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Chapter Text

She woke up in the middle of the night again. She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t breathe. Not again. Shit. “Shit,” she gasps out and quickly sits up from her bed and tries to steady her breath.

“No, no, no, no, no…” she tried to stop the loud and quick heartbeats, the headache, and the pain in her chest. Skye is breathing too fast, and her head started to hurt even more. She decides to stand up and go out on her balcony for fresh air, but as soon as she stands up, she collapses on the ground. She slowly moves closer to the wall to rest against it. But she still can’t seem to calm down.

She hears someone knock on the door.

“Skye? Skye, is everything okay?” Steve asks from the other side of the door.

Skye wants to answer that everything is fine and that he can go away, but she can’t make out the words. Steve can hear her loud breathing.

“Skye!” he’s getting worried and then decides to go inside.

As soon as Steve opens the door and sees Skye on the ground, he rushes towards her. He can tell that she is clearly having an anxiety attack. He crouches down by her and later on takes a seat next to her.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay,” he tries to calm her down and pulls her into side hug.

Skye always resisted this kind of care, but this time she couldn’t. She wasn’t exactly thinking straight. Steve rubs her back, and it’s working. Skye’s breathing is slowing down a little, and she’s starting to realize her surroundings and what’s happening.

Just then Natasha comes in, seeing Skye's door open. She has a worried look on her face when she sees Skye relying on Steve. She comes closer and sits down on the ground next to them. She hugs her too, and now Skye is being held by Steve and Nat, slowly breathing in and out, but tears are still coming down her face, and she cries quietly. Her breath trembling, which only makes Steve and Nat hug her tighter.

9 years ago...

“Hey, Skye, hun, could you go fetch me my phone, please? It’s upstairs on my desk,” her mom told her as she was putting on a coat.

7-year-old Skye nodded and quickly ran upstairs to her mom’s room. Skye has dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. She’s responsible and loyal, though sometimes a little rebellious, especially when it comes to school. But all in all, she’s a good kid—always has been.

She grabs the phone and notices that a closet’s drawer next to her was a little open. The clothes were hanging over the edges, and she leans over intrigued to see what’s inside, but just then her mom yells out to her to hurry up, so Skye runs back downstairs and gives the phone to her mom.

“Thanks, sweets. Now remember—drink lots of tea, no snacks, and be good, okay?” she said.

Skye nods. Then mom rubbed Skye’s hair, took her purse, and left the house. She and Skye’s dad were going to work, but little Skye had to stay home because she had caught a cold like always. It must’ve been every fall when Skye caught the cold.

Skye wandered through the house, not knowing what to do really. She walked to the living room, didn’t want to watch the TV or draw or play with toys.

She walked past the bedrooms when she stopped at her parent’s room. She peeked in again and walked to the open drawer. She opened it completely and saw a corner of a paper peeking out through the clothes. She pushes the clothes aside and sees that it’s a file. She’s surprised to see a file buried under all these clothes. It was strange. Skye takes the file in her hands and opens it a little and peeks inside, but then closes it quickly. It felt wrong. She shouldn’t be sneaking in her parent’s stuff. She puts the file back where it was, leaving the drawer the same way it was. She goes downstairs and decides to watch TV.

The day passes with watching a couple of movies, playing with dolls, drinking lots of tea, and coloring.

Skye’s asleep when her parents arrive from work. They’re trying to be quiet when coming in the living room, careful not to wake her up.

Skye’s dad turns off the TV that was left on when Skye fell asleep. He took her upstairs to her bed and covered her with a blanket.

“Dad?” Skye wakes up and asks with a raspy voice, clearly not as sleepy as she was before.

“Shh, go back to sleep,” he tells her, but Skye sits up.

Her dad looks at her a little disappointed, but not angry.

“I’m not tired anymore,” Skye says and then looks at the clock. “I slept for 2 hours!”

“Really?” her dad plays along. “It’s normal. Your body is just tired from the cold.” He puts a hand on her forehead to check her fever and smiles. “You’re okay,” he says playfully and ruffles her hair before standing up and leaving the room.

Skye’s parents soon went to sleep. They were tired from work, and Skye didn’t blame them. But she wasn’t sleepy anymore.

She tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. She sat under the blanket and went through some of her books.

When she finally decided to try to go back to sleep, she was woken up by a sound. Shattering glass downstairs. Skye isn’t sure if she heard it right, but then she heard loud footsteps coming upstairs.

She jumps, but before she gets up on her feet, she’s startled by a gunshot. She’s frightened when she hears the loud noise. She quickly gets under her blanket and then hears her dad yell. She can’t make out what he’s saying, but she tries until another gunshot is heard. She starts to panic, and tears drop on her shirt. She wants to run to her parents, but is scared to go out of her room.

She tries to stay as quiet as possible, but then someone slams the door open, and she hears men's voices saying some codenames. She can feel their heavy steps on the floor – they are coming towards her, but before she can decide what to do, they reach her.

They throw the blanket off of her. She’s scared, all curled up in the corner of the bed.

“That’s the one?” one man, dressed in a black military-type vest, asks through his earpiece.

“That’s the one,” Skye hears another man’s voice answering through the earpiece.

And then the man quickly pulls a black bag over her head and then… She falls into deep sleep, feeling only a small sting in her neck.

Dizziness falls over Skye when she wakes up to realize that she is in a small room with a small shelf, a chair, a little table, and a narrow bed she’s on.

She slowly sits up and tries to understand what just happened. She doesn’t know what to think. All she knows is that she wants to see her parents.

She stands up and tries to steady herself. She hangs onto the chair so she doesn’t fall. But soon she regains her vision and becomes steady again.

Skye hears someone unlocking the door, and she immediately rushes back to bed and sits down. A man comes in. He’s short, has glasses, white hair and he has a file in his hands. Skye looks at him with a defensive glare, and she tries to hide her fear. The man takes a seat on the chair and turns to her.

“My name is Dreykov,” the man begins, “and I am here to help you.”

Skye doesn’t believe him and stays quiet. She’s still scared, because this man is one of them – one of the people who brought her here and took away her parents.

“Oh, you’ll fit in just great,” he says as he notices her being defiant and opens up the file.

“So, Skye Hudson… You’re a bit too old for… this, but I think you’ll catch up pretty quickly-” he gets interrupted by Skye, “Fit in where?” she asks with a serious voice.

Dreykov looks at her with a small smirk, “This is the Red Room.”

The next days were horrific, the conditioning began - starvation, isolation, and pain disguised as training. They stripped Skye’s past away from her mind, until all that remained was obedience.

Skye was dragged from room to room, forced to train, to use a gun, a knife. She was taught to dance ballet, but there was no rest, no mistakes. When she cried, they made her run until her legs gave out. When she resisted, they locked her in darkness, whispering lies until she forgot what was real.

Soon, pain became normal. Bruises never had time to fade before new ones formed. Her hands, once soft, became rough from climbing, fighting, and holding weapons too big for her small fingers.

She wasn’t alone, too. There were some girls her age that were trained and tortured amongst her, but many more who were already Black Widows. There must be hundreds of them, all divided into separate groups. All of them were taught to fight, grow far more mature for their age, and be loyal to Dreykov, which included Skye as well.

Sometimes, Skye noticed the other girls disappearing. Sometimes, she heard screams at night. But asking questions led to punishment. So, she learned to be silent. To be ruthless. To survive. Because in the Red Room, survival was the only thing that mattered.

Though there was one girl named Rue who always gave Skye a small, reassuring smile when she could, and that made Skye feel safer – at least a little bit.

Rue was older than Skye. She was a Black Widow already and went on missions and assassinations. Soon Skye grew attached to Rue, and they both started training together. Rue watched over Skye, and one night Rue even managed to sneak into Skye’s room so they could talk and bond.

Rue would tell Skye stories about her most interesting missions, for instance, when she had her first mission with Hydra’s Winter Soldier, she would describe him as a “total baddie,” and it always made Skye laugh.

Both of them were always worried about each other, because in this place, you don’t know what tomorrow will bring, especially if you’re a Black Widow, who goes on dangerous missions and fights a lot of enemies. The worst fear of all is to make a mistake, because even a small one can cause you big consequences.

2 years passed, full of training, torture, ballet, and crying yourself to sleep. Skye had become what Dreykov wanted her to become. She was one of the best Widows of her age in the Red Room, and so, one day, when Skye was training in her room with her knife, Dreykov came in.

She stops her training and looks up at him with a serious gaze.

He comes closer, “Good work.”

He then walks past her and sits down on a chair. Skye doesn’t move or show emotion at all, just follows him with her eyes. Her look is cold and unwavering.

Dreykov clears his throat and then speaks, “I’ll be honest with you, Skye, you’re an exceptional fighter. I see potential in you.”

Skye gets a little interested but doesn’t change a bit – like she was taught to do.

“You’ll be going on your first mission tomorrow to assassinate an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3 Widows will accompany you. Here is all the information you need,” he says and puts a file on the table.

Skye nods, and Dreykov leaves her to let her study the information about tomorrow, like where and when the mission takes place.

Skye looked through the file and saw the list of the widows who will join her tomorrow. Rue was going too, and Skye was glad. At least someone she could trust.

Skye wasn’t nervous. She was trained for this, and she was far more mature for her age than she had to be.

The next morning, Skye was given a sniper and coordinates, and an exact time she had to be there. She got ready – put on her small Widow suit, put on a belt with bullet-filled cases, a backpack with everything for evacuation if the mission goes sideways, covered her face with a bulletproof mask, only revealing the eyes, and tied her hair up the only way she knew.

Just when Skye was about to leave her room for the jet that was going to fly all 4 Black Widows to the mission’s coordinates, Rue came in.

“Hey,” she said and closed the door behind her.

Skye just looks at her, her eyes softening a little.

“Are you ready for this?” Rue asks as she comes closer to Skye to fix up her messy ponytail.

Skye looks in the mirror and lets Rue fix up her hair, “I am.”

She sounds convincing, but Rue knows that she’s probably scared and worried that she’ll mess up. But she doesn’t say anything. Rue puts her hands on Skye’s shoulders and looks at her through the mirror.

“I was worried too before my first mission. I wasn’t 11 like you though. I think I was…” Rue thinks for a bit, “16. Maybe 17.”

Skye turns around and looks at Rue, who can clearly tell that little Skye is scared, even with her cold demeanor in front.

“You’ll do great. I promise,” Rue says with a small smile.

“Thanks…” Skye answered and wanted to smile but didn’t let her guard down before this mission.

Rue and Skye went to the jet, where the other 2 Widows were waiting already – Irina and Selena. They gave Rue and Skye cold looks by which Skye could tell, that they weren’t going to be as friendly as Rue. They all took seats, and Rue flew the jet to the given coordinates.

Meanwhile, Skye and other Widows were getting ready – sharpening their knives, tying up their wrists to be ready for any unexpected fights, and loading snipers. Skye also loaded her sniper because she was the one who would have to take down the most important target of this mission. This was her chance to prove herself.

Chapter Text

Rue landed the jet near New York, and they all got out. They divided into 2 pairs – Skye was with Selena, and Rue went with Irina. Skye only knew her part of this mission – assassinate the target and return to the jet. She wondered what others had to do or what part they had in this, but she didn’t ask.

Skye and Selena went to their coordinates, which were on a tall apartment building’s roof next to Avenger’s Tower. Skye got in her position – lied down near the edge of the roof, got her sniper locked and loaded, and pointed at Avengers Tower 4th floor’s 2nd window. Right where told. It was the window where SHIELD agents have their meetings held with the Avengers, and one of the agents in charge will be going there in about 5 minutes to get an important document that Dreykov apparently wants.

She didn’t know what it was or why it was important to Dreykov, but neither did the others. No one ever questions Dreykov, and for a reason.

“How old exactly are you?” Selena asked Skye while sitting down next to her.

Skye just glanced at her and then back through the sniper’s scope, “11.”

Skye’s voice was cold and serious. She was really focused on this mission.

Selena was surprised, but didn’t show it much, “Shit.”

Skye remained serious.

They could see Rue and Irina opposite of them, on the other side of the street, walking up a building’s fire-escape stairs to the roof.

After a few minutes, Skye could see a man through the window she kept her eyes on, and the sniper locked at.

“That’s the one, Skye,” Rue said through the earpiece.

Skye got ready to take the shot – exhaled, aimed, and pulled the trigger. Her aim was flawless, but the shot was heard through the streets, causing people to panic and run away. The bullet shattered the glass, making it a perfect entrance for Rue and Irina.

But Skye and Selena were done with their part of the mission. All they had to do now was get back to the jet and wait for Rue and Irina. They moved quickly – grabbed their backpacks and ran to the edge of the building for dropping with a rope. One last time Skye glanced at the man who was now lying on the ground completely still. He still had the file in his hands.

Skye saw Irina shooting a zip line at the broken window so she and Rue could get over there for the file quickly.

Some agents had run to the shot man. Skye could see that they were shocked, but were already calling for backup. Just in time, before anyone could secure the file, Rue and Irina reached the room by sliding on the zip line. They started fighting off the agents. Their moves were quick and precise. No mistakes.

