When Skye awoke, the first thing she registered was that her left leg was cold. Then she remembered the bullet in her upper thigh. Simmons must have cut her left pant leg off, explaining the coldness. Oh well, it was just the pair of unshapely pants that she had gotten from Hydra. But ew, when was the last time she shaved her legs? Probably a while ago when she was still in The Fridge...

There was a thin blanket over her, covering her whole body, but she lifted it up to see the damage. There was a gauze pad taped down neatly, and in its center there was a faint red spot of blood. She could still wiggle her toes, so she hadn't lost mobility in the leg.

"Oh, Skye, you're up," Fitz said, coming into the small room.

"Yeah, just now," she said. She tried to sit up.

"No, no stay down. You shouldn't be moving." Fitz pushed her shoulders down.

"How long was I out?" Skye asked.

"An hour."

"What's happened? Is everyone okay?" Suddenly the urgency came rushing back to Skye.

"Yes. Director Fury is here."

"Who?"

"The head of SHIELD," Fitz said. "He was presumed dead but is actually alive!"

Before Skye could respond, Simmons came in.

"Skye! You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Good. Thanks to you," Skye smiled gratefully. "I know Ward brought me to you." Fitz left the room.

Simmons shrugged. "Yeah, he did. Also...um...he may have found out that you're with us now..."

Skye had vague recollection of this but felt shivers all the same. "What was his response?"

"Shocked."

"Where is he now?" Skye asked slowly.

"I don't know. I sent him off and he left with no problems. Look, Skye, I don't think you should talk to him. Now that he knows, he may have told the other Hydra people."

"I know," Skye said. She understood where Simmons was coming from, but she needed to see him at least one more time. To thank him for helping her or something. He may be on the bad side, but he was always nice to her.

"Is Garrett still alive?" Skye asked.

"Nope! Mike Peterson finally snapped and shot him. Gave him a good stomp to the face for good measure!"

Skye smiled. "Really?" Well now she didn't have to worry about Garrett finding out about her switch and seeking revenge.

"Yup. The few remaining Hydra guys who could still move dragged his body off. I think they're still on the plane though."

"Wow. And everyone on this side is still alive and okay?"

"Yeah. May got a few brutal cuts and Coulson's suit is ripped, but we're all okay."

"Good, good. Can I get up now?"

"I guess. You're lucky the bullet wasn't too deep and it was easy to deal with."

"Thunder thighs, man," Skye laughed. She carefully swung her legs over and sat up. She felt a bit of pain as she put pressure on her left leg, but she was okay. With a bit of arm support from Simmons, she managed to limp out to another, larger room where Fitz, May, Coulson and Trip were. Another man sat there. His outfit was a little vagabond-ish and he wore sunglasses even though it wasn't bright.

"Skye, meet Director Nick Fury," Coulson said with a proud smile. "He's the one who's kept SHIELD running in tip-top shape for so long."

"No offence, but you've done a pretty sucky job of it in the last few weeks," Skye joked. She couldn't help it.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Fury said with a smirk, not offended in the least. "But I was supposed to be dead."

Skye sat down on an empty chair, happy to get the pressure off her leg.

"So," she began, "what happened when I was out and what's happening now?" She hated not knowing what's going on.

Coulson explained. "Well, as you know, May, Trip and I were attacking Hydra. Garrett seemed invincible to our bullets and he had unnatural strength. He must have taken a hearty dose of that drug. I was getting desperate. Garrett ended up tossing me across the room and that's when Fury came out of the darkness..."

"I got the GPS signal sent and snuck on when the plane landed," Fury said.

"Garrett was surprised by Fury's appearance, but didn't back down even when I shot out his loyal Hydra men who were right in the fight with us with that baby over there." Coulson pointed to the wall where a huge heavy gun was sitting. "Just as Garrett was going to shoot Fury and myself, Mike Peterson finally snapped and shot Garrett. He wasn't able to repel that bullet. And to seal the deal, Mike gave him a hard foot to the face. That was all she wrote!"

Skye was listening with eager ears. "Wow. Then what happened?"

"We left. Came here. Simmons said she saw Hydra people drag Garrett's body away. But we hear them still so they're still on the plane. Probably planning what they do now."

