Chapter Fourteen (Waking Up the Ghost)

"No one knows the secrets that I keep. No one knows what's in my head. I can't control the other side of me. I have lost my breath. Breaking. The pulse of a steady beat. Pleading for sanity. The voices calling out my name"

(Two Days Later)

Skye walked up and down the infirmary hall. She had been allowed out of her room earlier in the day, but she was only to be on the infirmary hall. She couldn't leave and go off into the base. Considering the fact that she was still weak, this was probably for the better.

She had medical agents watching her every move, and even Hunter and Trip were on the hallway watching her. They were also there to help in case Ward lashed out again in one of his fits. And he hadn't had one in a while, tensions were high around the base because everyone was fearing that a fit would happen soon.

They never knew what would happen with these fits, the past two times they had been lucky enough that they were able to sedate him before anything happened. They feared the beast would show itself again if they didn't handle him in time.

Skye glanced at the closed door to Ward's room as she passed it for like the tenth time. It was kept closed to keep anyone unwanted out. Only medical agents, Simmons, Coulson, and May were allowed in. Currently Ward was still out, probably trapped in another nightmare. Skye hadn't heard a scream from him since the previous day, so she really didn't know.

She had no clue to what was going on inside of his head. And she didn't want to know. Skye figured that whatever was going on in there, it was horrible torture. Something that no one should face.

She stopped as she saw a pair of medical agents go into Ward's room and close the room behind them. They were probably checking on him, nothing out of the ordinary. But that didn't stop Skye from holding her breath, watching the closed door. She tensed up in the foreboding quiet of the hallway, noticing Hunter and Trip glancing down the hallway. She knew something bad was about to happen, the feeling just hung in the air.

And she was right. A shriek pierced the stagnant air, followed by two screams. The door flung open and the two medical agents came running full speed out of the room and down the hallway. Skye stood frozen in place as she saw Ward standing in the middle of the infirmary room, eyes blazing red once again.

"Skye, get away!" Hunter yelled as he and Triplett came running towards her with ICERs.

Skye stepped back as the two agents burst into the room, carefully pointing the ICERs at Ward.

"Yo, Ward, calm down." Triplett said calmly. "No ones gonna hurt you. You're just gonna hurt someone else. Calm down."

Triplett's plea didn't seem a faze Ward. He face contorted into a snarl and the started to step towards the two agents, darkness once again swirling around him.

"Oi, just take a breath." Hunter said quickly. "Don't do this. You snapped out of this once before."

Again, it didn't faze Ward.

The two agents stepped back as Ward came closer.

"Dude, please." Triplett pleaded.

"Grant!" Skye yelled, coming into the room. "Snap out of it!"

Hunter and Triplett both looked at her like she was completely crazy.

"Skye, don't do this." Hunter said. "Remember what happened last time."

"I know that. But it seems like I'm the only one that can get to him." Skye replied. "I've got to try again." She turned back to the snarling Ward. "Grant, look, it's me." she said calmly. "I'm alive. No ones going to hurt you, we just want to find a way to help you. I'm fine. You didn't kill me. Please, for me, snap out of it. I know you're in there."

Ward's face twitched, the shadows started to diminish.

Triplett raised an eyebrow, "Skye, whatever you're doing, it seems to be working. Keep going."

"Grant, we're not going to kill you. No one is out to get you." Skye said, looking Ward firmly in the eyes. "We'll help you, we just want to find out what's wrong with you. We want to know what has happened to you. And that can't happen if you kill one of us. Please for me, snap out of it."

She smiled as she watched Ward's face relax and the shadows completely disappear. He blinked in confusion, his eyes returning to normal, "Skye?" he asked. "W-What happened? Where am I?" he asked. He wobbled and started to fall to the ground, but Hunter and Triplett shot forward and caught him.

"Let's get your bloody ass in the bed, shall we?" Hunter joked. He looked back to Skye, "Whatever you did, it worked." he said. "But looks like he's still weak. The med agents probably need to come back in here."

Hunter and Trip helped Ward back into the bed, where he sat up staring off into the distance.

Triplett turned around, "I'll find med agents that are willing to come in here, I know that the ones that were just in here won't be coming back anytime soon." He walked out of the room.

"I'll get Coulson." Hunter said, following Trip. "He'll probably want to know that the bloke's awake. Well, I think he's awake."

Skye turned back to Ward as the two agents left the room. It hurt to look at him, he looked so sick, so weak. His skin was as pale as a sheet, his eyes were sunken in and glassed over like he was in a fog. And he almost looked thinner. The monster that was inside of him was literally killing him from the inside out.

He stared off into space, his coherence from earlier most likely gone.

"Grant?" she asked quietly. "Are you still there?"

No response.

Skye gulped, not knowing what to do. She was glad he was finally awake after like four days of being in and out of unconscious and fits of rage. But he still wasn't totally there. She wanted to say something, but she just didn't know what.

She took a breath.

Then came one question croaked out with a weak, quiet voice, "Did I… Kill anyone?" he asked softly.

"You…" Skye started.

"Skye, I know I did…."

"Whitehall and my father. You, no not you. It killed them. That wasn't you. I saw it for myself and that was surely not you." Skye said. "You were its slave, it kept you captive while you fought against it."

"And it made me… It made me almost kill you…"

"Look, Grant, I'm here. I'm not dead, I'm fine. I've got a massive bandage on my chest, but I'm alive." Skye responded.

"You don't know what it's like…" Ward said weakly, slowly looking at her. His glassed-over eyes looking at her. "In here…" He pointed a shaky finger at his head. "It's nothing but screams… And pain… It's hell."

"You'll be okay."

"No, I'll never be okay. It'll always be a constant fight in my head, something else living inside of it. Look what I got for just wanting to take down Hydra and let you finally see your father…."

Skye's face fell, "Wait, what?" she asked.

"I-I was with Hydra to try and take down Whitehall… Like I did with that Bakshi guy. And I was going to keep my promise of taking you to your father, I just didn't realize that he was such a psycho."

"Then you protected me from him."

Ward nodded weakly, "Then the monster got in the way. And it all went to hell. I don't remember much from the past week. It's all in small chunks, here and there." He looked strongly at Skye, "Skye?"

"Yes?"

"Please tell me what I did. Or, or what it did. Just tell me. Because I was responsible for all of it, even in the slightest way."

"Now I'm afraid that I'm am waking up the ghost. Not digging up the memories that were dead to me. Now, now I'm getting close. Closer to the enemy that's inside of me. Under the skin, the soul of the guilty. Under the surface, lonely lies. Under the weight, the sin is eating me alive. No mercy, no forgiveness. Condemn to my own hell. The voices calling out my name."

Author's Note: I don't own AoS, Marvel does. Song is 'Waking Up the Ghost' by 10 Years. So Ward seems to be awake after a small fit, but will it stay like this? And he is weighed down by a mountain of guilt from the attacks, even after Skye told him it wasn't his fault. Not good. Keep reading and please favorite, follow, and/or review! ~AwakeAndAliveSpartan.