Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer in Chapter One.

A.N- I went back and changed the last chapter because I had a revelation about who Ward was working with (it'll be revealed next chapter). It also means that this story is likely going to be longer than I expected. Maybe 15-20 more chapters in total. But good news is that school's done, the house is getting settled and in a few weeks my baby will be in school (sob) and I'll be able to write more regularly.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Need to Know Basis

"Mr. Stark, the car carrying Ms. Potts and the others was in an accident," JARVIS announced, sounding quite alarmed. "I have her on the line and he sounds quite distressed."
Everyone in the room went into high alert. They had been discussing battle tactics and some of the data Skye and Natasha had achieved, but now Steve knew they were all on edge.

Clint and Natasha was off questioning a source, trying to get more information, and the rest of the woman had been on their way to meet the women of S.H.I.E.L.D for a girls' night.

"Pepper? Are you there?" Tony asked frantically.

"I'm ok." She assured him, but she sounded tearful. "Tony, Skye's gone."

For a second Steve felt time stop. He just stood there frozen. He could feel Bucky's good hand gripping his shoulder, but mostly he was just replaying the words in his head. Skye was gone.

"What happened?" Sam demanded.

Steve still couldn't speak.

"A car cut us off and then another car slammed into us." Pepper told him. "Skye was on alert immediately, but then the door opened and I think she went to use her powers, but the guy, he jammed her with something and knocked her out and he pulled her out of the car. Darcy pulled her out taser, but it was too late. It happened fast. This had to have been planned."

"It was Ward." Steve said quietly, his fear quickly being replaced with rage. "Ward's the one who took her."

"It seems likely from what Skye told us," Bruce agreed.

"Pepper get back here immediately." Tony ordered.

"We're on our way." Pepper told him. "Darcy hailed us a cab."

"She and Jane are safe?" Thor enquired.

"Yes, we're all safe." Pepper replied. "They only wanted Skye."

More evidence that it was Ward who was behind the attack.

"We should call S.H.I.E.L.D." Bruce said after a moment. "We know they're in town and Ward used to be a member of Coulson's team, they may have a better idea of what he's capable of."

"I agree." Steve said immediately, on board that would help them find Skye sooner.

"What about," Tony asked, gesturing towards Bucky.

"I can handle S.H.I.E.L.D." Bucky said meeting Steve's gaze without flinching. "We need to find Skye as fast as possible and working with S.H.I.E.L.D will let us do that."

Steve knew he was right and if S.H.I.E.L.D decided to put up a fight about the Winter Soldier's sudden appearance, they'd deal with that. Besides, Steve doubted that Coulson would do anything about it until after Skye was safe and that was all that mattered.

"What's going on?" Coulson asked as soon as he was inside Stark Tower. Stark and Rogers were waiting for him and the rest of the team by the elevator. He'd gotten a call saying they were needed at the Tower and it was urgent and they'd all raced over.

The fact that Steve had been the one to call him and not Skye had him worried, since she was their normal contact.

"It's good to see you again too, Agent," Stark responded.

May made an annoyed noise. "You called us here, it's obviously urgent, what's going on?"

"Skye's been kidnapped." Rogers told them.

Coulson felt his stomach drop. "How long ago?"

"Half an hour." Stark told him. "We'll fill you in on the details upstairs."

"It was Ward." May said with certainty.

"That's our first thought as well," Rogers agreed, "But obviously we don't know anything for certain."

He seemed eerily calm, like he was fighting very hard to keep control of his emotions or he would lose it.

They all stepped into the elevator.

"Our priority is to find Skye as quickly as possible," Stark told them, "and that means working together. Full co-operation from the Avengers."

"Finding Skye is our priority too," Coulson assured him, stepping off the elevator.

He reviewed the faces, nothing that Barton and Romanoff were missing and then he noticed another face. One who looked familiar…

Star and Rogers followed his gaze.

"Let me introduce you James Barnes," Rogers told him, "Otherwise known as the Winter Solider, but now an ally." There was steel in his voice, as if he was waiting for Coulson to challenge him.

Coulson had read Fury's report of the Winter Solider and he knew that he had been a valuable HYDRA asset, but something had happened and he'd gone off the radar. Now he knew why. He also had a sneaking suspicion that information was what had been removed from the HYDRA files they'd hacked.

"This was what you were hiding." May accused.

"It was a need to know situation." Rogers said blandly. "Now you officially need to know."

Coulson had a lot of questions, mostly whether the other man could be trusted, but he knew this wasn't the time to ask them. He looked at his team and saw they all appeared to be processing the revelation. Except Simmons, her eyes were glued to Barnes and there was no surprise there and Coulson realized that she had already known.

"Grant Ward is dangerous," he said after a moment, "He was a top S.H.I.E.L.D agent before he was revealed to be HYDRA and he is a highly trained, very dangerous weapon, one who appears to have a very tenuous grasp on reality. He became fixated on Skye, this is the third time he's kidnapped her—the last time she shot him."

"This guy obviously has issues with the word no." Sam Wilson commented. "If my ex-lover shot me, I think I'd take the hint that she didn't want me back."

"They never had that type of relationship." May snapped. "He's just a delusional psycho."

Coulson knew that her pride was still a little raw from the way Ward had used her and how he had played them all for fools. Truthfully, he wasn't sure how to describe Ward and Skye's relationship, there had obviously been something there, though it had, thankfully, never been given the chance to develop.

The Avengers all exchanged glances and Coulson realized that they knew something he didn't. Simmons also looked away.

"Jemma?" He pressed.

"Ward and Skye were lovers," She admitted, "before she found out he was HYDRA." She bit her lip. "She was in love with him, sir."

Coulson processed the information. He thought back to all the times he'd made Skye go to Ward for information, praying on Ward's apparent feelings for her, but never thinking about her feelings.

"Why didn't she say anything?" May demanded.

"She didn't want you to question her loyalty," Simmons said softly, "And I think she was ashamed that she'd fallen for Ward, but also angry at herself because she couldn't just shut her feelings off. A part of her still cared about him, even after everything. It's why she couldn't kill him in San Juan."

Coulson could understand that, even if he regretted that Skye had felt the need for secrecy. He wondered if she'd ever felt entirely comfortable with his team, but decided that it was a worry for another time. Right now they had to focus on finding her and bringing her home safely.