Thank you all for the awesome reviews! And to everyone that's followed or favourited this story, it really makes it so much more fun (and easier) to write! Especially when you put up with cliffhangers like that last one :p

This chapter might be a bit confusing, but just remember that every line-break is a change in point of view, but not necessarily at the same time... if that makes any sense.

I'll shut up now. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter twelve

The horrible thing was that there was actually a resemblance between them.

There was something to the stubborn set of her father's jaw or the way he held himself, as if daring anyone to contradict him, that reminded Ward so much of the girl he'd come to love. Even their hair had the same flyaway curls. But as he watched the man stand up from the chair and straighten his suit with the kind of lethal grace Ward usually attributed to deadly predators, the specialist found himself seeing all the things different about them too. Although their eyes were a similar shade of brown, there was a cold analysing look to Skye's father's which Ward hoped with his entire body would never be repeated in her own. His body was built small, like his daughters, but every movement was frighteningly deliberate, as if calculated to the last detail.

And Ward was terrified.

He had gripped Skye's wrist tightly to keep her close, and could feel her heartbeat drumming an erratic beat against his fingers. He wanted to run and check on Fitz, because he'd landed face down and Ward couldn't tell if the young scientist was still breathing. He wanted to gather Simmons into his arms, regardless of what had happened in the past, because she looked like she was about to collapse if she cried any harder. But Ward could do nothing, for the same reason Jemma couldn't move. Trip was still pointing a gun at her head, and Ward couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt.

"Trip," Ward said, surprised at the steadiness of his voice. He was a turmoil of emotions on the inside.

The other specialist didn't respond. He just kept his unseeing eyes locked on Jemma's quivering form.

"Oh, he can't hear you," Skye's father called casually, flicking a speck of dust off his pristine sleeve.

Panic raced through Ward in one overwhelming wave. He had to protect Skye, but he couldn't let anything happen to Fitzsimmons either. Having gone months without a single proper training, Ward wasn't sure how he would stand in a fight against Trip. And then there was Skye's father to consider.

And perhaps the most frightening thing about this situation was that neither Skye nor Ward was armed.

One of the triggers to activate the bracelet around his wrist was him picking up a weapon, and Ward was sure that with Skye's injury she wasn't carrying anything either. Their only hope was an ICER lying on the ground near Fitz's unconscious form- obviously some failed attempt to defend himself. But Ward dared not make any move towards it when Trip could pull the trigger so much faster.

They just needed a distraction.

"What did you do to him?" came Skye's strong voice from behind Ward and he had to resist the urge to groan out loud, because he was trying to protect her and she wouldn't make it any easier if she made her father angry.

"Young Trip here? Oh, he'll be completely fine."

"That wasn't what I was asking," was Skye's stubborn reply.

Her father regarded her with an amused expression, one that made Ward instantly tighten his grip on Skye, eliciting a pained gasp from her in return. "No I guess it wasn't. Nevertheless, it's the only explanation I'm willing to give at the moment. That's a conversation for another time, another place, when I can give you the answers you've been searching for your whole life."

"She's not going anywhere with you," Ward hissed, trying to hide the fear that the proposal had sent through him, especially when Skye hadn't said anything in response, as if she was actually contemplating it. A desire for answers about her past wouldn't actually trump her hostility towards this man and everything he had done, would it?

Her father fixed his eyes intently onto Ward's, and for a moment Ward saw the stirrings of the monster Raina had talked about reflected in his dark eyes. "The question is, who do you think you are to stop me, little agent?"

"I'm not an agent."

The man chuckled. "You keep on saying that, but your actions speak differently. We can't so easily change who we are, agent Ward, or the things we've done. That bracelet stops you from picking up a gun, but that's not what the real weapon is. Why else would you come back here, if not for the calling of blood?" His eyebrows lifted mockingly. "Unless your desires lie with someone else, my daughter perhaps? Do I need to have the talk with you about what will happen if you hurt her again?"

Ward felt a flash of anger, made even worse by the fact that it was true. "I'm not the one who had her best friend killed."

Skye's father frowned. "Ah yes, that was unnecessary, I'll admit. But it got the job done. The initial photo led you to Miles, Miles led you to that other horrid agent and now," he smiled, "my daughter is in front of me again. Though a little more worse for wear than I'd like," he added on, eyeing the bandages on Skye's arm.

"You can blame your little minion for that."

"Oh, I do," he grinned, flashing perfect white teeth.

