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Chapter Text

They were having dinner together when Skye’s phone rang suddenly and she stood up to distance herself before answering the call, making sure she was out of earshot of the others. Everyone's eyes were on her wanting to know who would call her. She hadn't gotten any calls or texts before and the team had gotten the impression that Skye was more of a loner and didn't have many friends. They saw Skye’s hand flying over her mouth as she started to cry, sliding down the wall she had been leaning against quickly ending the call.
When Natasha saw that none of the others stood up to comfort Skye she decided that she didn’t care that the young hacker was supposed to be on this team undercover for Fury. She couldn’t just leave her alone like this. Coulson, May, and Ward looked at the Assassin surprised when she was the one who went to comfort the young woman. The Black Widow wasn't exactly known for being particular carrying. At least not to people she didn't know.
Skye welcomed Natasha’s hug and cried into her shoulder, grieving. She told her that Austin died. Natasha had met him once, he was one of the three people that taught Skye how to hack. He had had cancer and they had visited him in the hospital a couple of months ago. The doctors had told them back then that the treatment wasn't working and that he only had a couple of months left, Skye had been devastated. Natasha brought Skye into her bunk so she could have some time to herself away from the prying eyes of the BUS team.

„What happened?“ Coulson asks Natasha the second she steps out of Skye’s bunk and closed the door.
„A friend of hers died. Someone she views as a brother“
„Do you know who it was?“ May asks.
„Was he a member of the rising tied?“ Ward questions before Nat could answer.
„Does it matter?“ she asks harshly. She couldn’t believe they were making this about the rising tide. Ever since the incident with Miles a couple of weeks back, they were all waiting for the other shoe to drop, to find out that Skye wasn't loyal to them. Of course, they didn't know that the thing with Miles was planned weeks ahead as a way for Sky to exit the team without raising suspicion. Sadly, Fury still needed more intel from the BUS team and Skye had to spin some story they would believe so she could stay on the BUS. That's around the time Nat came to the team, `to keep an extra eye on the hacker´ that´s what Coulson was told. A complete lie and Nat is still astonished he actually believed Fury. But then again he didn't know what she did.
„Of course it does. If she is still in contact with the rising tide the..“
„Please tell me you’re kidding“ Natasha hissed interrupting him.
„We’re not“
„A close friend of hers just died. Show some respect. You are trained Shield agents. Start acting like it and start to use you’re training otherwise wise I will tell Fury to send you back to the academy“ Natasha said angrily and then leave the three alone. May quickly followed her, after getting over the shock of Natasha’s sudden outburst. Natasha was always collected, she had to be. And May knew that the red room frowned upon emotions, not wanting their girls to get attached to anything or anyone. Over the years Clint, Coulson, and May had taught her that emotions were okay and that she was allowed to like or dislike things, but Nat kept those things private away from her job in fear of it being used against her one day. So why show emotions now?

„You like her“ May states after watching Natasha hit the punching bag for a couple of minutes.
„You don’t“ the assassin replied.
„I don’t trust her“ The older agent corrected.
„You are better than this May. I’ve never seen you pass judgment on someone so quickly without giving them a chance“
„She’s a security risk!“
„You don’t even know her!“ May sighed. Natasha was right she never got to know Skye or gave her a chance. Which was unlike her. Sure she wasn't the warmest person in the world, but she always gave people a chance. When Skye came to the team May immediately saw her as the enemy and then she betrayed the team with Miles.
"If I may remind you, you are here to keep an eye on her" "If you think that that's the reason I'm here you've lost your touch" Nat countered. May narrowed her eyes, she had her suspicions, of course, the Black Widow babysitting a hacker didn't exactly sound right but she couldn't figure out what else Nat was doing here. „So what happened? To the man who died?“ May asks, changing tactics. The thing about Shield is that nobody knows everything, everyone just had the pieces of the puzzle that were relevant to them. And they weren't allowed to talk about their pieces to anyone not approved. To counteract this they had started to nudge each other in the right direction every now and then, dropping hints or leaving files lying around. If another agent happened to figure something out, oh well, they didn't brake any rules, at least that's the way they sold to Fury (She just figured it out sir, and now that she knows she'd be a great help. Don't you think so sir?). It was a little complicated and annoying sometimes but it usually worked.
„He had cancer. The treatment didn’t work.“ May nodded in understanding.
„What do you know about her?“
„What?“
„You know something otherwise you wouldn’t have told us to rely on our training more“ May pointed out.
„I know a lot of things“
„Nat“
„Just get to know her and don’t get hung up on things you think you know“ in other words `you have false information but I can't tell you what it is´
Honestly, Natasha didn’t know why she was telling May to keep a closer eye on Skye. Fury asked Skye to go undercover on this team to make sure they wouldn’t get involved in things they shouldn’t know about and figure out if all of them were clean. So it wouldn’t exactly help if the senior agent knew who she really was. But it hurt to see May being so rude to Skye. The two had almost met so many times before. She wanted May to see the real Skye, the one she had fallen in love with.
It honestly confused her, she wasn’t usually the type to look for anyone's approval. But May had been like a mother to her for a very long time and she just wanted her little dysfunctional family to stay alive and not kill each other.
The Avengers were definitely making her soft.