“Hey, come on!” Selena yelled out for Skye to move on.

She had been watching Rue and Irina for too long, she didn’t even notice. Selena had already prepared ropes for both of them for dropping off. Skye couldn’t help but worry about Rue now.

The backup was now arriving. One by one, agents came running in the room.

Though Skye couldn’t make out their face expressions, because they were about 80 feet away from her and in another building, she knew that Rue and Irina were worried. They were clearly outnumbered. Skye took a step closer to the edge, but then turned back to Rue and Irina. She saw that they were starting to struggle and needed help right now.

“We have to help,” Skye said to herself.

“What?” Selena, now starting to get frustrated, overheard.

“We have to help them!” Skye answered louder and more demanding.

Selena could hear a type of urgency in little Skye’s voice, but she knew they couldn’t change the plan of the mission.

“We can’t!” Selena answered, her voice firm, although with a small hint of helplessness.

Skye felt like Selena wanted to help too, but for some reason couldn’t.

Skye ignored Selena’s statement, took a grappling hook gun and moved towards the other side of the building to shoot a zip line over the street and into the tower, where Rue and Irina were fighting. But right after Skye shot, Selena came and stopped her from sliding.

“No- you don’t understand!” Selena said with anger, grabbing Skye’s arm.

Skye tried to break free, but Selena was too strong.

“Let go!-” Skye yelled out of frustration and a little bit of desperation.

But before she could get rid of Selena, a loud gunshot was heard coming from the Tower. Skye turns to the room and sees Rue on the ground.

In that moment everything stopped. Selena froze. Both she and Skye were in disbelief from what they saw. They stared at Irina now struggling alone. That goddamn file in her hands, which she defended with her life.

Skye tried to avoid looking at Rue’s body on the ground. Her breath trembled, her eyes were watering, and her vision became blurry. Suddenly all these thoughts and memories of Rue rushed at her. But she can’t cry. She won’t cry. Skye shook her head to stop her emotions and remain focused.

But then her heartbeat started to quicken again. It pounded with rage, her eyes blazing, hands trembling with the need for revenge.

Selena, in shock as well, saw Skye brushing off her grip and sliding over to the Tower.

She quickly got off the zipline and took out her gun. She didn’t look at Rue’s body on the ground and just shot. One by one. Anger had consumed her.

“Get out of here!” Irina yelled while shooting off any agent coming her way.

Skye ignored Irina’s order, she wasn’t thinking clearly, her emotions getting the better of her.

Eventually, Skye had run out of bullets, so she had to use her knife now. The training that she had gone through had made her into one of the most exceptional Black Widows since the very famous Natasha Romanoff. Skye ducked when one agent tried to knock her out. She hit him to the ground and stabbed him through his chest. With none other than pure anger.

The last agent from backup was knocked out by Irina, with her last bits of strength. Skye then scanned the room for anyone else. Her anger still showing as she was still panting.

She turned to Irina and saw that she had knelt by Rue’s side. She wasn’t crying, just staring at Rue’s lifeless eyes. Skye approached and tried not to burst into tears. Rue was the only friend she got. She had no one else.

Skye then sees how Irina moves to Rue’s belt and takes all the bullets from her. She also takes her gun and knife that were on her. Then she cuts all of Red Room’s symbols out of her suit. It was a procedure that was instructed for every Widow to do in cases like this. Irina then takes Rue’s backpack and places all the things in it.

Skye hears Irina sniffle, but then brush it off. She closes Rue’s eyes, looks at her face for one last time, and then suddenly stands up and puts Rue’s backpack over her shoulder.

“Let’s go,” she says with her voice empty, as if the moment had already been locked away somewhere deep inside of her, never to be touched again.

Irina walked to the broken window they came in through and hooked herself to a rope so she could drop off the tower.

Skye didn’t move. Not yet. Her eyes were still locked onto Rue. She crouched down and touched her cold forehead. She felt a tear roll down her face, only because that was the only one, she couldn’t hold in. She was struggling now to keep it to herself. All that suffering in the Red Room, training to hide emotions, all of that was now proven to work. Even if she was crushed inside, she would never show it.

“Let’s. Go,” Irina ordered, and Skye stood up.

She glanced at Rue one last time and walked to the edge.

Both of them dropped off the building, hanging onto their ropes, and as soon as they reached the ground, they quickly hooked off and ran to the jet.

Selena was in the jet’s pilot seat when they came. Her look was empty, but she was still determined to finish the mission. Skye and Irina got in and they took off.

The flight was silent. Skye was sitting and staring down at her legs, trying to keep her feelings from showing, when she looked up at Irina, who was suddenly standing up. She was angry.

“God-fucking-damn it!” Irina yelled out and loudly stomped on the ground, making a loud noise.

Skye’s confused, but says nothing. Irina goes to Selena in the pilot’s lounge to, what looks like, complain.

Skye still heard her though, “I fucking can’t deal with this- He’s gonna kill us, Sel! All because of her!”

Skye tensed up hearing those words.

“Hey- I swear, if he’s gonna punish someone, it’s gonna be her,” Selena answered, also frustrated, but kept her eyes on the controls.

Skye stared at Irina, wondering if what they said was true.

After a moment of silence, Irina spoke again, “If she wouldn’t have come, Rue wouldn’t have been distracted, and we would’ve succeeded.”

Skye stood up, letting her frustration out, “We got the file, didn’t we?”

She spoke with a firm voice, trying to be tough amongst them. Irina shot her a sharp glare.

She came closer to little Skye, towering over her and speaking in annoyance and hate, “We lost a perfectly good Widow on a level 2 mission. She was one of the best, and she died-” Irina got caught off, but then rephrased, “She wasn’t supposed to die. Not like this.”

She sighed and walked back to her seat.

Skye sat back down too. She felt hopeless and didn’t know what to do. She glanced at Rue’s backpack that Irina had dropped in a corner, wishing her friend were still here.

They arrived back at the Red Room and got out of the jet. They all braced themselves for what was coming.

They walked through the back entrance, and when Selena opened the door, there were 2 Widows standing there, blocking the way, like they had been waiting for them to come. Both of them looked emotionless, perhaps under someone else’s control. Skye gave them a cautious stare. She could feel something was wrong here.

When Selena tried to go past them, one would suddenly grab her and the other – Irina. They dragged them away without flinching. Skye was left untouched. She was far beyond worried and at first just stood there, at the doorframe, shocked, but then snapped back and focused on what was happening.

She quickly started to run after Selena and Irina, who were struggling to break free from the Widows’ hold. She started to realize that they would probably have to pay for her mistakes now. And she couldn’t let that fall on her shoulders.

“No!” Skye yelled after them while running, but just as she was about to reach them, she got stopped by a Widow, who was sent after her.

“NO!- LET GO OF ME!” Skye screamed, seeing Selena and Irina getting dragged to the dark room and locked inside.

“STOP IT- NO- IT’S MY FAULT! IT’S MY FAULT!” Skye struggled, tried to fight the Widow who held her, she even cried.

The Widow called for help, and then Skye felt her body weakening, “Please…”

Her vision blurred. She starts to pant, to feel dizzy, and then falls forward, now having to rely on the holding arms.

“It’s my fault…” with her last breath, Skye made out the words before falling into unconsciousness.

After a few hours, Skye woke up back in her room. She carefully sat up and looked around, still feeling woozy. She started breathing, trembling inside. She was cold.

Her hands freezing, shaking, face pale and eyes still wet. Her lungs filled with thick air, making it hard for her to breathe. The room filled with silence, only her short breaths heard. Staring into void, trying to keep it together, she sat on her bed… numb.

Skye was still thinking about what happened and couldn’t stop. She still had Rue on her mind. All the time. No matter what she did, Skye always wound up thinking about her. Thinking about what she could’ve done to make things different. Maybe then Rue would still be alive.

Skye stands up and ragefully pushes a chair on the ground. She leans against the table and tries to shake off the feeling of guilt. Not only about Rue or Irina, or Selena, but about her not doing enough. Not being enough.

Days passed in a flash and, eventually, Dreykov noticed Skye’s anger that she tried so hard to hide. He took it as an opportunity to make Skye want to get revenge. He encouraged her to train more and get better at fighting. Skye trained past her sleeping hours, day and night, always reminding herself, “This is for Rue.”

So passed years until Skye had become an exceptional Black Widow. She was the youngest to have ever become one. She was only 11… She had been trained into an emotionless soldier of Dreykov’s, just like the others and like he wanted. But Skye had had potential that stood out and which made her the best of the best. Dreykov couldn’t miss it.

One day all the best Black Widows were ordered to meet in one room, including Skye. She walked through the hallway to the room she was assigned to be in. She saw other girls walk to the same room too – some young, some older, but she was the youngest.

They all were lined up in front of Dreykov while he was walking past all of the girls, glaring at each and every one of them.

He finally begins to talk, his voice loud and strict, “Some partners of mine at HYDRA have noticed that all of you have potential. They’ve noticed your skill and have offered to transfer one of you to them for further training in their facility in Siberia.”

He’s walking past everyone, front and back, slowly. None of the girls showed emotion, they were like soldiers.

Dreykov walks further from the line to have a view of all of them at once, “I have chosen Skye Hudson for this transfer.”

Skye turns her eyes at him, full of worry, but a tough face in front.

“Congratulations,” he says without enthusiasm and orders all of the girls to leave except for Skye.

He comes closer to her, “Pack your things. They’ll come for you tomorrow. 6 a.m.”

Then he orders her to leave with a wave of hand. Skye was confused – didn’t she mess up her first mission? Why would he choose her? Perhaps he was getting rid of her. But she had no reason to stay here anyway. Not when Rue was gone.

Skye reaches her room, but after she closes the door, she stands still. She zones out a little, thinking about what tomorrow will bring.

She remembers Rue’s stories of Hydra, the soldiers they train – always serious, under Hydra’s control. Skye didn’t want to be turned into one of those soldiers, she still had hope for freedom, even though her odds of escaping were small. 

When she woke up tomorrow morning, Skye felt a familiar pang of worry in her chest. One she had hoped to never feel again, yet here it was, filling her chest, trying to break the wall she was forced to build around her mind, her heart, herself.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 – Winter Soldier 2.0

“How old?” a Hydra agent asks in a disgusting Russian accent.

“11. But fights like a 20-year-old.” Dreykov looked at the agent, who was about to laugh, unimpressed, “She’s a Black Widow for a reason.”

The agent decided to stay quiet and not ask any more questions. He knew better than to interrogate Dreykov. Then he was handed Skye’s file, which included everything there is to know about her.

She walked out of her room, not looking back. Skye only had one backpack with her that was mostly filled with weapons and fighting equipment. At the main exit, Dreykov and the Hydra agent were waiting for her. She walked past Dreykov without a glance when he stopped her, putting a hand upwards.

Skye was only looking straight ahead when he said, “Do not disappoint me.”

Skye didn’t answer or even look at him. But here that was a way of agreeing.

Skye then was ordered to follow the Hydra agent to the jet that will take them to Hydra’s Siberia base. The little girl was looking around, but there was nothing interesting to see. Grey and cold seats around the walls of the jet, 2 pilots, and an evacuation door. There were only a few dim lights in the jet that were only partly lighting up the space.

It was already dark outside when they arrived. Skye was tired from the long flight, but it didn’t show.

They walked inside, guards surrounding her as if to be sure she doesn’t escape. She was cautious, noticing every corner of her surroundings. The base was dark, cold. A bunch of doctors were walking down the hallway in their white coats. Although Skye’s presence was serious and composed, her heart pounded with fear.

Then came the pain. Skye was strapped down to a hard metal bed that was more like a table. Skye only saw a bright, cold light from above her and a doctor standing by looking at a screen.

“Bring the enhancement,” the doctor called out to another.

The other doctor, short, with round glasses, came with a briefcase and set it on a table next to Skye. He opened it, and cold air fell from the sides. He took out a red vial filled with blood.

As the doctor came closer to Skye, she got a clearer picture of him and the vial. He had a white coat just like the others, except this time Skye saw that ugly Hydra symbol on his shoulder. That sent shivers down her back.

Skye panted, eyes tearing up. She glances again at the vial being put onto a tube, about to be injected in her. She saw the name “Rogers” on the vial. Who’s that, and why are they about to put his or her blood in her?

The injection began. It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would… at first. After a few seconds, Skye started to feel her muscles grow, tighten. Her nerves twitched, some stretched, causing so much suffering.

When the vial was completely empty, Skye was barely still conscious.

But no one cared for her here. She was nothing but an experiment.

With her eyes half closed, she was dragged to another room to a chair with a machine. Skye tried to see what was around her, what they were about to do to her, but she struggled. Her vision was unclear.

She was thrown onto the chair, and she felt cold metal cuffs around her wrists and ankles. She lifted her head to try and see what they were doing.

A tall man with a black Hydra uniform came in the room and ordered a doctor to turn on the machine. When he did, the chair moved backward, making Skye lie down on it now. She glanced at the man one last time to see him holding a small red handbook with a black star in front.

The man was talking, instructing the doctor, but Skye couldn’t make out the words.

