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When a frantic Ward called the team to inform them that Garrett had escaped and shot some of the agents – including Hand – he immediately aroused Coulson and May's suspicions. "Why would they leave him alive?" he whispered to her.
"It wouldn't make sense to come back to us when Hydra's out in full force – he could reveal himself." But May wasn't even sure if that was convincing enough. This entire situation was one she didn't want to be in. And they were all in danger – no one was safe now.
"Maybe he's brainwashed?" Coulson wasn't sure if he bought that, however. It still wouldn't make sense, but then again, none of it did. He had liked Garrett before this but now he hated the man and hoped he suffered for what he did. Selling out SHIELD, along with having him tortured, was one of the many ways the other agent had gone too far.
May shook her head. "Why would he be brainwashed? It doesn't make any sense. But then again, not much does." She was surprised Coulson was actually treating her with respect and not contempt. He was definitely still pissed at her and considered their friendship over, but he also had tried to save her when gunfire erupted earlier.
"I'm just throwing around some ideas! Maybe we should talk to the team?" Coulson knew they wouldn't want to believe – especially Skye – but he needed their opinions. This affected the whole team, not just SHIELD. They'd have to deal with it if their suspicions were actually true.
When they got to the hospital, Victoria's doctor met them immediately. "How is she?" Jemma questioned since everyone else was silent.
"She is comatose and it is unlikely she'll ever wake up. Her injuries were severe."
"Fuck!" Coulson wanted to kick something but he refrained from doing so. He still hadn't really accepted Fury was dead (along with many others) and now someone else could lose their life? How the fuck was that fair?
The team flinched at the rare curse word out of their leader's mouth. May wanted to calm him down but figured comfort wasn't wanted from her at the moment. Fortunately, Skye and Jemma stepped up and placed hands on his shoulders. They stiffened at first before relaxing. "Where's Ward?" Skye looked around the waiting room in confusion. He should be here, but being nowhere in sight? That was weird.
Coulson and May exchanged knowing looks. "One of you needs to find him so we can meet up and talk. And maybe we'll figure out a way to talk to Hand." May didn't want to put any of the team in danger, but she hoped Ward didn't hurt anyone if their theory was correct. She really hoped it wasn't, but she had a bad feeling about this. Ward had worked with Garrett so the older agent could have gotten to the younger one during that point in time. And there was no reason Ward should be alive right now if Garrett had truly escaped. And if it was true, why hadn't Ward realized how suspicious this would look to them? Something was off about this.
"I'll go!" volunteered Leo. If he had been aware of the danger this task presented, he wouldn't have agreed to go.
Coulson and May took the girls aside after he departed. "What's going on?" Skye's heart dropped when she saw the looks on their faces.
"Something about what went down with Garrett, Hand, and other agents are setting off alarm bells. How did Ward escape? We think he may be another mole." Coulson still hoped they were wrong, but it was looking unlikely.
Skye cocked her head as she processed the words coming out of his mouth. "You think he's the mole too? But he can't be. You have to be wrong." She couldn't believe it.
"She's right – he's not the mole. It was Garrett and he must not have done his job well since both Hand and Ward are still alive." Jemma couldn't see him being a sociopath or believing Hydra's ideology. It just wasn't possible.
"And Ward wouldn't be this sloppy – sure, Hand may die, but she's still alive. He'd make sure everyone was dead so there'd be no witnesses. God, why am I even entertaining this idea?" Skye laughed nervously.
"Has he been displaying unusual behavior in the past few days? Has anything tipped you off? And don't lie to me, Skye."
She bit her lip and stifled a sob. She still didn't want to think it was true, but there had been some instances that should have tipped her off. "He has been acting weird lately. Ward asked me out a while ago, right before we set off that explosion," Skye confessed. Had he been lying about his interest in her? She didn't know why he'd do that – there'd be no reason to do it, especially with Hydra in the mix. But that was if this insane theory was true.
When Ward and Leo returned a few minutes later, everyone stopped talking and changed the subject so they didn't let him know they possible had him figured it out. Skye grinned at him. "You look happy," he observed.
