Hey,... I really need my SkyeWard and it seems like I'm not getting any from the series. And that kiss between Ward and Agent 33 with Skye's face, is so not counted or remotely considered as a SkyeWard. So I am going overboard with this ff by straying from what I've seen at some point and have things the way I like them to be. Hope you enjoy it.
Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing my ffs and giving me an inspiration to write even when the SkyeWard is almost non existence.
Disclaimer : I do not own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Summary : Ward helps Skye. That's some thing just meant to be.
xox
"Wherever Skye goes..."
"Death follows."
Fitz hadn't mean to eavesdrop on the conversation between Coulson and May. He was about to enter the Director's office when he heard them talking about Skye. If death follows Skye, she could be a useful instrument to eliminate the bad guys, Fitz had thought.
While he was recuperating months ago, Fitz had only one person that he wanted to eliminate. Ward. Sending Skye to Ward would be a sweet revenge. If what they were saying about Skye was true, she would be his instrument of death.
But after talking to him, Fitz had accepted the truth that Ward had been given him a chance to live, no matter how much his life had changed. The matter at hand was not only had he been changed but Simmons too. Her despair in losing Trip, has made her turned against the inhumans. And that might include Skye, when she finds out about Skye's new found powers.
Giving in to his instinct and stubborn faith that he has in Ward, Fitz knew his former teammate was the only one who could and would keep Skye safe. If she doesn't kill him first.
xox
"You need to help her."
"She doesn't need me."
"You are the only one who can protect her."
"She doesn't want me, don't you get that, Fitz?"
"Do you still love her?"
"Which part of 'she shot me' did you miss?"
xox
"Listen to me Skye. I don't know what Simmons will do to you when she finds out. We need to get you out of here. And Ward - "
"No."
"He is the only one who can help you, Skye."
"I shot him, Fitz."
"What's your point?"
xox
"She is going to hate you, Fitz."
"I don't care. As long as she is safe. And free from that glass cage. You don't know what they'll do to her if they find out what she has become. From Hydra or sadly, S.H.I.E.L.D., she will never be safe."
"Believe me. I know."
"So you'll help her?"
"Just so you know, if this is a trap set for me, I'll flush you into the ocean without a pod. And I'll be smiling this time."
xox
"Don't you want to get out of here?"
"I don't know. Between Simmons and Ward - "
"Skye listen to me. Much as I love Simmons as a friend and.." Fitz shut his eyes and took a deep breath before letting out a heavy sigh. "I don't want her hurting you. Trip's death has been heavy on her. And she is blaming his death on everything that happened that day. I don't want her to blame you."
"And Ward is the lesser Devil?"
"He won't let anything happen to you."
"I shot him Fitz!"
"Are we really going back to that?" Fitz held his palm up when Skye was about to rebuke. "Look, you two can sort that out when you see each other. But the top priority here is to keep you safe. And I know Ward can and will do that."
"But Coulson will keep me safe. "
"Yes but Coulson can't disappear like Ward can."
"You still trust him? After what he did to you?"
"He let me live."
xox
"I should have shot you between your evil eyes like you did Agent Hand."
Skye spat her venomous words at Ward the moment she opened her eyes and saw him sitting opposite her. He was reading a book. He glanced at her when he heard her words and calmly closed his book and set it aside.
"I thought you hated her. Some protocol freak of some kind. Not your style."
"Just because I hate someone that doesn't mean I want them dead!"
"Well, it was certainly not Cupid arrows that you shot me with." Ward shot her with sarcasm.
"You taught me never to turn my back on my enemy."
"I also told you that I wouldn't turn my back on you."
"You did! You turned your back on me and the team!"
"I had orders to follow. But I've never wanted any of you dead. And I made sure of that."
Ward replied as she sat up. He stared at her and noticed how her eyes were shut tight and her face lacked the rosy blush that has always been part of her complexion. He only had himself to blame for her current condition.