After a moment, the doctor came towards Skye to pull down a part of the machine to her head. The doctor saw Skye’s empty, tired eyes on him, but it did not affect him at all.

He only smirked, “This will sting a little.”

Skye’s heart started to pound so hard until it was the loudest thing she heard. But before she could take a breath, a rubber mouth shield was stuffed in her mouth. And with one last cautious, confused, filled with terror, look, she felt a painful sting in her skull.

She screamed with her small voice as pain hit her. She felt like her whole world was burning, leaving nothing but ashes. Her attempts to resist didn’t matter, the straps were too strong. Hydra was nothing like the Red Room. They didn’t create assassins, spies, or soldiers here. They created monsters.

Skye bit the rubber ‘til her jaw hurt. She felt her mind slowly go dark. Everything she knew, everything – her life, her name, her age, her all – started to fade.

“Are you ready for this?” Skye heard a voice in her head.

“You’ll do great,” it was her voice.

“I promise,” Rue’s voice.

She heard no more than only those few words, and with a blink of an eye, they left her with small drops of tears. As much as she wanted to reach out and hold onto her voice, she found herself clear of thoughts. No memories. No, nothing.

Skye’s desperate cries and screams echoed through the room, but no one seemed to be bothered. No one even flinched.

After the first dose, there was a short break. Skye’s mind was empty. A complete, dark void, only containing obedience. But as soon as the man opened the red handbook, it started again.

This time was just as bad as the first – all that pain, all the torture to a blank mind.

"Longing," suddenly the man called out in Russian while starting to slowly walk around Skye.

Her mind ached at that word.

"Rusted," another Russian word was heard.

Her mind started to twitch at the words, not knowing why, not knowing how to stop it.

"Seventeen," he didn’t stop, and so didn’t her suffering.

"Daybreak," he was yelling now, louder and louder.

"Furnace."

Every word stung much harder than the one before, causing her to scream and cry.

"Nine."

"Benign."

"Homecoming."

"One."

"Freight car," the last word caused Skye to scream out one last time before turning serious and stoic.

She felt her mind go under someone else’s control. She wasn’t in charge of herself anymore. No opinions, no freedom. Her life was erased, and the only thing that mattered was completing missions now.

Silence.

The book closes, the machine stops and turns upwards, making Skye sit.

The machine gets hooked off the little girl, who was now staring blankly into void.

The doctor unstraps her, and she stands up.

She was no longer the Black Widow she was trained to be. Her lifeless yet hateful eyes revealed her new identity. She was now a weapon. A ghost.

A Winter Soldier.

And when they put her into the cryo, her heartbeat slowed, her body stilled, and her mind…

A darkness.

After days of sitting in the cold cage, she was thrown in a dark room with a stone-hard bed, a cold floor, and no windows. She’s given a new suit, and her backpack was taken and put away.

The night was long and suffocating. Skye didn’t sleep, just lay on the so-called bed to rest, no thoughts, no opinions, no dreams.

It was around 4 a.m. when Skye was pushed out of her room to be sent on her first mission as the Winter Soldier. She was given a minute to get ready – put on her suit, take her knife, pistol, backpack, and tie her hair.

“There is an agent driving south of Moscow,” a Hydra agent instructs Skye as they’re walking to the garage, “Assassinate him.”

Skye says nothing, just listens and follows the agent.

They enter the garage, and Skye sees a lot of armored jeeps, cars, buses, and motorcycles.

“You’ll be taking the motorcycle,” he says when they reach the smaller motorcycles.

Skye puts on her mask that covers her face, leaving only her hair out. She gets on the motorcycle, and before leaving, she’s handed a sniper, a GPS device, and the targeted man’s car number.

“Go,” he orders her in Russian, and she takes off.

She’s riding to a destination that’s on her GPS. When she arrives, she settles down. She lies down on a small hill near the highway. It’s dark, so she puts on her night vision goggles to see.

After a few minutes of high alert for anything, the car finally drove past her, and quickly she shot its tires. The car slid forward and crashed into a tree.

It was a clear shot when the man finally got out of the car. He struggled and fell to the ground. And before he could do anything further, Skye took the shot.

Mission completed.

Back at the base, Skye’s memories got erased, and she was thrown in her room again.

She curled up in the cold bed’s corner. She didn’t know what to think. All she knew was pain now. And no memories of her own life. She had no idea what her name was, her age, her parents. She wondered all the time, even tried to remember, but her mind remained empty. It always was.

Skye counted the days, scraping lines into the wall so she could have some sense of time. Soon it became weeks. Then months. And now years.

2 years later…

“27 killed, 3 injured, 1 got away,” Skye reports to Alexander Pierce, her new commander, after a mission. They’re in the “memory room” with some doctors, who are just standing nearby watching, waiting for orders.

He looks disappointed. He tries to remain calm but then hits her, causing her to fall backward a little. She soon steadies herself, though. It didn’t hurt, even if later her cheek was sore. She was used to it by now.

“Prep her,” he orders the doctors.

Skye gives him a tired, bit desperate look before she gets pushed in the chair and her memory’s wiped once again.

Afterwards, Skye was put back in her room. It was just a matter of time until they would come back to get her for another mission.

She took out her knife and scraped today’s line into the wall that was already covered in hundreds of them. She exhaled at the view and then decided to lie down on her bed, trying to get at least some sleep.

Back at the con room, Pierce was discussing Skye’s performance with other agents.

“She has been improving,” one said.

“Her last mission was unsuccessful-” before another agent could finish, he was interrupted.

“It won’t happen again,” Pierce said, standing up and a sharp hint in his voice.

“And how do you know that?”

“She’s one of our best since Barnes. They won’t notice her if she’s under cover-”

“But-” An agent wanted to add something, but Pierce just kept talking louder.

“and if SHIELD doesn’t have the guts to take down a 13-year-old girl, then we have a chance to succeed here,” Pierce made his point and sat down.

The room was quiet for a moment when an agent spoke, “You really believe she’s ready for this mission?”

“Did I say that?” Pierce sounded annoyed.

“You said we have a chance,” another agent said.

“That’s right,” Pierce answered, lying back in his chair, “I mean, it’s Captain America we’re talking about here. None of our soldiers were able to complete this mission.”

“She is unique,” a doctor stated.

Pierce glanced at him, “Yes, she is. That’s why I want to try.”

Everyone looked at him, considering his plan.

“Raise your hand if you believe she's ready,” Pierce said as he half-raised his hand.

Most of the agents raised their hands.

“Alright then,” Pierce lowered his hand, and so did everyone else, “I’m heading to the Tower tomorrow morning. I’ll occupy him by the terrace, have her ready for the assassination.”

He said and headed out of the room.

In the morning, Skye was filled in about the mission. She was told that she’d have to assassinate Steve Rogers, Captain America, with a special fluid that sends him into unconsciousness. She’ll be sitting on a roof of a high building – high enough to get the right angle – waiting for the right moment to take the shot. Pierce would act his way out of it, lying about his identity.

“Is this the mission Barnes couldn’t complete?” Skye asked as if she already knew the answer.

“Yes,” Pierce answered simply, not wanting to have a conversation about it.

Skye noticed it and kept her mouth shut from now on. She wondered what Barnes found so hard to do. How come he couldn’t take just one shot? He was supposed to be the best one…

The night was no different from all the other nights she had. It was dark, with no lights and no windows. An empty mind without dreams.

At precisely 09:00 a.m., Skye arrived at her spot. On a roof of a tall building half a block away from the Avenger Tower. She was locked in with her sniper, waiting for Pierce to come out on the terrace with Rogers.

She waited all morning, but her focus remained sharp at all times.

At 11:16, Pierce and Rogers walked out on the terrace. Skye immediately locked in at the target. She waited for Pierce to lead Rogers closer to the edge so that it could be an easier shot for Skye.

Her breath was slow and steady, eyes sharp, finger on the trigger. She held her breath to shoot, but then-

A sharp sting in her shoulder. She quickly turns to her side and sees a dart sticking to her arm. She quickly takes it out and sees that it’s a tranquilizer. She also notices a small symbol on it, like an eagle in a circle.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Fuck,” Skye felt her vision blurring once again, hands getting weaker. Her sniper fell out of her hands as she fell into an unconscious state.

Chapter Text

Skye wakes up in a round glass cage, her head still feeling fuzzy. There’s quite a lot of space there, but no furniture. The floor is white and sterile, and the lights are cold.

She stands up and looks around. She walks closer to the edge to see a passageway around her cage. There are guards – agents – standing at every entrance, about 20 security cameras in every corner and no way to escape. She rubs her head, trying to acknowledge where the fuck she is.

Just then a man with an eyepatch walks in, wearing a black leather coat and a file in his hand. Skye immediately narrows her eyes and looks him up and down. He comes close to the glass wall, his stare directed at her like he’s waiting for her to speak. But that won’t happen.

He sighs and then speaks up, “Name’s Nick Fury.”

There’s a moment of silence before he continues, “If you already didn’t know that.”

Fury starts to slowly walk alongside the cage walls, keeping an eye on Skye. She is unfazed and isn’t planning on changing it that way.

“You’re currently in Washington, D.C. In S.H.I.E.L.D.’s main headquarters – the Triskelion,” he stops in his tracks.

He motions at her stance, “Care to explain?”

Skye looks at him with an unreadable expression. 

Fury realizes that the girl won’t talk, so he tries again, this time firmer, “Wanna start by explaining why a kid, dressed in a Hydra suit, was sitting on a roof, trying to assassinate Alexander Pierce and Captain America?”

Skye keeps her mouth shut.

Fury’s getting annoyed now, so he opens up the file and starts reading from it, “Skye Hudson, hm? Born: North Indiana. Date of birth: March 10, 2002. Parents: deceased…”

Skye’s pulse quickens when she hears her name, her birthday, and the little bits of her life for the first time since her memory got erased. 

Fury notices the shift in her posture.

He walks closer to the cage, “You better start talking, Hudson, or this can get very difficult.”

Skye takes a step closer to the edge, looking him straight in the eye, “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Y-You have nothing to s- are you kidding me?” Fury said, surprised by her attitude but at the same time still annoyed.

Skye just held her gaze.

“Alright then,” he said, closing the file. 

He steps back and goes to one of the guards, “Get her to the interrogation room.”

The guard nods and motions for others to come. They open the cage while Skye is quietly preparing for a fight. 

The guards approach her, and as soon as one reaches for her arm, she dodges and trips him over. The other guards take out their guns, but Skye is much faster. She knocks a gun out of one guard’s hands and twists the other one’s hand until the gun drops in her other hand. She then pulls him to the ground and shoots the other one.

She steps out of the cage, into metallic and cold air, when she hears a loud beeping noise. Someone must’ve pulled the emergency trigger. Skye quickly gets out of the room and into a hallway. She walks along the wall with the gun ready. She looks front and back, cautious of every sudden movement. 

She hears footsteps behind her around the corner and decides to make a run for it when she gets knocked over to the ground. She looks up to see Fury standing there, towering over her and pointing a gun at her face.

“Drop it,” he orders.

Skye hesitates.

“Drop. It. Now,” he says in a firm voice.

Skye then throws her gun away in annoyance. She’s not used to losing these types of fights.

“Good,” he says, lowering his gun when backup comes.

She huffs, glaring at Fury, before she’s grabbed by her arms and taken to the interrogation room.

There she’s expected by another agent. As she’s pushed in a chair, Skye glances at the agent’s nametag to see that he is Phil Coulson.

Skye’s annoyed when handcuffed to the metal table. She glares at Coulson when he takes a seat opposite her. The men who brought her here leave the room, closing the door behind them. It’s just her and Coulson and a huge spy window in the room.

Coulson exhales and speaks up, “I’m agent Phil Coulson.” He looks at her seriously, “And you’re…?”

Skye looks at him unimpressed by his interrogation techniques. She knows he’s waiting for the answer, but she’s not going to give him the satisfaction of answering.

Coulson raises his eyebrows in disappointment, “Alright, Skye, nice to meet you.”

He folds his hands on the table, “So… Do you know why you’re here?”

Skye doesn’t even flinch, doesn’t change her look.

“Look, we can’t really get anywhere if you don’t talk. Please, we’re not gonna hurt you, we’re on your side here.”

Skye shifted just a little. She knew he was lying. They are the bad guys… They are. Right?

Coulson sighs and then continues, “We dug up some information about you and all that is given… well, we agreed that you’re the victim here.”

Skye was listening now, starting to be a little curious about what he had to say.

“And we want to help you.”

“I don’t need your help,” Skye immediately shot back.

Coulson was taken aback by that sudden statement, then shot a sarcastic statement back, “Woah. She speaks.”

Skye glares at him for that, but Coulson ignores it.

Instead, he continues, this time more serious, “Well, you are just a kid, who, may I add, got trained at the Red Room,” he was trying to get under her skin, but she knows how to deflect it, “and then somehow trained again by Hydra? That’s not something we just… stick in a closet and forget about here.”

Skye stared at her handcuffed arm for a minute when she got an idea, “Let me go, and I’ll tell you.”

