I don't own SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

Warning: Mentions of abuse.

When Ward mentioned that all his books came from Garrett, Skye and Jemma decided right there and then that he needed a bookstore. "You need to decide for yourself what you want to read, what you like. You need to make these types of decisions on your own. And you can read for fun instead of your abusive psychopath of a mentor making you do it." Skye tried to tamper down her sadness at the thought of the horrific treatment Ward suffered at Garrett's hands – it didn't help anyone, especially since the man was long dead now.

"Going to a bookstore does sound like it could be fun," he finally admitted. Ward still hard a hard time overcoming the feeling that he was being selfish for wanting things to himself, but his therapist was slowly convincing him that that wasn't the case, that he could have what he wanted without thinking of others first.

"We'll take you to every section because there are many different selections. You probably won't know what to buy because there' so many choices." Jemma didn't realize how true that would end up being – if she had, she wouldn't have joked about it.

"Sounds like fun."

"We can probably avoid the romance section – pretty sure Ward doesn't want to read that crap," Skye pointed out to Jemma. The two women dissolved into giggles and he folded his arms.

"You might like them," Jemma told Ward as laughter shook her body.

He finally rolled his eyes. "Can we go now? I'd like to get back here before it gets dark." Ward didn't want to be out shopping all day, but Skye and Jemma could convince him to do anything they asked (this was the problem of living with the love of your life and surrogate little sister).

"Of course we can." Skye playfully swatted at his shoulder and followed him to the car. It only took them about ten minutes to arrive at the nearest bookstore, and Ward looked upon it with awe, excitement, and fear the instant they stepped inside.

"Where do you want to go first?" Jemma questioned. They generally let him make the decisions now since he couldn't before.

Ward turned his gaze towards Skye. "I don't know – where do you think is best?"

She gave him a sad smile. "It's up to you – I'm only here to get my own books."

He rolled his shoulders to calm himself down. "Okay, I can do this. Let's head towards the science fiction section first – sounds pretty interesting." He was thirty-two fucking years old and he could finally make his own decisions after not being able to all his life. Ward was not a child and he knew this, but not giving in to the worry and fear? Was really hard sometimes (most of the time, honestly).

"That's the spirit. Jemma and I will meet back up with you in ten minutes."

"Call if you need us." Jemma smiled at him and then headed off in another direction. Meanwhile, Skye headed to the mystery section – it was right by the science fiction novels - so she could keep an eye on him just in case he fell apart (it was known to happen).

Ward scanned the aisles several times and tried to find something that interested him. He picked up a few books and started trying to figure out what he wanted. He felt panic begin to build once he realized he didn't know which one he wanted. With four books in hand, he wandered off towards the history section to look at the non-fiction titles. Unfortunately, he started to feel overwhelmed pretty quickly again. He was near tears trying to figure out which ones he wanted for sure when Skye and Jemma rescued him. "I can't do this," he tearfully informed them.

"Hey, don't cry – this isn't a big deal. Normal people go through this all the time at the bookstore." Skye smiled at him as Jemma took the books out of his hands. She pulled him in for a brief hug and he calmed down instantly. "You okay now? No incoming meltdown?"

Ward nodded and pulled away. "Sorry." He felt embarrassed now even though this had already happened several times.

"What did we tell you about apologizing? And why don't Skye and I narrow down your choices considerably so you have less to choose from? Does that work for you?" Jemma suddenly regretted this choice – letting Ward loose in a place where he had to make this many choices on his own probably hadn't been a good idea in the first place.

"Yeah." He looked down at the floor and wished he could make decisions without falling apart. He hated this.

Skye kissed the top of his head before she and Jemma started to sort through the books Ward picked up. The two women did narrow down the choices by a lot, and he felt much better about selecting them after that. "We'll pay for your purchases and meet you by the car before we take on the rest of the mall. I'm sure you don't like the crowds too much."

"Thanks." He kissed her then squeezed Jemma's hand before leaving the bookstore. The two of them made a brief detour before heading up to the cash registers.

Later that night, when Ward was watching a movie on TV, Skye and Jemma surprised him with one of their purchases. "We decided to get you something else too," Skye told him. She hoped he loved his gift.

"And don't you dare tell us we shouldn't have bought it because you need one." Jemma handed over the wrapped gift, and he stared at it puzzled.

Ward started to open it up and actually gasped when the torn wrapping paper revealed a Kindle. "You didn't have to do this," he told them. "But thank you."

"I'm glad you ended it like that. You're welcome. And there's also some gift cards there so you can get started on that. This way, you don't have to step foot in a bookstore ever again and you have a wide variety of selections." Jemma was caught off guard when Ward gently set down his new Kindle and pulled her in for a hug. He proceeded to bring Skye into it a few seconds afterwards (and he rewarded her in bed that night too).

Ward felt touched that they had even thought of buying him a Kindle – the thought had never crossed his mind (probably because Garrett had always controlled everything he read before) – and told them that this was the best gift he had ever gotten.

The Kindle was a gift that Grant Ward used often, and Jemma and Skye considered it to the best purchase they ever made for him. Ward was always grateful and read whenever he found the time.