Ward's POV:
I looked back at Coulson as I made my way to the plane with agents Hand and Garrett. I nodded at him slightly, and he did the same, signalling that what I was about to do needed to be done. I gave him a look that he automatically recognized. 'Protect Skye while I'm gone', anyone on the team would have known what that look had meant.
I turned back toward the plane and boarded it, not taking my eyes off of Garrett. He tried to kill Skye, he ordered people to kill her, he tried to kill her. Thoughts about him trying to kill Skye circled in my head like a tornado, forcing me to try to calm it down, but I couldn't.
Once we were in the air, I stared deciding what time to carry out Coulson's mission for me. The chosen time that I decided on took no time at all to rush up on us, and I soon felt my fingers closing around the gun on my belt. It wasn't the icer though; I wasn't going to succeed with just an icer.
I was about to stand up when agent Hand walked in. She gave me a gun and asked me if I would like to do the honours in killing the man who had nearly gotten Skye killed, and I started to reconsider my plan.
Maybe I should just kill him now. He tried to kill her, he deserves it. I took the gun from Hand and held it to his head. I could do it, kill him to protect Skye, just like I had done with Nash. This was no different except for the fact that I knew for sure that Garrett was the clairvoyant, which should have made it even easier.
My finger hovered over the trigger, but then her face entered my mind. It wasn't the one that I would usually see, in my dreams or daydreams. What appeared now was her face after I had shot Nash, when she had come into the interrogation room. The disappointment, the fear, the confusion all clear in her expression. She didn't want me to kill the Clairvoyant, even if he had tried to kill her. I had to do what she would want.
I regained all the courage that I had left and resorted to my original plan. I shot the two agents beside Garrett in the head, and then I shot Hand in the chest, and then finished her off with two more bullets. How else was I supposed to earn Garrett's trust? I had to grip the gun harder than usual because every bone in my body wanted to get it out my sight right then. Coulson had said that this was the only way.
I sat back down and thought about what I had just done. I killed the people who were helping me, who were giving me the chance to finally get revenge, and got stuck sitting in a plane with the worst person I could possibly think of. But I didn't kill him.
Shield may be dead, but the team, my team, our family, was not, and I couldn't betray them again, not after what had just happened with Nash. And this was the only way that I could protect her for now, and as long as Skye's safe, then I will do anything to keep her that way, including laying down my life and soul on a table for Hydra to devour.
"One minute kid," said Garrett as he walked away from the table with maps spread all across it. As soon as he had gone, I took the private phone that I had taken from Hand, and called the one number saved on it. It ringed twice then he picked up.
"If you're in, respond with yes. If not, say no" said Coulson on the other end.
"Yes sir."
"Good, try to get as much info on hydra and centipede as possible, we will pick you up in the bus in about a week from now. Stay hidden, and don't trust anyone. They are all Hydra's agents."
"Yes sir. Can I talk to her now?" I asked, trying not to give out any information on who I was talking to since there were probably people listening. There was some static on the other end, and then I heard her voice.
"Ward? Are you alright? Have they figured you out yet?" She sounded slightly worried.
"I'm alright, be careful" I replied, hardly able to stop myself from saying anything that could give me away.
"Right you can't talk much right now. Well, once you get back, we'll go out and have that drink you asked me for, and you better get back here alive do you understand me?" She must have been smiling; I could hear it through her words.
"Yes ma'am."
"Please come back to me. I need you to come back." I had to try really hard not to smile now, her saying she needed me, admitting it.
"Yes ma'am."
"I love you Ward, be careful. You probably have to go now, so I guess I'll see you in a week, and when I do, you're ignoring everybody and we're going to have that drink!" Her playful tone had returned, and I didn't see her disappointed face in the interrogation room anymore when I thought about her.
I saw how she was before that, when we were playing battleship or she was making some kind of joke about my people skills.
"Of course. Bye." I said, and then I hung up the phone and slipped it into my pocket. I frowned, thinking about how because of this mission, because of Garrett, I wasn't able to tell her I loved her back. If I die on this mission, I never will be able to tell her.
I stopped myself from thinking things like that; it scared me too much to think that I would accidentally leave her unprotected, in the hands of Hydra. Just then, Garrett walked back in, cutting my stream of thoughts.
"We expect great things from you Grant, welcome to Hydra." He said as he handed me a new badge. I hesitated before grabbing it. It reminded me of the Shield one, but it was a different logo, very different. It was Hydra's logo.
I shivered and took it from his hands, and he patted me on the back and started taking me on a tour of Hydra's headquarters. But all I could think about was that phone call. She had told me that she loved me, and as soon as I got the chance, I would return the phrase, and I won't let her out of my sight after that, ever again. Because, I finally admitted to myself, I do love her, I always have, and I always will, and she needed to know that.
The next day, Garrett sent us on separate missions, most of them were 'kill this guy', or 'steel this or that', and I got a very easy one. It was to go and talk to someone, someone who needed a bit of persuasion to join Hydra.
He was a scientist, a bio-chemist. I would be alone for about 10 minutes on my way to find him, so the first thing I put in the bag that I was bringing was the phone that I could talk to her on. As soon as I was alone, I pulled out the phone and called. Coulson answered.
"Ward, are you okay? Did they find out you are undercover? Why are you calling?" He asked me, slightly frantic.
"Calm down Coulson, I'm calling because I have a few minutes alone and I want to talk to Skye." I said quietly. He seemed to let out a breath, and then he passed the phone to her.
"Ward? How's it going at Hydra?" She asked me. Hearing her voice made me a little less tense then before, and I smiled.