Chapter Text

Next morning

Natasha woke up to Skye rummaging around the room. She slowly opened her eyes and watched the younger woman for a couple of minutes letting her body wake up.
"What are you doing?" she asks after a few moments, sitting up.
"Packing" Skye replied.
"Why?"
"Because I'm leaving"
"And where exactly do you think you are going?"
"Home" the hacker answered shortly. When Skye started calling their apartment in the tower home Nat had been terrified at first. Terrified of the commitment and that she would ruin their relationship but after a long talk with Clint it now it brought a smile to her face every time.
"Why?" she asks again.
"I can't stay here Nat. And I know I'm supposed to be good at undercover stuff but I can't take this. I know Felicity has this whole thing with Deathstroke and I can't be there to help her. Because I'm stuck here. I mean half of the stuff this team does I could do alone. This whole thing is pointless. They are bigger things going on right now, you know that"
"I know honey. But you can still help Felicity from here and.."
"Why do you want me to stay here? You yourself said they you want me to come back to the tower."
"With what this team does it is too easy for them to come across something they aren't supposed to. Especially Thaiti. Hydra can't know anything else we've worked so hard to keep everything quiet, to be ahead of them... " she drifts off.
"Ward hasn't brought us useful intel in two weeks"
"Do you really want to take that chance?" Skye sighed, of course, she didn't.
"I feel so useless around here," she said while sitting down on the bed.
"I know. But just because you can't use your fighting abilities to the fullest you can still work. They won't notice if you aren't hacking something that doesn't contribute to the current mission. And you can do some other work right here in your bunk. If you started gradually spending more time in here none of them would notice" Natasha tells her.
"Except for May"
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make her suspicious of you. I just... I don't know"
" You do know, " Skye says calmly looking into her girlfriend's eyes. Natasha looked away. She wasn't the type of person to talk about her feelings openly. Neither was Skye but they coaxed it out of each other every now and then.
"I couldn't take the way she looked at you. How they all looked at you. You don't deserve the coldness they direct towards you." Natasha tells her making Skye smile.
"Thanks" Skye whispers hugging her. Natasha looked at her confused. "For caring" the brunette explains. Sometimes Natasha forgets that the two of them didn't grow up that differently and that Skye was a lot better at hiding that part of herself. Skye had been picked up by Fury when she was 6 years old after being discovered by agents in a trafficking ring. Apparently, Fury had felt bad about the outcome since he was the one to give the order to put the little girl in the system. The thing was, that Fury didn't really know anything about raising a child and was working full-time as the Director of Shield. So instead of going to piano or soccer lessons after school, Skye was homeschooled and basically trained to be an agent starting her 7 birthday. One of the best-kept secrets within Shield. Only Fury, Hill, one doctor, and the Avengers were in the know.
"Of course, I care. You've been through a lot. And your mental health is important to me" Skye smiled and leaned over to kiss her girlfriend. It was hard for them to admit feelings even if it was to each other and Skye never took something like that lightly.
"Thank you," Skye said again.
"So you staying?"
"For a little while"
"Good. Now go get changed before Ward comes up here looking for you"
" Training with him is so boring. He is so repetitive in his attacks"
"If we are right and he is HYDRA it is good if you know everything about him. Especially his fighting style."
"If everyone at HYDRA is trained like him then it is going to be a lot easier to beat them than we anticipated"
"Let's hope for it"

15 Minuets later

When Natasha was making herself breakfast she could feel May's eyes on her.
"Did you sleep well?" May asked her.
"I didn't sleep" Natasha lied already knowing what May was hinting at.
"Oh, where were you this morning then? I couldn't find you"
"I found a spot on the plane where no one would ever disturb me," Natasha tells her while pouring milk into her cereal.
"And where would that be?" Natasha turned around to face her and smiled. She put a spoon full of cereal in her mouth and shrugged before walking away toward the cargo bay. May looked after her and sighed. Natasha had slept in Skye's bunk. She was sure of it. She just needed to find out why. And where the two knew each other from. But considering how both of them were acting around the team that wasn't going to be easy. Another thing that spoke volumes, Nat didn't like Ward or FitzSimmons.

Chapter Text

It was two weeks later when May noticed that Skye didn’t seem upset in the least anymore. Already on the day after her friend past away, there was not a trace of sadness in her. She seemed fine. She made her usual comments and never asked for a few moments to herself. May had seen her once, staring into nothingness but as soon as she noticed May she went back to work. It was like nothing ever happened. But for all of it to have been fake was unbelievable to May as well. Especially after Natasha’s reaction. Could Skye really hide her real feelings that well? She didn’t think so, but then again she didn’t really know Skye that well.

Did any of them?

The others didn’t notice. They never spoke of the incident again. And they didn’t seem to find it weird, that Skye was acting like she always was after something that was, apparently the loss of an important person in her life. May thinks she understands a little bit of what Nat meant when she said she should rely on her training more. Skye was not what she seemed. She could see that now. There was something underneath the happy, carefree, laid-back hacker. Something sad and depressing. Something that she was pushing down. She wonders if Natasha had gotten through to her. If Natasha penetrated her happy side and she had seen a part of Skye that they never had. The person that lost her parents and had grown up in an orphanage, getting hurt a lot more times than they could imagine. May didn’t know too much about the foster system but she did know that not all foster parents were nice and forthcoming when it came to the care of the children, they just wanted money.

