Pieces Solving a Puzzle
Spoilers:All seasons...
Disclaimer: I only own the characters that Marvel doesn't already own.
One Month After HYDRA/Inhuman – SHIELD Altercation – Inhuman Habitat
Daisy tilted her head as stood by the window in her office, she was feeling the vibrations around her. Opening her eyes, she looked down at the training yard that her office looked out on. She saw her Inhuman group training in their various skills, some together and others by themselves. The STRIKE team members had integrated soon after their arrival, helping her people in their training if it didn't involve their gifts. She felt the heartbeats of them all but she also picked up one nearby that wasn't below. Turning around, Daisy put her back against the window and found Ward sitting in the chair across from her desk.
"The polite thing to do would be to knock."
Ward put his arms out along the chair, "when have I ever been polite?" It came with a smirk and Daisy rolled her eyes, moving to stand behind her desk. "I came by to see how you and your team are doing."
"We're fine, everyone has settled in and are liking the habitat." She sat down in her chair, "black walls are a change from the white we had before."
"Good, so I heard your newest member has a little gift that could be useful." He leaned forward and met her eyes, "I think Kebo is selling secrets, I found him in my office unauthorized yesterday and in the security vault last week. I want to be sure before I do something drastic, he's hard to replace."
Silence carried across the room before Daisy raised her head. "Kelly doesn't need to go digging around in that man's head, just like I wouldn't want her near yours. I don't need her scared of her allies; knowing about horrible deeds and seeing them are two different things."
"Skye," he stood up and towered over her. "I didn't ask, consider this me calling in that favor you owe me for London last week." He turned and walked towards the door, pausing at the wooden barrier. "I'll make sure she's comfortable though and do it here at the habitat, no unnecessary discomfort is needed."
Daisy sat down in her chair with a huff as she watched him leave, "you owe me a spar." It was out before she could think and he turned back at the door. "If I win, you leave Kelly out of your security issue."
"No gifts?" He folded his arms, "a fair round?"
"No gifts!" She smirked as she rounded the desk, "are you prepared to get your ass kicked?"
He genuinely laughed and smiled at her, "you can try Rookie but we both know you won't last five minutes in a spar with me."
Of course Grant Ward found himself eating his words as Daisy still stood kicking his ass ten minutes after he expected her to be out. Even without her gift she was a force to be reckoned with, something he hadn't expected but then he hadn't see her in true action before. He'd heard she'd had training with May but her fights around him had been with a gun or her gift. She was beating him just as much as he was throwing her around and he was hoping she'd tire but she wasn't.
"Come on Ward, give up before your STRIKE team sees me kick your ass." She smirked as she looked down at him, he was on his back from where she'd thrown him over her shoulder.
He sat up and put up both hands, "okay." Holding a hand out he expected her to help him up and she did, grabbing his hand at the exact time he pulled her down. Rolling her over till she was on her back with him over her, he smirked at her. "Never turn your back to the enemy and never concede either."
"You aren't my enemy, you're my ally." She spoke as she gained control of her breathing. "Get off me."
His eyes flicked her down her body as he stood up, she saw his gaze roam over her like she was a feast and it pissed her off. She pushed her hands out and he fell to the ground, on his back as she stood. "You said no gifts."
"Yeah well you were looking at me like I was a piece of meat." She stared at him as she stood over his body. "You lost that chance when you betrayed me, do it again and I'll open a hole to the middle of the earth and drop you in it."
Smirking, Ward stood up and as always towered over her. "Like I haven't caught you starring at my ass when my back is to you." He brushed past her gently and headed towards the door. "I'll deal with Kebo on my own."
"Yeah, well you can't blame a girl for looking!" She yelled after him and he turned look at her, his eyes roaming over her for a second time before he disappeared out the door. "Have him here tomorrow, I need time to prepare her."
Like magic the man stuck his head back in the doorway, "really?"
"Really, I don't like owing favors." She shrugged, "you're welcome you asshole."
"Asshole maybe but I have a great ass!" With a grin he left and Daisy rolled her eyes, a smile on her face as she did so.
"Bastard!" She muttered as she picked up her towel from the nearby bench. "But a hot one, uh his pun habit is wearing on me."
Eight Months Previously – New York
Entering the abandoned Delphi Productions building, Daisy made her way over to where Ward's lieutenant had specified. A single knock to the door that lead to the back room and it opened with a gun to her face. Kebo looked at her before pulling a picture from his pocket, holding it up to her face.
"Your hair is different but it's you, get in here." He opened the door and let her in, she walked towards where the heat was being generated. "You're Skye, I was expecting something…"
"Something what?" She turned and looked at him, "and it's Daisy Johnson, call me Skye again and I'll put you in a pit of lava. Where is he?"
"Follow me." He moved past her and she followed with her bag till she found Ward in a corner, nothing around him but a fireproof blanket and flames but not going beyond him. "Boss, she's here."
