Chapter 2 is up! Hope you enjoy it.

Skye POV

"How is he doing?" I ask quietly, not wanting Fitz to overhear.

"OK," Jemma smiled sadly. "Today is one of his better days. He managed to walk from the med bay to his lab unaided this morning. It's just so hard to see him like this."

"Hey, just remember it's not your fault." I say, hugging the tearful biochemist. "He chose to sacrifice himself to save you. He knew what he was doing. The person who's fault it is, is currently rotting away in the bowels of the Fridge, where he deserves to be."

"But Fitz doesn't see it that way." She pulled away from me, almost shouting. "He still believes in Ward, despite what he did to us."

"He's still healing Jemma," I try to make her see reason. "Remember, the doctor said he would suffer from amnesia and memory lapses for months, maybe even years, as a result of the trauma and oxygen deprivation he suffered from. Just give him time, encourage him when he remembers something and let him come to his own conclusions."

She nods, wiping away a stray tear. "Thank you Skye, for everything."

I blush at the praise, still not used to it, even now. "Have you seen AC?"

"Last time I saw him he was in his office on the phone." She tells me. "It sounded official."

"Thanks." I squeezed her hand in comfort then headed in the direction of Coulson's office.

It took me exactly two minutes and 26 seconds to walk from the lab up to his office. When we first arrived here at the Playground, I would get lost on a daily basis. Now though, I could walk the entire complex with my eyes closed. I reach the door to find it slightly ajar and the sound of a one-sided conversation on the other side. He's obviously still on the phone, so I wait in the hall. Whilst I wait I pull up the latest reports from agents stationed in Europe on my tablet. I skim them for anything unusual then file them for Director Coulson to read later.

"You can come in now Skye." A voice calls me back to reality.

I close the programme and open the door. "Hey AC."

"What can I do for you, Skye?" He asks as I sit opposite him.

"I've managed to successfully hack into Hydra's 'secret' files and uncovered a ton of information on experiments, plans, locations of safe houses and more. I'm downloading it to a secure server, separate from our network, just in case it's a trap. It'll take a while, but hopefully it'll yield some workable leads."

"That's fantastic news, well done." He sounded both shocked and proud by the accomplishment. "Even if it doesn't, we're in their system now, so we can track them in real time."

I smile and nod, I've already prepared a bug that I'll upload once we're finished downloading this data. I notice he's looking a little uncomfortable, which makes me highly suspicious. It's never a good thing when the boss refuses to look you in the eye.

"What is it, AC?" I ask outright.

He sighs heavily before scrubbing his face with his hands. "I just spent the last half hour on the phone with Nick Fury. There's been some chatter in Europe about a possible upsurge of Hydra members somewhere in the UK. He's asked me to assign two people to go undercover to root them out and arrest them. He's asked for you, Skye, as your skills as a hacker are unparalleled and a necessity for this mission."

I nod in understanding. "Who's the other agent?" I see him cringe and start to shy away from me. "Come on AC, who is it?"

"Agent Grant Ward." He whispers so quietly that I almost miss it.

"Are you kidding me?" I almost shout and jump up out of my chair.

"I'm afraid not-" He starts, but I interrupt.

"No!" I shout. "No way! You cannot ask me to do that AC!"

"I'm sorry Skye." The Director says, apologetically. "There is no other option here. We need him for this mission to succeed."

"I don't care!" I rant at him. "You cannot ask me to work with Ward, not after what he did to us."

He approached my carefully, with his palms raised. "These orders came down from Fury himself. If there was any other way, I would take it. But there isn't. I need you for this, Skye."

The thought of going anywhere with Ward has me torn. It makes me sick to my stomach, but also causes butterflies to take flight. It's been nearly half a year since 'the betrayal' and I'm still conflicted about my feelings for the ex-Agent. Not that I let anyone know, they all believe that I still hate him. I know Coulson wouldn't ask unless it was absolutely necessary. And I'm sure he argued the point with Fury too. I sigh and turn back to face him. "There really is no other way?"

"None, his knowledge of the inner workings of Hydra is essential in rooting out these traitors." He turned back to his desk and picked up two flash drives. "Theses drives contain all the interviews conducted with Ward since his incarceration 5 months ago. I want you to watch them all before we go and talk to him. I hope they'll help get you into a better frame of mind concerning him."

I take them from his hand and stare at them for a moment. Five months worth of interviews with therapists and psychologists, as well as trained interrogators lie in my palm. I pocket them and look up at my boss, the new Director of Shield, feeling a little calmer.

He nods when he sees I've accepted the mission. "Let's get everyone together in the common room and I can explain it to the team."

We head our separate ways – me to find FitzSimmons and him to find May – and agree to meet up in thirty minutes.

What do you think so far? Please R&R!