The Avenger’s Soul

Skye's POV

I glanced up, then looked down, then glanced back up and grinned as I caught sight of a nice leather jacket that reminded me of something May might wear. I walked up to the window looking in at it and I could see my reflected grin off the glass.

I went in, bought the jacket and some pants to match before spying my target.

“That's what I said. Yeah,” Rathman was saying as he handed his keys to a valet. “Of course, I love truffles. But not on that. What an idiot.”

He walked past a pillar to the building he was entering and I appeared from the opposite side; now wearing the new leather jacket and putting a cellphone to my ear.

“No, sweetie, listen to me. It was a private jet. Of course there was wi-fi. He should've at least texted you back,” I fake spoke while I walked around the front of Rathman's SUV to the driver door. I opened the door, sat in the driver's seat and tossed my bag and the cellphone onto the passenger's seat and drove away. Damn, driving is funnn! This was technically my first real time driving without Hydra over my shoulder.

I reached over hitting buttons on the SUV's GPS. After hitting a few buttons once again the Shield logo appeared.

“Damn it!” I cursed as I pounded the steering wheel and pulled over to the side of the road, stopped and parked the car.

“Okay, Skye, just need a Plan "B",” I told myself.

I sighed deeply and scrunched up my face trying to think. I looked over to the right and saw buttons for Onstar and SDS. I quickly put the car into drive and slammed on the gas pedal. I came upon a red light and cut the wheel sending the car crashing into some water barrels. I panted from the impact as there was a beep from the car and a woman's voice.

“Roadside assistance. We see you've had an accident.”

“Yeah. Can you send somebody to tow me back to my house?” I asked.

“Of course. I'll dispatch someone right away. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm good.” I waited for the tow truck to arrive and sighed an hour later as we pulled up into Rathman’s driveway.

“So, you sure you don't want me to take it to the dealer?” the truck driver asked me as I signed the paperwork.

“No thanks. I got a guy,” I told him.

“All right. Thank you.”

I walked over and picked up my shopping bag then reached into the SUV and pulled out the garage door opener. I opened the garage to find a black Lamborghini with the license plates of $BLSYAL.

“Dollar bills, y'all,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

I walked by the car and entered the house. The first thing in the house, rolling my eyes at a portrait of him done in Warhol style, four blocks all different colors with the portraits done in different colors as well. Conceited much?

I walked past the picture and set my stuff down at a desk with a computer. I looked down at my bracelet then over to a golf bag. I took out one of the irons and used the handle of it to hit dial on the telephone, which began to ring.

“Lloyd Rathman's office,” a woman said.

“This is the L.A.P.D. I need to speak with Mr. Rathman. We've recovered a stolen vehicle registered in his name,” I said in an authoritative voice as I flipped through Rathman's paper files.

“Oh. Was it damaged?”

“Yes, ma'am. We have two officers waiting at his home, ready to take a statement,” I told her.

I picked up a photo from the desk showing Rathman, in a full suit, next to a young boy in a soccer uniform.

“How long do you think it'll take Mr. Rathman to get there?”

30 minutes later I heard the sound of Rathman walking to his front door. He entered and set his stuff down as I walked into the hallway.

“You're in a lot of trouble, Mr. Rathman,” I told him ominously. I was enjoying pretending to be May/the Cavalry.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Agent Melinda May with Shield,” I said cooly. First I was pretending to be the Cavalry and now I was claiming her name as well. She’s so going to kill me if she finds out.

“Look, clearly there's been a misunderstanding. I'm a legitimate businessman.”

I removed my sunglasses.

“Shield has evidence your company has been siphoning funds into an offshore account for some very bad people.”

“My client's business is their business.”

“Well, my business is catching those guys, and if it turns out you've made a profit from just one of them Shield is prepared to freeze all of your assets,” I fibbed. I mean technically they could but I wasn’t an actual agent but Rathman didn’t need to know that.

“I'm calling my lawyer,” he said, getting his cellphone out.