"You're a monster," Simmons whispered shakily as tears streamed down her face. Ward felt Skye jerk in his grip trying to get to the other girl, but he pulled her closer when a spark of anger flashed in the other man's eyes.

"There are no such things as monsters!" Everyone flinched at the anger in his voice; the first time he showed there was something beneath his carefully constructed appearance. "That is what humans call things they don't understand; what they deem to be inhuman simply because they can't stand the thought that they might have the same basic feelings."

Skye's made a strangled noise of disbelief. "You murdered an entire village!"

"A village that was going to kill you!" Skye's father strode forward, completely ignoring Trip and Simmons and bypassing Fitz's still body with barely a glance. Ward pulled Skye's body closer to his own. "They killed your mother, and they would've done the same to you, if I hadn't torn apart that village first. They would've murdered you, an innocent, without a second thought, just because they were afraid of what you could've become. By the time I'd found out where they were keeping you, SHIELD had already come." His voice was bitter, holding a hurt and anger born from years of letting it fester like an open wound. "I'll readily admit I'm not above killing humans to get what I want, but I'm not wasteful. It was them or my family; anyone would have made the same decision."

Ward froze, completely shocked at that thought. He'd always accused Skye's father of being a monster, but if what he was saying was true, how was Ward any different? To save Skye, he'd sacrifice the world, and isn't that exactly what her father was saying? No, he must be lying. He had to be.

Skye seemed to have the same line of thought. "No. No," her voice got stronger, Ward imagined, as shock gave way to anger. "I don't care what crap you start sprouting. My whole life I've been searching for somewhere I belonged, and I always thought that when I found out who my parents were I would find that. But you, you will never be my father. I don't care what you say; I want you out of this plane, and out of my life. Don't ever touch my family again."

The plane fell into a dead silence as everyone waited to see what his reaction was. At first, it seemed he wouldn't have anything to say, until finally he chuckled and turned around so all Ward and Skye could see was the back of his suit. "Oh, Skye. I've long since accepted the fact that you and I will never have the relationship that we could've, the one our family deserved, but I've spent twenty-four years looking for you," he pointed his fingers at Trip, who, like a trained dog, turned off the safety on his gun with an ominous click, "and young Jemma here has such potential. I'd hate for anything… unfortunate to happen to her." He turned back, and his eyes were only for Skye. "You don't have to like me, but one way or the other; I'm not leaving this plane without you."

Jemma had always relied on her mind to interpret what she was seeing. Everything that she had dealt with in her job with SHIELD; all the strange mythological deities or paranormal events, they all had scientific explanations. Knowledge had a reason for everything. But eyes, they were easily deceived. They could so easily be misled. Like at that moment, for instance. There was no way Trip would ever have hurt Fitz the way he had. She hadn't seen it happen, merely heard Fitz's startled gasp before his body hit the ground, the gun he had grabbed clattering out of his fingers. She'd let out a scream when she'd seen the blood from a nasty cut on his forehead, and the sight of Trip standing over him with eyes that held no sign of the man they'd both grown to trust.

There was no way her eyes were right, but how could she ignore the screaming warnings from her mind when the evidence was so obvious?

She didn't hear the first part of the conversation between Ward, Skye, and the man believed to be her father. Her mind was in too much turmoil to comprehend much more than Trip's vacant face or Fitz's still form. Not again, she wasn't losing him again, not when she was finally getting him back. He'd landed on his stomach, so she couldn't see much of his face but his breathing seemed to be regular. In fact, it appeared to be slightly faster than one would expect for someone who was unconscious.

Simmons smothered a gasp when she saw his hand twitch suddenly, instantly horrified that she might have let Skye's father know Fitz was actually conscious.

She fought back the wave of relief from knowing he was alright. Think, think, it was the only thing she was good for. She just needed to keep their attention off Fitz.

Antagonizing, that always seemed to work in movies.

"You're a monster," Jemma suddenly said, and flinched when the man jerked round to face her with madness in his eyes. Oh god, she wasn't brave enough to face this man. She wasn't Skye, she wasn't May. Without Fitz, Simmons was little more than a decrepit machine trying to work with parts missing. It's what made them brilliant: two different minds working seamlessly as one. But the tears streaming down her cheeks were very much real, and Simmons was terrified she'd collapse from the fear coursing through her body, or worse; give Fitz away.

Fortunately for them both, Skye's renewed fights against Ward's grip was enough to get the man turning back to his daughter, and Jemma's knees turned weak when the fire in his gaze was no longer directed at her. That made her a horrible person, right? For letting Skye stand alone against something that was so emotional for her?

