Author's note: This is set immediately after Season 2 Episode 6 'A Fractured House', but where Ward did not escape during transport as he was much more thoroughly secured. Anything that happens from episode 7 on is ignored or changed accordingly.

Agent Rebecca 'Becs' Warren was pissed as she stormed towards Director Coulson's office at the Playground. She had just heard about Grant Ward being transferred into his Senator brother's custody and she couldn't believe the director could be that stupid. She was going to give him a piece of her mind.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" she demanded as she crashed through his closed door. In her peripheral she saw that all of Coulson's old team as well as Trip, Morse, Hunter and Mack were all present in his office but she wasn't interested in that at the moment. She marched straight up to his desk and slammed her hands down in front of her. "How could you just hand him over to that psychopath?"

"Agent Warren, what do you think you're doing?" Agent May demanded, moving up beside the enraged younger agent.

"All due respect Agent May, I'm not talking to you right now," Becs said without looking at the other woman. "I'm talking to the director."

"Why does it matter to you what happens to Ward?" Coulson asked calmly. Agent Warren was an exemplary agent, a level six specialist with a record that spoke for itself - she was tiny, but fierce and she always got the job done. She had a reputation for being laid back and easy going and before today he would have said she would never speak to a superior like this. But the look on her face clearly said she was out for blood, and it was his she was interested in.

"We are supposed to be the good guys," Becs said, in a slightly calmer manner. Screaming at the director would get her nowhere and she knew that, but her reaction to hearing what had happened to Grant was instinctive. "How can we make that claim when we are freely handing people over to their abusers?"

"Ah," Coulson answered in realisation. "You've heard Ward's lies about his brother. How exactly did he manage to tell you those stories? As far as I know you haven't been anywhere near Vault D."

"Grant didn't have to tell me anything," Becs said, her fury barely restrained at hearing Coulson dismiss Grant's suffering as lies. "And none of what he told you about his brother was a lie. Christian is a psychopath and master manipulator and clearly you fell completely for his lies."

"Christian Ward is a much loved and well respected Senator. I have no reason to believe he would have lied to me about his brother," Coulson explained.

"Then you're an idiot," Becs responded fiercely. "Christian Ward is a monster who destroys people he supposedly cares about. He's abusive and manipulative and shouldn't be trusted as far as Agent Simmons could throw him."

"Hey!" Simmons said indignantly but was ignored.

"Agent Warren I think you would do well to remember that I am your boss. I demand to be treated with more respect than you are currently showing or you can leave my office," Coulson said, starting to get irritated with the way he was being spoken to.

"If this is the kind of agency you plan to run then I want no part in it," Becs responded firmly. "You're supposed to be better than Hydra, but what you've done today with Grant, that's as bad as anything they've done." She turned to leave the room with that, having said her piece but was stopped by another voice.

"What did you mean, Ward didn't tell you anything?" Skye spoke up., causing Becs to turn and look at her.

"I mean exactly what I said. I didn't need for Grant to tell me anything about his brother to know the truth, because I already know about it," at this point she paused to take a deep breath. If she was going to do this, she was going all in. Grant loved this girl after all, so there had to be good in her, despite the way she had been treating him recently. "I was Christian Ward's first wife. I lived it."

Everybody was silent in the wake of her revelation. It took a few minutes before anyone broke the silence, and Becs waited patiently knowing they would have a whole slew of questions.

"How is that possible?" Coulson asked. "I've seen your file and there's no record of you ever having been married. Certainly not to a United States Senator."

"That's because Rebecca Warren was never married to Christian Ward," Becs answered easily. "I was born Rebecca Wesley. I was a pretty, young, idealistic girl when I married Christian and took the Ward name at twenty. He seemed like this wonderful man who did nothing but shower me in gifts. He seemed charming and was respected in the community and sought after as a partner and he chose me. I was thrilled."

"So you admit that he isn't the monster Ward claims him to be," May said.

