A/N: I still don't own the characters.

Chapter Three

Steve stopped Skye from following Coulson as he walked away by moving his hand from her back to gently grasping her arm. "Let's just give him a little while. Okay?"

Now that the confrontation was over the idea that Steve Rogers was currently holding her arm and talking to her, hit Skye like a Mac truck. She looked at him with wide eyes and nodded unable to find her voice. Then he added, "But we can go find the other girl and the rest of your team. They need to know what you found out."

He gently pulled Skye along by her hand toward where the security officer had said Coulson's command was docked figuring that was where they were most likely to encounter the others. It struck him that he hadn't stopped touching Skye since he first put his hand on her back. It was surprising even to himself but he found that he wasn't quite ready to end the contact, as casual as it was.

It took him a moment to realize that he hadn't taken the time to actually introduce himself to Skye. He was sure she knew exactly who is was but that was no excuse for forgetting his manners. He looked over to her with a roguish smile. "I'm Steve Rogers, by the way."

Skye cleared her throat before smiling back a little nervously, "I figured that one out on my own."

Her response made Steve chuckle. He liked that she wasn't trying to hide the fact that she recognized him like some girls did when they tried to flirt with him. When she didn't offer anything else to the conversation Steve asked, "Are you going to tell me your name?"

"It's Skye." She said quietly. Then she started to try and pull her hand from his. "I can find my team on my own, sir. I'm sure you have more important things to be doing."

Steve tightened his hold on Skye's hand to keep her from darting off on her own. "First off, it's Steve. Not sir." He caught her eye and raised his eyebrows and waited for her to acknowledge what he said.

She could feel her face flushing as this impossibly handsome man stared down at her. She remained quiet expecting him to say more. It took her minute to catch on that he was waiting for her to say his name instead of sir. "Fair enough…Steve. But like I said, I'm sure you have better-"

"Nope. I'm doing exactly what I should be doing. When beautiful, brilliant girl needs a little help nothing is more important." He knew he was deliberately flirting with Skye but he was trying to distract her from worrying about her friends for just a few moments. It was just a bonus that she looked adorable when she blushed.

Skye couldn't believe that Steve Rogers, Captain America, was actually flirting with her. "Ok. Well I guess in that case, thank you. I really appreciate you sticking up for me back there."

Steve squeezed the hand he was still gently holding before replying, "You seemed to be handling things pretty well all your own. "

"I guess." Skye laughed. "To be honest I thought 'The Man behind the Shield' would back… well SHIELD and all of its protocols."

Steve pushed open the hangar bay door before pulling Skye to a stop. "Before New York you would have been right." He paused thinking about the argument he and Stark had about him doing something similar to what Skye did today. Though Stark went after all of SHIELDs intel not just one mission. "Then a friend of mine showed me that sometimes, secrets can be deadly."

Skye took a moment to really look at him then. She could see that everything that was going on in SHIELD was really taking a toll on Steve. She suddenly had the urge to comfort him somehow. The best she could do at the moment was squeeze the hand that was still holding hers much like he had just done and say, "I'm sorry. This must have brought back some really bad memories."

Her quiet words and gentle touch hit Steve like warm breeze. This girl was smart, stubborn, and tenacious but somehow still managed to be protective, compassionate, and warm. "Well let's just keep the fact that Stark was right between you and me, huh? He doesn't need his ego inflated anymore."

The deflection made Skye laugh, which is what Steve had been hoping for. Just as he was about to say something more their moment was again interrupted by the two other members of her team.

"Skye! What did you find out?" The female specialist that Steve had yet to me asked directly. He couldn't make out more from this woman expression beyond determination. She didn't even react to the fact that he was standing with Skye's hand still in his.

When Simmons caught up, her face was an open book. She looked to Skye with hope which quickly morphed into shock when she recognized who else was in the middle of this conversation then curiosity when she saw that Steve had yet to let Skye's hand go.

Skye herself seemed a little intimated by the older agent. He guessed she assumed this would go much like the confrontation with Coulson had. "Look May, I'm sorry. I know I broke all the rules… again-"

May stopped Skye's rambling just by raising her hand. "Skye, what did you find out?"

"There's no extraction team out there to get Ward and Fitz before they start bombing the hell out of the compound." Skye informed May.

The specialist face became hard as she growled, "Do you know the co ordinance?"

Skye shook her head, "Coulson closed the laptop before I could see-"

Steve interrupted rattling off the location he saw on the screen in the split second before the computer had be closed. They all looked at him was surprise. "What? I saw the screen before Coulson showed up."

Skye smiled brightly at him and mouthed 'Thank you.' May just gave him a small nod. "Okay, Skye, you got us the info. Now, we react."

A wide smile broke out across both Skye and Simmons faces and Skye's determined voice spurred everyone to action. "Were going to go get our guys."

The totally neutral look returned to May's face as she turned to lead the group toward the bus, "Well somebody has to."

Steve looked around the hangar bay and realized they would need a distraction to get out of here with their plane before too many red flags were raised. "I'll distract the workers here to give you guys a window out of here."