"Skye..." was the only thing I could get out of my mouth at that second. I didn't really have a good reason to call them, other than the fact that I just wanted to hear her voice.
"So, why are you calling?" she asked me, and I tried to stop thinking about her and actually talk to her.
"I-I just wanted to talk to you…" I admitted. I was able to tell that she was smiling now because I had just admitted something that nobody would usually have expected me to say.
"Robot just wanted to talk to me?" she said, her voice starting to sound more playful, like when she tried to annoy me all those times. "Does this have anything to do with what happened at the Hub? Or is this about our last phone call?" She asked, obviously trying to get me out of my comfort zone, which she had already succeeded in doing.
"Not necessarily either one, I just wanted to talk to you, because I don't think I'll get another chance to until you guys pick me up in the bus," I replied, trying not to sound too desperate to talk to her. I think she caught on to that though, because she kept teasing me about it.
"I think this is about what happened at the hub, you just don't want to admit that," she said smugly. I couldn't take it anymore, so I gave in.
"Okay, okay, I…um," I blurted out, but I wasn't completely sure what to say next.
"Oh just admit it Ward, you loved it," she said, and I heard her laugh.
"Yeah, I did, I thought that was pretty obvious, didn't you?" I replied, not knowing what else to say. I couldn't see her, but I knew that she was smiling.
I could easily remember when we had been stuck in that closet, so close, and I asked her out. I also remember how she said she had known about May and I, which was something that I never wanted her to know about.
Then, when she agreed to get a drink with me, and my whole world changed, giving me more motivation to stay alive, that maybe I shouldn't go out there. But I still needed to protect her, so I did it anyways.
Then, the most wonderful, unexpected thing happened to me. As I was about to leave, she pulled me back and kissed me. I immediately reacted to her lips o mine, forgetting everything around us. I never wanted it to end, but we had to complete our mission. I think she remembered this too, because she seemed to be reluctant when pulling away. It had been the best moment of my life.
Bringing me back to reality, she went on to a slightly more serious note. "Ward, please be careful. I don't want you to die…" She said quietly to me.
"Don't worry, I'll come back to you, I'll always come back to you, I promise. There's no way these Hydra retards are going to keep me away from you," I said, and I noticed how caring I sounded when I said it.
"Ward, I know I already said this, but I need you here, I don't know what I would do without you. I love you, no matter what happens, and if you died, I don't know if I would be able to go on! Please, you have to come back to me." She said, and it almost sounded like she had to choke down tears.
There were those words again; the ones that made my heart race faster, making me feel like someone actually wanted me for more than just being a black-ops specialist. I loved to hear her say them, I loved her when she said them, I loved her always. "
Skye, don't worry, I'll be there. I won't leave you on your own like that, even if you have Coulson and FitzSimmons, or anyone else, I still won't leave you. Skye, I'm never going to leave you, I love you too much, too much to care about protocol, which even you know is something I, and everyone else who knows me, never thought I would say. I love you, Skye," I said to her, finally releasing all of my feelings for her that I had kept all locked inside.
"You are the only person who has ever said that to me Ward, I never had anyone who loved me. No parents, siblings, friends, or anyone else who would normally say something like that. Thank you, please don't die, and come back to me," She said, and I could tell that she was crying now, but it wasn't a sad kind of cry. The tears she was spilling were the kind that you would release when a baby was born, or at the best moment of your life.
These were happy tears, and I was hardly able to stop myself from spilling them too, but then I saw the scientist walk out of the building I was now in front of. I had reached the building, and now I had to stop talking to Skye, quite possibly until next week.
"Skye, I have to go, otherwise they'll find out what I'm doing. I'll see you next week, goodbye," I said to her, ready to hit end, but I hesitated.
"No Ward, it's not goodbye, it's see you later, and I will see you later when I hack into Hydra's camera's to watch you all night…" She said, now probably with an evil grin on her face. I gulped and she hung up the phone. I stared at it for a moment, then shook my head and started toward the scientist.
"Coulson, please hurry, they're gaining on me!" I nearly screamed into the phone, waiting for May to get the bus down lower so that I could jump in. It finally reached a point where I could jump in, so I jumped onto the open cargo ramp and hit the deck n case anyone started firing at me. Finally the doors closed so I stood up and ran up the stairs.
I was met in the living room by everyone on our team, and they all stared at me in shock for a second to see me again after a whole three weeks, since the undercover investigation ended up taking a lot longer than expected.
FitzSimmons got up and both gave me a hug, then Coulson and May both got up to give me a pat on the back, but it wasn't mostly them that I had been thinking about when I had re-entered the bus, it was Skye. Slowly, once everyone else had said hello, she go up, walked over to me, and grabbed my arm, pulling me with her toward the bar. Everyone else was busy discussing some lose ends, so we had some spare time.
Carefully, though I could see her hands shaking, she poured us each a glass of scotch, and sat us down on the stools. She looked me strait in the eyes, and quietly whispered, "I missed you so much."
I couldn't hold back anymore, so I leaned in near her face and said "I think that I missed you more." Then I crushed my lips against hers, and she quickly reacted. This time it wasn't a short kiss, but long, so long that by the time it ended we were both out of breath, but we went back in again, all of the pain of not being able to see each other for almost a month all being relieved.
Finally, we had to stop, because Coulson called everyone to the briefing room, saying that we had a new mission, one that we had gotten from ourselves, not Shield, because Shield was gone now. I looked her in the eyes before we turned to leave.
"I always have, and I always will, love you Skye," I said to her, saying the words that had gotten me through the weeks without her.
"I think I love you more," she responded, and kissed me once more before we left to see the rest of the family.