A/N: One of the biggest sticking points when I originally outlined this story was where to branch off from the current "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." storyline, "Uprising". Agent Ward was the big problem here. If you haven't read "Power of Persuasion" (even though I can probably be 95% confident that most of you have), I've already branched off from "Uprising" in one major way: in my world, Garrett is *not* the Clairvoyant. Which of course, means nothing about his overall loyalties...or Ward's. However, it was made pretty abundantly clear in "Providence" that Ward's loyalties are to Garrett, and anything else (even a potential romance with Skye) would never be primary for the character. The key in this story has been finding a point where I could branch off with the "SHIELD" characters and still remain true to where I suspect the show will go with them in the future. Up until now Ward wasn't settled enough for me to feel confident with developing his character. "Providence" seems to have cleared that up a bunch (unfortunately). So the end of "Providence" will be where we pick things up with our friends Skye and Agent Coulson...

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"Grant Ward," he declared to the computer that was pointing its turret at him, "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

The snow-covered 'boulder' in front of him opened its door with a gentle whoosh. "Welcome, Agent Ward," the computer voice gently replied, "we've been expecting you."

Ward smiled as the door fully opened to reveal his 'target' waiting patiently for his arrival. "Thought you might have given me bad directions," he teased.

"At least the machine gun didn't start shooting at you," Skye teased back before her mind fully took in the look of the man standing in front of her. The sight concerned her. "You okay?" she asked, examining the gash on the side of her S.O.'s head and the trail of blood drying down the side of his face.

Ward blew off her concern. "It's just a scratch," he replied...until he started to take off his backpack. "Maybe a broken rib or two," he admitted.

Skye took the pack, lifting the weight from her injured partner. "Come on," she told him. "Simmons should take a look at you." Skye's smile returned as her hopes lifted with Ward's smile. "Then maybe we can get that drink."

"Deal," Ward agreed. His smile turned as he followed Skye down the corridor. God, she is so easy, he thought. I'll have that password and be out of here before she can recover from the hangover. Then maybe Garrett will buy me that dinner he owes me...

Skye had to fight to keep herself composed as Ward's thoughts floated through her mind. I have to be imagining this, she thought, that can't be right...she took in a deep breath as she walked, then let it out slowly, using her father's teachings to forge a stronger bond between her mind and the mind of her S.O...and once that connection was established, it took all of Skye's rapidly fraying emotional control to keep herself from turning the man into a whimpering, suffering, babbling vegetable where he stood.

When the rest of the group watched Ward follow into the main room behind Skye, May, Fitz and Simmons all sighed with relief at seeing their team whole and together once again. Coulson would have been equally relieved...were it not for the look of barely controlled, burning rage that he saw on Skye's face. "Skye?" Coulson asked in wary confusion. "What's wrong?"

Skye's anger overrode any hesitation she might have had over telling the group what she had 'heard'. "You've been a very busy guy, haven't you, 'Grant'?" she purred, faking seduction before her voice turned into pure pain and fury. "Killing Agent Hand and her team, breaking Quinn and Raina out of prison and taking the Fridge. All part of your service...to HYDRA."

The room erupted into chaos almost instantly. May, Fitz and Simmons stared at Skye in disbelief, assuming that the girl had finally snapped. "Sk...Skye," Simmons stammered, trying and failing to keep her composure, "this is Agent Ward. Grant. He's one of the good guys. He's most definitely not a..."

"Traitor," Coulson finally gasped out in shock. In contrast to his team, Coulson had no doubts about Skye's sanity or the validity of her words...especially when they could have only come from one source. Not that it made hearing the truth any less painful. "You're HYDRA?"

Ward paled with shock. "What!?" he exclaimed. "No! I was there, in the Hub with you guys, remember?" He turned to Skye. "Skye, what could possibly make you think that..."

All protests stopped in the blink of an eye. Coulson had sprinted across the room at superhuman speeds and was holding Ward high above his head. With one hand. By the *neck*. "Give me one good reason not to squeeze the life out of you. Right. Now," he growled.

Silence filled the room as most of the agents surrounding Ward and Coulson found themselves too dumbfounded to speak. The one agent who was able to find her voice, though, found herself being the voice of reason only with the greatest of reluctance. "AC," Skye insisted calmly, "we need to find out why he's here and what his boss wants, at the very least. He wouldn't have come back if HYDRA didn't think they could get something from us. Something they need."

