A/N: This is the requested Journey Ward made in Everyone Makes Mistakes after leaving Skye in the motel room and until she calls him when she gets kidnapped by Hydra.

If you haven't read Everyone Makes Mistakes then this probably won't make sense to you at all - you have be warned!

Enjoy!

Ward woke up a few hours after they had fallen asleep again. He saw Skye had settled and was now deeply asleep and in the most contorted position on the top of the bedding. Smiling to himself he checked the time.

05:00

Groaning lightly he slowly moved to free himself from Skye. Once his arm was free he got off the bed taking care not to roll or move her too much.

Noticing she was still wearing her boots he unzipped and removed them, pausing after each small movement so he didn't wake her. He put the boots at the end of the bed and pulled the blankets over her.

He went into the bathroom where he had put Skye's teddy and took a throwing star out of his pocket and tied it to the bear's neck. He picked up the tape recorder and sat on the edge of the bath before pressing record.

"Skye, I'm sorry I'm not there as you wake up this time, but it's still far too dangerous for me to spend too much time in one place away from paradise. If you need me for anything - tell me, even if it's to kidnap you again. I love you, and I promise to make everything right again so that, if you still want me, we can be together, regardless of your choice." He said into the microphone before stopping the tape and rewinding it.

He took a post it note out of his bag and wrote 'play me' on it before sticking it onto the recorder. He went back into the room, arranged everything so Skye would see it when she woke up and headed for the door, turning the light out as he left.

The second he left the room he saw the red dot appear on his chest. He knew it was a sniper and held his breath, waiting for the inevitable.

But it didn't come.

Instead he watched the dot move to the wall and flash in a pattern.

dot - dot - dot, pause, dot - dot - dot -dot, pause, dot - dot, pause,dot, pause,dot - dash - dot - dot, pause,dash - dot – dot.

He immediately recognised it as Morse code and began to decode it in his head.

S-H-I-E-L-D.

He looked in the general direction the dot had come from but he couldn't see anything so deciding while his head was still intact he better make a move.

He made it quickly back to the jet and set off back towards the safe house, arriving back around eight am.

Checking what time it would be in New Jersey he put two slices of bread in the toaster. When he saw that New Jersey was around two hours ahead of him he pulled out his cell phone and dialled a number. A woman's voice answered on the third ring.

"Grant?"

"Hey Hayley. Listen, I need a favour."

"What sort of favour?"

"Skye told me last night that she's pregnant. She's going to need some help to get through it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Help her through which ever path she chooses."

"She's not decided?"

"No. Can you fly to DC if she calls?"

"I have a lot to do."

"Please?"

She could clearly hear the desperation in Ward's voice.

"I'll be on the next flight. I'll just tell them I'm flying down for some sort of conference."

"Thankyou."

"I thought SHIELD has a doctor?"

"They do, kind of, Simmons. She's very brainy and medically trained. She was the one who removed that bullet out of my shoulder, but she'd talk Skye into something she might not want and would flip if she knew."

"Fair enough. Pass along my phone number."

Ward hung up the phone and took his toast out of the toaster. Leaving it on the counter he went to the gym.

He punched at the bag with his fist sending it swinging around.

"Skye's pregnant." He thought as he launched another punch at the bag. Before Ward knew it he was punching the bag for all he was worth. He forgot about the toast, he forgot about the time, he just kept punching. When he had reduced his hands to bloody messes he backed up to the wall and slumped down it, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on his them.

He stared into space, ignoring the pain in his back from sitting up against the wall.

He heard his phone bleep. He knew immediately it was Skye.

'May knows. I'm so sorry, she followed me last night – I had no idea!'

"Great, that's all I need. May was the last person I would have expected Skye to tell about this." He thought before thinking out his reply. He realised May was probably on the other end of the rifle. Anyone else and they would have shot him. He started typing.

'I wondered who was on the end of that sniper rifle as I left.'

'Wait, how did you know she had a rifle trained on you?' was the reply.

'Same way I let you know I was watching you. Flashed the spot against the wall and spelled out SHIELD.' Ward typed as he smiled at the innocence Skye still harboured. He hit send.

'She offered to tell Coulson, but I had to tell her everything before she would. Didn't tell her about paradise though – nice code name BTW!'

'I'll bet that went down like a lead balloon'

"Great, Coulson knows too. I know he needs to know as her boss, but he will kill me for sure."

Skye's reply took a few minutes to arrive, and Ward really wasn't expecting an answer.

