Chapter 2: Mishap

Author's Note: This story is going to be several chapters long, haven't decided the exact number yet. Hope you get a good dose of angst in this chapter, with some good bonding time between characters. Enjoy!

…

The rest of the team for a long second stared at the bewildering picture in front of them: their traitorous friend (if they could even call him that) is holding a gravely injured member of their own in his arms. What was Ward planning to do with Skye? And them?

"SKYE!" screamed Simmons.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?!" May yelled, charging at Ward and Skye.

Though he had learned to not fear the Calvary, this was one time that he did. He stepped back and brought Skye closer to him in his arms, shielding her from potential impact that May was going to do to him. "She was—"

"MAY!" Coulson ordered, grabbing her just in time before she launched a kick to Ward's face. "Stop this! Skye's the priority right now!"

Ward never felt so grateful to see his former boss than this moment. "Please, PLEASE, we need to get her to your medical van!"

"It was Garrett," Trip spoke, stepping forward. "She was trying to protect Ward, and she got shot in process."

Coulson stared at him in disbelief. How could this happen? He knew that Skye wanted to tell Ward the truth about his brother, and to have heard the back and forth between them over the comms…she still gone out of her way to save him.

"This way!" Coulson yelled, coaxing them all to follow him. Ward nodded and eagerly dashed up to keep up with his former boss.

Moments later, they saw their main vehicle arrive, courtesy of Fitz barreling towards them. The vehicle screeched to a halt, and as soon as Fitz threw open the back double doors, Ward shoved himself inside. "Get out of my way!"

Fitz stumbled back. "Wait, Ward—?"

"Skye was shot!" Ward yelled, setting her down on the closest apparatus and clearing things out of the way. "She needs help! [turns to Fitzsimmons] PLEASE, please help her!"

Fitzsimmons didn't need to be told twice. They jumped to their work, clearing out the area and pulling their materials out. He tried to reach to hold Skye's hand, but he was promptly shoved back and practically thrown out of van by May. "You stay away from her," she gritted through her teeth. "Get out. There's no room for SHIELD traitors like you."

He didn't bother to fight or defend himself from them. Coulson just stepped up and pulled him back into the vehicle, along with Trip, who was still propping up Elliot. He had more pressing matters in his hands. "We set this place to blow in 2 minutes, and we need to get out NOW," he said, turning to May and Ward. "We have time to deal with everything else later. Let's go!"

Moments later, several ginormous explosions were heard in the distance as the team drove away. Ward didn't even notice. He was too dazed watching Fitzsimmons treat Skye and Trip treating Elliot to care.

It's as if his whole world came crashing down on him, and he didn't even hear a thing.

…

When they got to the hospital, Skye was immediately wheeled into surgery, with Elliot quickly following after for treating his injuries. Ward just slid down the wall of the waiting area dazed, with silent tears leaking out of the corner of his eyes as he recall the day's earlier events. He still couldn't believe that he was lied to all these years, and the very man who had thought to be a father to him not only stole his brother away from him but also quite possibly killed the love of his life. And now, she possibly is only hanging by a thread.

Coulson slowly walked over and crouched down to him. His face wore an unreadable look, masking any anger, hesitancy, or empathy he felt towards the younger agent in front of him. "Ward, you can't stay here." Did he mean staying on the floor, or staying in the same room/facility as them?

Ward didn't even notice. He had chosen at that moment to look at himself: his arms, shirt, pants…and most of all his hands, all of which were covered in Skye's blood. Flashbacks of the events transpiring earlier that day bombarded his mind, most of all the scene of Skye shielding him from getting shot.

The gunshot that Garrett fired at her…

The shots that Trip fired back…

BANG!

BANG!

BANG BANG!

His screams…

Skye…! NO!

Why did you have to save me?

Where's the medical vehicle?

No…SKYE!

His begging to save her…

NO! WE HAVE TO SAVE HER!

You can NOT sleep Skye!

No…please!

Skye's hurt! Please, she needs help!

NO!

