Chapter Eleven
The sun beat furiously against the back of Skye's neck as she strolled down the crowded sidewalk. Side-stepping out of the way of fellow pedestrians, she paused to peer in the window of the nearest store, feigning interest in the display of gaudy bed linens and kitsch home decor. A flamingo shaped table lamp caught her attention, and she grinned as she briefly contemplated how the garish object would look in her bunk on the Bus.
"She's heading around the corner toward you, you should have a visual any... time... now," Bobbi whispered in her ear.
Trying her best to ignore the comms. device, Skye strolled away from the window and paused to adjust the strap of her bag on her shoulder. The brunette passed her with purposeful strides and Skye fell into a slow stroll in her wake, thankful that her mark's height made it easier to track her in the crowds.
"Okay, she's headed into Starbucks," Bobbi stated, watching the path of Jacqueline Ward on the monitor from the nearby van. Ward sat beside her and Hunter made up the rest of the trio, although the latter had been relegated to the task of driver after he and Bobbi appeared to be embroiled in a pretty spectacular lovers' tiff.
Bobbi glanced up at her colleague, surprised to see the faint trace of unease on his features. It wasn't often Grant Ward looked anything other than cock-sure and certain of himself, particularly on missions, yet he seemed pensive and nervous. Bobbi could only assume that the presence of his sister was behind the sudden change in his demeanour.
"How you holding up?" Bobbi inquired, directing a rare smile at Grant, who glanced up in obvious surprise. Behind his eyes there was a certain wild look that Bobbi did not recognise, and she wondered just what horrors of the past were being relived in the man's troubled mind.
"Fine. I'm fine," Ward lied, although neither Hunter nor Bobbi elected to push him on the point.
"Heading inside now," came Skye's whispered narrative, and she added quickly, "comms. will be going silent from here on out, guys."
Ward blew out a loud, shaky breath and Bobbi resisted the urge to glance at him again, certain that he would not appreciate the attention.
From inside the coffee shop, Skye approached the counter and flashed a grin at the barista, making a show of crouching down in front of the glass cake counter as though she were deliberating carefully over her choice. In reality, Skye was using the highly polished glass in order to give her a good view of Jacqueline Ward as she settled into a chair and placed her own coffee mug onto the table in front of her. She sat back in her seat with a serene smile on her face, her eyes affixed on the growing queue that was spilling out of the door already.
Making a hasty selection from the row of pastries, Skye cast a fleeting glance at her mark, then turned back to smile at the barista as she awaited her mug of coffee. A brief pang of unease had settled in the pit of her stomach but Skye paid it no mind as she accepted her drink and took a seat by the window on one of the stools. She ripped open a sachet of sugar and tipped it into the hot beverage, her eyes wandering the room.
"You're on your own now, Skye. But we're right outside and we're listening." Bobbi assured her before Skye heard the click of the device in her ear that signalled no further advice or encouragement would be coming her way from Mockingbird.
Skye toyed with the corner of the chocolate brownie on her plate as she shot another, surreptitious glance over at Jacqueline, suddenly startling as she found the woman was not in her seat. Her mug remained on the table, untouched, steam wafting up into the air in thin spires.
"Skye?"
Skye closed her eyes and inhaled a slow, steadying breath before she turned in her seat and to meet her new companion's gaze.
"I'm so glad we got the opportunity to meet. My name's Jacqueline. You won't have heard of me, I'm sure, but... I'm Grant's sister."
Skye's jaw set and she swept her obviously derisive gaze over the woman. "Oh, I've heard all about you."
"Really?" Jacqueline inquired, her smile bright and in no way portraying the chagrin it rightly should have in Skye's opinion.
"Really," Skye replied flatly, breaking off a chunk from her brownie and popping it into her mouth, more to distract herself from the other woman's intense gaze than to sate her chocolate cravings.
"Well, it's been a while since Grant and I have..." Jacqueline began, her head tipped slightly to one side as she surveyed Skye.
