The moment they got back to the BUS, Skye made sure to back the last things she would need to take with her, mostly things that could link me to Melinda and Victoria in a way that is just work. Hearing that her aunt is holding a meeting, Skye knows this is the perfect time to leave the BUS and throwing her bag over her shoulder, she sneaks out of her bunk and heads for the hangar. Seeing that there are still a few agents around down there, she keeps to the side.
As her eyes lands on an agent moving close to the red car that is Coulson's everything, she sees how he is about to touch it and her eyes narrows and she moves towards him.
"Don't touch Lola!"
She growls as she walks past him, the younger agent jumping in surprise. Looking at the older car, Skye tries to figure out if she should just take the keys and take his car. But knowing that Victoria will have left a vehicle for her to take outside. And it would be too much to explain if she takes a car everyone knows are of limits.
Seeing Victoria's old car parked a bit away from the BUS and the rest of the S.H.I.E.l.D cars, Skye smiles and heads for it, knowing that her aunt wont mid and she inly took it here just because of this moment. Opening the driver door and finding the key where it's usually hidden, Skye takes the seat, placing her bag in the passenger seat and is off.
Watching how the BUS grows smaller in the mirror, she gets a feeling of dread, that something bad is about to happen and she should probably have stayed with them. But she also knows there isn't anything she can do on the BUS, and she needs to trust that they know what they are doing and that they have everything in control.
The drive to her and Gwen's is a long one and far too many things are going through her mind as she drives. Finally reaching her destination, she grabs her bag and heads into the building, taking the elevator up to her floor. Diggin out her keys, she unlocks the door and enters. The moment the door closes behind her, she is being pulled into a tight hug.
The only thing she can see is the blond and pink hair and Skye calms down, melting into the hug from her best friend. She isn't sure for how long they were standing like this, or when they moved but when she finally managed to pull herself out of the brain fog, she had entered, Gwen have placed her on the couch and there was a glace place in front of her on the table.
"There she is, mind telling me what is really going on?"
Gwen asks when she sees that Skye is back in the here and now and Skye lowers her head backwards. She takes in a few deep breaths before she starts to explain everything that has gone down the last few days, and how Coulson had acted when they were at the HUB, knowing this is part is important for her to understand the full weight of what is happening.
As Skye is telling her story, she can see how anger is growing in Gwen's eyes and if she had been younger and haven't known Gwen for as long as she has, she would be scared of the other woman right now. Once Skye is done with her explanation, silence falls over the room.
"Once that man finally learns who you are, he is going to be in for such a long conversation."
Is the words Gwen finally lands on, which somehow managed to pull a laughter out of Skye.
"Well, you have to be in line after Pepper then."
She informs Gwen who simply nods her head, not even question why she isn't the one going first, or the fact that Pepper is the first one on list and not any of her siblings, Melinda or Victoria. By now, they have all just accepted that if Pepper says anything, you follow.
"So, what are you going to do next?"
Gwen then asks, steering this whole conversation back to what it should be all about. With a heavy sigh, Skye leans back in the couch.
"Wait, there isn't anything I can do. I'm confident that Melinda and aunt Vick got this."
She informs Gwen who shakes her head.
"No, I don't believe that, and I can see that you don't either. You are trying to push yourself into believing that you believe."
The blond woman's arms are crossed, and she has a pointed look in her eyes and Skye knows she is right. At least on the fact that Skye is trying to make herself believe that everything will be handle without her help. She had done everything she can for them.
"I guess there might be a few angles they wont think about looking into, I guess I can go over them."
Skye says, which makes Gwen smile.
"There she is! Dig out your laptop and I'll grab something for you."
Seeing the glint in Gwen's eyes over that statement, Skye can't help but to worry but she does what she is told, and she takes out her laptop. Booting up her system, Gwen returns with a large silver box that she places on the table.
"Do I really want to know where you got that and what's inside of it?"
Skye asks, looking over the rim of her screen.
"It's a gift from Stark, he didn't know if he would be able to send it to your work so he had me pick it up and keep it until you can get it."
"Alright, I'll deal with this first and then I take a look on whatever that is! I've seen that type of box before and that time didn't end well."
Skye tells her, remembering when they had to blow a hole in the wall of the BUS. Sometimes that memory hunts her dreams. Seeing the grin on Gwen's face, Skye shakes her head, turning her attention back to the screen. A second silence falls over the room, at least this one isn't heavy with anger like the one before. Time ticks by before Skye finally finds a lead she thinks might work, she would need some equipment, stuff that she would have access to if she was still on the BUS.
