There had been a general dislike of Miles since the team's first interaction with him. By the time Skye's ex-boyfriend returned to the scene, the dislike morphed into pure hatred. Mostly because he manipulated Skye. Which is why Ward was more than happy to take up the job of roughly escorting the Rising Tide member through the Bus and locking him in the interrogation room, only wishing Coulson would let him throw away the key.

Miles had escaped SHIELD custody, tracked Skye down again and begged for her help in cutting his ties from the Tide. The rest of the team were adamant the he was lying but Skye insisted that she owed him this at least and convinced the other five...until it was revealed far too late that it was all a ploy to lure Skye back to the Rising Tide and get rid of her SHIELD team.

However, Ward couldn't help but be thankful for this string of events.

He wasn't sure what exactly, but something had changed between Skye and May during the mission where Coulson had been taken. They worked together fine to protect Ace and treat Mike's extensive injuries and locate Coulson. Skye even strapped a gun to her hip, slid a knife in her boot and followed May and Ward out into the field to get their team leader back. But once it was all over – when Coulson was resting, Mike and Ace were back at HQ, FitzSimmons were letting off steam by experimenting on something in the lab, – an eerie tension settled between the two remaining women in the Bus. Ward noticed it as he slowly regained his strength after being winded and badly bruised by the bullet that had hit him on the roof (he'd been saved by his bulletproof vest). May and Skye didn't talk, they avoided eye contact, Skye never once mentioned the woman and once Coulson was back to full health, somehow, he knew what had happened and kept the two away from each other.

Until Miles returned.

The entire team of six had just overheard Miles stupidly hiss his plan into his cellphone in a frantic phone call to his superiors in the Tide. May immediately spun around and shot Skye a furious glare, producing her gun from its holster.

'Wait,' Skye said, grabbing the older woman's arm. Ward was surprised at the softness in his rookie's voice, or rather, the lack of hostility.

'Skye...what are you thinking?' Coulson asked slowly, the worry starting to show in the crinkles of his eyes.

'Go,' Skye said as a reply. 'All of you. Get back to the Bus and get out of here now. The Rising Tide knows that this team more than anyone else in SHIELD is closer to catching them and that's because you have me. They know your current location and they're not gonna hesitate in making sure that information is gotten rid of – which includes getting rid of you.'

'Skye, don't be stupid,' Ward interrupted, trying not to let the desperation through in his voice. 'The Tide is dangerous and needs to be taken down but I doubt they'd resort to murdering an entire team of SHIELD agents.'

Skye shook her head, glancing over at him. She met his gaze and Ward was startled by tears in her eyes. 'There's a side branch of the Tide that nobody talks about,' she explained. 'They'll do the work everyone else is scared to do which ensures nobody ever gets the chance to track or take them down. I wouldn't put murdering a group of 6 highly trained SHIELD operatives past them.'

'What are you going to do?' Simmons demanded, her fear obvious.

Skye turned, facing her team. 'I'm gonna let Miles take me back. I'm a valuable asset to the Tide and if I make up a few things about my time at SHIELD and lace in a few bits of the truth, they'll keep me in their higher circles for information. They know I'm a good hacker. Maybe I can try and send a message to you guys at some point, I'm not sure – for now, you just need to go. At the end of the day, Miles will stick up for me to keep me alive. He doesn't care about any of you.'

'We're not leaving you!' insisted Fitz.

'Skye, this is ridiculous, you're a member of our team and we're not leaving you behind,' Coulson said firmly.

'We'll find another way,' Simmons agreed.

'I'm not letting you do this,' Ward said, much quieter than the other three, his gaze fixed solely on Skye. 'You're not going anywhere.'

'Yes I am because I have to protect all of you,' Skye argued. 'None of you understand how much the five of you mean to me and I'm not going to let you get killed! I have to – '

May cut her off mid sentence. 'You're not going anywhere.'

Skye frowned, raising one eyebrow at the woman they called the Cavalry.

'Come again?' the hacker said incredulously.

'You're not going anywhere,' May repeated. 'Not on my watch and not any of their's,' She gestured to the other four SHIELD agents, 'I guarantee you.'

Skye pursed her lips and there was a expectant silence among the group, broken by Miles bursting through the doorway and grabbing Skye, pressing the barrel of a gun against her head.

'Miles, what the hell are you doing?' Skye shrieked, latching onto the arm that was forcefully pressed against her chest, holding her in place.

'I'm sorry Skye,' Miles murmured. 'I've got my orders. You're not with us anymore.'

'I could be – ' Skye exclaimed, struggling to free herself. 'Miles, you know I was only in this with them to find my parents! I've got what I need, I can leave!' She saw the astonishment flicker in Fitz's eyes, the shock and hurt that appeared on Simmons' face, the unchanging, cautious looks that both Coulson and May wore, and finally, the recognition and understanding that crossed Ward's features and the acknowledgment that she didn't mean what she was saying, she was trying to save her skin.

'You're emotionally attached,' Miles snapped.

'I'm not, I swear!'