Daisy made her way over and bent down as close as she dared to him, his eyes showed agony but awareness. He stared at her like a man would at water in a desert. "Ward it's Skye, I need you to listen to me and try to calm yourself."
"Beautiful…" it was all he said but she knew most Inhuman transitions caused some incoherency and partial amnesia.
"Thanks but I need you to remember who you are. Can you tell me who you are?"
He nodded, "Grant Ward, Head of HYDRA, traitor to SHIELD, murderer." His eyes reached up to look at her as the flames slowly started to die away. "I betrayed you, I killed Kara."
Apparently remorse seemed to be part of his incoherency but Daisy knew it would disappear as he finished his transition. "You did betray me but that's behind us. Look, this may not make much sense now but that is all gone, your past is gone. Who Grant Ward was before the flames is not who you are anymore, you get a second chance during your transition and you can be whoever you want to be now. Inhuman law protects you, SHIELD can't hurt you anymore."
The flames were gone and immediately she opened her bag and pulled out the portable transition kit. She turned to look at Kebo, he seemed to move over to her. "What?"
"I need you to help me lay him out, he's going to be a little sluggish for a while. I have to speed up his biomolecular transition before he kills himself or others, it's a delicate process and I need him flat to do it."
Kebo laid Ward flat and Daisy immediately removed the transition needles from the pack. She removed Ward's blanket till it rested just at his waist to cover his groin. Immediately she placed transition needles in his arms, chest and legs, about eighteen in all. Grabbing the small tablet attached to the kit, she began the program that would transmit to the needles and send specified electrical signals to Ward's cells. "What does it do?" Kebo looked at her as he bent down beside them.
"It sends electrical signals to his cells, aiding the massive replication of DNA each cell undergoes. Not all his cells have an activated Inhuman gene, so the body is getting mixed signals causing chaos and instability. I'll speed up the activation of his Inhuman gene so he stabilizes. Usually we do a full body activation but I don't have the equipment so this could take a while. I'd get comfortable if I were you."
"Skye…" Ward's head turned and she looked at him from her tablet. "I can't move."
"I know," she hesitantly put a hand on his arm. "I know it's hard for you to not be able to move but the transition takes time and moving makes it longer." Sitting cross-legged in front of him she took his hand, knowing the new Grant Ward needed her emotional support. "I'm here Ward and I'm going to be here through everything. I'll be here for your transition, your training, your emotional control; I'm not going anywhere I promise."
"I keep my promises to you." He whispered and she nodded, grabbing her bag and withdrew a pouch.
"I know you do." She unzipped the pouch and removed a vial and syringe, holding it in the air. Immediately Kebo grabbed the vial, "that's a sedative, looking at the label."
"How can I be sure it isn't poison in a vial disguised as a sedative?" He stared down at her.
Daisy rose and stared up at the man, "if I wanted him dead, I'd have not helped at all. He'd have died eventually from the instability and inability to control himself. Now give me the vial."
He jammed it into her hand and she sat back down, drawing the sedative into the syringe. Daisy put the vial aside and looked down to see the face of the man she was still partially in love with, a man who had destroyed her heart but still held a small piece of it. For the first time since he'd taken her from the back of her van, he looked helpless and vulnerable. "Skye…"
"I'm here, this is just something to help you sleep so when you wake up the transition will be over." She injected it into his arm, thankful that Simmons had created something that didn't require direct blood transfusion because she sucked at finding veins. Rubbing his arm, she looked down at him and saw him fighting the sedative. "Hey, it's okay I'll be right here."
"Missed you."
With that he fell asleep and Kebo finally sat on a nearby box, starring at her. "Who are you?"
"Inhuman, helper to my people." She met his eyes, "beyond knowing that, you don't need to know anything. I can also guarantee that Ward won't take kindly to you interrogating me while he's passed out."
"You act like you know each other, so who are you?"
She looked down at Ward and rested a hand on his arm, "someone he once loved but he chose betrayal over a future with me."
"I'll never repeat this with him conscious but he's an idiot if he let a catch like you go."
"Doesn't mean I like you." She looked over at the man who was Ward's second.
"Doesn't mean I like you either, in fact I want to strap you down and interrogate you but I like breathing. I know he'd like to be there and since you're helping him, I figure it can wait."
Daisy looked back at her tablet and made a few adjustments before putting it down. She just sat starring at the man who was hours before had been her enemy but was suddenly one of her people. Unlike those around her, he could never be a part of her world and after she got him controlling his gift they'd be parting ways. She just hoped he didn't betray her like he had before because unlike before, his new life was without error or judgments. The past was the past and he had a second chance, one she prayed he seized with vigor.
A/N: Well this cheered me up, how about you guys?
Next: ATCU comes to made a deal with HYDRA but learns that they aren't interested in helping capture Inhumans.
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