Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer in Chapter One.

A.N- I edited this chapter, because I realized it didn't quite work for me and then I had a brainstorm about where I wanted to take this, so I tweaked the Ward part a bit.

Chapter Thirty-Five: A Girls' Night to Remember

"Girls night tonight." Natasha told Skye a few nights after the engagement party. "We're celebrating your engagement."

"We already did that," Skye reminded her, "there was a party, remember?"

"There are always parties," Natasha said with a laugh, "besides that was everyone. This is just the girls," she grinned, "and there may be a few extra guests because apparently S.H.I.E.L.D has a mission in New York."

"Jemma's in town?" Skye asked excitedly.

"Yeah, she called to talk to you, but JARVIS told her you were, um, occupied," Natasha said with a knowing grin, "So I got the call instead. She and May and Bobbi will meet us at the bar tonight."

"Sounds like fun." Skye admitted. The girls nights always made her a little nervous because she felt so much more vulnerable whenever she left the Tower, but Natasha was always there and that made her feel more secure.

"But first, training," Natasha told her with a smile, "I'll go easy on you though, because you have powers training this afternoon."

"You're just hoping I knock Tony on his ass again," Skye said with a laugh as she followed her friend towards the gym.

"I do love it when you do that." Natasha agreed. "But I think you're actually up against Bucky today. Tony and Bruce both want to test out how his arm is doing and he's a pretty good opponent for your power."

Skye had managed control over her powers and was still working on fine-tuning them and to help her do that, she trained with various members of the team, testing her skill set against theirs. The only person she'd never gone up against was the Hulk, for obvious reasons, though there was a theory that she might be able to neutralize him if she concentrated her powers.

After all, she targeted sound waves and that included brain waves, so Bruce theorized that she could render a person unconscious if she concentrated, but there was also the worry that she could also kill them if she applied enough force, so they had yet to test that theory out. Even in battle, Skye focused her powers on the environment, not on people, unless it was to knock someone off balance.

She just didn't want to take the risk of killing someone and she knew that she'd never test that aspect of her powers unless she was in a life and death situation and there was no other option.

0

Ward watched the Avengers Tower, more out of habit than anything else. He was starting to realize that the odds of getting Skye leaving Tower on her own were slim, which meant he needed another plan.

With that knowledge in mine, he had found an ally. He'd realized that working with Skye's father was a bad idea, because not only was Cal unpredictable, doing so might just further alienate Skye. But at the same time, he couldn't take on the Avengers alone, which had left him an issue.

He had burnt most of his HYDRA bridges when he'd taken down Bashiki. Besides, Skye would never forgive him for working with HYDRA again, he had to prove to her that that part of his life was behind him, which had left him with only few options.

Still, he had a few other avenues to explore and one of those had hit pay-dirt. He had made contact with a source who was willing to help him, for a price. Ward wasn't thrilled with the terms, but he had plenty time of to figure out a way to back out of the deal, since it was a long-term proposal. Besides, accepting the offer meant he had access to money and man-power, which he admitted he'd need to go against the Avengers.

Now that he had resources, he just had to come up with a strategy and he had done just that, putting several plans in place. The issue was figuring out which one to implement.

Ideally, he would grab Skye on her own as she left the Tower, but that never happened. She left rarely and never on her own. There was her outing with Steve Rogers, the memory of which still made Ward rage, but there also appeared to be regular girls nights, though he had never gotten close enough in the past to confirm her presence, but it seemed likely.

However, Natasha Romanoff was always present during the girls' trips and that was a serious obstacle. Ward had worked with Romanoff briefly and despite his eye-candy crack, he knew exactly how deadly she could be in the field. There was a reason she had been considered the best. He might be able to overtake her, but it would be a drawn-out battle and would require a little luck, and even if he did over-power Romanoff, it would take long enough that the other women would be able to call in reinforcements. So taking Skye at girls' night wasn't an option.

Or was it?

"It's too bad Tash got called away," he heard the pretty brunette, he thought her name was Darcy, say into the bug he had placed in one of the potted trees by the Towers' entrance.

"I know." Skye said, making a face, "But apparently there's an urgent need for information, the type that only Tash can retrieve. I offered to cancel, but…"

"She told you to go for it," Pepper interrupted, "And well she should, this night is about you Skye. We're celebrating you."

Ward's jaw tightened at the words, he could guess what they were celebrating, but he forced himself to stay calm. This might be the opening he'd been looking for.

"Besides, you rarely get to see your friends," Jane pointed out, "they'd be disappointed if we cancelled."

The women passed out of earshot of his bug, but Ward had heard enough. Natasha Romanoff was not with them. However, it sounded like they were meeting up with the S.H.I.E.L.D team and Ward didn't want to tangle with May again, which meant he had a small window of opportunity to work with.

However, he was prepared. Even though it had seemed unlikely that he would be able to catch Skye by herself, he had prepared a plan for that eventuality and he was ready to implement it.

The other women weren't threats. None of them were combat trained. No, without Natasha Romanoff or another member of the Avengers he should be able to get Skye out of the car and away without an issue, but he had to work fast.

Ward smiled as he went into action mode. This was just the type of scenario he had been waiting for. Soon the waiting would be over and he and Skye would be together again and everything would be the way it was supposed to be.