Warnings for mentions of PTSD and suicidal thoughts. There's also a tiny bit of smut.

Anyhoo...


I Feel It Here On My Skin Like Demons

10 months earlier...

Skye wasn't sure what had awoken her but as she sat up in bed, heart hammering in her chest, a sense of dread and unease settled over her.

She couldn't recall a nightmare that had sparked such a response, and as she flipped on the lamp on the night-stand, she found her room empty and as silent as the grave.

Deciding to get out of bed for a glass of water, Skye threw back the covers and padded barefoot towards the kitchen, clad only in her pyjama pants and tank top. Nobody else was likely to be awake at such an hour anyway.

Forgoing the light switch in the communal lounge, she walked a well practised route to the kitchen, yawning against a wave of tiredness as she wandered towards the sink. It was only then that she noted movement out of the corner of her eye, and suddenly every nerve ending in her body was alert. Moving towards the silent figure, she narrowed her eyes against the hindrance of darkness and fumbled for the light switch. The view that greeted her made her breath catch in her throat, and she crossed her arms over her chest in mild irritation.

"Ward? What the hell are you doing sitting out here in the dark?" she demanded, suddenly swallowing hard as she noted the bottle of bourbon and open vial of sleeping tablets that he seemed to be staring at so intently.

"Get out of here," he said wearily, refusing to look at her as she closed the distance between them in barely a couple of strides.

"Coward's way out again, Ward? I guess I thought maybe this time you'd fight," she retorted bitterly, reaching out before Grant had a chance to respond. She snatched the pill bottle with an angry snarl, barely resisting the urge to fling it at his head.

"Don't pretend to give a damn, Daisy," he growled, "we both know I'm only here now because Coulson wants to feel self-righteous again. Locking me away in a box was kind of making him look bad."

Skye's hand reached out before she could think better of it, and she jerked Ward's chin around so he was forced to look at her. A myriad of emotions swirled through her as he finally met her eyes, and she found tears ebbing down his cheeks.

"You're here because I made that call, not Coulson," she said firmly, "you want a chance to redeem yourself? Here it is. I can help you. I can help you control your powers. But the rest is on you."

Ward laughed, although there was evidently no humour in the gesture.

"Yeah? And why the fuck would you give me a second chance, Skye? After everything I did, I... Maybe I deserve to be dead. You shouldn't have brought me back..." he shook his head mournfully, staring at the bottle of bourbon as if it held the solution to all of their problems.

"Well, don't beat yourself up about it. We thought we were killing the thing that crawled up your ass, we had no idea if you'd live or not, so..." she drew her lips into a tight line. Suddenly softening as she added, "But... I'm not sorry that we saved you."

Ward gulped, once more avoiding Skye's gaze and simply shaking his head. Weariness was evident in not only the dejected slump of his shoulders and the way his head bowed over the table, but also in the fading light in his eyes, which conveyed that there were very few traces of the old, assured Grant Ward left.

"I..." he began, clearing his throat when he found his voice emerging as a strangled squeak, "I close my eyes and I see it all again... The people it murdered, innocent people that weren't part of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra ... and there was nothing I could do."

Wordlessly, Skye pulled up the adjacent chair, sinking down into it and leaning her elbows on the table, her thirst forgotten.

"I can hear it speaking, using my voice to condemn people to suffering or death or... Something worse," he continued, tears tripping his cheeks completely unchecked, "but the worst thing is, it sounds like my voice, and that makes me responsible."

"It wasn't you, Ward," Skye said firmly, finding the desire to reach out and enclose his hand in her own becoming near overwhelming. However, she didn't move, realising that he was lost in such a deep reverie that she would likely scare him away altogether with human contact.

"But it was," Grant countered, screwing his eyes tightly closed, his shoulders shaking, "my face, my hands, my body... It was inside of me, riding me, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I-I couldn't stop it because I wasn't strong enough."

