Chapter Four

Skye felt strange running next to Ward, working together again. It was like some strange déjà vu. She could remember running through the halls of the Hub, Ward by her side. That was back when she thought everything could be okay. That was before she knew what Ward was.

But this Ward was different. Skye didn't know how she could tell, she just knew.

Skye was different too. A lot had changed since her beginning with S.H.I.E.L.D.. For once she had found a place she belonged and she wasn't going to let something like Hydra take that away from her. This was why, when Agent May had agreed to be her S.O., Skye had jumped at the opportunity. She had learned so much. Every day she could feel her body and mind growing stronger. But there were days that she found herself still missing Ward.

Running side by side, Skye and the new Ward made their way to the door that had been breached.

"You know, it would really help if I had a gun." Skye didn't break stride as she spoke, turning to look at Ward.

Ward surveyed her for a moment, probably trying to figure out how much he trusted her. Skye almost found the situation laughable. Back home he was the one that couldn't be trusted, yet here she was the one being looked at like she could turn at any minute.

Finally making up his mind, Ward pulled a gun from the side of his leg. "It's an ICER," he clarified. "I doubt you want to pull an actual gun on yourself."

"Thank you," Skye said earnestly, stowing the gun at her side. When they made it to the door they came to a stop. Skye immediately went to the door panel, popped off the panel and got to work.

"Well?" she heard Ward ask.

"She knows what she's doing, I'll give her that." Skye said with a hint of a smile. "The girl's good."

"What did she do?"

"She found a way to route the security system to an off site host. She probably has it bouncing off of a couple of different routers and ending on a tablet that she can control." Skye began, doing her best to work and fill Ward in simultaneously. "We have to find a way to cut her out of the system. But she anticipated that we would immediately try to fix it, so she planted a Trojan horse that started encrypting every system. I need to get through the firewall before we can even begin to fix the damage."

"Can you get through it?" Ward asked.

Skye looked at him for a second, a small smirk on her face. "She knew all the tricks to keep someone out, good thing I know her tricks."

An actual smile passed over Ward's features. This Ward was different in a lot of respects, but there was still one thing that the Wards had in common – neither of them wanted to show their emotions too openly.

"So… the Ward in your universe… he's, he's Hydra?" Skye's eyes flickered towards Ward but she continued to work. It was obvious that he had wanted to ask this question from the moment that they had split off from the group.

"Yes," Skye replied, a slight touch of malice in her voice. "We thought he was our friend, our teammate, and he turned on us.

Skye heard an angry exhale of air come from Ward, almost like a growl. "So what happened to him?"

Skye actually stopped working and turned to regard him closely. She could see the hatred in his eyes – the hatred for himself and what he did. But it wasn't him who had done those heinous acts; it was a different Ward.

"We have him locked up, we keep him for information." Skye replied as she began to work again. "Something good has to come from all of the horrible things he has done. At least we now have a way to learn what Hydra is doing next."

"And he nearly killed Fitzsimmons?"

"Yes," Skye said, her voice somber. "Fitz hasn't been the same ever since, and neither has Simmons. She won't talk about it, but I know more happened in that med pod than what they will say."

"And what about you?" Ward asked, moving closer to Skye just ever so slightly.

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking at him again.

"What did he do to you?" Ward clarified. "It's obvious that he did something."

Skye didn't know what to say. There were so many things that Ward had done to her. He had taken her heart, just to stomp on it. He had expressed his desire for her – even after it was clear that he was Hydra. For so long she had kept her heart guarded, hurt too many times. Then the moment she opened it up… Ward had hurt her more than anyone knew.

"He betrayed us all," Skye said simply, not willing to go into more detail.

Ward watched her for a second, a look in his eyes like he could see right through her. "I see," was all he replied, but Skye knew he could tell. He knew that Skye had once cared for him.

"I'm done," Skye said, desperate to change the subject.

"Good," Ward's demeanor changed at once. "We need to find them."

"I think I have a way." Skye held up her phone. "She was almost perfect, but everyone makes mistakes. She's using a tablet and I can track it."

"Where is she?"

"Not far," she replied, showing him the phone.

