Skye knew something was up, Grant had not yet returned and Skye was getting really antsy. Everyone kept telling her he just got hung up at the mission and would be home soon. But Bruce and Tony had not been themselves. Tony had been rather subdued and Bruce had become louder. It was strange. And even Maria had been "busy". Skye was done, she marched right into Coulson's office.
"I want answers." She said crossing her arms. Fury had been there too.
"I'm sorry, you don't have clearance." Fury said.
"Fuck clearance, I'm pregnant and my fiancé is out there." Skye said angrily. Coulson really didn't want to be in his office right then and there.
"Skye, sweetie, please try to calm down." Coulson encouraged.
"No Dad. I will not stay calm when no one will tell me where or what my fiancé is doing!" Skye was pissed
"Give us two hours. Just two hours." Fury pleaded. Skye crossed her arms.
"Fine, then you can tell me or I hack the mane frame." Skye threatened. She finally left.
"What do we do now?" Coulson asked.
"We find Ward." Fury sighed.
Natasha slowly opened the door, Clint stood, bow at the ready. No guards. They entered cautiously.
"Clear. You?" Clint asked.
"Clear." Natasha told him.
"I take left, you take right." Clint said as he stated to head right.
"No, we stick together. Something's not right here." Natasha objected. They slowly went left. They heard screams echoing from several rooms, ricochetting off the walls.
"The screams are all female." Natasha told Clint.
"I know, but we both know what's happening in there." Clint said darkly. They went right. A small door stood at the end of the corridor. Then the guards came, big, beefy men. About fifty or so. Natasha finished half of them easily. Clint finished his half just as quickly.
"Let's see what Ben has done." Clint muttered. They opened the door, to find Grant strapped to a table. He was coated in blood. Ben sat in a chair with a gun idle.
"I would not take another step if I were you. He already has been shot." Ben purred.
"Game over Ward. Give him back." Natasha said.
"I'm afraid not." He replied smugly.
"I don't like him, he's too cocky." Clint murmured in Natasha's ear.
"You're not supposed to." Natasha hissed back.
"Is this truly the fall of the Black Widow?" Ben laughed. Natasha put her hands on her hips.
"Watch it." Natasha snapped. Ben threw a knife and Grant. Right in the thigh. He moaned in pain.
"I'm afraid we have to watch our tongues. I have knives." Ben smiled. In a flash Natasha pinned him to the chair.
"I have knives too." She purred in his ear as she held a knife to his throat.
"This Agent Barton requesting immediate medical backup." Clint said into his comm.
In a short time the med team arrived. They were instantly over Ward. Clint and Natasha went with then. Ben was restrained by a few agents. He smirked.
"Sick bastard." Clint muttered. Natasha grabbed his arm. The finally reached the Helicarrier. Fury was waiting for them.
"Barton. Romanoff. You have another mission." Fury told them.
"Sir, we just got back, we get a rest period." Natasha objected.
"I am aware. But I need you to keep Skye busy while we fix Ward up." Fury said
"Fine." Natasha groaned.
Skye was sitting on the bed when Natasha Clint came in.
"Hey." She said.
"Hey." Clint said.
"How was the mission?" Skye asked.
"Easy." Natasha said.
"Cool." Skye replied.
"Ward should be back soon. His mission is finishing up." Natasha encouraged.
"I can't wait!" Slye squealed.
"Wanna watch a movie in the meantime?" Natasha suggested.
"Sure, what?" Skye asked.
"Lord of the Rings." Clint piped up. Natasha rolled her eyes as she pulled up the movie.
"Okay Legolas, but for the record Orlando Bloom is way hotter than you." Skye said.
"I'm truly wounded." Clint said in a high pitched voice.
"Okay, we have three hours." Coulson told Fury.
"Dammit, okay I'm having the doctors work around the clock to speed up the process." Fury replied.
"She's gonna find out." Coulson said. Fury sighed.
"I prefer her not to be pregnant with a super solider when she finds out." Fury pointed out.
"Fair point." Coulson replied. Hill entered.
"The doctors say the procedure will only take half an hour, we need to get a cover story though." She said.
"And we need Ward to tell her and sound believable." Coulson added.
"This day is going to drive me insane." Fury said dumbing his temples.
"Leo!" Jemma screamed.
"Yeah." He called.
"Help." Jemma yelled. Leo came running in.
"You can't be in labour, your only fourteen weeks." Leo said.
"Well something is causing this pain." Jemma cringed.
"Bloody hell this child is annoying." Jemma cursed.
"Please try to stay calm, it's probably due to stress." Leo pleaded.
"You try being ruddy pregnant!" Jemma yelled as she started to sob.
"Im...so over emotional right now!" She sobbed. Leo was very confused.
"Sweetie, it's all right." Leo said rubbing his hand on her back.
"No it's not!" She screamed. Leo was very confused on what to do.
"I can't believe you would think saying it's okay makes it so!" Jemma screeched.
"I'm sorry!" Leo said jumpily. Jemma went back to crying.
"Why do you put up with me? I'm so horrible." Jemma wept.
"No you aren't, I love you no matter what." Leo told her. She managed a weak smile.
Grant felt pain, he heard Clint and Natasha above him. Then he felt more pain. He moaned, hoping someone somewhere would end this suffering.
