A/N: This chapter is just a bit of a filler, but it gives us a chance to really focus on their relationship - I think it's a good one =).

IMPORTANT NOTE: This fic is co-authored by therealshawn, and she and I are also co-authoring the other side of this fic on her account. It is called "Monsters in your Head" and shows this same story from the Skitz viewpoint. I strongly suggest reading them both! This fic will be a complete story by itself, as will the other one, but they will complement each other, give you scenes that you normally wouldn't see, and give you large parts of the story that happen while the characters are split up.

Anyways, enjoy!


He was already gone when she woke up.

She didn't know why it surprised her, but it did. It wasn't like he owed her anything or that he had any real reason to keep her with him. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It was only because of her that this mystery man had learned that Ward was still alive. But still, there was a part of her that wanted to believe that he was coming back, that he somehow cared for her enough not to abandon her.

She shivered, the realization that she was freezing breaking into her thoughts. And hungry, too, she discovered as she heard her stomach growl. When was the last time she had eaten?

Rising to her feet, she explored the small space in only a matter of seconds. While clearly functional as a hiding place, Ward's bolthole was missing anything resembling an amenity. There was no heating, or the heating was broken, as the temperature felt like it was hovering around freezing. Jemma swore that she could see her breath as a fog in front of her. The fridge was small and the sight of it raised her hopes, but they were quickly dashed as she opened the door and saw the bare shelves.

"Looking for something?"

The voice, coming from behind her, startled her. She yelped and whirled around, careening right into a broad chest.

A well-muscled broad chest. Not that she would notice things like that. Except in a purely scientific way, of course.

"You're invisible," Ward's voice growled from above her impatiently.

"Oh. Yes," she said slowly, feeling her face heat up as she realized that her hands were resting against his strong pecs. Sometimes, like right now, invisibility had its perks.

"And you're freezing," he added. Surprisingly, Jemma heard something in his voice that almost sounded like concern.

"It is a little chilly in here," she admitted, reluctantly taking a step away from his warmth. It must be a side-effect of his power, she decided. There was no way that anyone could be that wonderfully warm after being outside on a brisk morning without a jacket.

Ward grunted, muttering something under his breath that she couldn't quite make out, but it sounded mildly irritated. Then, louder, he added, "Come back here."

"Why?" she asked, confused. She had only taken one step back from him, but he acted like...like she was still invisible. Right. With a thought, she made her body rematerialize. "I'm much better at turning my powers off than on," she laughed, but the sound quickly morphed into another shiver.

Ward closed the distance between them with one step. "This will help," he promised. She nodded wordlessly, feeling her mouth go dry at his proximity even though they were no longer touching. Then, she felt an outpouring of heat envelop her body, banishing her shivers all at once.

Closing her eyes, she sighed in pleasure and dropped her arms from their position crossed in front of her chest, allowing herself to bask in the warmth.

"Better?"

"Much," she agreed immediately. Opening her eyes, she saw that he had a look of extreme concentration on his face even as he continued to watch her. "Is it hard?" her curiosity prompted her to ask. "To project warmth like this?"

"Takes a lot of control," he answered curtly. "But that should be good for now." At his words, the heat emanating from him was extinguished, but even the couple moments were enough to have warmed Jemma and the little hideout significantly.

"How exactly does it work?" She knew that Ward wasn't particularly fond of questions, but he was just so...intriguing. In so many different ways - his powers, his physique, his cold exterior but unwillingness to abandon her… "Your powers, I mean."

"Have a bagel." He ignored her question and tossed her a bag, which she caught, trying not to let her irritation at his evasiveness show.

Somehow, she was going to find answers to her questions.

There were exactly forty-two cracks in the wall. Ward had counted - twice.

"How about now?"

"No," he answered curtly, flicking his gaze over to the scientist for a brief second before returning to his in-depth study of the wall in front of him.

Her frustrated sigh called his attention to her again, just in time to see her walk over and slump down on the floor next to him. "It's hopeless."

Automatically, he shifted slightly so that there was a little more room between their bodies. He had developed this reflex shortly after discovering his powers; it was a method of ensuring the safety of those around him. If no one got too close, no one got burned. However, around the blasted scientist, he kept finding himself close to her, touching her, wanting to… No. Ward cut himself off before his thoughts got carried away. Out loud, he answered, "Maybe fear is the only trigger."

