A.N: I wrote this on a long drive home today and figured I'd want to get it up before the episode aired on Tuesday. Not that I would ever expect for Ward and Skye to have a confrontation like this in the next episode but a girl can dream, can't she?

Getting to the city had been the easy part. But they should have known that Whitehall and his team would not be too far behind. It was only a matter of time before they'd find each other amongst the chaos.

When she'd first arrived to the temple, she could already feel it calling to her. She knew that she needed to find the obelisk before anyone else. She did not expect to come face to face with him in her search.

With her gun expertly trained on him, she stepped further into the room he was guarding.

He swung around and aimed his gun directly at her before realizing who she was. His hold on the trigger softened. "Skye..." He breathed out.

"That's... Not her name..." Another voice spoke up before turning toward her. "Oh..."

Skye wavered between holding her gun aimed at Ward and the man she knew was her father. She couldn't let either one of them escape again.

"Don't move." She growled.

Ward stepped closer to her with his gun still aimed at her.

"I mean it... This is not an ICER... I will shoot you..." She warned.

He stopped right in front of her. "You need to leave now, Doctor..."

"But..."

"She's not kidding..." Ward told the man over his shoulder. "You need to take the diviner with you..."

"Grant..."

"Go now!" Ward argued. "Before he finds us."

The older man nodded in understanding before looking at her with sadness. He smiled fondly before turning and leaving the room.

"You giving your new mentor a head start?" she taunted.

Ward turned back to her. "He's not my mentor..."

"So you and my dad, huh?" Skye narrowed her eyes. "I guess I should have seen that coming..."

"I made a promise... I intended to keep it."

Skye clicked the safety off her gun. "So what now?"

Ward lowered his gun. "I'm not going to shoot you, Skye."

"It wouldn't be the first time..."

He winced. "I never had anything to do with what happened with Quinn. If I had known, I would have done everything I could to keep it from happening."

Ward dropped his gun to the dirt and kicked it away. Skye watched the gun make it half way across the room before turning back to him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not going to shoot you." He raised his arms in surrender and stepped in front of her with the barrel of the gun aimed at his chest. "If you're going to shoot me... Now's your chance, Skye."

"No..." Her eyes watered. "Pick it up..."

He shook his head. "I can't."

"Don't. Don't do that."

"Now's your chance…"

Skye bit her bottom lip when a lone tear slipped down her cheek. She clenched her jaw to keep anymore tears from spilling and looked at him as she lowered her gun, dropping it to the ground next to her feet. She eyed him warily knowing she wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger either.

He clasped his hand behind her head and crashed his lips against hers. Skye deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. He held her face in his hands, matching her fervor with his own.

The kiss was desperate and passionate. They both felt like they'd been lost in the desert and this was the first drink of water they'd had in a long time. Even if it was nothing more than a mirage didn't matter. It was their oasis. All that mattered to them was in that moment.

Skye poured all her anger and frustration into that kiss. She'd missed him. She would never admit it out loud but she did. She couldn't deny it to herself anymore. She loved him. She probably always would.

He lifted her off the ground. At eye level, she kissed him until he slowed them down. If he hadn't, they would have taken it further in that dirt room surrounded by friends and foes on all sides. He touched his forehead against hers and ghosted his fingertips across her cheek.

She opened her eyes and was able to look directly into his. She could see the pain he tried to mask in his brown orbs.

"Why...?"

"I told you... Someday, you'll understand..." He whispered as he pushed back the loose strands of her hair. "Today is not that day."

He let her fall back to the ground.

"You need to leave now, Skye."

"What?" She asked. "Why?"

"Whitehall can't ever know you exist." Ward told her. "He can't know who you are. You need to stay away from him. Do you understand?"

"Ward...?"

"Promise me, Skye." He cut her off. "Promise me that you'll stay out of his way. Please."

She nodded without understanding what she was agreeing to. "I promise."

"Good." He said in relief and smiled. "That's good. Keep your head low. I'll clear the way for you. When you find Coulson and the team, get them out of here. Coulson is in way over his head on this one. His priority needs to be keeping you safe."

"Me? Why? What makes me so special?"

He shook his head. "I can't explain it right now. But I will tell you as soon as I can. I've learned a lot from your father, Skye. We only want to keep you safe. That's all he's ever wanted. For you to be safe."

She swallowed thickly. "Ward... You can't trust him... He's a mon-"

"A monster? So am I..." He grimaced. "Isn't that what you've called me?"

She closed her eyes and eyed him in annoyance. "God, Ward. You don't know anything about him... Just... Be careful, okay?"

He felt a smile form on his lips before leaning in to kiss her softly. "I'm always careful. Except when it comes to you…. Skye, go now. I'll cover you."

She nodded before leaving the same way she came. When he'd been able to safely see her to where the quinjet was docked, she turned back toward him.

"I really shouldn't be letting you get away again..."

"You know why I escaped."

She nodded. "I do. I just don't understand the why yet."

"You will."

He pulled her face toward his again and kissed her. When he let go, he nodded toward the wall that blocked their view of the quinjet.

"Get them out of here. Tell them the temple is unstable or that Hydra is here. I don't care. Just tell them something that would get them to leave." He told her.

She nodded before turning to leave. Skye looked over her shoulder at him with a scowl. "What happened today... It can't happened again."

"I understand."

She gave him another swift nod before leaving him alone. Skye walked toward the quinjet and found Trip sitting at the pilot seat.

"Call everyone back... We need to leave now. Hydra is here and we're outnumbered." She told him.

He nodded before getting back on the comms to call back their team.

"What happened to you?" He turned back toward her. "Your comms went down. Did you find anything?"

She shook her head.

When the team arrived, they left the city as quickly as they could.

"Wasn't the plan to blow the city?" Hunter asked.

"Hydra got here first." Skye frowned. "We needed to get out of there."

"We should have stayed and fought." He continued.

Skye shook her head. "They didn't find what they were looking for."

"Which is?" May asked.

Skye sighed before turning to Coulson. "Me."