Chapter 4: The Asset Part 2
After landing at a covert S.H.I.E.L.D Airfield, near La Guardia, and meeting with two Agents from the Brooklyn Office, the team split into two groups, Ward and Coulson going with senior agent specialist Greg Fisher driving, Level 5, while May and the science twins went with Agent Mickey Bradley, Level 4. Ward and Coulson would try and track the mysterious hacker, "Skye", while the others would be at the site of the explosion, to find anything that they could use, any evidence.
The program showed the location of the hackers signal to be in Brooklyn. Fisher drove them to the location in silence. Ward had worked with Fisher before, on an Op in Beirut. He was cordial, if slightly reserved. A lot like Ward himself. Their was neither friendship nor enmity between them; They were just work colleagues.
Upon finally arriving at the location that the signal was showing [which turned out to be a a small Van parked along a side alley next to a small Cafe] Fisher parked on the street just opposite. Ward made to get out of the Car, before Coulson put his hand on Wards arm gently for a brief second before saying "Remember, Quick and Clean" before taking it off just as quickly. Ward gave a small nod before opening the car door, Coulson just behind him as he walked across the street to the alley, with Fisher staying in the car, keeping the motor running as they [if everything went according to plan, which in all three Agents experiences, almost was never the case].
When they finally reached the door of the van, Ward keeping his hand inside his goat, on his pistol just in case he needed it [Ward knew for a fact that some of these Rising Tide fanatics could be dangerous when confronted] Turning to Coulson, who gave him a nod, Ward placed his hand on the door handle, expecting that it would be locked [and surprised when it wasn't] he pulled it open, to reveal quite an unexpected scene before him.
"Nothing, nothing can stop us in the -"
The Hacker [if this person was indeed the hacker and not just an associate] was pretty much the opposite of what Ward was expecting: For one, the hacker was female: Ward didn't want to sound like a macho douche bag, but during his brief but memorable [for all the wrong reasons] dealings with the hacker group Rising Tide, the majority of their people he had dealt with were men.
And two, and more importantly, this girl was gorgeous: No, she wasn't just gorgeous: She was beautiful.
Ward had been with his fair share of women in his life [not to mention the occasional guy] All of them were beautiful, or at the very least pretty or handsome. Most, if not all those relationships had been as part of his job: Either they were targets, whom he had to seduce; or they were the people whom he could use to get to his target. Only one or two of his relationships had been outside of work: One was when he was still just a teenager, before Garret found him; the other had fallen apart because she couldn't stand that Ward was so devoted to his work [or, to be more specific, to Garret and HYDRA]. With most of his lovers, though they had been beautiful, that beauty was, at least partly, artificial: A by product of good makeup and some plastic surgery: But this girl [Ward guessed she was probably in her early to mid 20's, her build was lean but not very firm, like Fitz-Simmons, and she part Asian, he copper skin and large eyes, along with her brown hair giving it away.] who was dressed in an unassuming purple shirt [along with a small jacket and old, tattered jeans], which gave merely the smallest amount of cleavage for any a wondering eye [not that Ward was looking of course] her beauty was not due to make up, or to some surgeons scalpel; Her eyes were a warm, comforting shade of brown, open, but slightly mischievous as well; As if she could switch between Helpful and Disruptive at a moments notice. Her skin was healthy looking, obviously spending a fair amount of time out in the sun [Ward suspected she may have lived somewhere back west, possibly California], her hair, though a little messy, looked quite pretty, and her face, which showed no signs of the botox that many people, both male and female, showed,had not been trifled with; Her eyes, her nose, her lips; all seemed to have been grafted to some sort of geometric law, to emphasis her beauty in every way.
In short, she was, to quote the layman, "smoking hot". And when she turned to them away from her computer [for which she had been recording some type of Rising Tide manifesto most likely] giving the two senior agents [who were in their formal work suits. People tend to respect a person in a suit, especially serious ones like Ward and Coulson] a falsely cheery smile on her face, along with an even more false "Hey. What up?" even that had sounded cute to Ward.
Ward, the consummate professional, ignored all these thoughts in his head of course [or tried his best at least] and instead, without so much as a word, pulled out the small cloth bag from his coat pocket and placed it over the startled girls head, before firmly [albeit gently; Ward was nothing if not gentleman] pulling her out of the van and half dragging, half guiding her towards the car; Coulson following behind.
