A/N: It's hard to write against cannon. This is my first attempt to continue to support my abused, tormented, ridiculed and shamed ship. My only consolation is that after watching the other events on the show, disgracing mayward is the least of its problems. I don't care, I'm pretty stubborn. Mayward it is!
Please tell me what you think.
"I'm going in." She tells Coulson.
"No way" Coulson screams over the noisy rain of bullets that is shedding upon them "I already have one agent compromised, I won't have you risking yourself too."
"He can't hold on like this for too long" She tries to sound composed despite the blinding rage she feels when he denies her request "Please Phil, let me go in there. I can get him out."
"You're staying put, May" he barks at her, dropping with his back against the van, replacing his magazine "did you hear me? It's an order. I need you out here, with me, to protect the others."
She purses her lips angrily, exhaling sharply as she looks back at the two other agents who are crouching against the other car. The bullets keep whistling above them nonstop for what she estimates is about ten whole minutes and there's still no sign from Ward. No even word over the com. She shakes her head, feeling helpless and useless. She can't believe they are stuck in this mess.
The mission seemed simple at the beginning. A routine call about an 0-8-4 in the Californian desert. The object was found buried in the sand by two surveyors who were mapping the area for the water company, and unfortunately they were the closest team to the scene. The orders were to pull in, extract the object and wrap it up nicely for sending to the sand box, and it couldn't sound simpler. Only when they got there, the 0-8-4 was already moved. State police gave a description of an unidentified team, traveling in three armed hammers showing up from nowhere and storming the grounds. They took the object, injured two cops and a bystander before disappearing to nowhere. They used satellite surveillance and heat signatures to locate them in an uncharted, secured compound in southern California. They identified high barbwires, a few trailers, vehicles shed and one tall building with what looked like armored doors and armed guards in every entrance. She sent a glance towards Ward in the briefing room when Coulson laid out the images from the initial parameter check, seeing him smiling slightly "no problem" he said in his usual reassuring way, moving the map on the holotable and sowing them the numerous holes he found in the facility's security after hardly a glance. Coulson looked at her questioningly, and she was happy to agree with the other specialist's assessment. "No problem."
Only it was a problem, after all. A very big problem.
The plan was clear. The tower was a signals sealed area, according to Fitz's scans. They had no way to look inside, even Fitz's D.W.A. were not an option. They decided to send Ward alone, with one of Fitz's special transmitters which he can hook to the building's electricity system. Once he'd identified the object, he'll send them a signal and May and Coulson will storm in, to secure a way out of the tower. Fitz, Skye and Simmons will create a big distraction in the other side of the compound, to allow them to clear out.
"How big?" Fitz asked with an unhidden excitement.
"Big" Coulson smiled.
"I can use the electromagnetic beam. It will feel like an earthquake" his eyes sparkled.
"Not that big!" Coulson, May and Ward cried together. She'd never seen Skye and Fitz look so disappointed before…
She looks at the two scientists currently hiding behind the second van as the hostiles keep shooting at them. Skye is on her computer, scanning the few signals they have frantically and disregarding the commotion around her "they must had some kind of security detecting system" she says over the com. She's right, the moment Ward landed on the other side of the fence all hell broke loose. They jumped him so quickly; Coulson and she could just stand there, helpless, and watch them knocking him out and dragging him into the tower. This was almost an hour ago. Half an hour ago they decided to try a wet approach, betting on the chaos Ward's appearance must have caused among their opponents. They crashed the van into the fence, shooting three guards and running another one over, and they were so close, she could practically see the tower's door, open before her. She almost made it inside, but after their short unopposed breach, the hostiles got back to their senses and started raining this hell of bullets on them. They had to retreat. They parked the vans behind a low elevation in the terrain, and took a defensive position. An hour and he's all alone in there. She knows how good he is. Knows he was train to sustain an interrogation, to be able to tell lies, to trick them, to evade captivity... Still… an hour!
"A heavy breach is out of the question" she shouts at Coulson over the noise.
"I tend to agree" he shouts back.
"We need reinforcement."
"Simmons had already made the call. ETA is sixty minutes." She closes her eyes. It's too long.
"I'm going in." She shouts, reloading her gun and securing it behind her back.
"We've already discussed this." He shouts his hand on her shoulder "you're not moving out of my sight."
"I don't care" she shouts back, shaking his hand away "you can punish me later."
Before he has a chance to argue she's out of their hideout. She runs towards the fence, avoiding the bullets that are shrieking around her.
"Cover her" Coulson shouts in the com, and Fitz and Simmons comply, shooting at the multiple sources of fire.
She jumps the fence, and makes a run towards the tower. She engages four security guards but they're not a match to her in contact fighting. She kills two of them, neutralizes one and takes the fourth with her, with her gun shoved in his throat. The last thing they see is the door closes behind her.
()()()
"Fuck you!"