"No, I'm simply saying that he seemed great at first. And it lasted for a little while," Becs replied. She took a few moments to centre herself before she started telling the rest of her story. "The first time I heard about his brother Grant was two years after we got married and it was just a passing comment at a fundraiser. But that night I asked Christian about it. It was the first time he hit me. He explained the next morning that his brother had tried to kill him in a house fire and so he got upset talking about him, but he was sorry and it would never happen again. That he didn't mean it. I was naïve enough to believe him that it wouldn't happen again, and I didn't ask about Grant again. But I did look into it, and I discreetly asked around, and I got answers.

"After that it was like the seal was broken though – he would hit me whenever he felt like it. He was always careful about where, so as to be able to hide it from the cameras, but it got more frequent and more severe. I was the perfect wife to him, I smiled when I was supposed to, I stood by him no matter what – in front of the cameras we were the perfect couple. But behind closed doors things just got worse and worse. I didn't know what to do, how to get out. I couldn't go to the authorities; no one would believe me. The Wards had Massachusetts very firmly fooled.

"About a year after the first time, I found out I was pregnant. I couldn't stay. There was no way I would subject my child to what I went through at his hand; to what his brothers went through as children. I had to find a way out. So I found little brother Grant. Who, as it turns out, not so little anymore. I managed to get in contact with him without Christian knowing and explained who I was. When I told him that Christian hit me, he said he would be there soon. He flew in the next day, with a plan ready to go. All I had to do was agree." She paused then and turned towards the hacker the man she considered her only family was in love with. "I'm sure you found that Christian's first wife died when you looked into the family Skye?"

"Yeah," Skye agreed. "Tragic accident, car caught fire, dental records were the only way to confirm identity."

"That was the only way I could get out. Grant helped me fake my death and set me up with a new identity. I'm not sure exactly how he managed to get the dental records to match but I think he had some help. He had only been with SHIELD for a few years then and was already a level four specialist. He went alone on ops so he brought me along for a bit, just until I could figure out what I wanted to do with my new life. In his down time he taught me how to defend myself, how to fight, how to be strong. It wasn't long until I knew what I wanted to do – I wanted to join SHIELD, I wanted to help protect the world the same way Grant did. He's only two years older than me but he was my hero, someone I looked up to. He did a lot of great things for SHIELD.

"When I told him what I wanted to do he encouraged me. He said it was a great idea. But he told me I had to do it on my own. He would train me, he would teach me so that I would have the best possible chance of getting in, but I had to get in alone. He couldn't help me with that because he didn't want me to be tied to him in the organisation that way. I thought it was because of Christian, but in light of recent events I suspect it had more to do with Hydra. The only time he ever left me behind and didn't take me with him on a mission the whole time I was with him was a mission with Garrett. He told me it was with his SO and he didn't want anyone to know about our connection so I had to stay, to be safe. He didn't want Garrett to know about me. So I worked hard, I learned as much as I could from Grant, and I joined SHIELD. That was six years ago, and it is the best choice I've ever made," Becs finished.

"So you knew nothing of Hydra?" Coulson asked.

"The first I knew about it was when they came out of the shadows," she responded.

"What happened to your baby?" Skye asked hesitantly.

"I miscarried," Becs asked quietly. "It was just after Grant got me out and I started having these awful cramps. I was not unfamiliar with pain, as you can imagine, but this was excruciating. Grant took me to the hospital. He held my hand and he didn't leave my side as the doctors told me what was happening. He held me as I cried. This man I had known just over a week and he just stepped up and looked after me. When I asked him why, he told me I was family and that's what families are supposed to do. That they should take care of each other. So he took care of me. He's the best person I've ever known, and that includes every person in this room.

"So that's how I know that what he says Christian did to him is the truth. Because he did it to me too. And now, I'm going to go and save my brother from the monster you've handed him over to, director. If you can't accept that then consider this my resignation. If you can then I will come back as soon as I can once Grant is safe." With that she turned to leave the room again, figuring Coulson knew where to find her to give her an answer.

"How are you going to do that?" Hunter called out.

"Give Christian something he wants more," Becs replied with a sad smile and then she was gone, leaving the agents in Coulson's office to think over her words.