"Ward is with them?" Skye asked carefully.

"Guess so. As he should be, that disgusting scumbag," Fitz mumbled darkly. Simmons patted his shoulder in a calming way.

"So now what?" Skye asked. "Are we going to stop huddling in plane corners and take down the rest of Hydra?"

Coulson chuckled. "Slow down, Skye. You were just shot!" Skye blushed. "We've been planning too. We're just taking a breather."

This was what Hydra was missing. The feeling of friendship and enjoyment. Smiles and chuckled not just coming from the creepy turtleneck-wearing leader. Skye joined this group about two hours ago and she felt like one of them and not the laughable rookie. She didn't feel bad for ditching Hydra. And you know what? She didn't even do it for herself, which is weird. All her life she's been working for herself, supporting herself. Even with Miles and her few friends she was still mostly on her own. And now she's here with a bunch of important world-saving people and she feels a part of it. Crazy.

"I think we should attack the rest," May said. "Take them captive for lockup or kill, I don't care."

"Agreed. We need to get rid of even the least important Hydra members," Trip said. "Let's ambush them before they leave the plane."

Coulson nodded. "We need more supplies though."

As Trip checked his gun for bullets, Skye looked up and saw Ward standing in the doorway. Simmons saw him too.

"What do you want?" Her tone was not pleasant.

"To talk to Skye," he replied, looking right at Skye.

"No," Coulson said, cocking his gun and pointing it at him. "I'll shoot you, Ward." It was clear that he didn't want to shoot him, but if he absolutely had to, he'd do it. That was how Skye wished she sounded when she had been holding guns to people even though he couldn't shoot.

"I just want to talk to her. You're not the boss of her or I," Ward said firmly. His eyes met Skye's and he looked mildly desperate, which was an odd look for him. Despite Simmons' earlier warning, Skye decided to talk to him. After all, he had helped her when she was shot, and although they were on opposing sides, she wasn't ready to totally ditch him too.

Skye stood up carefully. "It's fine," she said to Coulson.

Simmons silently handed her a gun as she hobbled out.

She followed Ward silently down a hall to the large open space where the battle had gone down. Bullet caps were on the ground as well as a few blood stains, but it was quiet and empty.

Skye sat down on a crate and Ward sat down next to her, leaving only a tiny bit of room between them. Skye didn't speak, knowing that this will probably be a super awkward conversation and no way did she want to start it.

"How's your leg?" Ward asked, breaking the silence.

"Fine," Skye said shortly. She looked over at him. He stared at the ground with a furrowed brow as if he was deep in thought. "Thanks for, y'know, taking me to Simmons when I was shot." She meant that.

He looked over at her and his face softened a bit. "It was nothing."

"Well, the fact that you would take me to them despite everything says a lot about you." She didn't even know where was she going with this.

"When?" Ward blurted. She knew what he meant and sighed.

"After I found out about Mike Peterson. I talked to you and then I talked to Garrett and I realized that Hydra and Garrett are toxic killers. They had no trouble doing what they did to Mike and that's awful. Besides, I joined you guys for the files on myself, and Garrett didn't seem to even care about that or even know when I'd get it."

Ward didn't say anything and didn't look at her, so she continued.

"When I was holding Simmons captive, we talked a bit. She was nice and sweet even though I was holding a gun to her. Even when I was monitoring Coulson too, he wasn't rude or anything. And while I guess Kaminsky wasn't bad and was actually able to have a real smile, it's not the same. So when I decided that I wasn't going to support Hydra anymore, I went to Coulson and asked to join SHIELD. They agreed as long as I kept an eye on Garrett and the drug for them. I did. I don't regret it either. They're nice and don't want to ruin the world."

"I just wish you hadn't," Ward said.

"Why does it matter to you? Face it, I was a nuisance."

"No you weren't," he said. He hesitated before saying,"I can't protect you if you're there and I'm here."

"You don't need to protect me, Ward," Skye said firmly.

Ward sighed and kind of chuckled. "It's hard to judge when I'm like you only a million times worse."

"You had your reasons and I have mine," Skye said gently.