"I'm just glad we all survived and that you escaped without any major injuries." She didn't want to tip him off, something she was worried about.
"I'm hoping Hand survives this so she can tell us where to find that bastard." Jemma sneaked a look at him, but Ward didn't react. No flinch or anything.
The doctor came out about fifteen minutes later and ushered them over. "Miss Hand is awake, but probably not for long. I figured you'd want to talk to her." His patient's injuries were severe and they had already lost her twice. This probably meant nothing.
"Thank you." May smiled at him, and then she and Coulson rushed into her hospital room. Fortunately, Hand was too drugged to be in much pain.
"Who did this to you?" Coulson hoped his theory wasn't about to be proven correct, but he felt his heart skip a beat when she answered.
"Ward …. It was Ward." Victoria coughed and then stopped talking. Coulson and May tried pressing her for more answers, but she didn't have any and was pulled back under shortly afterwards.
"We need to get him to reveal himself." May was horrified that Ward was just outside the room with Skye, Jemma, and Leo. What if he hurt them? No one was safe with him around.
"How? I'm not risking everyone's lives just to reveal a mole – we've been through way too much already." Coulson knew she had a point, but didn't want to admit she was right. He was still too pissed at her to do so.
"I know, but Hydra is still out there. We need to know who all is involved. And we'll make sure that Fitz and the girls will be safe. But we need someone we can trust to make sure that no one tries to kill Victoria. Who do you suggest?"
"Jemma?" Her name had been the first one to pop into Coulson's head and he wasn't sure why. But she was strong and would make sure no one got to Hand.
"Fine. Let's do it and make sure there are no civilians when we confront him."
Jemma was not pleased when Coulson and May broke the news to her. "But how am I supposed to protect Hand? Why can't it be Ward or Skye or even Leo?"
"Hey!" Leo was just as terrified of her when he thought of protecting someone, but that was beside the point.
Ward didn't react at all except to laugh at the two. And as soon as they got back to the bus, Coulson and May pulled Leo and Skye aside. "We're confronting him now – it has to be done," he told them.
"If you suspected he was the mole then, why the hell did you send me after him? He could have killed me!" Leo couldn't believe they were actually suspecting Ward – he seemed like a nice guy, but Garrett had seemed that way too.
All of them were standing around talking and trying to pretend everything was normal when Ward suddenly drew a weapon. "Just stop talking. How'd you figure it out?"
Coulson sighed. "Ward, put down the gun. Why'd you leave Victoria alive? I'm sure you'd love to tie up loose ends. And how the hell could you do this?"
Ward looked conflicted, but he never wavered. "I'll take care of her after I'm done with you." He smirked.
"Why did you come back? You were free and could have left." That still confused the hell out of May.
He rolled his eyes. "You're my team – couldn't appear suspicious to you, but seems like I had already tipped my hand. Nice job leaving Jemma at the hospital to protect her. It's not going to end well for either of them, but at least you tried."
"Ward, this isn't you. He got to you somehow and you need to snap out of it!" Skye pleaded. He couldn't be this vile psychopath. Ward was a bit of a jerk, but he wasn't like this.
"Shut the fuck up, Skye!"
She flinched. "Grant, please."
"Grant, please," he mocked. The gun never wavered, but Coulson and May were trying to figure out a way for this to end peacefully.
"I think you have been brainwashed. You look pretty conflicted over there, Grant. Why is that? Are you doubting Garrett's beliefs? Or did you never believe them in the first place?" May refused to put her gun down – she hoped this didn't end in violence, but she wasn't stupid.
"You don't want to do this, Grant. You're part of our team – we're all a family." Coulson wanted to cringe at the clichés coming out of his mouth, but he didn't. And it was the truth – they had become a family pretty much immediately, even though there was a gulf between some of them because of some horrific secrets.
"I don't have to listen to this. Get down on the ground," he ordered.
"Come on, Ward. You're not this person," Leo tried. He didn't buy the brainwashing theory, but he at least wanted to try to get through to his teammate.
Grant laughed and then something just snapped – nobody was prepared for what was about to rain down on them. The first shot didn't shock any of them.
The sounds of gunfire and agonized screams bounced off the walls.