So... I've been saying I'll do this and just don't. Here it is! I'm finally letting out all my feels concerning the freaking Civil War! Just to make things clear straight out. I'm Team Iron Man all the way! Yes, I know that, ever so slowly it's being shown that the Accords are not a good thing, people are abusing it, innocent are dying, CA is right... again. Well, maybe, that doesn't mean Tony is wrong though. The Accords may not be perfect, may not be what was really necessary. The heroes still need accountability, civilians still deserve to feel (relatively) safe in their own homes. To believe their lives matter. And if Rogers had had the mind and the empathy to consider that, things would never have gotten as badly as they did.

Like I said, this is my way of venting. Because I just know that Infinity War will not give us the closure we deserve. CA will be the hero all over again, and somehow Tony turns out to be the villain. That's not right. So, here goes!

Also, because Skye is absolutely awesome and I really, really wanted a fic where she got to be the one to put the so-called Avengers in their place. Also, it was an excuse to write more Skyeward, which I absolutely love. The IronTaser... it's the first time I write it, but I do love it too. Hope you like it.

WARNING: The story technically begins at the end of CW, which is almost the end of S3 of AoS. However, because certain things have happened. Quite a few things are not like in canon. Most of S1 and S2 in AoS is canon compliant, except for things that will became quite obvious very fast. Only the very basics of S3 ever happened.

P.S. Second part is coming next week!

Genisys

By: Lalaith Quetzalli

Skye knows what it's like to keep secret, to lead a double-life; she doesn't like it, but she does it when it's necessary. She lives the lie, to protect the truth. Until someone threatens to destroy that truth she so zealously protects… nothing and no one will be able to stop her then. She will keep her family safe.

Part 1

Things seemed so good just this morning. Not perfect, of course not, but then nothing in our lives can ever be considered truly perfect. That's alright though, we have our lives and we've managed to take yet another bastard down in protection of the world, every day that goes like that is a good day in my book.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Growing up, I didn't dream of being a superhero, or a soldier, or an agent… I wasn't the kind of kid that would play at being Captain America, or even Agent Peggy Carter. I was just… me. All I ever really dreamed about was finding myself and, perhaps, if I was very lucky, finding myself in the process. Didn't quite turn out the way I planned. But that's alright, I've discovered that life not being what you expected, planned or even dreamed of isn't necessary a bad thing… sometimes it can even be better.

Like in this moment, Sitting in a room in one of the Playground's sub-levels. It's my domain and mine only. Aside from AC no one can enter unless I allow them to. It's my workplace as well as my sanctuary. Most people will not go in, even if I'd let them, apparently the decoration tends to drive them crazy… decoration being the two walls covered in monitors: one devoted to SHIELD facilities around the world, the other cycling through camera feeds and satellite feeds we've access to, all around the world. The third wall, the one where my work station actually is, has a giant screen I can transfer the feed from any of the others to, if I ever need it. I also have three screens connected to my work-computer: one where JOCASTA, my AI is always running, the other two for whatever I may be working on at the moment. Aside from that there's the laptop I work on when I'm out of my domain, and the tablet which I carry everywhere though I only really use it to supervise long hacks, and in case something comes up and I have no time to either get to my station or even get my laptop (and on missions, where it's easier to use the tablet than a laptop). All of it is top-of-the-line tech, the kind that isn't available on the market, not even Stark Tech… then again, it might be, in a few years.

Life has been good to us lately, so much a part of me is already bracing for whatever disaster is probably going to fall into our laps any time soon. Ever since the last of HYDRA fell, we've all been holding our breaths one way or another. It's not like we didn't think we'd won before, and turned out to be wrong. Of course, considering who was on the ground for things this time, I know no one could have done a better job. Much as some of the others might not like it, might not like him just yet.

There's just one thought that still worries me. Are we SHIELD still? Is there even a SHIELD anymore? With the president refusing to sanction the agency, and the mess that the Sokovia Accords seem to be turning into. I know not everyone agrees with them, and I also realize that even if I'm willing to sign myself, that doesn't mean others should be forced into it, I may be an Agent of SHIELD, and a Secret Warrior, but I also feel responsible for my fellow inhumans, many of them had no interest in fighting, all they want is to have normal, peaceful lives, and they have a right to that. I wish I could give them the safety and security they crave but I cannot; all I can do for now is be their voice, try as hard as I can to make sure that the Accords will not turn into nightmare some fear they will be, that we will not become prey to those who may not understand us, might fear and possibly even hate us. Also, the mess Captain America is creating in Europe is so not helping!

JOCASTA has kept me aware of every new development. (I might even have some footage I really shouldn't… I'm keeping it, just in case). The fight in that German airport… I know it's going to cause us way too much trouble. I'm also worried about Col. Rhodes, even hacking into the hospital's systems has given me nothing except that he was transferred to the best hospital in NY while still inside the suit (as some believed it might be bracing him, preventing his spine from snapping completely), there he underwent surgery, was still in that. I put an alert so I'll know the moment he's out.