If she was honest Skye did handle most missions very well. She never questioned their need to defend themselves in killing someone else. And she had never seen Skye look away when they had to deal with more violent people. Also, Skye kept her cool and never let suspects get a rise out over her. She was easy to adapt to different scenarios. To be honest, May thinks, that Skye could become a good agent if she was properly trained. Shield could be a good place for her. And when May did talk to her Skye seemed more mature and open than with any of the others. Which was very confusing to May. She always thought that Coulson was the person Skye trusted. And it wasn't like she was particularly open to Skye herself. But there was some kind of connection there.

Natasha on the other hand was a different topic. What was Natasha trying to tell her? She hadn't said anything else on the matter but one thing that solidified was Nat's disdain for Agent Ward, that much May could tell. Nat had told her to be careful on a mission last week when Coulson had paired her with Ward to check out a suspect. Something about the way she said it had alarm bells going off in May's head. Did Nat think Ward was dangerous? What did that have to do with Skye? She and Natasha had always been close but Natasha wouldn’t open up about this. She would effortlessly steer the conversation away from Ward or Skye if they ever came up and every time May came into a room Skye and Nat were having a conversation in, they were talking about random uninteresting things. But honestly, that didn’t happen often. Natasha and Skye didn’t show that they knew each other when they weren't alone but there were some looks the two exchanged that showed otherwise. Or at least that they shared some sort of knowledge.

When she mentioned their relationship to Coulson he didn't know anything. He just said that Natasha was playing with her. `She needed something to pass her time with´ he said. He reminded her that they always play pranks on each other. He told her that it wasn't true, and there was no way that Skye and Natasha knew each other, it wouldn't make any sense.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Chapter Text

It was on a mission two weeks later when the rest of the team finally learned that there was a lot about Skye that they didn’t know. And that she and Natasha definitely knew each other. And not the -we got really close over the past two weeks- way.

The mission started out normal. Coulson briefed them. Told them this was not their usual thing but that Fury wanted them to check this warehouse out because they were in the area. Since Fitzsimmons weren’t really needed for this they stayed on the BUS working on some new weapon or something.

Once they arrived they split up like usual, checking all the rooms - they looked empty, old, and dusty. Nothing was out of the ordinary until Natasha found a secret door that lead to other levels underground. That’s when things got a little out of hand. They were attacked and knocked out. When they woke up their arms were tied to chairs that were bolted to the floor in a circle, facing each other. Unfortunately, all of them quickly realize that they were tied down pretty well and they would need a while to break out of their ties.
„Oh good, you’re awake. Took you long enough“ A tall man said with a Mexican accent. There were three men in the room two at the door looking a little like bodyguards or some other kind of security, they were wearing suits and were quite buff. All of them had guns holstered to their belts. The tall man was holding a knife in his hand and was walking around behind them. „What do you want here?“ he questions them not stopping in his movements.

„I think the better question is what you want from us? You are the one who kidnapped us“ Natasha replied calmly. The man stared at her for a moment before taking his knife and starting to trail it along Coulson’s shoulders he then moved on to May. Natasha and Skye exchange a knowing look, they knew exactly what the man wanted to get out of doing this. He wanted to find out which one of them was the weak one. And Skye played into his hand, she and Natasha both visibly tensed when his knife touched Skye. The man grinned and stopped behind the hacker.

„You look a bit young to be a Shield agent.“ he states. They really needed to stop wearing clothes with their logo on them, May thought bitterly. „Have you ever been tortured before?“ Skye stayed quiet. „Well there is a first time for everything“ he cut along her arm leaving behind a trail of blood. It was a shallow cut that would be healed by the end of the week but Skye hissed in response doing exactly what the man expected her to.

„I ask again, what do you want here?“ but no one answered. They all just shot glares in his direction. They all knew that whatever they said wouldn't satisfy him, probably only enrage him more. „Oh well“ he pressed the knife against Skye’s cheek and let it brake skin.
„Stop it!“ Ward yelled at him, not being able to just sit there and watch this. His rookie wasn't trained for this yet and he didn't like seeing her hurt like this, although he had to admit that she was holding herself well.

„Tell me what I want to know and I will“

„You are going to have to do a lot worse them this to get what you want“ Skye hissed at him.

„Feisty. Your a brave little girl but that won’t get you anywhere here.“ The man walked around her and grabbed her chin, making her look into his eyes. He started to smile like he had an idea and then he pushed her back with enough force to knock over the chair if it weren't bolted to the floor before leaving the room without a word. The two guards leaving with him.

„Skye?“ Coulson questions carefully seeing as Skye was keeping her head down, and he wasn’t sure if she was knocked out or not.

„I’m fine“ she answers threw gritt teeth.

„Skye?“ Natasha questions.

„Just a little bit longer, “ Skye tells her.

„A little bit longer? What are you talking about?“ May asks.

„Nothing, just play along“ Natasha snaps.

„So you have a plan?“

„You can’t just let her get tortured. Did you forget she isn’t trained?“ Ward yelled at the redhead leaving May’s question unanswered.

„Shut up, there are cameras in this room!“ Skye hissed.

„Skye are you sure you can handle this?“ Coulson questions carefully, remembering May telling him about her suspicions of the two women knowing each other two weeks ago. He should have known she was right, she usually was.

„Just don’t tell them anything“

They all stayed quiet after that and it didn’t take long for the man and the guards to come back. The man walked straight to Skye and showed her what he had brought with him. A collar. A collar with small spike-like things on the inside that would cut into her skin. Skye had been forced to wear something like this before and she remembers how much this particular device actually hurt. She could see how Natasha tensed after seeing it. They both knew that this round would be harsher but this was a whole other level. But Skye still needed a little bit of time to get out of her ties and to get the man in the correct position so she could easily grab his gun, so she didn’t give Natasha the signal to talk.

