Disclaimer: I don't own Agents of Shield. This is an AU story where Ward is not Hydra and his history is slightly different (no woods, no Buddy, no loyalty to anyone but SHIELD). Starts off near the end of Season 1 when Garrett is taken into custody. Will contain whump, as needed. I kind of liked the series better when Ward was a part of the team, and gradually liked seasons 2 and 3 less as time went on. Anyone else feel the same way?

Crashing Down

Ward's body was aching from the fight earlier with the Hydra sleepers, but as he wandered the corner his jaw nearly dropped in surprise. Garrett, his former SO, was being arrested. He looked to Victoria Hand, a question in his eyes.

"He is the Clairvoyant," she said, nodding to Garrett, who looked around at everyone with a sneer on his face.

Ward stared in disbelief. He had trained under Garrett. He had worked with Garrett on the mission to the compound to find the drug that would save Skye's life. They had joked together and fought together. Anger suddenly swept through him. Garrett was the one who had given the order for Quinn to shoot Skye. And just like that, Ward knew he would be the one to kill Garrett.

"Let me go with you. I want to see him locked away forever," Ward said coldly.

Hand nodded.

Later, on the jet, he listened to her telling him he could put Garrett down. And he so wanted to. He wanted revenge for the lies, for the deaths, and for everything Garrett had done to his team. And as he picked up the gun to follow the order, Garrett gave him one of those knowing smiles. He froze. Because he knew something was going to go wrong.

"You should pick your guards more carefully, Agent Hand. Don't you know by now that you can't trust anyone?" Garrett said, a smug grin on his face.

Ward saw the two guards lift their own weapons, pointing them at Hand. And suddenly he was lunging forward, putting himself between them and her as he fired his own weapon. One guard went down. He felt something hot in his chest, and then the second guard was down. He heard a yell behind him. His own name? And then he was sliding to the ground, feeling sick. Gradually the shock faded and he realized he had been shot in the chest. His next breath was painful, and he felt a small spasm in his lung. His world spun as Hand caught him and lowered him carefully to the ground.

The hard lump pressing into his back told him the bullet had completely ripped through his vest, chest, and then lodged into the vest on the other side. Pain was slowly beginning to blossom and although the area around the wound felt scalding hot, the rest of his body felt cold. Shock.

"Hang on Agent Ward," Hand said, pressing down on his chest. He had all he could do to not writhe in pain and hold still.

Then he saw Garrett, standing and unbound. He tried to speak, to warn her. He coughed instead, and blood coated the inside of his mouth. He grimaced and tried again. "Garrett" the word came out slurred. But she turned and saw the former agent - the traitor - standing there with a smug look on his face, a weapon pointed at them. Something told Ward Garrett wasn't going to shoot, but it still made rage pulse through him.

"I told you, Ward. Your emotions will get you killed," Garrett sneered.

"That's not... a bad way to go," Ward wheezed, glaring as best as he could at his former SO. He didn't have enough air to insinuate what he meant, but he was sure Garrett would figure it out.

Garrett's expression turned cold. "I won't kill you. I want you to see what's happened to your precious SHIELD. And your precious team," he sneered.

Ward felt a knot of dread. He couldn't protect his team from here, and he had no idea if they were okay. What if someone went after them? He refused to let the dread show on his face, however, not wanting to give Garrett any sign of satisfaction. Instead, he let his eyes close and focused on breathing, which was rapidly becoming more difficult as he continued to bleed.

"You won't get away with this," Agent Hand warned, although her voice lacked her usual conviction. There was anger laced in the words, but she was the one with a gun pointed at her head.

Garrett laughed. Ward could almost see that smug smirk on his face even with his eyes closed, and it made him want to punch him in the face. "I already have."

Ward resisted the urge to roll his eyes. So cliche.

It was possible that at some point Agent Hand and Garrett had a nice long talk about ethics, but by then his mind zoned out of the real world and eventually into the land of unconsciousness. When he woke, he was rewarded with the sound of a heart monitor beeping, the feeling of tubes in his arms, and the lovely feeling of a much larger tube shoved down his throat. Despite himself, he started to gag slightly, instincts wanting the tube removed, instantly. Regardless of whether it was good or bad.