Before they had reached the car [the girl, Skye, muttering something about "Civil Rights" and "Men-in-Black doucebag", both of which Ward and Coulson had ignored.] a loud, slightly nasally voice yelled "Hey, what the hell do you jokers think your doing?" Ward and Coulson turned around to see a slightly portly NYPD Officer, with graying hair and a wrinkled, suspicious face, moving towards them, his hand on his holster, moving towards them.
Coulson turned around, giving the Cop his best smile, and said "No need to be worried Police Officer. Me and my colleague are agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and we are taking a suspect in for questioning."
The cop, though he didn't take his hand off his holster, relaxed slightly, before saying "S.H.I.E.L.D huh?" For a moment he was silent, before saying, in an aggressive tone "As in the same S.H.I.E.L.D which almost nuked this city? The same guys who tried to cover up that Thor guy popping up in New Mexico after he almost blew up a small town? That S.H.I.E.L.D?"
Coulson's smile faded off his face, replaced by a look of apprehension. He wasn't kidding when he said S.H.I.E.L.D was under more scrutiny Ward thought.
Coulson said, in a polite [yet, Ward also noticed, with the smallest amount of menace] "Sergeant, were not here to pick a fight. Were here to take a suspect in for questioning. We don't want any trouble-"
The cop gave them a dirty look in return, and said "Well, that's all fine and good, Agent of SHIELD. But you see, a fed in a suit like you may not know this since your so far above the rest of us Blue Collar guys, but you cant just take someone in without good cause and a warrant; so unless you got some paper in that nice little suit of yours, im going to have to take you and your friend in here into custody for attempted kidnapping."
Coulson couldn't stop the small look of panic that crossed his face. We don't have time for this he thought irritably. Putting his hand up, he used his free one to reach into his pocket for his S.H.I.E.L.D Badge, saying in a calm voice "Officer, there is no need for this to get-"
Faster then anyone could have expected, the cop [whose name tag labeled him as officer S. Lee] pulled out his service revolver and pointed it at Coulson. Although the cop was shaking so much that Ward suspected he had never pulled out his gun on any one before, the look in the mans face was determined. "Pull your hand out of your goat slow and easy." Evidently, he seemed to believe that Coulson had been reaching for his sidearm.
Coulson did as he was ordered. "Good. Now you and your friend turn around slowly and put your hands on your head. And no funny business."
Ward wanted to take a swing at the cop and get this over with. Even with the advantage of a gun, Ward was confident he could take him down easily. The guy was no spring chicken: He seemed to be in his late 50s, possibly early 60s, was not very fit [making Ward suspect that the stereotype that Cops ate donuts all the time might just be true] and was, despite his bravado, seemed afraid of him and Coulson. He was shaking much more then from just frayed nerves. However, Coulson gave him a pointed look as he turned around and lay his hands on his head. Ward sighed and copied his motion.
The Cop came up behind them, the gun pointed at Ward, whom he seemed to have pegged as the bigger threat of the two. "I lost some good friends during the Battle. The battle you SHIELD Bastards started. And guys like us, the average Joe, payed for it."
Coulson, without turning his head, said, in a surprisingly cold voice "You weren't the only ones to lose something that day Officer Lee."
The cop ignored him, and instead pulled out two handcuffs. He then said, in a smug voice "Now im gonna take you boys down to the precinct, and you can have a nice chat with some of our detectives. I'm sure they'll be real interested in what you have to-" the cop had shifted his attention to Coulson for a millisecond, allowing Ward to swing around quickly, knock the pistol out of his hand, while his other hand hit Officer Lee square on the chin; The cop, who would've hit the concrete, hard, if Ward hadn't caught him by the wrist, was knocked out. Ward then lay him on the ground softly. He wont be getting up any time soon Ward thought, slightly smug.
Coulson turned to Ward, putting his arms down. Ward was surprised by the look on his face; Instead of gratitude, he seemed almost... disappointed. "Agent Ward, was that really necessary?"
Ward looked at him, incredulous. "Sir?"
Skye, who had remained quite throughout this entire scene, said, in a slightly panicky voice "Ah, i don't want to ruin the moment, but please tell me you didn't kill that cop." Her voice slightly muffled by the bag on her head.
Coulson continued to give Ward a piercing stare. Ward finally said "Sir, i pulled back the punch. He'll be fine."
Coulson sighed. "That isn't the point Grant."