Elliot yelling at him…

His breathing started getting heavier, more uneven, and his body started to tremble. The rest of the team turned their attention him, rattled by the crumbling form of the specialist in front of them. He continued staring at his bloody hands and started to hyperventilate.

Fitz dashed over. "Ward? Ward? It's me, Fitz…can you hear me?"

No answer. Ward continued to making deeper and deeper inhaling sounds, and there was no acknowledgement that he was aware that Fitz was there.

Simmons followed Fitz, and though wary of Ward's loyalties, she pushed that aside mentally to focus on the patient in front of her. "Ward? You need to breathe…breathe…"

"Ward! Snap out of it!" Coulson yelled, slapping his shoulder. "Ward!"

There was still no answer from him. Sweat started dripping down his forehead and he whimpered, "Please…please don't die. Please don't die Skye. You can't leave me…you can't…you can't…I'm sorry, you can't…"

"He needs to be sedated!" Simmons yelled, scrambling up. "He needs to breathe—"

Fitz jumped up before she did and ran off. "I'll get the nurse!" he yelled, eager to help his forever-viewed friend.

Trip and May tried to help him to a chair, and his body was just unresponsive to any movement at that point. He was too far gone in his mind to notice anything done to him.

In a blur, he suddenly felt lighter as he felt himself being laid on a platform…and moments later, his world turned dark.

…

"Ward?"

He turned to her in his sitting position on the ground...how did he get here? "Skye?"

"We can start over," she spoke, smiling. "It won't be an easy road, but you can do it. I'll be here to support you. Coulson and everyone will."

He nods and smiles too, taking her hand. "I know. I—"

POW!

He's suddenly on the ground, with Skye sprawled over him. He pushes himself up, and Skye…? "NO! SKYE!"

She didn't respond. Turning her over, her eyes were still closed, and he noticed the copious amount blood draining out of her onto his hands, clothes, and the ground. He desperately shook her, begging, "Please, Skye….please, please, please don't…"

A laughed was heard cackling in the distance. It was Garrett, still aiming his gun at the direction of where they both were. "She was a weakness Grant. I won't let her ruin my plans."

"GRANT!"

Ward turns to his side and saw Elliot lying on the ground, cover in bruises. "Elliot?"

"You got to get out of here! He's going to kill you if you don't leave HYDRA! Please—"

BANG!

"ELLIOT!"

Garrett's shot instantly knocks Elliot down, leaving his lifeless body on the ground. Ward shoots his head up in fear, now staring down the barrel of the gun poised right in front of his face.

"He will ruin my plans too. So will you." He sets to pull the trigger…

.

.

"Grant?"

Ward jerks awake and notices his vision was blurry. Ugh. The lights were too bright. The hum of the background noises and voices were annoying. He gasps and blinks a few times before looking around.

He was lying on a hospital bed, and his body feels really stiff. He looks down and notices that there was no blanket. He tries to look at his hands, but notices his left hand was cuffed to the bed. Both hands (as well as his arms) were clean of the blood that stained there earlier.

"You feeling better?"

He finally turns to the voice on his right. Elliot was sitting by his bed, his arms and rib cage bandaged up. He looked pretty tired, but in good spirits.

"What happened?" Ward whispered.

"You had a panic attack," Elliot said. "You were hyperventilating, and doctors had to sedate you."

"Sedate me? Why—"

The memories came tumbling back to him. The shots. The screams. The blood, oh…the blood…

"SKYE!" he yelped, trying to get up only to be held back by the handcuffs. He winced at the sudden scraping on his wrist against the metal.

Elliot reached down to comfort him. "Hey, hey, calm down. Don't try to get up yet. Your boss Coulson said he needed to keep you restrained so you won't hurt yourself."

Hurt myself, or hurt them? he thought.

"Skye's in surgery," Elliot continued. "Still not done yet."

Ward nodded in relief before turning to him, tiredly. "You're really here…you're real. You're not hurt?"