A strong fist is crashing against his jaw as retaliation. Its force is so strong it knocks him and the chair he is tied onto off, and he crashes on the floor with a loud thud. He takes a deep breath, trying to stay conscious despite the way the entire room is spinning around him, and to ignore the loud ringing in his ears. His left eye is almost closed, the skin around it damaged, and he can feel blood trickle down the side of his forehead and onto his cheek. They pick him up, preparing him for the next blow. He can see they are stressed, angry at his refusal to talk.
"How many agents are there outside?" his interrogator asks again, holding him under his chin, trying to make him focus. He looks straight ahead at his attacker, and allows himself a few seconds to recuperate before he answers.
"Fuck you!" he spits, the taste of blood strong in his mouth. He smiles when his interrogator raises his fist again, to hit him.
"I would advise against it" May's calm words come before the next blow. He can't help but smile in relief when his interrogator is turning around and they both can look at her, standing in the doorway holding another hostile at gun point. "Untie him, now. Or you all die." She says calmly, looking straight at the interrogator.
There are two bad guys in the room. One in charge of the interrogation, standing between her and her blood drenched teammate and one behind Ward's chair. The one in the back pulls out a gun and pushes it into Ward's temple. "Drop it" he calls "or I'll kill him."
She rolls her eyes with annoyance. She hates it when enemies act so predictably.
"I know right?" Ward smiles at her, almost like he can read her mind "it's so disappointing."
"Yes" she shakes her head "I'm sure Romanoff doesn't have to deal with this kind of armatures." Their opponents look unsurely between them when they have this discussion, they are a little distracted maybe, because before they know it Ward drops himself down to the floor, still tied to the chair and May shoots the guy behind him. She knocks the one she is holding cold with her gun, crashing his skull and charges at the one in charge of the interrogation. She sends a fast kick to his chest, and he drops to the floor, Ward is the one to roll over him, and finish him off as he strangles his neck with his legs.
"You took your time" he eyes at her when she pulls out a knife and works on his bondage.
"I had to discuss it with Coulson first." She shrugs "apparently he had higher trust than me in your… resilience…"
"I'm not sure if I should be insulted by your lack of confidence or grateful for the over protectiveness." She looks at his battered face for a moment, and he can see her biting at her lower lip unconsciously when she sees the damage done to him.
"I'm fine" he smiles "don't worry." She stands up abruptly, frowning at his insinuation that she might be overly concerned about him. She isn't. Much. She thinks. She reaches for him and he grabs her hand and tries to stand up, but he has at least four broken ribs, and a bullet hole in his left thigh, so it's harder than they both imagined.
There are cries from outside the room. People are running and shouting. She holds up her gun towards the door, watching him from the corner of her eye, leaning heavily against the wall, in need of support.
"There are 15 hostiles" he says, a little short of breath, from the pain and from the effort it took to stand up.
"We've neutralized 6" she informs him "4 at the door including this one and two with you."
"Good" he nods "there's only one door. They're probably securing it. They know you're inside; they'll work on clearing the room floor by floor. That what I would do."
"I agree." She nods.
"There's only one way" he grimaces as the pain increases suddenly.
"The roof" she gets his meaning "it's our only out. S.H.I.E.L.D forces will be here soon, if we'll secure the access to the roof we can signal them from there." He only nods. "Can you make it?" she asks carefully, her hand moves gently to his chest.
"I can make it" he promises, watching her small hand on him, wondering if she can feel how his heart is racing under her touch "let's go."
()()()
It's excruciatingly painful. He moves slowly, his arm draped over her shoulders, his breath catches with ever y sudden movement as they climb up the stairs.
"One more, agent" she hisses towards him "one more, and then I'll let you rest a little. Come on!"
He doesn't answer. Saving his energy for the stairs. They move silently, in perfect synch. Every time they reach another flight of stairs, he can sense her relief.
"I'm not going to make it" he mumbles when they get to a landing in the middle of the stairs and she lets him drop against the wall to recuperate a little. There's a window there and she looks through it, seeing a few S.H.I.E.L.D vehicles moving towards the compound's fences. Before she has the time to tell him the good news they hear men coming up the stairs. She runs back down a few stairs, peeking from behind the corner. 6 men, 2 floors down, are making their way towards them slowly, with their weapons drawn.
"They are coming" she whispers to him. He sighs, and shuts his eyes, struggling to get up and continue their climb. One look at his tormented expression and the way he can hardly move tells her they're not going to make it to the roof on time.
He stands, barely, supporting himself with one arm on the wall. She looks down; the men are advancing, she peeks out and sees their backup reaching the fences, finally. She tucks the gun at the back of her pants and moves determinedly to open the window.
"What are you doing?" he looks at her puzzled. She looks back at him, blankly "May, what are you thinking?" he starts to get nervous when she watches him unsurely, like she's trying to decide something.
"I'm sorry Ward" she whispers, her hands on his chest.
"Sorry?" he asks urgently "what for?"
"I've read your file" she explains "you were the best paratrooper in your class. You have 50 very impressive combat jumps on your resume."
"Yes" he confirms "but what does it have to do with anything?"
"You know how to land" she explains, moving closer against him.
"May…?!" he has a bad feeling about it suddenly.