As planned, Ward took her away undetected when Fitz meddled with the security cams and lights. He had to render her unconscious because even as she knew of the plan, she was aggravated when she saw him and things began to shake. He had to take matters into his own hands after a whispered apology and gave her a little tap to the back of her head. Hence, her headache.
"Head hurts?" He asked gently.
"What the hell do you care?!" She growled in response.
"I care Skye."
Ward replied huskily and took a small vial out of his pocket. He opened it and tipped out two small pills. He then opened a bottle of water and placed it on the table by her side. He stretched his hand out to hand her the pills.
"Take this. It'll make your pain go away. We both know how cranky you get whenever your head hurts."
"I like being cranky. Now."
"So that you can shake the earth under your feet with the power that you possess now?"
"How do you know?"
"Let's just say that I've been warned that you might rock my world. And by the way, you may not want to shake anything here because we are quite near a dam. And you know what happens when a dam breaks. Though the world may be crawling with bad guys, there are still innocent lives out there."
"You know what I can do?"
"Yes. Fitz told me everything. Or at least what he knows, so far."
Ward got off his seat and sat next to Skye. He opened his palm to show the pills in his hand. He then placed it near her lips. She shook her head.
"No."
"They are not gonna kill you." Indicating the pills.
"They may not but what about you?"
"I'm not trying to kill you. Trust me."
"That's right. You are just going to give me up to the highest bidder."
"I'm not giving you up to anyone even if they put a gun to my head!" Ward yelled at her. "You know what?" he sucked in his cheek before narrowing his eyes at her. "If you don't trust me, you are free to walk out that door right now. But remember the person who got you here. What he did to get you away from your glass cage. I betrayed and make him what he is today. Fitz knew that, yet still, he chose me to protect you. You want to know why? Because he made me make a promise. And you both know I never break my promises."
"Your twisted promises." Skye spat. "So, tell me. What kind of deal did Fitz strike with the Devil?"
Hurt flashed in Ward's eyes at Skye's hurtful words. But Ward expertly masked his pain and told her of the promise he made with Fitz. "That no harm will come to you. A promise not to hurt you."
"Promise not to harm or hurt me?" Skye hissed. "Hello! See this bump at the back of my head? You gave it to me the moment you saw me! What the hell is that if it's not hurting?" Skye hissed her words at him.
"That's to save both our asses you - " Ward closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking evenly. "Just take the damn pills Rookie."
"News flash! I'm not your Rookie anymore. Nor are you my SO. I don't have to take orders or anything from you. You can shove those pills - "
"If you are not going to do this the easy way..."
Ward's voice trailed off as she ranted on before he popped the pills into his mouth and took a big gulp of water. What comes next totally surprised her.
He suddenly moved in and pinned her legs under his to keep her from kicking. He then cupped her jaw in one hand and pinched her cheeks to open her mouth. Skye fought to push his arm that was pinning both of hers down.
Ward then kissed her. His unexpected action shocked her which caused the pills and water to be transferred into her open mouth. He tipped her head back a little further that forced her to swallow. Satisfied that the pills had been taken, Ward slowly released her and wiped the remaining water off her lips.
"I hate you." Skye told him in a low voice.
"What's new?"
xox
"Why are you helping me?"
Skye asked as she made her way to the kitchen where Ward was preparing their dinner. She had fallen asleep again after they talked. Well, he wanted to talk but she was still angry for his style of giving her the painkillers. So he read his book out loud while she listened and finally nodded off to sleep. Ward had noticed how light she was when he carried her to his bed to let her sleep more comfortably. There were dark circles under her eyes, evidence of lack of sleep, just like Fitz had told him.
He looked back over his shoulder that had a kitchen towel draped over it and grin as she came to inspect what he was cooking.
"Hey Sleepy Head. Sit. I just need to get your cheese fries and equally cheesy burger on the plate and we are ready to eat. I hope it's junked enough."
"Junked enough?" Skye was taken aback by his words.
