Disclaimer: I still don't own anything since I last updated. Except for the occasional OC
Bundles of love to my favoriters/followers and of course the reviewers~
trytoreachout123: This keep s me sane until the second season begins too! I try hard to make sure the characters are…well, in character so thanks! Also, I heard from ComicCon interviews that Ward will be returning for the next season. Eeee!
Lightningtiger2: I'm really happy that you're hooked! Thanks for supporting me and this fic!
Coulson yelled. Simmons cried. Trip hovered and May comforted. Romanoff disappeared with the promise that she would be back once she had spoken to some of her contacts. Fitz sulked although Skye suspected that it had more to do with the fact that Trip was spending a lot of time in the lab with a certain biochemist.
And Ward. Ward hadn't spoken to her the entire time. His mouth uttered no words as they flew back to the Bus, his lips remained pursed while Skye was inspected by Simmons and when the biochemist pronounced her patient stable and healthy for the time being, he left the lab silently, unescorted, back to the Cage.
That had stung. It brought Skye back to the time when she'd been asked to see Coulson after she had slept with Miles and Ward hadn't accompanied her, declaring himself "off the clock."
But Coulson didn't leave her side and May departed only to pilot the plane. Fitzsimmons gathered around their computers and tablets, speaking in low tones. Trip stayed off to the side, ready to fetch or do anything he was asked. No one spoke of what had transpired in Hong Kong. They didn't need to- Romanoff had relayed the events and words spoken to the team before she left with only a vague word of return.
Once Simmons was satisfied that Skye was fully rested and Coulson could bear to let her out of his sight, Skye walked tentatively up to the Cage and opened the door. A chair was lying on its side some ways away from the table and Ward was pacing along the wall behind the table. He looked agitated; his hair was tousled like he had been running his hands through it multiple times. Skye cleared her throat to announce her arrival. He looked up, his expression suddenly blank. Then he crossed the room in a few swift steps and pulled Skye into his arms, burying his face into her neck.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him, "are you angry?"
He choked a laugh out, pulling her closer to him, "Angry doesn't begin to describe it. I'm furious." He said, his words muffled by her hair.
"I did have Romanoff with me-." Skye tried to reason.
"I don't care." Ward said his voice rumbling in his chest. He pulled away just enough so he could look into her eyes, "You didn't have me."
Skye sighed, looking away, "Would you have come if I asked?"
"If I couldn't talk you out of it. Skye, I just want to protect you- I don't appreciate you running off on me like that to a different country without so much as a warning! I was so worried…we didn't know what was going to be waiting for you in Hong Kong."
"Yes, but I'm fine!"
"Your previous screams of pain begged to differ." Ward pointed out, backing away from her.
Skye could sense a fight brewing and she sighed, dropping her hands to her side, "Fine, next time when I go to meet my uncle you can be my date."
"I just don't like not being there to protect you." Ward admitted quietly.
"Ward," She turned his face to his, "I'm okay," She said firmly, "Besides, I'm a monster, not a damsel in distress, remember?" He nodded and pressed his lips to hers.
"So you're not upset anymore?" She asked, pulling away for air.
He grinned down at her, "Oh, I'm still angry," he claimed her lips again, "I'm just channeling it into something more productive,"
Skye's laugh turned into a gasp as he bent to kiss her neck, "And the chair?"
"You weren't here," Ward pushed aside the collar of her shirt to nip at the point where her shoulder met her neck and pushed her backwards onto the bed.
Unable to hide her smile, Skye pulled him down on top of her and kissed him sweetly, "I didn't loop the feed,"
Ward shrugged, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "It's not like they don't already know that we're doing it."
"So Coulson's got a former Rising Tide member and an ex-Hydra agent doing his dirty work for him now?" The SHIELD agent shook his head, "unbelievable."
"Well you can bring that up with him right now if you'd like," Skye said, just short of a snap. Ward placed a cuffed hand on her shoulder both comforting her and preventing her from lashing out at the agent in front of them.