Eyeing the large silver box once more, Skye places her laptop to the side and reaching for the box. With a deep breath, she opens the box and looks inside, feeling how her eyes grows large at the sight.
"What? What did he give you?"
Gwen asks, moving to look into the box too.
"Well, he has solved one of my problems. I might be able to do this little side mission after all."
Skye comments, moving a few things around in the box, trying to get over the surprise that Tony Stark have sent her a box with every spy gadget one could wish for and knowing Stark, some of these things are probably better than what she would find on the BUS.
"Remind me not to be too hard on him next time I meet him."
She tells Gwen who starts to laugh as Skye rises from the couch.
"Where are you going now?"
"I can't do the work looking like this. I need proper clothes, and a pair of sunglasses too."
She informs the superhero as she heads for her bedroom to change.
-X-X-X-
Out of all her plans and all of the plans that had been made for her since going undercover and then joining S.H.I.E.L.D, this is the most dangerous and stupid one she has had. Well, stealing a car isn't that bad of plan, crashing the damn thing when she's still in it, however. She was going to feel this for a long time afterwards, but she needed to get all the attention she can get, and this is the only way.
"Roadside assistance. We see you've had an accident."
A female voice speaks a few moments after she crashed the car, happy that she has at least some type of luck.
"Yeah. Can you send somebody to tow me back to my house?"
She asks, putting on an act that she is feeling more confused and hurt than she really is.
"Of course. I'll dispatch someone right away. Are you okay?"
The woman asks and Skye feels slightly worried that she is using this poor woman like this. But desperate times leads to desperate measures.
"Yeah. I'm good."
She answers and leans back in the seat, all she had to do now is wait for the help. She didn't have to wait long for that, and she soon finds herself outside of Lloyd Rathman's home.
"So, you sure you don't want me to take it to the dealer?"
"No, thanks. I got a guy."
"All right. Thank you."
"Dollar bills, y'all."
Watching the roadside assistance, Skye heads for the front door and starts working on getting into the house, which was quite easy. Heading for his office, she makes a call Rathman's office.
"Llyod Rathman's office."
A woman answers the call as Skye is looking around in the office.
"This is the L.A.P.D. I need to speak with Mr Rathman. We've recovered a stolen vehicle registered in his name."
Skye informs the woman on the phone.
"Oh. Was it damaged?"
"Yes, ma'am. We have two officers waiting at his home, ready to take a statement. How long do you think it'll take Mr Rathman to get there?"
Skye asks happy to know that she wouldn't have to wait for the man for to long. She has moved from the office, walking past a mirror she comes to a stop. The reflection looking back at her, makes her smile. She knows fully well that some of her siblings, Victoria and Gwen have pointed out that she and Melinda shares some similarities, she hasn't been able to see it herself until this moment.
Hearing how the front door opens, she smiles and puts on the sunglasses and steps out so that Lloyd can see her.
"You're in a lot of trouble, Mr Rathman."
She says, making the man spin around, eyes growing large as he sees her.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Agent Melinda May with S.H.I.E.L.D."
Her plan had been to use Maria's name for this, but using her mothers name had come more naturally and it makes her grin slightly."
"Look, clearly there's been a misunderstanding. I'm a legitimate businessman."
This makes Skye roll her eyes, like that is something she haven't heard before.
"S.H.I.E.L.D has evidenced your company has been siphoning funds into an offshore account for some very bad people."
"My clients' business is their business."
"Well, my business is catching those guys, and if it turns out you've made a profit from just one of them, S.H.I.E.L.D is prepared to freeze all of your assets."
"I'm calling my lawyer."
"Do that and my offer's off the table."
Skye informs him, seeing how Llyod stops right before reaching the phone in his office.
"What offer is that?"
"Immunity… you walk… free and clear. S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't touch a single asset. Not even your party boat in Key Largo."
She knows she can't really make this deal, but she knows that Maria and the others will understand when she explains the whole situation to them.
"And if I say no?"
"You spend the next five years in the fridge."
"The fridge?"
"It's worse than it sounds."
"All right, what do you want?"
Skye smiles, happy that he had taken the bait and she nod towards his desk, and he sits down. Skye makes sure to keep to the door, explaining to him what she wants him to do, and she can see the confusion in his eyes when she asks him to hack into a bank account.
"You want me to hack into a Swiss bank account?"
