Disclaimer: I don't own Agents of SHIELD.
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A haymaker connected with Ward's body, knocking the air out of him.
"Who were your contacts within SHIELD?" His interrogator asked again.
There was a section in SHIELD manual covering what to do if captured during a mission.
Most of it were high sounding ideals. It reminded the agents SHIELD had been founded with the ideal of protection in mind. In their hands was the duty of protecting the safety of the world. Their enemies could never learn their secrets.
It went on for more pages, citing techniques taught during their training along with a dose of good old fashioned "Trust SHIELD".
It was bullshit.
There was a single truth about torture. Everyone broke.
It didn't matter how well-trained you were. It didn't matter how high your pain threshold was. It didn't matter how many people you could take down with one hand tied behind your back.
Everyone broke.
There was a reason why cyanide pills were given to agents on dangerous missions.
The unwritten HYDRA handbook was infinitely more honest about this stuff. Garret had never hesitated to tell him what HYDRA expected him to do if he ever got caught.
Just die.
Ward snorted, as he felt a coppery taste in his mouth. His interrogator's eyes lit up with anger.
The punch to his face was all too predictable. Ward had to fight the urge to roll his eyes.
Too easy.
A good agent of HYDRA would have found a way to kill himself by now, but he was never a True Believer. Garret hadn't raised him to be one.
He was a spy. Plain and simple. It was his job. Nothing more. Nothing less. Right now, he was a captured spy.
Interrogation was a dance, Garret had explained to him once. Interrogation was bargaining. Let the True Believers choke on their ideals. Let them break.
He owed nothing to HYDRA. He had no need to protect their secrets.
The official motto of HYDRA was, "Cut off the head and more will take its place."
Considerably less voiced but just as true was, "Cut off the tails and fangs and claws, it won't matter. There are more."
HYDRA was big. There was no shortage of agents. No one was going to rescue him. Giving information to SHIELD was the best bet for his continued safety. At the same time, he could not be too cooperative. It was all about the timing. Full honesty would only be treated with suspicion.
He needed to make them feel they had earned it.
The interrogation had been verbal at the beginning. SHIELD had fixed him up just so they could make him talk, something for which he really needed to thank Coulson one day. Still, he had stayed quiet during all the following interrogations.
Then things had gotten… physical.
SHIELD may boast righteous motives but a spy organization was a spy organization. There were many skeletons in their closet, some of which he had helped put there.
Ward knew if this level of interrogation failed he would be sent to a specialist.
He had no intention of letting thing go that far.
So when his interrogator stopped raining blows on him, slammed him against the wall, and repeated the question he weakly coughed out a name.
It was not much. Just a single name, but it was a starting point.
The blows stopped, mostly. The words began. It was a short talk. The physical punishment was a bit too much for him to hold a full conversation. He fainted after giving a few pieces of information and was carried back to his cell. The next interrogations were more successful. Physical forced was used less and less. He gave a little more information each time. Operations. Agents. Missions. Enough to keep them interested and convince them of his usefulness.
From prisoner to valuable source of information in just a few steps. Best of all, he had just given scraps. The big secrets were still very much hidden.
People were always so happy to get Level 1 secrets. It made them feel like they had accomplished something.
It was a pity Coulson was not overseeing everything personally. The new Director of SHIELD (he had managed to at least get that much out of his interrogators) had more important things to do.
Ward sighed as he rested in his cell. It was almost too easy.
That was the problem.
It was all what he was trained for. Making himself valuable. Earning trust.
Then what?
Try to work with SHIELD? Go back to HYDRA?
What would be the point?
Garret was gone.
The last words Coulson had said to him came unbidden to his mind. He almost winced. Garret was… he had no illusions about what he had been to Garret. If it had come to it, Garret would have let him die. Part of him rebelled at the thought. It shouted and screamed denying the idea of it.
The other part of Ward knew better.
If it was necessary, Garret would sacrifice him.
He accepted that.
He owed too much to Garret. Garret had been the father he never had. Garret had been his older brother, uncle, his whole family. Everything. Garret had turned him into one of SHIELD's best agents. He was not some weak kid anymore. He was…
Skye's sickened look flashed through his mind.
He was a monster.
Raina had once asked him if he had always been one or if Garret had turned him into one. He didn't know then and he didn't know now. All he knew was Garret gave the order and he followed.
But there was no one to give orders anymore.
Did he even know what he wanted to do now?
A bitter smile appeared on his face. Stupid question.
He already knew.
He had known for a while, months even. For the first time in his life, he knew. A single desire burned inside of him with blinding clarity.
Skye.
He wanted Skye.
There was something ridiculous about the whole thing. Skye had been an unexpected element. A naive, idealistic hacker who really needed to learn how the world worked. Information was never free. It could not be. There was always a price. Sometimes knowing alone was the heaviest price.
Someone like her would have been locked up by any other SHIELD team.
It was only Skye's skill with a computer and Coulson's tendency for picking up strays that earned her a spot on the team.
It was a fluke. That was all there was to their meeting. A fluke. Part of him wished he had put as much distance between Skye and him the moment she got on the plane.
Skye was… not a spy. She was not a target and barely qualified as an asset in the beginning. She was part of the mission, but at the same time she wasn't.
It was… freeing. It was a different type of contact. It was almost fun playing the straight-laced experienced agent with her.
Without noticing he had started to want to spend time with her.
He could barely remember the last time he had wanted something for himself.
It had been a toy truck. His birthday was coming up and even back then he knew he couldn't count on his family for gifts. He had saved money. He did little jobs here and there. Mowing his neighbor's lawn, watering the plants, etc.
He bought the stupid toy truck.
It hadn't lasted a week. His parents' fighting and his brother had made short work of it.
That was when he learned couldn't have nice things… but his family was not around anymore.
Neither was Garret.
There was just him, Skye… and HYDRA and SHIELD.
Oh, and Skye hated him.
Figures. His life had never been easy. Why should that change?
He was a monster. Skye was not. It was that simple. She did not belong in this world. She could not understand how could someone talk, share and laugh with someone yet not even blink when putting a bullet through his eyes.
It was going to kill her someday.
Impressive hacking abilities or not, she was too soft.
Except…
Raina's words came to his mind.
The woman was crazy. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. She was obsessed with powered individuals and seemed to have some sort of grand end game in mind. He had met the type several times, usually to kill them.
However, crazy or not, the woman knew what she was doing. She was smart and she had seen something in Skye. She knew something about her past.
He knew something about her past now.
It was as good starting point as any.
A smile appeared on Ward's face. The first real one in a while.
Alright.
He could do this. SHIELD. HYDRA. None of that mattered. For the first time, he wanted someone for himself and he was not going to stop.
He had his mission.
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AN: First Agents of SHIELD fic. I saw the show on Netflix like a week ago. Cool show.
Ward was definitely the big surprise for me, which was kind of the point. As a character he has lots of potential which I hope is explored in Season 2.
Anyway, don't forget read and review. Feedback is always welcomed.