"What, this [pointing to his arms and rib cage]? Hell yeah it does, but some minor fractures, and some internal bleeding," he answered, shrugging. "It seemed really bad because I was dehydrated for a couple days. They've wrapped me up and hooked me up to this IV thingy [points to bag] and said I was fine. Coulson said you were hyperventilating, and you needed some company. So I wanted this chance to stay with you."

Coulson. He knows about my betrayal. But why treat me so—nice? He thought.

"Is it true then?"

Ward glanced over to his brother, who now held a questionable look on his face. "What is?"

"HYDRA," Elliot answered. "You're HYDRA. Is that true?"

He turned away from him, unable to meet the disappointing look on his face. Might as well start from the beginning. "I never swore allegiance with them," he responded. "I was desperate. Garrett pulled me out of juvie when I was young, and I thought I owed that change in my life to him. Everything. I never even heard of HYDRA when he told me who he really was; I just thought it was another government crime organization like the CIA. He said I had off the charts potential in joining."

"So you just went with him."

"Anything to get out of that forest and a lifetime behind bars. But after joining SHIELD as an undercover HYDRA agent, I heard what HYDRA really was. I wanted to find you in the process, because at the time, I knew that SHIELD can track where family would be. [turns to him] After I found out what HYDRA really was, I wanted to leave and asked John to respectfully accept my resignation, thanking him for all he's done in the process. I told him I wanted to find you, and asked him to help. He understood and would work on finding you."

"And, that's how…"

"After a week or so, he came back to me with a really 'un-John' look on his face. He said that you were in a car accident trying to find me, and that he was sorry. I was—I was—" He couldn't continue. His voice started to crack.

Elliot placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before he could continue. "I couldn't believe it. Hope, all that hope over those years of being able to find you, knowing that SHIELD had the means to do so…gone. Destroyed. John was pretty supportive and took me to the morgue. I saw you, and I knew—it was too late."

Elliot shook his head, knowing where the story was going.

"It was about that same time when John started getting sick, and he needed to find this cure before it was too late for him. I had just lost you, and now I was about to lose him too—after all he's done for me, I knew, I owed it to him to stay and help him. It meant to find the cure, okay—I would stay. I couldn't stand losing another person close to me. Not yet, not ever. I stayed with him, and only him—the soldier part of me wanted to stay compartmentalized towards everything, and not even letting my true allegiances to SHIELD show through while I was with him."

Elliot sighed and sat back. "I was in a car accident, actually," he said. "I was driving to meet that John guy. He said he found you and would take me to see you. But part way on the road in Kansas, I remember some black SUV cutting me off at the edge of the road, and my car rolled. It was just me in the car, but soon after the car smashed into the wall, a couple of guys grabbed me out and drugged me somehow; no other serious injuries thankfully. I just remember waking up in a hospital after several days, and some agent dude told me the news that you were dead. [looks at him] Looks like we were both played."

Ward hummed in anger. "That son of a bitch. Setting us up like that. He knew I wanted to leave and find you, and shooting Skye—TWICE! That—that—damnit, I just wish I shot him myself. Killed him myself, instead of letting Trip having the honors."

"Trip was also his recruit," Elliot slowly stated. "Is he…?"

"No, he's not HYDRA," Ward finished for him. "I know that for a fact. He comes from a family history of Howling Commandos, so there's no way he's HYDRA."

Elliot sank back in relief. "He's a cool guy. I like him."

Ward nodded and turned to him again. "So, am I still that big jerk of a brother to you when we were kids? An extra side of bad now with HYDRA in my résumé?"

He shook his head. "You did some horrible things, but when you were young, it was Maynard's fault. I know that now. And now, with HYDRA, you never were really part of them. It was out of obligation."

"If only it were just that simple…I don't even know how I can even start explaining to Coulson…"

"You can. Just start."

Both Elliot and Ward turned their heads to find Coulson leaning against the doorway. Ward tried to sit up again, and Elliot slowly got up.

"Sir…"

"I heard what you two were saying," Coulson said. "I just want to know now…what are you planning to do about it?"

…