"What the hell is that?" Skye demanded as Ward placed a strange looking device onto the loading door of the 'bus.
"It's an EMP, designed to alter the trajectory of RPG's, torpedoes and regular gunfire." Ward told her, pressing the button to activate it and pushing Skye out of the door into the jet.
"Why? Why not just blow us up?"
"Contrary to popular belief Skye I do not want you dead. Any of you. If I had I would have shot you already."
"So why take me?"
"I'm just keeping my promise." Ward told her, forcing her to sit down on one of the benches weither side of the jet and tying her there, more for his own safety than hers.
"What promise?"
"The one where he said he would take you to your father." Raina told her.
Skye's head snapped back to look at Ward, who gracefully slid into the pilot seat and disengaged the jet from the 'bus.
"Why plant that device. Any attack on the 'bus will be traced back to you." Skye told his back.
"I may have let the 'bus go unscathed Skye, but when Whitehall finds out he will order it to be shot out of the air."
"What?"
"I told you. That device is to divert the pathway of anything they fire towards it."
"Won't you get into trouble for that?" Raina asked him
"Probably, but I'll just smile and apologise." Ward replied, shooting her his winning smile.
Skye felt disgusted. After everything Ward had said to her, here he was, flirting with Raina in front of her.
"So what's the plan now? You just going to keep me tied up and deliver me like a sack of potatoes to my father?"
"No. I'll untie you when I can be sure you won't try and stab me." Ward told her.
Skye was a little shocked by his response.
"All Hydra Agents. This is Whitehall. I want you to take down that heap of tin and everyone left in it. And if you see Ward, I want his head."
"That's not good." Raina said, looking to see how Ward would react to this hit being placed on his head.
To her surprise, Ward remained impassive.
"I think that means it's time for us to go." He said, flicking a couple of switches and sending the jet into supersonic flight mode.
He knew he couldn't use it for long, but he knew it would be enough to get away from the others and he would be long gone before they could even catch him.
Skye started hyperventilating as she wondered what would become of her friends on board the 'bus. Tears started pouring down her face.
"I think we're safe now." Ward said, pressing the autopilot button and getting up to release Skye.
The second her hands were free she launched a punch at him, connecting hard with his nose and making it bleed.
"Don't make me tie you up again." He warned. "They'll be fine."
"If they aren't I swear to God I will kill you." She screamed through her tears.
Ward didn't say anything, but leaving Skye untied he dabbed at his nose with his sleeve and returned to his seat.
"Where are we headed?" Raina asked him.
"We were meant to be returning to HYDRA HQ, but I don't see that happening now there's a hit on my head. So we're going to lay low."
"How do you plan on removing this tracker?"
"Like this," Ward said, gripping Raina by the arm and dragging her into the back of the plane.
He got the defibrillator out of its box and turned it on. He placed one paddle on Raina's hip and the other on her knee. When it had reached the required output Ward pressed the button and zapped Raina with electricity to neutralise the tracker in her leg.
"All good."
Skye watched this interaction with interest. While Ward was being the evil sadistic creep she had learned to loathe, there was something else there that she couldn't quite put her finger on. He definitely wasn't the same person he was when she last saw him.
He silently went back to the controls and adjusted their flight plan to throw off anyone tracking the chip.
"Are you excited? You are finally going to meet your father!" Raina asked Skye.
"Excited to meet the lunatic murderer who tried, and very nearly succeeded to kill my friends? I can't wait." She replied, her answer dripping with sarcasm.
Skye couldn't take her eyes off Ward, something which Raina made a mental note of.
"We should be safe here for the night. You two can take the bed." Ward told them, leading them into a motel room and waving at the double bed.
He walked straight past the bed and into the bathroom. He made sure the window couldn't open and all sharp objects had been removed before going back into the main room and settling himself in the comfy chair. He took his gun out of its holster and placed it on the table in front of him.
"You two should get some sleep." He repeated.
"How do I know you won't kill me in the night?" Skye asked nervously.
"I'm sure if Agent Ward wanted you dead he would have killed you already. It's not like he hasn't had the chance to." Raina told her, unzipping her dress and sliding into the bed.
Shooting a look at Ward, Skye also climbed into the bed, but elected to remain fully clothed.
Ward remained awake in the chair, thinking about what their next move should be. He needed to get in touch with Skye's father, but with HYDRA now hunting him it would be difficult to make contact.
As he felt his eyes starting to droop, Ward took his gun, removed the bullets and proceeded to clean it with the small, pocket sized kit he always carried on him.
When his gun was clean, he went back to brooding over their current predicament.