While the voice that Skye used could have no permanent effects on the tiger-possessed agent, Coulson was still moved by the truth behind her words. He lowered Ward down until the traitor was able to stand on his own two feet...without ever letting go of his vise-grip on the man's neck. "Leave us," Coulson ordered. "Mr. Ward and I need to continue this discussion in private." No one moved, so Coulson repeated the command with a bit more force the second time. "GET OUT!" he yelled.

The agents quietly filed out of the room one by one, until only Skye was left with the two men. She patted the shoulder of her clearly furious and hurting friend in a gesture of support. Coulson stopped her exit, covering Skye's hand with his free one and sharing a plea of unspoken communication with the younger woman. Understanding immediately what Coulson was trying to ask her without words, Skye quietly, solemnly, nodded once...

and disappeared.

Ward's jaw dropped, shocked for a second time by the behavior of someone he thought he knew so well. "Wh...what happened to Skye?" he gasped out quietly. "Were did she g..."

"Quiet," Coulson ordered Ward, cutting off the question that he had absolutely no interest in answering. "Sit. Down. I'm going to ask the questions around here. And you *will* answer them truthfully. For *once*."

Ward continued to feign innocence. "Sir, you can't possibly believe..."

"I believe in evidence," Coulson countered quickly. "And if Skye says your loyalties are to HYDRA, then that's all the evidence I need. First question. Why are you here?"

Ward opened his mouth to attempt to protest further...but when Coulson took two steps forward and growled at him, 'Ward' finally gave up the act. "Do you *really* think your threats and half-tortures are going to scare me into talking?"

"Oh, I don't need torture," Coulson argued calmly. "I have something that's much, *much* more effective."

Ward let out an arrogant chuckle. "What's that, Coulson?" he mocked the older man. "Your sparkling personal..." The tease died on Ward's lips as his face paled. His eyes began to dart around the room, looking at his surroundings with an ever-growing sense of panic. "I can't see!" he gasped out in shock. "Why can't I see? What kind of drug did you dose me with? What the hell did you do to me?!"

Coulson smiled, allowing himself one moment to be impressed by Skye's growing control and creativity before forcing himself to continue. "First question. Why are you here?"

Answer him, Skye projected into Ward's mind. Tell him *everything*.

"Skye pulled one of her super-double-secret encoding jobs on the hard drive she used to back up the bus' data," Ward explained quickly. "When no one at Garrett's base could crack the code they sent me to get it out of Skye..." Ward felt like the wind had been knocked out of him when he finished. "Why did I say that?" he gasped out, shocked by his own instant level of honesty. "Why in God's name did I just say that?!"

Coulson ignored the question in favor of delivering another one of his own. "Second question. How long have you been with HYDRA?"

"Since high school," Ward blurted out. "John Garrett recruited me." Shocked at his free, open and honest answers to Coulson's questions, Ward wanted to cover his mouth with his hands to keep himself from blurting out anything else...until he realized something far more terrifying than the truth. "Why can't I move my hands? Coulson, what kind of sick game are you playing? What the hell is this?!"

"Next question," Coulson demanded, ignoring Ward's pleas for information. "Did Fury and May want you on this team, or did Garrett?"

"Garrett," Ward replied with a groan, clearly hating himself more and more even as his mouth betrayed him let again. "He really, *really* wants to know how Fury brought you back from the dead so that he can replicate the process."

Coulson leaned in close enough that Ward could feel the older man's hot breath blowing across his mouth and nose. "Last question. Does Garrett know about Skye?"

Ward frowned, clearly confused by the question. "No. What does he need to know about Skye? Yeah, she's a good hacker, but..."

Coulson stood up, having heard all he could stand to hear for the moment. He turned to the younger woman who had assisted him in the interrogation. "Lead Mr. 'Ward' to whatever this place has for jail cells around here. Oh, and Skye?"

Skye looked up from where she was forcing Ward to a standing position with his hands safely secured behind him. "Yes, AC?"

"Thank you," Coulson replied, his voice radiating warmth and sincere gratitude.

Skye smiled as she pushed Ward ahead of her with a little more force than was necessary for the job. "Believe me," she insisted as her mind wandered to how close she had come to letting herself fall for the sick twisted neo-Nazi lover in front of her...

"It has been my genuine pleasure."

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