"It was the Rising tide."

Skye's eyes widen at the name and she immediately looks at Coulson who's looking at her questioningly. The others look confused about their behavior, they all heard about the group before. Ward already a few cases involving the hackers and the rest found out about them in connection to Mike Peterson's case. But the look Coulson is giving Skye right now seems pretty suspicious.

"It wasn't me I swear, AC. I swear, I…" Before she can finish Coulson interrupts her.

"I know, Skye. You left them a long time ago and I know that. I just wanted to ask you if you would be able to trace the hack." He says.

Both are oblivious to the glances exchanged between the others.

"Oh, right. Well, I can try but these guys are good." She says as she starts typing. She's so focused she misses the frown on Ward's, the curiousness on Jemma's or the unreadable expression on May's face. Fitz is just as surprised as everyone else. That much can be told from his blank face.

"Ok, we've got our origin. Austin, Texas." Skye says after a few seconds.

"You got a name?"

"Just a café our hacker worked out of but I'm in the system. I'm gonna check to see if any credit card charges from that mach any known hackers." She keeps typing for about two seconds when a name pops up at the table. A name she knows very well.

She looks up at the big screen and a photo pops up. "It's… Miles Lydon."

"Do you know him?" May asks. But before Skye can answer, Fitz speaks up excitedly and is almost certain she saw May roll her eyes at the interruption.

"I would think every hacker in the world knows him."

"And not just the hacker world. He infiltrated the Kremlin." Simmons supplies.

"Yeah, the picture of a Putin shirtless on a horse back, that was his hack."

"It was also his hack that got Chan kidnapped." Ward says. He's still eyeing Skye suspiciously. Something is not right here.

"Do you know him, Skye?" May asks again this time making sure it's clear who the question is for.

Skye slowly nods, not looking anyone in the eye. "Yeah, he's the one who brought me in. But he's a pacifist. I never thought he would be capable of something like this."

"Find him and fast." Coulson says looking at Skye and Fitzsimmons. All three nod.

"May, change course for Austin." He says but May is already typing something on a tablet.

"Done."

The two scientists go down to the lab while the hacker remains standing at the control panel. Coulson leaves and heads for his office closely followed by Ward and May heads back to the cockpit after a few seconds of staring intently at the young woman who tried very hard not to look at her.

Skye keeps typing, determined to find Miles and to proof to Coulson and the team she's not with the Tide anymore. She knows there will be questions sooner than later and she's going to have to answer them, or let Coulson answer them. Normally she wouldn't but when she accepted the offer to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. she did it with the intention to stick around, to find a place to belong. And you can't belong somewhere you're not trusted.

Finally after about ten minutes Skye finds who she's looking for. She knew Miles for over two years and that knowledge helped her a lot. She found camera footage and followed him through the streets of Austin until she found him entering an apartment. After making sure she has found the right place she heads to Coulson's office to let him know.

When she's nearly there she lifts her hand to knock before entering but stops abruptly. The door is slightly opened and she can hear voices from inside.

"Sir, with all due respect, how can you know she's not with them anymore?" She hears Ward say. What the hell?

"Agent Ward, I've known Skye for a long time. She was out of that world even before she met me and I trust her. If you have a problem with my decision of Skye being here then it's just too bad, because she's not going anywhere."

"A long time? Twenty years is a long time not three. How do you know you can trust her?"

Skye stiffens at the words. What if Coulson listens to him? What if he won't trust me anymore. I don't have anyone else, he can't not trust me. No, he can't. If AC won't trust me than no one will. Her breathing starts to come quickly, she can feel panic rising.

But as quickly as it came, Skye feels it disappear again when she hears the next words leaving Coulson's mouth

"Agent Ward, that is enough! Know you don't like this but it is not up to you. It is my responsibility and my decision and I say that Skye can be trusted and therefore she's staying and there's nothing you can do about it. Now go down to the lab and tell Fitzsimmons to give whatever equipment they came up with."

When Skye hears footsteps getting closer to the door she quickly knocks and opens the door trying to play it off as if she just got there.

"Oh sorry, am I interrupting anything?" she asks, acting innocent and as far as she can tell Ward didn't notice anything but one look at Coulson tells her he didn't buy it. Damn, he knows me so well.

"No, everything's fine."

Coulson stands from behind his desk and motions for Ward to leave the room. The Agent hesitates, his suspicious eyes linger on Skye for a moment longer, but eventually he nods quickly and leaves as instructed.

"So, did you find anything?" he asks.

"Um, yeah. I hacked the camera feed in the area around the café, and I found out where he lives. I checked the address and it fits."

Coulson nods and pushes a button on the intercom. "May, Skye found him. How much time till we land in Austin?"

Mays serious voice comes from the speaker. "We're twenty five minutes out."

Coulson looks back at Skye. "Ok, let's get ready."

