You guys are blowing me away with your support! Seriously, thank you so much!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as the last 3. If you did, leave me a review?

Grant

"So, Robot." Skye starts conversationally as she stands next the punch bag, ready for training. "Do you ever smile?"

"We're here to train, Skye." I sigh, exasperatedly. "Not to discuss my facial expressions."

"Can't we do both?" She argues back, the smile on her lips indicating she's being humourous. She knows my stance on talking during training. It's a distraction. And I dislike distractions.

"Fine, I get it. Just training." She nods, brushing a lock of her hair out of her face before she starts to punch the punch bag. She looks so beautiful, but I'm not allowed to think these thoughts. Because I'm her SO. Because my only priority is John. Not some hactivist.

"We're being followed." Kara tells me as we walk down the crowded streets of D.C. We're here investigating a possible link to a HYDRA base, for Kara.

"You think I don't know?" I frown at her. Kara shrugs, the corner of her lips twitching up into a smile. She combs her fingers through her hair nervously, she smooths her fringe down over her face.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Kara wants to know. We keep walking at a moderate pace, but I start to move away from the street.

"Is it HYDRA?" She asks next.

"No." I reply as we slowly meander into an alley where we can deal with our follower discreetly. "It's SHIELD."

.

When I judge that we're far enough into the alley, I turn around.

Skye stands there.

I blink. Am I hallucinating? Or is Skye really standing there? She's dressed casually but I can still see the bulge of a gun underneath her jacket.

My eyes harden.

"What do you want?" Kara asks her in a level voice, judging correctly that seeing Skye's made me nervous.

"Relax, Agent 33." Skye's mouth attempts to smile, but it kind of looks mangled and out of place. "I'm not here to attack you. I just want to talk."

"Right." Kara's voice is practically dripping with sarcasm.

"Kara." I say quietly, placing a hand in between her shoulder blades. She glances up, her uncovered eye looking confused. "Let me talk to her."

"Grant." She warns me. "You're not ready."

"Kara." I smile at her. "I'll be fine, okay."

Skye watches our exchange with guarded eyes, and I wonder what she's doing here. What does she want? My bullet wounds itch slightly.

"Can we talk somewhere private?" Skye asks me. My breath hitches in my throat, remembering the look in her eyes when she shot me.

Never turn your back on your enemy. You taught me that, remember?

"Sure." I say. I gesture to the coffee shop across the street. It has large, clear windows and looks pretty full, so she can't shoot me. Also, the windows will mean that Kara will be able to monitor the situation the whole time. "How about in there?"

"Fine." Skye nods, and starts to walk to the coffee shop. Kara gives me a measured look.

"Be careful." She tells me quietly. I squeeze her shoulder quickly and start to follow Skye.

"I'll be watching." She calls after me.

Skye has already sat down in the coffee shop, having chosen a table next to the window. I walk up to her as she gazes out of the window, her hands clasped in front of her. I pull the chair out opposite her and sit down. Outside it starts to drizzle.

"What do you want?" I ask, getting straight to the point.

"To talk." Skye answers, her voice quiet and unsure.

"What, Coulson's sent his little lap dog to me?" My voice inadvertently turns cruel. But even as I speak, I realise that what I'm saying I'd true. Both Skye and I had father figures in SHIELD agents: for me, it was Garrett, and for her it is Coulson. Both of us followed their orders. Only difference is that my role model was wrong. He was twisted.

Skye's dark brown eyes register hurt at my comment, but I don't care. A waitress walk over to our table and asks us what we'd like to order. Skye smiles politely at her and asks for a latte. I decline to order. The waitress flashes me a brilliantly dazzling smile before she goes to deal with Skye's order. The rain outside pelts down harder, and I hope it's only a passing shower. For Kara's sake. Like a cat, she hates the rain.

"Coulson didn't send me." Skye says once the waitress has walked away. "I came alone, Ward. I wanted to make sure that-"

"That what?" I interject, leaning back in my chair. "That I got the message, to stay the hell away from you? 'Cause yeah, I got the message, Skye! The first and second bullets delivered that. The third bullet I can maybe understand, to keep me down, but the fourth was just over kill, Skye!" My voice steadily gets louder, and my breathing heavier. I take a deep breath, trying to calm down. Skye watches me carefully, brushing a lock of her hair behind one ear. There's an ache in my stomach, and I know it's because of her. Skye. It's always because of her.

