Everything had a red tinge. He'd not noticed it until he was in too deep. It took all of his effort not to tear through everyone in front of him. Part of his brain told him that the only way to solve this was to fight, take everyone out and then he would get his teammates back. The trained part of his mind that the berserker rage didn't control agreed with Coulson, it was best to let Nat and Clint interrogate John, the owner of the camp. It was probably best that they went if he got his hands on him he wasn't sure he could control himself, beating him senseless would not help them find Fitz and Skye.

Coulson had watched the footage blankly as if he was unbelieving. May looked unconcerned but Ward recognised the slight clenching of her jaw. Tripp comforted Simmons as they stared at the footage, this time he willed it to be different. They all knew that this footage meant their worst fears had been confirmed. They currently only had one suspect. The owner of the camp, John Neill. It had to be him; he had the opportunity and motive, though they weren't sure exactly what that was yet. All they knew was he was up to something. It had been decided that Clint and Nat would go interrogate him; they were the best at getting answers quickly.

Even so Ward wasn't happy to be left out. He wanted to be there, hearing everything first hand. It was his teammates, his rookie that had been taken. It was his job to do everything in his power to get them back. And he would get them back.

Knowledge that the coms would relay everything being said wasn't comforting. You couldn't influence anything while just listening to it. The gentle touch on his shoulder wasn't comforting; he knew Nat and Clint had his back. But right now he just wanted to hit things. Pacing outside helped; he couldn't hurt any of his teammates out here. A broken hand would help Fitz or Skye either. The repetitive movement was calming, if you were moving fast enough no one could get you.

Facing the forest he heard the boom as a door fell inwards, flinching slightly as his brain dragged up images of how good it would have been to be the one to do that. He needed to focus now, Clint and Nat were making their move, the rage was just a distraction he needed to tune out.

"John Neill we need a word." Clint growled. Whirring through the coms told Ward that they were in the office. No one had told him where John was located; probably fearing he would take off and demand justice. They were probably right.

"How dare you? This is a private office, you need to…" Whatever they needed to do was suddenly cut off. If the gasping was any indication he the need of oxygen was greater than the need to object. Neither of the spies were known for their patience, especially when a team member was involved.

"We know you've been up to no good. So how about you just come clean and tell us where it is?"

"I've no idea what you're talking about." Ward couldn't help the growl escape at the blatant lie.

"I suggested you start thinking hard, otherwise things are going to get interesting for you." Nat spoke for the first time, no need to put on a menacing voice.

"Torture is illegal." The man stammered, voice increasing in octave.

"Oh I won't torture you silly. You just accidently switch on one of my bites. I'm so silly leaving them lying around."

"I've done nothing wrong." John's voice squeaked.

Smacking his hand into the wall leaving an indent, Ward ignored the concerned look from Simmons as she watched him from the cabin. As he became aware he had walked away he was entering the office. Right now he didn't care about their cover. Finding their teammates was much more important. A small man sat in the centre of the room, tied to his chair by his own tie. Moving to tower over the cowering man, he took a second to focus his thoughts before leaning down menacingly.

"Talk!" Longer sentences took too much time right now.

"I…I…" The bang of Ward's hand against the desk stopped the stuttering.

"Ok! The bank account details are in that top draw. It contains all the money I took. I swear I didn't mean too. It just became so easy to skim some of the money out of the accounts."

Ward blinked at the man.

"You were swindling your customers?" Clint asked. Not the answer they were looking for. Ward want to scream in frustration.

"Yes! I'm so sorry. I didn't think anyone would notice." Apart from the slight shadiness about the guy, nobody had, but that wasn't helpful right now.

"What about the people you took?"

"What people?"

"The girl and the guy you kidnapped, never mind all the scientists that disappeared."

"I've nothing to do with that. I only deal with money. I don't like people. Why would I kidnap anyone! It's bad for business!" The wailing was beginning to get on Ward's nerves.

"NO!" Nat dragged him to the door as he took a step towards the cowering man.

"He's telling the trust Ward. Just look at him." Ward glared but knew she was right. There was no way she could be fooled.

"We'll let the police deal with him."

