Author's note

Some lines taken from episode 19 'Only Light in the Darkness'

Chapter 50

"Well you don't look that much worse than the last time I saw you," Simmons said as she checked him over. Needless to say there had been hugs and happiness before her examination started, everyone glad that he had made it back. But eventually she put her foot down and said she needed to treat him. "This might scar though," she continued, indicating the cheek that had been split open during his fight back at the Hub. It probably should have been stitched but they just hadn't had the time or resources to do it then so he had told her not to worry. She hadn't been pleased then and she was even less pleased now.

"I think it'll make you even more sexy," Skye said from his other side, receiving a grin in return. "Not that you need to be any sexier."

"Thanks baby," he said leaning across to peck her lips, inadvertently putting strain on his cracked ribs and causing a wince.

"Did you just wince?" Skye demanded.

"It's just my ribs. There are a couple that are cracked. We already knew this," he replied soothingly.

"So how did it go?" Coulson asked as Simmons went about strapping his ribs.

"Pretty much how we expected. We got to the Fridge, got inside and I shot the guards up top with the modified ICER. Went through and took out everyone else there. We started going through and couldn't find any of the weapons, artefacts, anything Garrett really wanted. We found the falsified documents that detailed their destruction though," Ward explained.

"That can't have made him happy," Trip said with a grin.

"Oh he was pissed. Raged for a few minutes, but there wasn't much we could do. He just had to accept it for what it was," Ward said returning the grin.

"And the prisoners?" Fitz asked.

"No longer prisoners," Ward confirmed.

"So Ian Quinn.." Skye started to ask but trailed off looking at the ground. Truly, she couldn't hear that the man who shot her was free.

"Well there is some good news," Ward said, tilting her face up to look at him. "Ian Quinn will never be able to hurt you again."

"You killed him?" Coulson asked.

"Yes," Ward replied simply, keeping his eyes on Skye. "I couldn't handle him being free after what he did to you. And I couldn't take out Garrett yet, so…"

"I love you," Skye whispered leaning forward and kissing him. "Thank you." She hadn't realised how scared she was of the man who shot her being free until she felt the relief that he could never come after her again.

"How'd Garrett take that?" May asked.

"He wasn't happy," Ward answered, a dark look crossing his face.

He remembered the look of fury on his ex-SO's face when he had shot Quinn point blank in the head, sure to use a real gun and not the modified ICER he had used on all the SHIELD agents.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Garrett had demanded angrily.

"He was of no use to us," Ward said easily. "His only use before was as a front man, to provide money and resources. We're out of the shadows now – what use to we have with someone like him. Especially when he doesn't even have his assets anymore."

Garrett assessed him for a few moments. "Was it for her?"

"It was for you," Ward replied. "He has nothing to offer us anymore and he knows about the Deathlok program – he was a threat to you, so I eliminated him."

The only truth in what he was saying was that Quinn was a threat and so he eliminated him. It wasn't Garrett he was a threat to though; it was Skye and the rest of his family. Letting Raina out was one thing – it was a way to get answers. But Quinn? There was no way he was letting him back out on the streets.

Garrett searched his face and whatever he was looking for he must have found, because the fury drained out of his face and he offered Ward a grin.

"You're always looking out for me. What would I do without you?"

Ward shook off the memory and focused back in the present. "I managed to convince him I did it to protect him – that Quinn was of no use to him and if anything posed a threat to him. Luckily, he seemed to buy it."

"Are you sure he bought it?" Skye asked.

"If he hadn't bought it, I would know," he said darkly, but the team all knew exactly what he was saying.

"After the Fridge?" Coulson asked wanting to move away from the dark topic they were approaching.

"We headed to Havana as I expected, and he had me break Raina out. Shortly after I got her back to the base Skye called the first time about scrubbing our identities. After which he explained what he wanted from Raina and I gave her the hard drive. It took her a couple of hours to figure out she couldn't access it and then I was just about to call you when Skye called again," he summarised quickly. "Like I expected, he gave me a time limit. I have twenty four hours to get you to crack the drive. If I can't do it in that time he wants me to cross off the team and deliver you to him."

"Okay," Simmons said as she finally finished patching him up. "You need to take it easy for at least a few days."

"No can do baby sis," he replied. He held up his hand when she went to protest. "We need to move quickly. Once this is all done, I'll take a few weeks off and relax."

"I'm not happy about this," Simmons replied. "If you don't take it easy, you could do yourself some serious damage."

"I know. I'll try and not do any more damage," Ward conceded. "But I can't sit this out. That isn't an option."

Simmons stared him down but realised quickly he wouldn't back down on this. "Fine. But I'm gonna hold you to the few weeks off when this is all done."

"Deal." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for patching me up again."

"I would say 'anytime' but I would really rather I didn't have to do it so often," Simmons replied.

