Chapter Eighteen: A Lie Has No Legs


Grant threw a punch straight at his opponent's face. When she deflected it and used his momentum to spin him around, he jabbed his elbow backwards. There was a thud when it connected, but the force was subdued enough that nothing broke. Still, the pain momentarily distracted her, and Grant took advantage of that to throw her to the ground. Breathing heavily, he pinned her down face-first to the floor.

She slapped the side of his thigh lightly. "Okay, okay. I give. Now can you stop squishing my face?" Grant did not move as he panted on top of Kara. "Ward?"

Grant was embarrassed to realize that he had become distracted. He hurriedly backed off and offered a hand to help her up.

She took it gratefully and hoisted herself up. "Are you okay? You've been acting strange lately."

Grant snorted as he cleared off the training mat where they just sparred. There were a couple of Hydra agents milling around waiting for them to finish. Grant had shown up and stood menacingly by the side until the previous users of the mat had decided they would rather train later. Kara had just given him a look before joining him on the padded floor.

"It's strange to successfully complete my missions?" Ward asked sardonically.

"It is when you've had over fifteen in just three weeks. It's also definitely strange to be constantly requesting more missions. This is the first time I've seen you since SHIELD infiltrated our base in Philadelphia, and you're acting intense."

"Intense?" Grant repeated while he stared her down in the hopes that she would back off.

"Yeah, intense," Kara threw back at him without fear. "You pretty much dragged me out of my bunk to spar even though you never spar with anyone and glared your way into getting us the mat." Kara looked unimpressed. "And some of those hits I took from you were rougher than they should have been for friendly training."

Grant grimaced and felt his gut twist in shame. He had tried to hold back, but he kept forgetting where he was. His mind wandered to Skye and their disastrous last encounter. It made him enraged and unsure all over again.

As if she read his thoughts, Kara spoke up, "You're taking out your frustration on me. Whatever's gotten to you lately is making you run after missions and when that fails, try to punch your way to distraction. What happened? Did Garrett ground you?"

Grant frowned. "He needs me on base for now, that's all."

Kara rolled her eyes. "You're not sleeping, taking on all this solo work, and just now you were sloppily attacking me."

"I beat you," Grant pointed out.

"Yeah," Kara conceded, "But with all the finesse of a steamroller. I know how you fight, you use brute force but also strategy. You normally like to detachedly assess the situation. This," Kara indicated towards the mat, "It's like you're trying to not use your mind at all."

"Why do you care?" Grant whispered harshly, mindful of potential eavesdroppers. Kara was staring at him with the same kind of concern that Skye used to have in her eyes. But that was a lie. Skye never cared about him, she just thought she did before realizing he was not worth it.

Kara's brow furrowed. "Because I'm worried about you."

That was a lie, too. Kara was probably put up to this interrogation by Whitehall. He was always trying to get a reaction from Ward. Whatever Kara felt was determined by Whitehall anyway thanks to her brainwashing.

Grant averted his gaze from her. He had just admitted that she was so thoroughly under Whitehall's control that her feelings were not her own and yet he was doing nothing about that. Grant looked back at Kara's earnest, waiting face and felt sick. She should be worrying about herself. She was the one who needed help, not him.

Grant wondered what would happen if took her by the shoulders and tried to snap her out of it. Maybe reminding her that she was acting in a way she would otherwise hate would trigger some kind of awareness. Could you do that with brainwashing? How did it work? Grant did not know.

Then Grant clenched his hands into fists at the realization that he was considering risking himself for yet another person who would not give a crap about him if they were in their right mind with all the information. The only reason Kara and he had any kind of relationship was because she had been brainwashed into thinking Hydra was what she wanted.

If Kara were herself, she would be just as disgusted by him as Skye was.

Grant cleared all those thoughts out of his mind and gave Kara a fake but reassuring smile. "I'm fine," Grant said.

"Really?" Kara questioned skeptically.

Grant smirked. "Never better."

With that, he left Kara to seek out John. She was right in her assumption that John had halted his missions, but she was wrong about why. Grant needed to be on hand because John and he were planning their next moves regarding the real mission.

Hydra did not matter. The only reason Grant had been obsessively pursuing so many of those missions was because he wanted a distraction. A part of Grant also wanted to give Whitehall and the rest no reason to suspect he had been off his game given his recent weaknesses. It served to keep Whitehall from any suspicions about what Garrett was up to as well. Truth was, Grant had been gathering intel for John on these missions, too. It was a great excuse to get away from prying eyes as Grant investigated.

Grant had kept himself so busy the past few weeks, he could almost forget the night he had shared with Skye and the terrible morning afterwards. Every night, however, Grant was consumed with thoughts of her.