"She's going to hand herself over to him, isn't she?" Simmons asked quietly a few moments after Warren left.

"Yes," May replied when it became apparent that Coulson wasn't going to.

"We can't let her do that!" Simmons said fiercely. "The man abused her, we can't let her just walk back into that. He could kill her! We're the good guys; we're supposed to stop things like that from happening."

"You mean like with Ward?" Mack asked. Everyone turned to look at him and he shrugged before continuing. "Look I get it, he betrayed you all. You're pissed off. That's fine. All I'm saying is Becs had a point. If we can't let her be handed over to her abuser then how can we think it's acceptable to have let Ward?"

Hunter and Morse nodded in agreement. They hadn't been personally betrayed by Ward so they found it easy to see that what had been done to him was wrong. The others just looked at each other before Fitz spoke up.

"He's right," he said quietly. "We can't have that uh, the uh," he looked at Mack for help. "You know, the uh.."

"Double standard?" Bobbi suggested.

"Yes, thank you," Fitz said with a nod. "We can't have that double standard."

"We have to help her," Skye added. "We need to find out her plan and we need to help her execute it, to make sure they both end up safe. Because if she does it on her own I'm pretty sure she's just going to trade herself to ensure Grant's safety."

Coulson finally spoke up for the first time since Agent Warren had left his office. "You're all right. And we will help her. I let my personal feelings towards Ward cloud my judgement and handed him over to his abuser, even though I thought there was something off about the Senator. And no matter what he's done, he doesn't deserve to be back in that man's hands. Skye, go to Agent Warren's bunk. Tell her we will help her get him back and ensure that they are both safe but we need to know her plan so we can help and get her back here."

"Yes sir," Skye responded and took off out of the office.

All the bunks were in the same place, so although Skye wasn't sure exactly which bunk belonged to the other agent she knew she would be able to find it. As it turned out it wasn't that hard as the door opened and the other woman walked out just as she turned into the hallway.

"Agent Warren!" Skye called to get her attention.

"Skye," she acknowledged with a nod. "You can call me Becs."

"Becs," Skye said with a small smile. "We want to help you get him back. All of us. And to make sure you come back too."

Becs studied her for a minute before nodding. "Okay. I won't turn down help. I guess we should go back to the director's office and I can explain my plan."

"Let's go," Skye agreed, turning back in the direction from which she came. They walked in silence, Skye studying the agent beside her. Becs was a little shorter than Skye, with a toned yet curvy body that any woman would be jealous of, dark hair, dark eyes, and a very pretty face. Skye could definitely see the attraction to a younger Christian Ward who wanted the best of everything. It was a few minutes before Skye spoke again. "He was petrified when I told him we were handing him over to his brother," she said quietly. She remembered the look Ward had on his face in that moment and it still gave her shivers. "I've never seen him that afraid. I've never really seen him afraid at all. I've watched him literally dying in front of me and he wasn't even afraid, but just the mention of his brother and he was terrified. I shouldn't have let Coulson do it."

"You couldn't have stopped him," Becs responded. "You should have at least tried, Grant deserved that much. But you wouldn't have succeeded. Coulson has an agency to run, and he made the choice he thought was best to run it. I don't agree with it; I think it makes him an awful person to have done it; but I understand how it happened."

"You don't understand how I could have not tried to help him though," Skye said quietly, looking at the slightly older agent out of the corner of her eye.

Becs stopped at this and turned to look at the younger girl. "It's not quite that simple. I can't understand how you could not believe him after all he told you about his childhood. And if you believed him then yeah, I can't understand how you could be okay with just handing him over to that bastard like that. But I understand betrayal. And especially for you – you were falling for him, so it hit you particularly hard. But he's my brother. I love him. And I know how much he loved you. So I'm angry with you for what you did to him. For all that you've done to him while he's been locked in that cell." She paused here and then took a deep breath and a step closer to Skye and spoke in a quiet yet deadly voice. "And if you ever say anything to him like 'you should have run faster' again, I will kill you. Even if he hates me for it." With that she turned and continued down the corridor, leaving a stunned Skye in her wake.