"Okay," Coulson said once Simmons seemed satisfied that Ward would take care of himself best he could. "We need a plan for how we're going to do all this," Coulson said.

Ward nodded. "Did you get into the NSA sat feeds in time?" he asked Skye.

"Are you kidding? It only took me an hour. I was tracking them on the bus and transferred it once we got here. We can track where every prisoner went when they left," she said a little smugly.

"Good. That's good," Ward said. "We'll start putting together a list of where they're going." Then he turned to Coulson. "You're going to want to head to Portland."

"Why?" Simmons asked.

Ward looked at Coulson not knowing how he should respond.

Finally Coulson responded. "Marcus Daniels. I'm assuming he was one of the inmates at the Fridge?" He received a nod from Ward. "He was obsessed with a cellist in Portland. That's where he will have gone."

"It's a lead we already have," Ward back him when he saw some protests about to start. "These people are highly dangerous and need to be brought back in as soon as possible. This is one that we know exactly where he'll be. It's the place to start."

"Okay Simmons, Fitz and Trip you're with me on that. What's next?"

May briefly looked a little put off that she wasn't going with Coulson but she masked it quickly. If he didn't want her there she hoped it was only because he needed her somewhere else.

"The hard drive," Ward said. "Where do you need to be to decrypt it?" he asked Skye.

"At 30 000 feet," Skye responded.

"So we'll need the bus," Ward said.

"The plane you used to get here operational?" Coulson asked Ward.

"It is."

"Then we'll take that so you can take the bus."

"Agreed."

"May I need you to repair the fuel lines on the bus. And then can you track down Hill?" Coulson asked her. He received a raised eyebrow from the pilot. "We need all the help we can get. And with Fury dead she's our best option."

May nodded. "I can find her."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Koenig called as they all started to move towards the door. "You can't just leave! There are protocols."

"Well, the whole agency has pretty much collapsed," Ward said easily. "So maybe now isn't the time to stand on protocol."

"Fine, forget protocol," Koenig conceded. "But what part of 'secret base' do you not understand? Fury said to let you in," he directed at Coulson, "and you show up with a bunch of people-"

"Agents," Coulson interjected.

"Agents then, whatever. The point is, they all know where this place is now, and I don't know them. And this one," he said pointing at Ward. "Seems to have been part of the team that took the Fridge! That doesn't sound like he's on our side."

"He's on our side," Coulson told Koenig firmly. "Him being on the team that raided the Fridge is part of a plan that we made with Fury months ago. There is a lot more going on here that you are aware of. And we still consider it our duty to protect the people of this world."

"That's moving, truly," Koenig replied. "But nobody goes anywhere until they've gone through orientation."

"What the hell is orientation?" Trip asked.

Koenig grinned. "Follow me."


"All right," Koenig said as they entered a room none of them had previously been in. "Just gonna need you guys to answer a few questions, a few psychoanalytic, non sequitur questions."

"A lie detector," Coulson surmised.

"The lie detector, Agent Coulson," Koenig corrected. "This baby measures galvanic skin response, oxygen consumption, micro-expressions, bio feedback, brain waves, pupil dilation, voice biometrics. Ninety-six variable in all. Fury designed this himself. He wanted a lie detector Romanov couldn't beat."

"Did she?" Trip asked.

Koenig scoffed. "Like Fury would tell. You all have to pass this before you can leave."

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can all get to work," Coulson said, looking at his team. So who wants to go first?"

"I will," Ward volunteered. "After all, everyone else already knows my secrets."

"Okay then," Koenig said. "If everyone else can just wait out in the hall."

Everyone turned to leave except Coulson who waited until last.

"What happens if someone doesn't pass?" he asked once everyone had cleared the room.

"I'm authorised to incapacitate them," Koenig said simply as he hooked Ward up to the lie detector. "You can stay if you want," he directed at Coulson. "But I'll need you to stand off to the side, out of Agent Ward's line of sight, remaining quiet for the duration of the test."

"Ward?" Coulson asked the agent, unsure if he would want him to stay or not.

"It's up to you. You already know everything there is to know about me," Ward said easily.

"I'll stay for this one," Coulson decided. There could be some trouble with some of Ward's answers after all given that he had previously been Hydra. Koenig clearly knew there was more to Ward's story given their earlier conversation and he wouldn't put it past him to use this lie detector as an excuse to take him out. There was no way Coulson was letting that happen.

Koenig fiddled with the control panel for a minute and then looked up at Ward. "Okay let's begin. We're going to start with a few easy questions to establish a base line. What's your full name?"

"Grant Douglas Ward."

"List your immediate family."

"By blood, I have two parents, a sister and two brothers. Not all are still alive and I have no contact with the ones that are. But the people I consider family? They're in this base now – Coulson, May, Fitz, Simmons and Skye. Even Trip."

"I'm getting some spikes on your baseline. Are you in pain?"