“Do that and my offer's off the table,” I declared.

“What offer is that?”

“Immunity, you walk...free and clear. Shield doesn't touch a single asset. Not even your party boat in Key Largo.”

He pulled his phone away from his ear and looked at it.

“And if I say no?”

“You spend the next five years in The Fridge.”

“The Fridge?”

“It's worse than it sounds,” I stated with a wicked grin.

He took the phone away and shut it off.

“All right, what do you want?”

“Follow me to your office. We've got some work to do.”

I walked toward his office and he turned and followed me. However, he passed by a security system keypad mounted to the wall and hit a button for the silent alarm. I rolled my eyes at this, but let it slide, knowing that I was more than capable to handle a few security guards.

“You want me to hack into a Swiss bank account?”

“I just need you to type in your private corporate ID to get me in the door,” I clarified.

“Yeah, well letting you in that door is a crime. Come to think of it, how do I know you're not just some criminal? In my experience a Federal Agent shows a badge.”

“You want to see my badge?”

He nodded so I leaned in and picked up his cellphone.

“Shield protocol six alpha victor.”

An alarm beeped and I turned his cellphone toward him. He saw the Shield logo and LOCKOUT screen that kept coming up due to my bracelet.

“There. That's my badge,” I said, smugly.

He took the phone from my hand looking at it with disappointment.

“Great. Just got my high score in Tiny Wings.” I rolled my eyes.

“Shield’s been watching you for quite some time, Mr. Rathman.” I walked around the desk to stand in front of it.

“You're a prime exploit – the gambling, the divorces, that money pit in the Caymans. You're even behind on your child support payments.”

“Ugh, that's a clerical thing. My ex knows that.” I rolled my eyes, doubting that was true.

“But does David know that?”

“David thinks I'm a cool dad,” he said confidently.

“David thinks you're a jackass. You got to fix that, Lloyd. Kids need someone they can look up to. Now...start typing,” I responded bluntly.

“Security! Freeze! Don't move!”

I put my hands up as the guard walks toward me.

“That's it. Nice and easy. Keep your hands where I can –”

I turned around and easily disarmed him. A second guard appeared after I took the first one down to the ground.

“On the ground!”

I aimed the gun in my hand at the second guard, who quickly put his hands up.

“Okay, I-I'm typing, I'm typing,” said Rathman.

“You Shield guys don't mess around.”

I went over to the guards and tied them up as I waited for Rathman to log in.

“All right, we're logged in but you do realize you can't transfer these kinds of funds online.”

“I'm not looking to transfer funds. I'm looking for transaction records,” I said.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.

“Go to your account history. We need to open up a terminal emulator, see what kind of encryption they've got.”

“Okay,” he said looking lost.

“If it's an SSL 256 or AES Twofish Serpent, we're in business.”

“Yeah.”

“Quantum key, that's another story.”

“Right.”

I noticed he wasn’t doing anything, just staring at the computer.

“Lloyd.”

He just continued to look around on the screen.

“What is happening here?” I asked.

“Yeah, account history. Where is that?” I rolled my eyes and let out a long frustrated sigh and looked over at the security guards; focusing on the younger looking one.”

I quickly untied untied him and made him swap places with Rathman.

“Delete that second line,” I told him. “Press return.”

Rathman leaned over to speak to the other guard. “See, the thing is, I have an assistant that does all this for me.” Of course you do, I thought with another roll of my eyes.

There's a beep and I got excited.

“That's it.”

“So, this Vanchat, is this the guy you're trying to bust?” the guard asked.

“No, we already have him in custody. What I want to know is who's recently paid Vanchat a lot of money. I backtrack those payments to the buyer's account and get a record of all purchases she's made, maybe use it to track her down. Click there,” I pointed to the screen. “Hello Raina. Let's see what you've been up to. Print that.”

“Great, so are we done here?” Rathman asked.

“One last thing.”