She was half way through explaining her plan when Skye entered a few minutes later.

"How do you know I said that?" the hacker asked, interrupting.

"Just because the director doesn't know I've been down to Vault D doesn't mean I haven't been down there. I'm a specialist, and I'm very, very good at what I do. Getting in and out of places without being seen is part of what I do; and Grant taught me well. And you aren't the only one that can hack security feeds. Grant's my brother; we look out for each other, no matter what," Becs answered before turning back and finishing explaining her plan.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Coulson asked for what must have been the tenth time as they were pulling up to the venue where Christian was holding an event that night.

Coulson had received an invite from the Senator as a show for the world that SHIELD were not the bad guys, as per their agreement when the director agreed to hand over Ward. His invitation had been open to however many people he wanted to bring, and so Becs, Skye, May, Trip, Hunter and Morse were all accompanying him.

"Trust me, this will work," Becs said again, just about losing her patience with the man. "It's a public event, there's going to be a lot of people here, including a lot of press. And Grant will be here, on display, for the world to see how the good Senator is punishing everyone who's guilty, even his own family. It's our shot."

She got out of the car once she finished speaking, determined to get the whole thing in motion. The others climbed quickly from the car, following her lead. They headed straight for the door and were allowed in swiftly when Coulson produced the personal invitation from Christian. As they entered the ballroom they heard the elder Ward brother giving a speech to the people gathered. They had timed their arrival to coincide with the speech, knowing it was the best way to ensure all eyes were where they wanted them to be.

"Okay," Becs said quietly so only the SHIELD agents could hear her. "Remember, he's probably going to fight you once he realises what I'm doing, but you get him out of here no matter what," she directed at Skye, Morse and Hunter who were responsible for getting Grant out. They nodded in agreement. She then turned to Coulson, May and Trip who were responsible for ensuring she made it out too. "Grant's the priority," she stated firmly. "If it comes down to having to leave me to get him safe, you leave me." They nodded in agreement, and even though Becs knew that they probably wouldn't do as she asked she accepted it because there was no other option. Besides, it was just about time for her to make her move. The six agents accompanying her all gave her one final supportive look before moving swiftly but near invisibly through the room to get into their positions. "Show time," she muttered under her breath before heading towards the podium where Christian was holding court.

"…and while family means everything to me," she heard Christian saying, spewing his usual 'Ward's believe in family' lines to his captive audience. "That does not mean that someone should be excused for their crimes just because they are my family. Every man who commits a crime should be held accountable and punished according to the great justice system of our country. No one should be exempt, no matter who they are related to. And so I support the move to try my brother, Grant Ward, for his crimes and whatever punishment is handed down. And-"

"What about your crimes?" Becs called out loudly from the centre of the crowd, interrupting his speech and causing everyone to turn in her direction. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Grant's head snap up so quickly she was afraid he may have done some damage and she knew he was glaring at her but she ignored him for now. Christian too was looking at her with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open, paling dramatically. She started to move towards the podium, the crowd parting for her and everyone's eyes still on her. "Will you be punished for your crimes Senator?" she asked as she reached him.

She had intentionally placed herself to his left, the opposite side to Grant, so that he had turned his back in his brother's direction. While keeping her attention on Christian, she noted that there were six large, heavily armed men surrounding Grant and that he was quite thoroughly shackled, heavy cuffs and chains around his wrists, ankles and midsection. He could get out of them, she didn't doubt, but she figured he had no reason to before. He was clearly playing along for now, waiting for the right moment to make a move, and a room full of people wasn't it.

"Rebecca?" Christian asked quietly, not realising that the microphone he was previously talking into was still picking up everything he said.

"Hello Christian," she said back quietly, but loud enough for the microphone to pick up her voice too. She wanted his audience to hear everything.

"You're dead," he said, clear fear in his eyes.

"Obviously not, since I'm standing in front of you," Becs responded calmly.

"No!" Christian said firmly. "This isn't possible, my wife died! This is some kind of trick!"

"It's no trick. I didn't die," Becs responded. "You just needed to believe I had."

