AN.1: Hey everyone! I am not fully back yet, but it's been a while and I figured I owed you an explanation, which you will get at the end of this chapter, as I won't be uploading for a while longer. Also, many thanks to MegaDiary123, as always, for beta-ing this chapter. Finally I want to really thank Taryth. I really appreciate you sending me ideas and it did help when I started writing again, so I hope you like what I've done.

All rights go to Marvel

Skye's POV

"Jane! How are you this fine morning?" Miles' voice echoed through the speaker of my phone.

"Oh you know, working as always". Despite my voice sounding as if I was smiling, I wear a frown on my face as I explained my day. "Remember the info that you send me about a Chitauri Neural Link in Paris?", I rhetorically asked. "Well, let's just say that if S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to get their hands on it they are gonna bump into some competition" I actually giggled at that, trying to sound as genuine as possible.

The laughter that I heard from the other end of the line let me know that the guy was very pleased with my work. "Now that's what I am talking about Jane. I knew I could trust you to make the information go public. And talking about trust, did you hear about the guy who jumped out of a building today?"

I had to admit that this got my attention. "No? Why did I not know about this?"

"Only because it just happened and reporters aren't that fast into delivering the news" I could tell that whatever he would say next he was very proud of, as he made one of his signature dramatic pauses to build up tension. "But I have footage with this 'Hooded Hero' and I want someone I trust to make it go viral as soon as possible. What do you say?"

"Send it over our secure line" I replied without even thinking about it. If this was what I was thinking it was about, then I didn't want anyone else to get their hands on that video before me.

"Perfect!", he exclaimed. "I knew this was going to make your day, and speaking of which… what do you say to meeting up at some point? Haven't seen you in a while J, I miss you"

I thanked God that this was just a voice call and not a video one because I couldn't help myself from rolling my eyes before masking my tone to that of a woman who was head over heels for that man. "You have no idea how much I've missed you too babe, but you know it's safer for us to stay separated for long time periods. People know who we are and I have no doubt that S.H.I.E.L.D. or any other government agency is looking for us. I promise you that when we meet, it is going to be memorable" I mastered my inner seductress Natasha and have one of my best performances, and from the long pause that followed I knew I had nailed it.

"I think you have a package in your mail, consider it an early gift. See you soon" and with that the call was terminated.

I swore when Fury made me take this undercover operation I knew that I had to get deep into the hacktivist's organisation and gain some trust. What better way to gain trust other than making out with one of the higher ranked people after all. But it still didn't mean that I liked what I was doing for the sake of S.H.I.E.L.D.

But I was the only line that filtered what many of the Rising Tide video's included as they soon realised I was one of the best hackers they had ever seen and most of their information ended up going through me before being released to the public. That allowed me to sneak some extra coding lines in the video, letting the agency know what was going to be released a few minutes earlier than it was released to the public. This allowed them the chance to try and fight back my programs and shut some of the videos or information before they even saw the light of day. Only some intel that I knew wouldn't really hurt S.H.I.E.L.D. were truly released to the public, I had to maintain my cover after all.

And this was how, after six months of working from my van I finally got a video which truly intrigued me. I let my face-recognition program run as I viewed the minute long sequence with a man jumping off a building, landing without breaking a bone and then running away.

Hooded hero indeed…

And one thing was for sure. If what I just saw was true, then I had to find him. He could be scared, but from the looks of it he knew how to handle his powers. So the most important thing at the moment was that he would not be found by the wrong people.

But I knew it would take me at last a couple of hours before I managed to track him down, talk with him and head back. And if my location tracker was correct, which always was, then that video was filmed from one of the labs that I had pinpointed as Centipede's ones. I had been gathering information on them for a while and if this guy was linked to them then I couldn't wait any longer to let S.H.I.E.L.D. know of my findings for the organisation that went really far to make sure people didn't learn about them.

True, I hadn't gathered much but it was enough to kickstart a S.H.I.E.L.D. investigation. So, I uploaded the video online, making sure I left a little gift for my friends back at the agency to find. Hard enough to encrypt so that I would have the time to meet this mysterious hero, but easy enough for them to be able to actually crack.

Hill's POV

"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for, agent Ward?"

This was how my debriefing of Ward started after he successfully managed to get the Chitauri Neural Link from France before anyone else got their hands on it. I wasn't normally the one to debrief agents after a mission, I had better things to work on. I was the second in command after all, having a Clearance Level 9 which only one other person had. But that day was different.

That day was different because Fury decided that it was time for Phil to go back into the field after the Battle of New York. It was a miracle that he had managed to tame the guy for these past two years but they still passed all too fast in my opinion.