I forced him to hand me his car keys and smiled smugly as I drove off in his Lamborghini. I could seriously get used to this.

As I drove, I reached down and pulled put the SAT phone I had been given and dialed Simmons.

“Hello?”

“Simmons, it's me.”

“Well hello...Dr. Nugent.” I groaned as her voice went high and extremely fake.

“Is someone there? God, don't try to lie! You are the worst at this. Remember our safe word,” I told her.

“Manscaping? Oh, I shouldn't have said that. Um, I am right as rain. Couldn't be better, old chap.” I rolled my eyes.

“Listen up. I may have a lead on where Centipede's holding Coulson,” I informed her.

“Skye?” Oh, crap! Busted.

“What have you found?” May asked. I frowned as I told her, still upset about her not sticking up for me with Hand.

It only took me a few hours to get to my destination, I was driving as fast as I could down the dirt roads, enjoying the feeling of freedom.

I pulled up as I reached my destination; some sort of rundown town with mannequin people all around. It was some sort of nuclear bomb testing cite that had never been used.

“Got creepy?” I mumbled as I got out and shut the car door.

I walked deeper into the town and looked into one of the homes. There was a compete dinner scene set up inside with the mannequins. I peered inside confused.

“You shouldn't be here.”

I gasped and turned around to see one of the Centipede soldiers standing behind me. I took off running with him just behind me.

“There's nowhere to run!” the soldier cried out.

I sped past the edge of a building and into the open. The soldier was just a step behind, when he was suddenly hit the open area and was quickly hit by a Shield SUV driven by Ward.

“Coulson's got to be here somewhere. We need to split up,” I told the team as they exited the SUV.

“Or run,” Jemma said as she looked over her shoulder.

We all turn to see the other Centipede soldier appearing.

“I'll take care of him,” Ward said.

“Are you sure?” asked May.

Ward reached into his vest and pulled some sort of device out; it looked like something Fitz-Simmons must have invented.

“I got this.”

He ran toward the soldiers and May lead the rest of us away.

“Come on, let's move!”

“Coulson!” I shouted as I ran to one of the houses and opened the door.

I glanced over to see two soldiers approaching May. I met her gaze, silently asking if she needed help but she motioned for me to continue to search for Coulson.

I was running toward another house when I heard Coulson scream out. I quickly turned on the spot and ran in the direction of the scream.

I busted the door to the house down and yanked open one of the side room doors to find Raina hovering over Coulson, who was laying down with his head under some sort of machine.

“It's for his own good,” Raina tried to justify as she walked towards me.

I growled at her and punched the girl in the face; knocking her out unconscious. I then continued forward towards Coulson.

“Please, let me die! Please let me die! Please let me die!” My eyes widened as I heard his words.

I took a look at the device and frantically began hitting buttons as May joined me.

“Let me die. Let me die.”

May finally found where the device was plugged in to and she yanked out the cords turning the machine off. It powered down as Coulson continued to cry.

I knelt down next to him and took a hold of his hand.

“Coulson, Coulson!”

He was unresponsive and still shaking and crying. My heart thumped wildly as I held his hand.

“Come back, come back, come back, come back, come back,” I mumbled over and over.

Coulson cried out and I teared up at the sound of his pain.

“Skye? Skye,” Coulson said blearily.

I let out a relieved breath as Coulson's breathing eased ip.

“Skye.”

I leaned my head down on his hands and cried. That made two times in almost as many weeks.

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

“Nice jacket,” May said to me once we were all back on the plane.

I looked down at the nearly identical one May was wearing and we shared a smile. We then glanced down the cargo bay ramp to see Raina there in front of Hand with her hands behind her back being taken into custody.

“Bet there aren't any flowered dresses where she's going,” Jemma commented as Fitz nodded.

“Amen to that, sister,” he said.

“Dismissed,” Hand said to the guards as they took Raina away.

“Just got off the phone with Headquarters. Director Fury was very relived,” we heard Hand tell Coulson.

