A.N: I'm told I do angst well... this is a testament to that. I hope you guys enjoy it.. despite the gut wrenching ending I gave it. Honestly, in my head, I picture this as a great cliff hanger for the first season's finale. But please... feel free to let me know what you think! :)

Say Something

She'd gotten used to hearing Coulson tell them that they had a new mission. What she wasn't used to was hearing the term classified in a while. Not since Ward and Fitz had gone on their super secret mission anyway. So when Coulson pulled Ward aside in debrief earlier to talk classified details, she knew something was wrong. She just had no idea how personal this new mission would get.

Skye was watching the two men talk quietly while everyone else continued to do their own thing and pretend to stay oblivious. Coulson had just explained to them that they were heading to Bangkok to find a former Shield Agent who was up to recently very retired and now happened to be missing. Apparently, one of Shield's Elite had been kidnapped and Coulson's team was tasked with finding him.

"Hey… Simmons…" Skye said over her shoulder. "Who is this guy we're supposed to be looking for? And why is Coulson talking to only Ward about it?"

Jemma turned to Leo briefly before looking down. "Skye… maybe you should ask Ward about that…. It's really not my place…"

Skye turned toward scientist with a smile. "What? Is it his S.O that got taken?"

Leo shook his head. "Did you miss the part about retired Agent?"

She glanced at the confused scientist and shook her head mumbling, "never… mind…"

When Jemma and Leo turned back to their computer screens, she asked, "so who is it?"

"My father…"

She jumped when she heard his deep voice behind her. Turning around with widened eyes, "Your father? Your dad is Shield?"

He stood in front of her with a serious expression. "Was Shield."

He turned toward the screen and waited for Jemma and Leo to bring up his father's classified file.

"Meet Agent Ward, Sr…" Coulson said as a picture of a man who looked like an older Grant Ward came up in front of Skye. "Very decorated soldier… Marine…. Served in the Gulf War before being recruited by Shield. Wife…. Deceased…. One deceased son, one who has gone AWOL and the other…" Coulson glanced at Ward. "….Active…"

"Woah... No wonder you look like a superhero… your dad actually was one."

Ward rolled his eyes. "He's been inactive for years…" He turned toward Coulson. "Why would someone go after him now?"

"That doesn't matter." Coulson said. "Our only concern is to get him back… safely."

That had been the mission. Send the son to rescue his estranged father from international crime lords. It was simple really. Or at least it would have been had they been sending Ward in to save anyone else. She'd tried to talk to him about it. She'd even asked about his father and what kind of man he was after she'd read his file. Ward told her that if she'd read the file then she already knew everything he did. That's when she realized. They were more alike than she'd ever thought. Shield hadn't only hidden her parents from her; they'd taken his father from him. He'd grown up to become just like the man who'd abandoned him as a child. And that broke her heart.

"You can't send him in…" she barged into Coulson's office the night before the extraction took place. "Send someone else. Send May… hell, send me… just don't send him."

Coulson looked up from the papers on his desk with a frown. "Agent Ward is Level 7 and he requested to take lead on this mission."

"Of course he did…" Skye crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Because he's Ward. That doesn't mean he should be doing this… this will destroy him if he can't reach his father in time."

"And if he doesn't at least try? What will that do to him?" Coulson challenged.

"I…" she closed her eyes in frustration. "I just want him to be safe…"

"I know…" Coulson smiled softly. "You're… fond of him… I can tell…"

She didn't really provide an answer for that. Instead she just shrugged.

"It's a vast improvement from the beginning…" Coulson stood and walked around his desk to sit on the edge in front of her. "He's fond of you too... but you can't protect everyone… not even those you care about most… he has to do this…"

"Fine. Send May with him. She can have his back on the ground."

"I offered to send May in with him… he refused." Coulson answered.

"But… why?"

"That's something you'll have to ask him yourself."

She'd rounded the corner when she caught the backend of their conversation.

"I can help you…"

"Thanks but I don't need it…"

"You shouldn't go in alone."

"I don't want to put you at risk."

Skye watched Ward close the distance between him and May before placing a hand on her face. She tried hard not to make a sound and alert them that she'd interrupted their private moment. But these were two of Shield's best Agents, so of course they'd hear her gasp, no matter how quiet she tried to be.

"Skye…" Ward started.

She stepped out from around the corner and faked a smile with a shrug. "I just wanted to make sure that you're good… Thought you'd want to talk about tomorrow but looks like you've already got a shoulder to lean on."

He tried to say something but she interrupted him.

"I'll go… I should get to bed anyway. Coulson says you're leaving before dawn. In case I don't see you… Good luck… and good night…"

She turned to leave. May glanced between the young hacker who was walking away and the man in front of her. "She likes you…"

"She's my rookie…" Ward shook his head. "She just cares… because I'm her S.O."

"She cares a lot more than that…" May shook her head. "And if you can't see that then you really are an idiot."

