It had been almost a month since Coulson had decided that Skye's bracelet was no longer necessary, but that day had been their first mission with her back in the field. The team were investigating an asset that may or may not have been bulletproof, when things got a little dicey.

Intel said that they were holding the captive in an underground testing facility, but there was supposed to be very little security as no one was supposed to know that SIREN Corp had captured the asset. Skye was just supposed to be the get away driver but then Ward had come under fire.

With May still back at the bus, it was up to Skye to stage an extraction.

Luckily it was night and there was the cover of darkness to cloak her entrance. Unluckily they had lost comm contact with Grant as soon as he got below ground, meaning she had no idea where to start looking for him.

After three wrong turns and two near brushes with security, she finally saw Grant down the next hallway fighting three guys. He was backed into a corner which was odd because she knew he wouldn't usually let that happen, but then she saw the little girl cowering behind him.

Skye was trying to figure out how to help, when Grant took a hay-maker to the temple and it looked like he was going to go down. Without thinking she called down the hall distracting the muscle heads long enough for Grant to regain himself, and take down the biggest one.

"You get the women," commanded one of the others.

One on one, each SHIELD agent dispatched their opponent with ease. Skye had a mental note to thank Ward and Coulson for insisting that her time without technology be used for physical training.

"We have to get out of here Ward, what's with the girl?" Skye asked as he made his way to her position.

"I told you to stay in the damn van, Skye," he growled. "The girl is the shield."

"What?"

"Can we talk about this when we get back to the van!?" he ground out.

"I came from this way," Skye switched gears back to mission mode. "I think if we are quiet we can get out without any more problems."

"Hear that Lucy, you stay with my friend Miss Skye, and be super quiet, and we are going to get you out of here." Grant had gotten down on one knee to whisper to the girl who was clutching him like he was the only life raft in the entire ocean. He untangled her arms and handed her off to Skye before taking the lead.

They ducked into a small alcove as two more armed men ran by, but right as they were almost out of sight Lucy sneezed and the men turned and opened fire on their position.

"I only have one clip left," Grant said. "I am going to draw their fire, and while they are distracted I want you to get her out of here."

"Ward, you are crazy if you think I am leaving you here to complete this suicide mission." She kept her voice low and whispered, trying not to scare the girl, who was already shaking in her arms.

"Skye you are going to wait here until I draw their fire, and then you are going to take Lucy, get in the van, and never look back. That's an order." He returned with a level of finality that was not reflected in his eyes. He knew it was a suicide mission, but at least Skye would get out and now that she had Lucy, he could live with dying today.

She wanted to argue, but there was nothing to be said, the sound of gun fire was getting closer and the guards would be on them soon if they maintained this position. She gave him one last look that tried to communicate everything that was racing around her head, and he nodded before dashing off into the fray.

The gun fire went on for what seemed like forever, but finally she heard him yelling, "Go Skye, get her out of here."

For once Skye didn't hesitate, she just clutched the kid and ran for her life. She could hear someone behind her, and she prayed that it was Grant but she knew better than to stop to check.

When the van came into sight, she was so relieved that she nearly missed the man coming out of the darkness, gun in hand. She turned just in time for the bullet hit her instead of Lucy. Before the man could get another shot off, Grant has caught up to them and put a short end to him.

Then he pushed both girls into the van before anyone else decided to shoot at them.

"Where are the keys?" He asked in a panic. He had been able to neutralize one of the men from the hall way but the other was still chasing them. Skye winced as she pulled the keys out of her shirt and tossed them in his direction.

Grant fumbled but got the car moving, only then noticing the blood on his hand and the keys. "Is everyone okay?" he asked, his eyes on the road.

"Miss Skye is bleed..." Lucy answered, but before she could finish, Skye cut her off.

"It's nothing, Ward, a flesh wound really. Let's just focus on getting back to the bus."

Ward gave her a sideways glance, but she seemed alright, so he did as she said.

"I think I am going to go in the back and try to contact the team, let them know we are coming." Skye said after a few minutes. She couldn't believe how bad her shoulder hurt, but she remembered when Grant had been shot in Peru. If he could tough it out, so could she. She buckled Lucy into the back jump seat and started trying to fix the comm system.

Ward was feeling pretty good about today, an hour ago he had thought it was his last day on earth, but now they were almost back to the bus, and everything seemed to have worked out. He was feeling pretty darn lucky until Lucy interrupted his thoughts.

"Um, Mr. Grant, are we going to be there soon? I think Miss Skye is asleep, she hasn't moved in a little while."

Ward tried to keep calm, she might have fallen asleep. It was possible after all, they had been on this mission nearly 48 hours now.

"Skye!" he yelled, eyes not leaving the road, but his speed increasing as the neared their destination when there was no answer. "Lucy, can you give her a shake? She... she is a hard sleeper."

"It's not working." Lucy called.

"It's okay, Luce, don't worry, she is just sleepy." Ward replied. They were finally at the airstrip, but he didn't stop until the van was in the cargo bay next to Lola.

In a matter of seconds, Coulson was there pulling the door open only to be greeted by a shocking sight. Skye lay on the floor of the van in a pool of her own blood and there was a small child strapped into the jump-seat looking generally terrified.