The agent just regarded the pair coolly, "You know what? I think I will."
Skye bristled slightly, "Allow us to escort you back to the Bus then." It was their fourth SHIELD recovery op, or as Skye had fondly dubbed it, the Secret Lovers, which only applied when they had to go undercover in a Hydra dominated base. This time was only the second SHIELD secured base the came across since they started, making them 2 for 2.
The first SHIELD base they encountered had given them a warm welcome so this agent's less than pleased attitude upon seeing them did nothing to bolster Skye's spirits.
"Agent Coulson,"
"Agent Delmore. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Coulson came down the stairs to the cargo hold as soon as the trio entered the Bus. The two agents shook hands but the frown on Agent Delmore's face didn't fade.
"I understand that you and your…team… are attempting to recover as many bases as possible?"
Skye scowled, "We've already recovered three, all by ourselves." She pointed out and Coulson shot her a look.
"Skye, will you please tell Agent May to run diagnostics on the plane? Also, if you could ask Agent Triplett to join us down here, that would be great." Coulson requested diplomatically but Skye couldn't help feeling like she had just been dismissed from the adults' table for being too noisy.
"Yessir." Skye unlocked Ward's cuffs and started up the staircase. "You coming?" She asked Ward when he didn't follow right away. He looked to Coulson.
"Sir?"
"I'd actually like Agent Ward to stay," Coulson interjected and Skye huffed, ignoring Ward's apologetic look.
"Whatever,"
Passing by Triplett on the way to the cockpit, she said sarcastically, "Your presences is required downstairs." He looked up questioningly at her sour tone but she swept past him without another word.
The instant Skye sank down into the co-pilot seat next to May, the senior agent asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Skye said unconvincingly, "Why are you still up here?"
"Running diagnostics like Coulson must've just asked. You're upset." May surmised and Skye looked at her, frustrated but not because of her companion.
"It's Delmore. He seems so ungrateful and…stuck up like someone actually took a stick and shoved it-,"
May shifter in her seat to face Skye more fully, "That's not all. You're usually very easy going but there's something else bothering you other than one agent's demeanor."
Skye sighed, "You're right. It's… I feel stuck. I know we're doing our best to rebuild SHIELD but it seems like we're not making a big enough difference. What if the aliens come back tomorrow and attack Earth? There's no way we're going to be prepared for that. I feel like the rest of the world has given up hope on us. On top of that, Romanoff hasn't come back yet and I have more questions about myself after Hong Kong and Ward needs to come out of that damn Cage so we can-!"
May cut her an amused look, "Sexually frustrated?"
Skye was taken aback, "Okay, let's back up and pretend that Ward never came up in this conversation because I do not want to get on that subject with his ex…sleeping…partner."
"So why did you come to me instead of Simmons like you usually do?"
"I thought she needed some time alone with Fitz and I thought you would understand a bit more. Not just about Ward. Yeah, I'm going to stop bringing him up now."
May smiled and bent over the dashboard to inspect the panels, "So you didn't just come up here to hide?"
"Isn't that what you've been doing?" Skye countered, fiddling with a lever in front of her.
"Don't touch that. I thought Coulson would prefer to handle the situation without Warm and Fuzzy."
Skye laughed dryly, drawing her hands back onto her lap, "well, Fuzzy's done there anyway."
May raised her eyebrows, "So I'm Warm?"
Skye shrugged and leaned back in her chair, "Mm, yeah, I can see why you like it up here,"
"It's usually very quiet and peaceful," the senior agent said pointedly but Skye ignored her.
"I haven't seen you doing your tai-chi lately," She commented, looking sideways at May who was still checking the numerous gauges and monitors.
