding his head in agreement. "What's going on at the school?"

"In the lower classes, nothing," Sam rubbed his hands together nervously. "But once you get to the higher ones, all you learn about are weapons - guns and bombs and stuff like that. And instead of having homework or exams, all we do is come up with new tech for those weapons and try to build working prototypes."

Leo exchanged a knowing look with Skye. Their suspicions had been confirmed; all that was left was to find the weapons as proof to take down Ryder's operation.

"Where do they hide the completed projects?" Leo asked, hardly daring to breath in his excitement to find the last piece of the puzzle. "They have to be in the school."

"I don't know," Sam admitted. "You'd have to search for them. Can I get that protection now?"

Hanging his head in disappointment, Leo nodded to Skye, who took out her phone and started arranging the details of Sam's protection with Coulson.

A couple minutes passed before Skye hung up and addressed Sam. "You have a bodyguard on the way, but we can't extract you. We don't want to alert Ryder that we're on to him."

Sam stared at them in disbelief mingling with horror. "He'll kill me."

"Your bodyguard-"

"-won't help me when I'm in classes." Before they could say another word, Sam whirled angrily and ran away into the night.

Leo let out a breath. "That didn't go nearly as smoothly as I had hoped."

"Yeah, not really," Skye agreed. "But there is some good news: Coulson did mention that Ward is well on his way to taking down Ryder's buyers."

"Finally, something going according to plan," he muttered, still frustrated that Sam had done little more than confirm what they already knew.
"Calm down, Leo," Skye moved to stand in front of him and put her hand on his arm, her skin soft on his. "It's not a huge setback; we'll just have to find a way to break into the school and find our evid-"

Leo didn't stop to think. She was standing in front of him, it was getting dark, and the feeling of her touch tipped the balance. Leaning in, he pressed his lips to hers in a gentle caress, hoping that she would reciprocate. For a brief moment, there was no response on her part and Leo was just about to pull back and try to awkwardly explain his actions, when she stepped closer and to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Finally," she breathed, her voice low and sexy.

Leo just captured her mouth with his again, this time being much less tentative. He could have sworn that there were sparks flying between them and the sensation of her lips sent tingles through his body.

Finally, she pulled away with a sigh. "It's late. We should...uh...go home."

"Right. Yeah." Leo wrapped an arm around her waist, not ready to let her go completely.

Neither of them spoke on the ride home, both realizing that the sexual tension between them was a bit of an unexpected problem. Technically, it was against SHIELD rules, even.

Leo didn't mind one bit.

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