Fair warning that there are parts of 210 left out because I have a feeling that if you're reading this, then you've probably seen the episode already so I don't feel the need to retell you something that's already happened.
Love Bites, Love Bleeds
The mansion was large. That was the first thing Skye became aware of as the Quinjet landed in the backyard. The HYDRA agents filed out of the back and lined up along the ramp with their weapons drawn.
Ward stood and pulled a couple of zip ties out of his jacket pocket. He took Skye's wrists gingerly in his hand and tightened down the clasps. Skye's eyes were boring into him.
Skye got her anger out of her but Ward could still see the rage simmering beneath her skin. Her eyes had a blank fury to them. Ward knew that what was coming next was going to have an adverse effect on her.
The mansion was filled with HYDRA agents. Skye's eyes swept automatically across the room taking stock of the doors and windows. She counted the weapons, P90s and 5-7s chief among them.
"I'm impressed. How's your marksmanship?" Ward asked with a tinge of pride.
"I don't know, hand me your sidearm and let's find out." Skye spat.
"Come on, you can't be that mad at me." Ward muttered.
"Really? I get drunk and say something I don't mean and then you decide to run off to HYDRA? Is that all it took for you to run back into their tentacle arms?" Skye pulled against his grip. The HYDRA agents' fingers moved to the triggers but they otherwise remained still as statues.
Ward shot them all a glare and increased the pressure on Skye's arm before ushering her to a back room.
"I had a reason, Skye. I wouldn't have gone back to them otherwise." Ward reasoned.
"What would you have done?" Skye asked harshly.
"Disappear; plain and simple. Maybe you would've joined me." Ward mused as they ascended a flight of stairs.
"Join you? I can't just leave S.H.I.E.L.D. Ward. You know that." Skye muttered.
"Yeah, I do." Ward spoke calmly.
"Why did you bring me here? What do I have that Whitehall wants?" Skye asked as they crossed a hallway.
"This isn't for Whitehall." Ward spoke swiftly.
"Then who is it for?" Skye pressed. They were stopped outside a set of double doors and Ward cut off her zip ties. Skye rubbed her chafed wrists.
"This is for you." Ward said as he pushed open the door. On the other side stood a man Skye had never thought she would see in her life.
Her father.
Skye's mouth ran dry and her brain stilled. All thought had ceased as she took in the disheveled man in front of her.
"I imagine the two of you have a lot of catching up to do." Ward spoke up making Skye jump slightly. He turned his eyes to the man. "I hear anything from her that sounds remotely like pain, I will put a bullet in you."
Ward shut the door after that, leaving Skye and her father alone together for the first time in 26 years. Skye wanted to speak but found that her words died somewhere between her vocal chords and her mouth.
"Charming young man isn't he?" Her father joked. "He spoke quite fondly of you. Makes me wonder if I should've sat down with him and given the father/boyfriend speech." He laughed nervously at that.
"This isn't how I pictured it going, you know." His mind was leaving the present again. Instead choosing to focus on the fantasy he had created long ago about when he would been reunited with his daughter.
"I was going to pick up those little, shortbread cookies your mother loved. I would've wanted to see what your pallet was like." He smiled tentatively sparing a glance at Skye.
Her eyes lit up involuntarily at the mention of her mother. Skye had never known the woman. Her mind conjured a fantasy version when she was young and lonely about a strong, confident woman who walked the world with pride. A woman who would've given everything to raise her daughter.
A child's dream. Skye wasn't a child anymore.
"But there's no time to dwell on that." The man took a breath and focused his attention on Skye. "Hello, my name is Cal. I am your father."
Cal extended his hand offering Skye a seat. She shook her head mutely, still not able to find words that conveyed the awe she felt being so close to her father for the first time in her life.
"You are so beautiful." Cal spoke wistfully. "You look so much like her. Her hair was longer but I guess your line of work dictates certain, aesthetic compromises."
"Let me start with the basics." Cal jolted. "You were born in China. Your mother worked with me in a clinic. My Mandarin wasn't the best and she offered to translate. It was an easy job on her even while she was pregnant with you.
