Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer in Chapter One.

A.N- I'm going to address the anonymous reviewer who keeps complaining about how long this is taking me to update. I know it's been taking a while and that early chapters were updated much faster, but that's because I wrote several chapters before I posted it and it was easier to stay ahead. Also, the summer is crazy for me. I have two small children and I spent the summer vacation busy being a mom. That means I spent all day running after my kids, but also taking them places. I was away a lot this summer, but I was also very tired on the evenings even when I was home and I didn't have the energy to write. I write for pleasure, I don't get paid for it and I do have other responsibilities. I love writing, I love hearing from the people who read my work and it makes me happy to know that you love the story I've created, but as much as I love it is not my main priority, raising my family is. My oldest son starts school next week and hopefully my life will then fall into a routine and I will be updating more often. There's about 15 chapters left in this story and I hope to have it finished by the end of October (when I'll be going away on vacation). I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to review this story and I feel like I've made some genuine connections and rest assured, I have every intention of finishing, it's just that real life has to be the priority.

A.N 2- This chapters moves us out of the Marvel movie universe into the broader Marvel world. For the purpose of the story, the Avengers are in contact with the other superhero groups (X-Men, the Fantastic Four, etc.) though they all do their own individual thing for the most part. But they all know each other and will share information if need be.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: No Escape

Jemma was starting to get a headache.

They had been at the Avengers Tower for four hours now and they had yet to come up with a plan to rescue Skye. Instead the two very distinct groups had spent most of that time arguing with each other.

The problem was that no one even really knew where to start. They all knew who was responsible, but that was it. There was no trail and no obvious place to start looking for Ward. They had no idea what his agenda was this time, except Skye herself.

"We don't even know who he's working with," Mack pointed out.

"If he's even working with anyone," Stark argued, "The guy sounds like a loose cannon."

"He's an asshole, that's for sure," Maria Hill, who had arrived a little while before, agreed, "and he's a specialist, which means he works well alone."

"He's too methodical for that," Coulson countered, "Ward's smart and he'd realize that he can't take on us and the Avengers on his own. He'd find someone to work with."

"Do you think its Skye's father?" Dr. Banner asked.

"It could be, but I don't think so." Coulson told him. "Cal was spotted only a few days ago, while Ward hasn't been seen in weeks."

"And no one thought that was suspicious?" Steve demanded. "Maybe we should have been given a heads up that he was missing."

"Grant Ward was one of S.H.I.E.L.D's top specialists," Coulson reminded him, "It makes him very hard to track and I think we all got complacent thinking that Skye was safe here in the Tower where Ward couldn't get to her."

"And she was safe," Sam Wilson pointed out, "She's barely left the Tower and never alone. Even tonight, Nat should have been with her."

"Yes, I should have." The redhead agreed as she and Clint arrived and joined the group. "He had to have been watching the Tower. There's no other way he would have managed to grab her the one time I, or another member of the team, wasn't with her."

"I don't like the fact that someone could have been watching us that closely without anyone realizing," Stark said grimly.

"Ward's an asshole, but he was good at his job." Clint said grimly. "He's almost as good as Nat when it comes to certain things. But I agree, he can't be working alone. This was pulled off too fast, too perfectly. No one can do that on their own."

"There was definitely more than one person at the scene." Pepper Potts spoke up. "But I don't know if they were hired goons or what. But there were at least two cars involved, plus some other random muscle."

Jemma could tell that everyone was getting frustrated by the lack of information.

"We don't even know where to start," Bobbi pointed out, "Ward could be working with anyone."

"We need to be doing something," Steve told them, "We need to be out there, looking for her."

Jemma watched James put his hand on his friend's shoulder, obviously trying to calm him. "We will be."

"I'm with Steve,' Stark said after a moment, "I think we just go there and start following every lead we have."

"And then we run the risk of alerting Ward to our presence and he could go underground." May countered.

"He already knows that we'll be coming for him," Natasha countered, "No, for once I agree with Tony. We just follow every lead and see what we can find. Someone has to have had heard something."

