Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer and Notes in Chapter One.

Chapter Eleven: Code Name Quake

"Jackpot!" Skye yelled out, even though she was alone in her lab. "JARVIS I need you running back-up on this and can you alert Tony and Steve?"

"Of course Miss Skye." The AI said politely.

Skye quickly kept typing, knowing her access to the HYDRA system would likely be brief. As she was typing away, Tony came running into the lab, Steve right behind him.

"Are you ok?" Steve demanded.

"I'm fine." Skye told him, not looking up. "I think I've found Bucky, or at least I have a lead on him. HYDRA's looking for him too. Apparently his programming is breaking down."

"Probably your work." Tony told Steve, he turned his attention back to Skye. "How long?"

"I need another two minutes, hopefully they don't catch on to my presence." Skye said. "JARVIS is backing everything up, if you can encode it as I work that would help."

Tony got to work, grabbing one of the other computers. He had set up a fully functional computer lab for her.

Steve just stood behind her, patiently, watching as she worked.

"I'm done!" Skye cried a moment later, jumping out of her chair. "I think I have an idea on his location or at least as good as an idea as HYDRA does."

"You're amazing!" Steve told her sincerely.

"We haven't found Bucky yet." Skye reminded him.

"We will, thanks to you." Steve told her. He reached out and put a gentle hand on her face. Skye didn't dare move, not sure how to react, so she just stood there, looking at him.

They stood there, just looking at each other, for a long moment until Tony cleared his throat loudly.

"While I hate to break up this romantic scene, I think we need to pin down a location and send a team in ASAP." He pointed out, grinning at them both.

Steve dropped his hand and stepped back. "Of course."

Skye blushed. She'd totally forgotten that Tony was there. All she'd been aware of was Steve.

"I'll get to work on the co-ordinates." Skye said, turning back to her computer. "HYDRA's actively looking for him and there have been a few random explosions of HYDRA bases that can probably be attributed to the Winter Soldier. If I look at the attack pattern and the HYDRA information, I can probably assess where his next strike will be."

Her plan was to put the information she had gotten from the HYDRA's databases into a program and let it come up with the most probably locations for the next attack. Skye looked over at Steve, who was looking at her with a mix of hope and gratitude, and she was even more determined to do this.

"I've narrowed it down to two possible targets." Skye told the team an hour later. "Unfortunately, they have the same likelihood, so we'll need to hit both of them."

"Looking at the information from the previous attacks, it looks like we have 24 to 48 hours before the Winter Soldier strikes again." Tony continued. "So we'll want to get moving and we'll need to split into two teams."

"I want to be there when Bucky is found." Steve said stubbornly.

"You will be." Tony assured him. "Once one team has Barnes in their sight, the other team will be brought in as soon as possible. The targets are only an hour apart. You'll be there when we get him."

Steve looked reassured and there was more talk about battle plans.
Pepper, Jane and Darcy would stay behind at the Tower and co-ordinate communications.

"I never get to see any action." Darcy complained, quieting when Jane pinched her.

"Sometimes action is highly over-rated," Natasha said dryly. She turned to Skye. "I think we need that code name."

"Excuse me?" Skye asked, she'd assumed she'd be staying behind with the other women. Except Natasha, of course.

"We need you in the field." Clint told her. "Besides your computer skills, your one of the heaviest hitters we have. If things go badly, you can bring down an entire building."

"And we've also been working on your combat skills," Natasha reminded her, "it's game time, Skye. We need you."

Skye just nodded. She was still a little wary of joining the Avengers, but she couldn't refuse. Not when Steve was looking at her pleadingly. "Ok." She agreed. "But I have no idea about a code name."

"Tremor?" Tony suggested.

"Skye is not a bad horror movie." Pepper told him.

"Shockwave?" Was Clint's suggestion.

"That's even worse." Jane said, shaking her head.

"Quake?" Bruce suggested. "Because she makes Earthquakes?"

"I like it." Skye said, giving him a small smile. She'd never thought of herself as needing a secret identity, but Quake worked. And hopefully, it would keep her father and Ward in the dark about her whereabouts.

"Come up to the lab when we're done and I'll get you all suited up." Bruce told her. "I've been working on improving all of our costumes with some help from Jane and Tony and well, I've been expecting you to join us in the field, so I've been prepared."

"Ok." Skye agreed, though she couldn't believe this was happening. She was going to go out in the field with the Avengers.

"We need to decide on teams," Natasha said, bringing things back to the matter at hand, "Skye and Tony should obviously be on different teams because they're the ones that know the computer system. Thor and Tony should also be on different teams in case we need flight."

"No point in having Hulk and Skye on the same team." Clint added. "They're the two heaviest hitters."

Skye didn't know if it was a compliment to be compared to Hulk or not, but there was something a little thrilling about knowing that she had powers that were that awe-inspiring.

"Definitely." Tony agreed. "So, so far we have Skye and Thor on one team and Bruce and I on another. That leaves you, Nat, Steve and Sam."

"I'd like to go with Skye." Steve spoke up.

"So would I." Natasha said, giving Clint a look. "Since I'm training her and this is her first combat mission with us."

He just nodded. "I guess than means Sam and I are with Bruce and Tony. But next time wouldn't it make sense to split the hot girls up so each team is equal?"

Skye was surprised that Natasha and Clint were volunteering to split up, everyone knew how well they worked together in the field. It would make more sense for Clint and Natasha to stay together and for Steve to go with Tony's team, though she had to admit having Captain America by her side made her little less nervous about her first mission.

And he had requested to go with her. She wasn't sure what to make of that, except that she wasn't doing so well at staying emotionally detached. But maybe Natasha was right and she didn't have to. Steve Rogers wasn't Grant Ward. He would never betray her trust, never break her heart.

She kept thinking she didn't deserve this chance, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe everything did happen for a reason. The last few months had been hard. Between Ward's betrayal, learning the truth about her parents, her new powers and losing the trust of her old team, Skye had taken a lot of blows. But look where she had ended up. She was about to go into battle alongside the Avengers and she had Steve Rogers looking at her tenderly. Things were actually turning out pretty well for her.

The problem was that whenever things seemed to be going well, disaster was usually right around the corner.