AN: Hello! I hope everyone has a nice day, here comes the next chapter. As always, many thank to MegaDiary123 for being an awesome Beta. Also, thank you for any and all reviews, follows, favourites! I truly appreciate your support. But enough with that, enjoy the chapter, and see y'all in a couple of weeks. Until then...

All rights go to Marvel


Skye's POV

It had been an interesting, one could say, few days.

For starters, an external psychologist was contacted, since we were not sure who to trust within the organisation. The deep-seeded corruption was a concern that we did not know how far it reached, and the only people the Director truly trusted were Maria, May, Coulson and myself. The Avengers and the team on 6-1-6 were also pretty high on the list but not quite there. With the exception of Ward, as we already knew he was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and agent Morse that still needed her loyalties to be tested.

So, May contacted Andrew of all people and he, with some reluctance and persuasion put me in for an online session. I knew briefly of him from before and during my time at the academy, but hadn't really interacted with the guy all that much.

I was also completely in the dark about when, why and how he split with May. But with what we had talked about her time after the Bahrain mission, it wasn't difficult to figure out what had happened.

So, long story short, he was a nice dude. Nice, for a psychologist that is, 'cause he could read me like an open book, which I hated. What was his decision after our first session? 'Currently unfit for active duty until further notice', with weekly appointments being set up through a secure channel until further notice.

Just what I needed right now.

I couldn't do anything about it though, because it was collectively agreed that while undesirable, it was for the best. At least he didn't give me any homework to work on myself or whatnot. But after having met him, I wasn't so sure that was off the book for the future.

That was one thing that happened. And the other…

"You were aware that people were creating Super Soldiers this whole time and you said nothing?", Steve practically yelled at Fury as soon as we managed to connect with him after our mission to retrieve Coulson. It must have been the only thing on his mind during the whole journey back to the Tower.

"People have been trying to create Super Soldiers since you were given the serum by Dr. Erskine, Rogers", he replied. "This isn't something new"

"Successfully", Steve emphasised. "They have successfully created Super Soldiers, who they apparently control and kill at the press of a button?"

Fury's one good eye stared down at the Captain. "We knew that there were trying, yes. We were unaware that they had succeeded. Our agents have managed to shut down a lot of their labs because of information that was acquired during the search for Coulson. Skye herself has been hunting down these attempts of Super Soldier creation for months now"

"It's true", I said to Steve who turned to look at me, his expression a mixture of anger and confusion. "There wasn't a need to let you know, cause they had been, as the Pirate said, unsuccessful"

His eyes narrowed. "And if you had found they were successful you'd have let me know?"

I let a couple of second pass before I answered. "Probably not", I answered truthfully. He went to say something but I started before him, lifting my hand to silence him at the same time. "You tend to go heads in on situations before you have thoughts of a different plan. We would have proceeded in a way to incapacitate and capture, in order to find more information and discover more labs and locations where the Soldiers were produced, instead of simply destroying one base, like you would have wanted to do as soon as possible".

"It's not true", he argued but it was weak.

"Do you want to have the argument about GH-325 again?", I brought up and he seemed to deflate a bit. "You would have gone on one lab, and destroyed it, then they would have packed their bags and evacuated from their other locations as soon as they could. I have been on their tail ever since I joined Coulson's team"

"That's true", Fury came to my defence. "The only success they seemed to have had was Mr. Peterson that Skye and agent Simmons managed to bring to us unscathed. Who, unfortunately, passed away a few days prior". His gaze travelled in my direction, softening a little bit. "I understand he had a son", to which I nodded. "We will make sure he is well taken care of"

It was… It was not something that I had thought he would take notice of, not personally. "I've already set up a fund account for him, to which he will have access to when he is of age". It was one of the things that I would do to settle the never-ending restless energy I had when I was looking for Coulson. "Thank you", for I might not have interacted much with Mike or his son, but I remembered how close the two of them were. And from the reports I had read on him, he kept pushing himself for his son's sake.

While the conversation steered in a different direction after that, Steve was still very agitated with the whole situation. And I knew for a fact that he was going to drill Fury for answers the moment he went back to DC with Natasha, which was soon.

The one that surprised me with how quiet he was about this whole topic, was Tony.