"Why? I loved you. I grieved you! I was broken by your death!" Christian said, anger starting to come through.

Becs kept her cool in the face of his building anger. This was what she needed, for him to lose control and reveal his true colours to the world.

"You weren't broken; you used my death to get elected! You grieved only as much as was expected of you by the public. And you sure as hell didn't love me. You beat me, nearly every day for a year! You don't even know what love is!" she said, letting her emotions out but ensuring she kept herself under control. She heard gasps through the crowd but she wasn't done yet. "The only option I had to get out was to fake my own death. It was the only way I could save myself and my baby."

"You left me and took my child from me?" Christian asked, his fury barely restrained.

"After everything you did to me, everything you did to your brothers? You bet your ass I did!" she said with no remorse. In her peripheral vision she noticed that Grant was out of almost all of his chains, even his guards too distracted to notice by the show going on between her and Christian. Clearly he too sensed the building rage in Christian and he was going to do what he had always done; protect her at any cost to himself.

"How dare you?" Christian demanded, his anger no longer fully under control. "I demand that you give me my child! Immediately!"

"There's not a chance that that would happen," she responded firmly. "Even if it was possible, I wouldn't let you within a mile of my child. But it isn't, because I was so damaged inside from all your beatings that I miscarried. All the horrible things you did to me, caused me to lose my child. You destroyed me, and it took me a long time to build myself back up. So I ask you again, Senator Ward. Will you be punished for your crimes?"

"You bitch!" Christian spat, raising his hand to hit her. She knew she would never block the blow fast enough, because even though she expected it, she was still scared enough of him that she was semi frozen in fear.

The blow didn't connect, however, Christian's hand being stopped by another wrapping around his wrist. "I wouldn't, if I were you," Grant's voice came from beside Becs. She noticed then that his guards had all been knocked out, presumably with some help considering Morse, Hunter and Skye were standing over them. "You will not touch her, ever again," Grant continued in a commanding tone.

Christian's eyes had widened in fear at hearing his brothers voice, realising that he had managed to get away from his guards and out of his chains. "How?" he muttered before continuing in a slightly stronger voice. "How did you get free?"

"You think some chains and a few guards could hold me?" Grant asked, finally releasing the Senator's hand, with a shove that made the older brother stumble slightly. "I've gotten out of worse. Many times."

"Then why did you stay in them for so long?" the Senator asked, turning briefly to look at the guards that had surrounded his brother but looking back quickly. The SHIELD agents had faded back so that it wasn't obvious to the Senator that his brother had had any help, not that he truly needed it.

"He wouldn't get out for himself," Becs spoke up. "He knows he's done wrong; he believes he deserves to be punished. He got out for me."

It was at that statement that everything clicked for Christian. He turned all his attention on Grant. "You helped her fake her death and leave me."

Even though it was a statement and not a question, Grant responded. "I did."

"Who do you think you are, taking my wife away from me? What gives you the right?" Christian ranted, having completely forgotten the captive audience.

"She asked for my help. I was happy to provide it. I wasn't going to let you continue to hurt her," Grant replied calmly. "I have a long list of crimes that I have to answer for, but helping your abused wife get away from you is absolutely not one of them." Grant turned to look at Becs, being sure to keep an eye on Christian. "What the hell are you doing here Becs?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not going to let him hurt you again either," she responded firmly. "You're my family Grant, and we take care of family."

"Well isn't that sweet," Christian sneered from where he was watching them, not noticing as the room was cleared completely of civilians. "The two of you bonded. It doesn't matter, my brother is a criminal and he will be executed for his crimes."

"Actually he won't be," General Talbot spoke as he entered the room, causing the Senator to spin around and face him. "He'll be remanded to the custody of SHIELD where he will be tried for his crimes and punished accordingly."

"There's no way I'm letting that happen," Christian spat.

"Well it isn't up to you," Talbot replied. "This order comes right from the top. The President is endorsing SHIELD and tasking them with destroying Hydra, he believes your brother will be an asset in doing so, and so he is ordering that he be released to SHIELD. Immediately. Failure to comply is unacceptable."

