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Ward didn't know how the fight got started but he knew it was because Fitz was being stubborn. All he wanted to do was protect him. Why couldn't Fitz understand that? "Stop acting like you don't know why I'm doing this!" Ward snapped.
"You don't have to be so overprotective, Ward! I'm fine – nothing's going to happen to me. What don't you understand about that?" Fitz understood why Ward was acting this way but it was driving him crazy today (most likely because he was in a bad mood).
"Guys, calm down. It's not that big of a deal," Skye tried. She wanted to halt this fight in its tracks but that was looking more and more unlikely since both seemed upset.
"I don't want you to get hurt, Fitz. That's all." Surely he could understand that?
Fitz rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to get hurt. All this is is recon. Jemma and I will go in to try to find some evidence. I'm sure whatever we're looking for won't be there any longer." He wasn't fragile and he wished the team would stop treating him like he was. He was a grown man who could take care of himself.
"I am only trying to protect you, Dana!" Dead silence. Coulson's head snapped up so fast he hurt himself and wished immediately he hadn't done that.
The look on Ward's face broke Skye and Fitz's heart. "Ward?" asked Skye cautiously.
He didn't respond. All he did was spin around and bolt out of the kitchen like a bat out of hell. "Should we leave him alone? Go talk to him? He called me by his younger brother's name." Fitz now understood a little more why the specialist worried so much about him. It hurt.
"He might need some time by himself but we'll go after him if we don't hear from him within twenty minutes." Skye wanted to cut down the time limit considerably but she knew what Ward was like, and that he needed time to process this.
Fitz tried to distract himself but found that his worry for Ward refused to fade. "I'm going to go find him – he's pretty having a meltdown." It had only been five minutes but he didn't give a fuck. The man he considered to be a big brother needed him.
"Don't leave without me!" Skye took her fingernail out of her mouth and ran after Fitz as they started the search for Ward. He wasn't in his bunk nor anywhere else so they headed towards the cargo bay. Neither was surprised to find him attacking the punching bag.
"You shouldn't be here," he mumbled when he finally noticed Skye and Fitz.
"Tough shit – you can't just say something like that and vanish. We need to talk about this." She didn't mention his therapist (he needed to decide on his own about whether or not to make an appointment). Skye waved.
"Why are you waving at me? We already talked and you're right here." Yes, Ward would do anything to avoid this conversation. It was official. He was just terrified as fuck that Fitz hated him for everything that went down after the Hydra reveal, that he still blamed him for what happened in that pod. He'd never forgive himself for it even though the others had.
"Ward, I'm not angry with you. I'm worried now but I forgave you a long time ago. I told you that – repeatedly – remember? You're my big brother, Grant, and I know you think of me as a little brother. That little slip of the tongue definitely proved it. You see me as Dana?"
Ward shrugged. "I didn't mean to call you by his name. I'm trying to protect all of you the only way I know how, and I keep fucking it up."
Skye shook her head. "You're trying your best, Ward. You're definitely not fucking this up. Sure, you can be a little overbearing sometimes but given your past, we understand why. And nothing will ever change the way we feel and worry about you." She strangled the urge to kiss him – they were nowhere near ready to be what they once were. It'd take them a long time to reach that point again.
With Ward's permission, Fitz slapped him on the back. And although he had been expecting it – and was fine with Fitz's actions – he still flinched. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize to me because you flinched. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm going to hug you now."
Ward opened his arms and a few seconds later, they were full of Fitz. "Come over here. If you want to that is," he told Skye.
She nodded and joined in on the impromptu hug. "You're both very warm and comfortable," she murmured.
"He's like a human furnace," Fitz said happily as he burrowed himself into Ward's side even further.
Fitz and Ward talked rationally after that, and Fitz ended up going in on recon with Jemma and Trip for support. That satisfied Ward enough that he calmed down considerably. And when Fitz asked, Ward told him about Dana and what he was like. He tried to talk Ward into calling or visiting his younger brother, but Ward couldn't do it. That's okay – they'd work him up to it and he'd visit when he was ready.