It'd been months since he'd run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and, much to his surprise, nobody had come for him. He'd been looking over his shoulder for months and jumping from hotel to hotel. Nothing, nobody tailing him, nobody watching him from a few buildings over.

He supposed that Coulson decided to give him that second chance he was talking about but with his own mind. It meant a lot that Coulson actually believed in Ward enough that he didn't at least send someone to keep an eye on him but he didn't plan on taking this opportunity for granted. In fact, he figured he'd try and repay them.

He was in a parking garage with binoculars. He'd been doing some digging for a few weeks now and he'd been able to track down a few old Hydra agents who had escaped S.H.I.E.L.D's attention.

The next one on his list was one of Garrett's old drinking buddies, Carlos Martinez. Ward was sitting in a black Dodge Charger a few parking spaces away from the car Martinez had currently occupied. He was meeting with someone else, most likely a corrupt politician, Ward would help handle him in due time.

He needed to start small, you cut off one head and two more take its place. Start at the bottom so there's nobody left to replace the heads.

Whoever Martinez had been talking to had left by now and now the Hydra agent was leaving the parking garage, meaning it was time for Ward to follow him. If he still had S.H.I.E.L.D. resources he would put a tracking device on the car and be done with it. But he didn't have that luxury anymore, he threw that luxury away. He had to do things himself now, the old fashioned way, which meant tailing him. He was a little out of practice, it wasn't something he'd had to do in a while and he had to be extra careful. He'd transition from directly behind Martinez, to two car lengths behind, to one, to two, and repeat.

Being directly behind him at traffic lights was concerning. He'd met Martinez a few times but probably not enough to leave a lasting impression. Even still, Ward would expect him to probably remember his face even with his facial hair.

Martinez pulled into a warehouse where he was welcomed by a few other men. No recognizable faces, they were dressed in casual clothing but he was able to recognize knives hidden in their boots. Probably Wenoka Squeeze Lock Knives, short blade, easy to be concealed and used as a last resort most of the time. He knew they'd have one because it was a blade most Hydra operatives carried with them. He also saw pistols tucked into the back of their waistbands. Most likely FN Five-seveNs, standard Hydra side-arms. He got out of his car, making his way over to a roof he could climb up to check out what he'd be dealing with.

He found his way onto the warehouse rooftop, moving slowly over to a skylight and peering into the warehouse. Inside there were over thirty men, several weapons caches, filled with M4A1s, grenades, even RPG-7s and advanced weaponry that they shouldn't be getting their hands on. It was disconcerting to say the least and he knew he wouldn't be able to handle this himself like the previous times.

But he couldn't just leave this warehouse alone which meant… he was gonna need to tip S.H.I.E.L.D.

He'd been dealing with smaller Hydra threats on his own for a while now. Usually it was a few old Hydra hang outs that he knew about like the Goldbrix Tavern or it was hunting down people still loyal to the cause. They were mostly unimportant people, just soldiers who wouldn't give up on a now dead organization, people he could cross off. He knew S.H.I.E.L.D. probably didn't like it, it was one of the things he didn't like about S.H.I.E.L.D, their capture instead of kill mentality. The most effective way of dealing with a threat, in his opinion, was to make it so they weren't a threat anymore.

He couldn't do that this time which meant he'd need to call. He still kept his phone from when he called Coulson, the one that was easily trackable.

He left the roof quietly and headed back to his car, making sure he kept his lights off and keeping his eyes on the doors of the warehouse at all times. He looked down at his phone, sucking in a breath before he began dialing. He did this before but that call felt like a freebee, he doubted Coulson would be overjoyed to be hearing from him again but there wouldn't be any room for smalltalk.

It took three rings before the phone picked up and the voice on the other end caused all the breath in his body to leave him.

"Hello?"

It was Skye.

He was frozen, something that didn't happen to him. His breathing was uneven and he felt like he might pass out, something that hadn't happened to him since he was a child.

He knew that he would inevitably encounter her in some capacity if he kept going after S.H.I.E.L.D's biggest threat. He just foolishly told himself he'd be ready when that happened. Clearly he was wrong.

"Hello? Anyone there?" She asked and he realized he'd been silent for nearly half a minute. He gulped, gathering his strength and spoke.

"Warehouse. Corner of Dillon and Montauk. Might wanna check it out," he said it all calmly even though he was anything but calm on the inside.

"Ward?"

He hung up after she said that, not wanting to talk to her anymore after that. It was more for her benefit than it was for his. She hated him, no amount of good deeds would change that and that wasn't why he was doing this. He was doing it because he wanted to do something right for once. One of the right things to do was keeping his distance from her, letting her live her life without his shadow constantly lingering over her. Letting her live without the constant reminder of the way he used her, used the team, for someone who used him.

He was there the next day to see them arrive at the warehouse, the team was there. Fitz was there. He looked good, more comfortable out in the field than he remembered him being. He held his ICER with more confidence. He wasn't going in, obviously, but instead he controlled his drones to surveill the inside of the warehouse. The team went in and soon enough they were hauling multiple unconscious bodies out of the building.

Then he saw her carrying some out.

He knew she was there, he'd heard the sound of concussive blasts but this was the first time he saw her. She looked good, she always looked good. She changed her hair again, it was cut into a short and wavy bob and it seemed like she got a full body suit now. Looked comfy, breathable, fit her form nicely.

He shut his eyes and shook his head. He wasn't allowed to think about her like that.

When he opened them he met her eyes across from the alley he was standing in. She was frozen in place much like he was. None of the other team members seemed to notice.

He gave her a quick wave goodbye before heading back into the alley. He knew she was running his way, probably going to try and catch him and try to take him in or chew him out and say that this doesn't change anything.

He's gone before she can do any of those things.