So there I was, making Ward a Level 7 agent, with him getting the information that Phil was indeed alive. And of course this came as a shock to the man I used to train while in the Academy.

"Director Fury faked your death to motivate the Avengers" he stated as the three of us headed towards the command centre so as to inform him of his new position in Coulson's mobile team.

"Well, the death of a common ally is a particularly effective team builder" I stated back. These were some basics that they all learned in the Academy and I had to restrain myself from hitting him at the back of the head from saying something so plainly obvious.

But of course Phil was quick to intervene. "Plus it wasn't that much of a stretch. I stopped breathing for about 40 seconds"

"Hey, it gets longer every time you tell it" I continued walking and they followed from the back. It was a practised reply really, because although he had no idea I remembered very well what had happened during that fight.

"Yeah, well you get shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini you can tell it your way" he said without missing a beat. Just as I did before. The only problem here was that in his case, it was not a practised reply but a genuine one. A reply that originated from memory. "I was looking at the big white light and it felt like a lot more than just 8 seconds"

"Do they know?" The younger one asked. "The Avengers? That Fury played them?"

Before I had a chance to reply, Phil took the reins of the conversation once more. "They are not Level 7" he spoke and I heard the slightest of sorrow slip into his answer before he recomposed himself. "Got out of the ICU, Fury stuck me in a grass shack in Tahiti" and with that the talk about the Avengers was over.

I couldn't say that I was not glad for that.

So as soon as Ward finally left to gather his stuff and meet Coulson and the rest of the completely sketchy, in my opinion, team I left to go and take my mind off things. He talked about Tahiti, this magical place, and it pained me to see him so unaware.

"He really doesn't know, does he?" Doctor Streiten asked as if he was reading my thoughts.

"He can never know", was all I mastered to say before walking away and towards my office where I opened my computer and checked if there was any new video posted by the Rising Tide.

True, Coulson and his team was currently going to get a member which was pinpointed thanks to Skye's undercover work. Also, true, that it was the second intel she leaked us about the hacktivist group in the same day so the chances of getting anything new were low but it wouldn't hurt to check. After all, only Fury and I knew of Skye's whereabouts or her actual status in general.

Skye's POV

It was easier than I expected to find out the identity of the guy.

Mike Peterson. 34. Recently unemployed and father to one boy named Ace. This was all the information I need to know before I went out to track him down and meet him.

True, I did check a bit of his background and the guy seemed like a straight up dude. No criminal records or anything, just the unfortunate event that had him lose his job. And he just wanted to provide for his child. I didn't know whether or not he was actually connected to Centipede, but he did jump off one of their buildings, so I had to keep that in mind. But as I already said, he was a decent guy. I doubted he would get mixed with that kind of crowd.

And as he was recently fired from his work place, he was currently looking for employment. Which is exactly what I found him doing as I sat across from him in the cafe I tracked him down to. I parked on the back and went in, only to see him going through the job list on a newspaper.

"I know you don't know me but I want you to act natural, pretend that we are talking" I said when he looked up to me.

"We are"

"See, you already get it. The thing is that we never know who is listening" my voice was quieter than normal, but not whispering. I adopted a body language that indicated I was just chatting with a friend to help my case.

"I don't even know who's talking" he was so confused.

"I am really sorry, where are my manners? I am Jane" I gave him my undercover name, so in case anything happened and he had to look for me in the Rising Tide he wouldn't raise any suspicions. "And you are the Hooded hero".

"No–No, you got the wrong guy. I am just a factory worker" he replied and I could tell that he was growing anxious about this whole interaction.

I better go straight to the point then. "You've got the wrong approach" I stated. "I am not here to let people know it's you, make you famous. I know how hard it can be to have to hide, alright? And I know you are just trying to live a normal life, find a job, but you can't" with that he closed the newspaper he was looking at, clearly irritated.

He let out a sigh as he let his back rest to the cushion behind him. "What would you know about it, huh?"

"More than you think, okay?"

"Look, lady. I am just a guy" he tried.

"Not anymore, you are not. Not after you rescued that lady from the building. You did that, someone filmed it and the video went viral. You are a hero now. Like it or not, you don't have a choice and you cannot walk away from this. With great power comes…" my mind backtracked to the battle of New York, "…a tone of weird crap that you are not prepared to deal with" was the closest explanation that I could find.