The man set the collar loosely around her neck and pulled her hair in an almost carrying gesture over it before tightening it. Skye grunted as the small metal pieces pressed into her flesh. God, she really hated this thing.
„You look pretty like this, little girl“ he traced the collar softly before looking down, at Skye’s cleavage. „You know you could really be of good use to me. Boss would like you“ he took out his knife again and with a quick move he cut her shirt open. Natasha growled. Until now she knew Skye could easily handle the torture. But being degraded and used as a sex toy was not something Skye would let happen. Her basic instinct would quickly override her brain and she would kill him. Natasha would do the same and she knew that Skye had a particular hatred for people who touched others without their consent.

„Pretty“ the man stated as his hand trailed down her neck towards Skye’s bra.

„If you don’t get your hands off of her, I swear to god..“

„What? What are you going to do?“ he interrupted her turning around, staring at the Black Widow with a challenging look and a sleazy grin.

„Me? Who said I’m going to do anything? I’m tied to a chair." Natasha empathizes looking down at her hands. "But she? She’ll kill you“ and as soon as Natasha had finished her sentence Skye was out of her chair knife in hand and she slit the guy's throat. She then quickly grabbed his gun from his belt before he slumped to the ground and shot the two guards execution style.

Natasha also stood up from her chair her binds falling to the floor and she quickly cut the others free while Skye removed the collar and threw it into a corner.

„Skye..“

„Don’t, let’s just get out of here“ Skye gave Natasha and May the guns that she had found on the men, Coulson and Ward got knives. Skye opened the door and they quickly moved threw the corridors killing or knocking anybody out who got in their way. Natasha and Skye took the lead using all of their training to quickly locate the exits and protect the rest of the team. Honestly with Skye and Natasha working together with all their skills the rest of the team felt a little useless. They did all the work and easily got them out of there and Skye also managed to call the incident into the Hub on their drive to the BUS.

Chapter Text

„What happened to you!?“ Simmons exclaimed when they arrived.

„Someone want to explain what the hell just happened?“ Coulson asks ignoring Simmons. Who was already trying to treat Skye. But Skye moved away from her.

„Just a second“ Natasha knocked out Ward and carried him into the interrogation room and then came back. „Now we can talk“ she announced.

„What the hell! Why did you just do that!“ Fitz exclaimed alarmed.

„Ward is not who you think he is“ Natasha answers simply.

„We need to take care of Skye first“ Simmons interrupted. Seeing as Skye was losing too much blood

„I’m fine, “ Skye said once more moving away from Simmon's caring hands.

„Sit, I’ll do it. “ Natasha said knowing that Skye hated other people touching her. Skye rolled her eyes but sat down and let her girlfriend take care of her.

„I don’t think Ward is important right now. I’d rather know who you really are“ May says.

"That's classified," Maria says as she walks into the plane. Coulson threw his hands up annoyed while FitzSimmons were tripping over each other greeting the Deputy Director. "You two, in the car," she says as she points to Natasha and Syke who follow her order without a word. Nat grabbing all the supplies she would need to treat Skye's wounds on the way out.

"Wait so you know her too?" Coulson asks.

"You will not see either of them for a while. Where is Ward?" Maria informs the team ignoring Coulson's question.

"Interrogation," May tells her. Maria nodded to two other Shield agents who move up the stairs to get Ward.

"What did he do?"

"Classified. Here is you're next mission" Maria lay a file on one of the tables and then just left.

"What in the absolute hell" Fitz whispers as they all stared after the women with wide eyes, not really knowing what to do now.

Later that day (Coulson's office)

"What are you doing?" May asks when she sees Coulson with a beer in his hands staring at the black screen of his computer.

"What are we going to do? We are down three team members and we don't even know why, Fury won't tell me anything useful"

"I don't know"

"Well, what do you know?" Coulson snaps. May raises an eyebrow making Coulson sigh. "I mean you know more about this whole situation.

"Skye's a Shield agent"

"What!?"

"Oh come on it's not that far-fetched. The way she and Natasha interact and the way Maria talked to her. And we all knew there was something she was hiding."

"No, She can't be. She is not even trained"

"You were there today when she easily beat those men, right?" May asks.

"Well yeah, but she can't be a shield agent."

"Why not?"

"Well if she was why didn't she ever say anything and why didn't I know"

"You don't know a lot of things. But I'm guessing she was undercover at the rising tied and Fury needed someone to get her out"

"But then we would have known" Coulson persisted.

"Look, I do not have an explanation for everything. But with what happened today and the few things I got out of Natasha it's plausible."May told him. Coulson rubbed his hands over his face.

"Do you know where the two know each other from?"

"No, that part remains a mystery. Why don't you go to sleep we can figure stuff out tomorrow" Coulson nodded tiredly and closed his laptop.

"How long have you known?" He asks before May was out the door.

"I had my suspicions for a couple of weeks, but Maria showing up today sold it"

At the Hub

Natasha had left Skye to get checked out by real doctors while she went to talk with Fury. But when she came back half an hour later Skye wasn't there anymore. Sighing Natasha walked to the private training rooms. She silently opened the door, not that Skye didn't notice her anyway, and stared at her girlfriend wielding a sword. It looked amazing as she moved quickly threw the transitions but slowed down on the hits against the training dummy. Natasha loved watching Skye train. It was similar to her training but still so different. It always looked surreal and super precise so she didn't say anything for a while, just standing there watching.

