Ward was nursing his drink. May has long left the bar, deciding sleeping for a few hours was the best she could do before the Bus neared it's destination. Ward couldn't but feel somehow betrayed by his rookie. He was far from trusting her completely, but with the stunt she pulled with Lydon she destroyed every last thread of trust he had in her.
When he learned that Coulson allowed her to stay on the team he certainly thought the man was insane. How could he trust her? Even May looked somehow surprised, but managed to hide it very well. If it wasn't for Ward's training he probably wouldn't have noticed her surprise at all.
FitzSimmons however seemed to be fine with Coulson's decision to give Skye a second chance, they even seemed eager to forgive the hacker for her betrayal. In Ward's opinion they were all blind. Once a traitor always a traitor. But he was smart enough not to mention this to anyone. Coulson however must have seen his uneasiness. He asked the specialist to join him in his office as soon as he finished his drink. Somehow Ward wasn't really in the mood to talk or even listen. Therefore he prolonged his stay at the bar. When he finally decided to get it over with he went to find Coulson. His boss waited for him patiently, knowing full well that it was hard for the young man to trust people. His rookie's betrayal hit him harder than anyone else on his team.
Ward knocked and waited for Coulson to ask him in. When the answer came Ward entered and took a seat at Coulson desk.
"I called you because I wanted to talk to you. I think it's needless to say what about" Coulson said waiting for Ward to nod. When he did Coulson continued. "You are probably wondering if I lost my mind allowing Skye to remain on the team. I won't get into to much details, but I want to ask you something." Coulson waited a second before he asked "Do you trust me?"
The question was a simple one, but Ward knew that there was more to it than one might think at first. Ward thought about it. Yeah, he trusted Coulson. He was a good man, a fine leader, but the way he was acting right then and there made Ward question his sanity.
"I do, Sir, but I don't understand…" Ward stopped talking when Coulson raised his right hand.
"I talked to Skye. The reason why I allowed Skye to stay is simple. She is a good person who made a bad call. She wasn't acting out of bad will or for the money like Mr. Lydon. Actually, she never joined our team for any reason you might think. Yes, she is a member of The Rising Tide or I think was would be more accurate, but she joined SHIELD to find herself."
Ward looked confused. Coulson gave him a little time to understand or at least form a question to ask.
"What do you mean to find herself?"
"The reason why Skye joined The Rising Tide and then SHIELD is to find her parents. You know she is an orphan I can only imagine how hard it must be to long for answers and never getting them. She showed me this" Coulson explained and opened the file he had from Skye. Ward turned around to see it on the screen. There was a redacted file by SHIELD that had more blanks than words in it.
"This file, Agent Ward, is everything Skye has regarding her parents. Nothing else. While I don't excuse Skye in any way for the way she acted and lied, I can't help but understand her reasons. She is willing to work hard to earn our trust back. She knows it's a long way to go, but I'm confident she will redeem herself. I promised I would help her." With that last sentence Coulson closed the file and sat down. Ward turned around to face his boss again.
"Why are you telling me this?" Ward asked, although he knew full well the reason.
"I'm not asking you to forgive her or to trust her right away, but to try to understand. I'm sure you did stupid things, made mistakes, but I'm also sure you made things right again the moment you realized your wrong, am I not right?" Ward only nodded. "Please, what I've told you is to stay between us. If Skye will decide at some point to reveal all this to you in the future you can tell her you know, that I have told you. But please, try to be fair with her. She can be saved. It is up to us to show her the right path. I will leave it up to you if you want to stay her supervising officer or not. But if you do, no punishments through workout for what happened today. I won't tell you to forgive her at all. If, however, you decide to trust her again, make sure you both are honest with each other. Don't forgive her for anyone's sake but your own. It won't do her or you any good if you just pretend. If you believe she needs to work harder in gaining your trust, tell her that. Guide her. But don't shut her out."
Damn, that was one hell of a speech Ward thought to himself. It made sense, Skye's behavior and he could understand her actions even involving Lydon. Although he felt betrayed and hurt by her actions, he never thought she was a bad person. She just made a wrong choice when she helped the hacker. When Skye found out about the money Lydon took she was genuinely surprised and angry at her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend Ward correct himself. Maybe Coulson was right. But for now he needed some sleep. To forget this whole messed up day.