Jemma could see that her team didn't entirely agree with the Black Widow, probably because they were used to operating under the radar, but no one voiced another objection.

"I'll put the word out in the Super-Hero community," Stark said after a moment, "Let everyone know that Quake has been kidnapped and who we think took her. The more people who are looking for her, the better chance we have of finding her."

Skye opened her eyes and blinked as she took in her surroundings. Where was she? She wasn't in her apartment and she didn't think she was in the Avengers Tower because nothing looked familiar. So where was she and how did she get there?

As she sat up and tried to get her bearings, it all came rushing back. She remembered how they had been on the way to meet May and the others when someone had crashed into the car. As soon as the car had crashed, she'd been on alert and it had been obvious almost instantly that they been under attack. That was the last thing she remembered.

Skye took a deep breath, trying to remain calm because the last thing she wanted was to set off her powers. At least not until she knew where she was.
It was obvious that she must have been the target of the attack and that it had been orchestrated to get her away from the Avengers. She also knew that it had to be the work of Ward.

After a moment, Skye looked around, studying her surroundings. She was in a room of some kind and it had no windows, but it seemed luxurious. There was a bed, but not much other furniture. She was relieved to see that she was still wearing the dress she had picked out for her girls' night and that if Ward, or whoever might be responsible for her kidnapping, at put her in the bed, at least he hadn't undressed her.

She got up off the bed and walked to the door and noticed that something felt off, though she couldn't quite place it. Skye was about to open the door when it opened from the other side, causing her to tense instantly.

Instead of Ward though, the intruder was a young woman who was smiling at her. "You're awake." The woman had an accent that Skye couldn't place.

"Yes…" Skye said cautiously. Who was this woman and what did she want with Skye?

"I was sent to check on you," the woman told her, "my name is Ana and I'll be your maid."

"My maid?" Skye repeated, wondering what exactly was going on.

"Yes," Ana answered, seeming unfazed by Skye's confusion, "I'm here to help you with anything you might need during your stay in Latveria."

"Latveria." Skye repeated, trying to keep the horror out of her voice.

"Yes," Ana told her patiently, "We're on our way there now. We should be landing shortly."

That explained the odd feeling, she was on a plane. Skye would normally have questioned how Ward had managed to get her out of the country without anyone noticing, but the mention of Latveria was answer enough. Latveria meant Victor von Doom and Doom had diplomatic immunity, which made sneaking an unconscious woman onto his plane a little easer.

It also made the situation a lot more complicated for Skye, because if Ward and Doom were working together… Well, nothing good could come out of that combination.

Ward was scary enough on his own or when he was working with people like Cal or Garrett, but teamed up with someone of Doom's power, both magical and political, and alleged intellect? That was a whole new ball game. Not to mention the fact that Latveria was very hard to infiltrate, Skye wasn't sure that even the Avengers could extract her from Doom's fortress, if they even discovered she was there. It was a very bad situation all around.

But what she didn't understand was why. Why would Doom team up with someone like Ward? What did a rogue ex-HYDRA agent have to offer a villain of Doom's calibre?

"I came here to check if you were awake and if you were, escort you to the main area of the plain," Ana said softly, "Would you like to freshen up?"

"No, I'm fine.' Skye told her, taking a deep breath.

She could hear Natasha's voice in her head, advising her on what to do. As much as Skye wanted to react with anger and defiance, she knew that wasn't the best course of action. Not if Doom was involved and certainly not when she was on a plane to a foreign nation with no immediate ideas on how to escape. No, for now she had to play along and hope that she could come up with a plan.

She followed Ana out of the bedroom and into the main area where two men were seated, sharing a glass of whiskey. They both rose at the sight of her.

"Skye, you're awake." Ward said, moving to her side.

She just nodded, her gaze fixated on the other man.

Ward noticed her gaze and smiled. "Skye, let me introduce you to our host, Victor von Doom."