Skye felt Natasha's eyes on her and she couldn't help but find comfort in the feeling of being watched by her. She spun to land a good kick and shortly met those eyes. Those eyes that looked at her like she was...everything. It helped calm her never-ending thoughts down. Even more, than the training did. She would usually go hit something when the mission was especially hard. In this case, it just hit a little too close to home and Natasha was more suited for this sort of thing than the training dummy. So eventually she kicked the dummy one last time and stopped.

"I'm sorry" Natasha's voice cut through the silence. Skye turned around and looked at her girlfriend confused. "It shouldn't have come that far today."

"It's not your fault. That guy was a pervert. And he got what was coming for him"

"True but I meant the entire situation. This was not the way we were meant to leave"

"Stop. It's not your fault. And yes there would have possibly been a more graceful and quiet way to leave the team but I can't change that anymore. Besides, I finally get to train at decent hours again and we can talk freely about whatever we want."

"We can also do whatever else we want" Natasha suggested with a grin on her face and a suggestive lit to her voice. Skye shook her head and smiled.
Natasha softly pushed a strand of hair out of Skye’s face. „You want to talk about it?“

„What’s there to talk about? Men like to misuse me as their sex toys and unlike my 5-year-old self, I know how to defend myself now“ Skye tells her matter of factly.

„Skye…“

„I’m fine Nat. Let’s just go home. I’m sure some people like me there“

„The team didn’t hate you“

„The team no. May? Definitely“

„May didn’t hate you either. She just doesn't trust people easily.“

„And we all know that feeling. But that woman hated me“

„Did not“

„Did too“ Skye called over her shoulder as she left the training room.

Chapter Text

When they arrived at the tower later that day they snuck up on everybody watching a movie.
„Tony, could you pass the popcorn?“ Clint asks without moving his head to look at the man. And since Tony was sleeping Natasha picked up the popcorn and handed it to him.

„Thanks“ he mumbled not looking up. Nat lifted an eyebrow at that.

„Geez. I thought you’d be more excited to see us“ Skye spoke up making everybody's heads turn.

„Lady Skye! You are back!“ Thor boomed waking Tony up.

„Finally! I have someone to hack with!“ Tony exclaimed.

„Shenanigans!“ Clint says already having a mischievous look in his eyes.

„You know I’m back too! “ Natasha says a fake pout on her lips.

„And we are very happy, “ Peeper says giving her a side hug.

„Yeah, yeah make some space for us“ Natasha ordered rolling her eyes.

It was four months later when the team saw Skye again. They were heading to the Avengers tower after Fury ordered them to - they didn't get any other information, which unnerved May and Coulson. Especially since Coulson was sure that only Natasha knew that he was alive.
When they walked onto the main floor they saw Fury and Hill waiting for them as well as Stark and Clint having a conversation in the kitchen area.

"Good afternoon Director" FitzSimmons say at the same time. This caught Tony and Clint's attention and they both went to greet their guest.

"It's good to know you are alive," Clint says hugging Coulson " I can't believe you didn't tell us," he adds sending a glare in his direction.

"Oh look Fanboy is still alive. Cap will be very happy" Tony teased, but he hugged him nonetheless.

"Where is Nat?" May asked wanting to see her friend again.

"Training room," Clint says a smirk on his lips which made May suspicious but she stepped into the elevator and orders Jarvis to take her to the right floor.
When May enters the training room she stops in her tracks at the sights that greats her. Skye and Natasha were sparing intensely. Neither of them holding back one bit. When Skye eventually flipped Nat to the ground they stayed in that position staring into each other's eyes.

"Don't go soft on me because I am injured" Skye says strictly.

"We can't have you still injured on our next mission" Natasha replied.

"When you try to hold back, you repeat movements. Don't hold back!" Skye tells her. Natasha sighed.

"Tell me again why you are such a hard ass during training. I mean I was trained by the KGB and they went easier on us" It was meant as a joke but it failed. Big time.

"Well, then it explains why I won."

"Come on Skye we've been going at it since 5 am. Ease up" Natasha trailed her right hand up Skye's arm trying to calm her.

"And you haven't won one single fight against me today."

"Skye, talk to me about what's going on with you today" May watched the exchange with wide eyes. They were both so comfortable with each other. Nat never brought up her training. Ever. Yet with Skye, she was comfortable enough to joke about it. And then there was the topic of Skye's fighting. but before she could ponder on the level of Skye's skills and where she could have acquired them she noticed that both women were looking at her from their position on the floor.

"What's up?" Natasha asks a smirk on her lips.

"Umm...Fury sent us here, he's upstairs with Hill and the others" May tells them. Skye stood up pulling her girlfriend with her.

"I'll go take a shower" Skye excused herself.

"We are going to talk about this!" Nat called after her.

"So she really is a Shield agent" May states.

"Yes."

"How long have you two known each other?"

"We met about two weeks after I came to Shield," the redhead tells her. May's eyes widen. Natasha had known Skye a lot longer than she had May.

" Why did you never mention her?"

"Cause I wasn't allowed to," Nat answered simply. May looked at her confused. "and I'm still not allowed to." Natasha added.

"Fine. So what have you been up to?"

