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A/N: So I write this on paper first before typing it up and for whatever reason I suddenly and rather randomly switched from Ward's POV to Skye's unknowningly. I just found this out when I started typing this up… haha sorry.
Ward
Waking up with Skye in his arms was one of the best feelings in the world. Remembering what had led to that, however, was not. He had killed again and while there was no such thing as a truth serum, Ward's reaction to Skye asking if his grandmother knew he killed people was real. Gramsy had no idea that part of his job description including taking lives and he was too ashamed to tell her.
His thoughts shifted to Skye as she moved against him, snuggling closer. He had no idea what she was thinking half the time-one second she was hot, the next she was cold but he accepted it for now because her hot moments were always worth five of her cold ones. Although he enjoyed spending time alone with her, he didn't particularly like the part where he was washing blood off her skin. Blood that he had spilled.
"Whattimeisit?" She mumbled, eyes still closed. Ward cleared his throat, checking his watch,
"Six," "Mmm," She shifted her head on his chest as her hand slid down his chest to rest on his abdomen. Ward's breath hitched and he began to slide out of the beset before she could find out exactly why the sheets had suddenly risen off their legs. His plan was foiled when she reached out and curled her hand into his side and he twitched involuntarily, still trying to let her head slide off his shoulder.
She laughed breathily, "I forgot, Super Spy is ticklish."
"I should… I should just go and uh…" He said thickly, trying to shift away.
Skye fell back against the mattress and pulled the blankets back around her. "Wake me up in two hours," She grumbled as he headed for the bathroom to take a very cold shower. He needed to screw his head back on straight and focus on the task at hand- infiltrating Hydra long enough to get information back to Coulson before getting the hell out of there.
He heard a brisk knock on the door as soon as he got out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Ward went to answer the door. He caught sight of Skye sitting upright in the bed, hair tousled, blankets pooled around her legs.
Glancing through the peephole, he identified their visitor. "Now's not a good time, Bradbury." He yelled, not opening the door. "All I need is your answer." The visitor replied. Ward heard a faint click from the other side of the door and he turned to look at Skye. Interpreting his expression correctly, she got out of bed and padded across the room to hand him an ICER, arming herself with a similar weapon.
"An answer to what?"
"Command," Ward glanced at Skye, who nodded and held up three fingers.
"We'll be here three days but I'll do it until we leave." He replied, keeping his eyes locked on the hacktivist.
"Where are you going to go after that?"
Ward turned back to face the door, "Stateside. I've got some loose ends to tie up." He said vaguely, mouthing to Skye, we're not going to the States for a while after this.
"Breakfast's in the cafeteria. I'll see you in Command in an hour."
"Yup," Again, Ward waited until his footsteps died away before turning to talk to Skye. "How long will it take you to hack the system?"
She took his ICER from him and returned it to the table, next the rest of their weapons, "I won't know until I can see it for myself. Sending a signal to notify the team won't take long but the masking process could take much longer.
"We're going to need to do a little recon and find out their numbers so Coulson can decide whether or not to take the facility or not."
Skye stepped the bathroom, "You done? Here, take your pants." He caught his clothes deftly and she ran her eyes over his towel clad body appreciatively, just like he had done last night when she came out of the bathroom in his tshirt. Her eyes traveling back up to his, she started talking again. "They're dispatching a team from the Triskelion but that's all they can afford for now. Coulson and May should be meeting with the Italian government any day now so we might have extra reinforcements. Let's just hope that when this place went down, the SHIELD agents took a few with them."
Ward was back in his jeans and checking the magazines in their guns when Skye emerged from the bathroom, jacket folded over one arm, wearing a tank and her leggings. "Here's your shirt back. It's clean and everything. I mean, I didn't wash it, but- yeah. Thanks."
Ward took his shirt back from her and slowly pulled it back on, fully aware that she was watching.
"I do have to admit, though, you wore that towel quite well." She said unabashedly. "And I'd like to see how you pull off a button up," he shot back, smirking. Weighing an ICER in his hand, he sighed,
"I see Fitz still hasn't lost that ounce."
Skye
Over the next two days, Ward and Skye watched the occupants carefully, keeping a mental tally of all the people they encountered. Ward managed to sneak Skye a couple hours each day at a private computer and they kept the team updated the best they could while extracting tidbits of information from within the facility.
It was hard to say whether or not they got closer. Physically, yes- Skye fell asleep and woke up in his arms or curled into his side and they kept up the affectionate couple act whenever they were around others. However, during the day, Skye hardly ever spoke to Ward- he was often times caught up in his tasks running command and she would either kick back and watch him or wander the facility once Ward had made it clear that she was not to be touched and that she posed no threat whatsoever. Even when they did get a chance to talk, they were usually in the presence of others and Ward turned into this dark and rather coarse character, sly and slightly crude at times, completely different from the smooth and noble person she'd known on the Bus. While Dark Ward was somehow alluring, Skye found herself confused with resentment for him stirring just beneath the surface, the old anger threatening to come back. However, during their solitary nights together, he was gently and courteous, still all-business but he stroked her hair as she fell asleep and looked deep into her eyes when she talked.
On the third night, she asked him, "Who are you?" When he didn't respond right away, she added, "In the day, you're possessive and vulgar but at night you're chivalrous and sweet. I feel like those should be switched… angsty at night and innocent by day. But anyway, all I've ever known you to be is professional and emotionless so who are you?"
He pulled away from her and propped his head up with one arm, "I'm Grant Douglas Ward, agent of nothing and I don't know which person I am. I know which person I want to be- gently and chivalrous and professional. But there's also a possessive and dark side to me that I can't deny."