Sometimes when his mind was feeling generous, he would remember how she looked lying beneath him. It was the moment after their first round where Grant had just been overwhelmed by everything. Her hair was splayed out on the pillow, and she smiled contently at him.

Mostly though Grant was caught up in recalling the way she sneered and screamed and ran. That was the important part anyway. He should only think about Skye's reaction to who he really was, not what she thought he was.

After several nights of sleeplessness where Grant tormented himself with either the tainted memories of their stolen night together or the aftermath of that delusion, Grant sought out a different type of distraction.

But following his attempts to lose himself with three women who bore superficial similarities to Skye without even making it to bed with any, and Grant was ready to punch himself unconscious just to escape it all.

The only good thing to happen recently was that John was happy with him. That was all that really mattered anyway.

With that in mind, Grant secretly slipped out of base to rendezvous with John at one of his nearby secret safehouses.


Skye waited in the meeting room for the others to arrive. She was the first besides Coulson and May but then again she had a lot of free time lately.

Skye stared resolutely at the floor while the others filtered in. She could sense the weight of May's gaze and wanted to avoid making eye contact. She knew the others had noticed her recent poor mood, but no one had said anything to her yet. That was probably because Skye had not given them a chance.

They were worried because she was no longer socializing or speaking, but truth be told, she just did not have the energy for it anymore.

Her bruises had healed for the most part though and her powers were back under control. Skye was not lying to her loved ones anymore and all their missions were successful. By all accounts, things were going well- except Skye was not happy. Everything was the same as it was a few months ago, before she met Grant Ward on that fateful mission in Seville. Skye really had no reason to feel so depressed. Nothing had changed really.

So why did Skye feel so lonely?

Everyone gathered around, from a chattering Fitzsimmons to a bickering Hunter and Bobbi. A quick glance around the room told Skye that Coulson had gathered his top agents only. Whatever the mission was must be important.

"SHIELD's conducting a manhunt," Coulson announced without preamble. "This is a priority, and I want all of you to devote time to this."

Everyone reacted with predictable confusion. There were very few people worth devoting such manpower to. If SHIELD wanted someone, they would send a few agents to apprehend them or cross them off. May, Bobbi, Skye, Hunter, Trip, most of the agents in the room were enough to take anyone out singlehandedly.

The exceptions were powerful gifteds or Hydra leaders. But Skye would know if there were any developments with gifteds because she made it her business to know given her status and her father's history of associating with them. As for Garrett or Whitehall, Skye assumed she would have heard if either of them had stopped hiding.

"Hydra activity has picked up in the last couple weeks," Coulson continued as he fiddled with his electronic tablet. "Assassinations, thefts, kidnappings, all that fun stuff."

Bobbi frowned. "That's pretty standard for Hydra. Why the extreme reaction?"

"Yeah," Hunter chimed in, "I'd be more concerned if they suddenly stopped being murderous psychopaths."

Coulson gave one of his secretive, benign smiles as he nodded in agreement. "Except all these missions were performed by the same agent who is uncharacteristically showing up on our radar." Coulson shared a look with May. "It looks like John Garrett might be finally making a move."

Skye's stomach dropped. This could not be happening.

"Garrett's the one running around?" Trip asked seriously. His body was tense as it always was when Garrett was mentioned. "Or is it Ward?"

"It's Ward," May confirmed, crushing Skye's last hope that she was misinterpreting this.

Skye could feel her heart rate increase as she realized what was about to happen. Fitz and Simmons were huddled slightly together as they listened to Coulson, but Skye could barely hear anything beyond the ringing in her ears. Any second now and everything was going to fall apart.

"Grant Ward," Coulson declared as he pressed a button on the tablet. Instantly, a standard SHIELD file photo was projected before the gathered agents. He was clean-shaven and sporting a sour look, but it was undeniably the same man that Fitz and Simmons met at Futurepharm. The same man that Skye slept with.

The reaction was instantaneous. Simmons loudly gasped and covered her mouth. Fitz just cocked his head to the side in clear confusion and disbelief. Skye shut her eyes tightly and tried to steady her breathing, but when she looked again, the image was still there.

"What?" Simmons said with widened eyes. "Well, I suppose that makes some sense, but…"

"No, this is wrong," Fitz asserted as he shook his head. "There's no way." He kept shaking his head while Simmons just glanced around bewildered.

May appeared concerned. "You know Ward?"

The entire room was staring at the two scientists now. There was no chance that Skye could avoid questions. Already Fitzsimmons were turning to look to her for some kind of confirmation or denial.