"It wasn't about strength, this is some kind of ancient, funky, alien parasite we're talking about here," reasoned Skye, surprisingly finding sympathy welling up in her chest as she watched the man's latest breakdown unfold.

"You could have stopped it..." Ward retorted, raising his gaze suddenly and locking their eyes, allowing Skye to see the pain that swirled in his brown orbs; just how very broken he had become.

"You don't know that," Skye said, shaking her head dismissively as though the idea was ludicrous. Ward barely moved a fraction, his tears continuing to fall and splash on the front of the black t shirt he wore.

"I do," he hissed, insistence building in his voice, "you're good and pure and... Everything I have always wanted to be but never was. I am worse than evil, and I can't help thinking that is why that thing chose me. Because it knew what I'd done before, what I was capable of, and because it liked it... I was... I was desirable to it. It sensed what was inside of me and it knew what it could make me become."

This time Skye did not resist, and she reached out to place her hand over his, motivated by something she hoped was pity, despite the fact she knew otherwise. Seeing him so fractured had unleashed a strange sense of empathy and concern in the young woman, and she tried to dismiss the probing question in her mind, of just when she had stopped hating the Grant Ward who had broken her heart.

"But you did... You took back control, Ward. That's how we were able to help you. Something made you fight, something gave you the strength to override those desires."

Ward smiled sadly, staring at her hand as it rested atop of his.

"You," he said simply, "when it knew Malick could never get you on side, it wanted you dead. It was coming after you, and I... It was like it knew that I'd loved you. It took every memory, every moment, and it tormented me. I could never have let it hurt you, Skye. Not with my hands, I..."

Skye was silent for a moment, allowing the newly imparted information to sink in. She had never known what it was that motivated Ward to finally seize control of his body again, or what had prompted him to find them, and then beg for them to put him down.

"I'll help you get through this, Ward. I'll show you how to control your powers, how to live like we do. But I need you to want it. I need you to want to get better. And then at the end, you've got a choice..." He looked up at her with the faintest traces of hope beginning to burn in his eyes.

"I could use someone like you on my side," she saw the trace of disdain flash across his face, and she sighed resolutely, "I didn't say S.H.I.E.L.D. I said I could use you. If you want to stick around, that is?"

Ward unscrewed the cap of the bottle and downed a hearty swig of the foul smelling alcohol.

"And what would Coulson have to say about that?" he challenged.

Skye shrugged, "My team, I call the shots. Besides, Coulson needs me way more than I need him now. He's... different. Something's changed in him and... I need to look out for myself and for my team. So, you wanna be part of it?"

"You're serious?" Ward inquired, scanning her face and searching for any kind of tell or hint that she was playing him.

"As a heart attack," she chuckled, trying to lighten the moment, "but... there's a condition. You have to get your ass back to therapy, and no more of this bullshit, okay?"

She wrenched the bottle away from him, intent on emptying it down the sink later, along with the sleeping tablets. She'd certainly have a word later on with Simmons as to just how Grant had managed to acquire them.

"Who knows, maybe one day you and I can be friends again?!"

Ward only stared at her, wanting so much to nod or smile his agreement, but finding either impossible. Instead, he curled his fingers around the hand she offered to him and gently squeezed. It was all the assurance Skye needed.

x-x-x

Present day...

It was with a heavy hearted sigh that Ward began to rouse the woman in his arms from slumber, trailing kisses up her shoulder until he reached her ear.

"Skye?" he whispered, sweeping his hand up and down her lower back in the hopes of waking her as gently as possible. Though many things had changed, Skye's appreciation for early mornings had not been one of them.

"Hmmm?" she stretched languidly against his body, practically purring in delight at the sensation of his warm, naked flesh against hers.

"It's almost 6 am," he stated, having watched the red digital numbers with rapt annoyance for more than half an hour as he revelled in the feel of holding her in his arms.

Skye lifted her head from his chest and opened her eyes sleepily, "You kicking me out?"