"No. I'm not a good man, Skye."

"Maybe so but I still kinda like you," she joked and poked his arm.

Ward sort of smiled. "I kinda like you too."

"Wow we're like a weird Romeo and Juliette now," Skye said, totally joking.

"Guess so," Ward said quietly.

"So now what? What are you doing now that Garrett's dead?"

Ward shrugged. "I don't know. Garrett was my everything and now...I don't know."

"Come back to SHIELD," Skye suggested.

Ward actually went "Ha!" and shook his head. "No. Coulson would kill me personally if I even tried to make amends. No, I just have to split. I have safe houses and new identities. I'm free now, I guess."

"You're just going to run away?" Skye asked. "To where?"

"Wherever."

"By yourself?"

"Sure. You know, I shouldn't be telling you this because you're with SHIELD now and you could tell Coulson. He's after my head."

"I won't tell. We're good."

Ward nodded. They were both quiet for a moment.

"I guess...I guess this is goodbye then," Ward said. "I might as well leave before more fights start..."

"That's probably a good idea," Skye said. To be honest, she didn't not see this one coming. She met Ward only a few days ago and here she was, feeling sad about the idea of him leaving. A lot had happened the past few days.

Ward stood up. He was ready to leave about now.

"Can I get a hug before you go or is your body physically unable to do that?" Skye joked with a grin.

"I don't think I've hugged anyone in maybe a decade," Ward said with his odd little smirk. "But for you, okay."

Skye laughed and stood up. She wrapped her arms around Ward's shoulders and his arms wound around her waist, loosely at first but then tighter. She totally expected it to be weird but it was not at all.

"Goodbye, Skye," Ward said softly.

"Bye."

"Hello!" A loud, booming, and unmistakeable voice echoed in the room from the back.

Both Skye and Ward jumped and turned to face the voice.

"You're alive?" Ward asked as Skye was not able to form words.

"Always was," Garrett grinned a creepy smile.

"How?" Skye asked. She felt genuinely scared and wanted to run back to Coulson and that huge gun he had.

"It'll take more than that to kill me now that I'm loaded up with the GH-325. I was just knocked out for a bit and Hydra basically surrendered. Disgusting. But no worries, I am back and stronger than ever. Isn't that right, Ward?"

Ward paused before obediently replying, "That's right."

"So, Skye, you betrayed Hydra." Garrett's tone wasn't teasing anymore. He looked really mad.

Skye gulped and shook he head. "N-no, I didn't."

"Don't even try that with me," Garrett frowned. "I know everything. I know you're with Coulson and his group of pretentious heroes. You're a disappointment."

Old news. Skye was used to disappointing people, whether it was foster parents or the nuns at the orphanage or herself. But now, as Garrett said it, maybe it was because Ward was right there, she felt a bit upset. Not embarrassed, but angry. At Garrett. She made the right choice by leaving Hydra.

"You're weak, Skye," Garrett went on.

"I'm not," Skye said though her voice didn't fully reflect her words. "You're the weak one for just killing away your problems." Bold words and she loved it.

But Garrett did not. With unnatural speed, he was right in front of her and Ward, who was being his normal quiet self. With a toothy smirk that didn't look friendly at all, Garrett reached down a bit and punched Skye right on the gauze pad, right where she was shot.

She fell down with a loud curse word, and the gun she had went sliding across the floor, out of her reach. She felt tears prickling her eyes from the intense leg pain, but she forced herself not to cry.

"John!" Ward gasped with a look of surprise at Garrett. Despite that, he bent down and tried to help Skye up. It was useless; she couldn't stand on that leg, even a bit, now and there was no way Ward would support her in front of Garrett, so she stayed down.

"You okay?" Ward mumbled so quietly that Skye almost missed it. With a glare at Garrett, she nodded.

"Don't help her, Ward," Garrett commanded. "You're not on her side, are you? You're still with me, right?"

Ward frowned and didn't look at Skye. "Yes."

"Atta boy," Garrett said. "And I have a job for you." He snapped his fingers loudly. "Kaminsky, bring him in."

