Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer in Chapter One.

A.N- I removed the smut chapter from , though it's still up on Ao3. Why? Because the reason I included the smut was because I thought the story was going to go down a much darker path than it did. I also planned on going somewhere with Skye's powers that never came to fruition, so the smut wasn't a necessary as I thought and I'm not very good at it. I left it up on Ao3 because they have more relaxed ratings than , so it's still there if anyone really wants to find it.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Be Prepared

The next morning, Skye made her way to the gym, groaning a little at the thought of her daily training session. The only problem with having a lot of very enthusiastic sex with a super soldier was how sore she felt the morning after.

Natasha was already there, of course, and she grinned as soon as she saw Skye. "I guess I'm going to have to go easy on you," she teased, "because it seems Steve already gave you quite the workout."

Skye blushed. "Wasn't that the purpose of that little 'training exercise' yesterday?"

"Yes." Natasha admitted unrepentantly. "You and Steve obviously needed a little push and Bucky and I were happy to give it."

"Was it that obvious that we weren't lovers yet?" Skye asked curiously.

"You live with a bunch of spies and geniuses." Natasha reminded her. "Most of us are a little bit more observant than the average person. You and Steve didn't act like lovers, the attraction and connection were obvious but so was the tension."

"Do you think everyone will know now?" Skye asked, not relishing the idea of being the centre of gossip.

"Given that you and Steve didn't appear at dinner last night and the way you're walking today, I'm going to assume yes." Natasha told her. "Plus you have that 'great sex' glow about you."

Skye hadn't thought about the implications of skipping dinner. It hadn't been a deliberate thing, they'd just been so wrapped up in each other. They'd spent the afternoon and evening lost in each other. They'd made love and talked and soaked in the giant bathtub, savoring every moment together. They had finally parted that morning when Steve left for his morning run and Skye went to train with Natasha.

"Tony's going to comment isn't he?" Skye asked, making a face. "Or Darcy."

"Or Clint or Sam." Natasha added. "None of them are very good at keeping their mouth shut."

"No," Skye agreed with a smile. She stretched and winced. "I guess we should get started."

"We're not doing any physical training today." Natasha told her. "I figured you could use the day off and we could work on some other skills."

"Are we going to train with my powers?" Skye asked doubtfully, since they were in the normal gym, not the Hulk room. Plus, Bruce was usually the one who trained her in using her powers.

"No," Natasha told her, "you need to learn more than combat skills and today we're going to start working on some of them."

"Agent May taught me a few things," Skye told her.

"I'm sure she did," Natasha agreed, "but she and I have different methods." Natasha paused, obviously considering her words. "When you were kidnapped by Ward, how did you react?"

"I shot him the first chance I had." Skye told her.

"Which is exactly what you should have done," Natasha agreed, "However, I want to look at the bigger picture. I bet you either reacted with defiance or you locked down your emotion."

"A bit of both." Skye admitted.

"Defiance can backfire," Natasha warned her, "especially when you're dealing with someone as unhinged as Ward appears to be. Shutting your emotions off is a good back-up, but sometimes you need to play along. I've been in many situations where I've played along and shown the emotion they wanted and expected of me until I could get the information I needed."

"I'm not that good of an actress." Skye pointed out.

"I'll make you that good." Natasha promised her. "Skye, we're all going to do our absolute best to make sure Ward never gets anywhere near you, but if he does, you need to be prepared. Defiance isn't necessarily the best way to react to a psycho-obsessed stalker if he manages to get you in his custody."

"It worked before." Skye rebutted, but she knew what Natasha was saying. Though the idea of ever playing along with Ward made her feel sick. She felt so much shame and regret for loving him and she didn't know how she could ever disguise that.

"You got lucky." Natasha reminded her. "Besides, last time, you ended up shooting him, so I think you can assume he'll change his tactics. I hope you never have to use any of this, but it's better to know it and not use it than to not have it and put yourself in unnecessary danger."

Skye knew that Natasha was right. She sighed. "Ok, where do we start?"

Ward studied the grainy footage of "Quake". It had been almost a month since she'd first appeared alongside the Avengers, but no one had been able to get a good shot of her. Normally, Ward wouldn't care that there was a new Avenger, but Quake was small and dark, just like Skye.

Plus there had been a mysterious earthquake in San Juan, similar to what Quake appeared to be able to do.

Still, how would Skye have ended up with the Avengers? As far as Ward knew, Coulson had still been hiding the fact that he was alive from the Avengers, so it seemed like a stretch that a member of his team would join them. But at the same time, all the evidence fit.

Quake had come out of nowhere about a month ago, two months after the events of San Juan and Skye hadn't been seen at all since then. Cal had been tracking Coulson's team and everyone else was accounted for, except Skye. He'd assumed that they were keeping her prisoner, but what if more than that? What if the reason she hadn't been spotted was because she was no longer with S.H.I.E.L.D?

If Skye was Quake, it was a definite complication. She was supposed to be scared and alone, alienated from S.H.I.E.L.D and desperate for people who would understand her, who would nurture her newfound abilities, instead of run for them. But if she was the Avengers, then she'd already found that.

Ward knew that Cal wasn't going to like this new development and he didn't particular like it himself. She was supposed to turn to him. He was going to help her control her powers and help her fulfil her destiny and then she'd finally accept that everything he'd done was because he loved her.

"I love you."

He could still hear the word in his mind, the way she'd hesitated over them, as if she wasn't used to saying them. But she had said them and Ward knew she'd felt it and feelings didn't just go away overnight. Skye still loved him, he knew that, he just had to get her to admit it.

Ward pushed the laptop aside. He was obviously going to have to go to New York and scope out the Avengers Tower for himself. It was risky, because he was a fugitive from the law and because he'd be going straight into enemy territory.

Still, he was confident he could hide in plain sight. For now, he'd leave Cal out of the plan. The other man wasn't exactly subtle. He'd wanted to burst in and take Skye and Ward didn't like their odds in a direct fight with the Avengers.

He had to give Coulson credit, he'd found the best place to hide Skye and keep her safe. Getting her out of the Avengers Tower would be a challenge, so it was a good thing that Ward never turned down a challenge.