The Avenger’s Soul

Skye's POV

When we got back to The Bus, Miles and I were led to the holding room where I had been taken my very first time aboard the plane.

I could feel Ward and Coulson's eyes on me as they glanced between the handcuffed Miles and me, worrying about whether I would be fine alone with him. I rolled my eyes at them, telling them that I would be fine; hating how one moment their gaze was filled with concern, and the next, suspicion.

"So, I guess due process isn't really Shield protocol?" Miles asked, pulling on his cuffs after Ward and Coulson had left.

"They don't have time for it," I stated coldly.

"Whoa, are you defending them? These people are denying our basic rights!" I rolled my eyes again and resisted the urge to scream.

"This isn't about us. They're trying to save someone's life!" I exclaimed.

"Listen to yourself," Miles said scoffing as he turned and looked at the camera in the corner. "That's what they always say to justify invading privacy, Skye. These people stand for everything we despise, secrets, censorship –"

I lost my cool and leaned forward in irritation.

"Enough with the manifesto, Miles, you are the last person who should be talking about basic rights, freedom, and privacy! Not after what you did!"

Miles' face drained of color as he looked at me. "Manning, Snowden, Aaron Swartz, these are modern day revolutionaries," he started rambling, attempting to ignore the elephant in the room.

"This has nothing to do with that!" I growled at him.

Ward's POV

I stared at the monitor as I listened to Skye arguing with Miles. Part of me didn't trust her anymore, another part was furious with Miles for what he had done to Skye, and another part, another part of me wanted to feel her skin underneath my own. But that would have to wait. Now was not the time. I had a cover to maintain while I was on this "Bus" and I didn't want my former S.O. to yell at me if my cover got blown too soon.

I hit a button on the table, cutting off the feed as I looked over at Fitz-Simmons who were in the room working on who knows what.

"Guy's hiding behind platitudes. He's dirty. I can feel it," I told them.

Coulson's POV

I sat in my office; watching the live feed of Skye and Miles; part of me wanting to make sure she was ok being alone with Miles so soon after what he had done to her, and another part feeling a sense of mistrust towards the girl.

"Go ahead, say it," I told May as she waked in and glanced at the monitor. She just shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't the kind of person to say 'I told you so'.

"What is your gut telling you now?" she asked me.

I looked at the monitor for another moment.

"That she's still hiding something," I said slowly. I was remembering my conversation with Fury as I said this.

Skye's POV

I looked up as Ward entered. I sat up straighter as I watched him stride over to Miles, a cold gleam in his eyes.

"Despite what you did to her, she's been defending you. Saying you're a stand up guy," Ward showed us an envelope that he was holding. "So, I'm going to give you a chance. You want to tell her, or should I?"

Miles shot me a look before glancing up to Ward.

"I don't have to listen to you –"

"There goes your chance," Ward said angrily, sliding the envelope in front of me. I slowly picked it up and opened it.

"Your friend here made a few deposits in the days following the leak." Ward started setting down banking receipts. "All said, it's about a million dollars."

I stared at the receipts then shot a glare at Miles.

"What?" I cried out.

"Real stand up guy," Ward hissed.

"I can explain –" Miles started to say, but I cut him off.

"Did you sell information?" I asked him. He didn't say anything. "Miles? Yes or no?" Still no comment. "Did you?!"

"Yes, but –"

I cut him off again; standing up and attempting to launch myself at him, but Ward caught me and held on.

"Ohh! You are so dead! What the hell were you thinking?" I shouted at him.

"It was a million dollars! A million dollars. It would change my life, our lives," Miles cried out. "And that woman was harmless. I looked into it."

"No one with good intentions pays that kind of money for information. Did you ever think about that?" I lectured him, trying to break free of Ward's hold on me.

"Of course I did. I never would have done it if I thought –"

"Who is the woman you referred to?" Ward asked, keeping his grip tight on me as I continued to ignore the pounding in my head in my attempt to launch myself at Miles.

