Distractions
"Maybe we've been going about this all wrong," said Raina.
They were in one of Ward's safehouses, between daily activities.
All spare and spartan with a touch as dull as the mind of its owner, she thought.
She was used to moving around every few months or so now.
They'd become quite efficiently mobile.
It was unfortunate, though, since a permanent facility would allow for uninterrupted research. But, until she found another sponsor, Ward's place would just have to do.
"What do you mean?" asked Ward.
He was doing one of his habitual routines. Mission, mission, mission, this one. Clean the weapons. Get more weapons. Get Chinese takeout.
"We can't get to Skye if she's with *him*," Raina said. "Behind his wall."
"You mean Coulson?" he replied.
"Yes."
"Good luck getting her to come to us," said Ward, sitting on the edge of the desk, examining the barrel of a gun.
"What if we don't need her to come to us," said Raina, beginning to pace.
"What if we get Coulson to put her on the outside?"
Ward humphed and looked over at her.
"He'd never do that," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "He thinks she farts rainbows."
"Have a think," said Raina, just a hint of impatience straining the edge of her voice. "Did they ever fight? Argue?"
"Yes, of course they argued," he said. "But, Coulson never lost his cool."
Raina sighed and headed back to her makeshift lab.
"Except," said Ward, narrowing his eyes, a memory coming to mind. "Miles Lydon," he said, looking over at Raina.
"And who's that?" Raina asked with a toss of her head.
"Ex-hacker boyfriend," said Ward, smirking.
"Rising Tide member?" he added.
"I see," said Raina, slowly making her way back towards him.
"And how do we get him to do our bidding?" she asked.
"Our bidding?" Ward grimaced. "And I thought Garrett was bad."
Raina's face fell.
"Look," said Ward, sliding off the desk, "He's easy. We make him an offer he can't refuse."
Ward slid the magazine into the gun.
"It's finding him that might be tricky."
****
One of the best days of his life, watching SHIELD crumble.
Bye bye, Big Brother.
Now he was mining the data, selling off bits to the right people.
None of that old guard were going to be looking for him. They were too busy evading the authorities.
He wondered, sometimes, about Skye.
If she'd been caught up in all that.
But, she make her choice.
Let that bureaucrat in the nice suit dump him on a tarmac in Hong Kong and just flew away.
With that handicap.
It had taken him a few days to figure out how to get others to hack for him, with that bracelet. But, it kind of made him famous and women loved to ask him about it. So, he made some money setting up a little operation in Hong Kong.
Until the authorities had caught wind and then he'd grabbed cash and headed back to the States.
The day the bracelet came off, on its own, he got on his laptop and saw the news feed and the data stream flooded.
Like a dam had broken.
And just like that, he'd started up a business front and used it to sell off the data behind the scenes. Discretely.
Sure, he'd had NSA and CIA sniffing around a few times, but he knew how to clean up after himself.
He'd love to see the look on that aging bureaucrat's face, though.
Maybe he'd even give Skye another shot if she apologized?
He was sitting in the parking lot of the Sonic, pondering all this, waiting for his order of tater tots and a foot long to arrive.
It was starting to get hot. Not quite blistering, though.
This summer might be easier than last year.
But, he'd rolled up his windows anyway and kept the AC running.
There was a tap on the window of his tinted BMW SUV.
He rolled the window down and slid the $20 bill through with his hand.
"Thanks," said the person on the other side.
He shoved over a brown bag.
"Can I keep the rest?"
"Are you kidding?" asked Miles, turning to make eye contact.
Oh. Shit.
Miles went to roll up the window, but the hand reached out, grabbed him around the neck.
"You forgot your shake," Ward said calmly.
****
Skye was sitting at a desk in an office in the Playground.
It was her office, which was kind of cool.
She was rebuilding SHIELD's database, which was kind of not.
Useful? Yes. Interesting? No.
The joys of bureaucracy.
She was reaching her limit and needed a break.
Opening her personal laptop, she looked through her usual rabble of conspiracy message boards and blogs.
Looking for something interesting, something that could maybe get them out of the base for a few days and test them out in the field again.
The one the Rising Tide frequented. Newish, right after SHIELD fell. THEYALLFALLDOWN.
Cute.
They'd gotten really bold since it all went down in flames.
Her eye scanned the top few entries. She tried a few keywords. Stuff about HYDRA.
One read: bunnybitbit says: bunnybitbit hops to the beat of his own drum. And down the hatch we go.
Skye froze.
Bunnybitbit was a joke she and Miles had used.
He had won her a stuffed bunny, once, at a horrible carnie in town. The kind where the rides break when you look at them. It was awful and pink with huge plastic eyes.
They'd had a few beers and Miles was being cute, taking the rabbit and making it give fascistic pronouncements, suggesting it was their new leader.
"Bunnybitbit," he had said. "Hops to the beat of his own drum."
Skye knew that had been a reference to her and how even though they were together, she always had one eye towards the door.
She had taken the bunny from him, and pretended to make it drink her beer. "And down the hatch we go."
It took her just a few moments to set up a fake account and she logged in, clicking reply.
What would she say to him, anyway?
Why had he contacted her like this?
Okay, technically she didn't exist anymore. Maybe he was just concerned?
It was obvious his bracelet was off since no more SHIELD.