"Let's cut the bullshit, shall we?" Skye interjected, leaning back in her chair and shooting the woman an unimpressed look. "We both know you're hardly the Bradys so let's not waste any more time pretending. Since I've clearly been made, I can only assume you know that S.H.I.E.L.D. are watching you very closely so, really my only question is, what do you want, Jacqueline? You didn't come over here just to talk about your kid brother."
Jacqueline adjusted her posture and leaned back slightly in order to survey the younger woman, and Skye found the gesture was eerily familiar. "What if I did? What if I want to make amends?"
Skye chuckled, wiping up her fingers on a paper napkin as she snorted derisively, "Lady, don't start that crap with me, okay? I am the wrong person to fall for that whole 'I'm so sorry, let's just snuggle' shit, so... what do you want?"
Jacqueline pursed her lips and appeared to mull over her response, "Yet you forgave my brother..."
Skye's eyes narrowed and she drew closer as she pinned the other woman underneath the weight of her glare.
"You don't talk to me about your brother, okay?! Grant's off limits to you. Whatever game it is you're playing, I'm not interested. So I'll ask you again; what do you want?"
Jacqueline spread her hands out upon the table, her expression earnest as she gazed at the hacker, who stared back at her newest adversary with a sour frown.
"Skye, I'm not here to cause trouble, that much I swear to you," Jacqueline stated, pausing to chew on her bottom lip.
"Really? After everything I've heard about you - and I've heard a lot about you - I'm having a real hard time believing that," Skye retorted, shaking her head at the absurdity of the claim.
Something almost resembling hurt flashed across Jacqueline's face and she shook her head vehemently, tendrils of dark hair whipping her cheeks. She reached across the table and, before Skye could register what she was doing, her hands were encased in Jacqueline's, manicured nails almost digging into her knuckles. Skye was too shocked by the sudden gesture to attempt to withdraw and instead her mouth dropped open as she glared at the woman.
"I can almost guarantee that not everything you've heard about me is fact, Skye," she stated, her voice a soft, gentle purr, "I loved my brother dearly, truly I did, but he wasn't always the easiest child. I know you don't want to talk about it but you have to believe me that I only want the best for him, and if he's finally found happiness with you, after his deeply troubled past, then I couldn't be more thrilled for him. But as you already know, that's not why I'm here. I have a business proposition for you, Skye, one which I hope you will seriously consider. I only want to help. I want to... truly make a difference to the world."
"Oh, you already have," Skye snarled, recalling with a shudder the images of Teocelo that would forever be imprinted on her memory. The horrors of their discovery would remain with Coulson's team indefinitely, with few among them able to shake the horrific imagery that greeted them. Men, women, children - Skye only had to blink to see their terrified faces and calcified corpses.
Changing tack, Jacqueline swept her eyes over the young woman in a wholly predatory manner as she said, "I've got a business proposition for you, Skye."
"Me?" Skye guffawed, immediately shaking her head. "Yeah... I don't see that happening. Mainly because you're an evil bitch."
Jacqueline brushed her hair over her shoulder and arched a dark eyebrow, "Have you ever considered that what you have heard about me perhaps isn't the truth? We both know Grant has told more than his share of tall tales in the past. We both know what he's truly capable of... If I'm being honest Skye, and I think that's important if we're going to trust each other, I'm more than a little surprised that someone like you could even begin to care about a man like my brother."
Skye pushed her cup further away from the edge of the bar she sat at and climbed to her feet, anger coursing through her veins. "I'm not listening to this. You don't know anything about him. Whatever he is, whatever he's done, Grant's a good man."
"Ah, young love," Jacqueline mocked, "so passionate, so all-consuming, so... utterly deluded."
"Get out of my way," Skye snarled, snatching up her purse and slinging it onto her shoulder. She had barely taken a handful of steps when Jacqueline's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"I know what you are."
Inside the van, Bobbi, Hunter and Grant instantly sat up straighter, their expressions ranging from curious to horrified.