Kaminsky came slowly into the room with another person. The other person was being led out by a gun being pressed between his shoulder blades. That other person was Fitz.

"No..." Skye said to herself mostly.

As Kaminsky and Fitz got closer, Skye could see that Fitz's face was red and puffy with tears. He had cloth stuffed in his mouth to keep him from making sounds.

"Ward, shoot him," Garrett said simply. "Prove your loyalty and show Skye what'll happen to the SHIELD team."

Fitz started shaking his head and looking at Ward with wide, pleading eyes. When Ward refused eye contact with him, Fitz turned to Skye, silently willing her to do something. But what could she do? Ward slowly took the gun in his hand and moved to stand in front of Fitz so she could get a good shot.

He was really going to do it. Skye couldn't watch. She had to do something. Or at least try.

"Ward," Skye said. "Don't do this. You're better than that. You were ready to be free. Don't be the monster."

"Shut up!" Garrett yelled at Skye. "Do it, Ward."

"Ward, please. He's not the enemy," Skye begged even louder so he'd hear over Garrett. Tears brimmed her eyes now and were probably going to fall.

"Shoot him now," Garrett commanded.

"Don't! Please!" Skye said. "Ward! Listen to me! You don't have to be a monster!"

Maybe it was her pleads but maybe it wasn't. Either way, the gun that was pointed right at Fitz's head dropped.

"No," Ward said. His mouth moved as if he was trying to form words but all he managed to say was, "No."

"What're you doing?" Garrett asked as if he thought Ward was just joking. "Blow his brains out!"

Ward stared at the ground then looked over at Skye. She tried to smile gratefully but it probably looked weird. She wiped her eyes with her sleeves then looked at the situation. As it stood, Fitz was useless all bound up and Garrett was still super strong and now super mad. Kaminsky was there off to the side. And she wasn't sure what side Ward was actually on at the moment. What was clear was that she needed help.

"Fitz, is everyone still together and okay?" Skye asked. Fitz did a nod-shrug thing.

Ward looked at her with questioning eyes and he wondered what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry Ward, but I need help," she said and before he could say anything or tell her to stop, she yelled "COULSON!" as loud as she could. Ward frowned.

"Good! Bring him to me. My buddy Coulson and I have a little unfinished business," Garrett said and rubbed his hands together.

It took less than a minute for Coulson and May to run into the room.

"Garrett? How?" Coulson gasped, seeing him.

"Phil! Buddy! Surprise! I'm alive!" Garrett grinned maliciously.

Coulson just frowned and clicked his gun. Without taking his eyes off Garrett, Coulson kicked Skye's strewn gun back to her.

May on the other hand, took one look at Fitz and Kaminsky and then shot Kaminsky in the shoulder. It was an ICER so he just went down and out. As soon as he hit the floor, Simmons dashed out and threw her arms around Fitz in the tightest hug Skye had ever seen. It was sweet.

With Garrett slightly distracted by the newcomers, Skye dismissed her leg pain and shakily forced herself up. She managed to balance herself up.

Coulson had a gun pointed at Garrett, as did May. Ward stood there in the middle with his gun pointed at the floor.

"You're finished," Coulson said through clenched teeth.

Garrett just glanced between Skye and Ward. She didn't know what was going to happen, but Skye didn't like the look in his eyes. Garrett took a large step forward and forcefully grabbed Ward. He bent his head back and held his arms back.

"John! What?" Ward struggled to get free but was no match for Garrett's strength.

"Do you think I won't shoot because you have him?" Coulson asked as if he couldn't believe how stupid Garrett's move was. "I happen to want Ward dead too."

"I know you don't care, but she does," Garrett said with an evil grin at Skye. Garrett reached into his pocket and pulled out a small circular thing. It was about the size of a coin but was five times as thick. With perfect precision, Garrett placed it on Ward's heart and a second later, Ward gasped in pain and writhed in Garrett's grasp shakily.

"What are you doing to him?" Skye asked angrily. Ward looked extremely uncomfortable.

"He's having a heart attack," Garrett grinned as if it was the funniest thing ever. Skye wanted to slap that grin off his face "Looks like it hurts doesn't it? Here's how to get it to stop: shoot Coulson."

