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When realization hits...
Skye’s foot tapped impatiently. She’d been in the - admittedly very comfy, rather plush - waiting room at the new Avengers’ facility for nearly two hours.
She knew several of the original team were pissed at Coulson, and with good reason. Years of keeping his resurrection from them definitely engendered some hard feelings. But he wasn’t even here! Security had taken away her tablet and her phone on the way in and she was bored as well as very annoyed.
A woman that Skye recognized as Maria Hill walked through the room and then paused, recognizing Skye’s SHIELD insignia. “I didn’t realize anyone was in here. Can I help you, Agent…?”
“Skye. Well, technically Agent Daisy Skye Johnson, but Skye’s the name I’ve been using forever,” Skye said, hiding her irritation by introducing herself as she got to her feet. “And I really do hope you can help me, because I’ve been stuck in here forever without any means of communication.”
Hill frowned slightly. “Really? That’s very odd. Well, I’m here now. How can I help?”
“Aside from getting my phone back, Director Coulson sent me here to meet with the Avengers.” Skye paused, trying to decide how much she ought to share. Then she shrugged, knowing that the former Deputy Director certainly had a reputation for discretion. “I’m going to be heading a new team within SHIELD, similar in theory to the Avengers while being more covert operations. But I’d rather not be butting heads with this team, so I’d like to open a line of communication between us. And yet, I’ve been stuck in this waiting room for going on two hours now.”
Hill sighed. “I’m guessing Stark’s responsible, Rogers isn’t usually impolite even when he’s angry. Come with me; we’ll straighten this out.”
“Thank you.” Skye followed Hill back down to the security desk at the entry, keeping her grin to herself when the older woman delivered a scathing dressing-down. Skye’s phone and tablet were returned to her and they returned to the office area. Hill led Skye directly into a large conference room.
Looking around the room curiously, Skye silently identified the members of the team. Romanoff and Barton were easy, as were Stark and Rogers. The former pair had extensive SHIELD files, the latter were openly famous. Likewise, she was able to identify the Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver fairly easily. Coulson had shared the reports with her from Sokovia before she left the Playground. Vision was also unmistakable. Thor was clearly absent, but she was given to understand that was common.
That just left two men; both handsome gentlemen. She knew one would be James Rhodes and the other Sam Wilson, but she wasn’t sure which was which as both were dressed casually and neither had hair long enough to be out of regulation for a military officer. Skye felt a brief pang in her heart as she noticed that one of them bore a striking resemblance to Trip.
“Really, guys, I know you’re pissed at Coulson. But there’s no excuse for leaving Agent Johnson in the waiting room for two hours without even her phone,” Hill said without even greeting the team.
“Wait, what?” Rogers got to his feet. “I thought she’d just arrived..?” He turned a glare on Tony who shrugged, only looking slightly guilty.
“My apologies, Agent Johnson,” Rogers said. “Please, join us. Are you staying as well, Maria?” he asked politely.
Hill shook her head. “No, I have other things to do.”
“Thank you, Agent Hill,” Skye said again as the other woman turned to leave.
“Not a problem.”
Skye sighed softly to herself as she moved into the room, but she kept her expression neutral and her body calm. She took a seat at the far end of the table, a few chairs separating her from the Avengers; she doubted she’d need the space, but better to be ready for an outburst. “I don’t intend to take up a lot of your team’s time, Captain Rogers,” she began politely. “But I am here because I need your cooperation.”
The man who looked so much like Trip spoke up. “We’re happy to listen, in spite of some people’s behavior,” he said with a glance at Stark.
Skye just blinked at him for a long moment, her composure forgotten in her startlement. Those were her soulmark words! “Well, I have to say that I absolutely didn’t expect to find you here,” she said back to him in a low voice. “But it’s nice to finally meet you.”
The man’s face lit up as he smiled at her, and she returned it with a soft smile.
“I’m Sam Wilson,” he introduced himself.
“The Falcon,” Skye commented with a nod. “My name is Daisy Johnson, but everyone calls me Skye.”
“Oh, that’s just lovely,” Wanda exclaimed in her softly accented voice. “We should keep this meeting short so you can get to know each other. But I do love seeing soulmates meet for the first time.”
The room went silent for a moment as everyone looked between Skye and Sam, clearly as shocked as the two in question. Then Pietro just chuckled fondly at Wanda and nodded. “We will not keep you,” he agreed. “But please, do tell us why you came.”
Skye nodded and her cool, professional demeanor returned. “As I said, I need your cooperation. SHIELD has recently encountered a group of people who call themselves Inhumans; they have certain genetic markers that cause them to transform and gain powers when exposed to a particular object of alien origin. I’m going to be leading a team of these people, primarily intended to covertly identify potential carriers of this gene and to help them in the event that their powers are triggered.”
“What does that have to do with us?” Rogers asked calmly.
“Perhaps nothing; I highly doubt that most incidents concerning the Inhumans will be Avengers level threats,” Skye responded.
“Are all Inhumans and potential Inhumans being put on the Gifted Index?” Romanoff asked, her tone politely blank. Skye couldn’t get a read on what kind of answer she was expecting, but knew that honesty was going to be the best way to deal with the question.