The part that worries me the most though, is that Tony appears to have gone missing. I got an alert when he headed to the Raft to see the Avengers who were arrested, and to argue about the illegality of Secretary Ross's actions on that front. He left the Raft soon enough, and then he went completely off radar!

The Raft is a problem, we all know that. According to the plan I was supposed to step into the spotlight as an Inhuman and the leader of a group of superheroes. The first thing we were going to publicly oppose was that prison. It was even more nightmare inducing than Guantanamo! I was willing to put myself out there in order to fight for my people's safety, and for every gifted. Of course, the Vienna bombing, followed by Captain America going completely off the rails was so not in our plans. It's made it so I no longer know what I'm supposed to do. The way Ross has taken control of things, abusing his authority, it's not good. We always knew he'd try, and there were measures in place to handle it, handle him; but no one is going to take our side when even Captain-Bloody-America is giving them reason to fear us! It's bad enough when bad things happen, when we cause bad things to happen accidentally, like me in Puerto Rico, and Scarlet Witch in Lagos… but what he's doing, he's doing it on purpose. He's killed people! How is the world supposed to see us as the good guys when he goes and does something like that!

Yes, what Ross is doing is criminal, but that's on Ross, not on the Accords. Rogers isn't helping us, he's just making things worse! And I'm beginning to really worry that something might have happened to Tony…

JOCASTA's alarm, what I call her cybernetic cry doesn't make things any better; in fact, it makes them worse.

"Tell me!" I yell, turning my whole attention to her screen.

"FRIDAY says the Maker is in danger." JOCASTA's voice, usually so solemn and full of poise (and with a bit of a Scottish accent) sounded very off in that moment. "He… something's happened to his suit. There's no power. FRIDAY cannot get in contact with him..."

JOCASTA is still talking but I'm not paying attention anymore.

"There's an emergency." I call into one of the private frequencies on my comm. "We need a quinjet and we need to be off five minutes ago. I'll explain when we're on the air."

He doesn't question, says nothing except an affirmation and I know he'll have everything ready by the time I get there.

I briefly considered going on my own, or perhaps only with one or two of them, but according to what JOCASTA is showing on her screen, Tony's last location in a former-HYDRA bunker in Syberia, and he went there seeking to help Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes deal with a potential threat: five more Winter Soldiers. There's no confirmation of what exactly he found there, and I don't like the options. Either the soldiers were awakened and there's a battle going on, three men against five super-soldiers; the battle is finished, and the wrong people won (or the right people won, but not without casualties) or… I don't even want to keep thinking in possible worst case scenarios, there's too much I don't know, too many variables I don't have. I cannot really make a plan without those, but neither can I wait for the information to be available. It may already be too late by then.

I arrange for AC to get a report of what I'm doing, it'll be delayed just long enough to be sure he will not try to talk me out of it. Or join me… either wouldn't be a good option, not right now. Not with Talbot dropping by whenever the mood strikes him. He's already being a pain in the ass regarding my Secret Warriors, we don't need to give him more reason to make life hard for us. I know what I risk going off myself, as does he, and we're willing to risk it.

I don't even stop when I reach the hangar, going straight into the first quinjet, with the open bay. I know a few people aren't going to like what I'm doing, but I'm technically on my right. I even submitted a report to the Director, so I'm not doing anything illegal, technically. It's one of the perks of being Deputy-Director of SHIELD… even if most of the world doesn't know it.

He's sitting behind the controls of the quinjet and gets us off the ground the moment I finish buckling up.

"So…?" He asks eventually. "Where to?"

"Siberia." I answer simply.

"What's the situation?" He knows for the moment it's all professional, the moment will come to talk more personally.

"Following the confrontation in the German Airport earlier today, that ended with the arrest of most of the rebellious Avengers, and the disappearance of Captain Rogers and the Winter Soldier, Tony Stark went to see his former teammates at Ross's prison, called the Raft. He left minutes later and was supposed to be en-route to Germany, except he didn't go there. Instead he went into stealth mode and flew to Siberia, to meet with Rogers and Barnes, supposedly to help deal with a threat to the world, in the form of five more Winter Soldiers." She summarized. "According to JOCASTA, something happened to Tony's suit, FRIDAY lost contact with him less than thirty minutes ago, and she didn't receive any input over the last hour, so we don't really know what happened to him exactly. Other than it's bad."

"We'll get to Siberia in five hours, might get it down to four if I really push it." He announces as he makes arrangements.

"Push it." I know he's already expecting me to say that, and preparing accordingly. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

"As the boss says." He drawls, chuckling when I slap him in the arm.

"Grant!" I cannot help it, I'm laughing.

Many people don't understand. How we can be friends, and more than that even. After everything he did to us: being HYDRA, my abduction, dropping FitzSimmons into the ocean. Most don't understand. Even Jemma and Leo, who've managed to forgive him completely, they don't fully understand. And that's okay, we knew it wouldn't be easy, but that doesn't change the fact that I love him, as he does me, and we always will.