'She knows about the phone, I am to find a doctor to help me out and I am only allowed to contact you in a genuine emergency.'

Instantly knowing what he needed to do Ward typed so fast when he read the message before hitting send it was incomprehensible, so he deleted it and tried again:

'Ok, but May better take damn good care of you. As for the doctor – Hayley Stewart,555-545493, and for God sake – don't tell them who she really is.'

Knowing that Skye wouldn't be able to reply to his text he put his phone down on the floor next to him and hauled his weary body to his feet. He slowly walked to the bathroom and washed his hands of the dry and still weeping blood before applying bandaging to help them heal. HE walked back down the workout area and picked his phone up. He took it to his computer room and used surgical spirit and cotton buds to clean the blood he transferred from his hands when he was texting. Having finished cleaning his phone Ward reclimbed the stairs and headed to his bedroom where he let himself fall onto the bed.

"Daddy! Daddy! I've hurt my arm!" a young Ward called as he ran into his parent's house clutching his arm.

"It seems fine." His father told him as she glanced at it.

"But it really really hurts" he cried.

"Stop crying and go play with your brothers."

Ward went outside to find his brothers. He found Christian standing over Thomas stabbing the ground around him with a stick.

"Chris, leave him alone." Ward pleaded as he saw the look in Thomas's eye.

"And why would I do that. Oh yes, so you can take my place."

"No. I don't want..." Ward protested, but Christian ran forwards and gripped him by his injured arm, twisting it as he forced him forwards.

Ward was sure his parents could hear him scream in the house, but they either didn't care or thought he was faking it for attention.

"Do it!" Christian hissed, tossing Ward the stick.

Ward, knowing Christian now knew he had hurt his arm, didn't want him to force him in the same way, so he took the stick and with tears forming in his eyes he started stabbing the ground around Thomas's terrified body.

"Faster! Faster!" Christian clapped.

Ward sped up his torment with the stick and Thomas screwed his eyes shut.

"Keep your eyes open!" Christian demanded.

The cruel game continued in this way until Ward missed and pierced the skin on Thomas's leg with the stick making him bleed.

"Ok you can stop now." Christian told him before walking off towards the stream.

Ward was left to pick Thomas up and help him back to the house. He nearly blacked out from the pain in his arm, but he managed to drag him back to the house.

His parent's, seeing the wound to Thomas's leg immediately began to coo over him, pushing Ward to one side so they could treat him.

"He's going to need stitches" his father said.

"We'd better take him too." His mother said, nodding towards Ward.

Ward and Thomas were bundled in the car and driven to the ER.

When they were there Thomas was taken into a cubicle and his leg stitched up, leaving Ward alone in the waiting room.

"Are you alright my dear?" A doctor in blue scrubs asked him gently.

Ward shook his head.

"Where are your parents?"

Ward nodded towards the ER and the cubicle where Thomas was.

"Are you hurt?" the doctor asked him.

Ward nodded.

The doctor picked him up and carried him to his own cubicle next to his brothers.

He could hear his parents talking to the doctor. He heard them say Thomas had fallen out of a tree and landed on a branch.

He was given an X Ray on his arm before his parents finally noticed he was missing from the waiting room.

"Grant!" his mother screamed.

His doctor left his bedside. He wanted desperately to ask the doctor to stay, but he couldn't find the words.

He could hear murmurs of the doctor and his mother talking before the curtain to his bed was pulled back and his mother was stood there looking at him, fury clear in her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me you fell out of the tree too. We would have told the doctor to look you over as well as your brother." She said to him in what Ward called her 'mockcern' voice. It was the voice she used when she needed to pretend to care about him.

The X Rays came back indicating Ward had not only broken one of the bones in his forearm, but the other had been twisted out of its joint.

"Must have been where he landed." His mother told the doctor.

Once they had finally got home, Ward was sent to his room without supper and grounded for a week for causing them so much inconvenience while Thomas was treated to apple pie and ice cream and put to bed with a kiss.

Ward woke up, his heart pounding in his chest, his head feeling full.

"I'm not going to be a good father." He thought as he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

He was woken up in the morning by his phone ringing. He answered it without looking at the display.

"Skye?"

"No, it's me. I thought I'd give you a heads up. I think you're going to be a father."

Ward groaned down the phone.

"What's up?"

"I'm not going to be a good father."

"Rubbish."

"It's true. Look at what I grew up with?"

"So what, you grew up in hell, but at least you know how not to act."