Coulson gave her a skeptical look, “Tell me what exactly?”

After a moment she answered, “Everything you want to know.”

“Sounds a little too good to be true, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know, does it?”

Coulson thought for a second and then spoke up again, this time standing up and walking alongside the table, “Alright. No handcuffs,” Skye follows him with her eyes, “but 2 armed guards, doors stay locked, and you keep sitting there, calmly giving us answers to all of our questions truthfully.”

Of course, Skye wouldn’t give them the truth, but without the handcuffs, she might have a chance to get out of here.

“Deal.”

“Great, but before that, we’ve got to make sure you know who you are and where you came from.”

Skye frowns at him. She’s not sure what he means by that but doesn’t ask.

Coulson then leaves the room, leaving Skye alone and confused in the room.

“Great...” she sighs.

Skye looks around the room when her eyes land on the spy mirror. She guesses that there’s a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents behind the glass, including Nick Fury, judging her every move.

She does a small wave towards the mirror, to the people behind it, when the door opens and Coulson comes in with a file in his hand.

“Let me guess, that one’s mine?” She gestures to the file.

“Yep,” Coulson answers simply and takes his seat again.

He lightly throws the file in front of Skye, “Everything we found on you.”

Skye looks at the file in front of her, then back at Coulson. He motioned for her to open it.

Skye sighs and opens the file with her one free hand.

“Skye Hudson” – the bolded name on top of the file gave Skye a weird feeling. Like a reminder that she was still just a human experiment.

She reads through the file, except it doesn’t feel like it’s hers at all. It feels completely strange, like she’s reading another person’s file. 

“This is bullshit,” Skye says and pushes the file away from her.

Coulson sighs, “No. It’s not.”

Skye doesn’t make eye contact. She can’t really tell what’s the truth and what’s not.

“If you want to be sure – if you want to trust us – we can take a blood sample again and-”

“Again?”

Coulson motioned at her vein that had a small dot. She looks at it and realizes they already took a blood sample, probably when she was asleep.

“Great…” she said sarcastically.

Of course, they had taken her blood while she was asleep. 

 Skye looks at the file again, not sure what to think at the moment.

“Why should I trust this? Why should I trust you?” Skye says, her voice becoming sharper.

Coulson leans forward with his arms against the table, arms folded in front, “Because we saved you.”

Skye lets out a bitter laugh, “No, you didn’t. You tranquilized me, took my blood, and put me in a fucking cage- You don’t do that to a person if you’re saving them!”

“We had no other choice-”

Skye wanted to throw back an argument for that, but Coulson continued. This time he stood up, his voice getting louder.

“We don’t know what Hydra has taught you, you know, for the record, you could’ve been a mutant or a witch!”

Skye furrows her brows at that in confusion, but doesn’t comment.

Coulson continues, “We don’t know what Hydra has planned, why they have a little girl on their hands now or- or why they are collaborating with the Red Room, but do you have any idea what they do to people like you?” he yells.

Skye felt the tension in the air. The heavy words still hung in her mind.

“I do,” she answered, staring at him emotionless.

Coulson was breathing intensely now but tried to steady it. He exhaled and sat back down.

“I’m sorry, I’m- of course, you know. It’s a… It’s a ridiculous thing to ask.”

There was a quiet moment before Skye spoke again, calm as ever, “So… they have done some pretty bad stuff, huh?”

“Who,” Coulson was rubbing his temples tiredly.

“… Hydra… Dreykov…”

He looked at Skye and sighed softly, “Yeah.”

Skye takes the file closer to her again and continues to read through it.

After a long silence, Skye speaks again, her eyes locked on her blood information, “Why did they put Steve Rogers’ blood in me?”

Coulson looks at her, “Don’t know. That part we need to figure out, if you give us the information we require.”

Quiet again.

Coulson follows her gaze to the part of her file where it says that her blood was mixed with Steve’s, “Guess you threw the best punches and had the blood type for… this.”

“Huh…” Skye doesn’t look up.

Skye sighed heavily and closed the file, meaning she finished reading it.

“Look, we don’t want to pressure you, but we can’t let you go off without getting something useful. We need you to try to remember anything connected with Hydra’s next plans or their collaboration with the Red Room or-”

“Fine.” Skye interrupted him.

Coulson raised his eyebrows for a second and answered, “Alright. Good.”

The names – Hydra, the Red Room – now sent shivers down Skye’s body, bringing back all the memories she tried so hard to bury now. It had all been a lie. Her life and her actions. All those lives ruined by dolls controlled by men.

Later Skye was uncuffed. They stayed in the same room, but this time there were 2 guards and Nick Fury in there with them, and a lie detector hooked on Skye. 

She was asked lots of questions, like where the main Hydra base was, how many other Winter Soldiers there are, how they chose her to transfer from the Red Room to Hydra, and so on, but the most important question was who was in charge of making Skye a Winter Soldier. It took time to assure Fury that it was Pierce, but when he finally believed her, he ordered to research for some proof and eventually sent out a team to capture and arrest him.

 Skye answered everything she had answers for. She didn’t really have any other choice. Though she, herself, wasn’t even sure what the truth was anymore.

After the questioning, Skye was brought to a room. She didn’t know how long she would stay there, but Coulson said, “Until we figure out where to put you.”

She sat in her room alone, the grey walls almost more depressing than the empty drawers next to the bed.

Skye wouldn’t sleep. She was trained not to, at least not for a few days. But also, because she couldn’t. Nightmares would keep her awake, haunt her like ghosts, coming back anytime it gets quiet and still.

Fury had set a rule for her, because she’s underage and technically under S.H.I.E.L.D.’s name now, that she can’t go outside in public. She has to stay off-grid, hidden, away from attention. 

They had found out that there are still some Hydra agents lingering throughout the world, probably looking for her, and that’s why she can’t go outside. At least not alone. It was sweet in a way, because Fury rarely does anything remotely caring for anyone, especially anyone he just met, but at the same time it was… terrifying. 

As days passed, Skye became more of a team member (or supporter) than a prisoner. She was allowed to go through their facility, sit through some meetings, and even give some advice about Hydra and the Red Room “working” techniques.

Fury, of course, wasn’t the happiest about that idea of her just wandering around his facility like that, but Coulson couldn’t resist. He would always say that she’s just a kid, and Fury would always answer, “Yeah, a secretly trained assassin kid who can slash your throat at any moment and never sleeps.” But he would allow it anyway.

One day, Skye was sitting in the common room, looking through some old maps lying around, when Fury came in.

He sighs, “Come on, Hudson.”

He motions for her to follow him.

Skye gives him a skeptical look, “... Why?”

He answers, giving her an incredulous look, “Right. Now.”

She exhales through her nose and follows.

They enter a private discussion room, and Coulson is sitting there too. He gives Skye a reassuring look when they take seats.

“So, here’s the new plan,” Fury starts, looking tired and mildly annoyed, “You know the Avengers?”

Skye furrows her brows in confusion. What kind of question is that?

“Good, because you’re moving in with them, not leaving the Tower and staying off-grid, sound good?”

“WHAT?”

Chapter Text

“You heard me,” Fury says as he looks at the time.

Skye just looks at him in disbelief.

Coulson clears his throat, trying to lighten up the situation, “It’s for your own safety-”

“Why can’t I just stay here?”

“Because,” Fury stands up and continues in Coulson’s place, “Hudson, this isn’t a place for a kid-”

“Not a kid,” Skye mutters under her breath.

Fury ignores her and moves on, “And, frankly, there still are agents – Hydra agents – searching for you or even planning to assassinate you. So yes, we think it’s for your own safety, and you better agree.”

Skye frowns at him, then looks at Coulson, “You can’t be serious. I mean, don’t the Avengers have more important things to do than, I don’t know, watch over a fucking… assassin… girl?”

“Probably,” Fury said with a flippant attitude.

Coulson rolls his eyes and answers Skye, “No, they do, but this is important too. You have too much knowledge about S.H.I.E.L.D. You know things Hydra cannot get their fingers on. So you have to-”

Skye sighed and ended the sentence for him, “Stay locked away? So they don’t get to me?”

Coulson gave her a sympathetic look and exhaled, “Just until we know it’s safe for you… and for S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Skye looked down. I guess this was gonna be her life now.

Fury cleared his throat and began, “So, let’s continue, shall we.”

He folded his hands on the table, meaning he was serious now.

“You’ll legally be assigned to Steve Rogers, AND, BEFORE YOU PROTEST-”

Skye did want to protest. Her eyes widened at that statement.

But Fury just continued, “-that is only because he’s the… leader of the team and, well, we trust him.”

Skye huffs, “Okay, you don’t understand, I just tried to assassinate that guy! Killing him was the thing Hydra trained me for! It was supposed to be the hardest mission the Winter Soldier couldn’t do! He has been my enemy for my entire life!”

“And is he still now?” Fury asked in a way too calm tone.

Skye sat silent for a moment but then answered quietly, “…No.”

“Good,” Fury said, satisfied now. “You’ll have to pack up your things tonight, because you’ll be going tomorrow at 9 a.m. Capeesh?”

“Yeah,” Skye answered, clearly still not thrilled about the idea.

Fury left the room, leaving only Skye and Coulson.

“If you have any more questions or details about tomorrow you want to know, you still have time to ask. You know where to find me,” Coulson said as he stood up and walked towards the door.

He stops and turns around before turning the handle, “Don’t worry, they’re not as scary as they seem.”

Skye looks at him unimpressed and shows him the middle finger.

Coulson smirks and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

The next day came too quickly, and Skye still didn’t like the idea of her living with her former enemies.

She walks to the jet to be transported to the Avengers Tower. She is accompanied by Fury and Maria Hill.

“Okay, all set?” Hill asks from the cockpit.

“Yes, take off,” Fury answers.

“Copy that.”

Skye was seated in the plane’s cabin, staring out the window. Fury was sitting nearby, glancing at her occasionally.

The flight didn’t take long, which Skye hated, and soon they were stepping out of the jet to meet with the famous heroes.

As they walked towards the entrance, Skye stopped.

“I- I promise I’ll be good, just, please, can I stay at S.H.I.E.L.D.? I fit in better there than I will here.”

Fury and Hill stopped and looked at her a bit stunned, actually.

“Are you serious?” Fury began. He sounded very done with her, “We talked about this, and last time I checked, you agreed with this.”

“I know, but-”

“You can’t drop out anymore, Hudson,” Fury ignored Skye’s protest. “Everything’s set – the safety protocols, paperwork.”

Skye sighs, “I know. I just- do you understand how fucked up this is for me? They’re my enemies. Always have been.”

“Kid, for the record, they’re not your enemies anymore. You’re not Hydra anymore, so unless you can’t keep your head straight, I don’t see the problem here,” Hill chipped in.

Skye hated how she didn’t have an answer to that, so she just gave Hill a quick glare and walked past her.

Inside, the team was waiting. Fury had said they’d arrive just around this time now. And they weren’t sure how to approach a kid who’d been in the Red Room and Hydra.

Steve was sitting at the counter in the kitchen, probably thinking of ways to approach Skye when she arrives, Natasha was slowly pacing around the living room, Clint was cleaning his bow on the couch and talking with Thor about something ridiculous and on the other end of the couch, Tony was talking with Bruce about something science-y that no one really understood.

“Hey, Nat,” Bruce called out when he noticed her pacing, totally ignoring Tony’s fake-offended expression.

She stops and looks at Bruce.

“You okay?” he asks.

Nat took a second before answering, “Yes.”

Steve perked up his ears at that, but before he could say anything, the elevator doors opened, and there came Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and the girl. Skye.

Steve almost immediately stood up and walked towards them. Natasha followed soon after.

“Fury. Hill,” Steve said.

“Cap,” Fury returned the greeting, and Maria just nodded.

Skye was already looking around the room, scanning for the security cameras and thinking of ways to escape later.

Fury didn’t waste time and just cut to the chase. He stepped out of the way to gesture to Skye, “This is Skye.”

Her face was unreadable and unimpressed. Her eyes had a little bit of hate in them when she turned to face Steve.

“Nice to finally meet you, Skye,” Steve said kindly and put out his hand.

She didn’t take it and just kept staring at him. She couldn’t believe he was standing right in front of her and how she could kill him right this second. She would have if it weren’t for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Steve, clearly sensing Skye’s mood, cleared his throat and put his hand down, “So- uh- this is Natasha Romanoff,” he gestured to Nat, who gave Skye a nod, “that is Clint Barton and Thor,” he pointed out, and they just gave her little waves, “and that’s Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.”

“Heya, kid,” Tony said as he moved from the couch towards her.

Again, there was no answer from Skye.

She looked at all of them and thought to herself that this all is gonna be pure hell, and it’s better for her not to make any connections or relationships out of this.

She turns to Fury, “Where am I staying.”

“Don’t know, ask them,” he answered, gesturing to the Avengers.

“Oh, right, it’s just down the hall, second door to right- you know what, I’ll just show you to it,” Steve said a bit nervously as he started moving towards the hallway.

