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When Ward defected back to SHIELD, Skye demanded she run the interrogation. She didn't want anyone else to do it. "Are you sure?" Coulson questioned.
Skye nodded. "I want answers and I'm not going to hear from someone else. I want him to look me in the eyes and tell me the truth." She shrugged.
"If you want out, just say the word. We'll get you out as quickly as possible." A concerned Coulson didn't want her to get hurt.
"I got it, AC. But I'll be fine," she assured him. She grinned, tried to work up her courage, and took a deep breath before entering the interrogation room.
Looking down at the table, Ward's mouth dropped open when Skye walked in. "You're doing this interrogation?"
"Yes, I am. And you're a lying bastard, but I hope you'll tell the truth."
"I did kill Garrett," he pointed out. Turning on his mentor had been one of the hardest things he ever had to do, but Ward couldn't let him kill Skye. He'd die before that happened.
"And good for you. You want a medal? It means a lot, but you've still murdered innocent people." Skye glared at him and he shut up.
"And I will take responsibility for that." Ward tapped on the table but stopped when she continued glaring.
"So this is how it's going to work. We're going to play this little game I like to call truth and lies. And maybe you'll be freed if you're honest with me." She couldn't let herself fall apart in front of Ward. She needed to be strong to get through this. But Skye knew she could do it after everything they had been through.
"I can do that." Ward was willing to do anything to take down Hydra now. He no longer held the same ideals they did. He smiled.
Unamused, Skye only stared him down. "Let's start. First – your name is Grant Douglas Ward."
"Truth." He wondered why she was asking the easy questions first, but maybe it made more sense to do it this way.
"Do you have three siblings? Two brothers and a sister." She was curious about this despite everything else that occurred between them.
"Partial truth. I have no contact with them. And my younger brother is gone." And fuck, he couldn't think about the well right now.
"Gone?" She knew, but needed to hear him say it.
Ward sighed, all that anger over his little brother's death coming back with a vengeance. "Dead," he confirmed.
She felt sorry for him and wanted to grab his hand, but caught herself just in time. Skye would not sympathize with him no matter how much she wanted to. Ward didn't deserve any sympathy. Okay, maybe a little but she refused to admit it. "Sorry. Had to ask. Truth or lie – your favorite football team is the Patriots?"
He laughed. "I fucking hate the Patriots and Tom Brady."
Skye did a double take. "You lied about that? Really?" She wasn't sure why that surprised her, but it did. She honestly hadn't expected him to say it.
Ward didn't know why she seemed so surprised either. "Yes, really. I don't know why – figured they'd be a team that Agent Grant Ward of SHIELD liked. I don't know what team I like the most, actually. Huh."
"Are you having an existential crisis right now?" Skye waited for his response to that and he didn't disappoint.
"Sorry, nope."
"Okay then. I know we talked about this earlier, but just go with it. You killed John Garrett with your own gun?" And yes, she was aware it was stupid to ask this, but she had to.
Ward laughed despite himself. "That was definitely stupid, but I understand why you asked. Truth."
And Skye was too curious for her own good. "And why did you do it?" She had been dying to find out the real reason for days now.
"Because he was going to kill y … the team, and I couldn't let that happen." He had gotten attached to all of them despite not wanting to. His love for them had given Ward the courage to finally stand up to the man he thought rescued him. Garrett's death would haunt him for the rest of his life, but he didn't want to think about that right now.
"You care about the team?" Skye didn't miss his little slip, but she didn't want to deal with that right now. She couldn't. He had betrayed them and couldn't ever be trusted.
Ward smiled. "Yes, I care about them. That is one hundred percent the truth. All of you grew on me. And leaving was the hardest – and stupidest – decision of my life. If I could do it all over again, I would."
She wanted to melt, but didn't want Ward to see the effect he had on her. "Well it's too late to do anything about it. Ward, you are willing to give us Hydra secrets? You're not going to turn on us again?"
"Skye, I promise you that I will never turn on SHIELD – or the team – again. It's just not going to happen. And I will spill everything I know." He meant every word. Ward really wished he had realized this sooner, before he had ruined everything.
An idea was forming, but Skye couldn't give in just yet. "Okay, someone will be in to talk to you about that. Maybe Romanoff – I heard Hill told her what you said."
He cringed. "Fuck."
She laughed. "Hey, it's your own fault."
"Nice. Laugh at my pain. I deserve it, though." Damn it, he was spiraling and that couldn't happen. Now was not the right time.
"So, are you willing to die for your crimes?" Skye hated to ask this. She was actually pretty fucking terrified of his answer.
Ward hesitated for a second before answering. "Yes. I need to pay for what I did. It's the least I deserve." He could never atone for his actions. That much was obvious.
Skye tried to work herself up to asking what she wanted to know. This could hurt both of them, but she was willing to take the risk. "Truth or lie again. And you better be honest with me. This is a big one."
He cocked his head in confusion. "What are you talking about? Why is this a big one? I thought you already asked the big ones."
She waved off his question and they sat in silence for a few minutes. "Truth or lie, Grant. You love me."
Ward didn't even hesitate or blink. "Truth. I am so in love with you I can't even deal with it sometimes. You're the first woman I've ever loved. But I know I ruined everything, and I don't deserve your forgiveness." There weren't any words for how he felt about her.
A sob escaped her. "Oh my God."
"Are you okay?" He didn't want to upset her. That hadn't been his intention at all.
Skye nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. That's all I needed to know. On the plus side, that was way less creepy than the last time you admitted your feelings for me. Erased that memory a little bit."
Ward cracked up. "Yeah, that was not my finest moment. Sorry about that."
She suddenly got serious. "I'm still so fucking pissed at you I can't stand it. But everyone deserves a second chance – the team taught me that – and I will give you one. Forgiveness is going to take a long time."
"Understandable." But he wasn't even sure if he was going to survive this and didn't want Skye to get her hopes up for something that was never going to happen.
She stood up, walked to his side of the table, and then kissed him before leaving. "Still a nice kisser."
"You too." He looked dazed when they pulled apart, and Skye giggled at his reaction. She always seemed to have that effect on him. It was nice.
Then Skye turned around and walked out. "Okay, I got some of the important stuff. Natasha can find out what else we need to know," she told Coulson.
"You kissed him! I thought the hand holding was bad enough, but you kissed him." Coulson looked like he was having trouble accepting this bit of information, and she couldn't help but laugh.
Nothing was okay – far from it, truth be told – but it wouldn't stay this way forever. The tides would change course soon. And now that Ward was on their side, Skye was sure that they could beat anything that came their way.