A.N: This one-shot has VERY strong spoilers sprinkled throughout. Spoilers for both the TV show and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Please do not read this unless you're both caught up with the show and you've already watched the movie. But if you don't mind being spoiled, then go for it... read my theory on what's to come. Hope you like it!=]

Ward glanced up with a smile when he heard the door opening again. He frowned when he found Coulson looming in the doorway and stood up. "Are you back to accuse me some more?"

"Hardly." Coulson answered curtly. "I need you downstairs. Skye and Fitz are waiting."

"And May?" Ward asked when he saw the petite woman step inside the room wearing handcuffs. His eyes snapped to Coulson. "What the hell is going on?"

"Downstairs… now." Coulson ordered, moving aside to make room for him to leave.

Ward passed by her in silence but urged her to say something, anything, with his eyes. She gave him a cold, hard stare before letting her eyes fall to the floor. He left the interrogation room and headed to the cargo bay like Coulson had instructed.

He was frowning as he listened to Coulson explain why May was currently locked up. There was no way that she was a traitor. He knew her well. So did Coulson. May wouldn't betray the team. He finally spoke up on her behalf. "May wouldn't do that, sir. If she says that she was reporting to Director Fury then I believe her. And so should you."

"Given the nature of your relationship with her, Agent Ward, you'll have to forgive me if I can't take your opinion on the matter at face value."

Ward felt himself blush before lowering his gaze. He could feel Fitz and Skye's eyes on him. This wasn't how they were supposed to find out. Especially her.

"Regardless of my relationship status with Agent May, I still believe her." He said through clenched teeth.

"I didn't ask you here to get your opinion on the matter." Coulson continued. "We need to find out where this plane is going and we need to get control back. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the cockpit… Fitz…. You're with me."

Ward watched the two of them leave the lab and take the stairs two at a time. He turned back to the only other person still in the room with him. "Skye…"

"You've been sleeping with May?"

He sucked in a breath. "I was sleeping with May. Not anymore."

"How long?" she asked softly.

His eyes scanned her demeanor. She was very calm. Even for Skye. "Since Ireland…"

She licked her bottom lip before nodding in understanding. "Oh."

Turning to leave, she stepped around the table that separated them. Ward grasped her arm, stopping her from leaving the lab. "That's all over now… it's been over… it should never have happened."

"But it did…" she said pulling her arm back from his grasp. "It happened and it continued to happen despite…"

"Despite what?"

"Nothing."

"Skye…"

"I opened up to you in Ireland… I tried to be your friend." She continued. "You could have just said you already had someone warming your bed so I would have made a complete ass of myself."

"Skye… I…"

"Don't apologize." She stopped him. "You actually have nothing to apologize for… you're just my Supervising Officer… You don't owe me an explanation."

She stepped around him as he watched her leave.

His eyes locked with hers as soon as he opened the door. He lifted the bottle of whiskey in his hand with a sad smile. "I figured you could use a drink."

She gave him an uncharacteristic smile in return. "Thank you."

Sitting down across from her, he poured them each some of the amber liquid before sliding one of the tumbler glasses toward her. "Is it true?"

She looked up from the drink in her hand and shook her head slowly. "I didn't betray all of you."

He nodded knowingly. "I know that. I meant if it was true that you've been reporting to Director Fury."

She lowered her gaze. "Yes."

"All this time?"

"Yes."

"But May… something is happening… where is Fury now?"

She shook her head. "I don't know."

"How do we get in contact with him?" Ward asked. "How do we find him?"

"I. Don't. Know."

He leaned back. "Someone is trying to control this plane… I think Fitz is getting back the control… but when we land… Coulson is ready to turn you in… I need to know that you're going to be okay when he does."

"I'll be okay."

"I'm going to try to talk to Coulson again… I'm not exactly his favorite person at the moment… but maybe he'll listen to me…"

"I appreciate that, Ward."

He stretched his hand across the table, taking hers and holding it tightly. "I am here for you…"

"Thank you."

