Chapter 9 – Disbelief

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Skye and May simultaneously slammed their doors shut and made for the Bus that still sat in the clearing by the forest. Agents that were stationed outside stepped aside, the two women radiating the apprehensive anger that pulsed through their veins. Their boots made contact with the metal floor of the Bus, causing loud clangs to alert those nearby of their arrival.

Swinging the door to the interrogation room open, May entered the room with Skye closely following, joining Coulson, Fitz and Simmons who looked at Ward with hurt, betrayal and anger carved into their faces.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Skye approached the scientists, their gazes never leaving the former teammate sat at the table opposite Coulson.

"Yes, thank you."

"Perfectly fine."

The two replies were completely unbelievable as the words were laced with hate, but who could blame them considering the things he'd done to them. Skye didn't push the scientists for a truthful answer – not in front of Ward – so she turned to face the man she'd hoped never to see again.

Ward looked aged. His facial hair had reached a new level despite his hair, or lack of, on his head. It had been shaved down to barely an inch, most of that and more had gone to his face which held a thick amount of hair around his chin and was rising at the sides to meet his hair. His rough-looking hands often ran across his chin as a sign of thinking but Skye couldn't help but internally scoff at the thought because Ward clearly had no good-natured brain cells to go through with the things he'd done. His physique showed how he hadn't stopped his intense training schedule, and Skye was thrown into memories of her and Ward's time in the training room together, in his efforts to get her to a respectable level. Back when he seemed genuine and driven to do the best for S.H.I.E.L.D instead of his actions that never ceased to put a bitter taste in Skye's mouth.

May watched the rainbow of emotions flicker over Skye's face, Ward's silent humour at the whole situation and couldn't hold her own leash any longer, "What the hell is he still doing here?"

It was Coulson that she'd addressed, and he replied monotonously, not wanting to show any more emotion to Ward after his explosiveness earlier on, "You and Skye want to say your piece, go ahead."

May slowly shook her head, "Not anymore."

The Director rose from his seat and gave a shrug, unchanged by May's change of heart. He stepped towards the door as he spoke, "Well. We can't just let him go. No one's stopping you if you want to talk. No one's forcing you either."

Skye looked back to Fitz and Simmons after watching the words between May and Coulson unfold. They looked resigned but something about them seemed more satisfied than before. Skye's thoughts were confirmed when Fitz muttered,

"My questions have been answered. If I ever hear of Ward again, I don't want it to be because he is near us." He stated his words as if the man spoken of wasn't in the room, looking at each of Simmons, Skye and May. Simmons nodded silently in agreement, looking straight back into Fitz's eyes.

"You won't be seeing him ever again. I'll make sure of it," May promised with a firm glare at Ward, "I'm going to have a word with Coulson. If you want to leave I'm sure there's someone around to keep watch."

May left, Fitz following immediately after. Skye, Simmons and Ward were left in the interrogation room but it couldn't feel more claustrophobic from the remaining tension between Skye and Ward. Simmons debated leaving the two to themselves to talk it out but had a strange feeling that wouldn't be the way things would play out.

"Do either of you know how long I have to stay here because I have business waiting for my return." Ward spoke to break the silence that had clouded over the room. Skye scoffed at his ignorance to the situation,

"There's no chance that you're getting out of here before you talk to Bobbi, Ward. Either I'll drag you there or she'll come here but she deserves an apology – or something."

Ward leaned forwards in his seat, taking a quick glance to the door, "I'll tell you something, Rookie, Coulson has accused me of all these things but is he really sure?"

Skye frowned. Ward's choice of wording wasn't the most clear or easy to read so she had no choice but to go along with it, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, where is innocent until proven guilty? I may have done things to you in the past, but I promise…"

Skye interjected sharply, "Promise what?"


"I'll be able to get out of this hospital soon, can you believe?"

Lance turned and grinned at Bobbi who was staring dreamily out of the window of her room she'd been occupying for so long, almost completely immobile for the most part. Maria had given her the news that once she was comfortable and safe in her wheelchair, she'd be able to get fresh air without someone to escort her around. It may not have seemed like much to an able-bodied person, but to Bobbi, and her new life for as long as it took to get back to her feet, it was the best news coming. Lance replied,

"Yes I can believe. I also believe that you can get strong enough to leave the hospital permanently, then I can take you on a proper date and we can sit all day every day doing whatever you want to do."

Bobbi laughed, "You wish. Once I'm out of here, we go on the date, I crack on with physical therapy and start desk duty with these missions. No way are we slacking off!"

"Aw, come on, Bob. Not even a week?"

"No way, I need to know who caused this." She didn't need to clarify the subject.

Lance looked down instantly. He'd still not had the guts to tell Bobbi that they'd found Ward to be the cause of her paralysis. Things had been going so well with the treatment, so who was he to interfere?

Unfortunately, Bobbi's heightened agent senses had picked up on Lance's sudden change of mood and didn't hesitate to question him,

"What is it?"

Lance looked back up at Bobbi with regretful eyes and knew he stood no chance at lying to her, "When I came in earlier, I didn't exactly tell you why I was in a rush. I just needed to see you and you looked so happy…"

Bobbi's features turned serious and she uttered the words, "You know. Why didn't you say anything before?"

The British agent sighed and ran a hand over his face in self-annoyance, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you… I don't know… angry?"

"Come off it, Hunter. Who is it?" Bobbi demanded but with a soft hesitance to her tone. Lance reluctantly revealed the information that Bobbi wanted to know and could only watch as her face morphed into shock and a burning anger settled in her eyes,

"Ward. He gave his orders to the guy and this was the outcome. He hasn't given us any details yet, stubborn idiot."

Bobbi sat back in an aid to let it sink in, "So Ward is at fault here? He did this again, ruined lives."

Lance nodded, "Yeah, I'm really sorry, I should have told you earlier-"

"You should have but you didn't. But at least I know now, right?"

"We're going to get him, Bob. Promise." Lance reached over and grabbed one of Bobbi's hands to secure his promise to her. She gave a half-hearted smile in return, "Right."


"Ward, what are you saying?" Skye persisted to Ward who had gone quiet. Simmons had also decided to keep her words to herself, body tense as she wondered what Ward could be implying.

Eventually, he spoke again, words that knocked the breath out of Simmons and Skye, the realisation that the chase was back on,

"I promise. I did not do that to Agent Morse. I gave my orders, three men at the warehouse. They all came back. I don't know what the hell is going on but…"

"It was not me."


Thanks for reading.

Sorry it's been so long, I'm getting back into things again. I hope that if you read, you can leave feedback for improvements or what you liked so I can continue with updates that are worth reading. :P