Summary:
Life gets back to normal… if we can talk about normality within this AU!
And Skye realizes the fact that she had finally understood and forgiven Ward.
Comments are greatly appreciated: please, let me know what you think!
Chapter:
Quake was monopolizing all the news in U.S.
The public opinion was realizing that all these earthquakes weren't something due to the normal seismic activity. Moreover, some paparazzi were lucky enough to take some pictures of a mysterious girl dressed like an emo, with long black hair and eyes hidden by dark sunglasses, suspiciously always present on the epicenter of said earthquakes, and even more suspiciously being the only one who left unscattered those places, in spite of all the debris and the destruction.
The newspapers titles where explicit:
"Quake Not a Natural Disaster, it was a Person".
"Who is Quake?"
"Hero or Rogue?"
"North Dakota Experiences First Earthquake in 40 Years"
"Earthquake Centered in Fargo Shakes Up North Dakota"
Ward was considering all those news, finding in Quake's targets a clear common pattern. He understood what Skye was up to, and he agreed with her.
It wouldn't be him to stop her, for sure! But he had to keep an eye on her, to avoid her been captured by SAP, the Sokovia Accords Police.
He had realized, also, that she was trying to move randomly.
This certainly did not optimize her movements, but if someone had figured out what her goals were, and certainly someone had, at least it wasn't sure if the next target would be the closest, in the linear distance.
He remained hidden in the dark, keeping her safe without her knowing. With such a bodyguard, she could sleep soundly!
But she didn't know, so she, fortunately, kept as much cautious as possible.
…
Skye managed to contact Charles' wife to give her the money she stole from the Bank some months ago, and that she opportunely cleaned up using her hacker skills. She also gifted Charles' daughter Robin with the little homonym bird wood sculpture her father did for her… and she gave them also her own father's address, so that they could have a shelter.
"You're too kind." Charles' wife was saying.
"I'm just keeping a promise" she answered.
But she couldn't remain there much: she could perceive that Shield was on her ass, so she quickly left and ran away, and, when she was hidden in an alley, she used a shockwave to jump on the roof of a building and disappear.
After some instants, Coulson and Mack arrived running, but she had already flown away.
Coulson was cursing:
"I had her! Damn, I had her!"
Mack didn't say anything, but frustration was clear also on his face.
The two were returning back to the SUVs, but suddenly stopped when they heard a voice saying:
"She's fantastic, isn't she?"
Mack and Coulson turned towards the voice, incredulous to their ears.
"Ward!" Coulson exclaimed, surprised.
Then he added, more angrily:
"Where the hell have you been, all this time?"
Ward was leaning against the wall with his back, hands in his pockets, eyes closed, a sly smile, unfailing attitude, clean cut hair and flaunting a total confidence in himself: he wore black trousers, black boots, white t-shirt and a leather jacket, as usual. He seemed a lot like the 'post Shield – Hydra reveal' Ward.
Coulson continued yelling at him, approaching, and gesturing towards the roof of the building:
"You guaranteed me that you would do everything in your power to help, to protect and to save her!
Even from herself!
And look the mess she is in now!
What the hell have you done, all this time?
You played with fire?"
Ward replied, peacefully:
"Yeah… we can say I played with fire, in a certain sense… very dangerous fire.
And, doing so, I kept my promise.
I saved her… from herself.
Now we must only keep an eye on her, to protect her from the external world.
But don't worry: the worst is over."
Coulson scoffed.
"Can I offer you a cup of coffee?" Ward asked politely to Coulson and Mack, looking at the two of them.
"Just to make up for the lost time and align us on what to do next…" he added, raising an eyebrow, more seriously.
Coulson replied:
"I know a good bar near here.
The sandwiches are fantastic and I'm starving!"
"Let's go for lunch, then!" exclaimed Ward.
"The bill is on me" he added with a charming smile.
…
Daisy… Skye… Mary Sue… Quake… even she didn't know what her name was anymore… was an expert in hiding and in living under the radar of whatever espionage agency, private or governmental.
She traveled only by car, an old grey Sedan she bought cash a pair of months ago.
She slept in the car, or in some cheap motel just to be able to take a shower sometimes, and to have a change of clothes.
She had resumed her lone wolf life, and all this solitude allowed her to ponder over all the happenings of the last intense three years, from when she joined Shield: a new family, the Hydra reveal and all that mess with Ward, her powers, her parents, the Inhumans, Hive…
It was really a lot, and she hadn't occasion to reflect on all those things, before, due to the frantic life she conducted.
