Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer in Chapter One.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Set-Up

Skye had been worried that her relationship with Steve would change after she told him about Ward and it had, but not in the way she'd feared. If anything, he was tenderer and more considerate. Almost a little too much, it was obvious that he was worried about pushing her, so while they spent a lot of time together, and with Bucky, their relationship hadn't really progressed.

It had been weeks since their conversation and the other Avengers had been alerted to the situation with Ward. None of them seemed to hold it against her, "we all have crazy exes," Tony had quipped, "especially me."

Knowing that the others knew about her stalker ex and her psycho father and still wanted her around, helped Skye relax a bit. She went out on a few more missions with the Avengers, though she was careful to not get caught on camera. The press had picked up on the code name "Quake" but didn't seem to have any clue as to her real identity.

Skye still missed her old team, but she had called them a few more times and she and Jemma regularly e-mailed. It wasn't the same, but Skye knew change was part of life and as wonderful as her time with S.H.I.E.L.D had been, this was the next chapter and it was pretty awesome.

"A penny for your thoughts, doll?" A warm masculine voice asked her.

Skye jumped, startled. "A penny isn't worth much anymore," She teased, "my thoughts are much more valuable."

"One more way I'm out of touch with the world," Bucky joked, "In the 40s a penny could buy me a whole newspaper worth of thoughts."

"Which I'm sure are more interesting than mine," Skye agreed, "I was just thinking about how my life has changed. I never pictured myself living here."

"Me either." Bucky said dryly. It had been three weeks since they'd rescued him and he was starting to fit in, but he tended to stick close to Steve or, surprisingly, Skye. "I'm not sure I could have dreamed this place up, but it is definitely luxurious. Even if the AI takes some getting used to."

Skye could only imagine. She found JARVIS fascinating and Tony had actually explained a bit of the process to her, though a lot of it was tech babble, but JARVIS was helpful with some of her hacks.

"I was sent here on a mission," Bucky told her, "Natasha wants you in the gym."

"Again?" Skye asked in surprise. They'd had a pretty rigorous morning training session and she'd been hoping for some down time.

"You can argue with her." Bucky told her with a grin.

Skye made a face, but followed him to the elevator and they headed to the gym. Skye was surprised to find Steve waiting with Natasha.

"Is this a group session?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It is." Natasha told her. "We've done a lot of one-on-one and I'm happy with your progress, but sometimes in combat, it's important to be able to work as a team and I thought we could practice that."

"Ok." Skye agreed with a shrug.

"So it'll be you and Bucky against Steve and I." Natasha told her.

Skye noticed that Steve looked surprised. "I thought Skye and I…"

"It's good to mix it up," Natasha told him, "we all know that you always have her back. She needs to feel comfortable with other partners."

Steve nodded and they started sparring. Skye noticed that Bucky zeroed in on Natasha, leaving Steve for her. Steve was enough bigger than her, that it presented a challenge, even though she knew he wasn't using his full strength.

She was quick, but he had super-human reflexes, so it was hard for her to catch him off-guard. This went on for quite a while and Skye was starting to get tired and frustrated. In more way than one, since being so close to Steve had quite the affect on her body.

Finally, Bucky distracted Steve and Skye took advantage of the moment and used a move May had taught her and managed to pin him to the mat.

"Very good." He told her appreciatively.

"I try." She told him, still on top of him. A moment later, the intimacy of their position hit her. This wasn't the first time they sparred, but she felt so much more aware of him. She could see from the look in his eyes that he was very aware of her too.

"I… You should probably get up." Steve told her, looking away.

Maybe that would be the smart thing to do, but Skye didn't want to do the smart thing. She'd known Steve for almost two months and he'd been so sweet and patient, never pushing and… She was ready.

"I think we should both get out of here." She told him in a low voice, though she was sure that both Bucky and Natasha could hear.

Steve blinked. "Are you sure?" He watched her very carefully, waiting for her answer.

"Very." She told him and got up off of him. A second later, Steve got to his feet and then to, Skye's surprise, he lifted her off the ground and swept her into his arms, carrying her towards the elevator. She wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the moment.

From the corner of her eye she could see Natasha and Bucky grinning and she had a feeling that this outcome had been planned, but she couldn't bring herself to care. All she could think about Steve and how good it felt to be in his arms.

As soon as they were in the elevator and the door had shut behind them, Steve's mouth descended on hers and she met his kiss happily, hungrily. Too soon, the elevator doors opened and the kiss broke long enough for Steve to carry her down the hall and to the door of her apartment, which automatically opened for them.

"We don't have to do this." Steve told her once they were in her apartment, still holding her in his arms. "We don't have to do anything you're not ready for."
"I'm ready." Skye assured him and she pulled his head down to hers for another kiss.

A.N- The next chapter will be smut, if I can get it to my liking. It's written, but I'm not really happy with it yet. It won't be super explicit, but it will be definite smut (and a little bit of plot).