She grinned, stretching above him and arching her back like a cat. He winced as she purposefully pressed her centre against his crotch, and his fingers dug lightly into her sides to still her.

"You know I want nothing more than for you to stay," he replied, glancing at the clock, which seemed to be counting down the minutes with alarming speed. At their current rate, they risked being discovered, and he didn't want Skye to have to deal with the fall-out from that.

She smirked as she traced her fingertip down the centre of his lips, and she lowered her head before pressing her mouth wantonly against his, licking at his tongue until he groaned with desire and kissed her back with equal hunger.

Giggling at his sudden change of heart, Skye scooted further up his body, raking her fingers through his hair as he all but devoured her, and she felt a familiar tug of longing in the pit of her stomach. The sheet fell from around her back, and Ward wasted no time in lifting his head then pulling her closer so that he could wrap his eager lips around her nipple.

"Well, I can't leave now..." she panted, closing her eyes and crying out in pleasure as he lavished attention on her breasts, his hands cupping the full globes and leading each to his mouth in turn.

"Why's that?" he chuckled, sucking down hard and eliciting a whimper that went straight to his crotch and did little to quell his building erection.

Skye struggled to catch her breath as she leaned over him, her wrist trembling with the strain of taking her weight.

"Because..." she hissed, gasping suddenly as he seized her around the waist and she scrambled to sit up, her thighs either side of his torso. His eyes eagerly swept over her body, and he reached out to run a finger up and down her folds. She grinned as she watched him lick his finger, and she found herself about to almost combust with desire.

"Try not to be too loud," he smirked, leaving her time enough only to roll her eyes before he hoisted her up his chest so that her thighs hugged the sides of his face. Grasping at the wall to steady herself, she let out a mewl as his fingers slipped inside her, and as his tongue began to lap at her, she choked on a scream.

x-x-x

Casting a discreet glance down the hall, Skye slipped out of Ward's bedroom and groaned in annoyance as she felt fingers clasp her arm to draw her back in.

"Seriously, Grant..." she began, her words dying on her lips as he kissed her soundly. "I have to go. Everyone will be having breakfast. They'll notice if I'm not there."

Ward grinned, cocking his head as he pressed her back against the door and claimed her lips with another bruising kiss.

"I already ate," he quipped, laughing as Skye's cheeks flushed a deep shade of crimson and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"That was lame. So, so lame," she mocked, shaking her head to express her disapproval, yet when he ducked his head to kiss her, she reached out to loop her arms around his neck. Finally coming to his senses, Ward drew away from her lips and contented himself with holding her, caressing the curve of her cheekbone with the back of his hand.

"Okay, okay..." he assuaged, seemingly lost in thought as his thumb brushed her lips and she peered up at him with what he allowed himself to believe could be love. "I wish it was just you and me... a million miles away from here."

"Maybe one day," Skye smiled, leaning up on tiptoes and kissing him, although this time it was a decidedly more tender gesture. "I'll see you later, okay? Don't forget, I'm kicking your ass again at eleven. The training room's ours for an hour."

Ward narrowed his eyes and chuckled, "Trying to kick my ass, you mean?"

"We'll see," she retorted, a wide smile blossoming on her face as she added, "eleven... don't be late, Rookie."

"I'll be there," he promised, dipping his head for one last kiss before she slipped out of his arms.

Opening the door once again, she kept her eyes locked on his until she slid around the frame, still smiling like an idiot at the parting wink he tossed in her direction. She closed the door with a quiet click, turning around in order to make her way towards the kitchen, where a group of curt, snarling colleagues awaited her.

She wasn't sure if it was down to Coulson and his apparent intent on becoming the next super villain, but relations between all the team had been frayed as of late. It was only Fitz that she knew she could still rely on to be his usual affable self.

Taking a steadying breath, she sauntered down the hall, oblivious to the stares of the man lingering only a few feet behind her.

Having been privy to the entire exchange between Skye and their once sworn enemy, Fitz ducked back around the corner of the corridor, his mind racing to make sense of the scene that he had happened upon.