"I know you like to poke and make fun of Steve, but I thought you'd share his views on this matter?", I asked him when just the two of us were left in the room. He stayed quiet, gaze lingering on the windows and the night sky. This was not like him. "Tony", I called and went to stand by his side.

"Do you remember when we first met?", he asked me instead of answering. "Not long after, the earthquake from your powers happened, and then the rave at Monaco. I had told you to be careful, because I was dying and I wanted you to be there for Pepper". He then turned to me and I almost took a step back from the emotion reflected in his eyes. There was a pregnant pause as he seemed to examine me. "I know you are still hiding things. This meeting was enough of an indication. I don't know if it's just from me, or Capsicle, or maybe even the others. What I told you before we went to find Phil still stands… I am here if you wanna talk. But I'm not going to pry", he promised.

I sighed. "There are a lot of things that I know, Tony. Things that would get people killed. The less you know, the safer you'll be, trust me"

His eyes turn back on the horizon. "You're trying to keep us all safe by putting yourself in the crossfire of whatever secret you're holding", he shook his head. "We will always have your back, but you need to be alive to call for us…", his hand went to his stomach, "…and if the gunshot was them trying to silence you, then they failed. And they know it. Whoever they are. So, please, promise me you will be careful and call us if you need it. If not for yourself, for your family"

My throat was tight. "I promise to be as careful as I can be", I said. It was the closest to what he was asking, but it was all that I could give.

He smiled. "Pepper will be happy to hear that." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together, breaking whatever tension was created. "Now, let's go and make sure T.A.D.A.S.H.I. and your equipment are as calibrated as possible for your return to S.H.I.E.L.D.. I will not have one of my creations give out on you"


I walked down the airfield, seeing the Bus on the other end. Jemma was by my side, as I carried both of our duffle bags. It had been three days since we rescued Coulson, and all I had heard about him from May was that he was doing okay, considering what he had been through. He had not opened up to her about it though, and knowing May she would not push him.

As we were approaching, I noticed the four silhouettes, all standing in different positions.

One of them broke off and started fast walking towards us, Fitz's frantic energy at seeing Jemma after so long making it easy to distinguish who it was. He stopped a short distance away. "I'm so glad you are okay", he said to me and smiled.

I moved a bit closer to give him a half hug. "Thanks", I answered. "Now don't let me keep you", I smiled and nodded. He basically jumped at the opportunity to hug Jemma tightly and start chatting with her. I left them there and made my way to the others, placing the bags down as soon as I made it up the ramp.

May was there with a hint of a smile on her face. "Welcome back, agent Skye. About time you joined us", she simply said before she made her way towards the inner parts of the aircraft. "We will be up in about 15 minutes. Make sure Simmons is in, or I will be leaving without her", she called out before she disappeared from view.

I turned to the other occupants of the room. "Good to see you are still alive, Ward", I figured I would to get it over with the hardest person the first. "Managed not to piss anyone off enough to want you dead?"

He scoffed, but his usual smirk did make an appearance. "Heard you got shot" he called back. "What happened? I left and you couldn't back your words of not needing me?", his tone was semi-serious, semi-joking and it threw me off. To be fair, we had an… okay relationship one could say, but the last time we saw each other spirits were high. Because of the 'Asgardian staff's influence', based on Ward. "Don't worry I'll make sure to be there to help next time" he finished and followed on May's steps.

You know what?, I thought to myself. Sure, why not.

I turned to the other person that was there. Standing very tall and with great confidence, the new addition to the team outstretched her own arm. "Agent Bobbi Morse", she said with an easy smile that was easily a killer. "Please, call me Bobbi"

"Skye", I answered easily, a smile on my own face. "Pleased to make your acquaintance".

She laughed at that. "Wow, haven't heard that in a while" she said as she picked up my two bags. I went to tell her she didn't have to but she brushed me off with a shake of her hand. "Don't worry about it", she said. We started making our way up the spiral staircase. My eyes drifting back to Jemma, making sure she was coming with Fitz, cause I did not doubt May would pull something like leaving them stranded here 'cause they were late.

"So", I heard Bobbi say, and I turned back around to see her looking between me and the direction I was looking before. "What's the deal with you two?"

Her straightforwardness intrigued me. "What do you mean?", I asked in turn.