"Fitz said you haven't been eating. I saw what they served you in that glass box. Healthy and nutritious as it seems, you didn't touch any of it. So, I thought I'd give you something that's unhealthy but edible to you." Ward placed her laden plate in front of her and a tall glass cola.
He noticed she just stared at it and he told her to wait a second before moving away and to come back shortly. He placed a bottle of ketchup, cheese sauce and a plate of cherry pie next to her glass. He then ladled some stew into his bowl and took some warm buns from the oven and sat opposite her. He pointed to her food and simply said, "Eat."
"Who are you?" Skye asked when he began eating.
"Grant Douglas Ward."
"I know your name. But what are you now? Why are you helping me?"
Ward looked at her before giving her a small smile. "You and me? Wrong foot."
"You are really using that line on me?" Skye snorted and gave a little false laugh. "Can't you be more original?"
"Sorry. People skill is just not my forte."
"No kidding." Skye replied and opened her mouth to ask another question. But Ward reached across the small round table and picked her fork. He skewered a few fries and placed it near her mouth. "How about we eat and then we talk?"
"Why can't we talk now?"
"Because I'm hungry and you are grouchy when you are. With your current condition? Not advisable." Ward told her and at her reluctance to accept his offer, he laid her fork on her plate. He shrugged and continued with his meal.
"How are you going to help me?" Skye questioned him stubbornly. "You don't know what I can do."
"You are right. I don't know what you can do." Ward replied after laying his spoon down. "But, from what Fitz told me, aggravation is one of the key catalysts that triggers your new capability. You hate me Skye. Just sitting there, I can sense your resentment and how you are hanging on to your self control and not throw that plate of fries at me. So, before we can fully understand the extent of your powers, I'll help you to control it first by using your hatred directed at me. But you have to work with me."
Ward raised his finger to stop her from interrupting him before he continued. "I am not asking you to change your views or feelings for me. You can continue to despise me all you want. Bottom line, we use that hatred to figure out how to control, deviate or halt whatever you do that cause things to quake. When you are more in control, we will go for the full extent of what you can do."
"Aren't you getting it backwards? Shouldn't we find out what I can do before learning to control it?"
"Sure." Ward shrugged. "We can do it your way. But that's like going in head first with no back up plan. Imagine jumping off an airplane and half way down, thinking that you should have lugged along a parachute with you. But of course that would have been too late."
"But," Ward tilted his head at her before saying, "This is your life. Your choice. I leave you to chose the way you want things to be done. I can only give you my point of view. I'll do everything I can to help, protect and keep you safe. But I won't force or coerce you into doing something that you do not want. Until the time when you are in control, I'll be your shadow."
"What happens after that?" Skye grunted after some moments.
"If you are asking if you still need to hang around me after that?" Ward waited for her to reply and at her nod, "Years of being on an invisible leash have taught me to value what freedom is. No. I won't keep you. I won't control you. I won't kerb you from doing anything that you feel right or who you want to be with. If you think you don't need my help anymore, you are free to go."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that. You don't owe me anything."
"What about the promise you made to Fitz?"
"The promise was made on the condition that you are not hurt in anyway. That includes, not keeping you where you don't want to be." Ward told her before adding softly, "Even if it's with me, who will always protect you."
He rose and left her on her own.
xox
"Where ever I go, death follows."
"Wrong." Ward replied as he handed her a glass of milk. He then lowered himself on recliner opposite her after placing his tumbler on the table before continuing, "Wherever you go, people roll their eyes and try to refrain from executing a face palm."
After Ward left her at the dinner table, Skye thought about what he said. She then picked up his bowl and her plate and carried them to the den where he was sitting in the dark. She handed him his bowl and spoon before sitting down adjacent to him with her plate on her lap. Without word, Ward turn on the table lamp. They exchanged a look before he sighed and began eating his cold stew.
Later after a quiet yet, companionable dinner, Ward had silently taken her plate from her and tilted his head to signal her to the living room. Ward had forbid her from contacting anyone or visiting any website that might give away their location. Broodingly, she had browsed through the collection of books and magazines Ward had in his room. She picked up one of the many magazines that lined the shelves and flicked through the pages.