“I understand you've been busy. Heard you put some miles on my plane,” Coulson replied.

“The manhunt has yielded some impressive results. Centipede operatives have been taken down around the globe.”

“Any word on the Clairvoyant?”

“Nothing yet. But it's gonna be awfully hard to stay hidden now that the Clairvoyant's on Shield’s radar.” As much as I still didn’t like Hand, I did have to agree.

“Good, cause Raina knew things about me – personal things. I want to know how,” said Coulson.

“My men and I are taking her straight to Headquarters for questioning. We'll be in touch,” Hand said, turning to go.

“Agent Hand?” She turned back to him.

“Thank you...for everything.” I watched as the two of them shook hands.

“Good to have you back. Honestly, this Bus isn't really my style.” Well you aren’t our style either, lady!

Once and Hand had left we all move towards Coulson. He turned to face us as we all smiled at him.

“I just want to say...thank you,” he said looking at each of us in turn. “Now get back to work.”

Ward smiled and shook Coulson's hand. May gave him as much of a smile as she's capable of as Fitz clapped him on the arm. I, of course, was the last one to leave and I stepped in closer to him.

“I heard what you did for me,” Coulson said.

I gave him a slow nod of my head, not sure where he was going with this.

“I think it's time that we remove this.” He picked up my arm holding the wrist with the bracelet up close to his mouth. My face broke out into a large excited smile.

“Disengage bracelet.”

My smile dropped as the bracelet beeps a couple of times and opens. Seriously, that’s all it took?!

“Are you kidding me?” I cried out.

Coulson grinned. “Thought you'd like that.”

I laughed and rubbed my bare wrist happily. Glad to be rid of a device that had reminded me way too much of Hydra. I looked up at him.

“Back in that room, did they learn anything?” I asked hesitantly.

“No.”

“Did you?” I pressed.

He gave me a ghost of a smile.

“I heard what you were saying,” I prodded him. My heart was still pounding with worry.

He slowly shook his head.

“It wasn't real. They were just messing with my head...but I appreciate your concern.”

I nodded and accepted his answer, even though I didn’t believe it.

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

Later that night, I sat on my bed and pulled my phone out.

“Hey, you three. Sorry again for dashing out on you earlier. Hope you like your new phones! They aren’t as snazzy as Stark phones but I did try to build in some bells and whistles that I thought you’d like.” I sighed as I sent out my group message.

I put my phone next to my hula girl as I changed into my pajama’s and got ready for bed.

I was just climbing under the covers when my phone pinged.

Natasha: Hey, Skye! Are you kidding, this thing is wayyy cooler than Tony’s stupid phones! How the hell did you make it look all spidery?

Clint: Yeah, love the new phone! So much better than the old one. Did you create a few apps on it?

Me: Yeah, I made you some apps to help calculate wind resistance and trajectory to help with your bow and arrowing. Nat, your’s should have pretty much the same ones but built for various types of gun.

Nat: Sick! Thanks. You’d totally give Tony a run for his money if you ever wanted to mass produce these!

Me: Nah, I kinda like that only you guys have them. Or is that weird?

Steve: Not weird at all, darlin’. Love my red, white, and blue, themed phone! Though I’m struggling a little to figure out how to use it properly. Feel kind of bad.

Me: Aww, don’t feel bad, Stevie! Maybe when we finally have some time together I can walk you through how to use it.

Steve: Yes! That would be amazing!!!

I giggled at the amount of exclamation points.

Natasha: So did everything turn out all right for your friend?

Me: Yeah, we managed to get him back safe and sound just a little roughed up but he’ll be fine. I’m exhausted though so I think I’m gonna hit the hay.

Steve: Sweet dreams!

Natasha: Nighty night!

Clint: Don’t let the bed bugs bite! ... that’s my job! ;)

I blushed, grateful that no one was there to see.

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

Author’s Note

Let me know how you liked this chapter! That’s like 5 chpts in less than a day so your welcome! Hehe.