Skye froze. "I'm not going to do that."

"So you'll sacrifice you pal Ward's life for this old man you just met? Hmmff and you think you're so much better than us."

"What?" Skye was having trouble focusing on what Garrett was saying because all she wanted to do was fun over and rip that little thing off Ward's chest. Stop. Stop. Stop.

"Yeah, you don't think you're a monster, do you? You're just so perfect holy little miss hacker, right?" Garrett gave a wheezy laugh. "Have I got news for you. I know who you are. I know what you are." Garrett paused before saying in a clear but low voice. "I know who your birth parents are."

Skye's body got chills and blood rushed to her head. "You do?" She felt only slightly embarrassed at how small her voice sounded.

"I know you've been looking for them. I know that what you've always wanted." She must have had a look of questioning on her face because she went on. "How do I know? Skye, I know a lot of things now. Including what you want. And including the fact that our boy Ward is running out of time."

Skye shook her head at his use of 'our boy'. She looked at Ward. His eyes were shut tightly in pain and he was hanging limp in Garrett's arms, but his limbs were shaking and jerking around as if that was his body's best fight against the heart attack.

"Your parents are like you, Skye. Monsters. You're a monster by nature. I'll tell you more and release Ward. All you gotta do is shoot Coulson."

At the back of the room, Skye saw Trip and Fury sneaking up behind Garrett. Trip had that big gun in his arms and a look of extreme concentration. He was going to shoot Garrett. Coulson, May, Simmons and Fitz all saw Trip too, but didn't give him away.

"You do want to know, right?" Garrett asked Skye.

Skye took a deep breath. She was crying silent tears but didn't even know it. "Not from you," she said firmly.

Just as Garrett processed her answer, Trip pulled the trigger and hit him with a thick, powerful ray of blue light. Garrett literally exploded into dust and ask. Ward slumped forward to the ground and Skye, despite the pain in her leg, hurried over to him. She fell to her knees beside him, flipped him over and tore off the disk as quick as her shaking hands would allow. As soon as it was off, Ward seemed better. Alive. He was able to take a breath and after a moment, was able to move his arms a bit.

"Skye," Ward mumbled but it might have been just trauma induced babble.

"You're okay, Ward. You're okay," she said and wiped black dust from Garrett off his face. "I'm here."

"Good shot, Trip," Coulson said, patting Trip on the shoulder.

"Thanks. I'm glad I got to do the honours considering he was my SO too," Trip nodded.

"Let's get the rest of them now," May said. "Get Hydra off our plane right now."

"Agreed. Trip, bring that gun. Let's go," Coulson said. Before he turned to go, he looked over his shoulder and gave a Skye a nod. She assumed it meant 'thanks for not shooting him' or maybe 'good choice' or 'be safe'.

As soon as the area was clear, Skye turned back to Ward who was now breathing normally.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he sighed. Skye grabbed his hand and tried to help him sit up, but he ended up leaning on her.

"I'm sorry I didn't help sooner," Skye felt the need to say. She was still crying.

"It's not your fault. If Trip didn't finish him, I would have wanted you to let me die," Ward said in a quiet voice. He tilted his head so he could look right at her. Without speaking, he reached up and gently wiped her cheeks of tears.

"You're not a monster Skye. I don't care what he said. You're not."

She gave a chuckle in spite of the situation. "I'm not if you're not." Ward kind of smiled.

They sat in silence for a moment, just catching their breaths.

"I know you're really free now but...I don't want you to go," Skye whispered.

"What other option do I have?"

"Stay with me."

"You're staying with Coulson and them."

"You can too."

"No, I can't. Didn't you hear him? He wants me dead."

"You spared Fitz. That must be worth something. And you helped me. I'll talk to them. The point is, I want you here with me."

Ward nodded slowly and closed his eyes. "I want that too."

Skye took a deep breath and carefully hugged Ward.

Four hours later, it was all over.

May, Trip, Coulson and Fury had either killed or handed off the Hydra people to other trusted SHIELD people. The plane was a mess and they were all tired and tending injuries of varying seriousness, but the job was done. For now. Fury had spoke with Coulson in private, then left.