Skye exhales through her nose and follows with her backpack on one shoulder. She passes Nat, who followed her with her eyes. She went past Stark, who had that weird smirk on his face, and she passed the couch, from which she was eyed by Bruce, Clint, and Thor. But they all quickly stopped looking, returning to whatever they were doing.

“So,” Nat began, “how long exactly do we have to keep her here?”

Fury looked up, “Hard to say.”

“Could be months, could be possibly even years,” Hill continued.

“Years?”

“Hydra is still around. We don’t have much information to work with, but we have enough for a start.”

Hill reached in her bag and took out a file. She then handed it to Fury.

“We have no idea why Hydra so desperately wants to get her back, but it’s enough of a reason to keep her away from them,” Fury said and then gave the file to Nat.

She took it and looked at the name “Hudson, Skye” and sighed, “What if she doesn’t want to… cooperate?”

Fury raised an eyebrow, “Then figure it out. You’re the Avengers and can’t keep a kid in one place?”

Nat smirked, “An assassin, kid, Fury.”

He just quickly exhaled through his nose and turned to walk to the elevator with Hill.

“Romanoff,” he said instead of saying goodbye.

Nat gave him a small nod and returned to the file in her hand. She opened it while walking to the counter. She quickly read through it – wasn’t much. She stopped at some point when she saw that Skye had been in the Red Room or that she had Steve’s blood in her system, which makes her heal faster, age slower, and have increased reflexes and strength.

Tony walked closer to take a look. And later on, everyone else joined in too.

“Woah, she’s really gonna be a tough nut, huh,” Tony commented.

Nat didn’t react, because her eyes still stayed on those two words – Red Room.

Meanwhile, Skye was led to her new room. Steve opened the door for her, and she stepped in.

The room was, well, empty. There was only a few pieces of furniture – a bed with a nightstand, a cleared-out desk with a chair, an empty closet, and a window with a balcony.

Skye walked deeper in the room and set her backpack on the bed. She knew Steve was still there, and she didn’t know what to do.

So, Steve was the one who broke the slightly awkward silence, “Uh, you can paint the walls any color you want, and,” he walked closer to the bed, “you can move around the furniture- you know, make this your room.”

Skye didn’t answer.

Steve wanted to say something more, but there were no words that came to mind.

He sighed, “I’ll let you… settle in then.”

And with that, he left her alone. At least for now.

Back in the kitchen, everyone was moving around again. Nat made dinner, and Clint tried to help. Bruce was probably back in the lab with Tony, and Thor was watching TV like it was just another evening.

“Hey,” Steve said as he walked in the kitchen to help.

“Hey,” Nat said, looking up at him. “Oh, you might wanna see that,” she said as she pointed to Skye’s file with her spatula.

It was still lying on the counter. Steve picked it up and carefully opened it. He read through it, taking in every word. He stopped when he saw that Skye had his super soldier blood in her. He knew it, though – Fury had mentioned it over the phone once. But it still felt strange.

“She’s just a kid…” he said under his breath, his voice filled with concern.

He put the file down and focused now on dinner.

“You think she’ll want to eat?” Steve asked when he approached Nat at the stove.

She glanced at him, “Probably not. But we’ll bring her some anyway.”

Steve gave her a subtle smile and moved to set the table.

Nat, with a touch of Clint’s help, had made rice with roasted vegetables and grilled chicken.

Everyone came to the table, started chattering, and started eating.

“This is really delicious, Nat,” Bruce said.

“Thanks…” Nat answered, but her mind went back to Skye.

After a moment of thinking and glancing towards Skye’s room, she declared, “I’ll bring her a plate.”

“You want me to come with?” Steve offered.

“No, it’s okay,” she said as she started to put some vegetables on Skye’s plate. “I think it’ll just throw her off.”

After a beat, Steve answered, “Okay.”

Nat moved down the hallway to Skye’s room. She stopped at her door for a brief moment before knocking.

No answer.

She tried knocking again, “Hey, you hungry?”

No answer.

Nat sighs.

She cautiously opens the door anyway and peeks in.

Skye was sitting on her bed, legs to her chest, staring into a void.

“If you’re planning on starving yourself in here, it won’t work, you know,” Nat said with her usual slick demeanor and walked inside.

Skye looked up at her, following with her eyes. The room filled with the smell of home-cooked food that Skye’s instincts told her to ignore.

Nat set the plate on the nightstand and sat down on the bed not too close to Skye.

Skye looked at her with slight confusion, like ‘why are you still here?’, but didn’t move.

After a moment of silence, Nat exhaled and started talking while calmly fidgeting with her hoodie sleeve, “I know where you’re from.”

That didn’t change Skye’s pose, but something in her eyes shifted, something in those words made her catch attention.

Nat continued, choosing her words carefully, “I know… what you’ve been through.”

Skye’s facial expression slowly turned into a glare.

“And I know it’s hard… It’s hard to let go of the past and… to move on…” Nat turned to face Skye, “Believe me, I’ve been through the same shit you have, but… just know that you gotta move on. You’re not the person you were back then, and-”

“No.”

Nat was surprised to hear her speak but at the same time confused about what she was saying, so she asked to clarify, “No?”

“You don’t know how it is,” Skye said, dead serious.

“No- but I do, kid, my past-”

“That’s the difference,” Skye interrupted again. “You have a past you remember,” she stared at Nat for a bit before continuing, “I don’t.”

Nat didn’t have an answer for that.

“Hydra didn’t wipe out your memory, now did they,” Skye asked bitterly.

“…No. They didn’t.”

“So, you don’t know how it is when all you remember from your past are combat moves and Russian commands. No home, no faces, no life?” She wanted to continue on, but something in her throat cut her off, making her look down.

Nat’s heart ached for Skye now. She couldn’t help but feel a little bit of herself in her.

“No… I don’t,” Nat said, trying to hold back tearful eyes.

She stood up and cleared her throat, “But I do know we’re here to keep you safe, and that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

And with that said, Nat left Skye’s room before her tears could drop, closing the door behind her.

“How’d it go?” Tony asked, lifting his head a bit.

Nat wiped her eyes and sat down with everyone else.

“Well, let’s just say I regret ever wanting to talk to her.”

“You talked?” Steve asked curiously.

“Mhm,” Nat nodded. “Definitely tried to.”

It was quiet for a while, just the sounds of kitchen utensils and a slight wind outside.

Then Tony broke the silence, “Okay, so, what exactly do we have to do with her?”

Steve glanced up, “Keep her in one piece.”

“And keep her safe, off the grid. Not letting her outside,” Nat added.

Tony raised his eyebrows slightly, “Like Rapunzel.”

Clint was the only one who let out air from his nose.

There was another moment of silence before Tony spoke again, “What are the chances she hasn’t snuck out already?”

Steve looked at him unimpressed, “No way. Fury made it clear that she-”

“I’ll go check,” Nat interrupted and quickly stood up.

She went to Skye’s room and knocked, “You in there?”

No answer.

Nat huffs and opens the door. The room is empty, and the window is left open.

“Unbelievable,” she says under her breath and rushes back to the rest of the team.

“Yup, she’s gone,” she says as she re-enters the kitchen.

“WHAT?” Steve said as he stood up.

Tony was shocked too, “How did she even managed to-!”

Right then the bathroom door shut close, and out came Skye. She saw her bedroom door open and walked towards the kitchen. She stood in the hallway and looked at them. They were all a bit shaken up.

“Oh hey, what’s going on?” she sounded a bit too innocent.

Nat turned to her and crossed her arms, “You were in the bathroom?”

“Uh, yeah?” She said, then glanced at her room again and then back at Nat. “Oh, you thought I- Oh no, I would never- and on the first night?”

Nat looked unimpressed and a bit annoyed, “Yeah, I can’t believe we thought of that.”

“Hm,” Skye let out a hum like she could’ve said ‘interesting’ and went back to her room.

Nat sat back down and rubbed her face tiredly.

Steve exhaled through his nose and said, “Well, at least she talked to us, right?”

“Riiiiight,” Clint responded.

“Yeah, she tricked us real good there,” Nat said as she slowly started tidying up the table. “I can’t believe she did that.”

“She’ll be a nightmare, won’t she,” Tony said as he also started gathering the plates.

Nat just nodded. And so, they all cleaned up and turned in, but the worry never left them. Nat found it hard to fall asleep, knowing there’s an assassin kid probably sneaking out and putting herself in unnecessary danger. Steve twisted and turned in his bed, worrying about what tomorrow will bring. And Skye? Well, she did stay in her room that night. Even if she hated it and even if there was a cold plate of food on her nightstand. But she stayed… for now.

Chapter Text

Days passed slowly. Skye almost never left her room. The team thought of involving her more in things they did, even if they were boring, but they never knew how to approach her without making it awkward.

Skye didn’t sleep much. Sometimes even if at all. Some nights she snuck out (to Steve’s terror), mostly just to get away and find distractions from her thoughts. She rarely got away with it, though, due to the Tower’s tight security.

One time when the Avengers were called for a mission, Skye desperately wanted to go along. Besides, she can fight, and honestly, she missed feeling useful.

“No, Skye, it’s too dangerous. Especially for you, you know that,” Steve had said, and it always made Skye so furious. She was forced to stay in the Tower, where it’s safe, which sounds a lot easier than it actually is. 

But as time passed, she did get closer to them. Especially Nat, as they both have so much in common. Skye had fun teasing Steve, sometimes Tony wanted to join in, but then Skye would stop, realizing he was just using an opportunity to “include” her. Bruce and Clint were supportive in their own ways, and Thor… well, he was just fun to be with. He would sneak snacks into Skye’s room often when he had free time for no apparent reason.

One day the Avengers got called for a mission in Sokovia to retrieve Loki’s spear from a Hydra base. They all got ready – suited up, got the jet ready, and most importantly, tried to make Skye stay behind.

“Come on!” Skye pleaded while the team loaded the jet. “You know I could be useful down there. I have been to that base – I could show you ways to get in and-”

“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there, Wednesday,” pointed Tony, while he carried an empty case for the spear. “First, we already have the map of the base, well, we will once I scan it.” 

He dropped the case in the jet and walked back out, brushing his hands together, and looked at Skye, “Second, this is a six-person mission. It’s already planned, it’s-”

“I can be backup,” Skye said in full seriousness.

“No, you can’t,” said Steve, who just walked in from suiting up. 

She glared at him.

Steve came closer to them and continued, “You know you can’t. Besides, we’re breaking into a Hydra base – it’d be like bringing you straight into their hands.”

Skye looked down.

“Sorry to break it to you,” Tony said, patting her shoulder, “but you’re gonna have to sit this one out too.”

Then he tapped on a device that sent his Iron Man suit to him.

“Yeah, I always do,” Skye muttered.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Nat said as she walked up to Skye from nowhere. “You know this is way better than risking you getting taken by them again, right?” 

The rest of the team was already boarded when Nat added, fixing up her glove, “Don’t do anything dumb, yeah?”

She stared into Skye's eyes, waiting for a response. Skye mumbled something that sounded like ‘whatever.’

“What was that?”

“Yeah.”

Nat held her gaze a second longer before boarding herself.

Skye watched as they took off, leaving her alone in the Tower again. 

It was quiet in the Tower. Almost too quiet for Skye’s thoughts. But she tried to distract herself. She walked through every room, sat on the couch, watched the TV, talked to J.A.R.V.I.S., and ate snacks. Even the ones that said “THOR’S ONLY.”

It was already late evening when she walked through the hallway and then stopped by a door. It was the archive. She tried the door – it was open. So, she walked in, turned on the light, and saw long shelves with lots of labeled boxes. Most of them were just some documents from previous missions, some were just random records. Then she paused.

There was a box labeled ‘The Avenger Initiative.’ That piqued her interest.

She put the box on the ground and blew off the dust. When she opened it, she saw only some random paperwork, but when she dug lower, she got her hands on the official files of every member of the team.

“Alright, first off we got…” She muttered as she took the first file and read the name, “Stark.”

She read through it – everything that was interesting and stuff she didn’t already know.

“Your middle name is Edward? Jesus.”

She discovered information about his heart, history with Nat, and stuff about Pepper Potts and his parents. She didn’t know his dad was involved with the war and had helped Steve, so that was new.

“Anxiety problems? Noted.”

Next up – Legolas.

“Under Loki’s control?” She read the part when Loki had invaded New York and used his spear to control and manipulate people, including Clint. That was weird.

“All right, who's next here…” Skye dug for the next file. It was Nat’s.

She opened it cautiously even if she already knew what she'd find – taken in by the Red Room, tortured at a young age, taken in as a spy for S.H.I.E.L.D., and so on.

“A sister?!” Skye read Yelena’s name twice just to be sure. She would’ve never guessed that Nat has a sister. That raised a lot of questions, like where is she now, are they still in touch, and how did they part? 

“Damn.”

Lastly, Skye took Steve’s file. 

“Saved the most boring one for last – Capsicle.”

She opened it and quickly read through the boring parts until she got to one point that made her stop. Bucky Barnes. Former Winter Soldier. Best friend. She knew his name all too well. Hydra couldn’t stop bragging. It was hard to understand – how could they have been friends? She almost didn’t wanna believe it. It didn’t make sense for her, so she closed the file.