"You've been sleeping better lately,"
Skye looked away. That was only partially true. She had been sleeping fine until a few nights ago when she dreamed that Ward and her father had teamed up and forced her to join Hydra, unleashing her power to kill Coulson and the rest of SHIELD. Then Fury showed up but was shot by Ward who then ran off with Maria Hill…
Skye hadn't actually seen her father in Hong Kong before she passed out but in her dream, he was a bulky man, all muscles and covered in a red substance that could only be blood. Skye didn't get a good look at his face but she was sure it was as awful as the sight of his body.
"Skye?" May's concerned voice brought her out of her reverie, "What are you thinking about?"
"My father." The hacktivist whispered, turning back to May. The senior agent's face was worried, "I think it would be a good idea to forget about all that. It sounds like you pose no danger so why look into it more?"
"But-,"
"I know it's what you always wanted, to find your family, but this would be better for everyone. For you and the team. What you put us through-," May's voice faltered and Skye remember the tear that rolled down Coulson's face, thought about the tense feeling in the air while she lay recovering in the lab.
May smiled sadly, "it's going to be hard to move on but sometimes, you just have to. For the sake of everyone else." There was a raw note in her voice and Skye knew May was drawing on her own personal experiences, specifically the one that earned her the name "the Cavalry."
Skye was silent, just let the flow of unspoken words pass between them as it had when she used to join May in the early mornings while she did her tai chi. They sat like that until Fitz came to summon them to a team meeting in the Command Center.
The rest of the team was already assembled around the table screen when Skye and May entered the glass encased area. Trip was pulling up photos and building plans from a flashdrive placed in one corner of the table.
"What's up?" Skye asked, taking her place next to Ward.
"Agent Delmore just notified us of a confirmed Hydra base just over the border in France. Some of its SHIELD occupants fled to his base when Hydra took over the other base. They have reason to believe that Hydra is keeping the remaining SHIELD agents captive."
"We're going in?" May asked, inspecting a blueprint on the screen.
Coulson nodded, "Delmore's providing extraction and back0up but we'll be making initial contract. Our agents are much better equipped." He said with a note of pride.
Skye smiled inwardly, "How big is the base?"
"People-wise, big. Physical size, medium."
Skye suddenly remembered the flashdrive she had used at the last two Hydra-run facilities and pulled it out of her pocket, placing it on another corner of the screen, splitting the screen into two.
"I collected data from some Hydra hard drives but I wasn't too particular with what files I copied so there could be some stuff here that we can use. Here," Skye found a file that matched the description of their target base and let out a low whistle as she skimmed over the intel, "Wow, they devoted a lot of manpower to this place…"
"It means they're getting confident. They know they are in a good place in the world to come out of the shadows and congregate." Ward spoke up, his brow furrowed in concentration, arms folded. Skye took a moment to appreciate his defined muscles before turning back to the screen.
"Should we be taking on a base this big right now?" Trip asked, rubbing his jaw as he looked over the screen.
"Yes, exactly how much back up will be provided?" Simmons added, swiping through satellite images, her expression tense.
"We'll have the element of surprise. If they're this confident, then they must think SHIELD is done for." May mused and Coulson agreed.
"This would be a big win for us, a big step up the ladder. Delmore is in contact with the local government and they've agreed to help with the imprisonment of Hydra until we decide what to do with them."
Trip frowned down at the screen, "they're got a lot of firepower there. I'm not sure it would be wise…the risk factor is too high."
"We took down Cybertek with just the four of us and some vintage gadgets," Skye argued,
"That was a facility full of civilians. We're talking field agents here, trained operatives that won't fall for a bomb threat." Ward responded, his voice tight.
"The Hub, then. We took on the Hub." Skye retaliated but Ward shook his head before anyone else could talk.
"That wasn't even the real thing. The people in this base? They won't even hesitate to demolish any signs of SHIELD." He snapped. Skye glared up at him and he stared back angrily.
Then Fitz spoke up, "It won't matter how many people are in there because we have back up this time and as soon as we get into the system and disarm it, we can mess them up enough so they get disoriented and lose control just long enough to get Delmore's men and the French troops inside. Then the base is ours."
