Academy Reunion
Spoilers: All SHIELD episodes and movies.
Disclaimer: I currently only own SYA (maybe) and Azara.
Marching down the hallway of the apartment complex that housed faculty and instructors, Skye determined that despite the insanity of sharp words and even sharper bullets that dominated her relationship with Ward, she was still in love with the asshole. Even ten years later and a dozen betrayals between them, she allowed herself the knowledge that she'd do anything to protect him from someone that would dare hurt him. If anything ran true between them, it was the fact they were the only ones allowed to love and harm each other, all others would be facing a wrath that would see them dead.
Having Azara come into her office crying that she overheard someone tell her dad that all Inhumans were evil and needed to die pissed Skye off. Azara confirmed that he'd defended all Inhumans, stating that apart from their abilities they weren't that different from humans but that just caused the unknown woman to call him a traitor. The 'T' word pissed her off more, after everything he'd done in the War of Registry to fight for SHIELD and the fact he was a decent human being, once you ignored his time under Garrett and HYDRA, she was the only one allowed to throw that comment up at him. It got her a smirk or smile on a good day and silence on a bad day but it was her word to use against him.
Banging on the door to his apartment, it opened to reveal a brunette who looked at her like she was crazy. Without a word, Skye pushed her way into the apartment to find Ward leaning against the counter with his arms folded facing a man who looked similar to him. There was little doubt she'd barged in during a conversation between the three.
"Excuse me, what the hell do you think you're doing?" The woman slammed the door and turned to Skye, clearly angered.
Skye turned to her, "I'm guessing you're the one that upset Azara. Watch your tone or trust me, you'll find yourself in a volcano quicker than you can think." She turned to Ward and immediately noticed his body language shifting as it normally did with her. His arms dropped to his side, his eyes grew softer and his jaw unset as he stood straight and moved towards her.
"What's wrong with Azara?"
"You're kidding right?" She shook her head and pointed at him. "I don't know what's going on but she's currently in my office in tears because some bitch," her eyes turned to the woman a few feet away, "decided that all Inhumans are evil and they need to die. Despite your defense, she thinks that you're going to follow this insanity like you did with Garrett and HYDRA and every other insane sociopathic idea that comes along."
Ward put a hand on her arm, "can we talk about this another time?"
"Did you just ask if we can talk about this another time?" She looked at him exasperatedly. "Oh hell no, we are not going to be talking about this another time. We've put of conversations that should have been had for ten years!" She poked his chest as she got louder. "This one isn't going away so say goodbye to psycho friends and get prepared for a very long conversation."
The man behind her chuckled and she turned to look at him, he looked up at Ward. "Sorry, I just never expected my brother to allow anyone to talk to him that way. Considering the last five years we've been talking, he doesn't let anyone tell him what to do."
Skye narrowed her eyes, "Thomas Ward I'm assuming?"
That got the man's attention, "you know about me?"
"I know about your whole damn family and the insanity that breeds in it." Skye folded her arms and looked at Ward. "You found your brother?"
Her tone softened and Ward nodded, "ran into each other in a coffee shop in Boston, it was pure chance until Azara told me who he was."
"Excuse me?" The woman moved over, "who the hell are you?"
"Skye Johnson, I'm assuming you're Rosalind Ward?"
The woman gave her a look that screamed indifference. "Am I supposed to know who you are? I don't know what your problem is but you have no right to come in and act like our conversations are any of your business. You're not a part of this family and," she got closer to Skye and leaned in, "never call my family insane or psychopathic or I'll make sure you never see the light of day again."
A hand to ground had the concrete under her feet vibrating, she jumped back and stared at Skye as the agent smirked. "Don't get in my face lady and your family is insane."
"You're Inhuman!" Rosalind pulled a gun from her waistband and before anyone could move or speak, Skye felt Ward's arm on her wrist and being thrown behind him. "Grant move out of the way."
Skye immediately noticed Ward placing his body between his sister's gun and her, he kept a hand on her waist as if to keep her in place as he shielded her. "Skye…" Thomas chuckled and shook his head. "Rose put the gun away before you do something stupid."
"Grant move!" Rose looked at her brother, "she isn't worth protecting."
Ward merely stared his sister down, "you aren't harming her, not without going through me."