"It can't be," she insisted. "Yes, the last few incidents were caused by fear, but when I first discovered my abilities, it was just me and Fitz…" her voice trailed off at her friend's name and her eyes dropped to the floor, but not before he saw the worry clearly displayed in them.

"They aren't after him," Ward promised, saying the words without thinking. For some reason, he felt the need to reassure her, to lift that sadness from her eyes. When she wasn't driving him crazy and plaguing him with question after question, she was actually surprisingly tolerable.

"That doesn't mean he's okay," she muttered, her hair falling down in a curtain, hiding her face from him.

She had a point, but Ward couldn't point that out - it would only upset her more. Instead, he sighed, unable to believe that he was going to do this. "It's like releasing a muscle," he stated.

"What?" she lifted her head and glanced at him. Unshed tears glimmered in her eyes, but he had her attention and as far as distracting her went, it seemed like a good start.

"My powers." Now he definitely had her interest - she sat up straighter and shifted so that she was no longer leaning against the wall, but was instead angled towards him. He took that as his clue to continue. "It's hard to explain, exactly, but," he clenched his fist and held it out in front of him for her to see, "my abilities feel sort of like a fist - I have to constantly focus on keeping it clenched, on keeping the muscles taut."

"And if you lose focus?" she whispered, almost like she was talking to herself.

"Bad things," he responded grimly.

"Then, how do you-"

"-keep control?" he chuckled mirthlessly. "It's impossible to control it perfectly." He didn't know why he was telling her all this, but now that he'd started, the words kept coming out despite his attempts to stop. "If the 'fist' releases slightly, that causes my internal temperature and even the air around me to heat up." She nodded - she'd experienced that one. "And the more it releases, the more explosive my abilities."

"Have you ever released it all?" she leaned forward excitedly, apparently uncaring that he had basically just told her that he was a ticking time-bomb, ready to go off at any second. It was either impressively brave of her or remarkably stupid.

Memories flooded back to Ward, memories of a time when his self-control had been nonexistent and the results had been catastrophic. "No," he lied gruffly, ending the conversation by standing and walking over to the small desk in the corner of the room.

She stood silently and followed, hovering behind him as he pulled open a drawer and retrieved one of the burner phones that he kept stored there for emergencies as well as a slightly bent business card.

Finally, as he had guessed it would, her insatiable curiosity won out. "What are you doing?"

"Planning our next move," he answered, keeping his response deliberately cryptic just to bug her. He knew that it was petty, but it was payback for her ability to both aggravate him and to trigger his desire to lower his defenses.

She paused, obviously waiting for an explanation that he had no intention of giving. Instead, he dialed the number on the card and turned his back to her, speaking quietly enough into the receiver as he started pacing that it would be difficult for her to catch more than a few words here and there. And, to her, that would be even more frustrating than missing the entire conversation. At that thought, he couldn't help a slight grin from forming on his lips.

"Great," he suddenly raised his voice back to a normal level now that the important details had been hashed out. "We'll be there. 7 tomorrow." He hung up the phone, careful to school his features back into an expressionless mask before turning back to face Jemma.

To his extreme satisfaction, she had her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her face. "Care to inform me?" she asked icily. "I believe I have a right to know since my life is hanging in the balance."

"I'm keeping us safe - that's all you need to know," he responded, his tone just as cold as hers. Provoking her could be fun, but on this issue, he wasn't going to budge. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was that she had never been on the run before and, judging from her past actions, he couldn't be sure that she would be cautious enough. However, keeping her in the dark would make sure that she wouldn't accidentally reveal anything to anyone, no matter how insignificant the detail.

"Wonderful," she breathed sarcastically. "I'm entrusting my safety to a homicidal man with fiery superpowers without having any idea of the plan."

Ward forced a smile, just to goad her, despite her reference to his quest to kill the man who had caused him to live in fear for so long. "At least I can restrain my curiosity long enough to not irritate homicidal maniacs," he retorted.

She huffed and opened her mouth to say something, but he took a sudden step towards her and allowed flames to burst from his arms. She squeaked, her eyes widening for an instant before she vanished.

For some reason, even though he was sure he would pay for it later, Ward found that satisfying as well.


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