"Did you by any chance took Clown 101 between the time I shot you and now?" Skye hissed.
"You calling me Mr Fun Machine was kind of a motivation. A man can't be serious all the time, right?" he winked.
"I'm serious damn it!"
"Death follows everyone Skye." Ward replied as he took in the surroundings. "Where ever I go, death follows too. Fortunately, it hasn't taken mine."
"That's because you eliminate them before they even look at you!"
"You think I like doing that?" he hissed as he leaned forward to express his point. "It came with a price regardless of if I do or don't. You don't know anything about me do you? What I went through wasn't something that's written, filed and hidden in some place where you can hack."
"Whatever you went through, I know what I'm still seeing. You are a Hydra."
"I'm not a Hydra. Even if I was in it, I was never loyal to it. I was loyal to Garrett because he had a hold over me. I had no way out."
"But you made that choice to be what you are. You never had to be tortured or brainwashed. You said so." Skye told him stubbornly.
"It isn't easy to make a choice when the odds are stacked high against you." He said as his eyes focused on his drink on the table.
"And now? Which side are you on?"
"Not which. But whose." Ward smiled mysteriously as he picked up his tumbler.
"Are we doing this the hard way or you just going to tell me who that is?" Skye folded and slapped the magazine onto the table.
"Define hard."
"You..."
"You gotta learn to calm down Skye." Ward told her as he raised his tumbler. "Unlike James Bond, I like my drinks stirred not shaken."
xox
"Why are you helping me?"
Skye just had to ask Ward one more time before she turned in for the night.
"You are beginning to sound like a broken... robot." He chuckled, before turning his head to see her standing by his bedroom door. "Hey! What do you know. We have a few things in common. We are both robots. And monsters."
"Like hell we are!"
"Chill Skye. Remember the dam?"
"Could you just please tell me why you are helping me."
"Fitz is afraid that Simmons might kill you."
"She is going to kill you too."
"See? We do have something in common!"
"I take back that I ever wished that you have a sense of humour." She grumbled as she entered his room and left him to sleep on the couch in the living room.
"Happy dreams Skye."
xox
"Skye wake up! Skye! Skye! You gotta wake up!"
Skye woke up shocked to find Ward leaning over her and shaking her shoulders. She didn't recognise him instantly and thus struggled for release. But only to have him crushed her to his firm body and her head cradled under his chin.
"It's me. It's me. Calm down Skye. You are safe. I'm here. I won't let anything hurt you. It's ok. I'm here. Shhhh...shhh. You need to calm down."
He immediately began to stroke her hair gently as he soothed her anxiety and fear by telling her that she is safe and that she needed to calm down repeatedly. Only when she realized that the room was vibrating that she took gulps of air to calm herself.
"What...what happened?" Skye asked against Ward's neck.
"The place was shaking and I found you thrashing in your sleep. Whatever you were dreaming of might have caused the effect." Ward told her gently. "You ok?"
Skye nodded against him.
"Bad dream?"
Ward felt her head nodded against him again. And this time her fingers clutched his shirt tighter.
"Hey, hey," Ward rubbed her back when he felt her body shaking. "It was just a dream. You are safe now."
"I dreamed that my mother is still alive. She is keeping my father in some windowless room. He kept asking for me. But she kept him like she was keeping me. In the dark. I had to break out. I needed to get out. I ..I..."
"Shhhh...shhh..." Ward began rocking Skye when the room began to shake lightly. "It was just a dream. Just a dream Skye."
It took a while before the room stopped vibrating. Ward did his best to calm Skye down with soft murmurs of comfort with his soothing voice. They sat on the bed for some time before Skye finally made a move for him to release her. She looked up into his eyes with a frown on her eyebrows once he eased her head off his chest.
"What?" Ward asked.
"Hakuna Matata?"
"It means 'No worries.' Catchy song. What about it?"