"Shit," Bobbi cursed, shaking her head as she fiddled with the various knobs and buttons on the comms. system in an attempt to bring the earpiece Skye wore back to life. Grant's face had paled significantly, his pallor completely chalk white and even his lips having lost their colour.
"Tell her to get out of there," he growled, his eyes belaying his desperation as he clawed at Bobbi's arm and reiterated, "tell her to come back, now!"
Swallowing hard, Skye spun on her heel to address the woman before her, arms crossed over her chest and features schooled into a stoic mask.
"And what's that exactly?" Skye demanded, tipping her chin upwards in a defiant gesture as she met Jacqueline's eyes.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. call you a 084. I've read your file from cover to cover, Skye. You're not like the rest of us. At least, half of you isn't... And I believe you could help us. You could help us find a cure for a disease - a weapon that could destroy all of humanity."
Skye shook her head, truly bemused and also angered by the woman's apparently slim grasp on reality. "The weapon you and your Hydra pals created, you mean?!"
Jacqueline smiled and cocked her head, "Hydra's really more my brother's thing, wouldn't you say?!"
"We're done talking now," Skye dismissed her, turning back to the exit and storming through the tables and chairs. When she reached the door, she pushed hard against it, bursting outside into the sunshine as she struggled to banish the fear threatening to choke her. She broke into a slow run in a desperate attempt to leave Jacqueline Ward behind - and yet the woman followed, undeterred by Skye's blatant disregard for her proposition.
"All we need is a few blood samples, Skye," Jacqueline all but pleaded, matching Skye's pace easily with her long legs. "It would be just like taking a medical, that's all, and you could help to save so many lives. Just think of it..."
"Back off before I put you on your ass," growled Skye, eyes flashing as she stared at the woman with undisguised hostility.
Jacqueline's fingers clamped down around Skye's wrist, her grip surprisingly fierce and succeeding in halting the agent in her tracks, even as she attempted to abandon her mission to retreat back to the van where she prayed her team were waiting.
"You listen to me, you silly little girl," Jacqueline hissed, leaning down into Skye's face until they were almost nose to nose, her fingertips biting painfully into her skin. "I'm giving you the chance for your pathetic life to actually mean something. Can't you just be grateful?"
"Get your God damn hand off me or I'll break your wrist," Skye warned her, fury igniting behind her eyes as she shrugged off Jacqueline's fingers and took a step back.
"Skye, I... I'm sorry, I just... there are so many people needlessly dying, and you're the key. You could be the one to save them all," Jacqueline crooned, hoping to appeal to either Skye's ego or her better nature.
"Do you listen to yourself?" Skye demanded, shaking her head and staring at the woman askance. She glanced furtively across the street toward the unmarked black S.H.I.E.L.D. van, desperate to shake off her new would-be associate. She knew that reasoning with Jacqueline was unrealistic, and the vitriol the woman was consistently spewing about Ward was pushing Skye closer to the precarious edge of her temper. Whilst she realised that making a scene in the centre of a crowded street would be in the best interests of neither S.H.I.E.L.D. nor herself, she could feel her grip on her temper slipping away as each second passed.
"You and I? We're not gonna be friends or business associates, and I'm sure as hell not helping you in your psycho plans for world domination."
"Then maybe I'll just take what I want..." Jacqueline replied evenly, planting her hand on her hip and shooting Skye a glance that told her all pretence and formality was well and truly over.
"I would like to see you try," Skye replied dangerously, her lip curling as she surveyed the woman with open disgust.
"If you so much as try to lay a finger on her, you'll be dealing with me," a familiar voice, dripping with fury, stated suddenly from behind Skye. She resisted the urge to shoot a glance over her shoulder, unwilling in part to take her eyes off Jacqueline's imposing figure, and also knowing already that she would find Grant standing behind her. The gentle touch in the centre of her back seconds later alerted her to the fact that she was correct, and Skye consented to a small smile as the proximity of her boyfriend both reassured and calmed her.