Nodding in defeat he walked out of the office, he couldn't stand to look at that man any longer. Hanging his head he didn't notice Tripp standing in front of him until he almost walked into him.

"We'll find them man. She's strong. You taught her well. Our girl's a fighter, between her and Fitz I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to escape."

She came to on a hard surface, her aching back informed her. Before moving she took an inventory of what she had and any injuries. Surprisingly apart from smarting head she was uninjured. She suspected the uncomfortable object digging into her side was her phone, which was a plus. Shallow breaths came from nearby but everything else was silent. Blinking she saw she was lying looking at a basic simple ceiling. Sitting up gingerly she took in the simple bed beside her, a door behind her head, firmly barred, and a set of bars that ran the length of the room.

"Skye! You're awake." Fitz reached through the bars, grasping her arm as he attempted to hug her.

"Fitz! How did you get here?"

"I was here before you. Erik and I watched as you were brought in."

"Erik, he's here?"

"Yeah. They took him when they brought you in. We think the other scientists are here."

She examined the room, taking in everything she could. They needed to find a way to escape.

"We tried to come up with a plan to escape but then Erik got taken." Fitz commented as he watched her.

"Any idea where we are?"

"No but somewhere near the camp we think. From what we can tell we didn't travel far." She was going to ask more questions but she heard footsteps coming closer to the room. Quickly lying back down again making it look like she'd never regained consciousness. Even though one of her senses was blinded, literally, she had been trained by May and Ward not to rely on just sight. The echoing of the door against the wall didn't hide the sound of two sets of footsteps. One set stumbled further into the room while the other paused at the edge of the room. Creaking echoed around the room as the door swung shut, she waited until she heard the footsteps retreat before sitting up.

"Erik this is Skye. Skye, Dr Erik Selvig."

"Glad to see you're awake."

"Nice to meet you Dr Selvig."

"Please call me Erik."

"Can you tell me what happened when you were taken out?"

"Yeah. It was really strange. I was sat in front of a computer and just asked about my work. It was on a more basic level. I then had to explain some theories that I work with. Nothing top secret, it was like what you'd study at school."

"Weird. Hang on did you say you used a computer? Was there Wi-Fi?"

"Yes. It was how I was talking to whoever was asking questions. He was quite intelligent actually."

"You said he. What makes you think that?"

"Just the language used and the questions they ask. Does it matter?"

"It might. I think I know where we are." She quickly extracted her phone from where it had been stuffed.

"I don't think you'll have signal." Fitz interjected.

"I know. They removed the sim card." She waved the phone in his face.

"So how does it help us?"

"Because Erik told us there was Wi-Fi and I can hack anything."

"Still doesn't really help us."

"If I can connect I can use the message app I created to talk to Ward while we were undercover."

"You…you… of course you were talking to Ward."

"Done!"

"That was quick."

"Let's just hope he checks his phone. The robot doesn't like technology. Now shall we see if we can get out of here?"

After a quick discussion, Erik banged on the door.

"Help! Help!"

Skye was back on the floor; she was never going to complain about the bunks ever again. The plan was simple, and as she listened for footsteps coming closer he prayed it would work.

Tires squealed as the car careered around the corner, muffled swearing came from inside.

"We can't help them if we don't get there alive." Tripp diplomatically commented, ignoring the wince from Simmons as two wheels left the roads as they took another corner. Ward ignored the comments, focusing simply on getting to the destination as fast as possible.

Five minutes ago he'd received the message from Skye. She thought she was being held at the nearby store. After the lead with John had not gone anywhere they had been unsure where to look next. He'd felt like banging his head against the wall. Skye's message had given him something else to focus on. He could finally do something instead of sitting around like a lemon watching as the others chased down new leads. Coulson was following behind them in Lola but he'd quickly lost them as he barely slowed for corners. He'd been trained in response driving, they were in no danger. But if he got there just a few seconds quicker he might be able to prevent something terrible happening to Skye or Leo. His training and experience kept providing scenarios that could be happening to his teammates. He couldn't stop his mind thinking of all the tortures they could be undergoing. His job as a specialist was to protect them from this.

Screeching to a halt outside the store they found it empty, with no lights on.

"Tripp check inside. You know the layout. Simmons stay here. Nat and I will check around the back." Ward ordered.

