Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya! We're back on Skye's perspective with this chapter. But don't worry, the chapter after this will be from Ward's perspective again. Now that we've introduced Ward, I'm going to be switching between his and Skye's perspectives periodically. That way you get both sides of things.

Enjoy!


As much as she's tried not to, and she really has tried, he's been one of the only things occupying the forefront of her mind since she saw him. His reaction to her pregnancy honestly hurt her a lot more than she thought it would, the fact that he thought she'd lie about something like that just to hold it over him. She thought he knew her better than that. But apparently, that's another thing that was never true.

"Hey, what's going on in your head over there?"

She looks up from the floor to see Trip watching her with concern in his eyes. She's been spending as much time as possible with Trip and Fitz lately, not wanting to be as alone as she felt since Ward accused her of lying about their baby.

"Nothing much," she tells Trip with a small shrug. "Just uh...just thinking."

"About?" he prods gently.

She sighs. "Ward's reaction to the baby."

Trip nods. "Ah. Still hung up on that, then."

"I can't help it, Trip. His first reaction was to think that I was lying about being pregnant. I would never lie about something like this. I may hate him right now, but lying about being pregnant is just going too far."

"I know that. And I'm sure somewhere in his head he knows that too. But his entire life has been flipped around and ripped away and he probably doesn't know what to believe anymore. I'm not saying Garrett was a good guy or anything close to it, but to Ward, he was everything. From what I saw when Garrett was my SO, Ward pretty much worshipped the guy, never questioned him and always did what Garrett told him to do. So imagine having someone like that in your life, only to have them ripped away from you in a second and you no longer have someone telling you what to do."

"I'd be thrilled," she says.

"Not if it was all you knew. You'd be confused. Probably doubting everything you know and that anyone's ever told you. I'm not making excuses for Ward, but just trying to help you understand a little better what he might be going through."

Her brows furrow. "Why do you sound like his biggest advocate right now? I thought you hated him for what he did, too? Your grandfather was a part of this organization from the beginning, it's your family's legacy."

"Yeah, it is. And I'm not really advocating for Ward, just trying to be a decent human like my nana taught me to be and see things from all sides instead of just my own."

She tilts her head as she thinks about his words. She's been seeing things pretty one-sided too. But she has a baby to think about now, and can't be fantasizing about the what-if's when she knows that Ward's done horrible things. She can't risk her baby's life on the small chance that Ward might not be all that bad.

"Skye."

Pulling out of her own thoughts, she finds Coulson standing a few feet away from her, his eyes flitting between her, Fitz, and Trip.

"Coulson. What's up?"

"Can I speak with you for a moment?" he asks, gesturing behind him to the door.

"We can talk here," she tells him, sitting up straighter in her seat, one hand moving to her lower back.

Coulson nods. "Alright. Well, I spoke to Ward a few hours ago."

Her breath catches. "You did?"

"Yes. You told him you're...pregnant."

She nods. "I did. What does that have to do with you talking to him?"

"He told me that he wants the chance to be here for you and your child however you let him, that he wants the chance to be a father, so he's willing to cooperate, even if you're not the one receiving the information that he has."

A few small flutters in her abdomen has her other hand landing there and rubbing gently to ease the movements.

"I don't know," she says to Coulson. "I don't know if I really want him around me or the baby right now. I just...there's a small part of me that thinks this is going to backfire on us if we let him out."

"He will be closely monitored," Coulson assures her. "I thought a lot about this, and I've come to the conclusion that if we decide to let him out, he'll wear a monitoring anklet so we always know where he is."

She breathes in deeply. "Well, ultimately, the choice is up to you, you're the Director. What you say goes, and we all have to live with that. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that I don't want him anywhere near me, and I still don't know if I even should have told him the truth."

"Maybe you should consider talking to him again," Coulson suggests. "Find out what he's willing to do to be with your child. Maybe it'll be good for us to know how far he's willing to go. We can use that."

Skye shakes her head. "I can't. Not yet. Maybe not ever. It's barely been two weeks, Coulson. I can't go see him again."

Coulson nods. "That's fine, I understand. Take your time, I don't want to push you."

"Thank you. I just...it's not an easy position to be in."

"I know. I'll let you think some more. Come and find me when you've come to a decision."

"I will. Thanks."

Coulson gives her a tight smile and small nod of his head before turning and leaving the room.

"What are you going to do?" Fitz asks her and she turns to her friends, almost having forgotten they were there the whole time.

She breathes in deeply. "I have absolutely no idea."

.

.

.

Making her way down the hallway with a determined kick in her step, she doesn't let anything get in her way as she walks. She spent the last few days thinking over the decision Coulson left her with. He's the Director, he should be the one making this decision, not her. But because he's the father of her unborn child, apparently she's supposed to decide if Ward gets let out of his prison or not. And it was not an easy decision to make.

Of course, there are pros and cons to either side of the decision and she weighed them all very heavily. She got some input from Fitz and Trip after Coulson left, but it still didn't do much to help her mind decide. She even went to Abby, to ask the older woman's opinion, but she wasn't of much help either, seeing as she doesn't know Ward as well and therefore can't give as informed of an opinion.

She stressed out over the whole issue, and the fact that she was stressed just stressed her out even more. All the fluttering in her belly didn't do much to help either. It would just bring her thoughts back around to her baby and if they would benefit more from having their father completely out of their life or present for everything and to watch them grow up, despite what kind of man he is.

She doesn't think she's ever made a more difficult decision in her entire life.

Approaching the office door, she hits against the glass window with her knuckle, waiting for a response from the other side as she rocks back on her heels.

"Come in."

Pushing the door open, she steps inside and then closes the door behind her, biting her lip between her teeth as she moves closer to the desk.

"Skye," Coulson says as he looks up from the documents in front of him. "I think I know the reason behind this visit. I take it you've made a decision."

She nods. "I have."

"And?"

She takes a deep breath. "And...it's okay if you let him out."

"It is."

"Yes. I've thought a lot about this...and went back and forth a lot...and it's okay if you let him out."

"You're sure about this?"

Her voice shakes, "Yes. I grew up without a father and it sucked. I don't want my kid to deal with that too. But...I want your word that he's going to be kept on a very tight leash. I don't care when or how he's let out, I just don't want him alone with me if I can avoid it."

"I understand. The first moment he tries something, he gets locked back up in Vault D. He has to know we aren't playing around with this, that this is serious."

She nods. "That's fine. Are we done now?"

"Yes, we are."

"Great. I'm um, I'm going to go and relax for a bit. I'll talk to you later." She gives him a tight smile before turning slowly on her heel and walking out of the office, closing the door tightly behind her and leaning against the wall next to it.

She breathes in deeply through her nose, trying to calm the churning of her stomach. "I know, kiddo," she says to her stomach, one hand resting there. "I'm not too thrilled about this either, but everyone deserves a second chance, right? So maybe he does too."


So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!