"It was, the best day of my life, when you were born. I would have delivered you myself but I'm not that kind of doctor. You were a fighter. Screamed so loud I swore you woke up half the village." Cal took a breath, trying to levy the emotions weighing on his mind.
"Your mother was special, much in the way you are. She was strong, spirited. She gave new meaning to the term 'love.'" Cal recalled.
"What happened to her?" Skye finally spoke up.
"She was, taken from us." Cal's voice took on a darker tone.
"By HYDRA?" Skye cut in.
"They called themselves, S.H.I.E.L.D. I tried to follow, but I couldn't do that with you. I left you with people I trusted while I hunted down the people who took your mother." Cal's voice was filled with anger as the past events flashed in his mind.
"I tracked them to Europe when I finally found her. She was discarded in a ditch as though she were nothing less than garbage. Whitehall, took her organs, her blood, and threw what was left away." Cal was shaking now.
"When I came back, I found that S.H.I.E.L.D. had also taken you. I lost it. I killed everyone in that village for letting it happen." Cal spoke.
"You kill-"
"But you need to understand, my little girl, she was stolen from me! I gave them one simple job and they ruined it! They let you go!" He screamed. Cal caught himself. He took a breath before looking Skye in the eye again.
"But that doesn't matter now. I want to tell you that I'm sorry. Sorry that I wasn't there to protect you. That I wasn't there to teach you about the stars. That I wasn't there to keep S.H.I.E.L.D. away." Cal spoke quietly.
"You killed a bunch of innocent people in anger. You're the one that killed all the people who protected me from HYDRA. You're the one that left me alone!" Skye spat with growing anger.
"All true." Cal conceded.
"Do we have a visual on the villa?" Coulson asked around the holotable as he finished strapping his vest on.
"Yes, Sir." Fitz responded as he pulled up the satellite images. The villa was empty from the outside but the Team knew better than to assume that there weren't a few dozen HYDRA agents inside.
"Okay, we have two objectives: Find Skye, and stop Whitehall from getting to the city. If you find Ward or Raina on the way, put them down." Coulson ordered. He slipped his .45 into his holster before making the descent down the stairs.
The action was about to start.
Ward remained leant against the wall by the door. He tried to make sure he was only listening for signs of distress and not eavesdropping on a conversation he had no business hearing.
Skye was pissed, that much was clear. She had a right to be in Ward's mind. Her father left her when she was a baby for a revenge mission. It didn't exactly scream father of the year.
The HYDRA agents stood in their classic rigid postures with their guns drawn, ready for a fight. Ward had to fight off the urge to just poke one of them on the side of the head to see if they would react.
Ward tensed when he heard a sharp intake of breath in the other room. Skye's anger had broken. Progress was, hopefully, being made in there.
Hopefully.
Skye was shaking now. Her hands were clenched into tight fists against her sides and her breaths were coming short, haggard gasps. Cal had taken a seat back on the couch, gladly accepting the verbal assault his daughter was giving him. He could see the tears swimming in her eyes, the ones that she so desperately tried to keep from falling.
She didn't want to seem weak. S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't take her back if she was weak. The tears couldn't fall ever again.
"So what happens now?" Skye forced her voice to remain even. "Now that you have me, what's the plan? Run away like a disturbed family? Kill everyone in HYDRA for what they did to my mother?"
"No. Now, we let you fulfill your destiny. I will take care of Whitehall." Cal spoke with an even temperament betraying the malice in the last statement.
"What destiny?" Skye asked exasperated.
"You have a gift. Like your mother, you are special and today is the day that you realize that." Cal spoke fondly as he stood from the couch and took a step towards her. Skye put her hand up to still him.
"And if I don't want that?" Skye asked.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. None of us do. It's the way of life." Cal spoke regretfully.
"So even if I don't want to change, you're still going to make me go through it?" Skye questioned.
"If it were up to me I would get you out of here and never let S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA touch you again." Cal spoke with finality.
