A/N: I think I must have re-written chunks of this one about a dozen times, and threw out quite a bit of it. I dunno, I can't say I feel so great about how it turned out. GO EASY ON ME.

Agent Coulson stared at the data in front of him, utterly baffled. It was time to find help. He needed computer expertise and fast, so he left his office to find Skye.

He located her sitting in the lounge, singing quietly along with her earphones. A large shank of rope lay in her lap and coiled at her feet, her fingers running nimbly along its length.

"What are you doing?" he asked after watching her for several moments.

Skye looked up with a slight smile and pulled her earphones down. "Oh, hey, AC! I'm tying knots. I had no idea SHIELD agents knew how to party like this, phew!"

"Tying knots?"

"Yeah. My darling SO is preparing me for the day when I might have to rappel down a cliff wall under cover of darkness to hack a mountainside terminal. Or something. I'm supposed to alternate clove hitches, bowlines and figure eights along sixty meters of rope. SIXTY METERS."

"Those are good knots to know, Skye."

"Do you think so? I told him that he just liked it when I was knotty… so he gave me another thirty meters of rope as punishment. He made me put Prusiks in that one," she complained.

Coulson picked up the smaller bundle of rope and examined the knots she had completed. "Hmmm. I don't know this one."

"Ward said it's great for attaching things to the rope with, and you can also climb up the rope with it. Lemme tell you… I know more now about rope than I ever wanted to…. kernmantles and filaments and minter mules, bleah!"

Coulson looked at her blankly. "It sounds like Agent Ward is one hell of a CO."

"I'll be SHIELD's only certified black-ops hacker. HackOps! Oooo can I get a shirt that says that?"

He laughed. "Speaking of hack ops, I need your expertise."

"Sure thing, AC… anything to escape knot duty. Lemme put this stuff away and I'll meet you in the comm room."

"Actually, Skye," he said hesitantly, glancing around the lounge. "Head to my office. This is something personal."

An hour or so later, Agent Grant Ward was on the hunt for his missing rookie. He'd expected to find her in the lounge or her bunk, and while he located the rope he had given her tidily tucked away in the latter, she was missing.

He figured he should check in with Coulson, maybe their team leader knew where she was. He was poised to knock on the office door when he overheard his junior agent.

"…. so really, it's up to you, but chaining is a huge pain in the ass," Skye was saying.

"Is fish chaining any easier?" Coulson asked. Agent Ward frowned in confusion and leaned into the door.

"Meh," his rookie replied. Ward imagined her shrugging. "Some people say so…. honestly I think the Matsuda Method is your best bet. You're a busy guy."

"I really appreciate your help, Skye," said Coulson. "I was looking at all these wikis and my head was spinning…."

The door to Coulson's office opened suddenly and unexpectedly, catching Ward with his ear almost pressed up against it. He stumbled inwards, falling into a warm wall of jasmine and chestnut hair.

"Heeeeeey," his rookie grinned at him as she caught him. "It's the master spy at work!"

Grant tried to maintain a dour look but failed, he was rather embarrassed and Skye's face was positively beaming. Damn, she was stunning. "I've been looking all over for you," he chastised her. "Aren't you supposed to be working on your knots?"

Agent Coulson stood up from his desk, his brow furrowed. "It's fine, Agent Ward. I asked for Skye's assistance on a… erm… classified matter. I excused her temporarily."

Skye's eyebrows waggled. "You worried that I'd skipped out on your rope assignment, Robot?"

Ward gave her a flat stare. Internally, he was desperately wishing she could be less adorable when she was in trouble.

"I don't blame you," she teased him. "I'm a knot-orious delinquent."

Ward and Coulson groaned simultaneously. "Okay, okay, I can't handle any more of this," Agent Coulson waved at her. "Shoosh. Out. Dismissed. Begone!"

Skye chuckled evilly all the way back down the stairs, with Agent Ward following.

"The rope is in my bunk," Skye told him, heading to her quarters. "I finished the Prusiks if you want to inspect them."

Ward nodded and continued behind her. "Sure, let's see it."

She opened the sliding door to her little cabin and they both sat down on her bunk. She pulled the shanks of rope out and hefted them into her SO's lap with a satisfied grunt.

Agent Ward nodded in appreciation. "These aren't bad at all, Skye. You could climb up a wall using a rope and a couple of Prusiks, you know."

"Uhhh yes, that's what my vigorous and able supervising officer tells me!"