Skye pulled him to her so that he was leaning over her, supporting himself on his elbows. She was tired of being confused and doubting his every move. "I want you to be that person but it has to be genuine." She lowered her voice, "however, I do find a possessive Grant Ward who is driven by emotion very enticing."
Ward looked down at her, his eyes dark. She leaned up to capture his lips with hers but he pulled away at the last second, rolling off her to lie on his back, "We have to big day tomorrow."
As if that was a legitimate enough excuse.
"Exactly, it's our last night together…" Skye commented suggestively but he said nothing, "Fine. I guess Robot doesn't want to find out what happens when two monsters decide to get involved." She huffed, rolling to the far edge of the bed.
A minute later, he scooted to sling an arm around her waist. "Not tonight," He whispered, kissing the edge of her jaw. Skye cupped his face with her hand, keeping him hovering over her face and sighed. Come tomorrow, she would be back on the Bus in her homey bunk and he would be back behind bars. Figuratively speaking. The only bars she had seen at the Playground were the ones in the training room.
She turned to face him, "okay, but we're not doing it in your cell room. I'm not really into the whole cameras thing-," She started but he silenced her with a chaste kiss to the lips.
"Go to sleep," He coaxed, "tomorrow, we'll find out if Triplett's been doing an adequate job training you." "Oh, he's great. He's sympathetic and understanding and goes easy on my and doesn't force me to do push-ups when I'm late-." But Ward's hand easily covered her mouth and she laughed before flipping over on her back and obeying his order to sleep.
When she was shaken away the next morning, the sky was still dark. "Five more minutes," She moaned, rolling out of his reach but he ripped the blankets off her, exposing her bare legs to the cool air. She lunged for the blankets with a shriek, "What the hell?'
"We have to get ready. They could show up any minute now." He said. The specialist was already dressed and showered and had lined up their weapons on the table, no doubt cleaned and loaded.
Skye sat up reluctantly. Coulson hadn't given a specific time of their arrival so that Skye and Ward would be just as surprised as the Hydra agents when SHIELD stormed the facility. Squealing softly, Skye ran across the cold floor to the bathroom. Stripping off the shirt borrowed from the facility, she showered quickly, then dressed, accepting an ICER from Ward as she returned to the main room, slipping a knife into the lining of her boot for extra measure.
It was mid-afternoon when Skye heard the beginnings of the raid. She was in Command with Bradbury and a couple of his minions, helping them hack into a bank account in the Cayman Islands. Technically, she was manipulating the software to make it look like she was transferring money into the Hydra account while the actual accounts remained untouched, but they didn't need to know that. Ward had stepping out briefly to go solve a problem in the Tactics division when the sound of glass shattering and the wailing alarm broke the quiet.
Skye's head shot up to look at Bradbury, who was already bellowing orders into his radio. As inconspicuously as she could, Skye inserted a flashdrive that had been hidden in her sleeve and began to download Hydra intel.
"Skye!" Bradbury barked and she jumped, looking over the top of her computer, trying not to let the guilt show on her face. He was already looking at her suspiciously. "Where's Grant?"
"I'm pulling up the camera feeds now." She said hurriedly. The giant monitor on the wall suddenly burst into dozens of small screens. A second after she pinpointed the feed that contained Grant Ward in it, she saw three heavily armed SHIELD agents burst in, taking Ward out almost immediately with five ICERS to the chest.
"We need to get out of here!" Skye screamed, jumping up from her computer. Bradbury gestured for her to come to the front next to him while his cronies positioned themselves behind the rows of computers, guns drawn. Skye unholstered her ICER but before she could raise it, she felt herself being dragged back by her hair.
"What the-?" Suddenly, an arm wrapped tightly around her neck, lifting her partially off the ground and the muzzle of a gun pressed against the side of her head.
"Shut up!" Bradbury growled, his voice right next to her ear. Skye struggled against him but he only tightened his hold on her neck, his arm digging into her windpipe, making her drop her weapon.
"We should be running." She choked, feet scrambling for purchase on the ground as he lifted her higher up still. Her elbows flew back desperately, trying to catch him in the ribs but black spots were beginning to appear in the edge of her vision.
"There's nowhere to run," Bradbury said harshly, digging the gun into her scalp, "congratulations, you've just been promoted to my bargaining chip."
"Bastard!" She rasped as the doors flew open. Dodging the bullets of Bradbury's men, Melinda May and Phil Coulson tumbled into the room, followed closely by two other agents dressed in black tactical gear. With a few well-placed shots, Bradbury's minions were taken out by the SHIELD team.
"Stop! Or I'll put a bullet in her brains." Bradbury threatened maliciously. Skye fought for a breath as she heard the bullet click into the chamber. May approached them slowly and Bradbury stepped back, dragging Skye along with him. "She's your special project, isn't she?" He teased, directing his question to Coulson.
"You think I don't want to see traitors punished?" Coulson replied, keeping his gun trained steadily on Skye's assailant, "because I would. Very much so. But I'd like it to be by my own hand, not yours."
The hacktivist gasped for breath, her head spinning. She wasn't going to last very much longer. May was still circling them as Bradbury turned so he could see both agents of SHIELD. Skye could feel the chuckling rumbling in her attacker's chest, before he spoke, "we both know you're too soft-."
But suddenly a silenced gunshot ran out, still audible in the room and Skye was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, splattered with blood again while Bradbury flew backward.
Glancing up at the doorway, she caught a glimpse of something fiery red and an unfamiliar voice said offhandedly,
"Sorry, but you were taking too long. I got impatient."
Hope you liked it! Let me know if you prefer split chapters like this or if I should just stick to one POV each chapter Also, point of clarification, I refer to both Trip and Ward as specialists but only when they're not in the same scene as each other. If they are, I won't use the term specialist. Just a btdubs =) Review please 3