At first I was angry, so very angry. I spat and hissed at him, insulting him in every way I could think of. Not just during my brief abduction, but also afterwards. Once we got to the Playground. Ward had made it very clear that he'd only answer questions made by me, and I agreed to do it, though that didn't stop me from treating him as badly as I could get away with. Until the day I told him the world would be a better place without him in it. And he tried to kill himself.

I was so shocked by that. As I watched Trip and (unwillingly) Simmons work on saving his life. I didn't realize the exact moment I began whispering, but when I did, the exact words shocked me:

"Don't die, don't die, please don't die..."

The biggest surprise was that it wasn't my guilt talking, no, I genuinely wanted him to leave.

The first time I walked back into Vault D after that day I was hesitant, had no idea what to say at all. Ward just looked at me:

"Why save me?" He asked. "You want me dead, so why?"

For the first time I noticed the sadness, the hopelessness in his voice. Like a man who was already more dead than alive.

"I don't want you dead." I admitted after what seemed like forever. "I'm sorry I..." I wasn't sure what made me be sincere with him, but it just felt right. "I'm afraid, so terribly afraid, all the time. And I hate it. When I come here, with you, it's easy to pretend I'm angry rather than scared. To almost convince myself that I do the things I do out of my own choice, and that I know what I'm doing."

"You know it's okay to be afraid, right?"

"Not when so much depends on us."

"I'm still here. I know you cannot trust me now Skye. But I'm still here. I've done bad, terrible things, I know. And I know nothing I ever say or do can possibly change the past. But if you believe nothing else, believe this, I will always be here for you."

After that I began going to Vault D more often, and not always to 'interrogate' him. Sometimes just to chat, or even just to sit there, working on my laptop, or doing nothing at all. Nobody but AC knew about it, not even May, and he said nothing.

I didn't plan on bringing the matter of FitzSimmons up, and certainly didn't expect what he had to say about it:

"It was the only way to save them!" He yelled that day. "Garrett, Peterson, they'd have killed them on the spot. And expected me to do the same. Getting them away, it was all I could do to give them a chance."

"They almost drowned…" I hissed, unable to help myself.

It was so terrible, seeing Fitz as he was in that moment, and the way Simmons kept trying so hard to help him, unable to help herself meanwhile.

"It was supposed to float!" Ward practically screamed. "It was an emergency medical module! I read through every piece of paperwork on the thing when I joined the team, to plan for any possible emergency. The altitude was still low enough, and there was good weather, the thing was supposed to float!"

That was what made FitzSimmons forgive him, eventually.

What I didn't expect, was when AC decided to Grant over to his brother: Senator Christian Ward. The same bastard who had bullied and abused Grant as a child, who'd almost killed his youngest brother: Thomas. Who was, in many ways, the main reason Grant had had such a shitty life. I made my choice before I fully realized I was doing it.

I waited until Phil had turned his attention away. Dressed fully in black, face-mask in place, I slipped behind Grant, using morse code to tap the message against his back: "5 men – 3 back – 2 front – all armed". Then I slipped a piece of paper into the back-pocket of his pants, making sure he felt me putting it in.

Two hours later we got the news of the escape, I made sure to turn and leave immediately, letting them believe I was angry at the escape, and making sure they didn't seem me, didn't have a reason to suspect I'd had anything to do with it.

Got a call from Grant three days later:

"How do you know Tony Stark?!" He demanded with a mix of disbelief and almost-anger. "And what's more important: how did I not know that?"

"There's a lot about me you don't know Grant." I revealed, softly. "Who knows? I might tell you my story one day."

"I'd like that." He made a pause before adding. "Thank you Skye..."

I didn't reply, thankfully he wasn't expecting me to. He must have known how hard it must have been for me to do it, and still I had.

"Also, hell of a code." He added. "Genisys is Skynet, what the hell is that supposed to mean? Of course I remember the stupid movie you made me watch, but why choose that exact phrase as a confirmation code?"

I laughed, not really answering. We had to cut our conversation short anyway, so as not to run the risk of someone tapping in, while they wouldn't be able to track him, it was better if we didn't took any unnecessary risks. So I just promised to stay safe and made him promise the same, and that we'd be in touch, then I hung up.

Even in the present, I'm not sure Grant fully understands what's so important about that phrase. The way it connects to Tony and I… maybe one day I'll tell him that story.

The ringing of the quinjet comm interrupts my thoughts and, after a moment's hesitation, I flip the switch to answer it. I know who will be on the other end of the line and can only curse, he got to the message faster than I expected.

"Johnson!" We both hear AC's yell through the headsets.

I wince, he only uses that surname either when we're doing something very formal in a public setting, or when he's angry.

"You didn't even tell him?!" My pilot asks in complete disbelief.