"Rose." Thomas moved over to his sister. "She's the one I told you about. The one he's been in love with for ten years. Remember I told you that Grant changed, that he became different during the war. Part of it was his daughter and the other part due to a girl he'd been in love with for years? That's her, that's Skye and I'm pretty sure you're going to have to kill our brother to get to her."
After a few tense minutes, the gun was taken by Thomas and Skye put a hand on Ward's arm as he still stood in front of her. "Grant, it's okay." Her voice lowered slightly and the tension in his body eased slightly as he let go of her.
She moved around him but he caught her, tipping her chin up slightly. "Watch Azara for me. Let me deal with this."
"We need to talk."
"And we will." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Go."
She gave a nod, knowing the moment she was gone from his sight that the tenderness would be too. Grant Ward would become dangerous, especially given she'd been put in danger. That was something that hadn't changed in ten years, that being in danger when Ward was around made a person's life expendable. Her safety and that of Azara's was paramount in his mind and nothing would change that.
Leaving the tension-high room, Skye shut the door and as she did heard Thomas's voice telling Ward to let their sister go. For the first time, Skye knew interjecting in the confrontation wasn't something she needed to do. Ward wouldn't harm his sister but he'd make it clear that the woman couldn't threaten those he was closest to. For all their fights and angered words since her cliff-side rescue during the summer, there had been moments of closeness and looks shared between them. The idea of a relationship was still a fantasy but friendship was definitely there with a side of still being in love with each other.
Upon arriving to her office she found Azara still curled up on the couch but her tablet was in her lap and she was watching something. Sitting down beside the girl, it didn't surprise Skye when the now-eight year old curled up against her. Rubbing back her bangs, she kissed the girl's head and smiled as she saw Azara was watching Middle School Musical, a sequel to High School Musical series that had started playing as a TV series just two years before.
"I talked to your dad."
The show was paused and Azara looked up at her. "What did he say?"
"Don't worry about what that woman said or the idea that he'll follow her." Skye smiled at the little girl. "The important people in his life are Inhuman, he wouldn't let anyone harm us or our kind."
"Promise?"
"I promise." She kissed Azara's head again. "Okay, on a happier note you need to tell me what is going on in this episode. Did Derek ask Haley out like he planned last episode or did he chicken out?" Skye would never admit it to anyone but she had a habit of watching the pre-teen show with Azara.
"That was two episodes ago and he chickened out. Damien is trying to persuade him that not going out with a girl is better than going out with one." Removing the headphones, Azara messed with the screen and rewound the episode back to the beginning. "You can watch it with me."
They watched not one but three episodes by the time a knock appeared on the door. It was followed by the door opening to reveal Ward and Thomas, the other Ward sibling nowhere in sight. Thomas was the first to speak and the comment made Skye chuckle silently.
"You'd never know the squirt was adopted, they look like mother and daughter."
Ward merely moved past his brother and bent down by the couch as Skye took the tablet and shut it off. "Azara, I'm sorry you thought I would hurt you." He pulled her to him and she wrapped her arms around her father's neck as she buried her face in his shoulder. "I would never hurt you. Not even if my life depended on it because I love you."
"You wouldn't hurt Skye either, right?" She pulled back and looked at her father.
"No, at least not physically. We have adult problems that we're working out and at times that makes us hurt each other's feelings." He pushed back her hair, "I will always do everything I can to protect you both. So, next time you hear something like you did today I need to you to trust that I won't just go follow someone. Especially if it hurts you or Skye. Can you promise me that?"
Azara nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I can promise that."
"Good." He nodded towards Thomas, "why don't you say hello to your uncle. It's been a year since you've seen him."
Thomas smiled at the girl. "Come tell me about all the trouble your dad has gotten in Squirt."
"Well…" Azara practically bounced over to him. "Over the summer he got chased by a raccoon."
Ward ignored the two and stood as Skye did. Standing from the couch, the agent looked at her ex to meet his eyes. "Sorry about before," she motioned with her hands. "I was kind of pissed."
"Not as much as I was. Before you barged in, Thomas and I were trying to explain to Rose that our views aren't going to change." He looked back at Azara as she enticed her uncle in a story. "Azara changed everything as did you."
"How did I change everything?" She met his eyes as he looked back at her.
