A/N: Ok, so this chapter is pretty short. Idk if you'd call it a "filler" chapter, but things have kind of slowed a bit. The next chapter might be the same way, but I promise after that one, the plot picks right back up again. Anyway, thanks so much to all those who faved, alerted, and reviewed! Over a hundred reviews like whaaaaaat?

Chapter Seven:

Beautiful Disaster

"He drowns in his dreams

An exquisite extreme I know

He's as damned as he seems

And more heaven than a heart could hold"

"So you're the new guys Donny said he was sending over?" the large man, Ted, asks, eyeing Ward and Trip questioningly. Ward nods and glances around the garage they're in casually, counting the amount of men in the room and every object he could use as a weapon, seeming as how he and Trip hadn't been able to take their ICERs with them. "I called him this morning, but he didn't answer."

"He left early for that trip to Hawaii he's been talking about" Trip supplies casually, shrugging. Ward resists the urge to smirk, because the only trip Donny is taking is one to a local prison. After he gets out of the infirmary, that is.

Ted scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Maybe he'll finally shut up about it then." Ward raises an eyebrow slightly and exchanges a glance with Trip when there are murmurs of agreement from the men around them. Ted then turns his attention to the two agents. "So Donny tells me you two want to join the Sǐwáng gang. Why's that?"

Ward shrugs. "It's good to have connections."

"Alright" Coulson said, he and May exiting the warehouse room where they'd been interrogating Donny. "Here's the plan: Donny is supposed to send in two new recruits to the base. Ward and Trip, you're going to go in in their place." Ward's eyebrows jerked up for the briefest second, before he managed to rearrange his expression to one of neutrality and give a curt nod. "The base here is rumored to be one of the only ones that's mostly without whatever mental influence the others are under, and it seems so far the easiest way to get answers is to get them willingly."

"One question," Trip said, holding up a finger. "Do we have to know Chinese?"

Ted spits and Ward notices Trip grimace. "Fair enough, but if you want to join my branch, you gotta start from the bottom up. Especially if you're recommended by Donny; lazy piece of shit."

"Yeah, he's not that fond of you either" Trip comments and Ward smirks slightly. Ted grins.

"Bastard's just jealous."

Ward and Trip chuckle, before Ward clears his throat slightly and speaks. "So, who's in charge of this whole operation?"

Ted scratches his beard. "You mean the tip-top?" They nod. "Don't know. Everyone ranked above me are religious nuts."

Ward furrows his brow in question and exchanges a look with Trip. "What do you mean? They're like Catholic or something?"

"Nah, just say this guy 'remade' them. I told 'em they're nuts, but they say 'my day will come.'" Trip and Ward raise their eyebrows.

"That's pretty weird, man" Trip says and the man shrugs.

"Do you know where this guy is?" Ward questions, making his tone nothing but curious.

"He never stays in one place. You guys sure are curious." Ward instantly notices the suspicion brewing in the man's voice, so he gives a small, carefree laugh while Trip just chuckles.

"Donny didn't tell you that about us, I guess" Trip says lightly. Ted opens his mouth to comment, but is distracted as another man enters the room.

"Hey, Johnny! These are the boys Donny was talking about" he called lightly, jerking his thumb toward Trip and Ward. The new man, Johnny, eyes the two and Ward resists the urge to stiffen when he sees blatant suspicion.

"Donny said the two guys were brothers" Johnny says and suddenly every gaze is pinned to them. Ward's hand twitches, as if searching for a weapon, as the atmosphere tenses.

"Foster brothers" he supplies immediately, going so far as to playfully nudge Trip with his elbow. The other man plays along easily, chuckling and lightly bumping his fist against Ward's arm. Ted's suspicion fades, but Johnny's remains.

"Donny always leaves out important crap" Ted grumbles. Johnny shoots him an irritated look.

"Two of our bases were attacked in a couple days. We're the next closest one to Montana. We can't be too careful" he argues. Ward and Trip exchange a worried, confused glance.

"Attacked? By who?" Ward questions. Ted and Johnny exchange a glance.

"Don't know. Some say it was the government" Ted replies and Ward wants to smirk, because he's not quite right.

"So where was this head honcho last seen?" Trip asks, cutting to the chase, because it's doubtful there's any more useful information and they're about to give the signal to the others.

"Don't know" Ted replies automatically and Johnny shoots him another look.

"Why?" Johnny demands and Ward sighs. Here it comes.

"Banana" he says, straight-faced.

"What's the code word going to be, sir?"

"Banana" Skye supplied immediately, nodding matter-of-factly. Everyone turns to give her a questioning look. "What? How likely are you to say that in regular conversation?"

There was a pause, before Coulson turned to him and merely gave a helpless shrug.

The lights in the garage went out for five seconds, just long enough to disorient those who hadn't been expecting it and to allow May to lunge out of her hiding spot. Trip goes for Johnny and Ward immediately lunges at Ted, his fist connecting with the large man's jaw. The other man stumbles back a couple feet and Ward doesn't give him time to react, grabbing his shoulders and kneeing him in the gut. He then ducks to avoid the fist of another man, turning his attention to his new assailant for a moment. He slams his elbow into the man's face, ignoring the crack from the man's nose, before grabbing a fistful of the man's hair and hitting his head against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Hey!" He turns when he hears Trip call, just in time to catch the crowbar being tossed to him. He gives a brief nod of thanks, before turning back around and hitting Ted, who's lunging at him, across the face with the crowbar. The man slumps to the ground limply and Ward lets out a breath, before looking for his next opponent. His eyes immediately land on Trip, fighting two men with another approaching. He runs up, jumping onto the hood of the car between them. He jumps off the car toward the third man, sending his fist straight into his face. The man falls backwards, clutching his face, just as Trip finishes his two fights. They both look up when they hear a sharp whistle. May stands by an open door, a trail of unconscious bodies in front of her. She jerks her head to the exit. Ward and Trip exchange a look, before going to follow her.