'So you wouldn't care if I shot him?' Miles kept his left arm tightly over Skye's middle so that she couldn't move and then raised the gun to point it at Ward.

Ward had stared down a loaded gun hundreds of times, instead, finding himself watching as Skye's face turned deadly pale. She stopped struggling, her breath hitching in her throat.

'Well?' Miles demanded. He cocked the gun.

'Stop it, stop, you don't need to hurt them!' Skye shouted, throwing her arm out and grabbing the hand that held the gun. The minute it was pointed at the ground, May's fist came swinging around to hit Miles in the face, allowing Skye to stumble out of his grip and straight towards Ward, who caught her with sweaty palms but a steady hold.

'Okay, now he's waving a gun about – can you guys please get out of here?' Skye pleaded.

'She's right!' Coulson said, raising his voice. 'May, knock him out and we're out of here. Skye you're coming with us. That's an order.'

Skye opened her mouth to protest but Ward spoke over her immediately.

'Skye, I'm not going anywhere without you, don't even think for a second that I won't stay here with you. You're a part of SHIELD now whether you like it or not and none of us are going to leave you behind.' His words were emphasised by a loud thump and everyone glanced over their shoulders to see May nudge Miles' unconscious body with her foot, looking unamused.

'Well he's not going anywhere anytime soon,' she said, 'so I guess we're your only option.' Her lips curved upwards ever so slightly in a barely noticeable smile that Skye couldn't help but return. Ward glanced between the two several times in confusion before shaking his head, wrapping an arm around Skye and ushering her, along with the rest of the team, out of the Rising Tide rendezvous and back towards the airfield.

Now, Miles was sitting in the interrogation room of the Bus, locked in by about 10 different locks and keys. Coulson was on the line with HQ, informing them of the situation and the incoming prisoner. Skye had provided FitzSimmons with some information she had hacked in and accessed from the Rising Tide server when they'd been at the rendezvous point, which the engineering and biochem duo were currently analysing and processing. Ward had searched the entire plane apart from the training compound for Skye – after all, why would she be there? He assumed May was flying the plane but as he got nearer to the room in which he spent countless hours training, sparring, instructing and blowing off steam, he found May and Skye sitting in the middle of the sparring mat, both cross legged and facing each other.

'I'm so stupid,' Skye groaned, burying her face in her hands.

'No, you're not,' May said with a small shake of her head. 'You trust easily. That's a good trait, and SHIELD values it. You just need to learn to read people better.'

'How the hell do I do that?' muttered Skye grudgingly.

'Keep training with Ward. You're still working on the physical. Soon enough, he'll start the mental training with you. You'll have to learn how to completely take on an undercover persona, how to withstand torture, how to recover after injuries and how to read people's emotions and actions among many other things.'

'Sounds awful,' said Skye with a curt laugh.

'It's not easy,' May admitted. 'But it won't take you very long. You're doing well here.'

Skye chewed on her bottom lip, playing absent mindedly with a strand of hair as she gazed curiously at the older woman in front of her. 'Why did you join SHIELD?' she asked, almost shyly.

'That's a story for another day,' smirked May, beginning to undo her hand wraps.

Skye hesitated before exhaling shakily and asking one more thing in a quivering voice. 'May, what do you know about my parents? What has Coulson told you that he's keeping from me?'

May stopped her movements, sighing. 'Skye – '

'I'm serious,' Skye continued with more fire in her voice. 'Agent May, I need to know. I've been growing up at orphanages and foster homes my whole life, knowing nothing but that. I was dropped at St Agnes' Orphanage when I was a baby and I have no memories of my family. I've been through houses where I've had to share a bed with three other kids and in homes where they kicked me out because they didn't feel I was good enough for them. I don't have a last name, I don't have a family and I don't know anything about myself. I've risked getting caught by the cops by hacking into government databases just to find something. I joined the Rising Tide and SHIELD just to even discover what happened to them and if they're even alive and what I ever did to make them give me up.'

'Skye, you were a baby,' said May in a quiet voice. 'There is nothing that you could have possibly done wrong.'

'Then why didn't they want me?' cried Skye, tears rolling down her face. 'Why didn't I ever get a letter, a birthday card, a note, a visit, a locket, a bracelet, an explanation – why didn't they care enough to give me something that I could hold on to?'

Ward felt a knot twist tightly in his stomach and his heart broke at the look on her face – at the torn, hurt, desperate eyes and the tears the wouldn't stop and the shaking hands and angry, shallow breaths. He wanted nothing more than to rush out from where he was hidden in the shadows, drop to his knees in front of her and find a way to make her feel better but he knew that whatever had happened between May and Skye, this was when they needed to sort it out and he couldn't get in the way of that.

'Listen to me,' May said sternly. 'I know what happened and so does Coulson. SHIELD has files on it. Files that we have taken off the database so that you don't see them. Don't give me that look and just let me finish. We will tell you. In due time. Right now, we've only just gotten Coulson back and this run in with Miles makes things even shakier. Just wait. I know it's hard but you've gone this many years without anything...now you know that there are answers waiting for you, you just need to be patient okay?'

