"I told you Skye was off limits!" Ward seethed and in a primitive show of fury, bared his teeth at Garrett. He confronted him the first chance he had when his S.O. stepped onto the Bus, waiting patiently while he and Coulson talked. But as soon as Garrett asked to see "the girl" Ward volunteered to bring him.

...He had no plans to let Garrett get within even 15 feet of her.

The instant they were alone in the hallways, Grant whirled around and fixed his S.O. with a glare. At his declaration, Garrett just laughed. "Hey, what's got your panties in a twist?" he asked, grinning with all his teeth in that way that Ward hated.

Ward gritted his teeth, wishing he could- Wait, what the hell? This was a dream, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted! "You're a bastard, John!" he yelled at him, watching with enjoyment as the grin slid off Garrett's face," You shot Skye, with no warning, no reason!"

Garrett's face was dark and his voice hard like ice," Last time I checked, Ian Quinn shot the girl!"

"Under your orders!" Ward screamed at him, and it was a miracle no one came running," And her name is Skye!"

Garrett opened his mouth, but he never got the chance to say anything. Ward yelled and yelled and everything that he ever dislike about Garrett came out in hate filled words. All the way from his arrogant smile that he thought could get him out of every situation, to the way he disposed of men like they were candy wrappers. It sickened Ward, and though he knew Garrett wouldn't ever do that to him, Ward valued human life and to see it destroyed so easily made him want to vomit.

"I'm done!" he declared with a hard look in his eyes, delighted to see the shock in Garrett's own eyes," Find someone else to do your dirty work. But you leave me, and Skye, and this team the hell alone!"

"I knew it," Garrett sneered right back at him," You're weak. Right from the start, you were weak. You've let these people get under your skin, you've let them become a weakness."

The words Ward grew up with, the words his family and then Garrett had ingrained in his mind, caused him to flinch and stare wide eyed at Garrett. 'Weak'? It was…true. He cared too much for Skye, for this team, and it was a weakness. He knew better…

And then a surge of courage, of strength that Grant knew he did not possess in real life, rushed through him and for an instant -a brief but glorious instant- it was not a weakness, but a strength. These feelings he had for the team, his team, maybe they were a weakness, but maybe it was worth it.

"I don't care," he hissed at Garrett," But if you ever try something like that again, I'll go to straight to Director Fury and tell him everything."

Garrett's face was murderous as he reached for his gun, intent upon killing Ward here and now," You think I'll give you the chan-" He cut himself off when his reaching hand didn't encounter his weapon.

Click.

Wide eyes glanced up to see Ward pointing his own gun between his eyes. While Garrett's face had been murderous, Ward's face promised a lot of pain and misery. "This is your only warning," his voice was low and dark and for the first time in fifteen years, Garrett was faced by a rogue Ward," Leave us alone."

…

Ward woke up in a cold sweat, breathing harshly. 'What was I just dreaming about?' he wondered as he gasped for air. He couldn't quite…remember. It was strange, not being able to clearly remember his dream; it's been a while since he had one of those. All that remained was a sense of… well, he could still feel the dream-induced adrenaline running through him, so obviously his dream was about… battle? Fear? A fight of some sort? But then there was the faint feeling of concern, the kind that he only felt when trying to protect Skye.

"Ugh," he groaned in frustration, pressing the heel of his palm to his forehead. This was only giving him a headache. And he could feel it start to build into a full out migraine. Today was going to be a long day.