They talked for a while catching up on different things until Jarvis told them they had a debrief in 20 minutes. Natasha went to take a quick shower and May went back up to the others.
Once Natasha was done she found Skye in their bedroom staring at her phone.
"What's going on?" she asked softly sitting down next to her girlfriend.

"Nothing, I'm sorry I was so hard on you today."

"Please don't shut me out," Natasha begged her. Skye sighed.

"I just don't want you to get hurt"

"Where is this coming from?"

"We decrypted some new messages yesterday, most of Strike team delta is Hydra" Skye revealed. Strike Team Delta, a team that Clint and Nat had been training for almost two years now.

"Are you sure?" Nat asks, her mind running wild with the implications. Skye nodded.

"I don't want you to get hurt, we're down to the wire. Fury wants me to lay low for a few days in case I tripped anything yesterday."

"I'm not going to die or get hurt in any way. We've taken every precaution" Natasha whispered into Skye's hair. "And I will promise I will take training with you more seriously and be careful around any other agent that we haven't cleared yet" she added and kissed Skye deeply before cuddling into her on the bed. "We'll be okay" she assured her.

They stayed like that for a while until Jarvis reminded them that they had a mission debrief.

Chapter Text

When Skye and Natasha arrived for the meeting they were immediately bombarded with questions but Fury quickly shut them down saying that they could catch up later.

„So what is the mission, Sir?“ Steve asks.

„We are going to plan and execute a wedding in one week.“ Fury announced seriously. Since the tone in his voice was so serious most of the people in the room weren’t sure they had heard correctly.

„I’m sorry, what?“ Coulson asks confused.

„You two are getting married next Tuesday, “ Maria tells Natasha and Skye who both stare at her in shock.

„I think you may have broken them.“ Clint says with a smirk.

„Are you serious? Cause if this is a joke it is not funny“ Skye asks narrowing her eyes at her boss.

„It’s not a joke.“ Fury assured her.“ Since I kind of ruined your first wedding I figured I’d make it up to you. There aren’t any serious cases that need your attention this week. So let’s start planning. And by that I mean all of you, because all of you may have a week off but I do not.“ with that, he left them alone to go back to the HUB.

„Who knew Pirate had a heart“ Tony joked but it fell flat.

„ So you two are engaged?“ Coulson asks Natasha.

„Have been for one and a half years now“ Clint answers for her..

„So are you an Avenger?“ Fitz questions Skye.

„I’m a Shield agent“ Skye replies.

„Then why were you on my team.

„That’s classified, “ Maria tells him sternly.
Luckily for all of them, Pepper chooses that moment to join them.

„Do those smiling faces mean that the mission is easy?“ Pepper asks.

„Those two are finally getting hitched, “ Tony tells his wife.

„We have one week to put together a wedding“ Bruce explains further.

„Fury gave you a week off to get married!?“ Pepper asks surprised.

„Seams that way“

„This is going to be amazing! We need a cake, and flowers and a venue obviously, and invitations. And we can finally go dress shopping." Pepper exclaims.

„Well, I guess we know who is going to coordinate this whole thing“ Clint spoke. Pepper looked at Skye and Natasha who still looked like they didn’t believe what was happening.

„Okay how about I give you two a list with some simple questions and then we can meet up in two hours again and start planning“ Pepper suggests.

„That sounds like a good idea“ Skye agrees as Natasha hadn’t even spoken yet and had a vice grip on her hand. Pepper nodded and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen while the rest of the group dispersed in various directions.

15min later on Skye's and Natasha's floor

"Are you okay with this?" Skye asks once they've settled on their couch. Natasha looks up at her but didn't answer.

"If you don't want this then we don't have to do anything," Skye tells her.

"Have I told you that I love you lately?" Natasha asks kissing her finance.

"I believe you might have mentioned it this morning," Skye says. "Are you really okay with this?"

"I am. We've been wanting to get married for a while now. I just can't believe Fury actually gave us an entire week off and roped everybody into helping."

"He owes us, plus that stuff with Hydra," Skye says with a shrug. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure. Let's get started on this list"

"Okay. Simple or extravagant?" Skye asks reading the first question from the paper.

"Simple," they both say at the same time.

"Favorite color?"

"Black," both say at the same time.

"We should probably write something else down though otherwise, our whole wedding will be black."

" I always thought about having pastel or earth tones at our wedding"
Skye tells her.

"I like earth tones" the redhead agrees.

"Okay, next we have cake flavors."

" Chocolate but I'd also like to have something with a little bit of spice," Natasha says.

"Like chili?" Natasha nodded. "I like that. But I'd also like it to be very rich chocolate"

"That sounds good"

"Anything else?"

"I don't think so" Skye nodded.

"Any preferred location?" Natasha shrugged.

"How about the beach?"

"I think Tony has a private beach somewhere. That would be nice. We could do a big fire when it gets dark like in the movies" Natasha tells her with an exited expression making Skye smile at her softly.

" Mmh. Do you think we could ask Fury to officiate the wedding"

"Fury has a .."

"Yup"

"How in the world did you find that out"

"First time I hacked into his records," Skye tells her with a smirk.

"Okay, well then we should ask him. But I want to see his face when you ask him"

"Deal"

"What's the next question" Natasha asks.

"Guestlist?"

"Everybody who is here and Bobbi. And you will want to invite Felicity. Anybody else?" Skye thought for a moment but shook her head. She wrote all of the names down and then moved on the next question.
They continued like that until they arrived at the last question.