"What if I screw this up?"

"Newsflash! Parenting doesn't come with a manual. If it did it would probably be the most sold book in the world."

"I don't think I can do this."

"Of course you can. Listen, meet me in Liberty State park tomorrow."

"Time?"

"Eleven?"

"Twelve and we do lunch?"

"Alright, I'll see you there. Meet me on the south side of the children's area on the bench in the middle."

The following day Ward arrived at the park with half an hour to spare. He watched as he saw parents playing with their children and all of the happy laughter that was coming out of the playground. He watched as one young mother tried to juggle between her two youngish children. She was giving them instructions on what they were and weren't allowed to do and if they behaved themselves they were allowed an ice cream.

He watched as one of the children asked to be put in the swing while the other one started playing on the pirate ship frame.

The mother put the youngest child in the swing and started pushing it backwards and forwards while periodically checking on her other child.

Ward saw the child's attention drawn to a balloon that was floating around the play area and he looked for the source. He quickly found it. It was a child's party on the other side of a line of trees.

He looked back at the child and saw it run, trip and fall.

Ward reacted quickly and was about to go pick the child up and check to see if she was alright, but her mother, looking for her oldest child saw her crying on the ground, a graze weeping on her knee. He watched as the mother picked up the child, place her on a bench and use a tissue to wipe the blood away, while one of the other mothers was pushing her youngest in the swing.

"Yeah! 'Cause you're not going to be a good father." A voice said in his ear making him jump.

"When did you become so sneaky?" he asked as Hayley moved and sat on the bench next to him.

"You live your life breaking out of a Hydra guarded house you learn a trick or two." She said, hitting him playfully.

"Why are you convinced I'd be good at this?"

"Because you're first reaction to that little girl falling over was to go and pick her up and make sure she was alright. When her mother got there before you, you checked on the younger one. Because everytime I fell over as a kid you were the one who cared enough to patch me up, when Chris picked on Thomas you did your best to stop him. You have a protective personality. Anyone and everyone who is more vulnerable than you, you try to protect them, occasionally getting hurt in the process."

"That's not true."

"Then why is my name now Hayley Stewart instead of Heather Ward? Come on, let's do lunch, I'm starving!"

Ward landed the jet in the clearing by the charred remains of his parent's house. He walked through the ruins, the cracked stone and wood crumbling and snapping under his feet. More memories from his childhood surfaced to the front of his mind. None of them were particularly happy memories, but he realised Hayley was right. In many of the situations he found himself in, he only carried out the actions asked of him to protect someone. First it was Thomas from Christian, and then it was Hayley from all of them. From his memories it was clear that Thomas was the favourite and he kicked himself for not seeing that was why Christian did what he did to him out of jealousy. Then he kicked himself again for believing he could have seen that at the age he was.

He went back to the jet, picked up his rucksack and headed out into the woods. It was cold and Ward was pretty sure snow was going to fall at some point soon, but he needed to it.

He found a spot by the stream where he remembered fish like to swim and he set up a camp. He was only going to spend a couple of days camping in the cold, but he wanted to remember.

He quickly got a fire lit and his tent erected before he filled the kettle with water from the stream and placed it over the fire.

Once it boiled he made himself a cup of coffee and pulled the papers Hayley had given him out of his bag. He read through them and laughed at the thought of Skye limiting her coffee intake. Once he had read the information a few times he put them back in his back and pulled out his book. He read until he started to feel hungry.

He put his book down and fed the fire some more wood before taking his rifle out of its case and headed a little deeper into the woods away from his camp.

As he waited his thoughts turned to Buddy, his faithful dog. There was a flash of a shadow as a bird flew over his head. Ward lined up the shot and pulled the trigger. The bird fell to the ground. Dead.

He smiled as he remembered Buddy running away from the gunshot instead of sniffing out his kill. Then her remembered trying to protect Buddy by firing into the air forcing him to run away where he stood a better chance of someone taking him in before Garret shot him.

Picking up his kill Ward headed back towards his camp. He was starting to thing Hayley had a point. There were some things he wanted to protect and sometimes he didn't even realise it.

He prepared his kill and set up a spit roast to cook it on before re boiling the kettle and pulling several hot water bottles out of his bag.

He filled them and put them inside his sleeping bag knowing they would protect him from the cold air in his tent.

He spent a couple of days camping by the stream before heading back to the jet and flying back to Paradise.