She put all the files back in the box when she heard footsteps and chattering further out in the common room.

She quickly put the box where she found it and rushed out of the room.

“Where’s Skye?” Steve had already noticed her absence.

“I’m here, I’m here,” Skye said as she walked in the common room looking completely innocent.

There was Thor, who gave her a tired wave, and Steve, who nodded satisfied when he saw her.

After a moment Skye asked, “How was the mission? …What happened? Did you get the spear?”

“Yeah, we got it,” Steve answered as he sat down on the couch with a sigh.

“What happened?” Skye sensed some tension.

Thor looked at Steve, then at Skye, then carefully said, “We- it was uhh- they had an- an- interesting backup.”

“What does that mean?”

Steve exhaled, then spoke, “They, apparently, had backup – twins – with enhanced… abilities.”

Skye looked confused.

“We got it under control. Mostly.”

“Mostly?”

He didn’t say anything more.

“Where’s the others?”

“Med bay,” Thor answered after a beat. “Clint took a shot.”

“Oh fuck,” she exclaimed.

“Language,” Steve pointed.

Skye rolled her eyes and headed out.

Steve gave Thor an amused look after Skye left.

In the med bay Clint was lying on an exam bed with a scanner over his wound. Nat was there too, Tony’s famous green smoothie in her hand, and Dr. Helen Cho stood nearby getting the readings off the scanner.

“Hey,” Skye said as she came in and tried not to stare at Clint’s wound.

“Oh, hey kid,” Clint said casually.

“What happened? Didn’t learn defense?” Skye teased.

 Nat smirked.

“Oh no, no, just didn’t expect an automated turret cannon to pop up in the middle of the forest.”

“Oh.”

She still stared at his wound. It was pretty big – almost took his whole side of his torso.

Dr. Cho noticed, “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

Skye caught herself staring and snapped her head away, “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

Clint glanced at her and raised his eyebrows.

Skye immediately changed the subject, “So where’s the spear?”

“Bruce and Tony took it to the lab. Probably to do their science-y research or something,” Nat answered and sipped her drink. “Honestly, they might’ve already thought of dominating the world considering how long they’ve been in the same room with that thing.”

Skye scoffed a laugh through her nose.

Nat offered her the drink. Skye frowned at her.

“Yeah, right, why don’t I just go poison myself instead,” she said and went out.

She reached the lab and saw the spear in the middle of the room. Tony and Bruce were talking on the other end of the lab, didn’t even notice her coming in.

Skye walked closer to the spear, curious to get a better look. It had this blue, glowing rock in it. It looked like… not from this world. She wondered if it’s the thing that manipulated Clint under Loki’s power.

“Hey, careful there, Rapunzel,” Tony called.

“I’m just looking.”

“Yeah, and then you’re just touching, and then you’re just dead,” he stepped closer.

Skye gave him a deadpan look.

“You coming to the party tonight?” Tony changed the subject.

“What?”

Tony smirked, “Oh, you are so coming. Everyone will be there-”

“Not happening,” she turned to the doors.

“Definitely booking you an awkward conversation with Rhodes!” Tony called after.

She flipped him off as she exited.

“Don’t force it,” Bruce said as he locked off a hologram. “If she'd come, do you think she'd behave like a normal kid?”

Tony just shrugged.

As Skye walked down the hall to her room, she bumped into Nat.

“Oh, hey. You know what you should wear at the-” Nat started.

“Not going,” Skye answered and headed into her room, closing the door.

“Oh please,” Nat continued, her voice muffled behind the door now. “You’ll have to come out eventually. Even if just for snacks, you will, and people will see, and they will ask questions, and I will say that you are Tony’s secret niece.”

“Fuck oooooof,” Skye tried to ignore her.

“It would be a lot better if you’d answer those people yourself than have Steve try to explain how all of this is totally normal,” Nat didn’t leave her alone.

After a beat of silence, Skye finally answered, “I won’t wear anything fancy.”

“It would be concerning if you would.”

“I won’t talk.”

“Wouldn’t imagine you to.”

“I won’t act like I like it, because I won’t.”

“Wouldn’t want you to.”

Silence.

“I’ll see you at 9 then.”

Nat left Skye alone to prepare for the dreaded party. She would stay in her usual clothes – a long, black hoodie and baggy grey jeans. She just didn’t care enough to actually dress up for these people. Besides, she could probably win a fight with most of them.

Chapter Text

At 9 p.m. people started arriving. Bars were full and ready, Tony was in his element, Bruce was nervous, Steve was enjoying himself and already playing pool with Sam, Maria Hill had come too. For Skye it was starting to look like real hell by now.

She walked in the spacious room but didn’t know what she’d rather do – go talk with someone or jump out of the window.

Then she spotted Nat standing behind the bar counter and walked over.

“Hey, they made you work?” Skye asked as she took a seat at one of the stools.

“Yeah, figured I could make myself useful.”

Skye slightly frowned, a bit confused. 

Just then Bruce came and took a seat next to Skye, “Ladies.”

He glanced over at Skye, then back at Nat. “I didn’t know we were selling drinks to minors now.”

Nat scoffed.

“I could use one actually,” Skye said with a smirk.

Nat raised an eyebrow, “Oh yeah? Well, I can give you either Coke, Diet Coke, ooor milk.”

“Milk?”

“I mean, it is pretty late,” Bruce teased. “Could warm you up a glass.”

“Oh, ha ha,” Skye answered, sarcastic as ever. “I’ll take the coke.”

Nat nodded and reached for a can, then slid it over to Skye.

She sipped the soda once before looking around the room. She could see Rhodey and Tony talking with Maria and Thor, Steve was now talking with Sam on the indoor balcony, Clint and Dr. Cho were on the couch with some other people. It was lively.

“You could go talk to people, you know,” Nat said.

Skye hummed as if considering it.

Nat exchanged a look with Bruce before adding, “Bruce can keep you company.”

“Uh- wha-? Oh, I don't know if I…” Bruce hesitated.

Skye looked up.

Nat smirked, “Go on. Go talk to Rhodey. I heard he has a great War Machine story to tell.”

She gestured for both of them to go.

And so, a minute later, Skye found herself in the middle of the room with a nervous Bruce by her side. Before they both could find a place to “hide”, Tony approached with a glass in one hand.

“Hey, there’s my two favorite people,” he said as he extended his arm to them.

“Shit,” Skye muttered.

“Come on, Rhodes wants to say hi.”

“No, I really don’t think-”

“Let’s go, he’s waiting,” said Tony, and, before Skye could escape, he already put his hand on her back and steered her towards Rhodey, “and you don’t wanna see him disappointed he couldn’t tell you his amazing War Machine story, believe me.”

Skye rolled her eyes and looked back at Bruce, who just shrugged. And before she knew it, she was standing in front of Rhodey, Maria, and Thor. The silence was horrible.

Rhodey cleared his throat before he spoke, “So- uh- hey, I’m James, but you can call me Rhodey.”

He put out his hand, but Skye wouldn’t shake it, so he put it back in his pocket. Her eyes darted around the group as she tried to stay grounded.

She just looked like she wanted to disappear. Tony huffed.

“This is our famous little gremlin, Skye,” he introduced.

Rhodey nodded awkwardly.

After a moment of silence Maria asked, “So, how’s the Avenger’s life treating you?”

Skye gave her an unimpressed look and then turned to Tony, “Can I go now?”

“Woah, okay, easy there, Grumpy, no need to be rude to the lady-”

Skye just took off without another word.

Tony turned to the others with a ‘yikes’ glance.

“Well, she seemed nice,” Rhodey said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

Later that night, when the fuss had wound down and only the team members, Rhodey, Maria, and Dr. Cho, had stayed, the party moved to the couches.

Skye was sitting in an armchair next to Nat (just because she had insisted Skye stay), observing everyone and definitely not talking unless she absolutely had to. They all were chatting, playing cards – having fun.

Then Clint mocked Thor and his hammer, “’Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power.’ Whatever, man! It’s a trick.”

Skye looked up.

Thor laughed softly and motioned to Mjolnir, “Please, be my guest.”

The room fell quiet.

“Come on,” Tony said, kind of hoping to see what happens.

“Really?” Clint asked.

“Yeah,” Tony answered.

So, Clint went over to Mjolnir, who was sitting down on the end of the coffee table.

“Oh, this is gonna be beautiful,” Rhodey said with a slight smirk.

“Clint, you’ve had a tough week,” Tony added. “We won’t hold it against you if you can’t get it up.”

They all lightly laughed. Even Skye scoffed through her nose.

“You know I’ve seen this before, right?” Clint said as he grabbed the handle of the hammer.

Thor just nodded, a bit amused already.

Then Clint tried to take the hammer but couldn’t. He grunted and then let go.

“I still don’t know how you do it!” he laughed.

Skye raised her eyebrows, as she didn’t understand how it was possible for a hammer to be that… heavy?

“Smell the silent judgment?” Tony teased.

“Please, Stark, by all means,” Clint raised his hand. 

Tony got up, cleared his throat, and unbuttoned his jacket.

“Okay,” Hill commented.

“Uh-oh,” Rhodey added.

“Jesous,” Skye muttered under her breath.

As Tony walked over to the hammer, he said with a smug face, “Never one to shrink from an honest challenge.” 

He walked past Clint, who took a seat on the ground where he had before.

“Get after it,” Clint muttered.

“It’s physics,” Tony grabbed the handle.

“Physics,” Clint echoed.

“Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?” Tony asked Thor.

“Yes, of course,” Thor said with mock seriousness.

Skye rolled her eyes as they all looked at Tony, almost waiting for him to fail.

“I will be reinstituting prima nocta,” he said as he tried to lift the hammer with a grunt.

Soon enough he gave up and straightened, “Be right back.”

After a moment he returned with his Iron Man suit’s arm piece on and tried to lift again. The machined armor whirred as he tightened his grip around the handle. But with another grunt, he gave up.

The third time, he tried it with Rhodey’s help, and both of them used their armored hands, and even then, they couldn’t lift it.

“Are you even pulling?” Rhodey asked while slightly panting.

“Are you on my team?” Tony shot back.

“Just represent. Pull.” 

“Alright, let’s go.”

But they couldn’t get it off the table.

Next up was Bruce. He pulled the hammer with both hands so hard he yelled out.

When he let go of it, the yelling continued until awkwardly quieting down.

Everyone stared amused. Some of them were confused. Skye covered her eyes with her hand to phase out the painful awkwardness. Nat gave him a sympathetic smile, though. 

Then came Steve’s turn.

“Go ahead, Steve. No pressure,” Tony, of course, was the first one to comment.

Steve rolled up his sleeves and looked really determined. Nat and Skye exchanged an amused glance and then went back to looking at Steve.

“Come on, Cap,” Clint encouraged.

Steve began to pull the handle, and, to Thor’s shock, it moved – even if just slightly – it moved. The smug smile on Thor’s face disappeared, because for a second there he got actually worried. Good thing he was the only one who noticed.

Steve let go with a sigh and moved back to the couch.

Thor laughed it off, telling him, “Nothing.”

Then, once Steve was back seated, everyone turned to Nat.

Tony cleared his throat, but Clint beat him to it, “And, Widow?”

Skye looked at her too, intrigued.

Nat watched them all amused, “Oh, no, no. That’s not a question I need answered.”

She smirked and took a sip of her beer. Skye huffed. She kind of hoped to see how that would’ve turned out.

Then everyone turned to Skye.

“Yeah, no thanks.”

“Oh, come on, it’s fun,” Clint cheered her up.

She gave him a flat stare.

Steve then exhaled, “Okay, you don’t have to but-”

“Okay then.”

After a beat of silence, Tony said while standing up with his bottle in hand, “All deference to the Man Who Wouldn’t Be King, but it’s rigged.”

“You bet your ass,” Clint added as he walked past him and patted his shoulder.

“Steve, he said a bad language word,” Maria pointed out.

Skye looked at Steve’s reaction, amused.

Steve sighed and looked mildly annoyed at Tony, “Did you tell everyone about this?”

Tony ignored him and changed the subject immediately, though a smirk had already formed on his face, “The handle’s imprinted, right? Like a security code.”

Thor looked up.

Tony continued, now quoting, “’Whosoever is carrying Thor’s fingerprints’ is, I think, the literal translation.”

“Yes. It’s a very, very interesting theory,” Thor stood up with his glass. “I have a simpler one.”

He walked over to his hammer and easily picked it up to everyone’s surprise. 

He even flipped it in his hand, watching everyone’s stunned faces, and added, “You’re all not worthy.”

They all groaned at that, Skye rolled her eyes, someone said, “Oh, come on!”

“All right, isn’t it bedtime for little Avenger here?” Tony teased Skye.

That earned him a glare from her, but before she could answer, a sudden, high-pitched noise filled the room, making everyone flinch and cover their ears.

Tony checked his tablet immediately.

“Worthy,” someone gruffed from the hallway.

Metallic and weak footsteps were heard coming closer until a figure appeared in front of them near the entrance. Everyone became tense as they stared at the robot and slowly got defensive.

