Summary:
Ward takes the opportunity to take away some pebbles in his shoe.
Me too!
In particular I would like to address Simmons' death promise and some very bothersome speech by May, in particular when she said:
"Anytime I see his face, I wanna punch something!"
After that sentence I started feeling the same about her!
Comments are greatly appreciated: please, let me know what you think!
Chapter:
When he managed to open his eyes, the first thing Ward saw was a piece of clothing that someone was handing him.
He couldn't understand where he was...
He couldn't remember what happened...
Was he dreaming?
Was this a nasty prank?
Then all the memories rushed back in his mind: the Terrigenesis, the heat, the terrible pain when Hive slipped out of him, the fight, and the fire… a sea, an ocean of purifying white hot fire…
And an incredible, unbelievable, unthinkable thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
He was free.
He couldn't believe that!
For the first time in his whole life he was really, completely free!
And he said it, because without hearing it he couldn't grasp the immensity of the fact:
"I'm free…"
"Yes, you are"
He raised his head to see Coulson above him…
The circumstance reminded him something he would have preferred to forget…
They looked to each other in the eyes: Ward's beautiful honey brown eyes into Coulson's wrinkly blue eyes…
There wasn't hate in the older man.
There wasn't anger in the younger man.
There was peace, and reciprocal forgiveness.
Coulson spoke first:
"Don't you worry.
I will not crush you… again…"
Then, giving him the cloth:
"Take this and cover yourself.
You're naked and here there are two ladies who might be scandalized…"
May scoffed and said:
"It's nothing I have not already seen!"
And Simmons:
"Talk for yourself! I don't mind the sight!"
And, blushing slightly after realizing what she had just said, she added immediately after, like trying to change the subject:
"Ward…
I mean…
I intend…
I don't believe I'm saying this…
You're… a god!"
Ward answered almost annoyed:
"I'm seriously starting to think that you can't understand what the word 'God' stands for!
You applied it to Thor, to Hive… and now to me?!
There are only two possibilities: either you have a very low concept of Divinity, or a very high concept of creatures!
…
I'm not a god, for heaven's sake!
Not in the slightest!"
Ward was blushing due to his nudity, noticing the stares the two women were shamelessly reserving to him, and took the piece of cloth, fixating carefully it around his hips.
Then grabbed the hand that Coulson was still extending to him, straightening himself in a standing position in all his glorious height.
His expression became hard.
He was in front of people that hated him…
He was in front of people that repeatedly tried to kill him…
But he just saved the life of all of them, of everybody in the base… and of everybody on Earth, to be true.
And he didn't hate them any more.
But he wanted to understand their positions, and he asked for it, showing a confidence and flaunting a cockiness he didn't really feel.
He first asked to Coulson:
"So, Coulson? Why don't you kill me… again?"
"I think once was enough." Coulson answered.
Then, turning to May:
"What about you, May?
You hoped to have a chance to kill me, too, didn't you?
Wasn't that the 'plus side'?
…
Or, maybe, you could be satisfied in simply punching me…
Isn't that what you wanted to do every time you saw my face?
Go on with that!
Punch me!
Get all of that baggage out: you will feel better, afterwards!"
May scoffed and remained silent and still, folding her arms and averting her gaze.
Ward turned his stare on Simmons:
"What about you, Jemma?
Have you had enough of shooting at me?
Or do you want to use me like a target a little bit more?"
She diverted her stare away, directing it to the floor, and dismissed herself saying:
"I better go check on Fitz.
The poison I gave him is not lethal, but it can bring several… nuisances.
Excuse me."
Coulson, now sincerely curious, stated:
"You have changed.
And I'm talking about a radical, epochal change.
How did you manage to do that?
And, how the hell could you manage to survive and endure all of that?"
And Ward answered:
"I'm a survivor.
It's my nature; you should know that by now.
But, above all, Someone gave me a second chance.
He saved me from everything, he redeemed me, intervening just an instant before it was too late."
"And who was that?"
Ward said that with bitterness, looking Coulson straight in the eyes:
"It wasn't you, old man."
Coulson replied, resigned:
"No, I'm afraid I'm not."
Then, as an afterthought, Ward added:
"You, Coulson, asked me, two years ago: - Who are you, without him? -
I never had the possibility to answer.
But I can answer you now.
I'm a man that has been left alone all his life to face troubles too big for him, for any person.
I'm a man that had been convinced all his life to be weak and worthless.
I had been convinced that anything I said or did was meaningless.
But Somebody chose me, prepared me, trusted me and helped me fulfill a grand plan.
I really am part of His Grand Plan!
I see that now with an incredible clarity.
Who am I?
I'm a human being, and I point out this, because it seems you never noticed the fact.
And I have been chosen to be the one to save the Earth from the greatest threat of all times.
And, until now, I did this alone, without any human help.
I've been the whole solution.
And I got it done."