“Yes, but the way the Index is being handled has changed. I have access to it, as does the Director and otherwise it’s highly restricted. Many Inhumans just want to be left alone; they’re no danger to other people and some of them even use their gifts to help. While there will still be a certain degree of threat assessment, just in case, it will no longer be possible for people in general to target anyone on the Index as a threat they don’t understand.”
“I don’t believe that. Any database can be hacked,” Stark said with a shake of his head.
Skye smirked slightly. “If you really want to try, I won’t stop you. But if you do find any security gaps, please do let me know.”
“So what do you actually want from us?” Barton asked.
“Cooperation, as I said. If you encounter an Inhuman threat, I’d like to be involved. We’re building a rapport with the community, but we have no idea how widely this particular genetic marker has spread through the population. Under normal circumstances, a person could live their whole life and never know they’re Inhuman. But I think we all know that in the past few years, many things have happened with unforeseen consequences.”
“Why should the Inhumans trust you?” Rogers asked curiously.
With an enigmatic smile, Skye held up her hand and concentrated. As she manipulated the vibrations of the air in front of her, a small swirl formed above her hand. “Because I am one. I didn’t grow up in the community, the reasons for which are a very long story. But I have some friends among community members, and they do trust me.”
The Avengers looked a little surprised, but no one reacted overtly to her little demonstration. Conversation continued, questions going back and forth for a while. When the questions seemed to pause, Rogers looked around his teammates. He received a series of nods, some thoughtful and a few reluctant, and he nodded back. “Well, Agent Johnson, I believe that we can make this work out,” he said after a moment.
Skye smiled in acceptance. “I’m sure we’ll have a lot of details to iron out. If you ever have need of us, I’m sure we can find a way to work together. But now that the lines of communication are open, I don’t necessarily need to be here for that to happen.”
“Then I think we can leave the details for later and let you and Wilson have some time,” Rhodes spoke up for the first time. He stood and moved to where she sat to shake her hand. “James Rhodes; most people call me Rhodey,” he said as she stood and took his hand.
“If that’s what you prefer,” Skye said agreeably. “I’m not usually one to stand on protocol. Call me Skye.”
“Of course,” he agreed. “We’ll see you next time, Skye.” The others said their goodbyes as well; some just giving her a polite nod before leaving the room. Skye wasn’t bothered by it; she was used to May, after all.
“Well, now that it’s just us,” Sam said as he came to her side, “can I offer you a cup of coffee perhaps?” He held out a hand to her and she took it a little shyly.
“Sure, that sounds great,” she answered. She followed him to a tiny little lounge area tucked into a corner at the end of a hall. They stood quietly for a couple of minutes as they each fixed their coffee to their taste and then they sat together on a nearby sofa. They watched each other covertly for a few moments before their eyes met and they both began to laugh.
“Well, this isn’t awkward or anything,” Skye said, still laughing a little.
“Gotta say, I always knew I’d meet my soulmate someplace unusual. A team meeting certainly wasn’t what I thought, though.”
Skye nodded her agreement, still smiling. “I always kinda thought perhaps my soulmate would be with friends, and maybe someone said something insulting. I never really expected to fall victim to Stark’s ego, though,” she snickered softly.
“I’m glad it didn’t drive you away. You really are lovely, and I’d have hated to miss my chance.”
Skye blushed slightly. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss you, either.” Her smile softened into something more wistful. “Even though I’ve had a soulmark all my life, I never actually expected to find you. Life has never really been that good to me.”
“I’d like to change that, Skye,” he answered earnestly, reaching out to rest his hand over hers where it rested on the couch cushion. “I know life ain’t easy; I wouldn’t expect yours to be any different. But I’m always here for you.”
“I believe you,” she answered quietly after a moment. She turned her hand under his to lightly lace her fingers with his. “There are so many things I probably should tell you…”
“It can wait,” Sam said gently. “We can take this slow, if you want. As long as I know we have this chance, it’s enough for me.”
Skye studied his expression; she saw acceptance and hope in the depths of eyes so dark they were nearly black. “Thank you,” she whispered. She set down her mug on the table and scooted closer. Slowly, hesitantly, she leaned into his side and rested her head against his shoulder. “Slow is probably good, at least for now. Whenever I rush into things, it ends badly,” she admitted in a low tone.
“Then slow it is,” he agreed as he wrapped his arm around her.
“This feels so comfortable,” she whispered after a long moment of silence. “Even though I just met you.”
“Soulmates belong with each other,” he answered lightly. “Perhaps that’s all it is.”
She considered that for a moment, then shrugged. “That might explain why I really want to do this, then,” she said as she leaned into him. Caught his mouth in a soft kiss and sighed happily as the feeling of rightness continued.
As they parted Sam smiled again, a bright, beautiful smile that warmed Skye all the way to her toes. “Girl, you can do that anytime you want,” he said warmly as he brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.
“I’m glad,” she answered quietly. “I think that I could be very happy with you, with us…”
“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you are,” he answered just as quietly. “I promise.”