Skye brushed him off and moved to the door. She opened it and there stood a HYDRA agent waiting for them. Skye looked at Cal expectantly, thinking he might have the answer. He simply shrugged and walked over to her.
"Whitehall wants the two of you." The soldier spoke automatically that reminded Skye to much of herself.
The soldier escorted Skye and Cal to a hallway a flight of stairs above them. Whitehall stood there with Raina and 33 on either side of him and Ward in front.
Two of the soldiers were holding Ward's arms behind his back. Skye felt her throat involuntarily tighten at the sight.
"You ordered the plane to not be shot down. I had to counter that order myself." Whitehall recalled curiously.
"What is your endgame Agent Ward?" Whitehall pushed. Ward just shrugged as though the answer should be obvious.
To Raina it was.
"Isn't it obvious? Its love. Agent Ward believes that if he helps Agent Skye fulfill her destiny, she'll see him for who he really is." Raina spoke with that time old wonderment in her tone.
Skye looked at Ward and he met her gaze. The adoration was there, yes, but Skye already knew that. His endgame couldn't be just to make her love him.
Her anger at him was proof enough that he succeeded long ago.
33 raised her arm where she was holding a silver briefcase, effectively shattering the moment. Whitehall popped the clasps and had 33 walk the case over to Skye.
Inside was the obelisk. Whitehall stared at Skye with a scientific curiosity that made Skye's skin crawl.
"Go ahead, pick it up." Whitehall spoke casually but the authority of the order laid underneath the words.
"No thanks, I don't feel like dying." Skye spat back with disdain.
"I'm confident you won't." Whitehall replied before pulling a gun from the waistband of his slacks. "Now pick it up."
Skye seemed to mull the thought over before forcibly grabbing the obelisk from the case and waiting for the inevitable pain of turning to stone.
It didn't happen. Instead the obelisk glowed its orange symbols in a means of acceptance. Skye took everyone's momentary shock to jab the obelisk into the HYDRA soldier on her left's neck.
The obelisk didn't accept him. The man crumbled to the ground in a rock grave. Cal took the moment and stabbed a scalpel into the neck of another guard. Ward elbowed the guard on his left and flipped the one on his right before pulling his pistol out and aiming straight at Whitehall's head.
33 dropped the case and drew her own gun and aimed at Ward. The standoff left Whitehall standing in the corner with a pleased smile on his face, as though the turn of events were planned for his study.
They were.
"Very nice, but all for not I'm afraid." Whitehall complemented before a HYDRA guard bashed the butt of his P90 on the back of Cal's head, knocking the doctor out. Ward, knowing the muscle was out of the game, dropped his pistol while two guards took the obelisk away from Skye, their gloved hands protecting them from the poisonous metal.
"You know you are very good, Agent Ward. I believe in time, I can make you comply." Whitehall promised. Ward smirked at the insane man. Skye froze momentarily, the fear of Ward being brainwashed flowing through her veins, allowing the HYDRA guards to grab a hold of her arms and keep her in place.
Every second is crucial in a situation, Skye. Remember that. Skye heard the words of both of her SO's ring through her head.
She wasn't a perfect student.
Whitehall had them moved into the kitchen of the villa. Ward was tied up on the other end with 33 aiming her gun robotically at his head, waiting for the Specialist to make a move so she could put him down.
Maybe May and her had more in common than a face.
Cal was still passed out on the ground. Whitehall had taken a syringe out of his suit pocket and plunged the needle into Cal's neck before emptying the vial. It was most likely a sedative in Skye's mind, something to keep the good doctor down.
Skye was tied up to a chair near a stove. Whitehall watched her with an open curiosity. Skye struggled against her binds trying to remove the feeling of being a specimen in a lab.
"You look just like your mother." Whitehall spoke fondly. "She had a gift you know. She didn't age."
Skye stopped struggling as Whitehall spoke. Her mother always served the purpose of making Skye's mind empty of everything but her.