She laughed. "You mean apart from the fact that the two of you apparently disappeared from the face of the earth when you were injured which had me join your team?" We stopped outside of my bunk, a few boxes placed outside. "There weren't any free bunks when I came, so I was put in Simmons' quarters. Apparently the two of you are going to share one from now on". And oh, that made sense.

"Well, it's not going to be the first time", I answered and watched as she let the bags hit the ground. But for some reason, she didn't leave… instead kept looking at me, her blue eyes looking at me almost expectantly. "Uh… thank you?", I asked awkwardly.

She scoffed and folded her hands, leaning on the wall. "I was just curious how you're gonna open your door, we were trying to open it but couldn't figure out how".

Wow… she really wasn't beating around the bush. I think I'm going to like her, I thought to myself as I pressed my hand on the side of the door. I sent some vibrations on the lock, and that in combination of Tee being connected to the system was enough to let me in. The door slid to the side, revealing my bunk. "Just like that", I said and smiled back.

Her eyes narrowed, but the smile did not leave her face. "I will solve the mystery that is you, agent Skye", she said playfully. Some alarms did ring in my head in the way that she phrased that sentence, but for some reason it didn't feel as threatening as it would have if Ward was the one to say it. Still, she was great at undercover and deception, based on her file, so it remained to be seen. I would definitely be keeping an eye on her.

"You can certainly try, agent Morse", I said in a similar tone back as I took some of the stuff in the corridor and put them in the room. "Won't get a chance to do so in the field though, I'm not cleared yet. Which reminds me, I need to update agent Coulson. Is he in his office?"

"That he is", she straightened up. "I will see you around, Skye"

"You too, Bobbi", I called as I watched her move away.

I turned back to the more filled bunk. It was a good thing I didn't really keep a lot of things here, otherwise it would have been cramped. I closed the door behind me and took a moment to sit on the bed, grabbing the hula girl and sending a small wave to make her dance.

May's voice let us know we were taking off and I braced myself for the take off.

I smiled to myself and closed my eyes, letting my vibrations travel at the whole expanse of the airplane, familiarising myself again with the space and the people within it. It would take a while to really be able to pinpoint Bobbi's vibrational print on my radar, but it was close enough that if she attempted to come to my quarters I would know.

Satisfied with that, and after we were given the okay to walk around, I wrote a small note for Jemma and put it under the hula girl. I grabbed the file with Dr. Garner's assessment and started making my way to Coulson's office.

I knocked on the door and walked in after he called out. He was putting away some documents, but as soon as he lifted his eyes and saw me, I saw them soften up, a smile across his face. He stood up. "Skye, welcome back" he said as he made his way around his desk. The cuts on his face still there, but less apparent than they were from when I found him. The bruises as well were somewhat faded.

"Good to be back, sir", I replied, hands behind my back and in attention. "I failed my psych eval, but I am still good to work from here for anything you might need. I know it won't…" I trailed off as I watched him go to his door to close it… and lock it?

"How is your stomach?", he asked when he turned around, his eyes travelling to where my scar was.

I slightly tilted my head to the side. "It's good. As I said, physically I am all set. It's just the—"

I was cut short when he took two big strides towards me and wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. My arms were pinned at my side from the force of his gesture, and I let them hang in the air, frozen, and completely unsure of what to do next. "Sir?", I asked, taken aback. When he didn't answer for a few seconds, I decided to try again. "Coulson?", I asked this time.

He took a step back, his hands on my shoulders, the contact he had with me never breaking. "It's not your fault", he said, his eyes misty but serious. There was determination there as well.

"I know…" I tentatively started. "It was Ian Quinn's?", it came out as a question.

He shook his head, a wet sound came out of his throat. His eyes kept moving around, trying to grasp something that I couldn't decipher. He took my free hand in both of his, and placed it on his chest, his tie pushed aside. One of his hands remained on mine, holding it in place, while he reached out with the other, gently placing it on the side of my face. "It's not your fault. The one to blame is Loki"

The words he spoke were the same from the first time I met him. But this was different. His eyes were different. And as realisation came to me, I felt my face drop. The file that I held was now on the ground, my fingers unable to keep a hold to it.

I saw something that I hadn't seen in two years, four months, and thirteen days.

I saw recognition.

"AC?"


AN.2: I love Bobbi and I'm so excited I get to include her in the story so early on. She's one of my all-time favourite characters from the series.