"You actually recite the lyrics of that song like some Shakespearean sonnet to calm me down?" Skye couldn't believe that Ward had actually used the words of the song from some animated movie to calm her down.
"It worked didn't it?"
xox
"What are you doing?"
Skye asked Ward when she found him moving around inside an old van in the garage. She moved just in time to evade from getting hit by a flying headrest that Ward had flung out.
"Hey! Watch it!" Skye yelled. "Are you trying to hit me with that thing?"
"No," Ward's head popped out of the opened door. "Just checking your reflexes."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." Ward said as he exited the van while dragging a seat behind him. "I was checking your reflexes and also if an ambush would push you to shake things. I got my answer." Ward nodded with satisfaction before tilting his head towards the workbench. "Could you hand be that wrench. Thanks."
"What are you doing?"
"What? This?" Ward tapped the side of the van with his knuckle. "I'm pimping my Grampsy's van. Keeps me occupied since I've got no badass adversaries to keep me busy."
"Badass adversaries? As in Hydra or S.H.I.E.L.D?"
"I'm not choosy. They come at me, I reciprocate in kind or as I see fit." Ward waggled his eyebrows to which Skye rolled her eyes. Ward chuckled before asking, "You wanna help me fix this?"
"Yup." Skye replied and still was in awe as she took in the old VW van that was painted in psychedelic colours. "So, this was your Grampsy's?"
"Yup. She was a wild one. The black sheep of the Ward clan. She wasn't my paternal grandmother. Her twin was. Which makes her my grand aunt. But she was more of a grandmother than my own ever was." Ward explained. "She was something like you were when we first kidnapped you. Non-robotic. Human. Bubbly. Fun. Lethal when it comes to hugging and cheek pinching." Ward rubbed his cheek as he gave a faraway smile.
"Where is she now?" Skye smiled at the image of the young Grant Ward shaking his head to evade from his cheeks getting pinched.
"The last time I met her was during that first time when I went AWOL from military academy that my parents and her twin insisted that I went to. She told me about this place." He pointed around him. "She said her evil twin and the monsters aka my parents don't know about it."
"How often did you sneaked out of the academy?"
"Twice." Ward's eyes looked straight into Skye's when he said, "First time to see her. The second," he took a deep breath. " The second was to burn the family house down hoping that Christian was in it. He had my Grampsy killed when she tried to save my younger brother and sister from him and my parents. He made it look like a drowning accident."
"Oh Ward. I'm - "
"Sorry?"
Skye nodded.
"Don't." Ward said before he turned to enter the main house. At the door he stopped. "Everyone that said they are sorry to me, never meant it. Unless it's to say they are sorry for ever meeting me."
xox
"You and me? Wrong foot."
Ward stopped punching the punching the bag when Skye tapped his shoulder and handed him a bottle of water. He accepted the bottle, huffed a laugh and shook his head.
"Not that again," he groaned.
"Well since we, as you said, have no badass adversaries chasing us right now, we've all the time to seriously decide which term or phrase would be more appropriate to describe what we had. Which would you prefer? Wrong foot? Or stomping on each other feet with a few ass kicking along the way?"
"The ass kicking was all part of your training to toughen you up. Besides, the phrase was figurative on my part. Whereas you did kicked me - "
"What? I - " Skye started to rebuke. "Ok. One time. But that was because you tossed me out of my bed at freaking 6 am for training!"
"I wouldn't have tossed you out if you had woken up at 5.30 or at any of the 10 minutes thereafter that I called for you."
"But at least I showed you how capable I was in incapacitating an opponent, even before you showed me how to."
"It was fortunate that I was ready for your second attack. Or I would have to blame you for my inability to generate a new Ward clan if the need ever arises."
Skye digested his words for a moment before laughing until tears ran down her cheeks. Ward rolled his eyes when she fell at his feet still rolling in laughter. He kicked her foot playfully and left her on the mat when she uttered "Mini robots" in between her uncontrollable giggles.
xox
"I think I said, we see the world differently." Ward said when he entered the living room as he toweled his hair dry. Skye was standing by the kitchen counter as she made a light snack for them.
