I don't own Agents of SHIELD nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.

Author's Note: The retcon of the abuse was quite upsetting and it's still weird that the sister hasn't been brought up so I figured I'd fix it.

Skye tracked down Rose Ward quite easily - she was living in New York, listed under her married name - and immediately set off to find her despite the pressing situation at hand. "There's a time limit here and you want to talk to Ward's sister? Why?" Mack asked.

Skye sighed. "Because something's not right and I can't figure out why, Mack. It's bothering me and I need to get to the bottom of this. I'll be right back to help take down Hydra but I'm going," she informed the acting director.

"Fine. But make it quick," Mack ordered.

"Will do!" Skye thanked him and then took off towards the plane so May could fly her to her destination. She knocked on the apartment door a few hours later.

Rose opened the door and didn't even looked surprised. "SHIELD? My brother called and told me you were most likely coming."

She shrugged and smiled tightly at her. "I'm a SHIELD agent but I'm not here on SHIELD business. I have something I would like to discuss with you. My name is Agent Johnson."

Rose waved her hand behind her. "Come on in," she urged.

Skye scurried in. "This isn't going to be long but I have a few questions. Grant sent me the tape of Christian confessing to the abuse he heaped on your siblings several months ago, just after Kara died. I listened to them and what he and Grant say doesn't line up with what Thomas said. It's confusing," she explained.

Her smile turned into a sad frown. "Agent Johnson, as you are well aware of by now, the Wards are an extremely fucked up family and poor Grant seemed to have gotten the worst of the abuse. Christian took it out on my brothers and although there's no excuse for him turning into an abuser too, I understand why it happened. Once Grant left, the gaslighting from our parents and Christian got worse. I had moved out by that point and I tried my best to help but it was already too late. Christian had convinced them that Grant was to blame for everything, and he was so good that poor Tommy started to believe them."

Skye's breath caught in her throat. "Is that why the timeline seems to make no sense? Grant was fifteen when he disappeared off the map but one of my co-workers said Thomas told them seventeen." Her heart broke for the Ward children and how they never seemed to have a chance. All of them had clearly been screwed up in different ways.

Rose nodded. "I always wish I could have helped in some way but I was already out of the house and couldn't do much. I was afraid and that is something I will always regret."

"And Thomas changing his name to supposedly get away from Grant? He was already gone so this is something else confusing." Skye wanted to hug the woman in front of her but refrained from doing so since they didn't know each other and it'd be awkward.

"I was the only one who knew his new name and where he went - we've kept in contact over the years - but it wasn't because of Grant. I went to the police but no one would help me find my brother. We still don't know what happened to him until he popped up out of the blue a year ago, working for Hydra. I know you must be busy but can you please look into it? It's important to me," Rose begged with tears in her eyes.

Tearful herself now, Skye grabbed her hand. "I promise I will dig deep and figure out where he disappeared to, Rose." She suspected it was Garrett but still wanted to confirm her theory. She had a lot to do after they took down Malick.

"Thank you so much, Agent Johnson. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. And did get Thomas get any help after he disappeared?" Skye questioned.

"I tried to tell him to go to a therapist but he refused to listen, said he could handle it on his own. I realize now that I probably should have pushed harder." She blamed herself.

Skye knew exactly how Rose felt and she wanted to stop that train of thought. "Rose, no. Do not do this to yourself. It's nobody's fault except for your parents."

"Will you keep me updated on Grant? This may be too much to ask but I would like to talk to him again." Rose definitely didn't feel the same way as Thomas and she wanted to make sure Grant knew that. He was responsible for his own actions, of course, and she'd make sure to give him a piece of her mind but Rose also planned on telling him she was there for him. It was probably stupid of her to be hopeful but she hoped to get through to him in ways others clearly hadn't yet.

Skye understood a little better now but she had to rush back because of the portal situation - she had a bad feeling about where this was heading. "Thank you for explaining this, Rose. And can you tell me about the well before I go?"

"Of course. The well was a traumatizing experience for everyone involved - except for of course, Christian, who placed the blame solely on Grant. Grant did change after that and he got fiercely overprotective of Tommy, who blamed him too. But a nanny who was paid hush money informed me that she saw and heard most of it - Christian taunting Grant, Tommy crying out for Grant to save him. Tommy won't listen to a word of this so I gave up trying to reason with him. And again, I don't blame him but I wish everything had gone differently."

Skye checked her watch. "Thank you again, Rose. I'll be in touch with you after we find Grant and this was an informative conversation."

She waved goodbye and then rushed back to the plane. What she didn't know was that two people were about to return from Maveth changed in a way no one had expected.