"Now Grant, that wasn't much of a threat fifteen years ago and it's really not much of one now either," Jacqueline giggled, a broad and pleased smile erupting upon her face as her eyes swept her brother from head to toe in an appraising manner.
"Fifteen years ago I was a scared kid who couldn't defend himself..." Ward replied, matching his sister's hostility note for note, "it's a threat now, Jacqueline. Believe me. You won't lay a finger on Skye."
Jacqueline frowned as she pretended to ponder his words, "Well that's sweet... really, it is. I hope you do a better job of protecting her than you did Thomas."
She grinned, revealing a row of sparkling white teeth, and Ward felt his fists clench as he contemplated the thousand and one ways he knew of to wipe her smile clean off her face.
He ushered Skye behind him, yet she refused to cower from the Medcore exec's threats - and so she remained at his flank, content to slip her hand into his and stand beside him. She hoped Jacqueline saw the symbolism behind her defiant gesture.
"You and I have nothing more to say to each other," said Skye, squeezing Grant's hand as she tried to indicate that escaping the situation was her priority. Grant's fingers curled around hers in response, and Skye felt her heart rate begin to slow from its panicked metre.
"You heard the lady," Grant stated, tone flat and jaw tense. Fingertips discretely brushing his wrist, Skye was unsurprised to feel his pulse pounding frantically, and a pang of sympathy ran through her as she contemplated how truly terrifying it must be for Grant to continually stare down the darkest parts of his past.
"I did," Jacqueline admonished in a resigned voice, although the accompanying smile seemed odd and wholly unperturbed.
However, to both Skye and Ward's surprise, she turned on her heel and began to walk slowly away from the couple. Just as it seemed she would melt away into the crowd, Jacqueline spun around again, and all traces of a grin were absent from her features, replaced instead by a cold, hard expression of sheer loathing that made Skye feel sick to the stomach.
"You know this isn't over, Grant," she called out, not seeming to care that people were now turning to stare at her, curiosity alive in their eyes, "I always get what I want."
"Not this time," Grant retorted, his upper lip curling back in a snarl that ordinarily would have spiked fear into the heart of the person on the receiving end of it. Jacqueline only tossed back her head and howled with laughter, one hand pressed to her chest in an affected gesture that Skye had only ever seen before in movies.
"I guess only time will tell, little brother," she drawled, chuckling to herself as she cast a fleeting glance at Skye, and then faded into the crowd.
Grant's fingers clutched Skye's that little bit tighter as the two agents stared at the woman's retreating form until she was finally out of sight.
"Okay, so... your family sucks," Skye sighed, barely blinking as she continued to stare off into the throng of shoppers as though she expected Jacqueline to return at any moment, "kind of makes me glad I never knew mine."
Ward tore his gaze away from the horizon and glanced down at her briefly, "I guess now you know why Garret seemed like the better option."
He faltered for only a moment, before turning to face Skye and tilting her head up so that he could hold her gaze.
"Are you okay?" he checked, hesitant and apologetic at the same time.
Skye nodded, placing her hand over his and tenderly stroking her fingertips over his scarred knuckles. "I'm fine."
Drawing in a deep yet hurried breath, Ward drew her closer into his chest, half in an effort to provide her comfort and half for his own reassurance. "I won't let her hurt you, Skye. You have my word... I..."
Leaning up on tip toe, Skye pressed a kiss to his lips in a bid to silence him. Clutching his hand tighter in her own, she gestured over to the van with a wry smile.
"Look, this whole thing was a bust. Let's just get the hell out of here."