"Yeah. I was like a runaway train bulldozing and blasting into your organized and compartmentalized robotic world." She replied as she smeared ketchup on the chips.
"I have to admit that the blast was fun."
"DID YOU SAY FUN?" Skye dropped the bottle of ketchup on the counter. "Ok. Who are you and what have you done to my robot?" Skye asked with cheekiness in her eyes.
Ward stood in front of her with a strange look on his face. "Your robot?" He asked with an arched eyebrow. "Even after - " he glanced down towards his body.
"I - " Skye immediately sobered from her playfulness and stammered as she took in deep breaths. "I - "
"Hey, hey," Ward reached out and gently took her hand when the glass of water on the table began to vibrate. "Relax. Let's sit down and talk. Ok?"
Skye was still shaking when Ward pulled her to sit next to him on the bar stool. He angled her to face him as he took both of her hands in his. "You ok?" Ward asked when she calmed down.
"Yeah."
"Ok. I think it's about time we talk. You can ask me anything and I'll answer them truthfully. No lies. No jest. Only truth as I had promised you."
Skye remained quiet for a few moments as she collected herself and thought of questions that needed answers. Slowly she looked up and lined her eyes to his body. Her hands signaled for released from his. When he gave in to her need, she reached out towards the hem of his shirt.
"May I see what I have done to you?" Skye asked in a small voice.
Ward nodded and lifted his shirt to reveal the scars left by the bullet wounds. Remorse dawned in Skye's eyes and he immediately pulled his shirt down. He took her hands again and gently squeezed them.
"I deserved them. For hurting you." He told her.
Skye shook her head. The room began to vibrate again. He released her hands and cupped her face that was continuously shaking.
"Skye. Listen to me. What you did was not wrong." He gently traced the contours of her face with his thumb. "You had every right to hate me. I hurt our team. I hurt the people that put their trust in me. I hurt you in ways that I can never forgive myself, Skye. I am so sorry. I am so sorry for not being strong enough to realize that it was not a weakness to care until I've lost you.
"I know I can never gain your full trust anymore. I can understand if even right now, you still feel that I will sell you out. You have every right to be afraid." Ward told her gently as his hands left her face to regain his hold of her hands. "But I swear that I shall never hurt you again. Unless you, in your own words, tell me to walk away, I'll be beside you and have your back no matter what. I'll never let anything happen to you, Skye."
Skye gazed into his eyes for a long time.
"What happened after I shot you?"
"I made out of that place with Agent 33's help. She nursed me back to health."
"Did you two - ?" Skye left the question hanging.
"Sleep together?" Skye nodded at his question. "No."
"Was it because of her face?"
"No." Ward replied. "After I healed, we got one of the surgeons responsible for her initial change to rebuild her face. He installed a chip in her and one time," Ward stopped and looked straight into Skye's eyes before continuing."One time, she changed into your likeness and came to me."
"And you - "
"No. I pushed her away."
"You pushed her away because she looked like me?" Skye nodded. "I get it. You must really hate me."
"No." Ward shook his head. "I pushed her away not because that I hate you. It was because she was not you. She just wasn't you."
"But I shot you! How can you not hate me?"
"I have to be insane not to hate you for that." Ward gave a non-humorous snort. "But yes, I am insane for not being able to hate you. I just can't. It was just some thing meant to be. Skye, I couldn't find a reason to hate you. I was in danger of jeopardizing Garrett's plans because of my feelings for you. Yet I couldn't let you go. I had a good excuse to hate you when you betrayed the team with the Rising Tide issue."
"But you weren't pretending when you put me in your dog house. You wouldn't forgive me. You made my life a living hell!"
"Wrong Skye." Ward shook his head before gently using the crook of his finger under her chin to coax her into turning towards him. "There was nothing to forgive. You were doing exactly what I was doing. We were both doing something that was for someone we had put our trust in. Besides, I couldn't make it easy on you. I had to pretend you meant nothing to me or Garrett might have gotten to you sooner.