"Agent Ward, please calm down," a male voice said, and he tried to lean forward slightly so he could see who it was. Pain stabbed into his chest and he dropped back, wincing. "You're in a hospital. Since you can breath on your own you no longer need that." The man stepped into his line of vision. To his relief it was a nurse, and he even had credentials that matched a real hospital. He didn't know how they got off that jet or what happened but at least he wasn't a prisoner of HYDRA... or so he hoped. He prepared himself for the uncomfortable - but not completely unfamiliar - feeling of the tube sliding out of his throat. It took a major effort not to throw up instantly, and he took several moments to compose himself.

"Do you remember what happened?" The nurse - Henry Pol - asked.

"Yes... I was shot. Where is Agent Hand?" He asked, worried. What if something happened to her when he passed out?

"After she dropped you off here she went to coordinate with the surviving SHIELD teams," Henry responded. He must be in a SHIELD facility somewhere, if the nurse had ideas of what was going on.

"And... my team? Agent Coulson?" He asked, hopeful that he had any idea what was going on.

Henry waited a moment before responding. "We have not had any contact with them since the incident. But we have every reason to believe they escaped."

Ward hoped he was right. He wanted to believe him, not just because it would feel better... but because he needed his team. And they needed him. Although in his current condition he wouldn't be extremely useful, he had to get to them somehow. He nodded, sighed, then winced in pain. Right... a bullet in the lung.

"The bullet passed straight through your vest, into your lung, and exited out your back, only to get lodged in the other side of your vest. We repaired the damage as best we could but you will need to take it very easy for several weeks to heal. No lifting, exertion... and especially no fighting," Henry fixed him with a stern look that he was certain Hand had put him up to. Ward frowned, because he wasn't good at taking it easy, especially not with what had just happened.

"Fighting might not be avoidable," he responded.

Henry sighed. "I know. We have lost many people and the attacks are still happening."

For once Ward was impressed. A nurse who understood that taking it easy wasn't always an option. A nurse who understood duty and what it meant to a specialist when it came to his team. He knew he would get an earful from Simmons if she knew.

"How long before I can leave? I need to contact my team and make sure they're alright," Ward said. It wasn't really a request. He was going to do it regardless.

"You can try to contact them any time. But don't take off just yet. Your body isn't strong enough," Henry responded, his glare increasing. He had probably dealt with other agents before and knew how they were. Ward, however, resisted a sigh. He didn't have time to wait for his body to heal. He had a team to protect.

And that's how he found himself standing outside the hospital, trembling from exhaustion, chest aching and suddenly wishing he had actually listened for once. He had tried calling different members of his team with no luck. He didn't want to think about what that could mean.

And then his phone rang. He pulled it out and felt a wave of relieve when he saw that Skye was calling him. "Skye?" He said instantly when he answered his phone. Her voice at the other end, and not the voice of some insane HYDRA agent keeping her hostage confirmed that everything was okay. Well, at least, she was okay. "Ward! We're all okay. We're at a secret base of Fury's. How did the transport go?" She asked.

It occurred to him that they had no idea what had happened. They must not have made contact with Agent Hand.

"It's best we discuss that in person," he responded, not quite willing to talk about what happened over the phone. He glanced around himself. He didn't know who could be listening, and as it was, he needed to see his team face to face to be 100% sure they were okay. "Where can I get to you?" He asked.

Secret base sounded rather mysterious, but Fury had always been an extremely paranoid person, and he wouldn't be surprised if the late director had many of those around the world that only he and a select few people knew about. It was also probably one of the safest places on the planet for any of them to go. He wouldn't put it past Garrett to hunt down his team just for the sole purpose of hurting him.

"Well... do you think you can get a plane to the wilderness of Canada?" She asked. He frowned. He probably could. But why on earth would anyone build a secret base there? Technology didn't work too well in the cold wet places. "I can send you the coordinates. Don't bring anything metal with you, or you'll get shot at. Tell the sentry your name," she said.

Fury was more paranoid that even Ward had given him credit for.

He had to sigh. Then he had to wince in pain. His chest was throbbing and his head was swimming, but most of the planes had an autopilot, so he could probably just relax on the way and not stress out his body too much. Simmons was going to kill him. The thought of it made him smile, as he stumbled unsteadily out to borrow a plane from whatever SHIELD facility was still operational or not completely destroyed.