"A fan of the Rising Tide, some rich girl in a flower dress. She knew all about me, said I had a gift. She thought people like us deserved more!" Miles explained.

"Oh, you deserve more!" I yelled at him, wishing Ward would let me at him already.

"She pointed me to a Chinese Shield feed, wanted me to crack it," Miles continued, glancing at me with trepidation.

"You thought that was harmless?" Ward asked.

"I checked the data stream, it didn't seem like anything I hadn't already put out there, Skye. And I traced the account where the money came from to make sure it wasn't some evil corporation. It was just an Eco-Research lab. Otherwise, I would never –"

This got both mine and Ward's attention and we shared a brief look before leaning in closer towards Miles.

"Ecological research?"

"Yeah, insects, some study with centipedes."

My eyes went directly to Ward as he finally released me in shock.

"What's more harmless than that?" I glared at Miles. I stepped forward, wanting to knock some sense into him, but as I did so, I stumbled once more - and would have face planted into the metal table if Ward hadn't caught me in time.

"Come on Skye, we need to get you checked out," Ward said, helping me out of the room and down to the lab. I kept trying to tell him that I was fine and that we had more important things to worry about right now, but it was like talking to a wall.

I frowned and tapped my foot the entire time Simmons was checking me over, not liking this one bit as it reminded me of my time with Hydra. I breathed a sigh of relief when she declared that I was fine and just needed to rest up; immensely grateful that no poking or prodding had been involved for once.

Ward walked me back to my bunk before heading off to join the others in the Planning Room. I wanted to join him, but he refused, and I figured with everyone not knowing whether they could trust me anymore, that it was probably for the best.

********************************************

"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know!" I stared at Miles. I had left my room, not able to handle waiting around and doing nothing while everyone else was busy.

"All our talks, did you mean none of it?" I crossed my arms. I wanted to know if he'd just been stringing me along in order to get what he wanted from me.

He gave me a confused look and I raised my brows.

"I risked everything to help you and it turns out every word out of your mouth since we met is total crap! You only wanted one thing from me!"

"That's not true!" He exclaimed, though I was having a hard time believing him.

"Democratization of knowledge, "the truth will set you free". The truth sure as hell came out!" I told him coldly.

"I believe in all those things. I just don't know why they have to go hand in hand with barely scraping by. Come on, Skye. You lived in your van for the last six months!"

"Now you're making fun of my van?" I clenched my jaw as I once again resisted the urge to punch him.

"I could've funded us for years...us. So you wouldn't have to sacrifice your principles, joining this corrupt institution to find what you're looking for. And what's wrong with me trying to do that?" Miles cried out.

"I'll tell you what's wrong with that, an innocent guy might die – for money!" How could he possibly think that was acceptable!

"You know I'd never intentionally hurt you or anyone else! I'm just trying to get my life together. At least you know what you're looking for. Me, I don't have that. For a long time, I thought it was you. I guess I was wrong..." he trailed off as he looked at me. I kept my face void of emotion as I stared back.

"I guess so." I turned around and was about to leave, when the door opened and I found myself facing Ward.

"Coulson's in trouble!" He stated as he looked over at Miles before leading me back to the Planning Room. It turns out Coulson and May had gone to try and rescue Chan, only to find that he didn't want to be saved. I couldn't help but think it was Dr. Hall all over again.

"The entire facility's been locked down!" Simmons filled me in as I entered the room with Ward and Miles behind me. I glanced over as I saw Fitz whisper to Ward. My super hearing catching exactly what they said.

"Are you sure about this?"

"No."

I sighed as I focused on the monitor. I couldn't blame them for not trusting me right now, especially when I was still keeping secrets.

Miles stared at the monitor on the wall and leaned over to me.

"This is pretty cool," he said. I rolled my eyes and forced myself to keep my feet planted squarely where they were, not wanting him to know how uncomfortable he made me.