"I was ready to go to Coulson and tell him the whole farce when you were shot. I blamed Mike for not protecting you. But deep down I knew that he couldn't have done anything. It was all Garrett's doing. The man was in total control. The real nightmare began when Garrett came on the Bus. He knew what I was going to do and he only had to look at you with those eyes of his. And I knew, he'll finished you off himself if I don't do as ordered. He made sure I didn't get anywhere near Coulson."
Ward tilted his head when Skye looked away in order to get her to look at him again. When she did, his face was devoid of someone asking for forgiveness. Because he knew no matter what he says, it was too late.
"I know this is all hard to believe. I don't blame you if you can't ever forgive me for what I did. I'm passed that." Ward told her. "But I need you to know that whatever I did, I did it to save you and the team. No matter how cruel and twisted it was, it was for you and the team. Fitz may be what he is now. I have been hating myself for doing that to him. But know what Skye?"
Skye shook her head as her eyes bored into his.
"I couldn't live with myself if I had shot both of them in their heads as Garrett wanted me to. I may not be able to save my baby bother and sister, but there was no way I would let anyone harm Fitz and Simmons if I can help them. I may not know much about innocence. But that's how I see Fitz and Simmons."
"Why would you help us?"
"Because you all gave me something that I never had."
"Friends?"
"As hard for you to believe that but yes." Ward nodded. "But more importantly, to be treated as a human."
"Could have fooled me." Skye couldn't help mutter.
"You were right when you called me a Robot. I've been under someone's remote control all my life."
"So, sleeping with May was labeled under your program 'To Seduce'?"
"Yes."
"Really? Seriously?"
"Either that. Or he'll take you away from me."
"But he had me shot!"
"Because he found out I told May that I wanted to stop."
xox
"Why are you helping me, now?" Skye asked after silence enveloped them for some moments as she took in all that he had said into perspective.
"Fitz didn't think you are safe with the team." Ward replied as he poured some drink for himself. "Especially with Simmons right now. I take full responsibility for the change in her. Before what I did to her, she wouldn't hurt a fly." Ward laughed pensively.
"So you owe Fitz to keep me safe after what you did to him." Skye said instead of asked.
"I'm not doing this for Fitz. I'm doing this for you."
xox
"Which would you choose now? Hydra or S.H.I.E.L.D?"
"Neither." Ward told her as they still sat next to one another on the bar stool. They toyed with the food in front of them rather than actually eating them. "My priority is to protect you. I won't hesitate to eliminate anyone that wishes to harm you."
"Even if it's Simmons?"
"Even if it's Simmons." He answered squarely.
"Just like a Hydra. Threats are taken care of quickly." Skye muttered with sarcasm that she couldn't keep out of her voice.
"From what I learned from S.H.I.E.L.D.? What threats can't be eliminated, will be kept save." Ward replied with ease. "So if it makes you feel better? I promise to just use the Night Night Gun on Dr. Simmons."
"We don't call it that anymore."
"I know."
"You think you know everything, don't you?" Skye turned to him with eyes flashing.
"No. Not everything. Just things that matters most." Ward matched her eyes. "Like I know how terrified you are right now of the change in you."
Skye was speechless. She looked away from him and focused on her clenched fists. The table started to vibrate and Ward gently covered her fists with his hand and his thumb drew lazy circles on her skin to calm her.
"It's ok to be afraid Skye. You are only human."
He kept calming her until the surroundings were back to normal. He then released her hand and let her ponder on her thoughts.
"I'm an inhuman, Ward. Because of what I've become, I'm seen as a threat." Skye suddenly blurted after another long silence.
"I'm a human, Skye. But because of what I have become, I'm seen as a threat as well."
"My parents are monsters."
"So's mine."
"I'm. Not. Kidding."