Licking his lips nervously, Fitz ran his hand frantically through his hair, his eyes still wide.

"Oh, Skye. What have you gotten yourself in to?!"

x-x-x

Skye stirred her cereal around the bowl somewhat half-heartedly, a soft sigh escaping her lips as, from the corner of her eye, she watched Bobbi and Hunter glowering at her with poorly concealed irritation. No doubt they were still sore about the previous day's altercation, and whilst the old Skye might have rushed to smooth over the tensions, having hated anyone being at odds with her, the new Skye couldn't quite bring herself to care as much as she suspected she perhaps should.

Deciding to simply ignore the duo, who were whispering between themselves as they shared a bagel and a single mug of black coffee, Skye shot a glance at Simmons, who was seated at her elbow. The Biochemist pushed scrambled egg around her plate with a faraway look in her eyes and a frown that belayed both misery and weariness. Skye felt a pang of sympathy assail her but she resisted the urge to reach out and clasp her friend's hand as she once might have done, realising that now the gesture would not be appreciated. Simmons had been far more closed off and guarded since her return from Maveth, and although quite some time had now elapsed, Skye supposed that the horrors she had experienced there would scar her permanently. In that respect, she and Ward were a lot alike, but that was a summation that Skye wisely chose to keep to herself given the scientist's hatred of the man who had once almost cost her her life.

Fitz sat beside Simmons, also apparently lost in thought as he stared at the piece of toast in his hand with a troubled expression that Skye struggled to decipher. He had seemed oddly on edge when he had joined them for breakfast, and though it had been the physicist who supported Skye in her decision to try to help Ward, she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he was second guessing his decision.

"Fitz? Everything okay?" Skye asked, shooting Simmons a brief yet genuine smile as the two women peered at the Scot expectantly. It seemed even Simmons could see far enough past her own issues to note that Fitz was clearly not himself that morning. Nodding his head with more enthusiasm than was necessary, he bit into his toast and feigned a smile as he chewed.

"Uh, yeah. Yep. Course. Why wouldn't it be?" glancing around the room he watched the small factions that had appeared in Coulson's team, neither sitting near nor interacting with each other, "aside from the stifling tension in the room and the fact everyone hates each other, then...uh. Yeah. Grand."

Not wholly convinced that it was purely the atmosphere in the room, which Skye had to admit had existed even before Ward joined the fold again, she narrowed her eyes and peered at Fitz with abject suspicion.

"Are you sure that's all it is? You seem... weird."

Jemma chewed slowly on a mouthful of eggs before reaching for her tea cup as she awaited a reply. Fitz laughed, jamming the remainder of his toast into his mouth with a forced smile appearing on his now crammed maw. He swallowed hard, and Skye felt a frown settle on her features as he all but squirmed under her gaze.

"So... Casual sex... friends with benefits... um..." he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "fuck buddies, if you will... what do you think... about... those things?"

Skye's mouth remained open in a confused 'o', and Simmons coughed heartily as the sip of tea she had just swallowed caused her to choke.

"I've been uh... Been reading Cosmo... Just... making conversation, you know..." he let out a weak, strangled little laugh, yet Skye continued to stare at him.

"Fitz! What on earth?!" Jemma demanded, shock and obvious disdain tainting her tone.

"So, not a fan, then. Okay, good. Skye?" he cleared his throat again, a nervous habit that Skye didn't fail to pick up on.

Arching an eyebrow at Fitz, clearly baffled and horrified by his chosen topic of conversation, Skye shook her head.

"Not really my thing," she replied, her tone incredulous.

"Well, that's..." Fitz stammered, seeming to shake himself out of his stupour as he reached across the table and plucked another piece of toast from the rack, "lovely... Bloody lovely."

"Are you okay?" Skye demanded, pushing her bowl aside and settling her probing gaze on Fitz, who seemed to be doing his utmost to avoid her eyes, almost squirming in his seat as he ate.

