Chapter 1

They were all sitting in the small mess hall silently eating their meager dinner. They had no information on Ward's status, whether he and Agent Hand arrived safely at the Fridge or not. Once there they would use a special encrypted line to contact the rest. But it has been almost 24 hours since they parted.

Skye was particularly silent. Between the events at the Hub and her little kiss with Ward, things seemed more confusing than ever. She just hoped that he would soon contact them to let them know that he was ok and Garrett locked up.

Coulson and May left the dinner table early, for yet another round of interogations. Coulson wanted to know the truth. And May had to tell him. Fury was gone, S.H.I.E.L.D. too. Therefore she couldn't use the lame excuse that she was under orders.

FitzSimmons played around with their "toys", while Triplett cleaned his gun.

They were all very anxious to find out more about Hydra and what it meant for S.H.I.E.L.D., what was left of course, and the world.

Only the next day in the afternoon they were contacted by Ward telling them that Garrett had escaped with help of some Hydra agents at the Fridge. Hand was dead and he barely escaped that same fate. They decided on a rendezvous location where May would pick him up and bring hin to the others. Skye wanted to go too, only Coulson said she had work to do. He would go with May alone. Not wanting to upset Coulson, especially after everything that has happened, she agreed and returned to her laptop.

Meanwhile, Garrett walked Ward through the plan one last time before they had to part ways. For now at least. Trusting his specialist will do a great job infiltrating once more Coulson's team to get first hand intel on what S.H.I.E.L.D. is planning, he gives Ward one last piece of advise.

"Get closer to the girl. The hacker. She would be an solid asset for us. And if she doesn't want to join us, well you know what to do", said Garrett, with a grin on his face.

Ward nodded and left. On his way to the rendezvous point he thought of what Garrett said. He was a specialist and he swore allegiance to Hydra. Well technically he swore it to Garrett, who was his SO and knows him best. But still. Although he knew they were all just an assignment, he couldn't help himself feeling certain things. Especially for the young hacker. She was that one thing no one had anticipated. She was an anomaly. He wondered if he could do it. If she refused joining Hydra. And suddenly the image of her lying more dead than alive on the cellar floor in Quinn's house made his blood boil. He clenched his fists and swore that one day he will kill Quinn for what he did. Before he even understood this rage he realized that he wouldn't be able to do it. Not anymore. Lorelei was right. He did desire another woman before her. Not May, but Skye. She had a strange magnetism to her that scared Ward a little. What if she made him forget what his mission was? What if... Before finishing his thought the Bus appeared in front of him.

The cargo door opened and he slipped inside. On top of the stairs was Coulson, waiting for him. He made a small gesture to signal that he wanted Ward to follow him. Ward climbed the stairs and followed Coulson to his office. He sat down on chair in front of Coulson's desk and waited for the team leader to speak. But he just sat across from him and stared in silence.

"Are the others all right?", Ward asked.

"Yes."

"Where are we heading?"

"An unregistered S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility."

Ward just gave a quit "uh" and kept silent. He felt a hole in his stomach. Strangely he would add. He wasn't the nervous type. He was the one that kept it together, when all hell broke loose. He couldn't understand it. He waited for Coulson to start talking.

"I know."

Ward was surprised. Did this man really know? Know that he was part of Hydra? That he was send to spy on them or even kill them, if necessary? Ward kept silent.

"If you hurt her, I will hurt you. Do you understand?"

Ward didn't understand at first. But then it dawned on him. Coulson wasn't talking about Hydra. He was talking about Skye. So he knew.

"Yes."

"She is a good kid, that had suffered enough already. One day, when I know you will fully understand you will find out. But for now you are dismissed."

Ward left Coulson's office and headed towrads his bunk. On his way there he passed Skye's. He went in and sat down on her bed. Everything in there smelled like her. A warm feeling spread throughout his body. What was it that Coulson said. One day he will find out? Find out what? Something about Skye?

He leaned back and fell on Skye's pillow. Before he knew it he was fast asleep.