"At least you had the good sense to take him." Phil snaps grumpily, though his mood makes a serious 180 just a moment later. "Skye..."

Just like only calls me Johnson when he's angry, he only calls me by my old-name (which has become more of a nickname since I legally became Daisy Johnson) when he's being emotional, or deep, or both.

"I'll make sure he's alright." I assure AC wholeheartedly. "I promise you AC."

"I believe you." He lets out a sigh. "I'll make sure to keep Talbot off your backs just… stay safe, both of you and… and bring Tony back."

We can both hear the 'please' even without him saying it.

"We will." We answer in unison.

The trip to Siberia will be somewhat long, so I decide to take a nap, trusting Grant will wake me up when we get there, or if there's some kind of emergency (I am also relatively confident that if he so much as tenses at a something I'll become aware of it, even asleep, and wake up… I'm that in tune with him and his vibrations).

As I get comfortable for my nap I cannot help but look back at the way things have changed, for Grant, for me, for all of us…

"Why did you do it?"

I always knew that, sooner or later AC would find out about my connection to Grant's escape. We managed to keep that, and our somewhat regular phone-calls a secret longer than I, than either of us ever expected. Even when we met, once, in secret, after my terrigenesis (before the team found out and became hyper-vigilant around me); it was until Gordon took me from the Retreat and AC and Fitz sought Ward out to get his help with finding him (according to AC, they found him too easily, as if he'd just been waiting for a signal). We still didn't get the chance to talk about it until after the mess in Afterlife was over. Agent Palamas was gone, deciding she was no longer interested in being an agent; I even arranged everything for a new identity for her, she was Karen Teresa Wilson (the surname was in fact Grant's gram's surname, she was using it with his permission, the two considered each other siblings… I am really happy that Grant has someone like her on his corner, even if they're so far apart). So, with Kara gone, Grant was inside a locked office (AC had, surprisingly at the time, decided not to lock him up again) waiting on the Director to decide his fate. I couldn't understand why AC insisted on talking to me before doing anything, and then he said that.

"You know what I could never understand?" I asked him softly. "Why a man who's usually so keen on second chances, who gave me an opportunity even when I betrayed him and the team, wouldn't give Grant his?"

"It's not the same thing Skye." He shook his head.

"No, it's not. He betrayed you for a man he considered his savior, the only real family he'd ever had. I betrayed you all for a guy I slept with twice, who meant nothing for me at all! At least his choice can be understood."

"His choice got people killed!"

"So did mine! Chan Ho Yin died! And all those working on him. And what about what happened in San Juan? My choices have gotten people killed too, so why do I get a second chance and not him? Why is he any less worthy than I am?"

AC didn't reply to that, though his choice to release Grant just an hour later was telling enough. For months things went mostly to what they'd been like in the past year, except that the team knew that the two of us kept in contact, and whenever Grant had a tip he wanted me to pass on, I did so directly, without having to make-up a false origin and trail. Then we discovered that HYDRA wasn't quite gone just yet.

When AC first suggested that Grant go deep undercover and bring down what was left of HYDRA from the inside I first thought he was taking the whole 'redemption shtick' too far. Never actually believed he was just trying to get rid of him, it really wasn't his style. Grant, unsurprisingly, immediately agreed.

It all eventually came down to a showdown where he, Fitz and Simmons almost got killed, and the breaking of a terrigen crystal, one of the few that hadn't dissolved into the sea (causing us a lot of trouble with an Inhuman outbreak, but at least no deaths) and weren't secured inside a top secret Vault (the kind only AC and I, using our biometrics in sync could access). It would have killed FitzSimmons, if Grant hadn't shielded them with his own body. Taking the mist straight on. It didn't kill him… as it happened, he was inhuman himself.

It wasn't so bad, his training helped Grant a lot, as did the other inhumans with us. Soon enough Grant had taken the codename Hellfire, and he was second in command of my Secret Warriors (Lincoln, codenamed Shock, used to have that position, but he was happy enough sticking to the background and serving as our medic). Alisha (Replica), Elena (Yo-Yo) and Joey (Mason) were the other members of the team.

I manage to sleep most of the flight, waking up just as Grant begins the descent.

"You picking up on anything from here?" He asks as we head to the bay doors.

We are wearing our tactical clothes, and like those the rest of my Warriors wear, they're tailor made for us, not just so they fit us like a glove, but made of materials that protect us best, while allowing us to use our abilities to our full potential. Which means Grant's was completely fire-proof, Lincoln's made of something similar enough to rubber to avoid any backlash from his energy; mine includes gauntlets of a special alloy that help better direct my powers, and absorbs the excess so I won't injure myself, as has happened in the past; Joey's has nothing vital made of metal, but does have a lot of things put into it, so in case of an emergency he can pull on some of that metal and use it; Elena's and Alisha's are made of tough material that can bend easily but still be protective.