"The alarms disconnected the system from all exterior servers," I informed everyone.

"Can you fix it or not?" Ward asked.

"Yes, but you've got to get me onsite."

Both Ward and Miles made a face; causing me to roll my eyes again.

"No way!" said Miles.

"Not a chance!" Ward agreed.

The two men shared a look over the top of my head.

"You're a hacker, Skye, not Seal Team Six!" Miles exclaimed. No, I'm not...I'm even better - not that anyone knows. I knew now wasn't the time to reveal that I was keeping an even larger secret from the team, but I couldn't help thinking that this could have been my chance to finally test out whether I really was as good as I kept telling myself.

"No..." I fibbed as I turned to face Ward. "But he is." I rolled my eyes for a third time as Ward and Miles shared another look. "Look, it's not like we have any other options right now!" I pointed out, grinning as I saw Ward cave and nod his head.

********************************************

"Where are we on the doors?" I heard May's voice shout from Ward's earpiece.

I glanced at him as I did my best to stay out of his way as he was currently taking out one of the guards. I noticed another one sneaking up on him and stuck my foot out, causing the man to trip into the first one; knocking them both to the ground and making themselves easy targets for Ward to finish off.

"Almost there," he told May, looking at me in surprise.

A third guard came up and grabbed me, but Ward elbowed him in the face before I could do anything. He then held out his hand to me and together we ran down the hall and into what looked like the computer area of the building.

There were flashing lights and wires all around as I sat behind one of the computer terminals. I started typing rapidly as Ward stood behind me - watching what I was doing.

"How long is this gonna take?" He hissed, impatiently.

"Done!" I said, standing up and heading for the door; not noticing the impressed look Ward was giving me.

"Doors are unlocked," I heard Coulson's voice confirm over the radio. I sighed, grateful that I had been able to help.

"Simmons! Are the building's computers back online?" I listened as Coulson spoke, wondering what he was planning next.

"Yes," Simmons told him.

"I hate myself for saying it...but uncuff Miles...we're gonna need his help," Coulson said. I frowned at this, not liking where this was going, but appreciating the fact that at least I was not in the same room as Miles at the moment.

Ward and I looked around as doors suddenly closed and vents began opening up. We hastily started making our way back out of the building; meeting up with Coulson and May across the street just as two flaming jets erupted above the building. We all took a sharp breath at the sight.

"Skye managed to extract some files from the building's mainframe," Ward told Coulson and May. "It's not much but it could get us a fix on Centipede." I sent Ward a look to let him know I appreciated that he was trying to help me out; but I had a feeling that neither Coulson or May were going to trust me anytime soon.

"Maybe," Coulson said.

Ward looked from the top of the building over to Coulson.

"You can't save someone from themselves, sir," I heard Ward tell him quietly.

"You can if you get to them early enough." I felt a sense of hope rise within me at this, but pushed it down, knowing that I was being delusional to think that Coulson would forgive me so quickly.

I met Coulson's gaze but could only hold it for a moment before I had to look down and away, feeling incredibly ashamed.

********************************************

I watched a few hours later as Coulson walked over to Miles with a box in his hand. They conversed for a few minutes, Miles face growing dark as he eventually took the box with a frown. I looked on nervously as Coulson reached in and pulled out a bracelet that was then attached to Miles' wrist.

I smirked briefly as Coulson informed Miles that he had donated the money Miles had received to Agent Kwan's family - but my expression dropped quickly as he then walked past me on his way up the stairs with a demand for me to meet him in his office.

I paused on my way, noticing May pouring a drink for herself and Ward. I stepped up behind them as they were about to take their first sip.

"So I'm going to Coulson's office now. I figured you might want to be there, being my S.O. and all," I told Ward.

He shook his head, not looking at me.

"I'm off the clock."

I lowered my eyes, slightly disappointed.

"Right. Okay, then."

I looked at Ward one more time and saw him shaking his head as I walked away.