On his trek back to the jet, Ward saw the remains of the treehouse he and Hayley had spent a summer building in an old oak tree. It was higher than the average one, but Ward and Hayley hadn't cared. In fact, for them the higher off the ground it was the better as Christian and Thomas weren't that good at climbing so they were safe when they were there.

Ward changed his direction and headed for the treehouse. It still had no ladder and he daren't climb it because he could see from the ground the wood had got rotten over the years of neglect and non use.

He smiled as he remembered a six year old Hayley hammering the last nail into the safety railing with his help and she cheered because they could finally camp out in the woods and be safe from bears. Ward chuckled as he remembered he never had the heart to tell Hayley that the woods they had never had a bear sighting and that she was paranoid for nothing.

The two of them spent an entire week camping in the tree house, using a pulley wheel to pull their supplies to and from it.

He wiped away the fallen leaves from the base of the tree and found the plaque Hayley had made. It read 'This treehouse was built by Grant and Hayley so I wouldn't climb it if I were you!'

Laughing at her trust issues Ward set off towards the jet again.

Once he made it back to Paradise, Ward logged onto the computers looking for everything he could about being a parent. He even looked up what Skye would be going through in more detail. He read all of the information he could find, trying to sift through what was myth and what was fact.

Within a few days however, his eyes were getting sore from looking at the computer screen for so long so he researched books on pregnancy. Once he had compiled a comprehensive list of books he researched the best place for him to buy them from.

He settled on Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The following day Ward flew to the store where he had reserved the books. While he was there he browsed the books, looking for a new one that he could read.

He walked down the end of the aisle and saw, reflected in the mirror a face he recognised. IT was someone he had worked with at Hydra. It didn't look like the man had come for him, more that this was his regular book store.

Ward patted the gun he had concealed at his hip and looked around him for a spot where he could hide. He spotted an air conditioning grate that had clearly been kicked a few times and had come lose.

Ward worked at it a little more while keeping the Hydra agent in his sight. It came loose and Ward slid into it just as the agent turned to walk down the aisle towards Ward's hiding place. Ward made himself as small as he could while watching the distinctive feet of the agent move around. He watched for around ten minutes before he saw the shoes of the agent walk out of the door. Leaving it a few more minutes, Ward slowly got out of his hiding place and fastened the grate back to the wall.

He hurried towards the checkout and asked them to get the order he had on hold. Knowing that Hydra were around he didn't want to waste another second.

The assistant got him his books, scanned them and put them in a bag. Ward handed over the money for them.

"Keep the change." He told her and left to get back to the safety of the jet.

Ward got back to Paradise and put the books in a spare area on the shelves before turning back to the computer and saving the information he knew was accurate to his USB stick. He saw the file Skye had left on it and he opened it to find all of the pictures he had let them take on their road trip. He sat back in his chair and thought about that trip again. He remembered the way the lights danced in the sky in Alaska. He regretted not taking a picture while he could, but then remembered he and Skye weren't at the picture taking phase when they were there.

He flicked through the pictures until a video file started playing. He knew he should press stop, but there was something stopping him.

He watched it until Christian's last words to him came through the speakers loud and clear.

"I do want you to do a few things for me. I want you to burn this hell hole to the ground, just like you tried to do before. I didn't understand it then, but I do now.

I want you to do what you have to do to become free from Hydra then I want you to meet a woman, fall in love and have a beautiful family.

The last thing I want you to do is forgive. I want you to forgive me for ruining your childhood and I want you to forgive me for not being the brother I should have been. You were the strong compassionate one and I resented you for it.

I love you Grant. I haven't said that often enough, but it's true and I want you to forgive yourself."

Ward stopped the video. He knew what was going to happen next and did not want to relive it.

"So I have something to tell you." Ward said as he placed some flowers on Christian's grave before sitting in the grass next to it "I met a girl and I think we are having a baby. She still has to make her mind up if that's what she wants. You'd like her; she hit Thomas for calling her a bimbo. Knocked him out cold in two moves!

It's a little complicated with us at the moment. She's a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and everyone she works with hates me because I tried to kill them all, but I would move heaven and earth to protect her and to protect her I need to protect them. I think that would be the first step at redemption, so I am working on being free from Hydra, but with a hit on my life it's a little more complicated than simply switching sides.

I should have told you about Heather too. I know you confirmed she was dead and I think you knew I'd sent her away, but I should have given you the details. I'm sorry. Her new name is Hayley and she's a doctor so she's done really well for herself despite growing up with us in Hell."

