Ward adjusted the bracelet on his wrist. He was a free man. Sort of. Popping in ear buds, he began his brisk jog around the park. Bright sun, cool breeze, ocean air… it wasn't right. He was in the open air. He was allowed to see the world.

That was perhaps the worst punishment. He was alone. There was nothing to support him. There were no orders. There was no family. There was no organization. It was just Grant Ward.

And the two joggers trailing him.

They weren't SHIELD. They weren't HYDRA. He couldn't place the training. They were keeping a fair distance but most decidedly watching him. One woman, a tall brunette with her hair pulled back into a short ponytail, her blue eyes on the grayer side of things, and one man, older than Ward, slightly shorter with balding gray hair and worn lines in his face. Sidestepping, he headed to a more secluded part of the trail and sure enough, the two followed, watching, not engaging.

Ward attempted to circle behind them, gain the upper hand. But a blackened SUV blocked his path, the two joggers coming up. "Please, Mr. Ward," the woman smiled. "Miranda would like to have a word with you."

The man opened the backseat, showing plush leather, but no one in there. "We insist," he grumbled.

Ward sighed and got in, the man and woman each taking a side in the back with him. The woman was still smiling, most likely the good cop in most scenarios. She handed him some water. "Since you're recent defection from SHIELD, your skills profile has made a bit of a round. Miranda liked what she saw."

Ward eyed the water. "My ID was erased."

The woman chuckled. "Nothing is ever erased."

The car lapped into silence as they drove. Maybe about ten miles, which meant they were still in the Seattle area. Once they stopped, the woman led Ward to a large, historic looking hotel. She waved brightly at the doorman before taking Ward by herself to the elevator. "I love this hotel," she mentioned as she pushed the button for the top floor.

Ward eyed her. She hadn't had an escort. That meant one of two things: Either they didn't realize how dangerous he was, or he didn't know how dangerous she was.

As the floors dinged in order, the woman took a deep breath. "Just answer her questions. Don't try to be cute or make small talk. Miranda just wants her questions answered."

"Who's Miranda?" Ward finally asked.

The woman smiled. "She's the madame."

Ward's brow furrowed. "What? You mean…"

"She runs an international escort service to every political big wig and influential person you could imagine." The woman smiled and as the doors opened, she led him into a room.

The office had a large oak desk with a stern looking blonde woman in a crisp suit seated behind it. On the floor was a large tarp of clear plastic. This was not a good sign. Another gentleman in a suit was standing on the plastic in front of the desk, glaring at Ward.

The blonde narrowed her eyes as the brunette led Ward to stand on the plastic. "Grant Ward, yes?" the blonde asked.

Ward gave a nod.

"I am Miranda. You've met Holly and this is Lloyd. Lloyd is my personal bodyguard. And he's coming to retirement. So, I need a replacement. According to your jacket, you have all the right training." Miranda pulled a gun from her desk and set it down. "I'm going to give you a chance to prove you're the man. Kill your predecessor."

Without hesitation, Ward grabbed the gun, turned on Lloyd and fired.

Click.

Ward frowned and looked at the gun. "Empty."

Beside him, Holly's whole persona shifted. She stood straighter, her smile more confident. "Thank you, Holly, Lloyd. You can go."

The blonde and the man went. It was a test.

"You're Miranda," Ward grinned. "Nice."

The real Miranda smiled. "You think I'd leave picking my personal bodyguard to the previous one?" She held out her hand. "Gun, please."

Ward handed it over. "You don't seem to need a bodyguard."

Miranda smiled and handed him a bottle of water. "Thank you. Most times, I don't think I do. But better safe than sorry." She took a swig of her own bottle.

"So, are you really a madame?"

Miranda nodded. "Yes. This job entails a lot of travel and watching my ass."

Ward couldn't help but let his eyes drift to her ass.

She noticed. "No. That's one thing that's not on the menu. If you require some release now and then, you're welcome to one of my girls. But I am never to be touched in that way. Are we clear?"

Ward's eyes snapped to her, in soldier mode again. "Yes, ma'am."

Miranda smiled. "Then let's begin. You'll need a good suit."

Ward was all smiles. On the arm of the beautiful Miranda, he looked the part of the perfect eye candy. Perhaps he was a model. Maybe she'd found him as an up and coming tennis player. Or maybe he was the heir to some big fortune 500 company. The point was, Grant Ward looked like he belonged there.

They were in Houston at some big fundraiser. Half of the men there were being escorted by Miranda's staff. And Ward had to admit, the women under her employ were indeed professional. They were poised, full of proper etiquette and grace.

Ward may have looked like a little spoiled brat, smiling and sipping champagne on the arm of a beautiful woman, but he was scouting the entire room. The security was your typical rent-a-cop. He thought he recognized one as a former SHIELD agent. Guess they all had to earn money somehow.

Miranda led him aside. "There's a safe here that I have to get into. You're good at improv, right?"

Ward didn't get a chance to answer as she fainted into his arms. The ruse. He whisked her into his arms, finding a guard. "Sir, is there a bed I could rest her in? The champagne…"

The guard nodded and led them upstairs to the restricted area, unlocking one of the rooms and motioning. "Here. But not too long." He turned and left.

At the sound of the door closing, Miranda's eyes opened. "Not bad." She got up, straightening her dress and grinning. "This is even next door to where I need." She opened her clutch, taking out a small compact. The design looked familiar to Ward but he couldn't quite place is as green lights lit up on the mirror. "I'm in." Miranda wasn't speaking to him, though. "You have ten minutes to run the patch."

"I didn't know that you had other operations going on," Ward commented.

"You don't have to know everything." Miranda smiled. "There's information here. Highly profitable. And I have buyers lining up."