Ward nodded, allowing Skye to take the lead as they crossed the street and made their way toward the surveillance van. He watched the crowds carefully, his eyes landing on every face, analysing the body language and stances of each passer-by. His sister's words reverberated like a siren in his head. She was up to something, and Skye would not be safe until Jacqueline Ward and her associates were dispatched. Casting a final glance out onto the street, Ward joined Skye in the back of the van and slammed the doors with a resounding thud.
x-x-x
Coulson watched from the balcony as Ward rained blow after violent blow down upon the punching bag, breathing hard and hardly seeming to notice the fact that his hair was matted flat to his head with sweat. The director crossed his arms and let loose a heavy sigh as he realised he could do nothing more than watch as one of his agents came apart at the seams, and whilst he found that he understood the reason for Ward's sudden episode, he was concerned that the team could do nothing to pull him from it. From behind the safety of the glass lab doors, Simmons also watched, biting her lip nervously as she shot almost sympathetic glances at Ward whilst maintaining the guise of working. Fitz maintained no such pretences, and simply stood in front of the closed double doors with his arms crossed and a strange grimace upon his face.
"Should you go talk to him?" Coulson inquired softly, forgoing any greeting as he sensed a presence behind him, and immediately knew that Skye had joined him on the balcony.
The young hacker shook her head, then, realising that Coulson was oblivious to the gesture, she spoke quietly and in a tone that betrayed her own concern for her boyfriend, "I will. He just needs to work off some of the tension first. Right now, down there with the bag is the best place for him."
Coulson nodded, wincing as Ward hit the punch bag with such aggression and precision that the chain holding it aloft began to tug threateningly at the bolt that anchored it to the ceiling.
"I'm going to assume he's told you more about his relationship with his siblings than is in his file," Coulson began diplomatically, "I'm not asking you to betray his confidence, Skye, but is... I mean... is it..."
Skye's expression set into one of anger, and she nodded as she considered all of the memories Grant had shared with her.
"Horrible? Unimaginable? Yeah. Pretty much."
Coulson's mouth set into a grim line and he simply sighed in response, watching as Ward redoubled his efforts at beating his pent up frustration and rage out of the bag.
"I don't mean to push," Coulson murmured, squinting at the younger agent as he grunted with the effort of throwing his full body weight behind each blow, "but..."
"Yeah, yeah, he's breaking your plane," Skye finished with a roll of her eyes. She had already begun to descend the staircase but she paused to hiss over her shoulder, "Little privacy here, D.C.?"
Nodding, although appearing reluctant to say the least, Coulson turned on his heel and disappeared into the corridor, leaving Skye and Ward without an audience, save for the two scientists still making a pretence of scurrying busily around the lab.
Knowing that it was unlikely that Ward would sense her approach in his tense state, Skye loudly cleared her throat, choosing not to lay her hand on his shoulder since she was unable to gauge his potential reaction. When Ward appeared not to have heard her, she stopped several paces behind him, arms folded across her chest.
"So if this is what you handling your emotions looks like, I'd sure hate to see you lose control," Skye said, her tone unnaturally bright and her voice louder than usual.
He halted almost immediately, and Skye watched as the muscles in his shoulders tensed and he held the punch bag in place, halting its motion. His breathing was laboured and he paused to catch his breath, leaning into the bag, his forearms resting against it. Slowly, he turned to face her, and the anguish she found etched on his features made her heart skip a beat. His eyes were wide and haunted by memories - some he had told her about, others he was too ashamed or afraid to impart to another living soul.
"I'm sorry," he ground out hoarsely, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he stared down at her with an expression of guilt that caught her off guard.
"Hey, it's the punch bag I feel bad for," she joked, her smile fading as their eyes locked. Ward swallowed hard, his gaze searching out the two figures standing in observation in the lab, and Skye huffed as she followed Grant's line of sight only to see FitzSimmons attempt to spring back to life and look busy.
"Guys, come on?!" she yelled out, shaking her head in disdain as they shuffled toward the back of the lab, pretending to attend to some task or other.
"No... I meant..." Ward shook his head, averting his gaze to the ground, "I'm sorry for what happened today."
"Look, Ward... I'm pretty sure your sister wanted us to be besties because of my 084 status, not because of you. This has nothing to do with you, Grant, and... none of this is your fault," Skye explained with a frown.