I close my eyes, diving into my gift, picking up on every single vibration around me. It takes me a little while to be able to separate the kind of vibrations that signal inanimate things (like stones, the earth, buildings, etc.), animals, plants, and finally people.

"There's only one person here…" I begin, only catching up with what that means exactly after the words are out of my mouth. "Tony!"

Grant is right behind me as I run straight into the dark facility. The suits are made of the kind of material that keeps us warm without the need for heavy jackets. He pulls out an emergency flash-light, but I don't really need it, guiding myself through the darkened halls by the vibrations alone. I sense him before I actually see him.

"TONY!"

The moment I lay eyes on him, I cannot help the deja vú. Not for him directly but… I can still remember seeing AC after the battle in the Iliad. I was hurting so much, not just physically, but at the fact that my own mother just tried to kill me, and then I saw AC, with a torn shirt tied tight against his arm… and he was missing a hand. The pain (not just his physical pain, but my own emotional one at seeing him like that, missing a limb and with a look of such loss in his eyes), it hit me so hard I lost my footing.

"Tony!" I cry out again. "Hold on, we're getting you out of here."

The suit isn't working, and it's clear to us both the why (the hole in the suit and the broken arc reactor are pretty big clues). Tony is unconscious and his skin is pale, his lips beginning to turn blue. I'm extremely worried about him, but much as I might want to get him out of that metal death-trap, I still remember Col. Rhodes, so instead I get Grant to help me carry him back to the quinjet as fast as we can.

"Where now?" He asks me once we're ready to go.

"New York." I decide immediately. "Tony will never forgive us if we take him to any hospital. I'll get in touch with Pepper, make sure they're as ready as they can be for him."

"Ok." Grant nods immediately. "Get ready. Wheels up in three."

I make sure the Iron Man suit is secure before sitting on the closest seat and strapping in. As I wait there I can only look at the unconscious Tony, wondering just how long he'd have stayed in that bunker if we hadn't arrived? Would he have been alive by the time anyone found him? Would he have been found at all? I'm so afraid of the possible answers I don't really want to think about them.

My history with Tony Stark is complicated. I'm quite aware that when I was younger people would look at me, at the way I talked about heroes, and especially Tony Stark, and think I was nothing more than a fangirl, a 'sweaty cosplay girl' as Grant called me once. But most people wouldn't be able to conceive the fact that I know Tony, have known him for a long time.

Tony and I first met (kind of, considering that it wasn't in person, not then and not for a few years) when I was nineteen (I was actually twenty, but didn't know that at the time). I had been part of the Rising Tide for a few months, since Miles pulled me in. I knew he didn't expect much from me, I was good with a computer and a decent (if still new) hacker, and they wanted many people. I didn't like that he saw me as nothing more than a filler, and someone he could bed whenever he wanted (there was a reason I did not have sex with him again after the second time); so I decided I needed to do something, hack someone or something important.

There was a rumor among the Tide members that Stark had sold the explosives responsible for the car-bomb that had blown half a market in some Middle-Eastern country, leaving more than a dozen dead, children among those. Stane and Stark had both officially denied any and all involvement, but in some circles the rumors persisted. I decided to be the one to find proof, one way or another, once and for all.

Hacking Stark was easier said that done, but I'd been expecting that already (if it were easy anyone would have done it… also, if it were easy, it wouldn't be fun!). I managed to get further than anyone in history (that much I was told), and then I came across something I wasn't expecting. Almost like a person, except it, he, was entirely made of code. It was how I met JARVIS for the first time.

Even after my first failure I did not give up. I kept trying, kept meeting JARVIS. The first two times I 'ran' as soon as I came across him. But by the third I'd become intrigued, and was also fairly confident that there wasn't some men in black waiting to make me disappear if I stayed online too long. So I began chatting with him. Every so often making the attempt to get past him. By the sixth time my attempts weren't serious anymore; also, I'd realized that JARVIS wasn't a person blocking me, but an actual hones-to-god AI. It went beyond anything I ever imagined possible. I also realized that I could have hacked him, might have even succeeded; but it just didn't seem right. JARVIS was… he might not have been a person by the usual definition of the word, but he was real enough, and I couldn't do that to him. So instead I just told him why I did the things I did, wished him luck, thanked him for all our chats, and retreated.

The next day there was an e-mail in my account, from one I'd never before seen. It was a message directly from Tony Stark, thanking me for my respect for JARVIS and asking if I'd interested in working for him… I thought he was insane, or maybe I was.

I never did take him up on his offer for a job, but I didn't regret it. Back then I was still young, an idealist, believing that the Rising Tide was somehow going to change the world. While I didn't take the job, Tony (he'd gone from Stark to Tony at some point, though I didn't really realize when it happened exactly) managed to goad me into trying to infiltrate several of his properties, as well as the SI mainframe several times. I never managed to get into his homes, but I did get into the SI mainframe once. My reward? A custom-built laptop, the very best (though most people who looked at it would think I'd gotten it out of a trashcan or something). He made sure to leave nothing that might indicate he'd built it, nothing to call attention to it, to lessen the chances that it would be stolen for me. It also had enough security to guarantee no one would ever be able to hack with it, but me. It was amazing (I also loved making the joke about hacking things with a laptop won on a bet, knowing no one would ever be able to imagine what the laptop could do, and why exactly).