"Neither am I." Ward turned to look at her. "Human. In-human. Genetic make up doesn't guarantee one is not a monster of some kind. Your parents may be monsters of some kind in order for you to be an in-human. But you know what Skye?" Ward's voice dropped down to a husky whisper. "They are monsters with a heart. They love you. They searched for their daughter who was taken from them. They did everything they could to have their daughter back. They kill to get you back.
"My parents were human. But monsters of the worst kind. They didn't have any love for me. Nor for my baby brother and sister. They hurt and tossed us out rather keeping us safe. They abandoned their duty of protecting us as a parent should. I only had Grampsy to show me what being loved is like." Ward tenderly lay his hand on top of Skye's and laced his fingers with hers. "Then at fifteen, when she died and Garrett got hold of me, I had no one to show me what family love is like. Or what love is."
"Until you. With you, I found out what loving someone is like." Ward gently caress the back of her thumb with his. "And I couldn't stop. Even when I knew I had to because I'll only be hurting you."
Skye remain silent after his speech. But her fingers started to curl into her palm and in doing so, her fingers interlaced more intimately with his.
"I'm a monster Ward. You said so, once."
"We are both monsters in our own way, Skye." Ward replied softly. "But the questions lies in just what kind of monsters we want to be."
Skye moved her right hand to cover his that was enveloping her left. She squeezed his hand and whispered, "I'm scared to trust you."
"If you can't trust me," Ward took his eyes off their joined hands to look her in her eyes. "Trust in Fitz's faith that I'll keep you safe."
xox
"Ward?"
Ward sat up and looked over the back of the sofa to see Skye standing at his bedroom door. He was just settling down to sleep when he heard her calling his name.
"Yeah?"
"How are you helping me?"
"I have already told you. We see how we can control your - "
"I know that part. But how, as in, are you going to stick wires and hook me up to sensors or whatever those things are, on me to see what I can do like Simmons did?"
"You've been down to my dungeon?" Ward asked in all seriousness before smirking and shaking his head slowly. "Awww...Skye, you shouldn't have done that."
All colour drained from Skye's face that had Ward laughing.
"Relax! That was a joke!" Ward told her when she started to hyperventilate. "Come on Skye! You've seen my basement! There's nothing but Grampsy's old magazines and things she collected from her travels. The only electronics you can find there is that huge entertainment system that I have just purchased last month. And the digital glass cabinet where I keep my board games that I've collected over the years."
Ward stood up and started towards her. But seeing how tense she was, he sat on the back rest of the sofa and folded his arms on his chest. He titled his head to look at her with an assuring smile.
"I'm not gonna hurt you. Ok?"
"But how - " Skye relatively calmed down to ask.
"If I watch you carefully..."
"What?"
"I said, if I watch you carefully - " Ward was surprised when her lips started twitching. "What? What did I say?"
"Nothing." Skye cleared her throat and hid her grin behind her hand. "Nothing. You just reminded me of Fitz, that's all. Forget it." Skye shook her head and turned away. "We'll talk tomorrow. Night."
Ward mumbled his reply and proceeded to settle on his sofa to sleep. He couldn't get what Skye said out of his mind. Finally just before he fell asleep, he remembered. He sat up.
"Hey Skye! You asleep?"
"No." Skye replied from his darkened room. She didn't close his bedroom door so she actually saw him sitting up on the sofa with his head tilted back in the direction of his room. "What up?"
"Once, Fitz and I were playing cards on the Bus and he suddenly walked away."
"He did?" Skye asked. "Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"So?" Skye asked cautiously.
"'If I watch you carefully' wouldn't be some kind of a code between you and Fitz during that card game I was having with him, would it?"
"What if it was?"
"Nothing." Ward replied before moving to settled back in his makeshift bed. "Just wondering that's all."
"Wondering what?"
Ward kept quiet and waited for Skye to repeat her question before answering.
"If you liked what you saw."
He heard her gasped before getting hit by a pillow missile followed by some new names for him from the room. But Ward was glad that nothing was shaking or trembling. With a grin, he turned more comfortably into his pillow and bade her, "Sweets dream, Skye."
THE END
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