I stopped talking and looked him in the eyes. All I saw was exacerbation. In the terms of, 'who is this crazy lady that just came and sat in front of me'. And soon followed what I expected as he made a move to stand up. "I think we are done here"

Without even hesitating, I reached out and placed my hand on top of him. Didn't grab him as this probably wouldn't really help into making him trust me, just touching him to get his attention. "Look, if you need anything you can find me in my van, it's right on the back. I am good with computers and know how to make people disappear. I could help you create a new identity, okay? Just think about it" I kindly smiled at him. With that, I retracted my hand, stood up, walked off and left him in the cafe as I opened the door to my mobile office.

Give him a new identity I would, was he to ask for it. That didn't mean that I wouldn't let S.H.I.E.L.D. know of his whereabouts as well, just in case anything ever happened.

I was playing around on my computers, gathering all the information that I had on the Rising Tide and Centipede and storing them in a secure location. I knew that the agents were coming. It was a good three hours by the time I uploaded the video and truth be told I expected them to be here sooner, I should really have a chat with Fury when I got back about their Communications graduates.

I looked up to the hula girl that was moving from side to side as I my vibrations picked up two sets of steps walking towards my van. It was about time to go back, wasn't it? I took a deep breath and prepared to meet the agents who would most likely put a black bag over my head, lead me back to their base of operation to 'interrogate' me. That would be the drill were I just a member of the Rising Tide.

But the plan was to show them my badge, sure they would ask questions but at least we would all save ourselves from the whole black-bag situation. The door on the side of my van opened from the outside and I turned around, ready to take out my badge when my eyes landed to the agent on the left.

My whole world stopped at the moment when I laid eyes on the man whose face still haunted some of my guilt-filled nightmares.

"Phil?" I barely managed to whisper, still in shock, before the bag was thrown over my head.

My question didn't seem to phase the man at all as the agent he was with dragged me out of my van and threw me in the vehicle they came to my location with. I snapped out of the daze I was in as the hand that was wrapped around my upper arm tightened and probably bruised the skin underneath.

Without too much of an effort I punched the guy that was holding me in the chest, releasing the tinniest vibration into his ribcage. Not enough so that he would understand that the pain that spread on his ribs was not solely from my hit, but enough so that he curled up on his seat, giving me enough time to take off the bag that covered my eyes.

"Coulson!" I loudly exclaimed as I felt the unmarked vehicle come to a harsh stop. By the time I could see straight Coulson, who was up until now driving, had turned to look back with a gun steady in his hands and trained at my chest. "What the fuck Phil?!", this time I yelled, not being able to hold my temper any longer.

His expression never changed from that of utter confusion as the situation had clearly not turned out as he had planned it to. But what scared me the most was the lack of recognition on his eyes. It was as if he was looking at a stranger. And as if all this wasn't enough to make me feel like someone had stabbed me in the heart with a knife, the words that came out of his mouth finished the job.

"Who the Hell are you?!"

AN.2: I am really sorry (not sorry) for the cliff hanger of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed, because I don't know exactly when I will uploading again, it will probably be a couple of months.

So, here is what's happening. I have a serious problem with my writing hand. Basically it's been bothering me for more than a month now and I couldn't use it at all. Even with some physio that I did, it still hurts whenever I write (or sometimes just use it). So, because of this I am unable to type anything with both hands in the computer. Even this AN is more than my hand is used to. And given that English isn't my mother language, I find it extremely challenging trying to type with just my left hand.

I have already written 4 chapters for this second part of the story, but the plan is to have at least 10 under my belt in case anything happens, to have some of them as backup. And all these 4 chapters were written more than a month ago. This is why I uploaded this chapter. For you to both get a glimpse as to what's going to happen next in the story, and to let you know of the overall situation. I felt bad leaving you hanging and not knowing when I would upload again. As soon as I can get back to properly writing at the computer, I will start writing chapters. I have so many ideas about whats going to happen in the story and I so want to write some more Skimmons scenes. So, in no way am I stopping this story but I need to focus on getting my hand healed and focus on the university. These two are my priorities at the moment.

And since I mentioned Skimmons. For those who have been reading this story for quite a while, you must have noticed that I just changed the pairing status to Skye/Jemma. But since starting this second part of the story and Skimmons is one of the things I am going to go after, I found it only proper to make it clear that this is the pairing for this story. There will of course be FitzSimmons friendship, but no SkyeWard (maybe one-sided, not sure yet). I am really sorry if I mislead any of you to think otherwise and feel free to unfollow/unfavourite if this is not the kind of story you are after. But this story was really created around Skimmons and there is no way I am not seeing it through. I know it's not cannon, but the story is AU to begin with.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a great weekend and I will see you again when I will see you :)