Chapter 628

Skye’s reaction had nothing to do with petty anger.

She had been genuinely terrified.

Skye hadn’t joined S.H.I.E.L.D. through the usual channels. She wasn’t a formally trained field agent, and she’d only been with the organization for a short time. Most of what she knew about fieldwork had been learned on the fly.

Then this mission had come along.

When everyone had been struggling to figure out how to infiltrate Quinn’s island, Skye had managed to obtain an invitation herself, creating an opening for the operation. That achievement had earned her an unusual opportunity: a field assignment.

Naturally, she had been a little proud of herself.

She hadn’t yet learned just how dangerous the job could be.

Ignoring Evenson’s instructions, Skye had sneaked into Quinn’s mansion alone.

She was caught almost immediately.

Even then, she hadn’t fully understood how badly things had gone. Her mind had started racing, already searching for a way out. Maybe she could bluff her way through it. Admit that S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent her, but insist she’d only cooperated with Quinn because she’d been forced to.

Then Evenson’s part of the plan kicked in.

The laser security system surrounding the island went offline.

Coulson and the others successfully slipped inside.

Quinn, meanwhile, didn’t give Skye even a chance to explain herself.

He searched her handbag and found the signal repeater disguised as a compact.

That was when Skye’s brain completely short-circuited.

How was she supposed to explain that?

Yes, I have a device that could hack your defenses, and yes, your security system just went down, but I swear I didn’t do it yet.

Even she knew how ridiculous that sounded.

By then, she was already regretting her decision to act alone. Her only hope was that Evenson, as a member of the Avengers, would come back for her.

The operation had succeeded. There should be no reason for him to sacrifice one of their own people.

Besides, this was supposed to be the part where the hero rescued the girl.

Instead, Evenson had turned on her.

He isolated her from Quinn’s men, picked her up, and threw her straight off the balcony.

That nearly scared the life out of her.

Skye’s mind had gone blank on the way down. She hit the water with absolutely no warning and didn’t even understand what had happened until she sank beneath the surface and swallowed several mouthfuls of pool water.

She thrashed her way back up and dragged herself out of the pool, legs trembling beneath her.

Thankfully, Ward arrived soon afterward and helped her back inside.

When she finally returned to the aircraft, though, nobody paid much attention to her.

The mission had entered its most dangerous phase.

Gravitonium was approaching a critical state. Fitz and Simmons were buried in calculations, trying to determine whether the situation could still be contained and, if not, how much of the island and surrounding area would be destroyed.

May wasn’t a technician, so she had a little more breathing room.

That didn’t mean she was going to comfort Skye.

May had always been strict with rookies. In her eyes, Skye had disobeyed a direct order, gone wandering into an enemy stronghold alone, and nearly compromised the mission.

Getting back alive was already fortunate.

May had seen too many reckless rookies die on their very first assignment.

Ward might have gone over to reassure her, but before he could, May called him over and tore into him instead.

He was Skye’s S.H.I.E.L.D. handler and one of her instructors. Her mistake was partly his responsibility.

So Skye was left completely on her own.

She crouched in the corner, drew her knees to her chest, and buried her face against them.

Her heart was still pounding from the delayed realization of how close she’d come to dying.

She didn’t even bother changing out of her soaked clothes.

She stayed that way until Evenson returned.

The moment she saw him stroll into the aircraft wearing that infuriatingly cheerful smile, fear turned into rage.

Skye launched herself at him like an unleashed maniac.

Whether she could actually beat him was beside the point.

She at least wanted to claw that smug smile off his face.

Unfortunately, Evenson had learned from experience.

His reflexes were now practically supernatural when it came to defensive magic.

The instant he saw something flying toward him, he instinctively activated his Void barrier.

Skye hit it headfirst.

She bounced backward and landed on the floor with a yelp.

"Ow!"

She sat there, grimacing as she clutched her bright red forehead.

Evenson winced.

"Skye, was that really necessary?"

Then he noticed that she was still soaking wet.

And pink was a light color.

Which meant the thin fabric of her outfit had become considerably less effective at concealing what was underneath.

Evenson stared for half a second.

Then, with great personal sacrifice, he looked away.

Skye caught the movement.

"Hmph."

She noticed his expression, looked down at herself, and immediately realized what he was looking at.

Her face heated up.

She quickly crossed both arms over her chest.

Her glare remained murderous.

"You threw me off a balcony!"