Coulson had his back to the door, so I knocked on the side of the wall before entering and sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. I kept my gaze on his desk, trying to ignore the fear in the pit of my stomach.

"I didn't want anything to –" I started to say.

"Stop lying," Coulson interrupted, turning to face me sharply. "Since the moment you stepped foot on this plane, you've been lying to my face, to all of us."

"No, I haven't –" I denied, knowing already that he saw right through me.

"You're lying now. I stood up for you to my team down there. And some of us started to believe in you, risked our lives for you."

"I..."

"Why are you here?! You've been keeping something from us, this whole time. And it wasn't just a friend. You have a secret, Skye, and one chance to come out with it. That's now, or I'm done with you."

I looked down and away from Coulson; staring into space; thinking, then closed my eyes in defeat. I reached into my bra, pulled out my SD card, and slowly set it on Coulson's desk.

"What is this?" Coulson asked.

"It's everything I have," I stated. My nerves tingling with apprehension.

"On us?" I looked up at him as he glared a me suspiciously; trying to blink away the tears in my eyes.

"On me..." I corrected him, taking a deep breath as Coulson took the SD card. "That's one of the reasons I was hacking Shield, Hydra, and any other agency out there," I stammered out as he fed the card into the reader attached to his computer with a beep. "To find any details I could about my parents...heck, about myself as well!"

The monitor on Coulson's office wall began to show all the different pieces of information I had collected in the last six months. There were various pictures with no faces, receipts, and a letter to St. Agnes Orphanage. Most of that letter was blacked out much to my irritation. There was also a large red SHIELD stamp in the upper right hand corner that said "Classified; redacted 04-23-89"

The only parts that were legible read: "Medical examination results regarding female infant {Blacked out} dropped off at St. Agnes Orphanage on {Blacked out}. The infant was found to have {blacked out} expressing minimal {blacked out}. No {blacked out} Notes filed by the resident pediatrician indicate {blacked out} Blood pressure: Normal Nutrition: Normal. Indication of Hearth Disease: None. Heart Rate: Normal. Checked for injuries or indications of {blacked out} no malnutrition. To see the records regarding the situations discussed in this document, please contact {blacked out}." I read it over again, feeling tears threatening to spill over any second now.

"There's nothing. No records. There's no trace of them. My lifelong search has led to a single document, redacted..." my voice cracked around the lump in my throat.

"By Shield," Coulson completed my sentence, his eyes widening as he saw the Shield logo stamped on the document.

"No matter what you or Fury do, I'll never stop looking!"

"You might not like what you find," Coulson pointed out.

"It can't be worse than what I've imagined or already been through..." I stated boldly.

The look on Coulson's face softened as he took a couple of steps closer to me.

"Maybe I can help."

I took a shaky breath and looked away for a second, then back to him. I watched as he reached over to his desk and grabbed a box identical to the one I saw him give to Miles. He held it out in front of me and I closed my eyes then took the box from him, taking out the bracelet and staring at it.

"There's something else, sir..." I mumbled as I motioned a request to use his computer. He paused, thinking for a moment, before nodding his permission.

I hesitantly walked over and opened a second folder and typed in the password to decrypt the contents. I avoided Coulson's gaze as I walked over towards the door.

"You told me the day we met, that you wanted to help the hooded hero and his friend with the wings. I hope that remains true despite the fact that I withheld the truth from you. I just wanted to avoid being experimented on again - it's not an experience I ever want to repeat. I hope you can understand why I didn't tell you earlier - and if possible, I would ask that you respect my wish to keep this from the rest of the team."

With that said, I clasped the bracelet onto my wrist; turning it on as I walked out of the room to let Coulson read over my Hydra files in private, not wanting to see his reaction.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

- Let me know what you thought of this latest chapter! And if anyone has any preference on who she runs into at the hub! Want to add as many of her soulmates as possible since I don't want to let that part of the story slide - any suggestions on how to add as many of them as possible are welcome!