"What exactly is the point Agent Coulson?" Ward said, now a little irked, especially by how he had called him "Grant", like they were friends.
Coulson merely sighed again, before pulling out his phone. "Put the girl in the car. Tell Fisher to get ready to move out. I need to make a call."
Ward nodded [still annoyed by Coulsons disappointment at his actions. What should have i done? Let him take us in. We would have just wasted time he thought angrily.] Grabbing Skye [the prisoner he thought irritably to himself. She's just the prisoner.] he took her to the car, opening the back door and shoving her in, perhaps a little too roughly then he should have. She grunted, and said, "Why your such a gentleman, Agent Douche-bag". Ward merely grunted in response as he took the front passenger next to Fisher.
After about 20 seconds, Coulson entered the car in the backseat, sitting beside the prisoner. "I called the ambulance. They'll come by and pick up the Police Officer ." Ward just nodded, unconcerned. Fisher, who it turns out had been completely oblivious to all the recent dramas [he had been listening to some music on his I pod] started the car and began the drive back to the Bus. Coulson pulled out his phone while Skye [The prisoner Ward thought to himself again, irritated. Just the prisoner] started to speak "Look, i don't know what you guys want, but this isn't legal. You cant just just kidnap people in the middle of the street for no reason."
"For one, you were in your van, not in the middle of the street." Ward snapped. Coulsons seeming disappointment [which of course he did not care about. Not even a little.] in what he had done had stressed his patience engough for the day. "Secondly, why don't you just be quiet for the time being and not make your situation worse."
Though he couldn't see her expression through the bag, he was sure she was rolling his tongue at him. Very mature he thought. Coulson, who had completely both of them, took his phone out again, and dialed a number. "Hey, we've finished up on our end. What about you guys?" A few moments later, he nodded. "Okay good. Meet you back at home base."
The rest of the trip went off in complete silence. When they finally reached the air strip, Ward, Coulson and Fisher got out, the prisoner in tow.
Turning to Fisher, Coulson said "Agent Fisher, could you please keep an eye on the prisoner? I need to talk to Agent Ward alone for a minute." Fisher nodded, grabbing the prisoner by the arm [she had been handcuffed using one of the Cops own cuffs after she had tried to punch Fisher in the face.] and taking her away, out of earshot of Coulson and Ward.
Coulson turned to Ward, the look of disappointment on his face. Ward suppressed an eye roll. Great, a lecture.
Taking a breath, Coulson said "Mind telling me why you did what you did Agent Ward?"
Ward wanted to say something snide and cocky in response, but he knew all it would likely get him would be a reprimand. Instead he said "Sir i did what specialists do. I solved the problem .We are on a timetable here, and that Cop would have wasted our time. Time we cant afford to waste. So i did what i had to do."
Ward thought it was a perfectly good excuse. Instead, Coulson said " You don't think you could have been a little less aggressive Ward?"
Ward rolled his eyes. "Sir, you know i didn't really hurt him. All i did was put to sleep for a little while."
Coulson shook his head. "If you hadn't pulled back properly Ward, you could have seriously hurt him. He was just an old man, doing his job. Like you." Ward looked away. He shouldn't care what this guy, this old undead agent thought about him or his performance; But for some reason he did; For some reason, Coulsons disappointment almost felt like Garrets. Coulsons face softened slightly. "You cant solve all your problems with violence Ward."
"Its worked so far for me, hasn't it?" Ward finally snapped. He was angry. What right does this self righteous bastard have to judge me? What the hell does he know? He waited for the reprimand for his smart mouth.
Instead, Coulson said something completely unexpected "Your right. It has. But your not just a specialist anymore Ward. You have to learn the value of taking the unconventional approach to the mission, because i can tell you right now, the missions you'll be doing, will be out of your debt Ward. You'll deal with things none of us were ever trained for. Thats why Fury asked me to form this team; You, me, may and Fitz-Simmons are going to be the ones who keep people safe from the monsters at their door. Safe from this new world, this scary new world that we live in now. A world of gods and monsters, aliens and all that other weird crap out there. And for that to work, i cant have you punching your way through every problem we come across. Understood?"
Ward remained silent for couple of moments before nodding.
Coulson smiled. "Good." He then turned, but before walking off he said "And Ward, i read your file. Your history." He turned to Ward, and Ward was surprised by the look of pity in his eyes. "You went through hell that no child should ever have to endure at your age. I know that's why its difficult for you to deal with people. And... i know its hard for you to believe, but i do know what you have had to go through son. What its like. And if you ever need someone to talk to, my door is always open. Okay?" Ward nodded again. "Good. Now come on, lets go interrogate the prisoner."
