Final Sacrifice
Author's Note: So this is a bit of AU for some of Ward's history and the finale; the timeline was dragged out for a couple days instead of the "hours" that the last episodes of the season portrayed. It was a new idea that popped into my head to explore. Garrett was never injected with the serum in this story. Reviews welcome. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Mistaken
"Skye…"
She glanced up from her laptop, the bags under eyes forming. She had been monitoring the HYDRA base computers around the world after having a Trojan horse successfully plugged into an underground Cybertek facility. It's been a long couple days with little to no sleep for everyone on the team, and Skye was no exception.
"I think before you continue with your Trojan monitoring, there's something you should see," Coulson solemnly said. His demeanor, one that was just of pure determination and anger at first towards HYDRA, Ward, and Garrett, had changed dramatically.
Skye knew Coulson long enough that if he's adamant about something, you better listen. Coulson just handed her one tiny flash drive and nodded before walking away to his new office at Providence base. Curiously, she halted her monitoring exercises and plugged in the flash drive.
And introductory screen read "Welcome to Project G.A.R.R.E.T.T."
There was only one folder on the drive, named "Untitled". Clicking the folder hesitantly, a swarm of pictures, spreadsheets, and video files flooded the screen. She quirked her brow and clicked on the first file, and gasped.
It was Grant Ward's juvenile detention mug shot from fifteen years ago. Next file was surveillance feed from the center. The image quality was a bit fuzzy, but the audio was clear.
(video feed #1)
"I'm here to make you a onetime offer, so listen up," the voice of John Garrett sounded. "Your family's lawyer is going to be here in about 20 minutes. Not only are your folks pressing charges against you for arson and attempted murder, but your older brother petitioning the court to have you tried as an adult. Now, you can spend the next few years locked up in the cage blaming mommy and daddy and mean older brother for your problems, or…"
Junior Grant Ward looked up.
"…You can let me get you out of here and teach you how to be a man," Garrett finished. He dipped his head lower towards the younger Ward, whispering, "I work for a secret organization who's always looking to recruit young men like you."
Junior Ward smirked. "Why should I trust you?"
Garrett answered, obviously impressed, "You shouldn't. Don't trust anyone, ever, especially me. (pause) Let me be clear: going with me will be the hardest thing you've ever done, but on the other hand, no one will ever screw with you again."
Junior Ward fidgeted, obviously torn in his position. Garrett continued to challenge him. "Say yes; it'll hard, but it will be fun. Ten seconds and I'll walk out that door."
As the agonizing seconds wound down, junior Ward finally responded, "Yes."
At that instant, the doors burst open with guards and agents aiming their weapons high. "Don't move!"
All hell breaks loose, and Junior Ward could be scene frightfully ducking, as Garrett just sits back with his coffee.
(end video feed #1)
So that's how they met, Skye thought. He wasn't lying when he told me about his family…but that still doesn't excuse what he's done.
She continued to comb through the files, her eyes finally trekking to a file named "Status Schedule".
A spreadsheet of dates starting from 1998 began appearing. Pictures and other surveillance feeds—how did Coulson even get this information—popped up all over the screen.
October 1998: Grant Ward recruited from Massachusetts Juvenile Hall
November 1998: Grant Ward's 5 year training begins: destination, Wyoming (100 km from Wasatch-Cache National Forest)
The list went on and on. Skye uncomfortably shook her head as the list descended.
March 2003: Grant Ward's introduction to HYDRA. No prior knowledge of what HYDRA nor SHIELD apparent. Enrolled in SHIELD academy beginning June.
June 2004: Loyalty to J. Garrett questioned. Therefore, Grant Ward's younger brother Elliot captured by Project G.A.R.R.E.T.T. No existing knowledge of brother's whereabouts prior (told to Grant Ward as a fatal car accident). Grant Ward has no other family except J. Garrett and HYDRA. Begin Loyalty Training.
Skye sat straight up. Elliot was…captured? He's alive? She fingered through more of the files and the associated links to documents in the drive. It appeared that Ward had tried to find his younger brother when he first enrolled in the SHIELD academy, which quavered his loyalty to Garrett and his plans. So Garrett eliminated him—or rather, made Ward thought that Elliot was dead. He once again drove into Ward's mind that SHIELD didn't care, no one else cared – only he, Garrett cared. And that was enough to sway Ward to indefinitely follow him.
She continued to read and found that next date of interest.
March 20, 2013: Grant Ward assigned to infiltrate Coulson's new team. Team members consist of Melinda May, Phil Coulson, Leopold Fitz, and Jemma Simmons.
April 2013: Ward reports that a new non-SHIELD consultant joins the group. Name: Skye, no last name.
The list started getting longer. Each point, there was her name associated with it.
Unwittingly saves Skye from Malta mission….
Begins training Skye with combat…
Takes Skye out for first hangout….
Skye almost succeeds to deflecting G. W. from mission to take down Calvary – Dublin, Ireland
Skye snorts. Of course. May was part of the mission, she thought bitterly, before resuming a beginning of understanding. But…he seriously was considering talking to me that night…and if wasn't the mission…
.
.
.
September 2013: Second time that Grant Ward deflects his loyalty. Munich, Switzerland. Skye was ordered shot and in critical condition. Threatened J. Garrett with leaving HYDRA/J. Garrett if Skye was to be ever hurt again. Project G.A.R.R.E.T.T. resumes with Loyalty Training, promising to eliminate Skye if he doesn't stay. Grant Ward continues his role in HYDRA.
Tears welled up in Skye's eyes as she quickly brushes them off. Another glimpse of the man she knew.
Most of all, she gasped as she approached the last lines of the status report.
Termination Date: December 1, 2014
Reason for Termination: Project compromise via personal emotional attachments
Method of Termination: Firearm
Mode of Termination Communicated: His reward for service to Project G.A.R.R.E.T.T.
Oh my god, she thought.
They were going to execute Ward! As soon as his term of service was over, they were going to shoot him! Garrett captured his brother, to completely cover his tracks and make sure that he was sure that Garrett was his only family.
THAT'S why Coulson was so—changed, she thought, feeling her empathy rising. He was just a pawn fooled into thinking that he had a debt to pay. Garrett rescued him, yes, but lying to him about his brother? His family? Just to create the perfect soldier? He was misguided for so long…and punished for disobeying him….
Someday…someday you'll understand… came Ward's voice in her head.
I understand—you thought of him as your only family, Ward, Skye thought. You owed him. He made you believe that with him, you could be yourself and find a family. But this type of psychological torture?
She knew how much remorse he felt with his little brother, knowing that he "died" without ever seeing him again, and how much he loved him; the hope that he's alive…?
More peeks of the man she had fallen for had to view in her mind. He wasn't the specialist who trained her, protected her, and cared for her. He was a broken man who was misguided, mistreated, and sought light through their one-on-one conversations with each other. She wonders if it was only those times that only and she talked were the times that he was being real with her…and himself.
[My feelings]…they're real, Skye…they've always have been…
Skye was barely containing a mixture of sadness and anger within herself by the time she finished. After combing through several more files, she made herself take several deep breaths and hurried off to find Coulson. There's something she needed to get off her chest.