The young woman nods and turns to head out of the office.

"And Skye?" she turns around with her hand on the handle. "I do trust you." He says firmly while looking her right in the eye to make sure she knows he means it. And she does. She nods with a small smile and leaves.

"I want Skye to go in."

They're all standing in the command center watching on the big screen as Miles sits in the interrogation room. But at his words, all heads, except for May, snap up to look at Coulson in shock and confusion.

"What?" Skye asks while Ward starts to protest at the same time.

"But sir…"

"Stop right there, both of you. You are going in there Skye, because you know him. You know the way he thinks and you can get him to tell us what we need to know. Right now we are on the clock and we need to make sure we don't lose any more time."

Everyone stays quiet this time, while Skye and Coulson are staring at each other. Finally she nods curtly and heads for the interrogation room. "Yes sir."

As she's walking past Coulson, he stops by touching her arm. "You'll be fine Skye, you have all the information we found, you have good instincts but most importantly, you know who you're dealing with. Use that."

Miles looks up when she enters the room and Skye can't help but smirk at the look of surprise on his face.

"Skye? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to ask you some questions." She says simply.

"So you are with S.H.I.E.L.D. now? You joined the organization that does everything we stand for?" he asks incredulously.

"You stand for, Miles. I never shared your interests. Now, let's talk business. Who did you sent that information to?"

"What are you…"

"Don't play dumb, Miles. We have your bank records. We know about the checks, so you can stop pretending."

"How have you been, Skye?" he asks ignoring her question.

"We're not here to bond again or talk about the old times or whatever you thing this is!" she says loudly, to gain his attention. She drops her hands on the table and leans closer to the man. "We're here because the information you sold gave some really bad guys what they needed and allowed them to kidnap a guy. An innocent man might die for money, Miles. So stop wasting precious time and help yourself but telling me right now, who did you sell the information?"

"I…I didn't know, I swear Skye." Miles stutters.

"And what did you think would happen, Miles? No one with good intentions would pay that much money for information. Now talk!"

In the command center May and Coulson are standing next to each other, arms folded on their chests, silently watching. As soon as Mr. Lydon starts talking and giving them useful information Coulson smiles proudly.

"She's good." May says, her voice betraying nothing.

Coulson nods. "She learned from the best." He turns to look at May, sees her raising her eyebrow at him and chuckles. "From what I've seen so far, everything she used, Maria and I also used on her when we interrogated her three years ago."

"So by 'the best' you meant Maria, right?" then they catch a piece of the conversation on the screen.

"It was harmless. Some ecological research on insects."

"Insects?"

"Yeah, some study with centipedes. What can be more innocent than that?"

Coulson is on his way to give Miles the bracelet when he runs in to Skye in the hallway.

"Hay, AC. Can we talk for a minute once you're done?"

Coulson frouns, not sure if he'll like what is to come or not. "Sure, wait for me in my office? It'll be only a minute."

She nods and goes up the stairs while he continues on his way to tag the dog.

When he enters his office Skye is sitting on a chair in front of his desk.

"So, am I going to hate what you're about to say?" he asks, making her chuckle.

"No, at least I think you're not, since it's regarding that offer you gave me a few years ago."

Coulson stays silent in shock but finally shakes his head to gain control again. "Wow, I didn't expect that. I would have thought you would ask once you got here. Why now?"

"Well, I needed to know this, me being here, will last, you know? And after what happened yesterday with Ward… I don't want anyone to think I'm not taking this seriously." She finishes quickly before Coulson can interrupt.

"You know I know you are, right?" he asks to which Skye only nods with a smile. "So, who? You can pick. It's your lucky day." He smirks.

"May, if that's ok. I mean if she's ok with it."

"Do you want me to ask her?"

"No, that's ok." She looks at the ancient clock on the leader's desk. "We have ten more minutes before take-off so I'll go talk to her now." She says and at his conforming nod leaves the room.

Skye knocks at the door of the cockpit and enters. It's silent, but of course it's only May in there. The pilot is sitting in the pilot chair just staring out of the windshield.

"Agent May, can I talk to you for a sec?" no reaction, only a slight tilt of the head to the right, signaling she heard her. Then she lifts a hand, motioning to the co-pilot's chair.

Skye sits down and turns to the older woman.

"Um, well about two years ago, AC made me an offer to become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and I refused. I wasn't ready and I didn't fully trust him at the time. But that changed and now I want to contribute to the missions and to the agency more than just with my hacking skills. I talked to AC and I was wondering… if maybe you would be willing to train me. Be my S.O."

May doesn't even move. She doesn't look at Skye, doesn't answer and Skye feel her shoulders sag. Right why should things change?

"Ok, sorry to bother you." She gets up and quickly heads for the door when May's quiet voice stops her.

"Tomorrow, five a.m. in your workout clothes in the cargo bay. Don't be late."