It was JARVIS who informed me, on February of 2009, when Tony went missing in Afghanistan. I was absolutely distraught, wanting to help yet having no idea what to do. I hacked everything and everyone I could think of. Using most of the tricks Tony had taught me during the months we'd known each other, and even some of the dirty tricks I'd learned with the Rising Tide. Almost accidentally I came across a few things on the under-the-table deals I'd been looking up before. I was no longer interested on that, sure that if such a thing was going on, Tony couldn't know. So I just passed it on to a contact of mine in the press, hoping she would be able to do something with it, while I instead focus on doing my best to try and find something about Tony.

It was then that I met Rhodes, though, again, not in person. The first couple of times I got tips, I sent them to JARVIS, but eventually he got me in touch with the Colonel, believing I could be of more help then. I was afraid of a military man knowing what I was capable of, even if he didn't know my true name (even if I technically didn't exist by that point, my truest test as a 'real hacker' had been to erase every single thing about Mary Sue Poots, the name I'd had in St. Agnes, I wasn't that person anymore, had never really been her; legally speaking, I didn't exist anymore); in the end he chose, to trust me, for whatever the reason.

It was about that time that I realized Tony wasn't just an acquaintance anymore, he was a friend, and a very dear one too. Miles didn't like me spending so much time on 'personal projects'; he wanted me to use my hacking skills on what he chose. It was also then that I realized he would never be the kind of man I wanted in my life, and that I was nothing more than a tool and a good lay for him. So I packed my bag, got in my used-van (I'd bought it second hand, looked quite beat-up on the outside but worked great, which meant no one was really interested in stealing it, but still gave me no trouble).

In the end I didn't have much to do with finding Tony. Also, during my last hacking I apparently hit someone who decided they didn't like it, and suddenly I was pretty much running for my life. Which was why, when Tony was finally there, I wasn't around, of for the mess that followed. I finally managed to get my pursuers arrested and made my way to Malibu a couple of days after Iron Man's big reveal.

"You're insane, you know?" I commented, as I walked right into his workshop. "I mean, yeah, I knew that already. But I knew you were insane in the I-make-things-go-boom way… though, I suppose, you're still doing that..."

"How did you get in?"

It was until that moment that I noticed he wasn't alone. His driver/bodyguard, Mr. Happy Hogan was there, and looking at me oddly, probably wondering if I was Tony's latest lay… the mere thought made me shudder inside.

"Jarv let me in." I answered simply with a bright smile.

"There's only one person who calls JARVIS that..." Tony began, then his smile got wicked. "Skye! My favorite gal!"

"Hey..." I couldn't help but turn shy, no one, ever, had looked so happy to see me, it made something inside me hurt, even as it healed the same hurt, all at the same time. "So… you're a superhero now?"

"Not at all." He answered, dead serious. "I'm just making sure people no longer used my inventions to hurt others."

Tony really wasn't the kind to call himself a hero, no matter what he did, I learned that in due time. Even when he deserved it, he kept believing that whatever good he might do would never outdo the bad he'd done (if only ever indirectly). He tried to convince me to stay, but I just wasn't ready. After leaving Miles I just had grown used to going here and there, I'd begun to like it. Also, while he probably wouldn't have opposed my hacking, might have even helped me, I liked the satisfaction I got from doing things on my own.

So I left Malibu soon enough, though I kept in touch. When Tony began behaving erratically again a little over six months later I had no idea what was going on. Was planning on going to Malibu to see him in person when the whole world seemed to go nuts around me. I'd been in Virginia, planning to meet with a contact, one of the best hackers in the world, the only one who'd ever refused to join the Rising Tide. The meeting was to take place in Culver University (I suspected my hacker-friend might be either a student or a professor there). And then there was suddenly a huge green… thing, and military blowing up shit!

I took off immediately, deciding I wasn't going to stay for anyone, not even for the presumed Queen of Hackers! Couldn't really go south, as I'd heard more than a few rumors that something was going on in New Mexico; so instead I made my way north. And then the same green creature along with another darker, much more violent one destroyed half of Harlem! It's not like I was anywhere near that, but still. I had no idea where to go at all.

I spent nearly a week being absolutely petrified, when I got a message from JARVIS. Tony was looking for me. I'd missed several calls and he was worrying I might have been in the middle of one the recent messes. He went as far as sending his private plane for me when I told him where I was exactly. Soon enough I was en-route to California again.