"Who is wearing the dress/who is walking down the aisle? Well that's easy"

"It is?" Natasha asks confused.

"Yes, you are walking down the aisle"

"Me? No way and besides who would I even ask..."

"Coulson. You yourself said she was like the father you never had"

" But, wouldn't Fury want to walk you down the aisle?"

" Nope, he has to officiate. I've made up my mind" Skye declared. Natasha tried to fight Skye on the topic but Skye wouldn't budge so Natasha finally agreed if Skye would also wear a dress. The ding from the elevator interrupted them.

"How's it going," Pepper asks when she sees that Skye and Natasha are staring at her.

"We just finished," Natasha says taking the paper from Skye before she could change anything and handing it over to Pepper. Pepper looked it over and nodded along like she was already forming a plan in her head about who would do what.

"Okay, I can work with this. Anything you don't want?"

" No speeches," Natasha said.

"And we don't need a fancy dinner or something afterward either. We just want a campfire and a buffet." the hacker addded.

"I can do that"

"And we already have someone who is going to officiate so you don't need to find someone."

" Okay, any thoughts on bridesmaids and men?"

" I'm going to ask Felicity," Skye tells Pepper

"I think I might ask Clint," Natasha says.

"Do you want to open a registry?" Skye and Natasha share a look and then both shake their heads.

"We don't need anything"

"You are aware that the team will most likely get you something anyway" the CEO pointed out. Skye sighed they really didn't want or need anything. Tony was already accommodating to them by letting them live in the Tower free of charge.

"Make sure it's nothing too big or expensive" Pepper nodded in understanding.

"Anything else?"

"Uh, I don't think so?" Pepper looked at Natasha who shook her head as well.

"Great, I'll tell everyone what they will need to do and then we can go dress shopping. I already made an appointment. So be ready in twenty minutes."

"Thanks, Pepper, for everything"

"Your Welcome" Pepper smiled at the pair and then left them alone.

"You think this is actually going to happen?" Natasha asks her girlfriend after a moment. "Are you kidding? It's us! Something is bound to happen. But let's just enjoy it while it lasts. I will call Felicity to come. The least we can do is spend time with our family" Skye had started calling the team their family about two years ago and somehow it stuck to Natasha as well. Maybe it wasn't the team making her soft but Skye. But somehow she didn't mind that much.

"Then I'll call Bobbi"

Chapter Text

Pepper texted everyone their assignments in no time and then told the couple that they needed to leave. It was honestly a mystery to Natasha how Pepper managed to be this organized but she was thankful for the help otherwise they wouldn't manage to pull this off.

Skye made sure to call Felicity before they had to leave and Natasha asked May if she wanted to come along. They wanted to keep to the tradition of not seeing each other dresses until the wedding so they would go in separately. Pepper would stay through both appointments and May would help Natasha choose a dress. Skye had wanted Felicity to be there but she was all the way in Star City. Apparently, that wasn't a problem for Felicity because she stood in front of the shop when they arrived.

"Fee?! How..?" Skye hugged her friend excitedly.

"I have really cool friends," Felicity told her.

"Barry brought you didn't he?" Barry, aka the Flash, was a Metahuman with Superspeed Felicity had befriended a while ago.

"Yup, hey Natasha, Pepper" she greeted the other women. " And you must be Agent May, I have heard a lot about you?"

"Have you?" May asks a little on edge since she didn't know who this woman was.

"Clint and Natasha complain a lot," Felicity says with a sly grin.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Natasha says feigning ignorance.

"Well anyway, I'm Felicity a friend of Skye's" the two shook hands before Pepper tells them that Skye will go in first while May and Natasha could go get some lunch.

Natasha took them to a hole-in-the-wall Chinese place a couple of blocks over.

"She makes you happy" May observed.

"Yeah, she does. I'm sorry I've never told you about her, it was just safer that way"

"You don't usually follow Fury's orders that precisely" Natasha knew that May would be a little hurt that she never told her about the hacker but she didn't think it would be this much.

"Her life is a lot more complicated than people think. Her identity needs to be kept under wraps it's just safer that way. You saw what a phenomenal hacker she is. People would kill for the kind of access she can get you into various agencies."

"So how long have you two been together?" May asks wanting to know more about the relationship.

"8 Years now," Natasha tells her "We were supposed to get married 4 months ago but then Fury assigned her the mission with your team"

"Do you know why she was on our team?" May asks carefully.

"Because of Ward," Natasha says like it was obvious.

"Yes, I got that part. But what did Ward do?"

"He was a double agent" Natasha informs her. She didn't want to go into detail because they still had to go over a lot of files to figure out who else was HYDRA. They had discovered that HYDRA was within Shield two years ago and had been secretly going through every agent, figuring out who was a double agent and who wasn't. Agents that they were 200% sure weren't HYDRA were on 'undercover missions in the middle east'. But they were really just moved to a separate building and kept working from there. Mobil Teams like Coulson's would keep getting a new member that would verify everyone's loyalties and then leave with various excuses and possibly the arrested double agent, just like it had been done with Skye. This way they were rebuilding SHIELD before HYDRA ever had the chance to tear it down. But May couldn't be informed of that quite just yet, even though her team was now safe. They didn't want to take the chance most of the agents didn't know what was actually going on just that they couldn't tell anybody. They had all gotten new contracts and were buried in NDAs. Shield would be better and safer this time.

