A/N: Hey guys, I just wanted to let you that there will be themes of p.t.s.d. And sexual abuse in upcoming chapters and throughout the story. I personally have it, so I know the info is accurate. Bare with me and I hope you like this chapter, it's super long.
Chapter three: Skye's the limit
"Ghost, whatcha got?" Finally. I smirked over and quirked a taunting eyebrow at Ward.
"More than enough." He motioned for me to continue, but I couldn't pass up a patronizing smirk toward Ward. "Well, Skye is used to being independent, on her own, I could tell by the way kept glancing back at me, because I was distanced from you two. Now, she also responded best to my little comments, and obviously sought me out to speak." I glared directly at Ward. "Her mouth twitched in frustration every time you" I pointed at him "Spoke over me. I could tell that my hesitance to follow the proper techniques caught her eye." Coulson nodded in understanding "She would obviously be a lot more trusting with someone she can see bending rules, proving that we are not, in fact, government robots, unlike Ward, here. She definitely knows everything we need." Ward opened his mouth again, but Coulson spoke first, leaving the dominating man confused.
"You are awesome," Phil tilted his head "albeit, kind of creepy, but well done. She's an asset." Grant's head tilted.
"She is such an a-" Don't finish that, big guy. "Wait , asset?" I took another soothing breath and rubbed my temples. I waited for Coulson to handle him, because I was done. I looked away for all of two seconds only to see some kind of serum in a briefcase. I desperately hoped that Coulson wouldn't ignore my analysis. We gathered back in the interrogation room where Sky sat with a stony expression. There Coulson pulled out the serum.
"This is QNB-T16." At this point, even I was confused. "It's the top shelf martini of sodium pentathol derivatives." Still not following, dad. "It's a brand new and extremely potent truth drug." I was starting to think that Coulson and Ward were more alike than I anticipated. He told her not to worry, that the effects only lasted an hour. Ward rubbed his hands together, almost gleefully. It was creepy as fuck.
"And you'll have a nice little nap." Sky looked back to me for support. "And we'll have all the answers to our-" Coulson surprised us all by stabbing Ward in the arm to inject the serum, and it was honestly amazing. Seeing his face all screwed up in pain was a guilty pleasure. "Hey- what the hell?" Grant demanded through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" Coulson smiled clinically. Ward denied that it hurt. Lies.
"You should never do that to a member of your team, and yes, it did hurt a little bit." I pulled up a chair, ready for the show. It continued to stream from his lips like a faucet "But I always try and mask my pain in front of beautiful women." Was that a plural I heard? It practically poured from his mouth "because I think it makes me seem more masculine." Oh this was some good shit. I pulled my phone out, silently pressing record and slipped it casually onto the table.
"I'd say this was well deserved." I snapped at Ward.
"And I'm all over your ass because you look younger than me and I am thoroughly intimidated by your skill level so I know I'll keep putting you down to make myself feel better. It makes me feel kind of guilty, but It's nothing personal. I also think it's creepy that you analyze people and I'm afraid you don't think I'm attractive." I raised an eyebrow and nudged Skye. Skye smirking over at me, "My God, this stuff works fast." He took a seat, cringing all the while. Coulson spoke directly to Skye, just as amused as us.
"Don't trust us? Ask him whatever you'd like. Except for you, Ghost. Just supervise."
"Oh, Gladly, Sir." Ward protested, but my dad was already out the door. I was so ready for this. "Hey, Skye. My name is Milo, Milo Ghost." She nodded and smiled wolfishly.
"I think I like you, Milo." Skye removed her jacket to turn up the heat. His eyes obviously weren't on hers. I followed suit and leaned forward onto the table, sending him a curious glance.
"You seem nervous, Agent Ward." He nearly stuttered when he finally responded.
I'm calling to mind my training." I was soaking this up like a sponge in a bowl of water. Skye stood and began circling him, almost shark-like. I could finitely see her working for us. "There is no way I'm gonna reveal classified secrets" I knew deep down, Skye wouldn't go there, and I was thankful "To a girl who's hell-bent on taking us down." he finished, feigning confidence and vindication.
"Have you ever killed anyone?" Skye's eyes bored into Ward.
"Yes, a few." He closed his eyes in self frustration and tried to mask his slip-up "High risk targets." His voice was an octave too high to masquerade his nerves. I was going to have a blast with this. This went on for a solid hour and I recorded the whole damn thing. Finally, the poor guy's head dropped to the table. I left him passed out, though not without debating whether or not to draw a mustache on him. I didn't, if you were wondering. I softly shut the door behind me.
"And he wishes you'd stayed in Tahiti."
"It's a magical place." I cringed inwardly. I wasn't sure what exactly happened with project Tahiti, but I knew it brought him back.
" Not to mention that he thinks Milo is either faking her age, or slept her way to the top."
"He out ruled the possibility of me just being useful." I laughed, I would really need to watch my back with that one.
"Ward doesn't like your style. I kind of think I do." My father gave me quick nod for a job well done. Coulson had a sudden change in mood as he showed Skye live news feeds of the man in the hood having attacked someone. Skye backpedaled and defended him, but the evidence was overwhelming. "He just needs a break."
"Then give him one. What have you got?" Well that sure as hell did it. Soon enough, the man was I.D'd as Mike Peterson as we sat around the giant ass hologram table. Fitz was leaning on his forearms over the table, Simmons stood close behind him looking down. Across from them stood May. Coulson explained the events leading up to now. "Good guy, bad breaks." Fitz pulled up a video of two men, one in a lab coat from before the blast.. Agent May questioned Fitz.
