/I'm sorry. That's all I can say, I'm sorry, forgive me for being so shit. Warnings in this chapter for self-harm or references to at least. Also references to suicide/attempts. Obviously this is AU now, considering the whole Ward/Hydra thing. In this story, SHIELD was never taken over by Hydra, Ward is just the normal good/dorky/awkward Grant Ward we all love./

The next few days were spent in a tense silence for most of the team. Skye remained in the lab, rousing a few times to stumble to the bathroom or absently drink some soup. She was so out of it that she barely noticed the flavour, barely comprehended the calories and the fat. Jemma took this as a small victory.

The team spent their days busying themselves with workouts or projects. Coulson had called into HQ, informing the team there that they were all coming down with the flu and were going to stay in the air until they all recovered. He wasn't going to tell them about Skye until the girl herself was awake enough to have some input but he'd needed a reason for his team to be taken off missions for the time being.

During the night of the first day, Jemma had noticed something else. They'd all been so busy worrying about her weight and her health, Simmons only concentrating on her arms enough to slide a needle through her skin. But she'd taken the girls hand, brushing her fingers over her palm and then under the bright lights of the lab, she'd saw them. Faint white lines marring the otherwise clear skin, neat and precise, all lined up across her wrist and arm, stopping just short of the inside of her elbow.

Jemma had pretty much broken down, hands fluttering over the scars, tears on her cheeks. "Skye, god, why? I'm so sorry." she'd whispered, sobbing and pressing her face to the girls arm, eventually crying herself out and falling asleep. She'd awoken to a crick in her neck and Coulson watching her. He said nothing, handing her a tissue and silently waiting for her to talk. Then she'd blurted out about the scars and her own fears for Skye's life, admitting that Grant wasn't the only one concerned about Skye taking her own life. She'd started crying again and Fitz had wrapped his arms around her, moving her to the kitchen where they drank tea and spoke in the way that only they could. She told him how she should have noticed, they'd had to put Skye in a cold bath to bring her temperature down and the images of that were blurring with images that may or may not have been real. Had Skye had scars anywhere else? Had they been pink or red or new? Was she still hurting herself and Jemma hadn't noticed?

By the second night, everyone knew about the scars and whilst everyone was hit pretty hard by it, Ward was all but kicked into the ground by the revelation. The scars indicated that they'd been done during her youth, during her childhood and damn if anyone could relate, it was him. Sure, he'd been hit with his own demons, watching his little brother die. And maybe, just maybe his concerns about Skye committing suicide were just a little too close to home.

During the third day, Skye woke up fairly lucid for the first time and it was Ward who was sat beside her, reading The Hunger Games of all books. He'd actually been reading bits out to her, but flushed slightly, sliding the book shut as he noticed Skye watching him rather intently. "Robot." she greeted and he rolled his eyes, handing her a cup of water.

"Rookie." he said evenly, sitting back in his chair, gesturing for her to drink the whole glass, which she did after a minimum amount of grumbling.

"How long was I out?" she winced, dragging her fingers through her tangled hair, muttering about 'stupid knots' and 'this is what happens when I sleep too damn long'.

"A couple of days, you were pretty damn sick, Coulson was debating on whether or not to ground the plane and take you into SHIELD medical." he slid the book onto the table, moving instinctively to help her as she struggled to sit up. She said nothing for a few moments, obviously contemplating what she could possibly say. She was the best at making jokes in awkward or serious situations but her heart wasn't in it. They were used to the happy, carefree, jokey Skye and she just…couldn't be that anymore and it worried her immensely because wasn't that part of the reason they kept her around?

"Yeah, well I'm feeling fine now, really." she nodded, pulling her hair into a high ponytail, still trying to pull out the knots.

"Skye-" Grant started, biting the inside of his cheek. He needed to pick his next words very carefully because he hadn't spoken to her when she was awake for days, not after the massive fuck up of him saying he maybe loved her and running off like a giant tool-bag. And yeah, even the voice inside his head sounded like Skye. This was so bad.

"Okay, so about what I said, back in my bunk?" he swallowed and the look on her face told him that yes, she remembered that very clearly. "I've never said those words to anyone, it's not excuse for what I did, leaving you hanging like that, making you think it was just so you wouldn't…do something to yourself? No, that was a massive mistake, I…" he pulled in a decidedly shaky breath. "I've never had anyone to say that kind of thing too, okay? And it's hard. Really fucking hard." he shook his head.

Skye reached over, tentatively touching the back of his hand. "That's okay. You don't have to say it, I freaked out before, but that was about a whole lot of things, I was just upset in general. I don't want to force you into saying anything. I know how you feel and that's okay. I'm just glad that-" and then he was kissing her, hands gently cupping her cheeks, their lips touching for only a moment before he pulled back, one hand staying on her cheek, lightly brushing over her skin.

"And that," Skye grinned, the first smile he'd seen in a long time. "And that tells me all I needed to know."

/Okey doke, some fluff at the end there because my shipper heart has been broken by the last few episodes of AoS. Prepare for some dark stuff and angstttttt galore in the next chapter.