He stepped out of the room and came face to face with Skye.

"How is she?" she asked.

"She's holding up…"

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"She's my friend, Skye."

"She's lucky to have you then…" she mumbled before walking around him.

Skye was typing on a laptop in the lab when Fitz walked in. She looked up and frowned at his saddened face.

"Hey…" she greeted. "You okay?"

"I can't reach Jemma…" Fitz said. "When the line cut off… I've been trying to get in touch with her but I can't."

Skye stood up and walked toward him putting a hand on his shoulder. She tried to reassure him with a bright smile. "She's going to be fine… Triplett is with her… He'll protect her."

Fitz nodded absentmindedly. "What about you? Are you okay?"

Skye let her hand drop. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean…"

"I'm talking about what happened earlier… between you and… he who must not be named…"

Skye cracked a smile before shaking her head. "We haven't really spoken…"

"Skye…"

"He lied, Fitz."

"When?" Fitz asked. "Did he blatantly tell you he wasn't sleeping with May even though he was?"

"Well… no…"

"Then when did he lie?"

"He didn't tell me… therefore, it was omission… and omission and lying are totally the same thing…" she knew she was grasping at straws but she was hurt and she hated feeling hurt.

Fitz raised his eyebrows.

"Don't look at me like that…" she mumbled before sitting back down in front of the laptop.

"First of all, omission… keeping secrets… it's kind of our thing…" he said with a soft smile. "And second of all, have you ever bloody wondered why he would be so careful to keep this from you… of all people…?

She looked up at him with a shrug. "Because he was embarrassed?"

"Or because he didn't want you to know about it…" Fitz shook his head. "I'm sure he has his reasons…"

"I like the idea of him being embarrassed actually."

"That's fine." Fitz shrugged. "You can keep that as the official reason then." She rolled her eyes. "Or… you can ask him… and give him a chance to explain."

"Since when are you on Team Ward?" Skye asked.

"I'm on Team Whoever Saves My Life Countless Times…." Fitz said with a laugh. "Ward is a good man, Skye… he cares a lot about you… and I know you have feelings for him. He should know."

"But what if he loves her, Fitz?"

"Then they'd be together…" he whispered. "But they're not… and you owe it to yourself and to him to find out why."

She nodded before standing and touched his shoulder softly as she passed by. "She'll call."

"I know." He said, looking up with a smile. "Now go…"

She let herself smile and walked out of the lab.

The knock on his bunk's door made him jump. "Come…" he cleared his throat. "Come in…"

She poked her head through a small gap. "Is this a bad time?"

He sat up straighter on his bed and shook his head. "Not at all…"

The corner of her lip turned upwards as she walked into the darkened bunk and slid the door closed behind her. The room was in complete darkness now so she stayed firmly planted by the door.

"Skye?"

"Yeah?"

"The light switch is behind you… if you want to…"

She flipped the switch immediately and the room was flooded with light.

"Sorry about that…"

"Don't apologize…" he shook his head. "Is there something you need?"

"To talk to you?"

He scooted over on his bed before patting the mattress next to him. Skye followed his signal and sat on the bed next to him, leaning her head against the wall. He watched her quietly, waiting for her to steer the conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She just wanted to jump right in then.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize to me…" she turned toward him. "I just want to know why you felt that you had to keep your relationship in the dark… from me…"

He scratched his head. "I don't know."

"Did you not trust me?"

"What?! Of course I trust you, Skye! I trust you with my life!"

"Then…" she turned toward him. "Why did Coulson know and I didn't?"

"May told Coulson… not me…" he defended. She glared at him and he let out a deep breath. "I guess I just didn't want you to know…"

"Why though?"

"Because I didn't want you to look at me the way you're looking at me right now…"

"What way is that?" she asked softly.

"Like I'm not good enough…."

"Ward…" she whispered.