Extracting his gun he strode around the back, ready to fire if he saw a threat. Nat covered his back as they moved forwards. As they rounded the corner Ward was faced with his worst nightmares. Beside a second building Skye stood with her hands raised in a non-threatening way. Across from her a middle-aged woman stood pointing a wavering gun at her. Normally Ward wouldn't be greatly concerned, he'd taught her how to disarm a gun. But the gun waving around told him that the woman was a novice, the gun could go off by accident.

"Hey. My name's Skye. I believe you're called Jenny. A friend mentioned you to me."

"How'd you know that? You need to go back inside."

"I can't do that. I know you didn't want to do this."

"You need to go back inside."

"You brought everyone to teach your son right."

"Leave Jamie out of this!" Jenny screamed. Ward considered tackling her but there was still a chance it could hit Skye. At least Fitz wasn't in danger; he hoped he was somewhere safe.

"I understand. You did everything you had to, to give him a good education."

"Nobody would teach him out here. He couldn't go to school. I had to do something."

"I understand."

"All these scientist kept coming in. They could teach Jamie so much."

"So you ensured they would stay and teach him."

"I intended to let them go. Jamie just needed help, then he could go to university!"

"Jenny. You did everything that you could for your son, but you need to let them go now."

"I… I.." Jenny cried the gun weaving all over the place. As Ward strode forward and disarmed her Skye pulled her into her arms, cradling her.

"Fitz?" Ward barked.

"Inside." Skye pointed to the building behind her while rocking Jenny gently.

Nat strode forward while Ward covered her from beside Skye. As she pulled the door open Fitz nearly toppled out clearly having been listening at the door.

"Seriously." Ward complained.

"Ward! Thank god. We found the missing scientists.

"So I heard. You ok?"

"Fine. Though I do have a question for you."

"Oh?"

"Why did you keep it a secret you and Skye were talking while we were undercover?"

Three hours later they'd finally got back to the bus. The police had dealt with the scientists, helping them find transport home. Jenny had been taken into custody with her son going to stay with his aunt. Skye could understand wanting to do anything within you're power to help your child but kidnapping people was going a step too far.

"Feeling better?" Nat stood on the threshold of her bunk watching as she towelled her hair. "It's amazing what a shower can do."

"Yeah. I just glad to feel clean again."

"You did well today. You're becoming an amazing agent."

"Thanks. Between May and Ward I've had really good SO's."

"I meant to talk to you about that. You do know that as Ward is no longer your SO you don't have to hide your relationship."

"What… how?"

"I'm a spy. I'm paid to notice things. Besides it was fairly obvious."

"Has anyone else noticed?"

"Not sure, didn't really ask. I brought it up, as at some point you really need to talk to him about the time after he was revealed as Hydra. I know he still has issues with it. I hoped you might be able to help him through it."

"I'll talk to him about it." She promised.

"Well I'd better go. Clint will be getting impatient. Leaving him and Erik alone for too long is a recipe for disaster. If you ever need anything give me a call." Skye nodded taking the card Nat handed to her.

She finished drying her hair before heading down to the cargo hold where the rest of the team were gathered. As she reached the top of the stairs she watched as her boyfriend joked with Fitz. He seemed to have finally shook the anger from his system. Grinning mischievously she rand down the stairs and through her arms around his neck.

"Skye?"

Deciding not to respond, she pulled his head down and kissed him while the others looked on. Tripp and Fitz whooped as Simmons and May told the boys I told you so.

"I got fed up of hiding." Skye whispered against Ward's lips, enjoying the smile that was spread across them.

"We shouldn't hide from family." He murmured understanding her meaning.

"Hang on." Coulson broke in. Skye dropped her arms from around Ward's neck, spinning so she was leaning against him.

"Did everyone know about Skye and Ward?"

"Yep."

"Of course."

"How could you miss it?" Simmons wondered.

Skye blushed slightly at how all their family had seen through them.

"It's just like any father." May commented. "If it involves his daughter and dating he's oblivious."

The End.

Thank you to everyone who followed, liked and left kudos on this fic. It was one of the first I ever wrote so thank you for sticking with me as I figured out how to actually write!