Ward glanced at the compact. "That's some high tech."

She smiled. "It should be. My friends have the most brilliant engineers on the planet." She stopped, listening. "Affirmative." She looked to Ward and snapped the compact shut. "We're clear. We can enjoy the party for about an hour, then hit transport."

Miranda excused herself to the ladies room, locking the door behind her and pulling out the special earpiece from her bra, tucking it into her ear. "You there?"

"I'm here," Coulson replied. "How are the crepes there?"

"There are no crepes, Phil. This is a fundraiser. There's caviar and other fake fancy food."

He chuckled some. "The intel you found is helpful. Thank you."

"Anytime."

Coulson was hesitating. "How is he?"

"Damaged. A bit of a shell. You were right, though. He's never really let himself become anything other than a soldier. He keeps grasping to orders."

"I feel a little better knowing the orders are coming from you."

"Aww, you flirt."

Coulson was smiling. She knew it without seeing him. "I should let you get back to the party."

"Wish you were here. You still owe me a dance."

"I'll collect on that in time."

Skye poked at her fries some. Simmons frowned at her friend. It had been three weeks since they found out Ward had been released and Skye was not taking it well.

"You still have to eat," Simmons urged.

Skye nodded. "I am." She wasn't. Ward had been set loose with just one of those bracelets. Coulson had assured her it was safe but she couldn't believe him. Ward was a monster.

And he was walking across the street.

Skye gasped, not believing her eyes. He hadn't seen them there in the McDonald's. He was heading into a dry cleaners like a normal person.

Simmons followed her eyes and her jaw dropped. "Is that…"

Skye nodded. "It's Ward." She got up, grabbing her laptop bag and throwing it over her shoulder. "I'm going to talk to him."

Simmons stood. "No! That's bad. Very bad."

Skye shook her head. "Don't make me call you out on the manscaping thing."

Simmons paused. "Ten minutes."

Ward paid the ticket for his suit. Miranda had given him three very nice Italian suits and he was ordered to take care of them. Hooking the hangers on his fingers, he tossed the suit over his shoulder, turned around, and froze.

Skye stood there with her arms crossed. "Hey."

Ward took a deep breath. "Hey…"

"Dry cleaning. Pressing the evil out of wool?"

Ward sighed, his shoulders drooping some. "Skye, please. I'm trying to get things back in order, okay?"

"Oh, so all those innocent people you killed?"

"I know that people died. I know you think I'm a soulless monster."

Skye rolled her eyes. "And you've mastered stating the obvious."

A woman's voice spoke up from the doorway. "And you've mastered being a bitch." Miranda was there, her blue eyes focused hard on Skye. "Who is this?"

Ward took a deep breath. "Skye, this is Miranda, Miranda, this is Skye."

Miranda stepped closer. "Skye. And what do you do?"

"I'm with SHIELD." Skye held her own no problem.

"Oh, you mean that shattered little sad excuse of a spy agency?" Miranda laughed. "Come, Grant. We have reservations for lunch."

Ward looked between the two women, a little torn. He hadn't seen Skye in so long. But with a sigh, he followed Miranda. "Goodbye, Skye."

May pulled her hair back and took a deep breath. She stood in the middle of the lounge on the Bus and closed her eyes as she took her first stance.

"You've been doing Tai Chi a lot more," Coulson pointed out as he walked up behind her. "This wouldn't have to do with my decision, would it?"

May didn't even bother to open her eyes. She started her movements.

"I know you don't trust Ward. I know you wanted him into the Bookcase." Coulson sat nearby, watching her. "If it comes down to it, he will be. But he deserves this chance."

May sighed heavily, paused, and started her movements from the beginning again.

"It's a civilian gig. This way at least, he's not put into a killing field. He's protecting Miranda from senators and debutants," Coulson reasoned.

A second sigh hit May because once again, she had to start over.

"I know. I know. He can still do harm internationally." Coulson rubbed his temple. "But I trust Miranda. She's not on any side but her own which means she's bluntly honest."

May stopped, dropping her arms. "Phil… Miranda is a wild card."

Coulson blinked, seriously surprised she'd spoken. "I didn't know how familiar you were with her."

May sipped some water. "I've ran into her before. In London."

"Ran into?"

"She was at a party. I was there to retrieve a piece of evidence. She seemed to want the same thing."

Coulson grinned. "How did that go?"

"Like I said, she's a wild card. And putting Ward with a wild card…"

"Will hopefully help him think for himself," Coulson finished for her.

Miranda glanced at Ward over her iced tea. "So, are we going to talk about that girl?"

Ward settled back into the couch with a sigh. "Nothing to talk about. She's SHIELD."

Miranda tucked her legs under herself. "She's more than that, isn't she? I saw that look in her eyes. You two were a thing."

Ward sipped on his beer. "No. We almost were."

"HYDRA?"

He nodded. "I tried to make her see that it wasn't about HYDRA. I was never in it for the whole 'true believer' thing." He stared at the bottle. "I'm assuming since you knew who I was, you know about my family."

She shrugged. "Cliff notes."

"John Garrett found me. In juvie." Ward took another swig of the beer. "You know, before he let me go, Coulson said that I was going to have to live with knowing that I don't even know who I am."

Miranda grinned. "Yeah. But nobody really does." She paused. "Grant, you know that you work for me, but it doesn't mean I own you. This is like a real job. You get paid for what you do then you go about your life."

"I don't have a life, Miss Miranda. I have a duty. To you."

"Drop the 'Miss' and stop it." She sighed. "Step at a time, Grant." She stood. "I'm going to bed. In the morning, I want you to make a list of three things you enjoy. Not things that other people wanted you to do."