"I was there in Salt Lake when you brought it down." Ward shook his head as he smiled slightly at the memory. "I just found Azara and she showed me what was right and wrong. I had drawn a weapon on her prepared to do what I was charged with but she changed that. I felt the earthquake, I didn't know at the time you were able to cause them. Realistically I didn't know you were alive, I heard your father had been killed and several SHIELD agents had died in Los Angeles." Her hand squeezing his made him look at her. "Then I saw you, powerful and practically ethereal and everything changed in my mind."
Skye shook her head, "what could change what you thought? Azara shows you the truth but she doesn't change your beliefs."
"How could I destroy those that were like you both?" Ward squeezed her hand. "It's no secret I was in love with you and still am. I thought you were dead and I accepted that, it hurt knowing you were but I continued on. Seeing you, knowing you were Inhuman, changed my viewpoint because if I was charged with killing Inhumans than I'd have to kill the one person I loved."
"Not to interrupt this amazing moment." They turned to see Thomas holding Azara on his back piggy-back style. "But Squirt and I are hungry. How about I take you to dinner?"
Skye put a hand on Ward's chest and turned towards her desk. "Go, I'll see you next time we run into each other."
"Actually that was an invitation for you too." Thomas chuckled at her, "I want to know who Skye is besides what Grant tells me. I mean, you're beautiful like he said but obvious he's put you on a pedestal."
Ward merely gave her a look and she smiled. "Fine but don't think this means you're getting out of talking."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
The four of them found themselves in a restaurant near the campus eating dinner and having conversation. Thomas had practically grabbed Azara and commandeered a booth, making the two have to sit together. Skye listened to the story Thomas wove about Ward and an incident with the maid's daughter as Ward sat beside her trying to ignore it while his arm lay behind her head on the top of the booth.
"No, seriously?" Skye snorted as she covered her mouth. "I never knew that Grant Ward had game." She slapped his chest with the back of her hand. "I mean, you sweet talked the maid's daughter into going on a moonlight stroll at age twelve?"
"Can we change the topic?" Ward looked between them, "I don't think my daughter needs to be hearing about my beginnings on Exploit Road."
Azara looked up from her hamburger, which had been gained by puppy eyes at Skye and the agent sternly glaring at Ward when he tried to deny the girl. "What does that mean?"
"I'll tell you when you're a teenager." Skye stated and leaned forwards with her arms on the table. "So how is that hamburger?"
"Good!" She smiled and took another bite.
"Good, I'm glad." Skye took a sip of her beer. "We'll have to go get hamburgers one weekend when it's just us girls. Maybe we can bring Lucy along with us."
Azara grinned, "Dad has another field exercise in two weekends."
"Well we have a date then." Skye put out her hand and Azara slapped it.
Thomas shook his head and looked over at his brother, Ward had a small smile on his face as he watched both girls. It was clear to see he adored his daughter and was madly in love with Skye, loving her even more for her relationship with Azara. "You have it bad."
"What?" That got the man's attention.
"You're in love and have been for ten years." Thomas chuckled and leaned back. "Out of all of us I expected Rose to fall deeply in love with someone. Instead she can't form stable relationships, I'm still loving for Miss Right after so many Miss Wrongs and Christian, well we all knew where he was headed. You were screwed up the most but you're the one that found your soulmate."
Ward took a sip from his beer. "Hardly soulmates, we fight more than we agree."
"Yeah," Thomas smiled and looked over at Skye as the woman engaged Azara in coloring on the kids menu she'd been given. "You may fight and throw words at each other but in the end, you stood in front of a gun to protect her. She's your world, can't imagine life without her so yeah, definition of soulmate."
Skye stood up and took Azara's hand. "Bathroom, we'll be back."
"Should I order dessert while you guys are gone?" Thomas asked and Ward threw daggers at him.
"Yeah!" Azara jumped up and down. "Ice cream!"
"I think you've already pushed your dad enough." Skye looked down at the girl. "Ice cream on top of a hamburger, do you really want him to have a heart attack?"
Azara giggled, "no, can we get frozen yogurt at home?" The question was to Ward and he nodded. "Best dad ever."
She started towards the bathroom and Ward met Skye's eyes. "Thanks."
"You never have to thank me." He got a smile out of her and she departed after Azara.
"Oh yeah, you got it bad!" Thomas pulled out his wallet, "you both do."
A/N: Well introducing the remaining Ward twins was fun!
Next...We see Skye sit in on Ward's class in order to observe the Inhuman students present, as well as watch him lecture.
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