"They can't just release him! He's a criminal! A killer!" the Senator raved.

"No one said anything about releasing him," Coulson spoke up. "I believe the general said that he would be tried and punished by SHIELD."

Looking around the room, Christian quickly realised that he had no chance of winning. Everyone in the room was either with Coulson or Talbot. He turned back to his previously dead wife.

"You're going to pay for what you've done here today," he hissed, taking a step closer to her.

Grant quickly moved between them. "You don't get any closer to her," he said sternly.

"Who's going to stop me?" Christian scoffed. "You? You've never been able to stop me before. What makes you think you would stand a chance now?"

"Because I'm not afraid of you anymore," Grant replied strongly. It may not be the truth, but he was a convincing liar. "And if you even think about hurting my sister, I will end you."

All of Coulson's agents had gathered around while Grant was speaking, clearly showing where their support lay. Christian wasn't an idiot, he knew when it was best to concede. And right now, that was his best option.

"Fine. But this isn't over," the elder Ward brother said before storming out of the room.

"You ever risk yourself like that for me again and I will kick your ass," Grant said to Becs angrily, before pulling her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly.

"You don't scare me Grant," she responded stubbornly. "And besides, you'd do the same for me."

They pulled out of the hug but Grant kept an arm wrapped around her shoulders, and she one around his waist. "What happens now?" Grant asked, looking between Coulson and Talbot.

"I'm not actually sure," Coulson replied, looking towards Talbot. "Was what you said true?"

"A hundred percent. I don't know what happened, but I got an urgent call from the President himself telling me I needed to get here right away and make this happen. Someone sure seemed to have lit a fire under his ass," Talbot replied. He was a little perplexed by the order himself, but it wasn't his job to question orders.

Everyone looked around at each other, unsure how that would have happened, except Grant who looked straight at Becs with a raised eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"What? You think my plan was just to surprise Christian with being alive? You know I'm smarter than that!" she answered. "I just put in a call and asked for a favour. I saved his daughters' lives, he was happy to arrange to have my brother taken away from his abuser. I assured him that I didn't want to you just be released, I simply wanted you to be able to help. He was on board with that plan; he believes that if someone wants to be better they should have that chance. You want it; he was prepared to make the arrangements to give you the best chance of achieving it."

"There aren't a lot of people in the world that can ask the President for a favour and have it granted. Especially one like that. And especially not that quickly," Talbot said, an impressed look on his face.

"There aren't a lot of people in the world like Becs," Grant replied with a fond smile. "She's very hard to say no to."

"We should get back to base," May spoke up from by Coulson, receiving a nod of agreement.

"I should get back too now that this is all sorted," Talbot said. "I'd keep an eye out for the good Senator though. He'll have the shitstorm caused by today's revelations to deal with, but he'll be looking for revenge."

"We'll deal with it when the time comes," Coulson said. "Thank you for your assistance."

"No problem. You don't say no to an order from the President," Talbot replied, shaking his head and leaving the room, his soldiers going with him.

"You'll come along willingly?" Coulson asked Ward.

"After today, Christian is going to come after Becs. And all of you. There's no way I'm leaving you to deal with that alone," he said by way of response. "I'll do whatever it takes to be able to protect you all."

"Okay then. Let's get out of here," Coulson said and headed for the door. May, Trip and Morse followed after him, with Ward and Becs trailing after them, arms still wrapped around each other. Hunter and Skye took up the back, Skye's eyes never leaving Ward's back as he ducked his head to whisper with Becs.

"Green's not a good colour on you, Agent Skye," Hunter whispered in her ear just before he climbed into the SUV.

Skye followed him with a glare. "I don't know what you're talking about," she hissed between clenched teeth, her eyes finding there way back to her ex-SO.

"Sure you don't," Hunter laughed before turning to talk to Trip, leaving Skye to stew in her obvious and completely unfounded jealousy.

Author's note: This is something I would potentially like to continue as a series, but want to know if there's any interest for that. It would be Ward and the team all working their way back to each other with the addition of Becs as Ward's strongest supporter.