"It's not that easy, Fitz," Ward said through gritted teeth, turning away from Skye to place both hands on the table.
"It can be. A couple of well-placed explosions and they won't know what hit them. We go in, shut everything down, separate them and ambush them." Coulson decided, "If we're going to go about rebuilding such a big organization then there's always going to be risks involved."
Simmons piped up reassuringly, "Perhaps Agent Romanoff will be back by the time we strike,"
"Let's not count on that," May advised but not unkindly.
"It's settled, I'll get started talking to Agent Delmore. Fitzsimmons and Skye, I want you guys to find out everything you can about that base, down to what kind of soft drinks they carry. Ward, I want profiles on everyone you can get, Triplett, May, with me."
Ward spoke up, not looking at Skye, "In that case, sire, I'd like to request that Skye stays behind with Fitzsimmions to monitor and help with communications. Also, I think it would be a good idea to keep a few men around to make sure no one sneaks out of the base to ambush them."
Skye gaped up at him. What was he playing at?
Coulson scrutinized Ward who looked evenly back at him and determinedly not at Skye.
"Noted." Coulson said after a few seconds.
"What? No, I want to go in with you! AC, you know I'd be more useful on the premises running the hack directly and controlling things from there!" Skye exclaimed but it looked like Coulson had already made up his mind.
"It is just as important for us to have you behind the scenes watching out for us where you can see everything." Coulson pointed out.
Skye snorted, "No way. You think I'm a liability. The hacking process will go a lot faster if I'm the one there doing it, in person." Skye looked to Trip for support but he looked away guiltily.
However, May came to her rescue, "Skye has a point, she would be more effective on the ground."
"I'll think about it." Coulson beckoned May and Trip, signaling that the meeting was over.
Fitzsimmons disappeared out of the Command Center after them, chattering about weapons and the flashdrives, leaving Ward and Skye alone.
"I better go get a copy of that flashdrive so I can get started on the profiles," Ward said, following Fitzsimmons.
"Ward, wait." Skye called after him, walking quickly to catch up with his long strides.
"Ward!" She caught up with him before he reached the door to the balcony and grabbed the back of his shirt to spin him around to face her. She looked up at him, her expression fierce.
"What the hell was that back there? We've had this conversation already, I'm not a damsel in distress! I can handle combat. I've trained hard for this, you saw me at Cybertek, I'm not a liability!" She snapped. She saw his eyes darken and suddenly he pushed her up against the wall, pinning her with his deliciously firm body, hands on braced on either side of her head. She looked defiantly back up at him as he looked down at her, his eyes dark and his jaw clenched, his breaths coming fast as he tried to contain his emotions.
"I don't want you there with us because it's too dangerous." He growled, his face mere inches from hers so she could feel his breath tickling her lips, "Once we get in there, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to look after you even if you say you don't need looking after."
Skye splayed a hand across his chest, feeling his heart beat erratically, "I'll be fine-,"
"No." He curled his right hand into a fist, his muscles flexing beside her face, "I won't be able to concentrate knowing you're in there, exposed-,"
Unable to contain herself, Skye placed her other hand on the back of his neck and jerked him down to her lips, giving him a hard kiss, dragging her teeth over his lower lip as she pulled away.
"Skye," He begged, his voice breaking, "I can't risk losing you-,"
She cradled his cheek in her hand and moved her other hand to his waist, pulling him flush against her body as she kissed him again, more roughly.
"Do you trust me?" She breathed, running a thumb over his sharp cheekbone.
He leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes, "With my life." His hands left the wall to skim down her side.
Skye kissed the corner of his mouth gently, "Then trust me with mine."
I think you all know what to do with that box down there ;)
Btdubs does anyone else thing that the song "Something I Need" by OneRepublic could describe Ward's feelings about Skye?