"I get it." He frowned. "My whole life, I've been told what a screw up I was… When I joined S.H.I.E.L.D, I knew I had trust issues. It's why I decided to be a Specialist. The job is lonely but it's also easier."

"Easier than what?"

"Than getting attached to others." He answered. "You can't get hurt if you don't let anyone in."

She nodded in understanding. She'd had the same philosophy growing up.

"But then you literally stormed into our lives… my life… and suddenly… I realized what it meant to be a part of a team… a family…" he shrugged. "I didn't want to jeopardize that. I realized I wanted to be better. You made me want to do better. I didn't just want to keep doing what I'd been doing… I wanted to be different. You changed my mind on a lot of what I was taught to believe since I first joined… S.H.I.E.L.D."

She watched him as he spoke and bit her lip to keep her jaw from quivering.

"What May and I had was purely physical…" he continued. "I'm sorry that I kept it from you. I'm sorry that you found out the way that you did. May and I are friends. We've bonded over our time on this plane… but whatever friendship I have with May, it's nothing compared to-"

"To what?" she asked, silently urging him to continue.

"It's nothing compared to the connection that you and I have…"

She gasped when he said the words. She knew Ward wasn't the romantic type. He wasn't going to declare undying love with Shakespearean dialogue. But what he just confessed, he might as well have told her that he loved her. She knew it but she still needed to hear him say the words.

"Why did you end things with May?" she asked.

"Skye…"

"Did she end them with you?'

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Are you sure you want to know the answer to that?"

She nodded. "I need to hear the answer to that."

He mimicked her nod. "Fair enough…. Lorelei told her that I desired another…"

"Another… what, exactly?"

"Another… team member…." He finished.

Her jaw dropped.

"I guess while I was under Lorelei's control, I confessed to having feelings for someone on my team and I specified that it was not May… Lorelei told her, May broke off our arrangement…"

"Who?"

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Who did you desire?"

"You mean who do I desire?" he asked with a slow smile. "Present tense…"

"Yeah…. Okay… who….?"

He shook his head and leaned closer to her face. "You…" he breathed.

They wouldn't be able to tell you who initiated the kiss that night. Skye likes to believe that it was her that made the first move but Ward is convinced that he'd closed the gap between them. As their lips battled for dominance, Ward lowered Skye on the mattress beneath him. He kissed from her lips to her jaw, down to her neck eliciting a moan from deep within her throat. The sound jerked him to attention and he sat back away from her.

"What?" she breathed heavily. "What's wrong?"

"I… I just… now isn't a good time…"

"Now's not a good time?!" she screeched. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"I don't want to just jump into bed with you… I've done that once already…" he explained. "I want to do this right… Go slow… Preferably when we're not in the middle of a civil war…"

She rolled her eyes before scooting off the bed and standing in front of him. "There will always be some kind of war going on, Ward… there will always be bad guys… if you're planning on waiting for the world to be a better place in order to start living your life, then you'll be waiting forever."

She turned to leave but he grabbed her hand. "I just want to wait until you and I are both in a better place. I don't want our first time together to be in the middle of a high tension battle…."

She let herself smile slowly. "Why? The best ones always start that way…"

"Maybe, maybe not…" he shrugged. "All I know is that I want to wait for the right moment… And I don't want to have to keep this a secret… when all the pieces are lined up, then we can put them together."

"Pieces solving a puzzle?"

He let himself smile. "I told you once that you and I see the world differently…"

"I don't know…" she shrugged. "I think you're starting to see the world a little differently from what you used to…"

"I actually think you're right…" he frowned.

She leaned up on her tip toes and kissed the corner of his mouth with a smile. "Goodnight, Agent Ward."

He watched her slip out of his bunk with guilt etched on his face. She slid the bunk door closed just as he heard a soft beep from within his bunk. He strode over to the bed and lifted the mattress, finding the hidden phone. His eyes widened when he received the message.

Mission Activated. Good luck. Hail H.Y.D.R.A.

Ward looked up from the message and set his jaw. It was time.