He asks, mostly to make sure he had really heard her, and Skye rolls her eyes. She should have done this herself; she knows that. But if S.H.I.E.L.D would start to ask question about how she obtained the information needed, this was the best fall out option for herself.
"Just need you to type in your privet corporate I.D. to get me in the door."
"Yeah, well, letting you in that door is a crime. Come to think of it, how do I know you're not just some criminal? In my experience, a federal agent shows a badge."
The man points out and Skye takes in a deep breath and moves towards him and takes his phone.
"You want to see my badge."
She asks of him as she enters a few numbers on the keypad before placing the phone to her ear, happy once more for what Stark has given her.
"S.H.I.E.L.D protocol six alpha victor."
She says and once she hears a signal from the phone, she holds it out for Lloyd to see the S.H.I.E.L.D logo and the fact that Skye have just blocked his phone. The only reason she had been able to do that was due to the silver bracelet on her wrist. She had recognised the design as the one Miles had been given, but she had made a few changes to it, and it was now working just like she needed it to.
"There. That's my badge."
"Great. Just got my high score in Tiny Wings."
Llyod complains as he turns back to his computer and Skye shakes her head, moving towards the door of his office once again.
"S.H.I.E.L.D's been watching you for quite some time, Mr Rathman. You're a prime exploit… the gambling, the divorces, the money pit in the Caymans. You're even behind on your child-support payments."
"Ugh, that's a clerical thing. My ex knows that."
"But does David know that?"
"David thinks I'm a cool dad."
Skye have seen that type before, been to a similar household too.
"David thinks you're a jackass. You got to fix that, Lloyd. Kids need someone they can look up to. Now… start typing."
Skye informs him, but seeing the smug look in the man's eyes and feeling that someone is walking up behind her, she rolls her eyes.
"PD security! Don't move! That's it. Nice and easy. Keep your hands where I can…"
The poor security guards didn't know what hit them. The closes man to her was soon on the floor, his gun in her hand and pointing towards the second one, with her eyebrow raised, the other guard lowers his gun.
"Okay, I-I'm typing, I'm typing. You S.H.I.E.L.D guys don't mess around."
She can hear Lloyd say behind her and Skye starts to order the security guards to take the seats in front of Llyod's desk. Extremely happy for the training her siblings forced on her.
"All right, we're logged in, but you do realize you can't transfer these kinds of funds online."
"I'm not looking to transfer funds. I'm looking for transaction records. Go to your account's history. We need to open up a terminal emulator, see what kind of encryption they've got."
"Okay."
"If it's an SSL 256 or an A.E.S twofish serpent, we're in business."
"Yeah."
"Quantum key, that's another story."
"Right."
Realising she is speaking to a wall; Skye turns her attention towards the man beside her.
"Lloyd. What is happening here?"
"Yeah, account history. Where is that?"
With a deep sigh, Skye looks at the two security guards in front of her and points at the younger out of the two.
"You, switch place with him. Now."
She orders and the two men changes place and Skye starts to guide the younger man through the whole thing. She can hear how Llyod points out this is the reason why he has an assistant. Finally finding what she is looking for, Skye smiles.
"Print that."
She orders the security guard who nods his head and does as she tells him. This man has potential and Skye can only hope that this little experience will put him in a new line of work, and not just some simple security guard.
"Great. So, are we done here?"
Lloyd asks her and Skye gives him one of her most wining smiles.
"One last thing."
She informs him, driving away from his building in the nice sprot car she had seen when getting to the place. She has the location and a way to get there, all she needed now was help. Reaching for her phone she calls Jemma.
"Hello?"
"Jemma, it's me."
"Why, hello… Dr Nugent."
Hearing the line, Skye rolls her eyes.
"Is someone there? God don't try to lie. You are the worst at this. Remember our safe word."
She tells Jemma as she takes a turn.
"Manscaping? Oh, I shouldn't have said that. Um, I am right as rain. Couldn't be better, old chap."
"Listen up. I may have a lead on were Centipede's holding Coulson."
Skye starts to explain, hopping that Jemma would be able to handle the short version.
"Skye? What have you found?"
Hearing Melinda ask the question, however, makes Skye smile. She should have known her mother would spend time down with Jemma and Fitz. She and Victoria have a reputation of not being on the best of terms after all. And it also means, Skye can just tell Melinda exactly where they were going and not having to tell the full story for now.
After giving her mother the location, Skye takes in a few deep breaths.
"Hang on Phil, we are on our way."