As Ward followed the senior agent, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about those words he had said. "If you ever need someone to talk to" Why would he care? No one had ever cared. At least no one except Garrett. Sure, they all said "oh you poor thing" and offered their condolences, their grief. But it wasn't sincere. All they ever did was talk, about moving on, and getting on with your life. But how can you, when half your life has been hell? None of them understood anything.
But Coulson, he didn't sound like the others. He sounded like he did care. And that he did know what he faced. And he did want to help. But why would he? What was his motive for helping out someone he didn't know at all? Was it pity?
Ward didn't know. And he decided for his own peace of mind, that he would merely push aside those thoughts, and get on with he job at hand. He didn't have the time nor the inclination to think about what went through Coulsons head. He was a specialist. He got the job done. And now the job was to interrogate this hacker, this Skye girl. And that's what he was going to do.
Sorry for anyone whose reading, this chapter aint finished but hopefully it will be by tomorrow.
After saying a good thank you and goodbye to Agent Fisher, and then taking Skye's laptop [which Coulson had picked up when Ward had entered the car with Skye] and giving it to the newly arrived secondary team, Fitz had apologized profusely and admitted he was unable to break the encryption on the computer, saying "I'm sorry, but this bloody thing has some type of program on it which will automatically delete any info on it if we try and break through by force. Without the proper code, were dead in the water." Coulson nodded, not surprised. Neither was Ward. The Rising Tide had become extremely adept at hiding information from the government using Programs like the one Skye was using [A fact Ward found ironic, considering the groups self professed goal of free information]. After telling Fitz and Simmons not to worry it and just focus on finding any clues from the blast site, and after Coulson ordered May to stay on Comms again in case any information about the mysterious vigilante came on, he and Ward took a hold of one of Skye's arms each and half dragged , half guided her to the special interrogation room inside the Bus. After opening the door, Ward [perhaps a little rougher then he should have] dumped Skye onto one of the chairs. Coulson took the chair opposite her, while Ward decided to stand. Ward pulled the bag off Skye's, who in turn gave him a look of deep loathing and said "You guys are making a big mistake."
"You don't look that big." Ward quipped, unable to help himself. The girl was tiny; especially compared to him.
Before Skye could field a retort, Coulson said "Sorry for the lack of finesse. Agent Ward here has had a little history with your group The Rising Tide."
Skye gave them a blank stare in return, and said "I don't know what you're-"
Ward, still a little peeved off from the lecture he received from Coulson before, and having gone through the whole 'I don't know what your talking about' routine' with dozens of suspects before, lost his patience and said, in a menacing tone "Okay, there are two ways we can do this."
Skye gave him a an expression of mixed loathing and amusement, and replied "Is one of them the easy way?"
"No."
Skye's expression changed from amusement to concern. "Oh." Ward knew he wasn't gonna be torturing this girl; One, torture wasn't his style. Hurting someone and taking a certain amount of pleasure in it was not something that Ward was capable of, for personal reasons, and that was a prerequisite when using Torture as a tool. Two, he knew Coulson wouldn't allow torture as an interrogation method; Only a very few Agents [Garret among them] were comfortable with using it as a tool in the field. However, Skye didn't know that. And the threat of violence, even just the implication of violence [something Ward knew all too well] was an effective tool in itself.
Coulson cleared his throat before saying "What's your name?"
"Skye."
"What's your real name?" Ward added. Coulson put his hand up before saying:
"That can wait. It's another name we need: A certain hero."
Although she tried to stop it, a brief look of understanding passed through Skye's face before she re-arranged it once more into a blank stare. Bingo Ward thought triumphantly. "What makes you think I know that?"
"Well, you made a little mistake. The phone you filmed the hooded hero with had the same cryptographic signature as a few of The Rising Tide posts." Coulson explained, a small amount of smugness in his tone as he said it.
Skye, for the first time, looked a little impressed. "Wow."
"Yeah." Coulson said, nodding.