Ward put his hand on the top of the stone and sat looking at it for a few minutes before getting to his feet and leaving. He had arranged to meet Hayley for lunch.

"You look like crap!" Hayley told him as he took his seat at their table.

"Gee, thanks. It's been a rough couple of weeks."

"That doesn't explain why your eyes are red rimmed."

"I've spent far too long reading at the computer."

"They would have returned to normal by now."

"I went to Chris's grave."

"I thought you hated Chris."

"We made up shortly before he died. How's Skye?"

"She's fine. The baby's fine and no, she hasn't made a decision."

"Thanks for doing this. I owe you one."

"You owe me nothing."

Ward laughed.

"What?"

"I went to the house the other day and I saw the treehouse. I remembered building it and you finally being happy to camp out in the woods safe from bears."

"This is where you tell me there were no bears."

"There were no bears, but you were so adamant and stubborn that there was nothing I could say or do to change it."

"How was it looking?"

"I looked better than the rest of the house, but I wouldn't recommend climbing up to it."

"If you and Skye do this thing and when you both eventually retire you could build your baby one in the back garden."

"You could help."

"Your child would probably be a better option. It was so much fun making that treehouse. Especially when we finally got to camp in it. Have you changed your mind?"

"About what?"

"About you being a good dad?"

"Not completely. I have done loads of research and I've got some books so I can be as prepared as I can, but I don't know if that's going to be enough."

"That's all you can do. Just remember you aren't them."

"I know, otherwise I would have dropped you out of the treehouse."

Ward thought, while he was in the northern United States that he would pay a visit to Alaska. He landed the jet as close to the motel in Fairbanks as he could. He checked into the same motel he and Skye had stayed in and waited for it to get dark. While he was waiting he brought a blanket out onto the balcony and sat, mountains in the background, reading the baby book and looking out over the view.

He could hear a small chortle of laughter coming from the balcony next to him and he looked up to see a small boy, no older than three years old, climbing on the chair and table. His parents could clearly be heard in their room discussing what they were going to be doing for dinner.

Ward watched as the little boy continued to climb, but the closer he got the top of the balcony railings the more Ward felt his body tense up. Ward, not wanting to scare the child inched closer to the edge of his balcony, swinging over to the wrong side, ready to leap into action should the boy fall.

A bird flew past the room and Ward saw the boy reach out for it. Instinctively, Ward leapt from his balcony to that of his neighbours to catch the boy. He managed to wrap his hand around the boy's wrist while gripping hold of one of the bars of the balcony to stop them both from falling.

Ward heard the parents of the boy ask where he was, neither having an answer so they searched the room, eventually coming to the open door.

"Hey Kid, if I pull you up can you wrap your legs around me?" he called down to the boy.

The terrified boy nodded and Ward pulled his little arm so the child could wrap his legs around Ward's waist. The second Ward let go of the boy's arm he wrapped them both around Ward's neck and held tight as Ward gripped the balcony with both hands and pulled himself up.

"ASHLEY!" he could hear the mother scream above him.

Ward glanced up and the mother was looking everywhere but down.

He got into a position where he could get his foot onto the balcony and suddenly felt a pair of hands pulling him up. Once Ward felt secure he passed the boy to his parents before swinging onto their balcony.

"Thankyou!" The mother cried at Ward as she hugged her son.

"How can we repay you?" The father asked him.

"There's no need. I was just in the right place at the right time."

"Do you have children?" the mother asked.

"Not yet. Maybe one day."

"You'd be a good father."

"You don't know me!"

"I know you risked your life to save my son. And that's all I need to know."

"I should return to my room." Ward told the couple.

"Here, we'll let you out."

"I don't have my key. It's probably be easier to climb back over."

Ward watched as they went back into their room, locking the door securely before he climbed back to his own room and watched for the sun to set.

He spent an enjoyable few hours watching the Northern Lights again and taking photographs with the camera Skye had left at the safe house.

Ward returned to Paradise and settled into a routine. He would get up, have a run around the deserted parts of the island before returning to the safety of the house, work on his strength and agility, eat some food and spend the rest of the day reading the books he bought.

He was sat reading 'Your new Pregnancy Bible: The expert's guide to pregnancy and early parenthood' when his phone rang.

Checking the caller ID he saw it was Skye. He answered the phone quickly, happy to hear from her.

"Skye! I thought contacting me was against the rules." He chuckled, which soon died in his mouth as he heard a thud, zaps of electricity and Skye scream May's