The mouthful of toast he practically inhaled prevented him from responding, and he simply pointed to his lips as though that were as much of an explanation as was required. Skye continued to stare, prepared to wait patiently for him to offer up something more substantial than a mumble. However, her attention was immediately diverted as Coulson strode into the dining room, May following silently in his wake.

Simmons and Skye exchanged the briefest of glances, and the latter was somewhat surprised to note a shadow of something resembling alarm drifting over the scientist's face. Coulson cleared his throat, visibly straightening up as all eyes in the room fell upon him. Shoulders back, chest slightly puffed out, he smiled thinly at his team, his robotic hand twitching at his side just a little.

"Daisy, we've got a hostile I want you to pick up. I don't need to tell you that this has to fly under the radar of local law enforcement and the media. It's just a simple pick-up, there shouldn't be too much resistance, so... have one of your team ready to go with you. You leave in a half hour."

Skye blinked, still not accustomed to this new and wholly unlike-able version of Coulson who quite literally ruled over them with an iron fist - or a robotic one, at least.

"Uh, yes sir," she mumbled, poised to ask if they had any intel. on the supposed hostile when Coulson tossed a folder across the table and then turned to stride back out of the room.

"Great talk, D.C.," she grumbled.

"If you need a pilot, May's been fully briefed on the mission," he added, quickly disappearing out of the kitchen before Skye could respond, May once more following like a shadow.

Skye sighed through her irritation, certain at least that she did not want the infamous Cavalry to accompany her. May had seamlessly settled back into her role as Coulson's lap dog, intent on burying her emotions over her ill-fated reunion with her ex-husband. She had become as cold and closed off as ever, and Skye couldn't shake the sense that neither May nor the Director himself were to be trusted at present.

"I can be ready in five," Bobbi stated, about to stand from the table when Skye shook her head and offered her a smile that was meant to be genuine, but didn't quite reach her eyes.

"It's okay. Ward can go with me," Skye shot back, clutching the file in her hand as she made her way towards the exit, unaware that the man himself was loitering in the hall just out of view.

"You think that's wise?" Bobbi countered in disbelief, obviously deciding that she knew better on the subject. "Daisy, you need someone out there that you know will have your back."

"Yeah, I do," Skye agreed readily, "Ward won't let me down... I trust him."

Bobbi guffawed, and the sound made Skye's fist clench in anger. "You trust him? The guy who sold you all out to Hydra?"

"Ward would never let anything happen to Daisy."

All heads turned simultaneously towards Simmons, who picked disinterestedly at her breakfast, apparently unaware of or simply not caring that all eyes in the room were fixed upon her; perhaps none more confused than Skye herself.

Glancing up as she felt the combined weight of their stares, Simmons shrugged, "No matter what we all might think of Ward, he'd never allow anything bad to happen to her."

Skye shot her a grateful look, which the scientist received with a genuinely affectionate smile. Fitz too nodded somewhat unwillingly in agreement.

"Jemma's right," he added, deflecting the murderous glares that Bobbi, Hunter and Lincoln shot him with a shrug.

"You're all freakin' nuts," Bobbi scoffed as she threw her hands up in exasperation, then stood up in preparation to stride out of the room. She stepped back as she almost collided with Ward, immediately giving him a wide berth, which she sealed succinctly with a silent glare.

"Oh, speak of the devil... literally," Hunter drawled, "if it isn't tall, dark, and psychopathic."

Ward accepted the remark with merely a smirk, but his eyes searched out Jemma's and he nodded at her, hoping his brief yet heartfelt smile would be understood. Jemma hugged her hands around her cup and managed to allow a half smile of her own to settle on her lips.

Fitz didn't miss the look that passed between the two Inhumans when Ward took his ever present place beside his leader, but he elected for the time being to probe no further.

Slapping the file against Ward's chest with a mischievous grin, Skye strode out ahead of him to change into her tac. gear, a certain spring to her step.

"Suit up, Rookie. We're going to Colorado."