Grant shook his head instantly, bestowing on her a sad smile, as if Skye had somehow missed a key element of Jacqueline's plan that should have been glaringly obvious.
"Don't you get it, Skye? If she can hurt you to get at me then..." he tailed off with a pained grimace, unable to even contemplate such an eventuality.
"Please," Skye scoffed, chuckling and shaking her head, "I'm a total badass now. She doesn't stand a chance."
Ward frowned, his eyes darkening as he insisted urgently, "This is serious, Skye. Can we please not make jokes for a second?"
Skye pursed her lips and peered up into her boyfriend's face, her expression carefully schooled to not betray her overriding concern for his mental state.
"Ward, calm down," she instructed, her tone no-nonsense as she reached up and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand, "I know how hard this is... I've been there, with my Dad, and it's going to get a lot harder before it gets any easier. You need to keep it together here because the team needs you... I need you, and breaking down right now is just not an option."
"I wasn't..." Ward attempted to defend himself, seeming outraged at the suggestion, however, Skye raised one hand in a warning gesture, fending off his protests.
"You were doing a great impression of a guy about to lose it, Grant," she reiterated, arching a brow as though daring him to argue again. "There's too much at stake here. What you're doing now is handing her victory on a platter. Not just over S.H.I.E.L.D. but over you too."
Her thumb brushed gently over his cheekbone and she took a single step closer, finding that she was almost able to feel the heat radiating from his body.
"You're not that kid any more, Ward. You're like... you're like some freakin' one man army. I know what your parents did... what Garrett did to you... that was unimaginable and evil, but you have people who care about you now, despite every messed up thing that happened. Two of them have their ears pressed up against that window over there right now..." Ward consented to smile momentarily, glancing up to find Fitz and Simmons once again starting in surprise. They bustled away from the science lab doors with their heads bowed and their cheeks reddening, making it obvious that they had been caught in the act of eavesdropping.
"And..." Skye continued, reaching out and taking Grant's hand in hers, "you've got me. Finally... yay!" Her smirk was teasing but kind, and she squeezed his hand as he consented to huff out a laugh at her well-meaning taunt. "So, what do you say you quit trying to trash Coulson's new plane, you take a shower, and we find a way to put all of that energy to better use, huh?"
Skye widened her eyes imploringly, smiling as Ward seemed to sigh in defeat and his entire stance became more relaxed. He drew her closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and Skye stepped into his embrace to hug him back tightly.
"Seriously, Ward, take a God damn shower," she complained, wrinkling her nose playfully as she found that the sweat drenched fabric of his shirt stuck to her cheek.
Pressing his lips to the crown of her head, Grant murmured softly, "I love you, Skye."
"I love you," she replied, a smile overtaking her lips as she realised just how easily she was able to part with the affirmation in Ward's presence, despite the lifetime of hurt that had once prevented her from allowing herself to feel too much.
"Thank you," he said as he drew reluctantly away from Skye's embrace to affix her with a steady look, "for being here to pull me back from the edge... I guess that's something I've never had before."
Skye nodded, her smile tinged with sadness as she squeezed Grant's hand in her own and stated firmly, "There are a lot of people on this plane that care enough to help, if you'll let them."
Ward nodded slowly, seemingly embarrassed to be in a state where he might need the help or understanding of his friends and colleagues. But he allowed her to lead him toward the metal staircase, and they walked hand in hand toward his bunk down a thankfully empty hall.
Pausing outside his door, Skye tugged on his hand and smiled up at him with a characteristic confidence and buoyancy that he'd come to love. "Hey, Ward? It's gonna be okay, you know."
He found himself smiling faintly, despite the utter misery and desperation he was struggling to rise above.
Arching an eyebrow to prompt an explanation, he watched as she simply shrugged and then reached up to press her palm to his cheek. Holding his gaze, she stated simply, "Because some things are just meant to be."