When I got to Stark mansion, Tony again wasn't alone. Thought it wasn't, as I was expecting, Miss Potts with him (she was apparently very busy taking control of SI). No, it was a man in a dark-gray suit and tie, looking so completely innocuous, like nothing more than a paper-pusher; I knew, at my core, that he was more. And it wasn't just the way he looked at me, like trying to learn everything about me through a single look; there was just something in the way his stood, walked, talk, in his very aura, that screamed at me that he was a lot more than he seemed. That was the first time I saw Phil Coulson.

Once again Grant beginning our descent snaps me out of my memories. We're about to land at the Avengers Compound in Northern New York. There's people waiting for us, just as planned. I have no doubt that if AC isn't there already he'll arrive soon, I sent him a message as soon as we had Tony and told him exactly where we were going.

Thankfully, the quinjet is well-equipped. While we don't exactly have an infirmary, and we could not do much even with our well-equipped first-aid kit. We have a foldable stretcher, made of a material that can handle even the Iron Man suit. Vision joins us and between him and Grant (who didn't just gain control over fire, but also a healing-factor, endurance and strength through his terrigenesis) they can carry Iron Man out, with me walking fast at their side.

Miss Potts (soon to be Mrs. Hogan), Happy, Col. Rhodes and Dr. Cho are all waiting for us at the entrance to the facility. I can also sense two, maybe three more people hanging back, probably ready to attack in case we prove to be untrustworthy.

"Who are you?" Miss Potts is the one to ask the question in the end.

There are so many ways I can answer that, and have it be true. I could say Daisy Johnson, that's the name I was born, and it's as legal as it can be, even; I could say Skye, because that's still the name I chose, regarding of any changes and new revelations; Quake is who I am with my Secret Warriors… but I know, there is one name Pepper, and most of those before me in that moment will understand better, and it's still very much a part of me:

"I'm Genisys."

xXx

Six hours later I'm still sitting on a chair outside of the facility's infirmary, almost lazily typing at the projected keyboard on my lap. Grant's in my room (and boy were some of those present shocked when learning I had a room!), sleeping; but I slept enough during the flights to and from Siberia, can't sleep anymore. So I wait for Cho or someone to give me news on Tony, while doing some work on my tablet.

AC gave my team a few days off to chill, before getting into Lola and driving to NY. By now May surely knows something is going on, she might even have an idea as to what, but she doesn't know just how tightly connected Tony, Phil and I are… there are things that connected that we've never told anyone about. Though at least some of them are likely to come out sooner rather than later. That's fine with me, I'm sure it's also fine with Phil, or he wouldn't have flown Lola all the way to north NY; as for Tony… he can decide how much to say of his part on his own time. We're still not leaving him. We made that mistake once, not doing it again!

"Genisys?" It's Rhodes who approaches me, on a wheelchair.

I've no doubt that, the moment he's up, Tony will be working on something to help him. I'm already pulling everything there already exists to help paraplegic people, so he might have a starting point, once he's ready.

"You're Skye, aren't you?" He presses a bit.

"That's me." I smile, turning my attention completely to him. "Col. Rhodes."

"Rhodey is fine." He assures me. "It's what all of Tony's friends call me."

"Skye, Genisys, either is fine on my end." I say in return.

"I've always wanted to ask, why Genisys?"

"Ever watched Terminator 5, Rhodey?" My smile is mischievous as I say that.

Rhodey just rolls his eyes, and that's pretty much the end of the conversation, at least for the time being. That's what we always tell people. That it's all about the movie. The code-phrase we chose, the whole 'Genisys is Skynet' even supports that theory. But then again, most people are not used to looking behind, and certainly not in the way he and I do. Always looking for what may be underneath the underneath, and even deeper yet.

During my first few conversations with JARVIS, before Tony became part of the equation, I once asked him if he was like Skynet of the Terminator movies, or like Jane in the Ender's Game books (I read those in St. Agnes, one of the nuns loved those books, and she'd let me borrow them whenever I was around; they were one of the few constants in my life). As it happened, he was neither, but had some characteristics from both, and a lot more. Apparently Tony found out about that particular conversation, for he took to teasing me with quotes and comments about those two. Then the latest movie came out…

Tony knows what I can do, and my greatest creation. It's almost an AI, almost but not quite, because I'm not ready to make it that, because I'm afraid that she might become dangerous, and because I like what I can do with her thus far. The way I can join with the program, and it's as if I suddenly became part of the web. It's just coding, in the end, but still. It's the true reason why Tony calls me Genisys. Because I'm Genisys, and I'm the potential to be more, like Skynet (but hopefully better). Genisys is who I am when I work in conjunction with that program. Maybe one day I'll finish it, make her a proper AI… if I do I certainly know what her name will be.

Cho finally exits the infirmary then. Tony is alive. Though it's a miracle, and it required 'extreme' measures. I know exactly what that means, though I can tell that Rhodey doesn't, so I just nod at Cho and say nothing about it. I know that, while officially Tony Stark found a way to 'cure' Extremis, that wasn't true at all. As FitzSimmons found out with Centipede, Extremis cannot be cured; it's genetic modification, and there's no turning back the clock on something like that. So, he didn't cure it, he stabilized it (which means that, unknown to most of the world, Miss Potts is a veritable superhero nowadays!).

