The latest case brought them to the small town of Jonstone, where a teenage girl had gained powers after a freak accident at the school. She could use all the elements as well as move things with her mind; Coulson and the team had been asked to come in and help see if she was a danger to others or herself. Jemma was told that she would be the one to examine the girl, so she was preparing all the machines and equipment; Skye joined her since they all thought that she shouldn't be alone in the lab, it hadn't been too long since Fitz had die due to complications at the hospital and everyone was worried about Jemma.
Coulson had decided to give Ward a second chance after he confessed to everything that he had done and why he had done it, even though the rest of the team weren't too sure if Ward could be trusted again; Skye stayed close to Jemma in fear of what Ward would do if left alone with her. Triplett watched him like a hawk as did May, but the few weeks he had been on missions with them he had proven that he cared and wanted to help them; he gave them all the information on Hydra as he possible could and helped them capture some of their key players.
Jemma had forgiven him for what he had done and he even gave her the reason why he sent them out of the plane; which was he thought they'd be safer off the plane and in a pod that was made to float, he didn't know that they pod would sink. This newly formed team worked well together and they had done a lot of good with everything that they had accomplished; they even gathered new allies in the governments around the world, they proved to be the good guys not Hydra. So as they headed to this small town they were sort of going in blind. No one had pictures of the girl whether it be on paper or on the internet; Skye had searched long and hard for the girl, but never found her.
"All right this is the girls house according to the sheriff in town." Coulson said as he brought up a map of the girls house.
"Where are her parents?" Skye asked.
"Her mother died giving birth and her father just recently got out of jail, he almost immediately got custody back. No one else wanted her."
"What was her father in jail for?" Jemma asked concerned.
"Let me look…murder." Coulson said as he looked through the file again.
"They put a girl back with her father who's a murderer?"
"Yes."
"That's totally wrong. She deserves better." Skye said not liking the fact the no one was fighting for this girl to have a normal happy childhood.
"She does." May said agreeing with Skye.
"What's her name?"
"Natalie." Coulson replied.
"No last name?" Skye said surprised.
"Her father didn't want his name tainted." May replied reading the file from next to Coulson.
"Let's get there as quickly as possible and see what is going on. We need to either confirm that she has powers or if the town just wanted to get rid of her." Coulson said.
"We'll be landing in a field near the house in five minutes." May said as she left the room to go land the plane.
"Skye, you and Triplett will go into town and talk with the locals. Jemma you and Ward will go to the girls house and get the father to release her to us, until we know what we're dealing with. May and I will meet up with the sheriff and talk with him about what exactly has been going on. Coms stay open and keep in contact."
"Yes, sir." The rest of the team replied before heading their separate ways to gather what they would need. Triplett, Ward, and Skye immediately headed to the armory to grab what they thought they would need; while Jemma stayed in the lab and gathered a few gadgets that would help with having the girl show her abilities.
Soon the plane was landed and everyone was headed in separate directions, Ward and Jemma took one of the SUVs, Triplett and Skye took the other they had brought to the field, and Coulson and May took Lola.
"Jemma, I want you to stay close to me. We don't know if or what Natalie is capable of." Ward said as they drove up Natalie's fathers drive.
"Okay." Jemma said agreeing with Ward as they got out of the SUV.
Ward immediately moved to be in front of Jemma, checking all the windows for a person in waiting, and when he didn't see anyone he started to head for the door. Jemma followed Ward closely, even though she'd been training with Skye she still felt as if she wasn't ready; Triplett, May, Skye, and Ward all made sure that she knew the basics and also had other training for any situations that would possibly come up. Once they reached the door Ward knocked once on the door and the door opened on its own; Ward immediately pulled out his gun and gave Jemma a look that said, 'I'm going first, stick close to me.', which she did as he entered the house first.
Ward started to look clear the house with Jemma close by him; when they had cleared the house except a room that had multiple locks on it they knew that Natalie would be behind it. Ward got some bolt cutters and cut the locks off the door; Jemma stayed nearby with some medical supplies waiting. Jemma was worried about Natalie if her father was keeping her locked in a room there was probably abuse involved and she wondered if Natalie would be hurt or afraid of them.
"Natalie my name is Jemma. My friend and I are here to help you. We're going to open the door okay?" Jemma said once Ward broke the last lock.