Before Skye could board the plane Steve pulled her to a stop one more time. Suddenly nervous he faltered momentarily. She was the first to break the silence. "What's up?"

He stared at her for a few seconds before quickly pulling out the notebook he kept lists of cultural references in from out of his pocket and quickly scribbled down his phone number. "Here. Let me know when you all have completed the rescue, okay?"

Skye nodded and slipped the paper in her pocket before grabbing the notebook from his hand. When she saw the list he was compiling it was his turn to blush. "Yea, that. I'm trying to catch up on some of the stuff I missed while I was… you know…"

"Maybe I could help add some stuff for you, huh?" Skye smiled up at him.

"I'd like it if you did." Then he watched as she flipped to the next available page and wrote down her phone number. Steve couldn't help but feel a bit relieved. Now, he wouldn't have to wait anxiously for her to contact him.

For a moment the pair just stood looking at each other. Neither ready to end the moment just yet. Skye finally broke out into a wide grin before stepping closer before rising to her tip toes to press a gentle kiss to Steve's cheek. "Thank you again."

Then she walked over to join with the members of her team as they walked into the cargo bay and he just watched for a moment. He heard Simmons asking if they could really pull this off with just three people, he knew they could do it but he wished they would have a little more support. Steve was pleasantly surprised when he heard Coulson's voice, "Four is better."

The two men that had worked together previously met one another's eyes. Steve raised an eyebrow as a silent question. When Coulson nodded, Steve knew that Coulson was on board with however the girls planned to safe the other two members of his team.

Steve jogged off to go create the diversion for them to slip through. Easiest way for a plane to stay off SHIELDs radar… temporarily disrupt SHIELDs radar.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

When they guys were all safely back on the bus the team congregated in the cargo bay to welcome them back. Ward reached out to shake his leader's hand, "Thanks for coming to get us, sir."

There was a meaningful glance between Coulson and Skye before he replied, "We take of our own."

Ward looked up to see May heading back to cockpit and nodded solemnly. He assumed she was the one who demanded the rescue. After all the Calvary never left a man behind if she could help it.

In the lab, Simmons was trying to casually greet Fitz back when she really wanted to throw her arms around him to reassure herself that he was indeed safely back. "Well done, Fitz. So glad you're back."

"Yes. It's good to see you too."

An awkward silence enveloped the duo. Thus mission was the longest they had been apart since they started at the Academy. "Oh. The sandwich? How was it?" When Fitz didn't immediately say something she pressed on. "Too much aioli?"

Fitz looked over to Ward for a moment. After the specialist sent him a respectful nod quietly said, "No, it was delicious. I'm just a bit tired."

Simmons nodded and helped Fitz carry the dismantled overkill core into the lab before Fitz continued. " I had Wards back out there the whole time. I pretty much saved him from a Russian mod with the EMP I found then kicked a few rebels head in."

He liked the way Simmons look at him with pride shining through her eyes. In an effort to keep up the cool façade, "But enough about mission talk…Did anything exciting happen while you were in the Hub?"

Nearly bouncing with her exciting tale Simmons answer came out in a rush. "I shot a superior officer in the chest and we met Captain America!"

Fitz stared at his partner. She had to be joking.

Back in the cargo bay out of ear shot from the rest of the team, Skye walked over to join Ward and playfully punched him in the shoulder before joking, "You know for a second there I thought I'd have to find a new S.O."

Ward barely glanced at his rookie, instead keeping an eye on Fitz. He had really proven himself in the field and Ward was just a bit proud. "Well, sorry to disappoint."

The two stood a moment longer Skye feeling oddly awkward since Ward barely seemed to realize she was there. After a few more moments he interrupted her thoughts, "I'm beat. Training tomorrow at 0500, rookie. Don't be late."

Skye watched Ward's retreating back as he went up the stairs to the living quarters feeling oddly let down. She supposed she shouldn't have expected a thank you from the robot considering she did break a lot of SHIELDs rules. However, she had hoped for some small sign that he appreciated her efforts to help him.

As she stood still letting the sad thoughts swirl around in her mind, Skye felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket.

I hope you were able to get your team to safety. I wish we could have met under better circumstances. Maybe next time we run into each other we could grab some coffee?

This message could only be from Steve. Reading his message reminded her about how warm his hand been and how comforting he was this afternoon. They hadn't gotten to talk a great deal but she couldn't deny there seemed to be a connection there.

It took her a moment to build up the courage to respond. Our wayward warriors have been safely retrieved. Thank you again for your help today and I would love to get coffee. You could even pick my brain for additions to your list!

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Back at the Hub, Steve read Skye's message several times before putting his phone in the pocket of his leather coat and climbing on to his beloved bike. He smiled as he remember the gentle kiss Skye had given him on the cheek. It looked like he was finally take Nat's advice and putting himself back out there.

A/N: That's the end of The Hub. Unfortunately, not the last you'll see of Agent Hand. But I do have something special running around my head for her. Next up will be closer look at growing tension in Skye's relationship with Ward, while she and Steve continue talking. Also, as promised a couple of the Avengers will be making an appearance on Steve's end of the story.