Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer in Part One.

A.N- Action scenes are not my forte, but I try. Sorry it's short and a little anti-climactic. We'll get to the thriller side of things later and I think I'll do better with those scenes.

Chapter Twelve: Into the Fire

"It's him!" Skye screamed, catching sight of Barnes.

They had been in location for several hours, with no sight of anyone. There was nothing even to mark the place as a HYDRA base. Though, Natasha and Steve had both been able to pick up on things that seemed out of place and affirmed they had the right target.

Skye had been busy trying to disable the security of the place and she had managed to hack the system, which should give them an advantage.

"Pepper, we see him!" Steve said into the comm.

"I'll let Tony know." She assured them.

"How do we want to do this?" Natasha asked. "Do we strike before or after he does?"

"Before." Steve announced. "He moves quickly."

They quickly conferred and then got in place. Thor flew them down to street level.

"Lady Quake?" He prompted.

Skye nodded and concentrated on the building, causing a quake that wasn't big enough to bring it down yet, but that would definitely be felt by the people inside.

"Bucky!" Steve yelled out, as he saw the Winter Solider.

The man once known as James 'Bucky' Barnes froze. "It's you." He said quietly. "I know you."

"I'm Steve." Steve told him. "I came for you. I want to help you."

"I need to bring them down." Bucky declared, just as all Hell broke loose and HYDRA agents stormed them.

"The asset is in our sights!" One of them yelled out.

"We've got trouble!" Natasha yelled out. "Want to help us out here, solider?" She said to Bucky.

He looked at her confused. "I know you too." He said, but he nodded and followed her lead.

"Is there anything of value in this building?" Skye called out.

"No, they use this as a base to torture prisoners." Barnes informed her, even as he skillfully battled off two HYDRA agents.

"Ok then." Skye concentrated and started bringing the building down. It was hard and took all concentration, which left her open for attack.

"Quake!" She heard the yell, but she couldn't' react in time. She wasn't even aware of what was happening, all she saw was the flash of red, white and blue behind her.
A few minutes later, she had brought the entire building down and the others had managed to disable the remaining HYDRA agents.

"That's some trick." Barnes told her. The other buildings were all untouched by the quake.

"First time I've tried it." Skye admitted.

"Let's get out of here before the crowd gets any bigger." Natasha commented, referring to the fact that they now had an audience.

"Did they get my face?" Skye asked worriedly. She wasn't crazy about the idea of being out to the public, just yet. She didn't want Cal or Ward to know where she was because she knew that once they did, they would be coming for her.

"No." Natasha assured her. "If anyone got any footage, it'll be very blurry."

"Come with us." Steve told Bucky. "We can help you."

He looked scared and confused, but finally he nodded. "Ok."

They quickly left the scene and headed back to the jet.

"Pepper, we're headed back to New York." Natasha said as soon as they were back in the plane. "And we have company."

"Tony will be disappointed to have missed all the action." Pepper commented. "I'll have JARVIS prepare for our guest."

Steve and Bucky were talking quietly. It seemed like Bucky was still confused and disoriented, but like he instinctively trusted Steve. Apparently some bonds could never be severed.

Skye was sure that there would be some adjustment period ahead for Bucky. After all, he had been through a lot, but with Steve by his side, she was sure he'd make it ok. There was a lot to be said, by having the right support system.

Skye realized that while her old team hadn't been able to be that for her, Coulson had done the next best thing by sending her to the Avengers. She had used her powers today and no one had gotten hurt, well no one but the bad guys, and it would probably have been more drawn out without her.

Maybe this was where she belonged.

"Agent Coulson, sir, you'll want to see this." Jemma told him, turning up the television.

"Some footage today from an Avengers battle in Florida shows that there may be a new member of the team," the newscaster commented. "Witnesses report that there was a mysterious dark haired woman with the team and that at one point Captain America referred to her as 'Quake'."

There was grainy footage, where all you could make out was the small figure with dark hair. Thankfully, Coulson didn't think Skye could be easily identified by this footage. Or at least for her sake he hoped not, because he knew she wouldn't want her father or Ward to come after her.

Still, since he, and the rest of the team, knew what Skye's ability was and that she was currently in residence with the Avengers, it was easy for him to pick up on the fact that she was Quake.

"She seems to be fitting in." May said behind him.

In the month since Skye had gone to join the Avengers, Coulson had spent countless hours wondering if he had done the right thing. She'd been one of his team and he'd sent her away, just turned his back on her.

"She does." Coulson agreed, examining the footage. Apparently Quake had brought down a building with no collateral damage.

"She's incredible." Jemma commented. "I guess, she is fitting in with the Avengers."

He could hear the sadness in her voice and knew that Jemma also missed Skye. But it was a little easier to accept, knowing that she was doing so well.

"Quake, it seems fitting," Hunter said from beside him, "looks pretty impressive actually. Maybe we should kept her around."

"We didn't have the resources or training to help Skye." May pointed out. "She's much better off with the Avengers. With them, she can reach her full potential."

Coulson could hear the regret in her voice. He knew that she too cared for Skye, but she was more practical than he was and she had been the one to point out that Skye was an unknown variable and that she needed more help than they could give her.

"I wish we could contact her." Jemma said quietly. "But at least now we know she's okay."

"Yes, at least we know." Coulson said quietly. He knew the Avengers were justifiably angry with him and he understood their decision to cut all ties with S.H.I.E.L.D, but he did wish he could know how Skye was doing. He guessed he would just have to hope for more news accounts of the mysterious Quake to let him know that she was alive and well.