Her voice trembled slightly, betraying just how frightened she’d actually been.

"Were you trying to get me killed so you wouldn’t have to pay back the hundred bucks you owe me?"

"I wasn’t planning to pay it back anyway."

Now that there was nothing left to look at, Evenson turned his head away with exaggerated disappointment.

"And I knew there was a swimming pool underneath you. I saved your life, technically. So really, you can stop thanking me. Let’s call that hundred dollars settled."

"Swimming pool?"

Skye’s anger immediately returned.

She kicked him in the calf with her bare foot.

"You didn’t warn me! When you threw me over the balcony, I thought I was going to die! Then I hit the water and didn’t even realize what had happened. I almost drowned!"

"Then you should be grateful."

Evenson looked down at her.

"Following orders is one of the most basic requirements of being an agent. I specifically told you to stay put. You disobeyed, went wandering off on your own, and got caught."

His expression became stern.

"You could have compromised the entire operation. In that situation, I should have abandoned you."

He paused.

"I might even have had to kill you in front of Quinn to maintain my cover."

Skye’s expression stiffened.

"But I didn’t."

Evenson extended a hand toward her.

"I still came back for you. So if you don’t like how I rescued you, consider what would have happened if Quinn had gotten his hands on you instead."

He suddenly looked toward Ward, who was standing nearby and trying very hard not to be involved.

"Ward, why don’t you tell Skye what happens to captured female agents in all those websites you spend your evenings browsing?"

Ward turned pale.

Every eye in the aircraft seemed to land on him.

"I don’t!"

He waved his hands frantically.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never looked at anything like that."

Evenson gave him a deeply unimpressed stare.

"We’re all adults. You can be honest."

Ward’s face somehow became even greener.

Evenson sighed.

"Fine. Since he won’t tell you, look it up yourself later. Whatever the case, I’m sure the stories end badly."

Then he looked back at Skye.

"You should learn from this. You broke one of the cardinal rules of field operations and somehow survived."

Skye had calmed down by then.

She wasn’t unreasonable.

She knew she’d been the one who disobeyed orders. She knew she had no right to blame anyone else for that mistake.

That wasn’t what really bothered her.

She looked up at him.

"Couldn’t you have rescued me some other way?"

That was the part she couldn’t let go.

With Evenson’s abilities, there had to have been another option.

He could have handled Quinn’s men. He could have used a teleportation spell. He could even have carried her back to the aircraft through a demon portal.

Instead, he’d chosen the one method guaranteed to terrify her.

"There were other ways."

Evenson’s hand remained extended.

"But none of them would have made the lesson quite as memorable."

Skye stared at him.

"I’m not part of this team. I won’t be there every time you go on a mission. If I made this easy for you, you might start relying on me."

His expression turned serious.

"Next time, you could make the same mistake when I’m not around."

"And then nobody might be there to save you."

That was the reason.

If he’d wanted to rescue her cleanly, it would have been easy. Even without charging through Quinn’s forces, he could have simply carried her away through a demonic portal.

He had thrown her into the pool because he wanted the memory to stick.

He wanted her to understand exactly what disobeying orders could cost her.

It had nothing to do with wanting to see her soaked.

Absolutely nothing.

Evenson maintained the same serious expression.

Skye sighed.

"So you’re saying you did it for my own good?"

She looked into his eyes.

Evenson nodded.

The faintest smile appeared at the corner of Skye’s mouth.

She finally took his hand and let him pull her to her feet.

"Feeling better, princess?"

Evenson smiled.

"If you’re done being angry, go change your clothes. And dry your hair while you’re at it."

He glanced at her damp hair.

"Though I admit, you look pretty good like this."

Then he added, almost helpfully, "But I’m guessing you don’t feel particularly comfortable."

"Thanks for the advice."

Skye smiled sweetly.

Then she grabbed the hand he was holding.

And bit down on his wrist as hard as she could.

A moment later, she made a strangled noise.

"Mmph!"

She immediately released him, clutched her aching teeth, and ran for the back of the aircraft with tears streaming down her face.

She was actually crying.

Not because she was still frightened.

Her teeth hurt.

Evenson looked down at his wrist.

Not even a mark.

He raised a thumb toward Skye’s retreating figure.

"Demon Skin."

He sounded genuinely impressed.

"Even Habs would have trouble biting through that without chipping a tooth."

His grin widened.

"You’ve got guts, Skye."