"Was that a mistake? Or am I now sitting In the center of your secret headquarters? What is this? A plane?" Now it was Ward and Coulsons turn to be impressed. The girl seemed to have a better sense of her surroundings then they anticipated. Despite the bag on her head, she seemed to have figured out where she was pretty quickly. Smart Girl Ward thought, albeit begrudgingly. Ward couldn't figure this girl out. He prided himself on his ability to read people, know their intentions. But so far, with this Skye girl? He couldn't get a read on her at all. And that was unnerving for him.
"And by now, you've discovered you can't beat the encryption on my equipment, so you got nothing." Now it was Skye's turn to look smug. She knew she had them.
Coulson covered the look of surprise that suddenly came over him at having been beaten [at least for now] and instead replaced it with a look of lack of concern. Ward couldn't help but be impressed by just how easily the senior agent was able to maintain his confidence in a situation sliding dangerously in the other sides favor. "We have a fairly strong coincidence: You being on the scene Right before it went up in flames. My Team went over there while we were picking you up. Want to clue me in on what they might've found?" Seeing that Skye wasn't about to provide his answer, Coulson changed tact and instead asked "How did you know the hooded man was in the building?"
Ward, impatient with how slow the interrogation was going [although he was opposed to Torture, he had no problem with other people employing it to get answers quickly] and now annoyed by how this Skye girl seemed to think she had them by the short ones [and even more annoyed by the fact that she unfortunately did seem to have them by the short ones] threw caution to the wind and asked "Did you blow it up to draw him out?"
"Did you?" she retorted, angrily. Ward was starting to really dislike this girl. Her smart mouth, her lack of cooperation, and the fact she was a member of the Rising tide was really starting to get on his nerves.
"That's not our style." Coulson replied.
"I was just kidnapped by your "style"." Skye rebounded, pointing at Ward for emphasis. Before Ward could field a witty retort of his own [all the while trying to avoid being distracted by how even the little light in the interrogation room made Skye's hair look almost Golden] she continued "S.H.I.E.L.D. covered up New Mexico, Project Pegasus. Of course you'd be covering up Centipede."
Ward, who was now getting increasingly unnerved by how much this girl knew [Only level 6 and above agents in S.H.I.E.L.D should know about Project Pegasus, let alone what had happened to it] gave Coulson a slightly confused look, mouthing 'Centipede?'. Coulson gave him a look just as confused in return. Thats not good Ward thought. Level Eights know practically everything about S.H.I.E.L.D. If he doesn't know about this Centipede thing... Ward didn't let himself finish that thought.
Skye noticed this little silent exchange between them. A small smile appeared on her face. "Holy Crap. No way. You don't know what that is. Billions of dollars of equipment at your disposal, and I beat you with a laptop that I won in a bet?" Now she looked really smug. Ward resisted the urge to snap at her. This is so not how this interrogation should be going he thought to himself angrily. Most of them, the suspects he had interrogated, would be crying their guts out with them about now, not bragging, and certainty not being smug.
Coulson, seeing that Ward's patience, or what little of it that remained, was at boiling point with the interrogation going as it was [which Coulson had to admit was now little more then a series of mind games with the surprisingly feisty and intelligent hacker sitting across from him.] decided to take an alternative route to his questioning. Despite the girls fiery attitude, Coulson was good at reading people. Not like Ward, who only looked for the lies or deception that people were hiding. Coulson was able to see the good in people. It was one of his best qualities as a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent: It was that self same quality which allowed him to look past the sordid past of the Black Widow and convince Nick Fury to agree to Clint Barton's recommendation that she be recruited instead of being eliminated. He could tell that this girl had a good heart, despite her attempts to hide it behind her sarcasm and snark .
"You need to think about your 're not the only ones interested in people with powers. We'd like to contain him, yeah." Coulson knew it was better to be honest with Skye then try and lie to her; She was smart. She would the lie immediately and all he would achieve would be her clamping her mouth shut even tighter then it was. "The next guy will want to exploit him, and the guy after that will want to dissect him." Coulson could see that Skye was now thinking over her words. Gotcha.
Then Ward, who had now lost all patience, said, in an angry tone "What is Centipede?" banging his hands on the table separating Coulson and Skye in the process.
Coulson sighed. Ward had evidently tried to intimidate Skye. He could tell immediately that Ward's little outburst had not achieved its aim; Instead of being shocked or intimidated, Skye gave Ward a bored look, and said to Coulson in an irreverent tone "So what is this? He the bad cop, and your the good cop?"