"Relax, Skye. I won't be coming after you anymore. I won't be trying to get you anymore." I tell her once I'm back in control. The waitress walks back over and gives Skye her latte before moving on, tossing me mother charming smile as she does so. "You're free, Skye." I continue after the waitress is an acceptable distance away. "Because I won't pursue you again. I'm over you." As I speak, I realise the truth in my words. Although I might not be completely over her, but I'm definitely not going to chase her again. Because that didn't do anything for me. Instead, I want to focus on fixing Kara, and prove to myself just how easy it is to fix a broken person. To prove just how easy it would of been to save me.

Skye's fingers wrap around her cup, her knuckles going white. The table shakes slightly, ripples spreading out across the surface of her drink. Her eyes go wide in panic, but I ignore her reaction. She's silent for a long time. I glance out of the window, not seeing Kara, but I know she's out there somewhere. She wasn't an agent of SHIELD for nothing, after all.

"I had to shoot you, Ward." Skye says finally. I roll my eyes dramatically. "I couldn't trust you!"

"Seriously, Skye? That's what you're going with?" I mock her. One hand moves to my shoulder and I pull down my shirt and peel back the bandage Kara makes me wear to keep the wounds safe, showing the still raw wounds, which are still looking terrible because I ripped them back open. But she doesn't need to know that. Skye gasps slightly at seeing the tips of my bullet wounds. I push my shirt back up, fixing the bandage back in place.

"That's what you did to me, Skye." I say simply. "So why don't you run back to Coulson now. You can tell him I'm not doing anything to harm him or you. And I bet your leash is getting pretty short."

"Ward-" Skye begins, but I don't let her talk. Because I know if I do, I'll start to try and forgive her, and I don't want to do that. Skye broke my heart when she shot me. And I don't want to pursue someone like that.

"You tell him to keep away from me. You keep away from me, and Kara." I tell her. "Because if I ever see your face again... Make sure you never turn your back on me. Because I doubt you'd want to be shot." I get to my feet, the chair squeaking against the lino floor as I push it backwards.

"You and Agent 33?" Skye's question stops me from leaving. Her eyes are huge in her face, and they are beautiful. But they are also deadly. They aren't the same eyes as the girl I fell for. She was carefree. This girl would shoot me, and leave me to die, all over again without a second thought.

So I twist my lips into an attempt of a smile, and I do the only thing I can think of to hurt her. Because somehow I know that saying it will hurt her, and that's what I want to do.

"We're very happy together." I say before walking away, my hands clenched into fists in my pockets.

Outside, I walk blindly, in some random direction, and Kara falls into step next to me. She has a hood over her head, but I let the drizzle hit my skin. I'm confused after seeing Skye, because that's what she does to me. She gets under my skin. Even when I don't want her there.

"Why did you tell her we were together?" She asks simply.

"I don't know."

"Will she be back?" Kara smooths her fringe over her eye nervously.

I glance back at the coffee shop, and I imagine that I can see Skye still sitting at the table, sipping at her drink.

"I don't know." I admit. "But I hope not."

"Coulson didn't send me." Skye's voice tells me, playing back from the coffee shop encounter. "But never turn your back on your enemy, Grant."

"Skye!" I yell, staring into her dark brown eyes. "Don't do this."

"You taught me that." Skye smiles evilly, her eyes flashing. Her fingers curl around the gun, which is pointed at me.

"Skye! I love you!" Desperately, I try to convince her to lower the gun.

"Skye!"

"Skye!"

"Skye!"

"Coulson didn't send me. I'm alone. All this, is my actions." Skye shoots me suddenly. The bullets hit me, piercing straight through my skin. I gasp, collapsing against the wall. Slowly, I slip to the ground, clutching at my chest.

"Skye..." I murmur.

"This is all me." Skye repeats, and then she grins again.

"Skye..." I glance up into her eyes. "I did this to you. I changed you into an agent."

"So what?" Skye twirls the gun in her hands.

"You work for SHIELD long enough, you'll become just like me. A murderer, and a liar." I tell her.

"Don't you get it, Grant?" Skye looks at me. "The message?" She kneels down next to me.

"The message?"

"One." Skye points at the first gun wound. "I hate you. Two. I want you dead. Three. I want you to suffer for the people you hurt. And four?" Skye grins maliciously. She leans in close to my ear, one hand still touching my wounds. Her hand is quickly soaked in blood as the red liquid oozes through her fingers. "That was just for me."

I wake up suddenly.

"Just a dream..." I mutter. "It was just a dream."