Ward rolled his eyes. "Okay then, genius. Which of these knots would you use to tie someone up?"

"Excuse me?"

He held back a smirk. "If you're in a situation where you need to restrain someone, and you have your rope, which knot would be best?"

"I'd shoot him with the night-night gun," Skye suggested. "And run like hell."

"That wasn't one of your options," he chided her, quickly pulling several of the knots from her rope and handing it to her. "Let's see it. Tie me up."

Skye's eyes went wide, then mischievous. "Are you serious?" she exclaimed.

This time, Ward's smirk made it through. "I guarantee that there is nothing you can do with that rope that I can't get out of."

"Oh, reeeeally?" she responded gleefully. "Are you willing to wager something on that, Agent Ward? Maybe… a week with no chin-ups?"

He chuckled. "Too easy. You've got a deal. I win, and the chin-ups double."

She stared at the rope for several moments before she gave him a devious look. "Lie down," she commanded, making his pulse skip a beat against his will.

He shifted on her bed, stretching himself out comfortably. Skye began to move around him, humming contentedly to herself as she wound the rope across his body. He initially watched in amusement, but as he tested the bonds she was creating at his hands and ankles, his good humour faded.

Skye grinned at him as she climbed up onto the bed and straddled his body. "Have you ever heard of a shamrock truss, Agent Ward?" she asked innocently, pushing the rope under his torso.

"What…?! No! Why have you?" he exclaimed, now filled with genuine concern.

"What about a… Philadelphia? A fisherman's bend? A Japanese crown…?"

He eyed his rookie suspiciously. "You're making those up," he said, his heart starting to pound as she threaded the rope back and forth.

Her eyes twinkled dangerously and she reached out and slid her door shut. "I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea," she murmured throatily. "This is a purely educational exercise, of course."

"Of course," Ward coughed, squirming slightly under her thighs. He looked around rather nervously, scared to meet her huge doe eyes. She cackled.

A few minutes passed in silence, although Grant started to worry that Skye could actually hear his hammering pulse. Eventually she sat back with a satisfied look. "Done. Give it your best shot, Tiger."

He shifted awkwardly, his gaze travelling over the myriad of intricate knots and loops covering his body. Skye watched proudly as he twisted, testing each binding. Finally, after quite a while, he sighed in defeat.

"Wooohooo!" Skye cheered, clapping like a school girl. "Take that, chin-ups!"

Ward's head hung dejectedly. "How in the hell, Skye…..?"

"Let's just say that one of us here spent time as a BDSM forum moderator, and it obviously was not you." She began untying Ward's knots. "So I guess that addresses your previous scenario of whether I could handle tying someone up in a pinch….."

Ward caught her hands as soon as his were free. "Show me this one," he said, looking at his wrists, his voice unexpectedly gruff.

She raised an eyebrow and blushed under his gaze. "Oh… okay. This is a Texas Ranger Handcuff, you loop it like this…." she demonstrated the knot. "Then you just put the loops over their hands, and pull the loose ends…." she trailed off as she realized his eyes had gone very dark and he was no longer looking at the rope.

"Skye," he whispered, and it send a shiver down her spine.

"What?" she murmured back, slowly continuing to uncoil the rope from his body.

"Look at me," he demanded. He reached out and slowly ran a finger down her cheek, brushing it across her lips, making her tremble.

She tried to meet his gaze unperturbed, but her pupils were blown wide and her lips and cheeks were flushed. "I…. I can't," she stuttered. "We can't, Ward. I read every protocol guide… it's not allowed."

Ward exhaled deeply. "I know," he answered sadly. "I know, I know. I… uhh…. I… just wanted you to know. To think about it."

Skye found herself holding her breath. "Think about what?"

He managed to look shy. "Breaking the rules," he whispered, swallowing hard. He stood suddenly and cleared his throat, the remainder of Skye's rope sliding off his body. They both stared at it as it pooled at his feet.

"Right," Skye exhaled. "Breaking the rules. I'm actually pretty good at that."

Ward chuckled softly. "Yeah, I noticed. I'd… um… I'd better go."

"Yeah. I'll finish my knots, I guess. Gotta find something to do with my spare time, now that I don't have chin-ups for the next week…"

He paused and gave her a sly look before stepping out into the main cabin. "Bring your knots to my quarters when you're done," he smirked. "I have a new challenge for you, double or nothing."

"You're on, Tiger. SO on."