Coulson, who decided they needed to take a small break from this 'interrogation' before it evolved into Juvenile name calling between the two kids, cleared his throat and said "Agent Ward, can i speak to you outside for a moment?" Ward, without changing the look of intense dislike now on his face as he faced Skye, turned to the door, and opened IT, letting Coulson go through first before following him out. Coulson turned to him, and. closing the door behind Ward, said "Agent Ward, you need to stay focused while in that interrogation. I know that the girl is attractive, and that she has a smart mouth on her, but i cant have you losing your cool in there."
Ward gave Coulson an angry look in response. "Sir that girl is just yanking our chain. She's unreasonable, uncooperative and-" Then Ward gave the senior agent a confused look, and said "Wait, what do you mean, she's attractive? And how is that have any bearing on me in the first place?"
Coulson actually chuckled. "Come on Ward, i have eyes. You haven't taken yours off that girl ever since we took the bag off her head."
Ward suddenly became quite hot under the collar. Blushing quite profusely, he stammered "That... thats not... i mean... thats completely, uh..."
Coulson chuckled again. Boys will be boys. No matter how much a specialist Grant Ward was, even he could suddenly start to act like a nervous schoolboy around a girl he so obviously had a crush on. Of course, he would never admit it. Still smiling, Coulson said, cutting off Ward's now intelligible babble "Look, we can worry about you having a crush on the suspect later. Right now, lets get back to this interrogation and finish it up, okay?" Ward nodded, still quite red in the face. "And Ward, that little outburst of yours? All it did was remind her that she is in control, and we aren't." Ward nodded again, his Blushing subsiding slightly at the thought of Skye's smug, though pretty [Whoa, don't finish that sentence Grant he chided himself.].
Coulson smoothed the crease in his suit, and said "Okay, i'll go in now. Once you've composed yourself, come in after me."
Ward was about to argue that he was composed just fine, when he saw his reflection in one of the nearby mirrors pinned to the wall. His face... How can it be so red? he thought, slightly alarmed. He just nodded to Coulson, who opened the door into the room and closed it behind him.
Sighing, he put his face into his hands. Get it together you idiot he chided himself again. Stop acting like some pubescent kid. Your Grant Ward. Your a Specialist. You've done jumps into hostile territory with missiles firing at you. You've insulted Russian Mafia bosses to their face and come out of it with nothing, not even a scratch. You can do this.
That was what Grant Ward told himself as he walked back into the interrogation room, his face now back to its normal color, all the while ignoring the voice in his head telling him to notice Skye's hair, he eyes, her lips, the small bit of cleavage showing on her... Focus Grant. You can do this.
Skye, who seemed to have become considerably more cooperative, said, just as Ward walked in "Centipede. It was chatter on the web and then gone. I traced the access-point mac address to that building."
"What were you after?" Ward asked, thankful his voice was still perfectly normal, even though his heart was seemed to be beating a hundred times a second in his chest. I haven't been like this since freshmen year in high school and i to wanted to ask Anna Chalmers to the school dance!. On the list of painful childhood memories, that ranked pretty low. Still, very painful.
"The truth." Skye replied. "What are you after?"
"World peace. You pseudo-anarchist hacker types love to stir things up." Thats it Ward he thought. He knew just the way to get his mind off Skye: He would argue with her! Brilliant! "But you're never around for the fallout. People keep secrets for a reason, Skye."
Skye got up from her chair. "Well, just because you're reasonable and-" She poked Ward in the chest. Ward had to, honestly and shamefully, resist the urge to swoon [of course, he would never admit it under pain of torture and death] "Firm" Ward didn't miss how she seemed just a little impressed by how firm he was, and then he hated himself slightly for how that made him feel just a little good. To be perfectly honest, a lot good. "Doesn't mean that you're not an evil, faceless Government tool bag."
Ward sighed. The girl was cute sure. But infuriating, and annoying for good measure too. "Just give us your guy's name." he demanded, his tone not very angry, but to his own annoyance, sounded almost pleading.
"He's not my guy!"
"You understand he's in danger." Coulson added.
"Then let me go. Let me talk to him. Me, not the T-1000 here." she argued, pointing at Ward.
Ward, ignoring the jab at him being a Robot, said "You want to be alone with him. Of course." Turing to face Coulson, he said "She's a groupie. All this hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D. ,tracking powers. She might as well be one of those sweaty cosplay girls Crowding around Stark tower."
Now Ward noticed, with some satisfaction, that it was now Skye's turn to go red.
"What?! I would never... It was one time."