Sorry about the delay in updates, I've been distracted by movies! I saw Ex Machina (which you should go see if you're in England) and Kingsman.

But anyway, I'm back!

(And I watched the preview for AoS. Epic!)

Chapter Twenty One: Staring

Grant

I stare off into the distance.

May prowls around me, her fist tightening. Her knuckles turn white.

"For god's sake, react!" She explodes as I sit there, just staring. Even Garrett at this point had had enough.

"You're annoying me." He informs me coolly. "Let alone little Melinda May here. How long are you going to keep this all up, boy?"

I just keep still. Pretending. I don't care. Pretending.

"Everyone thinks we were perfect." I murmur. "But they never looked through the curtains."

"What the hell?" May exclaims, sitting back down in her chair. I guess punching someone who doesn't even react isn't doing anything for her. "You shot Skye, Ward. You will pay. This whole act..." She shakes her head, her eyes narrowing. "It's not going to work."

"Act." I repeat, my voice still a confused murmur, even as my lips twitch up into a smile. "It was all just an act."

Coulson storms in, his eyes flashing angrily. I'm still sat in the chair, my hands bound to the arms tightly, and I'm struck with the irony of the whole situation. I drift in and out of a clear mind, and Garrett smirking at me in the corner isn't helping me at all.

"Weak." He tells me. I nod.

"Weak." I repeat, just as he taught me to. Repeat. Lie. Act. Repeat. Lie. Act. Over and over again.

"Ward. Why did you do it?" Coulson grabs me by the jaw, forcing me to look at him. "I thought you loved her!"

"Calm down, Phil! Am I right?" Garrett grins.

"I do love her." I mumble. "Skye. Skye. Skye."

"Don't you dare say her name!" Coulson's eyes burn with a deep rage. "She trusted you Ward."

"'She trusted you, Ward!'" Garrett imitates in a high, squeaky voice.

"I'm sorry." I whisper. "I didn't want to."

"Pathetic." Garrett looks at me.

"Pathetic." I repeat robotically. Coulson releases me, giving me a confused look.

"Ward..." He starts, his eyebrows tugging in. "Ward, are you talking to me?"

"What?" I blink at him. "Why aren't you hitting me? I hurt Skye." My voice sounds like a lost puppy's, even to my own ears. Pathetic. Weak. Vulnerable.

What if I killed her? The thought occurs to me again. Can I ask Coulson? Will he even tell me?

"Did I kill her?" I have to ask, my voice small.

Coulson looks at me for a long time.

"No." He admits. "You didn't."

"Good." I mutter.

"Bad." Garrett contradicts.

"Good." I repeat, almost insistingly.

"Bad." Garrett frowns.

Coulson stares at me with large eyes.

"May was right." He mutters. "What the hell?"

Skye

"So now you want me to help you?" I cross my arms. "After you broke him?"

May and Coulson had came to me 20 minutes before and asked me if I actually though Ward had shot me. I had hesitated, and then suggested that maybe he shot at me, and accidentally hit me. I don't want to tell them about my dreams, because I don't want them to lock me up, like they might. Especially when they find out about me telling Grant before them.

Then they had told me that he seemed to be talking to himself. And that he was saying strange things.

"And I believe I told you about Grant acting weird when he fell asleep against the punch bag..." I trail off, connecting the dots. The punch bag, the shower...

"Coulson, I've figured it out!" I grab his arm tightly, my finger tips digging into his skin almost painfully. Coulson squirms, the only indication that I'm hurting him. "He's hallucinating!"