They all sat in a lounge area, just resting. Ward hadn't left Skye's side the whole time. She figured it was partially out of fear that Coulson could kill him at any moment.

"I feel like I always am asking this, but now what?" Skye asked.

"There's still a lot of work to do now," Coulson said. "Fury had made me Director of SHIELD now. I'm going to rebuild it. This time, hopefully, with no Hydra moles."

"There are still many Hydra out there," Ward said gravely.

"And we'll get them," May told him. "This is our mission now."

"What about me?" Skye asked.

Coulson and May exchanged a glance. "You can stay. If you want. You're a hacker and we could use that. Plus, you've had our backs since several times."

Skye smiled. This was exactly what she wanted. Her heart did a little flutter and she hadn't felt something like that in ages.

"I'd love to stay," Skye said.

"And I know you want information in yourself and your parents. I can't give that to you right at this moment, but as soon as I can, you'll get it. But I have to warn you, you may not like what you find."

Skye shrugged. "It can't be any worse than what I've already imagined."

Coulson nodded as if he respected how brave an answer that was.

"And me, sir?" Ward slowly asked. Skye could feel him tense up next to her. He was scared of the answer and to be honest, so was she.

"You're a traitor Ward. A backstabbing liar who made some risky moves," Coulson said.

"As if he doesn't already know," Trip muttered from the corner.

"But you did make a few good moves today. And I have a feeling Skye won't stay without you."

"That is correct," Skye said and hazarded a small smile.

"You lost all our trust and you'll have to earn it back. And you'll be heavily monitored as well as go to some therapy and testing sessions. But if you agree to do as I say and stay loyal to SHIELD, then we'd be okay with having to back on the Bus. In fact, your Hydra knowledge will come in handy as we mean to exterminate them all. Do you agree to those terms?"

Ward didn't hesitate. "Yes, I do."

Coulson nodded. "Good. Then this is our team."

Skye grinned at looked around the room at all of them. May stared at them all and Skye decided it was now her mission to make her smile. She managed with Ward so she could take on May too. Fitz and Simmons sat so close that they were basically on top of each other. They were both sweet and Skye could see fun times ahead with them. Plus, she loved hearing their accents. Trip smiled easily and Skye knew she wouldn't have any trouble making jokes with him. He seemed like the kind of guy to like jokes. And Coulson was exactly what Ward had said that day they were locked in the interrogation room: a truly good guy. He seemed pretty cool, and not in the creepy Garrett way, and Skye was glad she was with him. She was sure he'd teach her a lot.

Then there was Ward, who had breathed a sigh of relief when he was accepted back. He had some work to do and challenges to face but Skye was sure he'd overcome them just fine. She was glad he was there with her, making her adjustment to a new team just a bit less daunting.

Only three days ago, she had been in her hideous Fridge uniform taking up residency in a small cell. Now she was on a huge fancy plane with some really cool agents and she had new opportunities ahead of her. And she looked forward to it all.

A/N

THE END. Wow. Guys. I did it. I finished my first SHIELD fanfic. This chapter had over 4000 words! Wow!

Okay so some of you guys wanted a happy ending but to be honest, all along I was going to get a happy ending. :) I'm kind of a sucker for happy endings!

When it came to killing Garrett, I struggled with who was going to do it. Having Skye or Ward or even Coulson do it was too predictable and overused. So I had Trip do it, which made sense because he had beef with Garrett too.

Anyways, I know I say this all the time but thank you so much for your continued support and love and interest. Over 60 reviews and 150 follows, and I am just so happy. Thank you so much. Literally, every alert email was so amazing and up lifting. I really wish I could hug every single one of you and we could all cry together about Skyeward and stuff.

Someone asked about a sequel and maybe as next season progresses I can continue this, but I'm not promising anything.

I just graduated high school yesterday so I am now on summer vaycay. I'd love to keep writing fanfics, but at the moment, I have nothing in mind. I'm not too good with the idea thing. But if y'all have suggestions, that'd be cool!

Again, thank you so much for sticking through this and showing love. I appreciate you and I hope you liked how my story turned out.

PM if you wanna talk or need a friend

Peace out!