AN: Hi to everyone. Please thank MegaDiary123 for being an awesome Beta for this story. Without further due...

All rights go to Marvel

Skye's POV

"Tell me why you have to leave again?" I heard Simmons say for the third time since I started packing my bag.

"It's an off-campus training camp. I don't have much of a choice really" I turned and looked at her as I zipped the now fully packed bag. "Trust me, I would much rather stay here with you but I don't get a say in the matter. The only one to skip this camp is Ward and that is because he will be gone in a few days for his undercover mission" it was obvious that she wanted to keep on rambling, so I had to put a stop to it somehow. "Look, it's only for a month. I will be back before you can say 'manscaping'".

The beginning of a smile tried to make its way before she smothered it, letting me know that she wasn't really mad at me for leaving. "A month is too long!" She exclaimed and threw her hands in the air to put more emphasis into her words.

"But we can talk every day if you want to" I answered back. I had an answer ready for every possible excuse or statement that she could make. Mostly since she was using the same lines over and over again for the last week. "You know that even if the rules say 'no contact with anyone outside the camp' I can easily do so without them knowing" I winked and got up from my bed.

As Simmons realised that this was me actually leaving she wrapped herself around me in a bone-crushing hug. "Promise?" She asked, her tone soft and pleading to put emphasis in her need for my agreement.

I would promise anything to you Jemma, I thought to myself. "Promise".

She seemed to relax a bit at that, but soon tensed again. She pulled away and went to my nightstand. My face was the term of confusion as she seemed to inspect something. Then she turned and looked at me. I could read that she was hurt all over her, since she wore her heart on her sleeve.

"What?"

"Why is this still here?" She asked and picked the object of interest and shoved it to my hands. I looked down as the hula girl danced from the sudden movement. I lifted my gaze, looking back at Simmons and I could almost out make what she was thinking. Why didn't you pack it as well? Is this how much this meant to you?

"Oh, no Jemma" I quickly said before she got the chance to think more. Her quick and uncontrollable thinking could get out of hand too fast for my liking. "It means the world to me, honestly. I just thought that you would like to keep it safe for me until I get back." I could still see that she was hesitant and the raised eyebrow helped verify my suspicions. "Look, I know that no matter what I tell you, you're gonna miss me. So… I thought that if you had this…" I said as I pointed to the shaking girl, "…then maybe you could look at it and not feel the distance between us that much".

The smile that appeared on her face warmed my heart in an instant. She let out a quiet breath, almost like a sigh, and came closer, placing her hands on top of mine. She pushed the object of debate further to my chest but still held my hands firmly.

"You keep it. I have plenty of your stuff here. It is, after all, our room. That way if I do miss you, which I will, I have half a room that reminds me of you. That's why you will take it with you, so that I'll have a way of knowing that there is something near you that reminds you of me" her tone was soft yet serious, leaving no room for arguments.

I unzipped the bag to place the hula girl in. Once that was over, I threw the bag over my shoulder and headed for the door. "I'll call you as soon as I can" I said and left the room.

This was the training camp that got most of the Operations cadets cut. Every year, this one month would be the last glimpse of S.H.I.E.L.D. that many would have. And because what occurred during the camp would, immediately after its finish, become well known, every year they would come up with new and more complex exercises.

I was really glad for all the training that I had done with Natasha and May before I started at the Academy. If I hadn't, I would probably be on the floor trying to catch my breath, just as a lot of the other cadets were.

The whole facility was somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Like, there was only one road, which we took to come here, and other than that the only view one could have, was trees. Endless rows of trees going as far as the eye could reach. It was probably one of the most remote places I had ever seen. And my daily life for the past, almost three weeks, was pretty much the same. The 24 hours were filled with different kinds of exercises and a lot of running, the most running I had ever done in my entire life.

It was right after this 45-minute jog after a very intense strength training that Hill called out to me. "Skye! Come here!" She screamed and waited for me to reach her. All the others from my group had left and it was just the two of us among the trunks.

"Yes ma'am?" I said with my back straight and my hands wrapped behind my back.

"At ease, Skye. How's the training going so far? I guess you are having more fun than at the Academy?" Her tone casual, as always, but I could see her eyes studying my face. I wasn't sure why though, and it made me feel exposed in front of her.

"It's more challenging. I like it" I replied honestly. Her eyes were still on me and I had to fight with myself not to fidget on the spot.

"Good, that's good" her gazed fell down as she moved her hands and only then did I notice the folder that she was holding all this time. She raised it to my chest and I took it, reading the bold, capital, red letters on its cover. "Classified? What is this?" I asked as I looked at her for permission to open it and read its contents and she nodded to me.

"This is O'Brien. He came into possession of an 0-8-4 weapon that was stolen from us years ago. We were informed that he is going to sell this weapon to the highest bitter in less than a week. S.H.I.E.L.D. is assembling a team to infiltrate and recover the weapon, without making ourselves known. I requested that you participate on this team, so that you can properly see how things work outside the Academy" she finished and I was left looking at her like an idiot.

"I- I- I am not sure this would be the best idea" I said trying to find the proper words to express my thought.

Hill raised an eyebrow at that. "Care to elaborate? I am doing this for you. Other cadets would kill for a chance like this one and you dare to doubt an idea of mine?"

It was hard not to gulp at the tone of her voice. "I never meant to disrespect you. And I am sure that you thought this as thoroughly as you possible could. But if you want my opinion on the matter it is this. This O'Brien guy seems trouble. The fact that he holds a 0-8-4 is a threat on its own and this operation is too important for the team to have a not full-badged and with hands-on-experience agent among them. You've been training me to make decisions like that, and even if it's against me, I believe that there are better agents suited for this mission".

A silence enfolded us that seemed to stretch out to infinity. My gaze never left hers, showing the confidence that I had behind my words. Her laughing took me completely by surprise. My face was full of surprise as her giggles kept going and she patted my shoulder in an appraising way.

"I knew I made the right choice" the smile on her face never truly disappearing. "That is exactly what I was expecting and wanted to hear from you to know that you are ready. The fact that you put so much thought into it tells me that there is no way you're gonna screw this up. And, don't worry, you're gonna run back end and won't see first-hand action but it will be a worthy experience. Now go get your stuff. You're leaving to meet the team in an hour". Doing her trademark move, she walked away without leaving me any chances to talk back or say anything else.

It was an approximate 3-hour ride from the training camp to the safe house. Hill had come with me but once we reached the door she insisted that I cross it first. This confused me a little bit, but still did as was told, only with my guard up.

The safe house was pretty much a cabin the woods, not much of an upgrade from the training camp facility in that aspect, and it was pretty simple. It was a one store house in a country style, seemingly made completely out of wood. The majority of the space was occupied by the living room, which had a couple of couches and just as many arm chairs, all of which appeared to be new.

My attention was later captured by the back of three heads that were sitting at one of the couches and were observing something in an up-to-date technologically television. As soon as I stepped into the room, the wooden floor creaked and all three agents turned to look in my direction alarmed. Before I got the chance to analyse any of their faces the door behind me shut and I sharply turned to look at Hill blocking the exit. She had a triumph smirk on her face that I couldn't quite place where it came from or where it was leading.

Shaking my head, and my thoughts with it, I turned back to look at the other members of the team that I would be part in for this mission.

My whole vision became tunnel like once I spotted the small, black-haired asian woman who had all but raised me since the day she found me.

"May?"