Skye couldn’t really place it. It looked like one of Stark’s droids, except this one was damaged, leaking, and… intimidating.

“No,” the robot continued, slightly limping to the side so he could face everyone, “How could you be worthy? You’re all killers.”

Skye tensed, and Nat moved slightly in front of her in a protective gesture.

“Stark,” Steve said.

“Jarvis,” Tony called.

“I’m sorry, I was asleep. Or I was a-dream,” the droid said in a terrifyingly calm voice that made Skye get ready to defend herself.

“Reboot Legionnaire OS,” Tony continued ordering Jarvis. “We got a buggy suit.”

“There was this terrible noise,” the metallic, rough voice continued, not bothered by any of them. “And I was tangled in… In… Strings.”

Everyone stared. Skye remained behind Nat. She exchanged a look with Steve but quickly turned away when she realized they don’t know what’s happening either.

“I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy.”

“You killed someone?” Steve asked, still grounded but a bit sharper.

“Wouldn’t have been my first call,” the robot answered. “But, down in the real world, we’re faced with ugly choices.”

“Who sent you?” Thor asked seriously.

Then the robot played a recording of Tony saying, “I see a suit of armor around the world.”

Bruce looked at Tony when he got it.

“Ultron,” he said.

“In the flesh,” Ultron added. “Or no, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I’m ready.”

As Ultron spoke, Nat exchanged a glance with Bruce, then Skye behind her. Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir. Maria flicked off the safety lock of her emergency pistol, now in her hands, and slowly stood up.

“I’m on a mission,” Ultron continued.

“What mission?” Nat asked, still staying collected.

Skye glanced at her, but quickly her eyes went back to being glued on Ultron.

“Peace in our time,” lastly, he quoted Tony before more Ultron-controlled robots flew through the wall behind him and attacked the Avengers.

They acted quickly. Steve immediately acted out of instinct – threw the coffee table sideways to create a shield, though he still got pushed over. Nat swiftly got down and pulled Skye with her. Maria started shooting down the robots, though it didn’t do much damage. Thor used Mjolnir, hitting any robot that got in his way.

Rhodey and Tony ran towards the lab to get to their suits, but one robot flying by pushed Rhodey through a sideways glass window, making him fall on the lower floor.

Bruce, Nat, and Skye rushed behind the bar to take cover. Bruce grunted as he climbed on the bar, but when Nat pulled him over, he dropped onto her. Skye saw the whole thing.

“Sorry,” he said quickly.

“Don’t turn green.” She answered anxiously.

“I won’t.”

Nat moved to her safety pistol that was stashed under the bar table and started shooting at the flying droids. Skye took out her own pistol that was sitting in her boot.

Nat noticed and gave her a disappointed look, because S.H.I.E.L.D. supposedly took all her weapons away. But Skye just smirked about it.

Meanwhile, one of Ultron’s robots got its hands on Loki’s spear and right after flew away.

Everyone was fighting. Steve tried to take down one robot by hand, Thor hit them all with Mjolnir, Nat, Maria and Skye tried to shoot them down, and Tony tried to recalibrate one of them.

“Stark!” Steve called out.

“One sec. One sec, I got this.” Tony muttered while he clung to a flying droid.

“We are here to help! We are here to help!” the robot malfunctioned.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cho was hiding behind the piano when one half-robot floated toward her.

“Please back away,” it said.

But before it could blast at Dr. Cho, it got thrown away by Steve and smashed by Thor.

Back to Tony, who was still trying to fix one of the robots.

“Come on! That’s the one,” he said to himself as he found the one wire he was looking for.

But before he could do anything further, the droid threw him on the ground.

Close by, Nat and Skye were running to take different cover while still targeting the droids around the room.

“Hey!” Nat yelled when she saw Skye moving past her and closer to the danger. “Get back here!”

Skye ignored her and just shot the droid in front of her, but not damaging it much.

Then Clint saw one fly towards Skye from behind. He looked around to see anything useful until he found Cap’s shield lying there.

He picked it up and yelled to Steve, “Hey, Cap!” and threw it to him.

Steve caught it easily, like he had a hundred times before, and, with a grunt, threw it at the droid behind Skye, cutting it in half.

Silence hit the room then, as it was the last droid they destroyed.

“That was dramatic,” Ultron said, standing in the same spot.

Everyone turned to him.

“I’m sorry, I know you mean well,” he continued. “You just didn’t think it through.”

Steve frowned at him and took a step forward, in front of Skye, who scowled about it.

“You want to protect the world, but you don’t want it to change. How is humanity saved if it’s not allowed to evolve?” Ultron kept talking.

Nat glanced Bruce’s way with a knowing look.

“With these?” Ultron picked up one of his robots that was lying in front of him and popped off its face armor before throwing it back on the ground. “These puppets.”

Everyone was listening carefully, some still slightly panting from the fight.

“There’s only one path to peace,” Ultron continued. “The Avengers’ extinction.”

Right after he said it, Thor threw Mjolnir at him, smashing Ultron against the wall.

The robot fell to the ground and let out his last words, sending a shiver down Skye’s neck, “I had strings, but now I’m free.”

But little did they know, Ultron had already formed a base in Sokovia. A base full of Stark’s droids being made and programmed into Ultron’s own army.

“There are no strings on me. But you can see, there are no strings on me.”

Chapter Text

“All our work is gone,” Bruce said.

They all were now regrouped at the lab, trying to understand what happened. Everyone except for Thor, who nobody had seen since the party.

“Ultron cleared out. He used the Internet as an escape hatch,” he continued.

“Ultron,” Steve muttered.

Skye looked up at him but then went back to staring at the ground. She was still a little shaken from the fight before, and her trust in Tony had shifted.

“He’s been in everything,” Nat crossed her arms as she turned to face everyone. “Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other.”

Clint shifted his weight at that, and Skye noticed. She was looking around the room, studying everyone like she wasn’t sure she could trust them anymore. She was supposed to be safe here, and she had almost gotten killed.

“He’s in your files, he’s in the Internet,” Rhodey said as he crossed the room. “What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?”

Skye followed the conversation.

“Nuclear codes,” Maria, who was patching up her leg at a table, added.

“Nuclear codes,” Rhodes confirmed.

“Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can.” He turned to Tony, who was awfully quiet in the corner, studying one of his bots.

“Nukes?” Nat asked. “He said he wanted us dead.”

“He didn’t say ‘dead.’ He said ‘extinct,’” Steve corrected, his voice still calm but with something sharper underneath.

“He also said he killed someone,” Clint added from the other side of the room.

“There wasn’t anyone else in the building,” Maria said.

Just then Tony walked to the center of the room. “Yes, there was.”

He flicked on a half-destroyed and collapsed hologram of what looked like the model of J.A.R.V.I.S. in front of everyone.

Everyone was stunned. Skye was confused. She had no idea what that thing was. It looked like a hologram of a smashed orange to her.

“What?” Bruce walked up to the hologram, looking at it dreadfully. “This is insane.”

“Um- what is that?” Skye asked, sitting up straighter.

“It’s- It’s J.A.R.V.I.S.,” he answered, not looking up.

Steve looked down. “J.A.R.V.I.S. was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense.”

“No,” Bruce objected. “Ultron could have assimilated J.A.R.V.I.S. This isn’t strategy. This is… rage.”

Suddenly everyone heard loud footsteps coming, and soon enough Thor stormed in. He rushed over to Tony and grabbed him by the neck, holding him up in rage.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Steve walked over, trying to get some control over the situation (but clearly failing).

“It’s going around,” Clint commented while watching the scene unfold.

Thor didn’t listen to any of them. He kept his hold strong as Tony struggled to make out words.

“Come on, use your words, buddy,” he choked.

But Thor didn’t let go. “I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark.”

Before he could continue, though, Steve spoke up, “Thor. The Legionnaire.”

That made him finally let go with ease, but on the other side, Tony groaned, stumbled, and rubbed his neck.

“Trail went cold 100 miles out, but it’s headed north,” Thor said in such a serious voice that sent a shiver down Skye’s neck. “And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again.”

“Genie’s out of that bottle,” Nat said. “Clear and present is Ultron-”

“I don’t understand,” Dr. Cho stated from a corner, where she was looking at one of Stark’s smashed droids, which had fallen under Ultron’s control. Everyone looked at her.

“You built this program.” She turned to Tony. “Why is it trying to kill us?”

Skye was interested in the answer as well.

Tony stood at a desk on the other side of the room and for a moment stood there silent. Bruce was next to him, bearing the hard question with him.

But then Tony started chuckling, that totally threw everyone off. Bruce turned towards him and shook his head nervously, already bracing himself for what everyone else will have to say about it.

The chuckles only ticked off Skye more. She heard Nat mutter under her breath, “We don’t have time for this,” as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“You think this is funny?” Thor was the first to ask.

Tony let out a quick sigh and turned around to face him with a slight smirk that Skye hates. “No. It’s probably not, right?”

He now turned to everyone else in the room and continued, “This is very terrible. It is so…” He started laughing a little, not amusing anyone. “Is it so… It is. It’s so terrible.”

“This could have been avoided if you hadn’t played with something you don’t understand.” Thor came closer.

“No. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Tony walked closer to Thor as well, his voice more serious now, “It is funny. It’s a hoot that you don’t get why we need this.” Tony’s voice was sharp now, meaning he wasn’t joking around anymore.

Skye only looked at Tony with disappointment and annoyance. She didn’t say anything out loud at all, but her thoughts were racing with words she’d be happy to scream in his face.

“Tony,” Bruce said nervously, “maybe this might not be the time to-”

“Really? That’s it?” Tony interrupted as he turned back around towards him. “You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?”

Bruce raised his eyebrows and shot back, “Only when I’ve created a murder bot.”

“We didn’t,” Tony argued. “We weren’t even close. Were we close to an interface?”

Bruce just shrugged and gave Tony a skeptical look.

And before Tony could continue, Steve spoke, “Well, you did something right. And you did it right here.”

He took a few steps forward from the spot next to Skye, where he had stood for the past couple of minutes. “The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Skye instinctively tensed at that mention.

“Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?” Tony changed the subject.

“No, it’s never come up,” Rhodey said sarcastically.

“Saved New York?” Tony continued.

Nat was so done with him. She rolled her eyes, and Skye was definitely feeling the same way.

“Never heard that,” Rhodes kept up, his tone now more teasing.

“Recall that?” Tony snapped. “A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We’re standing 300 feet below it.”

Everyone recalled the fight of New York. The memories were still vivid, and they felt like a cut that had only just healed, and now hearing the mention only felt like a tear in the skin.

For Skye it was only a faint image in her mind – a small, old TV screen with breaking news on, and all of those superheroes, who were taught to be her enemies, fighting for their city, for the people, for everyone. Everyone except for her. Because she was told that they only save those they choose to. And she had not been saved.

Tony turned to face his team. “We’re the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there, that’s… That’s the endgame.”

He turned to Steve. “How were you guys planning on beating that?”

“Together,” Steve answered in all seriousness.

Tony looked him straight in the eye and took a step closer. “We’ll lose.”

After a moment, Steve answered, his voice sure, “Then we’ll do that together, too.”

Tony froze for a second but then walked off.

“Thor’s right, Ultron’s calling us out,” Steve continued. “I’d like to find him before he’s ready for us. The world’s a big place. Let’s start making it smaller.”

And with that, they all walked out to get working. They’d try to find clues or a track, or anything on Ultron that could be a starting point for finding him.

The rest of the day passed just like that. A lot of research and a lot of “Go to your room, Skye.”

She mostly just sat in the common room watching TV. The team had decided that this mission is far too dangerous for Skye to get involved with.

But when the time had struck 7 p.m. already, Skye had had enough. She walked through the halls and finally found them in the storage room surrounded by a lot of boxes and files.

She cautiously stepped in with a half-amused look on her face.

“He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer,” Tony was mid-sentence. “It was all very Ahab.”

Without saying anything, Skye sneaked up behind them and peeked at a file Thor was holding.

Nat finally noticed Skye’s presence and raised her eyebrows. “Looks like we have a new associate.”

Everyone looked at Nat, and then, following her gaze, saw Skye.

She pursed her lips and looked up at everyone’s slightly disappointed but mostly amused faces. Except for Steve’s. He couldn’t loosen up even if someone dared him to.

He sighed, “Skye.”

Skye looked at him totally innocent. “Yeah?”

He began to look a bit frustrated. “Your room? Like we talked about?”

She cleared her throat. “Yeah, I just, you know… figured you could use some help.”

“No, no, we don’t,” Clint said casually. “But thanks.”

“Come on! I won’t interrupt, jesus, just do your little secret ‘end of the world’ hunt, and I’ll just stand here, quietly… observing.”

Tony smirked. “Yeah, Cap, it’d be good for her to, you know, play detective, don’t you think? Sherlock-Watson type a thing?”

Steve sighed like he was done. Bruce just went back to his work, Clint raised his eyebrow, and Nat shook her head and went for a glass of water.

He turned toward Tony and spoke in a lowered voice, “You understand, involving her in all this mess immediately puts her in danger, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, and I also know leaving her alone in a room for too long makes her restless, and soon enough, oh, oh – she becomes dangerous again.”