"Great" May mumbled thinking back to the multiple times she had slept with the man. But she pushed the thought aside for now. She wanted to be happy for Natasha. They talked a little while longer. May eventually learned that Skye was recruited by Fury when she was only four years old. And that she had been trained to become an agent since then. This explains why she was such a good agent, and how Nat and Skye got along so well. Although May would be having a few choice words for Fury on the matter. A child! He should know better than that.

Eventually they went back to the shop to try on some dresses in the hopes of finding one that Natasha liked in one session. Apparently, Skye had found hers and they were just going to make some minor alterations so it would fit perfectly on their wedding day.

Luckily Natasha fell in love with the third dress she tried on, an off-the-shoulder gown, with a plunging neckline and a slit on the left side ( just in case they had to fight someone). They left the store after only an hour and Natasha and Skye announced they had to quickly stop by the HUB so the group separated.

Once they arrive at the huge building the couple walked straight to Fury's office and didn't even knock before entering.

"I thought you had a wedding to plan" Fury greeted them.

"We do, which is why we are here" the redhead informs him.

"We want you to officiate," Skye tells him not beating around the bush.

"Me?" Natasha didn't think she had ever seen Fury look surprised and she reminded herself to hack into the security cameras later and save a copy of the moment to her phone for blackmail. Maybe she should print out a picture and give it to him for his birthday.

" I know you have a license and it would mean a lot to both of us if you would be willing to do it" Skye explains.

"How..? I don't even want to know how you know that. But I'd be honored to do it"

"Thank you" Natasha spoke up.

" Great that is all we wanted, so now you can get back to your fun paperwork" Skye grinned at him happy that she wasn't the one sitting at that desk.

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here you two" Natasha and Skye laughed and made their way back to the tower leaving Fury with his paperwork.

Chapter Text

The wedding happened three days later, Pepper managed to pull everything together easily, and due to a generous tip even the wedding dresses were altered in one day.
Like they had wanted the wedding was at one of Tony's beach houses with just the Avengers, May, Felicity, Bobbi, Hill, and Coulson. (Felicity made sure that there were pictures of the exact moment everyone found out Fury was officiating the wedding). Sadly, in true Avenger fashion right after the main ceremony, they got an alarm that wired alien worms were attacking New York, so they all had to jump on the Quinjet to go fight them.
Honestly, Skye and Natasha counted it as a win, something was bound to happen anyway at least this way they had some sort of ceremony and they got to wear their dresses.
Pepper, the absolute godsend, managed to get the cake and all the food to the tower so after the fight and some well-needed showers ( the worms exploded in a shower in weird purple goo when killed) they were spread out on the couches in the common room enjoying it.

"I'm really sorry about the wedding," Steve says once they had all gotten some food.

"Stop apologizing, I'm honestly surprised it lasted as long as it did," Skye told him.

"Besides the ceremony was beautiful" Nat added in Pepper's direction, who inclined her head in thanks.

" How did you get Fury to officiate?"

"We asked him"

"You asked him? That's it? How did you even find out he could do it" Clint asks astonished and maybe a little underwhelmed that there was no blackmail involved.

"I hacked his files, " Skye says with a shrug.

"What's the plan now? Honeymoon?" Tony asks.

"Not right now, we need to deal with Hydra first. And I don't think Fury will give us time off until that is dealt with. Besides we will both be more relaxed once that is over" everyone nodded in understanding.

"Wait a minute did you just say Hydra!?" Coulson exclaimed alarmed.

"You were not supposed to know that" Nat spoke with a grimace, she had completely forgotten that he and May weren't informed of the situation yet.

"Does that mean Ward was a double agent for Hydra!?" May asks outraged.

"Also something you were not supposed to know” Fury stated coldly.

"But you don't need to worry. It's being handled. All you have to do is not talk about it. Ever!" Bobbi tried to calm them down.

You seem very calm about this" May observed. "How long have you known?"

"We found out about 2 years ago, I think. As Bobbi said, you really don't need to worry we are on top of things, Hydra doesn't stand a chance." Nat told them.

"Come on guys let's not talk about work, it's their wedding night after all" Pepper interrupted them.

"She's right, we were already interrupted by the word worms" Steve agreed.

"How about we play a game after dinner, or do the newlyweds want to retire to have mindblowing sex?" Tony asks with a smirk, which resulted in a strong hit to the back of his head by Pepper.

"Well someone in this tower has to have a good time, Pepper you are welcome to join us if you ever want some real fun" Nat smirked at Tony.

"Burn!" Clint called from his position on the other end of the couch.

"Shut up Legolas!"

"Well then, goodnight guys! Leave some cake for tomorrow morning!" Skye called as her wife pulled her into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed Nat's lips were on Skye's as she pressed her
against the back wall.

"I can't believe we actually got married," the assassin says, softly pushing some strands of hair out of her wife's face.

"Me neither, you're my wife now. Can't get rid of me now" Skye tells her trailing kisses along her lover's neck.

"Never" Nat breathed out tilting her head to give Skye better access.

The doors opened and they both stepped out and into their floor the hacker pulling Nat into the bedroom and pushing her onto the bed.

"Я тебя люблю" Nat whispers as she effortlessly switches their positions, pushing Skye into the mattress before kissing her again.

"I love you too" the younger woman answers breathlessly as she trails her hands along Natasha's back.