May walked past her as she left. Skye's eyes widened after being caught spying a second time in minutes.

"You might want to get better at spying if you truly want to become a Shield Agent." May said before walking away.

Skye looked back at Ward who was picking up a bottle and frowned. She shook her head and began the short walk to her own bunk.

The next time she saw him, he was walking onto The Bus with his father in tow. They'd survived and it'd taken every ounce of control to not run at him and give him a bone crushing hug.

He'd gone offline at some point and they didn't hear from him for a while. Fitz and Simmons say it was only a couple minutes but to her it felt like hours. She didn't know if he'd been killed or captured. She truly believed she'd never see him again. So when she saw his face, all bloodied and bruised, her heart soared. She smiled broadly. And she didn't care that anyone else saw her reaction. Because they all had similar smiles anyway. Ward was back. That was all that mattered.

"Can we talk?"

She looked up from her laptop and smiled. "Sure… What's on your mind, Agent Ward?"

He'd leaned against the doorframe of her bunk and crossed his arms. "What you witnessed last night… it wasn't what it looked like…"

"It wasn't an intimate moment between you and Agent May then?" she asked closing the computer in front of her.

"No… I mean yes… I mean… it's complicated."

"How long have you two been sleeping together?"

"What?"

She eyed him knowingly.

He sighed dejectedly. "Since that night at the hotel after the ordeal with the Asgardian staff."

She wasn't expecting that. "Oh."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you…"

"Don't be." She shook her head. "You don't report to me. What… or who you do when you're off the clock is none of my business."

"Skye…"

She stood up throwing the laptop on the bed and stepping around him to leave. "Just next time I offer you a shoulder to cry on, have some balls and tell me that you've already got someone warming your bed."

"Skye…."

She ignored him and continued walking away before throwing over her shoulder, "Congratulations. I guess this makes us even."

She knocked softly and opened the door to Coulson's office. "Can I ask you a favor?"

He waved her in and she shut the door behind her.

"Are you sure that this is what you want?"

Skye looked behind her at Commander Hill before nodding.

"She and I have been talking… she knows all about my past… what you told me about the village and the Agents who risked their lives for me… I don't want that going to waste." Skye said.

Coulson nodded understanding. "Staying with us wouldn't mean their sacrifice was in vain though."

"I want to become a real Shield Agent. Like they were." She shook her head. "But I want to do it right. I may have hacked my way in but now that I'm here… I want to make the most of it." Skye looked back at Commander Hill with a smile. "She's agreed to be my Supervising Officer, so I know I'll be in good hands."

Coulson looked up at Maria Hill with a fond smile and nodded. "She's one of the best."

"I know that." Skye shrugged. "But don't think I'll forget where I came from or the people who got me to where I am. I owe everything to you… for believing in me… even when I gave you a million reasons not to."

"I wouldn't change a damn thing about how you got here, Agent…"

"Carter…. My real last name is Carter…" Skye smiled. "She found that out for me."

Coulson smiled softly. "It's a good name."

"Thanks… AC…"

He frowned.

"Sorry…. Couldn't help myself."

He shook his head with a grin. "I'll let it slide this one time."

She let herself laugh softly before turning to Fitz and Simmons. She walked toward them and tried not to cry before they wrapped her into a giant hug at the same time. Skye gasped before letting the single tear fall. "I'll miss you guys."

Jemma was openly crying now. "We'll miss you too. But you can keep in touch. When you're not in training of course."

Skye smiled. "Of course." She turned to Leo. "So… Fitz… try not to cry on me too…"

"Wouldn't dream of it... I'm way manlier than that."

Skye nodded before pulling the two of them into another hug. "Take care of each other."

The two scientists pulled back and let her walk on to the other person waiting to say their goodbye. Skye looked around and noticed someone else was still missing though.

"He's not coming, is he?" she asked.

May shook her head sadly. "Skye… I-"

Skye shook her head before pulling the older woman into a surprising hug.

"Take care of him for me…" she whispered.

May wrapped her arms around the younger woman. "I will."

"Agent Carter…" Maria Hill called softly. "It's time to go."

Skye nodded before turning to walk off The Bus. She looked back at her former team with a watery smile. "The next time you're in The Hub… Look me up."

She waved before following Commander Hill to a black SUV that would take her to the classified location where she would be assigned to a new training site. She jumped into the back seat after Commander Hill and looked out the tinted glass at the group of people who'd become her first family.

"They're going to miss you…" Maria Hill commented.

"I'm going to miss them."

"Don't worry…" Commander Hill smiled. "The next time they see you, you'll be every bit of the Shield Agent that they are."

"I already feel like I am…" Skye muttered before turning back to her new S.O. "Minus the clearance of course."

"Of course." Commander Hill said with a laugh.

"Are you both ready?" the driver called back to them.

Commander Hill looked at Skye who looked back out the window before turning to the driver and nodding her head. "I'm ready. Let's go."