Ward looked at him incredulously for a moment. "You watched Simmons patch me up less than an hour ago. You know exactly how injured I am. I have broken ribs. Of course I'm in pain."

"Oh yeah. Right. Try not to move okay? It might affect the results."

"I'll do my very best," Ward said, just barely holding in a sarcastic tone.

"What is the difference between an egg and a rock?"

"Egg's a food, rock's a weapon."

"Have you ever heard of Project Insight?"

"No," Ward said honestly.

"Ever made contact with Alexander Pierce?"

"I've met him a few times, while with Garrett. Just a brief greeting at most and then waiting for Garrett to be done."

"You wash up on a deserted island alone. Sitting on the sand is a box. What's in that box?"

"Would depend on the island. Where it is, how big, what's the terrain? Is there fresh water?"

"Just say the first thing that comes to mind."

"A pistol."

"SHIELD no longer exists, the agency has been labelled a terrorist organisation. So why are you here?"

"I don't care how they label SHIELD. I'm an agent. It's my duty."

Koenig raised an eyebrow at something on his screens and then pulled out a pistol, pointing it at the ceiling. "I'm gonna ask you a follow up. Agent Ward, are you associated with Hydra?"

"Yes. I suppose we all are, given that they've infiltrated the highest levels of our organisation. But I am, even more so. My SO, a man I looked up to for a long time is Hydra. Until a few months ago, I was Hydra. So yes, I'm associated with Hydra."

At this he pointed the pistol at Ward, clicking the safety off. "Are you Hydra now?"

"Not anymore. I'm loyal to SHIELD. To Coulson, to this team that became my family. I believe that it's my duty to be here, to stand with SHIELD. But more than that? I'm here because this is where my family is. Where the woman I love is. There's nowhere else in the world I would rather be."

"Well okay then," Koenig said, clicking the safety back on and lowering the pistol. Then he turned to Coulson. "You didn't think it was necessary to inform me that one of your agents was part of Hydra?"

"It was classified at the highest level," Coulson answered. "The only people that knew were my team, Fury, Hill, Barton, Romanov and Cap. I don't know you any more than you know my team. I wasn't going to just reveal that information to you. Ward has been working for us while pretending to be Hydra for months. If word got out about that it would endanger his life. I wasn't prepared to take that risk."

Koenig stared at him and then nodded. "Okay Agent Ward, let's get you a lanyard."


"Hey," Fitz said, approaching Ward after having completed his lie detector test.

"Hey," Ward replied. "You got your lanyard?"

"Yep. The questions were a bit stupid if you ask me," Fitz replied, holding his lanyard up for show.

"Agreed." Ward looked down at his own lanyard and then back up at Fitz. "Who's still left to go?"

"Skye and Trip," Fitz replied, his nose wrinkling when he said the other specialist's name.

"You don't like Trip?" Ward asked.

"He's a little insufferable isn't he," Fitz said. "Wish you were coming along after this Daniels fellow instead of him."

"Trip's a good guy," Ward replied.

"Yeah he's terrible," Fitz said, not even having heard what Ward said. "A horrible person."

Something clicked in Ward's head and he looked closely at the engineer before speaking again. "You sure this is just about him? Not about Jemma?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fitz asked.

"Everything is falling apart Fitz. We don't know how this is going to play out. If there's something you want to tell her, don't wait. Because we don't really know how many tomorrows we have left."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe Simmons should check you for a head injury," Fitz scoffed.

Ward grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing the smaller man to meet his eyes. "You're my little brother Fitz. I love you. And I want you to be happy. If you feel something more for Jemma, you need to tell her. She's your best friend. She deserves the truth from you. And you owe it to yourself to be honest with her. It's what you've always been with each other."

Fitz considered his words carefully and then leaned forward, embracing the specialist in a hug. "What if she doesn't feel the same way?" he asked quietly.

"Then she doesn't feel the same way. It'll hurt like hell, but isn't it worth the risk to find out? And isn't it better to know than to watch her be with someone else and wonder if it could have been you," Ward said as he returned the hug.

Fitz pulled back and looked at Ward's face. "You're right. I should tell her."

"Good," Ward said. "And be nice to Trip, he truly isn't a bad guy."

"I know. But it just.."

"You're just jealous," Ward finished for him. "Trust me, you don't need to explain. I completely understand that feeling. You better get going."

"Yeah," Fitz agreed turning to walk away. "And hey, thanks."

"Anytime," Ward agreed. "You can always talk to me. But just remember, as much as you're my brother, she's my sister. So if you hurt her-"

"I wouldn't. Not ever," Fitz interrupted. "But you're threat is dually noted, just in case I do."

"Go finish getting ready," Ward said with a grin. "I'm gonna see if Skye's done and then we'll catch up with you before you leave."

Fitz nodded and headed off, Ward watching him go. He wasn't sure how Simmons felt, but he really hoped that they could work it out; that they could be as happy as he was with Skye.