"So where to next, sir?" Ward questions casually, following Coulson out of the mission room as everyone disperses from debriefing. Coulson glances at him.

"D.C." Ward stops, swallowing, before shoving all emotion off his face. He can't jump to conclusions. He's probably being paranoid. And he can't do that unless he wants to look like a fool in front of Coulson, who has also stopped and is giving him a questioning look.

"What for?" he questions, trying his best to sound merely curious. Understanding flashes through Coulson's gaze as the man no doubt remembers that the prison is located in D.C.

"Refueling and dropping off Raina. She's going to undergo interrogation and psychological analysis to see if there are cracks in whatever influence there is over her. Besides, I think we could all use a breather." Ward nods, hiding his relief. Coulson eyes him for a moment, before speaking. "You should probably make an appointment with your psychologist, talk to her about some things."

Ward nods, before clearing his throat slightly. "Yeah." He's not sure if he'll do that. While he wouldn't mind seeing Gayle again, and he knows it would be for the best to get some things off his chest, there's a part of him that's afraid she'll tell him that everything he's doing and thinking is wrong and he'll have to start all over again.

Coulson looks at him for a moment longer, expression nonchalant, but eyes observant, before giving a nod along with a small, casual smile, and turning around and walking away.


Ugh, Skye thinks, glancing at the clock by her bed and seeing that it's three in the morning and she's barely gotten a wink of sleep. It's not a new occurrence, however. She hadn't been able to sleep a full night since Raina came with a message from her father that seemed to send her world crashing around her. Ward presence on the bus only added to her troubles, as well. Really, she's amazed she manages to get any sleep at all these days.

She lets out a huff and sits up, throwing the covers off and running a hand through her hair, before slipping out of her bed. She slides the bunk door open just enough to slip out quietly. She keeps her eyes on anything but the couch, where Ward's currently sleeping, and goes straight to the kitchen. She grabs a water bottle from the fridge and takes a swig, before recapping it and heading back toward her room.

Completely involuntarily, she glances at Ward this time as she passes him and there's suddenly a thickness in her throat. He's sleeping, but his face is twisted into a grimace and there's a small amount of sweat collecting at his hairline. His hands are twitching the slightest bit and his breathing is quicker than normal. He's having a nightmare, she realizes. She forces herself to keep walking, though, but stops just outside her bunk door. She closes her eyes and lets out a frustrated breath. Damn him.

She clicks on a nearby lamp and sets her water bottle down on the coffee table. She then kneels next to the couch and hesitantly places a hand on his shoulder. "Ward." She frowns after a moment of nothing. "Ward." She lightly shakes his shoulder. "Grant." She shakes him a little harder and suddenly he's bolting up and she's wrenching her hand back. His wide eyes meet her and for a moment, neither of them speak. His breathing slows and she sees him swallow.

"What is it? What's happening?" His eyes glance around then, as if looking for an imminent threat. His body is still tense, fists clenched.

Skye swallows and blinks once, twice, expression neutral. "Um, no, you were just having a nightmare."

He frowns and clears his throat slightly. "Oh." His confusion is clear and expression almost vulnerable as he looks at her. She knows he must be wondering why she bothered to wake him. She's wondering the same thing, honestly.

He's staring at her, probably waiting for her to say something. She doesn't know what to say, though. A part of her wants to yell at him, which is nothing new. Another part of her wants to just walk away and forget this happened. A small, selfish part of her wants to just curl up in his embrace and forget everything that ever went wrong. But she's neither naïve nor stupid. Those things did happen and she can't and shouldn't just forget them.

Get it together. She glances away, stands up, and grabs her water bottle. "Must've been a pretty bad one." She keeps her tone casual with a hard edge to it. She glances at him to find him looking away, all previous openness gone.

"Don't remember" he says and she knows he's lying. She watches him for a moment more, silence growing heavy, before sighing.

"Well, see you tomorrow I guess." She's walking away and into her bunk, closing the door behind her, before he can respond. She leans back against the door for a moment. She needs a drink or something.

Something like answers.

She tosses her water bottle onto her bed and grabs her laptop before sitting on her bed. The device boots up quickly and soon she's connected to the SHIELD servers. What she's looking for is above her clearance, but it's not like that's ever stopped her before. She finds the documents quickly and skims through them, entirely focused. Her body grows cold and she finds it more difficult to swallow with each word she catches. She quickly scrolls back up the beginning, seeing the emergency contacts. There are three slots, and the third one is blank. The second one, she's only slightly surprised to see is Coulson. She then looks at the first number. She takes a breath, deciding to focus on her determination, before grabbing her phone and dialing the number. It rings twice, before it's answered.

"Hello?"

She swallows. "Hi, I'd like to make an appointment with Dr. Gayle."

"Oh and I don't know

I don't know what he's after

But he's so beautiful

Such a beautiful disaster"

A/N: So yeah, short, but not bad I hope. xP Review please? :3