"I love you." He saw Skye smiling, a hand on a rather pregnant belly. She was sitting on the bed on the bus.
"Come on Grant." He heard a Clint yell. He became vaguely aware of hands lifting him onto a stretcher. He couldn't see anything, his world slowly becoming black.
"Dammit what is taking them so long?" Fury cursed.
"His wounds may have been deeper than we thought." Hill suggested.
"We don't have that time." Fury muttered.
"Maybe we could tie him out of surgery and make it look like he just got back from the mission, we only have ten minutes." Hill pointed out.
"Okay, that's what we'll do. I'll tell Romanoff and Barton. God I hope Skye doesn't kill me." Fury muttered.
"Skye." Natasha said looking rather upset.
"Yeah?" Skye asked.
"Grant got back from his mission, someone ratted him out. He is in surgery." Natasha told her. Skye burst into tears. Natasha rubbed her back.
"He'll be okay." Natasha encouraged her.
"How do you know?" Skye wept.
"Clint, he has been hurt so many times. I have stayed by his side for months waiting for him to wake up from a coma, he was in a plane crash. I know Grant will pull through." Natasha assured her, more confident.
"Can we go to medical?" Skye asked.
"He's still in surgery, but sure." Natasha said.
The medical wing at S.H.I.E.L.D. was always busy. The doctors and nurses had pretty much seen everything from frozen men to men who were half charred. But none of the staff was prepared to deal with a nervous/pissed off pregnant woman. She had finally stopped crying and now was freaking out.
"Just stay calm sweetie, he'll be fine." Coulson rubbed her back.
"No it's not! He's still in surgery! I'll kill whoever did this to him!" Skye screamed.
"Skye, try to stay calm." Coulson soothed.
"I can't! My fiancé is in there!" Skye screamed.
"Skye, calm down or I will knock you out." Natasha threatened. Skye did in fact calm down after that.
"Um...excuse me, are you here for Agent Ward?" a nurse asked. entering the waiting room. They all nodded and stood up.
"Agent Ward, is currently in a coma, I'm afraid we don't know if he's going to wake up." The nurse explained. Skye collapsed right then and there. Sobbing. She couldn't handle it.
"No...I can't do this alone!" She sobbed. Natasha couldn't bear it. She stormed out. Clint close in tow. May stood in the corner, heaving angry breaths. The world was slowly falling apart. What could've happened that made his injuries so bad?
Natasha stormed into the room where Ben was being kept, Clint came in right after her. Ben cracked a smile.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked. Natasha slammed him into the wall.
"You sick son of a bitch. You deserve hell!" Natasha screamed throwing him into the wall.
"Наталья! Остановить этот момент!" (Natalia! Stop this instant!) Clint shouted. Hearing her native tongue made her jump.
"что?" (what?) She hissed.
"Это никому не поможет!" (It will not help anyone!) Clint scolded her. Natasha left the room, Clint locked the door on his way out.
"Наталья, посмотри на меня." (Natalia, look at me.) Clint ordered pulling her into a hug. Tears streamed down her face.
"Skye doesn't deserve this. Grant doesn't deserve this." She begged.
"I know, it's not fair." Clint said.
"I want him to pay for every thing he did." Natasha growled.
"We can't do anything like this, Grant wouldn't want this." Clint told her. She nodded.
Jemma had finally relaxed a bit. After a few more rounds of crying then yelling she felt better. Leo had been worn out. She sat in the bath, letting the hot water soother her. Like all her worries and stress were floating away. She heard crying and a knock at the door. She was suddenly alert as she hopped out of the bathtub and pulled on her robe.
"Come in." She said. Leo entered, eyes red and puffy.
"What's wrong?" She asked in a very concerned voice.
"Grant...he's in a coma." Leo whispered.
"For how long?" Jemma asked.
"They don't know if he's gonna wake up." Leo said as tears began to run down both of their faces.
"He will, for Skye. I know it." Jemma bit her lip. He couldn't leave now.
Loki stood in a corner of the Helicarrier.
"Loki?" Skye asked in a hoarse voice.
"What troubles you?" he asked.
"Can you help me?" Skye asked.
"Depends." Loki said.
"Can you heal Grant and make him wake up?" Skye asked.
"I heard about that. I'm terribly sorry. My magic may only harm him. You and your child are stronger than most midguardians. I don't feel it is safe for me to. I am terribly sorry. But we must not lose hope." Loki told her.
"I can't do this without him." Skye murmured.
"He is much stronger than you think. He has battled faced his worst demon. He will survive." Loki assured her.
"How do you know?" Skye asked.
"I just do." Loki replied.
"I wish I had as much belief as everyone else." Skye murmured.
"Sir." Coulson said.
"Yes." Fury replied.
"I need the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Coulson said.
"Am I on trial?" Fury chuckled.
"No, but I need to know the chances of Ward waking up. The real chances." Coulson demanded. Fury exhaled.
"If I knew, I'd tell you. I know life gets rough sometimes, but he'll pull through. Hell, you were dead and yet here you are expecting a grandchild. I gotta say, your family is a strong one." Fury smiled.
"I wish Skye could see that. All she can think about is if this child will have a father or not." Coulson hung his head.
"Tell her Ward is not leaving this world on my watch." Fury told him.