She'd certainly blame herself afterwards.

If Ward had heard any of what Skye's father was saying at that moment, there was nothing in the world that could've stopped him from attacking the man instantly. Skye wasn't some object to barter for. She wasn't something you could just pick up and take away like a toddler from kindergarten. She was the strongest, most stubborn and warm person in the world, and he wasn't about to see that light lost by her monster of a father.

And she was selfless, truly, unbelievably selfless, which was why the only thing holding him back was her deadly tight grip on his wrist while her voice breathed softly, so infinitely quiet he would spend the next few weeks wondering if he'd imagined it in the first place. "Help Jemma. Please, Grant, just help her."

He didn't want to. His only wish was to protect Skye; the girl he'd loved and lost. He didn't care about anything else.

But he didn't deserve her, so the least he could do was do what she wanted.

Even if he would hate himself for it afterwards.

As Fitz's hand restarted its subtle crawl towards the gun that was still a few feet away, Simmons risked a glance in Trip's direction. The agent's eyes were blank, totally unseeing, and she was afraid whatever was wrong with him was permanent. In some distant part of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder how exactly he was being controlled, because she refused to think for even a second that he was acting on his own accord. Was some part of his subconscious still active, so that he was aware of his actions but couldn't control them? Or was it more likely that he was simply "knocked out" of his brain? Either way had blaringly obvious faults, but Simmons had seen a lot worse things in her life that made mind control seem like child's play.

But perhaps the biggest risk they were taking at that moment was assuming that Trip couldn't act without being told to by Skye's father. He'd reacted instantly when being signalled to, almost subconsciously, which suggested his eyes weren't truly recording what was happening in front of them, and that gave them a huge advantage.

With Skye's father's attention focused solely on his daughter, Simmons saw Fitz finally close his fingers around the gun. She could see his eyes clearly now: scared, but filled with a fierce determination that she hadn't seen in months. Seeing that glint back in his eyes took her breath away, and if it was any other situation Jemma would've run into his arms and never let him go again.

As silent as a cat, with movements so slow it appeared he wasn't moving at all, Fitz rose to his knees and lifted the ICER towards his target. His eyes betrayed the fear he was feeling as he shot Jemma one last longing look, but his hands were steady as he flicked off the safety, and pulled the trigger.

Fitz wasn't nearly as subtle as he thought he was.

Ward had realised he was awake the second his hand had started inching towards the gun, but he had to give it to the scientist, he could sure be quiet when he wanted to be. Still though, the only reason Skye's father hadn't heard him was because he was currently giving another long-winded speech about Skye's potential.

Thank god for small victories.

Ward watched out of the corner of his eyes as Fitz levelled the gun- right at the man's back.

Protect Jemma, Skye had begged.

Yes, he had to protect her, if not for Skye or Fitz then for himself, because to be honest, Ward couldn't take another night where he saw himself letting down the two scientists.

So instead of covering Skye like every instinct in his body was telling him to do, the second Fitz pulls the trigger Ward's moving; pushing Skye back a few feet before barrelling towards Trip. Ward punches the other agent so hard the momentum carries them both to the ground where he kneels, panting heavily, over Trip's unconscious body. He kicks the gun towards the opposite end of the room, and stands up shakily. They'll deal with Trip when he wakes up.

That's when it hits him how quiet it is.

Why is it so damn quiet?

He turns around slowly, dread coursing through him at what he'll see.

Fitzsimmons are clinging together like the two remaining survivors of a shipwreck. They look up at him with wide, horrified eyes.

"I- I hit him," Fitz stutters, shock finally setting in. "The ICER hit him in the chest- but he just…"

Ward simply stares, feeling like a knife is slowly driving its way into his stomach. Skye's father was gone; no body, nothing to suggest he was even there to begin with. But this was something they'd never forget.

Ward had made a choice. He'd looked after Simmons, and left Skye unprotected.

And now she was gone. Disappeared, just like her father.

He'd gotten what he came for, after all.

Okay, so I'm fairly sure I didn't like that chapter, but let me know what you think! If I ever do a rewrite or anything, what you guys think would be awesome.

If I was to split this story in two halves, that would be where the first ends. Doesn't necessarily mean that there's going to be another 12 chapters, but just that this is where the story-line takes a bit of a turn with Skye's father playing a large role.

Anyway, talk to ya all soon :)

-F