"What are we seeing here?" Well Fitz didn't seem to be much of a public speaker. I spaced out again knowing that full well I was staring at his -um face.
"Well, the man is angry at the other man." May's face dropped and I almost snorted. Simmons jumped to his rescue.
"The data is very corrupt." This got Fitz talking.
"Yeah, like cold war Russia corrupt." I snicker from my spot in the corner. "I can't sync the time-code without-" Skye interrupted him with an idea.
"What if you had the audio? I was running surveillance on the lab. I had my shotgun mic pointed at the window before the blast." She brought her fingers up to toy with her lips. "The digital file is in my van. There's too much background noise for me, but you can probably-"
"You can clean that up can't you?" pushed Simmons enthusiastically. The two bounced ideas for a moment before Fitz felt confident that he could. I let out a relieved breath. I was already getting tired. I would need a daily caffeine fix to keep up in the big leagues. We went our separate ways, but Coulson stopped me before I could make a dash for the Keurig machine.
"Is there something you want to let me know before we go out into the field? Maria Hill said I should ask you." My stomach sank to my feet. I was not prepared for this now of all times. I bit my bottom lip.
"Yes, Sir. Maria probably thought you should know my triggers. You must have read that I have P.T.S.D in my file." He nodded.
"And if you ever need to talk, I'm here." I flashed a reassuring grin.
"Thank you, Sir. Now I'll elaborate later, but there are certain triggers that should be avoided at all costs unless I bring them up first. The first is Hydra." Coulson's eyes bulged. I sped up the pace to give him a proper explanation. "It's not in my file, it's carefully guarded, but I was taken by Hydra for a year." There was a crack in my voice that I couldn't quite clear. "Like I said, I'll get back to you on that. Sudden noises should be avoided, unless I'm told to expect it. If I am to be yelled at, let May do it, she's trained yell at me." We laughed in unison, both thinking separately about our experiences with May.
"It seems May is trained for everything." My dad joked. "Anything else?"
"Normally I'll tell people if something triggers me, mainly because I can't list everything in the world. I might ask you to spar with me every once in awhile to desensitize myself." He nodded dutifully.
"We can discuss later. Is any of this relevant for now?" I examined every possible way it could go.
"All I ask is to warn me if things are likely to be physical so I can mentally prepare. And something about Ward puts me on edge, but I think that should pass." I quietly chuckled at myself.
"Okay, Ghost, thank you for trusting me." I slipped out and down into the lab to watch the progress. I heard Fitz tripping over his words.
"So,uh, uh wh-when you get back, I'll show you my thing." He quickly corrected himself.
"I mean A thing-It's not-It's my hardware." He grimaced and tried again. "My equipment." He could hear me cackling and gave up. "Let's hang up." He ripped out the Bluetooth. The poor kid was sweating, in obvious distress. Coulson was across the room talking to Simmons. I wasn't needed in the lab, so I stepped into the back of the room. I couldn't stop myself from jumping as Ward hurricaned in. My pulse jumped as he talked through the hologram. The hologram raised his voice and now I felt my chest constricting. Struggling, I remembered my training and therapy. Remove yourself from the situation. So I backed out and went for the back. Walk it off. I counted one by one, every footstep. I found a comfortable seat next to the window and plugged in. I stuck my earbuds in and watched clouds fly by in wisps. I was soon joined by Coulson and Ward, of course Ward was messing around with a weapon. I couldn't help but to be disappointed in myself. Phil crossed over to me.
"Ghost, can we talk?" That was never a good sign. Ward's eyes flickered across the room to me, but he swiftly tinkered with a sniper rifle with an audible click. I nodded my head, feeling like a failure for my lack of stability.
"Yeah, of course." My voice shook, threatening to break, but I was an agent, and agents didn't cry. Coulson lead me to my little bunk room. I sat on my cot, made comfortable for mobile living. Coulson pointed to two pictures on my wall. One was a signed picture of Steve Rogers, Fury promised me he'd get it after my first solo mission when I was thirteen.
"You're a fan too." It was a welcome distraction.
"Yeah, my Supervising officer got that for me after my first mission." Guilt shot through me like a bullet. I mean I wasn't a total lie, right?
"Really, who was your S.O.?" It was an innocent question, but I would have to let May take one for the team. I smiled, lying through gritted teeth.
"Actually, I'm not supposed to tell you that, but It was May. Coulson's forehead creased in surprise.
"Really, May? That explains a lot. No offence." Considering that May didn't actually train me, I was, in fact, offended. I shrugged it off. The other picture was of me posing with Dr. Bruce Banner. Coulson raised his eyebrows curiously at the photo.
"I consulted with him about the neutralizers, it was a dead end, but we really hit it off. We used to get coffee every Friday." Coulson's smile slipped.
"That brings me to my point. We're going into a hostage situation." I nodded him forward. "I don't want you coming." My heart sank. That absolutely gutted me. My own father didn't think I was capable of keeping my shit together for five minutes. "Don't get the wrong idea, I just think that you've done your job today. I'm sure when you get used to being back into the action it'll be easier for you…" My shoulders were tense with disappointment.
"But you don't want me to mess it up. I understand, Sir." My father was taken aback, blue eyes shocked.
"No, I just want to get you used to it first. I don't want you to have avoidable stress until you get back into the field. I want you to feel safe." That night I shot him the fakest smile I had ever managed. When Coulson thought I had understood his intentions, the group took off. Without me, and with a hacker who had no training what-so-ever. I was quite the ego blow. However, I got let it drift the back of my mind when I realized, we were keeping her. We had a pet hacker.