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, not having an argument against that. An awkward silence fell over the room.

Thor, who had been clumsily standing with Skye next to him, cleared his throat and said, “Alright then, shall we continue?”

Skye smirked like she had won an argument and went back to studying the file they were talking about. It was a file of a man who’s in the black market. He has a big tattoo on his back and a smaller one on his neck.

“This?” Thor asked, pointing at the smaller symbol.

Tony looked over. “Ah, it’s a tattoo, I don’t think he had it.”

“Those are tattoos, this is a brand.”

Soon after, they all moved to the lab, where Bruce put the symbol from the man’s picture in a system that can translate it.

When a match was found, Bruce read it out loud, “Oh yeah. It’s a word in African dialect meaning ‘thief.’ In a much less friendly way.”

“What dialect?” Steve asked.

“Wakanada,” Bruce stammered as he read. “Wakanda.”

Skye had heard this name before, but she couldn’t remember where. She just knew she knew it.

Tony exchanged a look with Steve. “If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…”

“I thought your father said he got the last of it,” Steve said.

“I don’t follow,” Bruce said, approaching the main table.

“Yeah, me neither,” Skye added.

Steve gave her a warning glance, meaning he didn’t want to hear a word out of her, like she promised.

“Sorry, jeez,” she muttered, raising her eyebrows.

“What comes out of Wakanda?” Bruce continues.

Steve glanced at his shield, which was standing against a shelf.

“The strongest metal on Earth,” Tony explained.

“Where is this guy now?” Steve asked Tony.

He looked down on all the files on the table in front of him, sighed, and then looked back at Steve. “Must be someplace… African Coast? The Salvage Yard.”

“You’re sure?” Steve asked.

Tony smirked, “I don’t know. Could be.”

Steve nodded and turned towards everyone, glancing at Skye for a second but then back at his team. “Suit up.”

Chapter Text

“No, no, no, you’re crazy if you think you can leave me behind again!” Skye followed Steve, who was all serious and prepared for a fight, as he headed towards the jet. “It only makes sense if I come with you guys, because clearly this has something to do with Hydra, and you know I can-”

“No.” Tony, while walking by, answered before Steve could. “Actually, you can’t.”

That owed him a glare.

“And no, it does not make sense in the least.”

Steve sighed and finally looked at her, “It’s too dangerous. We don’t know what to expect.”

“Yes! You do!” Skye argued. “Ultron is nothing compared to what happened in New York! This is a street-level fight, and I’m great at those!”

Steve knew she was right, but that also made him want to protect her more, because frankly, she was still a child.

He tightened the glove around his wrist, slowly exhaled, and answered bluntly, “No.”

Skye’s eyebrows furrowed instantly, “No?”

“No,” he said and continued walking.

Skye stopped following, but that didn’t change how she felt, “You can’t just-”

“That’s final.” Steve said firmly, his eyes briefly locking onto Skye’s.

“Fuck you…” she said under her breath, almost just to herself.

Skye glared at them boarding when Bruce came behind her.

“Don’t take it so hard,” he said in a kind voice. “I’d be glad if I had to stay behind, honestly. I’d be safe from crazy robots, who threaten to destroy the planet, right?”

Skye just huffed, not looking at him, and left.

In her room Skye was pacing. She wanted to be a part of this mission so bad – it was the only way she could make herself feel useful. All her life she was told to do things for her commander, only completing missions made her feel needed and worth something.

She didn’t have the freedom to choose what she wanted. But if I had, I wouldn’t even know what I’d want – she thought. And all she knew now was that she needed to fight, because that drive and her skills had not faded. And when there’s a target with an opportunity to eliminate it, and no one to stop her, she had no other choice but to take it. It’s in her blood.

So, she didn’t waste a second – she grabbed her secret pistol she had been hiding, her knives, fighting gloves, mask, boots, and jacket, and hurried to the jet.

The team had already boarded, but the ramp – still down.

Slickly, she moved closer to the takeoff platform, hiding behind a shelf. After she was sure no one was around to see her, she sneaked upon the platform, not a sound heard, and slipped inside the jet while no one was looking, planting herself behind a cargo box. No one noticed. At least not yet.

Skye was proud of herself – she hadn’t lost her sharp Widow moves, and she was glad in a way, because they still can be useful, especially in moments like these.

After a minute the jet sealed closed and took off. For most of the flight the team went over their parts of the mission, which Skye definitely memorized so she could avoid them when fighting.

Her plan was pretty easy:

Phase one – when they land, she’d wait for a few minutes after the team heads out, and only then would she get out herself.

Phase two – she’d run to the base, where the fight takes place.

Phase three – she’d fight off as many robots as she could, but while doing so, she can’t be seen for obvious reasons.

And phase four – when the mission was over, she would go make herself seen and prove to them that she is useful and can help.

Easy peasy.

Soon enough, the jet landed, and Skye could feel a tingle in her fingertips. She was ready.

The team headed out quickly, and Skye began her plan’s phase one – waiting. She peeked over the box to see that it was “safe” to come out of hiding, but when she was about to stand up, Bruce came out from the cockpit. She had forgotten that Bruce always stays behind unless there’s a code green. Skye immediately fell back to her previous spot, and unfortunately that made a sound that perked up Bruce’s ears.

“Okay, who’s there?” Bruce froze in his step and asked cautiously.

Skye sighed, knowing there’s no way out of this and he’d probably find out about her eventually anyway. So, she slowly stood up, her eyes not meeting his.

At first Bruce didn’t speak, but Skye knew what he was thinking.

Bruce finally blinked, “W- W- What are you doing here!? You’re not supposed to- do you know how- I don’t understand, why-”

“Bruce!” Skye stopped him. “It’s… okay, okay? I’m just gonna…” She slowly walked over to the ramp console.

“Wha- No!” He pointed. “Don’t- Don’t press that button.”

She pressed it.

“Don’t- Don’t go out there!”

Skye just shrugged, while the ramp lowered and quickly made a run for it.

“No, no, no, no!” Bruce stepped on the edge of the ramp.

“Sorry, Green Guy, don’t tell on me!” she yelled after as she ran towards the salvage yard.

“Skye!” frustrated Bruce yelled after her, voice barely loud enough for her to hear.

He huffed and right after turned to the comm radio to inform the team that they have another problem, but, thankfully for Skye, no one answered – everyone was too busy fighting.

Meanwhile, Skye made her way to the core of the mission, where she saw that the fight had already begun.

She managed to sneak into the base, where she saw Tony floating and blasting Ultron, Clint’s arrows flying through the air, Thor throwing Mjolnir, and definitely a lot of Ultron’s droids. But there were also weird flashes around the room, but before she could take a good look at them, a robot was flying her way, and she had to move.

And so, phase three began. Skye did it all perfectly, almost didn’t break a sweat. Her moves were still fresh, and she had missed the thrill of a fight (because back in the day that was the only joy she had left to feel). She kept herself busy at one secure corner, which seemed to be a storage spot for old car parts. But even staying in that one spot, the droids found their way to her.

With a loud thunk, she threw the droid on the ground, and for a short moment, she could breathe. Her face was a bit scraped now, and her forearm bled, but it was nothing compared to other wounds she had in the past, so she ignored the pain. She looked around the base – the team was still fighting further on the other side, and those unmistakable, metallic sounds were filling the room.

She stared at Ultron being pulled to the ground by Tony, suddenly so helpless, when she saw the flicker of cool, blue light again fly past him.

She tried to follow it with her eyes, but it was too fast, and then suddenly – already in front of her.

It stopped and revealed itself to be a young man walking past her. He had white hair and a silver-blue suit and an unclear yet amused look on his face.

Before Skye could react, she already found herself getting tripped over and falling on the ground.

She groaned as she landed on the cold, hard surface, “Fuck!”

And when she sat up, she saw the man already on the other side of the room. I guess he was fast. Really fast.

Skye shook her head to snap back her focus. Now she had to get that guy and show him she’s not to be messed with. Finally, getting to her feet and lightly stumbling his way, she got stopped again, but this time by a force. A red type of force field froze her whole body in place. But when she looked around, there was nobody in sight, and her vision became unfocused and red.

She turned her gaze back towards the guy, only to see he’s not there anymore. In fact, no one was in the base anymore.

“W- What the hell-” She muttered under her breath.

Skye’s eyes darted everywhere, but the space was empty, and there was no sound heard. It was as if everyone just disappeared.

When the force let her go, she quickly turned around to catch whoever had stopped her, but suddenly found herself standing in front of a mirror. She saw herself in the mirror, but as a 7-year-old girl. Her chest suddenly started to rise and fall in panic. She wasn’t in the Salvage Yard anymore. She was in her old room. Her little space in the Red Room.

Skye’s heart jumped when the door suddenly opened and she saw an older girl come in. A girl she recognized, but couldn’t remember. She looked like she was in a hurry and… scared.

“Hey, I need to tell you something before-” she whispered, but got interrupted by a man yelling. “Rue! That is not your place!”

And before she could tell little Skye anything more, she got forcefully dragged away, and Skye’s doors got closed and locked. She heard screams outside. Terrible, painful screams.

“No! Rue! No- LET ME OUT!” She screamed and hit the door, but nobody came.

Skye collapsed on the ground helplessly before she blinked and appeared in a totally different room.

She lifted her head and saw countless men's bodies on the ground. She started to panic and crawled backwards away from the lifeless agents. She didn’t stop until she felt no surface beneath her hand, and when she turned, she saw a view of a street about 20 meters lower, and she was hanging out of a wide, broken window. She almost fell through, but thankfully caught herself in time.

She finally stood up, eyes being glued on the bodies against her will, when her eyes landed on a girl’s body that was lying lifeless on the ground a few steps further. It was the same girl she recognized before.

“R- Rue?” Skye whispered as she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

She approached the body, crouched down, and stared at it. The girl’s face was like an old, forgotten memory you can’t seem to recall, and Skye tried so hard to remember.

She sniffled and touched Rue’s cold hand. The moment was quiet for a moment until suddenly Rue snapped alive and grabbed Skye’s hand. She held it tightly and squeezed it until it hurt.

“Why… did you… do it?” Rue choked bitterly with a gruff and angry voice.

Skye jumped hard, and panic fell over her again as she couldn’t get her hand free, “L-Let go!”

When she tried to break free, her hand started to feel warm and wet, and soon she realized it was covered with pure, thick blood.

Skye was shaking as she couldn’t get her head around the sight. The blood dripping on Rue’s clothes only made her scarier.

“WHY DID YOU DO IT!” Rue screamed at her.

Desperate whimpers escaped Skye’s lips before the room shifted again, and this time, she knew it all too well.

The dark walls, loud machinery, lab coats, and that disgusting symbol everywhere. She heard loud screams behind her that made her flinch hard. Her whole body froze when she recognized her own voice. She was in her cell at Hydra. And she was forced to have her memories erased completely.

She squeezed her tearful eyes shut and tried to phase out the moment, but it felt like it’ll never end. She covered her ears and tried to stop whatever this nightmare was.

“Stop.” She whispered.

She felt her heartbeat picking up and her breathing quickening. The screams didn’t stop for a second. They burned through Skye’s skull like poison.

“STOP!” She yelled over the screams behind her.

“STOP IT!” Skye cried. “STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!”

She screamed louder and louder until the lights started to flicker and the walls began to crumble and fall apart.

Back at the base, things were calmer. Tony had flown Ultron away and supposedly blown him up, the droids had either been destroyed or flown away, and the others had suffered from the witches’ nightmares just like Skye.

Clint was the only one who didn’t get that pain of his own trauma, and he was the first to notice Skye’s presence.

“Ah, shit.” He muttered when he saw Skye on the ground, whispering something repeatedly.

“We uh- We gotta problem,” Clint told everyone through the earpiece and rushed over to Skye.

She was lying on the ground, trembling, and mumbling the words “stop it” over and over. Clint sighed and crouched down.

He touched her shoulder and gently shook it, “Hey, wake up, it’s not real, okay?”

Skye whimpered as if to answer him.

“Kid.”

With a sharp inhale, Skye got pulled back to reality, a little disoriented. Her breaths were sudden and still half-panicked, her eyes nervously looking around.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, kid, it’s okay.” Clint reassured her, then looked into her eyes. “Skye, hey, look at me.”

Slowly and almost hesitantly, she did.

“Hey,” he let out a breath of relief. “You okay?”

She took a few breaths and then looked at the others, who were either tired after the fight or sitting on the ground looking completely and utterly traumatized. She finally looked at her hands and then carefully stood up.

“Yes.” She answered flatly and looked at the view of the others.

Clint stood up as well and exhaled, “You’re in some deep shit, you know that?”

Skye just sighed. Her plan didn’t go as she wanted, but then again, neither did theirs, and she knew she was about to get either yelled at, lectured, or even told on to Fury. But all of that didn’t matter at the moment.

Her mind was still stuck on those nightmares. She couldn’t even tell if they were her real memories or not. But either way, she couldn’t get them out of her head, and she knew that they would haunt her now for a very long time.