Blood of the Covenant |1| The Dark Waters Series (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Chapter Two: 0-8-4

The hula dancer figurine on her dashboard was staring at her.

Even though it wasn't forever, even though she knew her van would just be parked in some garage for the duration of her time on the Bus, Skye couldn't help but feel like this was some kind of point of no return. She was choosing of her own free will to join S.H.I.E.L.D., the very institution she had been trying to hack. This was massive. And not only that, but she was journeying into the belly of the beast with so little in terms of possessions—a couple of bags and a cardboard box.

She'd never really had a home to speak of, never stayed in one place for too long, but her van was special. It allowed her to travel, to leave city and state and go wherever, and always have the stability of somewhere familiar to come back to at the end of the day. And now, even that was gone. Her new home, for however long this little arrangement lasted, would be the Bus, a plane full of people she barely knew. Spies. She would be vulnerable there, to these people who were surely trained in infiltration and interrogation. They could be getting information out of her without her even realising. And yet, somehow, for some unknown reason, she kind of trusted them. Together, the six of them had saved her life, and Mike's, and made sure Ace would be safe. Maybe, just maybe, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. weren't so bad as S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.

With one last nostalgic look around the van, Skye slid open the side door and climbed out, bringing her bags and box with her. On a whim, she opened the driver's side and grabbed her hula dancer, setting it on top of her box, and when she shut the door, she found one of the hangar's many fluorescent-vested officials had joined her.

"Hey, no joy rides, okay?" she told him, giving him a meaningful look. "That's my house."

"No worries," he agreed easily, reaching past her to put a small device on the hood of the van. The engine turned on by itself, and as she watched, her van drove itself away.

She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Where do they think of this stuff?" As the van disappeared from view, she picked up her belongings and headed into the Bus, the ramp closing behind her.

***

"Skye?!"

In the command centre, Genevieve rolled her eyes as Ward barrelled in, his eyebrows shooting up in incredulity. She had expected his resistance to the idea, of course she had, but it didn't mean she found his presence any less irritating—especially when he was questioning her authority. "Oh boy."

"That girl's not qualified to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!" Ward insisted.

"Agreed," Genevieve said, not lifting her head from her tablet where she was updating the necessary paperwork for Skye's addition to the team. "That's why we invited her on as a consultant. Big S.H.I.E.L.D. does it all the time. Technically, Stark's a consultant."

"And technically, Skye is a member of the Rising Tide. She hacked our RSA implementation—"

"Twice, from a laptop." Genevieve nodded. "Imagine what she'll do with our resources."

Ward's eyes widened. "I am! That's exactly what I'm imagining during this frown. You brought me on for risk assessment—she's a risk. She doesn't think like us."

At that, Genevieve finally looked up at him, smiling confidently. "Exactly."

***

Before Skye had even had a second to herself in the cargo hold, the doors to the lab opened and Simmons and Fitz came out to greet her. "Oh, Agent Coulson told us the news," Simmons enthused, wearing a large, wide grin. "What a wonderful surprise! Isn't it, Fitz?"

"Yeah," he agreed, and although he seemed far less enthusiastic than Simmons, Skye thought she detected a hint of a smile in him. He was pleased she was on board, she realised, even if he didn't like to make a performance of it.