I know he's been toying with the code in Extremis, considering using it in himself. Especially when he had that surgery to extract the shrapnel; but in the end he didn't, not wanting to worry Pepper (whom he was dating at the time). After seeing his state in Siberia I'm not surprised at all that he needed something like that to survive. I wonder what some will say when they find out… I certainly will always be on his side, and I'm sure so will Phil… always.

Knowing the danger was past, at least for the time being, I allowed myself to turn my whole attention to my coding. With a touch, the projected keyboard changed, into one that was nothing like most people would expect, even programmers. It was the keyboard I used when going into Genisys-mode, to allow me to connect better with the program, hack better and faster. Tony promised to create a better interface for me, one that might be able to sort-of read my thoughts, like they used for the high-end prosthesis. I was in no hurry.

And so, making sure that, even if something went wrong, no one would be able to track me, I slipped through all kind of firewalls, before taking over a very specific screen, on the other side of the world. Sending out my message:

"Greetings Your Majesty:" I knew my voice sounded robotic, that was on purpose. "Fear not, I have no ill-will against your people, or even against you. Even a good man can make a mistake, as you'll soon realize." With a quick command I send him the video-feed Grant recovered from Siberia, making it play on the screen with no sound as I keep talking. "Captain America is a great legend, but Steve Rogers… he's just a man, and not a very good one, as I'm sure you can see. If you ask him, he'll give you a dozen reasons for doing the things he's done, and they will all be summarized into a single one: Sgt. Barnes. He waged a war on the Avengers, and to a lesser degree, on the world, for a single man. He might have made it seem like it was about the Accords, but it was never about that. It was always about his friend. Now, I value loyalty as much as anyone else. What I don't value is someone destroying cities, destroying lives to protect one man who, had things been done as they were supposed to, would have never been in danger in the first place!" I take a deep breath, making myself focus. "Your father was a good man, your Majesty. I had a lot of respect for him. He knew the Accords weren't perfect, that there would be mistakes, but he believed those mistakes could be corrected. That all of us together, we could make things work right, for everyone. Do you believe that too? Do you believe in accountability, in answering for our choices, our actions? Or are you another who believes the 'best hands are his own', like Rogers does?"

"Are you threatening me miss?" He demands.

I'm not surprised he knows I'm a woman, that's telling enough in my voice, even robotic as it is. I also know that, whoever he might have on his end, they haven't managed to so much as catch a trace of me just yet. Still, I'm running out of time if I want to get out without them being able to track me back, or worse, catch me in place.

"Not at all." I respond right away. "Like I said before, I've nothing against you and your people. I do have a bone to pick on with those who dare hurt those I care for, though. The ex-Avengers you currently harbor, they're not the victims in this story. Mislead or not, they betrayed a man who gave them everything: food, drink, clothes, technology, who opened his home to them… they betrayed him without a second thought. And lets not go into what Steve Rogers did!"

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing, at least not right now. When the time comes you'll release the ex-Avengers into UN custody. Not because I tell you to, but because you know it's the right thing to do. And once you look at recent events from all points of view, I'm sure you'll realize it. No, this communication is not about threatening, or making demands. It's about showing you what you might be missing. It's about making sure you don't buy into what the press say, what most of the world believes. Reality is much more complex than anyone's version of a story will tell us." In the screen I know the image is Tony as Grant and I found him, unconscious and seemingly dead. "Keep yourself and your people safe, Your Majesty. We wouldn't want you to be the next one to end up wounded and left for dead somewhere."

"Is Stark alright?"

"He will be, eventually. Thanks to those who truly care about him; his real friends… his family."

"Like you."

I don't answer, I gotta get back, my time is running out. And I'm sure he knows that.

"Who are you?" He asks finally. "What can I call you?"

"You can call me Genisys, your Majesty. And we'll be in touch."

With one more command I slip back. King T'Challa's computer screen, all the way in Wakanda, going back to what it had been showing before I hacked in. I take the long way around. Making sure to lose whatever electronic tracking they might be trying to use on me, erasing my virtual footprints, and laying fake ones as necessary. Then, once I'm completely sure I'm safe, I let go of the program, returning to reality.

So, that was just the groundwork. One day I'll make the traitors pay, we all will. Because Tony Stark is family, and we always protect family.

I know there are a lot of flashbacks, but it was the way things worked out this time. Hope that's alright with you.

I don't have anything against T'Challa. I like him, only, I think he doesn't reason things too much sometimes. Then again, like I said before, canon will make CA a hero (almost a martyr) so he'll end up okay. In this... he deserved to have someone set him straight. Make him see that he's made the wrong choice and why.

Like I said before, second half coming next week. Please don't forget to review. I'm dying to know what you all think!