Chapter 10 – Compromised
Skye knew something had gone terribly wrong when her emergency cell rang a little after two, she was still in the hotel and the only one to have the number was her husband who wouldn't be calling unless he was truly desperate. Even if SHIELD was compromised Ward would just meet her at the station. If he was calling something had gone very, very wrong.
Skye picked up the phone, talking before Ward could, "Did you use the hack?"
"I didn't even make it to the Bus," Ward replied quickly, "Sir made the meet."
Panic flooded through Skye. They had suspected her father might have contacts within SHIELD, those who could get to Ward if he was in prison or even on the Bus but they had never thought that Sir would make the meeting himself, after all Coulson didn't even know who he was going to meet.
Skye tried to keep the panic out of her voice, tried and failed, "Are you okay?"
"I'll live," Ward replied, which told Skye Sir had managed to get a few good blows in but at least Ward was talking which meant he'd come out of the fight better than he had in London four years ago.
Skye sighed, "This still counts as SHIELD being compromised so what aren't you telling me? What's going on?"
"Coulson's got Sir in custody but I ran before back up could get me," Ward replied quickly and continued before Skye could interrupt, "But it looks like Coulson's not going to let me get away that easily, the station's closed and locked down, so it looks like we're not going anywhere by train or bus."
Skye groaned, stupid Coulson for not letting Ward just escape, "What's plan B?"
Ward paused before answering, "Do you know how to hot wire a car?"
"You want me to steal a car?" Skye was shocked, for three years she had avoided any sort of illegal activity, the kind of things that drew attention, the kind of things that got you caught and now Ward was actually asking her to do something potentially dangerous.
"I want you to get to the safe house," Ward replied, "Bus and train lines are being watched, which means the airports are probably out too. However there are way too many roads to check everyone going out of town carefully. They're looking for me, not a woman with two kids. So I ask again, do you know how to hot wire a car?"
Skye sighed, this was soldier Ward, the man she'd first met all those years ago, the man who would do anything to complete his mission and right now his mission was protecting Skye. So there would be no arguing with him, not about this, "Yes, Grant, I can hot wire a car. Misspent youth and all."
"Take the kids and disappear," Ward replied, "If SHIELD has people here then so does Sir. L.A. isn't safe anymore, get to the safe house as soon as possible."
"What about you?" Skye asked.
"Skye…" Ward sighed, "They're after me, and they'll follow me. I'll try to make it to the safe house but I can't promise anything, at least not anytime soon."
"Grant Douglas Ward, you listen to me right now," Skye snapped angrily, "I am not going to explain to our children why their father isn't here. So you come home to me, okay? I don't care if hell is five steps behind you, you come home to me."
"Skye…" Ward sighed, the sound echoing down the phone line. This wasn't the soldier, this was Skye's husband and he was breaking. Even over the phone Skye could tell he was torn between being with her and keeping her safe, "I promise to try, we both know that's all I can do."
"I know the rules we made, Grant," Skye replied, "But break them, just this once, keep the phone. I need to be able to contact you again, not wait for you to contact me."
There was a paused before Ward replied softly, "Okay."
"I love you," Skye replied.
"I love you too," Ward replied. He hung up the phone before Skye could say anymore. It was the best way the call could end, before they had another fight.
Stealing a car wasn't exactly difficult for Skye, it was stealing a car while watching a tree year old and a new born that proved a challenge for the hacker. Eventually Skye managed to find a car that could accommodate her and her children and hopefully wouldn't be reported missing anytime soon, giving the hacker enough time to get past the road blocks that had been put up around the city. Coulson was obviously desperate to catch up with Ward and Skye could only hope it was for the information the Director of SHIELD thought her husband possessed about her so called death and not some sought of revenge kick that Coulson had since HYDRA's rise.
The streets were jammed as people tried to make their way out of the city and Skye groaned when she realised that most of the cars, in fact almost all of them, were not being searched but turned back. SHIELD obviously weren't taking any risks when it came to the capture of Grant Ward.
The hacker smiled sweetly to the officer, luckily police and not SHIELD, who was assigned to check her car at the blockade, "What's going on?"
"Escaped prisoner, miss," The officer replied, "I'm afraid you're going to have to turn around and go home."
"That's going to be hard when home is on the other side of this barrier," Skye snapped.
"I'm sorry," The officer replied, actually looking like he meant the words, "But I've got my orders and no one is leaving anytime soon."
Skye sighed, "Look, I've got two kids who really need to get home for their nap. Is there any chance you could speak really nicely to your supervisor and I could get home soon?"
The officer raised an eyebrow, "I don't know, the supervisor is a real hard ass."
Skye smiled, "Then let me ask. I can be persuasive."
The officer smiled, "Sure, I can ask but no promises. Give me a minute."
"Thanks," Skye smiled sweetly as the police man walked away. She groaned, this was never going to work but she had to try.
Of course Avery chose this moment to start crying. Turning in her seat Skye placed a hand on her daughter's seat and rocked it slightly, "There, there, honey. We're almost out of here."
Skye heard the footsteps approach, no doubt the officer returning, and continued to focus on her crying daughter, the officer could wait.
There was a cough, "I hear you want to cross my blockade."
Skye froze, she knew that voice and before she could stop herself she whipped around to face the speaker, "May?"
"Skye?"
Author's Note: I am going to try to post again in a couple of hours.