Skye sniffed, biting down on her bottom lip again and roughly wiping her eyes with her palms.

'Okay?' May repeated, raising her eyebrows.

'Yeah, yeah,' Skye murmured but she gave the agent a nod of understanding and a tiny thank-you smile.

'I need to get back to flying the plane,' said May, 'but for what it's worth Skye – I am sorry for what I said last week when you came to me about your mother.'

Skye nodded again, obviously not trusting herself to say anything in response. Ward stepped further back as May moved to leave the room, holding his breath and hoping she didn't pick up on his presence.

'I know you're there, you idiot,' May said under her breath as she passed him and Ward held back a grin as she rolled her eyes and left the sector. He knocked lightly on the door as he stepped out of the shadows, offering his rookie a comforting smile at her startled jump.

'Hey,' Skye said, her voice low and tired.

'What, no nicknames today?' Ward asked in mock surprise.

'It's been a heavy day,' shrugged Skye. Ward crossed the room and sat down beside her, nudging her shoulder with his.

'Yeah, I know,' he said softly. 'You okay?'

'Not really,' confessed Skye. 'I also just had this crazy conversation with May – ' She ducked her head. ' – about the stuff I said when Miles had the gun to my head...'

'I know Skye,' Ward assured. 'I heard.'

Skye didn't protest or even register a look of faint surprise. 'I'm sorry I never told you about it,' she whispered. 'My parents, I mean.'

'It's okay,' Ward answered. 'I never asked.'

They sat there in silence, the only sound in the room being their quiet breathing and eventually, the brushing of Skye's hair against his shirt as she tentatively rested her head on his shoulder. Ward stretched his arm around her, breathing in the fruity smell of her shampoo and the softness of her skin and the way her left hand held on to his shirt (probably subconsciously).

'Don't ever do that again,' he murmured.

'Do what?'

'Threaten to leave. You're a part of our team. You can't expect us to let you go so easily.'

Skye let out a shaky breath, sighing into his shirt.

'You say you don't have a family,' Ward added. 'You do. You have us and we're not going anywhere.'

'You can't promise that,' Skye croaked.

'I can. I'm promising now.' He felt Skye move at his words and she turned to look at him in surprise. Her lips moved to say something but whatever it was, Ward didn't care because suddenly a rush of emotion hit him as she sat there, warm and gentle and full of life here in his arms and before he could think twice, he brought a hand to her cheek and pulled her lips to his. A split second passed in which she froze in shock – and then her arms looped around his neck and she pulled herself from the ground onto his lap, allowing him to wrap his arms around her middle and pull her as close as possible. It occurred to him briefly that his arms were currently where Miles' had been but it didn't seem to bother her so he let it fly, along with any other coherent thoughts in his mind at the feeling of just her.

Her shirt hiked upwards and his fingers brushed against the bare skin of her back. She shivered and giggled, weaving her fingers through his hair.

'Should ... we ... be ... doing ... this?' she asked in between kisses.

'Probably not,' Ward replied, pulling away for a moment and looking up at her. Hair disheveled, lip gloss smudged, eyes twinkling – in that instant, he knew he'd never seen anyone or anything so beautiful in his life.

'What're you staring at?' she asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

'You,' he breathed, earning a fierce blush from her.

'There's nothing much to look at,' she said, avoiding his eyes.

'I disagree,' he countered, carefully tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 'After the things you've seen while being on the Bus, you still have so much happiness in your smile. And sometimes, it's as if you've got the craziness and beauty of the whole world in your eyes.'

She gazed at him in wonder and astonishment, running her thumb over the stubble on his cheeks and the bruises and cuts on his face.

'Grant Ward, a romantic,' she teased. 'Who would've known?'

'I love you Skye.' The words tumbled out of his mouth as if desperate to be carried to her ears. They hung in the air for several seconds, during which he looked at him in absolute shock, her mouth slightly ajar. And then, she had seized his face with both hands and their lips crashed together with such a force that they both lost their balance, tumbling to the ground, Skye shrieking as she fell and Ward letting out a yelp of surprise as he followed in suit.

She laughed – a clear, bubbly laugh that was full of life and expectancy and promise and passion.

'I love you too Grant,' she said, so softly that Ward had to take a moment to register that she'd actually said it until she continued talking. 'I love you and your hidden smiles and the way you secretly love board games and your awful social skills and the craziness and beauty of the whole world in your eyes.' She sat up, pulling Ward with her.

'I'm gonna help you find your parents,' he said sincerely. 'Or at least what happened to them. Everyone on this plane will.'

Skye's eyes softened and she linked her fingers with his. 'Thank you. It might take a while though. It's taken me my whole life to get this far.'

'Then it'll take time,' Ward said, shrugging. 'We'll work through it.' He grinned. 'Pieces solving a puzzle, right?'

Skye returned the grin, her eyes twinkling. 'Exactly. Pieces solving a puzzle.'

– fin –