In particular, she had to work on the idea deeply ingrained in her for years that she hated Ward.
Was it really true?
Or, on the contrary, was it true she was in love with him, like Sister Bertha said?
She was sure of only one incontrovertible fact: Ward didn't leave her indifferent.
She had still to clear her mind about him: he had been so unpredictable! First good, then bad, then good again…
He really did some horrible things, in the past, but… had she ever bothered to investigate why?
Skye found herself talking as if Ward was there in front of her:
"World really turns, turns, turns.
Yesterday I pontificated against you, judging and condemning; today I find myself exactly in your same cloths, feeling a lot less inclined to judge and condemn…
You betrayed Shield.
But what did I do?
Exactly the same! And twice!
But I wasn't posed in Vault D.
You killed your parents, yeah.
But when my mother was draining life from me, I tried to kill her, too. It was only my father's arrival that anticipated me, and prevented me from becoming my mother's murderer.
She was a decent person; my father, too.
They didn't born evil.
But something dreadful happened to them, and they radically changed.
Even to you something dreadful happened, for the most part of your life… and this changed you, until you defeated Hive.
You tortured Bobbi and almost killed her, even if I still don't know why… and I'm going to ask you.
But what did I do?
I painfully hit and almost killed Mack, my own friend.
I didn't want to be forgiven… but he forgave me nevertheless.
You seldom asked me, with your eyes, to be forgiven, but I never forgave you.
I've understood it: life is not white or black, but there are infinite shades of grey.
The human soul is an abyss of mysteries, of complexity, of unfathomable feelings: probably eternity would not be enough to fully understand it.
Perhaps only God can comprehend us completely.
You too, Ward, were not born evil: Fitz was right!
But you were forced to change, to be able to survive, against your will.
Now I understand…"
…
She continued her reasoning:
"We are all so weak!
Why had I to be so cruel with you?
Am I not as weak as I thought you were?
When you were in Vault D and I first met you and saw the scars on your wrists and forehead…
You tried to kill yourself, more than once!
What had you to endure, to try to commit suicide?
You are so much stronger than me!
What amount of desperation could have ever brought you to attempt that?
I never cared to ask.
I never showed to care for you, for the true you.
I probably fell in love with an image I had of you, but I ran away when the reality surfaced… and what did I say then? I said to a suicide survivor that he should have tried harder!
I was an ugly bitch.
… but is it really true that I fell in love with an image I had of you?
Ok, I couldn't know you were playing a double game, but I think I managed nevertheless to dig in you enough to grasp your true nature: you were so broken, and you were struggling… but, at the end, I was really convinced, when I said it, that you were a good man.
And it seems that, in the end, the facts have proved me right.
Finally you have been able to show everyone that you are really a good man!"
…
"They say that words kill more than swords.
It is true.
There are many ways to kill a man, and I used them all, against you.
I used words to kill you, more than once: that time on the plane, for example, when you were helping us to take down the Hydra base in the Arctic, when you were trying to open your heart to us, trying to make us understand you, when you were desperately seeking help, I said:
"I'm so glad I shot you".
What a sensitive girl, really!
Yeah… I was proud of myself for having shot you in the back like a coward, when you were turned, because you brought me to my father and I didn't like him and I was ashamed of him, and because I wanted you to suffer like you made me suffer.
But there was really definitely nothing to be glad of!
The fact was that I wanted to show May and Coulson that you didn't affect me anymore.
I wanted to be accepted by them, so I would have done anything to please them…
I killed Donnie Gill to be accepted by them.
I molded myself into a soldier, into a murderer to please them …
I would have done anything, also, to make up for the evil done by my parents and the shame I felt about them…
I really am not any different from the old you: only, your mentor was called Garrett, while mine were called Coulson and May. Nevertheless, even after I betrayed Shield, more than once, I was treated much better.
And this isn't fair."
…
"Ward, if you can hear me, I would like to apologize to you, for stepping on your fingers while you were trying to hold yourself!
I would like to apologize to you, for pushing you down the precipice, instead of giving you a hand to grab and bring you back!
Now I realize it was not only Hive that stole my freedom.
It was Shield that I resigned my freedom to, my free will!
I let them all control me, mold me into what they needed.
Not anymore.
I'm done with Shield.
And Ward, if you can hear me, please forgive me."
…
She didn't know, but Ward could hear her.