"I'm sorry, Ward" she whispers before she leans up and kisses him long and hard like it's the last time she will ever kiss him. Then she pushes him out of the window from three and a half floors high.
()()()
She kills two of them on the stairs. Two more she shoots when she reaches the roof and they follow her through the narrow door.
The last 4 catch up with her, but she kicks two of them down, and breaks another one's neck. Coulson shoots the last one in the nick of time.
()()()
"What the hell were you thinking?" Coulson shouts when she drags herself into his office tiredly.
She raises an eyebrow at him. He should know better than to shout at her like some kind of rookie. He's furious. She can see. But her questioning look makes him back up a little and to repeat his question in a calmer tone "I told you to stay put" he leans over his desk "what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking about getting him out" she says simply "they would have killed him."
He looks at her carefully for a few minutes. She looks tired; she has several bruises on her face and on her shoulder where her uniforms are torn. It's not like her to ignore his orders, especially in this kind of situation. Also, not to go in blind, without a proper tactical plan.
"What am I missing?" he asks quietly. She remains silent, standing in attention in front of him, her face a mask of stone. "I want you to think carefully before you answer me; because I'll know if you're lying" he tells her "is there something I need to know about you and Ward?" She remains quiet. Looking at him back in defiance and he crosses his arms watching her like a hawk for what seems like eternity. "May…?" he says after a while.
"No, Phil" she answers levelly "there's nothing you should know."
It takes him a few seconds to realize she didn't actually answer his question, but by then she's already at the door on her way out.
"We're not done, May" he calls after her, making her stop with her hand on the door knob "we'll continue with this later, with Ward present, after Simmons will patch him up. And also, wheels up in five May, get us out of here, now."
She looks at him unsurely "I was hoping to clean up and possibly get some rest before…" she indicates to her battered and filthy figure.
"You were the one choosing the mode of action" he shrugs "but I'm making the schedule."
She only stares back at him with resentment. If looks could kill he would have been lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. He's quite sure of that.
()()()
He's badly hurt. Multiple ribs fractures, lung damage, possible head injury, dislocated shoulder, bruises and cuts everywhere. She can hardly breathe when she first sees him lying there in the lab with Simmons fussing around him.
"We've found him on the ground next to the wall, lying on his side" Fitz explains when she enters the lab after setting the flight course. She releases the air she wasn't aware she was holding, her assumption was right, he'd made the landing alright. His instincts kicked in and he was able to protect himself reasonably well, considering his compromised physical state. Simmons, Skye and Fitz carried him to the van while the backup forces bombarded the place with heavy fire. Simmons counts 5 fractures, and seven deep cuts which need stitching before she stops, looking at May with a scorn. She tries to ignore the way they all stare at her angrily. She looks instead at his battered face as Simmons examins the damage around his eye worriedly "what have they done to you?" she whispers, shining a light into his pupil. "May…" he mumbles, "she's still in there."
"Shshsh… don't worry about her. She's fine." Skye answers quickly.
"She'll be on the roof" he shakes his head "tell Coulson… he needs to get to the roof…"
"Shshsh…" Simmons puts her finger on his bruised lip "don't talk so much, your entire ribcage is…"
"The roof, god damns it!" he pulls Simmons by her tie, making her look into his eyes "tell Coulson! Now!" he starts coughing blood right after that, struggling to breathe.
"I'm here, Ward" May moves towards him "Coulson got to me on time, what the hell is wrong with him?" she asks Simmons. He loses his consciousness after that. Fitz and Simmons are moving their probes all over him and Simmons inserts a small device into his nose, and there's this sucking noise and a bag that starts filling with blood.
Skye and her, and Coulson who'd joined them are standing out of their way when they're trying to fix him up and she finds herself clutching her fists so hard, she's bruising her skin with her short fingernails.
It takes an entire hour until Simmons and Fitz come out telling them he'll be fine.
"He'll be awake soon" Simmons explains "but then, he'll have a lot of pain in his chest. I'll give him some pain killers in the IV. He'll be able to sleep better this way."
()()()
"You threw me out of a window" he whispers, waking her up with a startle.
He's awake. She volunteered to take the first shift, watching him but she must have fallen asleep, her head in her arms, next to him.
She looks at him with concern, he looks back at her, smiling, and his eyes burn with some unrecognizable light. She purses her lips, staring at the way his face are covered with red and blue bruises, her hand goes to capture his, but stops on the railing, inches from him. He's waiting for an answer, and she has no idea if he's mad at her for almost killing him. She doesn't know what to say so she remains quiet.
"May…" he moves his hand slowly to grab her hand. She watches his hand around her wrist for a few seconds before she looks up towards the doors, to make sure they're alone. She doesn't say anything, but she doesn't move her hand away from him either. He closes his eyes with relief, starting to feel the impact of the pain medications as the pain disappears and he drifts into quiet oblivion. "Thank you" he murmurs, already half asleep "you saved my life." He's already unconscious when she leans over to plant a soft kiss on his forehead and whispers to him "you're welcome my love."