"Oh shit," Ward said as he came around the van, climbing in and beginning to check on his partner. "Are you people going to just stand there, or are you going to help me?" He yelled over his shoulder as he put pressure on the wound and checked her pulse which was thready, but there.

"Is she ok?" Lucy asked.

"She is going to be fine, Luce, don't worry about a thing," he promised giving her a big fake smile. "Simmons, take Lucy upstairs and find her something to eat. May, we are going to have company if we don't get moving. Fitz, you got anything in the lab we can use until we get Skye to a doctor?"

It seemed like all at once everyone snapped out of it. Simmons took Lucy, Fitz ran to the lab to get some supplies, and May gave the signal to close the bay doors.

"Wheels up in two," she called as she ran up the stairs.

"What the hell happened out there?" Coulson asked.

"She said she was fine, that it was just a flesh wound," Ward mumbled, still pressing on the wound. "She shouldn't be bleeding this much, this is too much."

"Ward, what the hell happened? Where is the asset? Who's the kid and why was Skye out of the damn van, AGAIN?"

"It wasn't supposed to be like this, this wasn't part of the plan," Ward continued. He was jarred when the plan started to move, but then Fitz was back.

"I've got some bandages, and gauze. Is there an exit wound?" Fitz asked, looking down at his tablet, where he had googled how to treat a gunshot wound.

Ward put his hand under her to feel for an exit, before pressing a bandage to the wound on the back of her shoulder. "Yeah, it's a through and through."

"It says to check her airway, and make sure she is breathing," Fitz added.

Ward leaned down and felt her breath on his cheek.

"She is breathing," he confirmed, letting out a ragged breath of his own.

"It says that she will probably go into shock and we have to keep her warm," Fitz continued, looking between the other two men, neither of which seemed to be listening. "I will just duck upstairs and get some blankets."

"It was all good, until I got to the cell." Ward said without looking up. "I had lost comm contact, but there weren't supposed to be that many guards, so I just figured I could handle it, but then I get to the cell and there is Lucy sitting there. She asks if I am there for more tests. If she does it right this time will she get to see her mom? Like I am just another suit there to watch her be tortured." Ward shook his head in disgust. "So I tell her that I am there to take her home and she jumps into my arms crying and promise to be good from now on and for a minute I wonder where is the damn asset, thinking that the asset is Lucy's mom, that I am going to have to take Lucy to Skye and then come back for the 'asset', but then we are walking out and a guard comes out of nowhere and before I can block her he is shooting, but the bullets just drop to the ground in front of me and I realize they are bouncing off of her. But at the same time two more guards show up and they figure out that bullets aren't going to work, so they are coming after us. And just when I think that's it, I just got this kid killed, Skye shows up and the next thing I know we are in the van, and Lucy is telling me that Skye won't wake up, but Skye had told me, she had said it was just a flesh wound, that she was fine, that she was going to contact you guys."

Coulson took all this in, particularly the part about their little shield, and finally spoke. "About half hour ago I got a message from Skye saying you guys were headed back to base, and that we needed to be ready to roll."

"Why didn't she tell me how bad it was?" Ward asked looking up for the first time.

Coulson didn't know what to say, he hoped they would be able to get to a doctor soon, and he really hoped it was soon enough. "I guess you will have to ask her when she wakes up."

Ward looked back down at his partner, but in the last minute she had begun to shiver. Shock must be setting. He took off his suit jacket, and draped it over her.

Where is Fitz with those damn blankets? He was wondering, when the Scot finally returned.

"May says we will be there in ten," Fitz offered, "is there anything else I can do to help?"

Ward just shook his head. At least they would be there soon. He wasn't usually a praying man, but as he waited for the plane to land he thanked god for letting him get out of there alive, for giving him the opportunity to be there when she needed him, and he promised to be faster next time, if she just made it through this.

Five hours later, Ward had been debriefed. Lucy was in the media room with FitzSimmons watching Scooby Doo. May and Coulson were briefing Fury. Skye had been patched up and was now resting in the airlock, which had been modified to be a sick bay for now and Ward was watching Skye's, waiting impatiently for her to wake up.

He was pacing at the end of the bed when he heard it. The sound is just above a whisper, but he heard it and quickly turned toward the bed. To his complete relief, her eyes were open and she was clearly trying to say something.

"Hold on just a minute, motor mouth." He smiled and poured her a glass of water before bringing it to her. "Drink this, it will help."

After a few sips she tried again, "Do you ever relax, Robot?" she asked, smiling when his eyes shot to hers.

"Not when I am waiting to see if my rookie is going to rejoin the land of the living," he replied absently, but it is more revealing than he wanted.

"Is Lucy alright?" she asked, not ignoring his comment, but not really addressing it either.

"Lucy is good, she is with FitzSimmons getting spoiled as we speak." He answered, and before he can stop himself, he continued. "You should have told me. I am your S.O. and I need to know that you are going to be honest with me. You said you were fine, and then went and nearly bleed to death in front of a six year old."

He couldn't keep the anger out of his voice.

"I'm sorry," she insisted, "I thought I could take it."

After a long time, he finally said the thing he had been trying to keep quiet, "Don't ever scare me like that again."

"I won't" she promised.