"Please go away. Dad will be angry." Natalie said softly.
"We're not going to do that. We want to help you. We want to take you away from this place."
"I'm not allowed out. Dad will hurt me."
"We won't let him." Ward said in a gentle voice. "I won't let him hurt you."
"Okay." Natalie said.
Ward opened the door to find a teen younger than what they thought, tattered clothes, bruises everywhere, and a few spots of blood on her clothes and her. Jemma held out her hand for Natalie to take and said, "I'm Jemma."
"Hi."
"Come on out."
"Okay."
Natalie then exited the closet; Ward and Jemma could see the damage that her father had done and it made them both sick to their stomachs but they weren't going to let Natalie see that.
"Look out." Natalie said as she pushed Jemma out of the way of a bullet that was fired from the gun of Natalie's father.
Ward immediately moved to Natalie's father and grabbed the gun twisted and got it out of Natalie's father's hands; Jemma got back on her feet, but turned to notice that Natalie didn't get up. Jemma went over to her to check her for wounds and found that she had been shot; Ward subdued Natalie's father and moved to help Jemma.
"Natalie we're going to take you away from here. Just hold on. Ward I need the bus here." Jemma said as she started to apply pressure to the wound.
"May and Coulson are on their way back to the bus. What do you need me to do?" Ward asked.
"Help me get her to the SUV. We need to hurry back to the bus."
"All right grab your equipment. I'll carry her and I'll have Skye and Triplett come pick him up."
Ward then moved to pick Natalie up, who seemed frightened by having him so close to her; Jemma noticed and reassured her that he was a good guy and wouldn't hurt her. Natalie calmed down and let Ward pick her up and carry her to the car; on the way to the car Ward got a hold of Skye and Triplett and had them come to the house to pick up the girl's father, who was still handcuffed and unconscious.
When Ward, Jemma, and Natalie pulled into the cargo ramp May and Coulson came to help as best they could as Jemma was giving instructions to them. They got Natalie in to the infirmary and Jemma started to work on Natalie, as she was starting to try and retrieve the bullet Skye and Triplett came in with the girl's father; Triplett then suited up in hospital gear so that he could help Jemma, since he had the most medical training (after Jemma of course). May got them in the air as quickly as possible to get out of the area in case the father had followers; Jemma and Triplett worked on the girl and soon informed the others of her condition.
"She's had several broken bones that are in different phases of healing, she has bruised internal organs, and several wounds that I cleaned and bandaged. I took out the bullet and patched her up, it hit an artery, but I fixed everything. She should make a full recovery." Jemma said.
"What are we going to do now?" Skye asked unsure of what was going to happen to Natalie.
"Her father will be dropped off at the local sheriff's office and he will be charged for attempted murder and child abuse. He relinquished custody to SHIELD. So she will be under our care until we find her a good home." Coulson said.
"I'll stay with her." Jemma said as the rest of the team started to pile out.
"I'll stay with you." Ward said as he sat on the stool in the corner of the room; Jemma sat near Ward, but close enough to Natalie if she needed her.
Once everyone left Ward and Jemma started to play a board game on the table in the room; Jemma's favorite game scrabble which Ward wasn't quite as good at.
"Jemma, I know that I've told you this a lot, but I feel like you deserve to hear it every day. I'm sorry for what I did. I know it doesn't bring Fitz back and I'm sorry that I took him away from you and this team." Ward said softly so only Jemma could hear him.
"I know Grant. It's okay. I understand." Jemma said softly back.
"I know. I just feel you deserve so much more. If I could I'd switch places with Fitz and have him here with you."
"Oh Grant, please don't think that way. I know Fitz would like to be here, but you are a part of this family we need you too. I forgive you. It's going to be okay."
Jemma gave Ward's hand a squeeze, but instead of letting go she held on tight; he was surprised at first, but he let her hold his hand. He wanted her to feel safe with him like she used to; he wanted her to be his friend again. He knew the moment he heard that Fitz had passed that he was going to spend the rest of his life trying to make up for the mistake he made.
A short time later Natalie woke up to find that she was in a safe place away from her father; Jemma told her of all her injuries and that they were going to take good care of her. Natalie stayed with the team till she was completely healed and learned a lot from them, she was sent to the academy that was up and running again.