She jumped a little as May entered the room and walked towards her.
Of course May had noticed her reaction, but May kept quiet as always.
Hey," Skye said, closing her laptop. "What's up?"
"Coulson just wanted me to stop in," said May, looking at the monitor. "See if you needed a break, wanted to get a coffee or something."
Skye nodded slowly.
"Alright."
"Everything okay?" May said, when they were out in the hall.
"Yeah, just ready to see the sun again," she said, motioning to the revolving window. "Not the...fake sun."
"I think the team is getting a little antsy," May agreed. "Might be a good time to put some field work in."
****
"She's contacted me," said Miles, breathing again, staring back at his computer.
"Good."
Miles' bruised face looked up, flinched a little when Ward took his hand off the back of the chair.
His eyes darted to Raina, who was just staring at him blankly, something definitely off about her.
"Tell her you have some information for her. Something she'll want to see," Ward added.
"Do I?" asked Miles, looking back at Raina. "Have information?"
"Yes," said Raina. "Of course."
He began typing.
"She wants to know how I got it," he said.
"Make something up," said Ward, impatiently.
"That won't work," said Miles with frustration.
"No," said Raina, walking over to him.
"Tell her that after what happened in Hong Kong, you were angry. But, that she was right, and that you've been hunting me down. You wanted payback."
Miles nodded.
"But, you never expected to find out things about her. Tell her that you wanted to just leave her alone. But, now, you don't think you can."
Ward raised his eyebrows, impressed.
"It wouldn't be right," Raina finished.
"Is all of that true?" asked Miles, slowly.
"Tell her what a gentleman I am," said Ward threatening, leaning over Miles again.
"Ward," said Raina, just almost raising her voice.
"If you're useful," Ward said, "Maybe we'll even ask you to join our team. We have a great incentives program."
"Who do you guys work for again?" Miles asked.
"We're independent contractors, like you," said Raina.
"The truth is, despite his obvious charms, Agent Ward here is very effective," she said, putting her hand on Ward's shoulder.
Ward smirked over at Miles.
"And Skye is in danger," she continued. "Coulson refuses to understand what he is dealing with. He has enough problems of his own," she added cryptically, exchanging a knowing look with Ward.
"Coulson," Miles said, turned the name over in his mind. "Is that the old guy in the suit?"
"Yes," Ward replied.
"I hate that guy."
"Me too," agreed Ward.
"We are all here, for Skye," Raina said sweetly.
"Yeah," said Miles. "But, what's in it for me?"
****
Miles seemed off.
Scared.
Was it something else, or was it the nature of the information he had?
What she already knew wasn't encouraging her thoughts along. That an entire village and a SHIELD team had died protecting her.
He seemed to know more. Or was it just an excuse to see her again?
No, Miles would hold a grudge for a long time if you turned on him like that.
It had to be something more serious.
Either he'd gotten himself into trouble, or he had some very disturbing information.
If he'd been looking into Raina, it could be trouble and he was stuck.
It occurred to her that after their last parting, she hadn't thought of him since.
Too busy with missions and the buildup to SHIELD falling apart and that aftermath.
They'd had finally had a breather, which was being buried in the Playground for a week.
Beneath the weight of rebuilding SHIELD.
And Coulson hadn't shared much. He'd been acting strange. Like a robot again.
If she met with Miles, would he trust her?
Did she want to burden him with that right now?
If she asked, he would probably say no.
May would say no for sure.
Skye looked up at the sound of the knock at her quarters' door.
She quickly finished typing and shut the laptop.
"Come on in," she said.
Coulson took a few steps in, stopped.
"Thought I'd check in," he said. "It's been a bit of a strange week."
"If by strange, you mean excruciatingly boring, then, yes."
"We haven't had much of a chance to talk," he said, motioning to the nearby chair.
She nodded.
"No, we haven't," she said, looking over at him, hesitating as he sat down.
"Hi," she said.
He looked back at her, didn't reply, but there was that familiar expression on his face.
"So," she said, breaking eye contact, looking at the floor. "I've been in contact with Miles Lydon."
"Excuse me?" said Coulson. Just a hint of edge to his voice, but, enough that she noticed.
"I was monitoring online chatter, and there was...a message from him. To me."
Coulson's brow was furrowed. He was searching her eyes.
"What does he want?" Coulson asked, all business.
"He wants to meet with me."
"Out of the question," said Coulson quickly, sharply.
She looked over at him, frowning.
"He said he has information about where I come from."
"Bad idea, Skye," he said, getting up. "I need you here right now."
"I know," she said, "that we're low on resources..."
"I can't afford to spare you," he paused. "Or lose you."
"And because we're low on resources, this might be my only chance to get more information."
"No," he said.
"It's not up to you!" she raised her voice.
He turned over at her, a deep frown cutting into his face.
"You are in command," she said. "But it doesn't mean you get to make *my* decisions," she pointed at herself.
He looked away and stood, heading for the door.
"I know how important this is to you," he said. "But I warned you once, you might not like what you find."
"I thought we were past this," she said. "Are you trying to help me find out the truth, or are you avoiding it, because you're afraid of what you'll find?"
"Did Miles say what he knew?" Coulson asked, over his shoulder.
"He said that it was something inside of me."