"We are closest." Ward said. He hit the small comm on his ear, speaking into it. "Coulson, we found her. We are in pursuit." He looked back at Skye. "Let's go."

Once again they were running through the halls of the Playground. Ward had taken the phone, holding it out in front of him as they moved through the halls, using it to monitor their intruder. As they got closer, Ward changed speeds. Skye followed suit. She took the ICER from her side and held it in front of her.

Ward's finger over his lips, they made their way around the corner. For a second Skye stopped, her eyes wide. She was standing right in front of herself. She had been prepared, she knew that she was about to see her double – the Skye that belonged in this universe – but it was still different when she actually saw it.

If Skye's surprise was something, it was nothing compared to the look on the other Skye's face. The other Skye turned, holding up a handgun, but stopped frozen. Her mouth opened like she was about to say something, but Ward had already acted. With three small pops the other Skye and her two companions were taken out with an ICER.

"Let's move them," Ward said, looking at the three intruders. He looked over and saw the look on Skye's face. "You okay?"

Skye nodded, snapping herself out of it. "Of course," she said nodding as Ward made the call to Coulson to get backup, but her eyes slipped back to her unconscious body on the floor.

There was a palpable tension in the lab as Jemma moved around. She could feel Fitz's eyes on her back, but every time she turned around he shifted his gaze.

"Did you find anything?" Jemma asked, actually making her way over to Fitz and stopping by his side.

"Maybe," he said. He turned to look at her but his eyes didn't quite catch hers. "Take a look at this." He pushed a readout that one of the DWARFs had collected so that Jemma could look at it.

"I see, it's like the…"

"Right!" Fitz said, excitement in his voice. "It looks like the device is actually giving off energy connecting to…"

"The trans-matter bridge." Jemma smiled. It felt good to work with Fitz again. At home he kept fighting her, getting frustrated at the smallest of things. Things just hadn't been the same. Jemma stood back, looking at the device. "So, if we just touch it again, will it send us home?"

"I don't know how to tell." Fitz said. "It might, or you could get trapped somewhere between the realities. We need to run a few more tests."

"What if we do this?" she asked, calibrating one of the DWARFs to circle around the device.

"Yes," Fitz replied. He looked over to her, a look of admiration in his eyes.

She squirmed slightly under his gaze. "How about we go get a cup of tea," Jemma said. "We've been working for hours, I could use a break."

Fitz stopped and looked at her like he wasn't sure if he really wanted to go with her. Jemma could see the internal struggle he was going through. She could only imagine what he was going through. It was obvious that he still hadn't gotten over the loss of the Jemma of this world. He probably never would.

But he obviously decided that it was okay to go because he slowly nodded and followed Jemma out of the lab. Jemma filled a teakettle with water and set it to boil. She grabbed two mugs and teabags out of the cabinet.

"You're just like her."

Jemma turned, surprised by Fitz's comment. Fitz was just sitting quietly at the table, but his eyes were watching her closely, paying attention to every move she made.

Jemma wasn't totally sure how to respond. "Well, I guess we are similar," she replied. "But there are differences too."

"And you and him – the Fitz where you are from – you never got together."

Jemma's face went red and she wanted to chuckle, to do something to release the tension, but it wasn't a laughing matter. "No," she said. "We're just friends. Best friends." But Jemma knew she wasn't telling the full truth. They were best friends, but there was something else there. Fitz had told her that she was more but Jemma hadn't said it back. She didn't know how.

"Oh," Fitz said, his face scrunched up as he thought. "I can't imagine him not feeling the same way about her that I do… about you."

Jemma squirmed slightly. "He… he does." She quickly moved to make the tea, desperate for something to do besides feel Fitz's eyes on her.

"Oh," Fitz repeated, but he didn't say anything else.

Jemma grabbed the cup and placed it in front of Fitz. "He's my best friend in the world."

"But nothing more than that?" Fitz's voice was lower than usual, his eyes burning right through her. She knew he could tell. He knew that she was lying to herself saying that she didn't feel the same.

Sitting down, putting her hands on the sides of the warm mug, she looked down at the table. "I don't know."

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