"Do you do the same, or do you perhaps have a different gift?" Whitehall mused while he tapped Skye's knee. Ward stretched against the chair as he watched, wanting nothing more than to snap Whitehall's neck in that instance.
"To find out of course, is going to require some work, but all science requires experimentation." Whitehall said before standing.
"Keep on Agent Ward, Agent 33." Whitehall ordered before leaving.
33 clicked the safety off on her gun.
"Why do you follow Whitehall?" Ward asked.
"He found me when I had nothing, he gave me purpose, so I'm happy to comply." 33 spoke of the man as though he were God. Ward thought maybe he is to 33.
"You know I had someone I was loyal to. He went completely insane." Ward jested.
"Stop talking." 33 commanded.
"Happy to comply." Ward said taking a moment to glance at Skye and visually appraise her for any injuries from the HYDRA agents taking her hostage.
The gunshots were echoing throughout the villa. Ward mused that S.H.I.E.L.D. must have infiltrated the building and are combing the place for Skye taking out every HYDRA agent they find along the way.
"Hey, untie me and I can get us out of this." Ward spoke to the guard in front of him. 33 had left to protect Whitehall moments ago. Cal was stirring on the ground by Skye. Ward needed to give the man a distraction.
"Be quiet." The soldier growls.
"Just trying to help. I'm a lot nicer than he's going to be." Ward replied before hearing the deafening snap of the soldier's neck as Cal bent the man's head at an unnatural angle.
"You're welcome." Ward said while Cal took measured breaths, probably still fighting off the effects of whatever drug Whitehall injected him with.
"You going to untie me now?" Skye piped up from her corner.
"No, no you're safer there. You don't need to see what I'm about to do." Cal brushed her off.
"You know, I don't mind seeing." Ward attempted.
Cal just looked at him with disdain before leaving.
The knife wasn't too terrible to get off the corpse. Just really awkward for Ward's shoulder to be bent at that angle. The zip ties gave way easily under the pressure of the blade.
Ward walked over to Skye.
"Sorry your family reunion didn't go as planned." He apologized while cutting through Skye's restraints. "The least I can do is get you outta here."
Ward helped her stand while Skye rubbed the feeling back into her wrists.
"Stay here while I check the door." Ward said already walking towards the double doors.
Skye looked down at the corpse. She saw that he still had his sidearm. She took it.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Ward slid to the ground in shock. Skye walked over him.
"That's what you get for leaving." She spit out in anger before jogging back to Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s arms.
Never turn your back on family.
Raina placed the obelisk on the pedestal. The object glowed brighter than it did in Skye's hand. The tomb closed around them, but not before Trip slid in.
The mist encompassed them for a moment before dissipating. The room was silent as it seemed nothing was going to happen.
The stone started growing seamlessly around Skye and Raina's skins. Skye screamed for Trip but the stone was incessant. It encompassed her body completely before she could scream.
A few moments passed before the rock began to crack. Skye felt something thrumming through her body. She pushed against the rock and it crumbled easily against the power Skye felt pushing through her.
It took over the room, making the ground shake and the walls begin to crumble. The last thing Skye could see before darkness overtook the room was Trip's stone body crumbling to dust.
The wheels have been set in motion.
Ward laid against the wall, accepting his fate. He saw May turn the corner and approach him with her weapon drawn.
But it wasn't May, it was 33.
"Whitehall's dead. Coulson killed him." She recalled in shock.
"Then you're free." Ward congratulated turning the barrel of the gun away from his chest.
Four bullets were enough for one day.
"I don't know what to do." She sounded like a scared child.
"Help me up, and we'll figure it out." Ward offered.
33 wasted no time draping Ward's arm across her shoulder and easing the man onto his feet. They slumped out of the villa while the walls continue to shake and the support began to reach its limit.
The wheels have been set in motion.
A/N: So now that we're completely caught up to canon, forgive the obvious changes such as Ward and Skye working together and having sex for a time before the events picked up, I can move forward in a complete canon divergent plotline and hopefully have the next part out before too long of a wait.