Skye clenched her fists to stop the trembling before it could manifest into a full-blown earthquake.

Coulson redirected her friends' attention as he indicated towards the picture. "You've met this man?"

Fitzsimmons started babbling as they argued with each other. Simmons was rationalizing the truth because they had seen his skills, and he was Hydra. But Fitz did not believe it, how could Simmons say that given their experiences with him? It was not possible that he was Eric's killer and worked for John Garrett of all people.

"No, no, it doesn't make sense-" Fitz said.

"We knew he worked for Hydra-" Simmons argued.

"He saved us, he saved you. How can you act like nothing-"

"He also killed all those AIM agents and-"

"-And got us out of the building before it exploded-"

"He was the one to set it to explode!"

"But he nearly died jumping after you-"

"He also killed Eric Koenig!"

"Enough!" Coulson interrupted firmly. He seemed worried, and Skye could easily understand why. The not even combat cleared Fitzsimmons had unreported contact with one of Hydra's most dangerous members and John Garrett's right hand man. "Explain, now."

Fitz and Simmons turned towards Coulson in a daze, as if only now remembering they had an audience. Skye could hardly blame them for their reaction since she did not handle the knowledge that "Zach" was Grant Ward particularly well.

Fitz spluttered a bit but ultimately could not think of anything he could say to clarify. After a second, both scientists glanced at each other and spoke simultaneously.

"Skye's actually the one who knows him," Fitz offered.

"Maybe Skye could explain better," Simmons suggested.

Just like that and all eyes in the room were on her. Skye wanted to shrink into the ground, she wanted to run, but she supposed the time for hiding was over. She should never have lied to her friends in the first place, and now she was going to have to face that mistake.

"Skye?" Coulson prompted apprehensively.

Skye straightened up and faced everyone with as much confidence as she could muster. "Can we speak privately, sir?" This was not a conversation she wanted to have in front of so many people.

Maybe it was Coulson's fondness for her, or maybe it was her unusual usage of the title "sir" for Coulson, but he ordered everyone except Fitz and Simmons to clear out anyway. Coulson nodded at May when she raised an eyebrow. She left after a moment's hesitation. Skye could not meet her eyes as she did.

The second the door closed, Coulson leveled them with the sternest glare Skye had ever seen. She was reminded of the confrontation they had when he discovered she was hiding Miles and her Rising Tide secrets from him, but even then Coulson had never looked so intimidating to Skye. "You have one chance to tell me why the three of you have a secret connection to a high ranking Hydra member or you'll no longer be agents of SHIELD."

Simmons squirmed slightly at the threat and turned to Skye for guidance. Skye could not help but feel guilty, she was the one who convinced the others to keep quiet after all.

"It's because of me," she confessed. "Simmons and Fitz didn't do anything wrong."

Coulson's glare did not lighten up. "Lying to the director of SHIELD about one of our biggest enemies and fraternizing with him is not wrong?"

"It wasn't like that!" Simmons blurted out as she wrung her hands.

"Tell me what is was like then," Coulson said. "Because from what I can tell, you've betrayed SHIELD."

"We would never," Skye said. "We're not Hydra, we're not traitors."

Coulson stared at her for a moment as if testing her words. "When did you first meet Grant Ward?" he asked instead.

"When we were kidnapped," Simmons supplied, eager to clear the air. "Fitz and I were interrogated about the GH formula, and he was one of the operatives to do so."

"So he was the person who tortured you," Coulson said with a little confusion tinting his voice, ruining his otherwise emotionless mask.

"No, that's just it," Simmons said, "He was the one who stopped it."

"And then he reset my fingers," Fitz mumbled. He had been quiet since his outburst at Simmons. His entire posture was subdued, and Skye wondered what he was thinking.

"Yes," Simmons agreed with a nod.

Coulson frowned slightly but said nothing on that. "But that wasn't the only time you met him. You mentioned AIM in your argument earlier."

"This is where it becomes confusing," Simmons began delicately. She shot Skye a look, probably hoping that she would jump in, but Skye wanted to delay speaking as long as possible. "He's the reason we escaped AIM." Simmons briefly detailed the events from how Grant had stopped them from walking to their deaths at Futurepharm to his sudden departure once they fled AIM.

Coulson's frown only became more pronounced as Simmons spoke, especially when she explained how Grant had jumped out of the plane and saved her from falling to her death. He remained quiet as he processed it all.

"That's why it can't be true," Fitz said suddenly. "Why would he save us if he was this guy?"

"I don't know, Fitz," Coulson replied. "But Ward's extremely dangerous and manipulative."

"No," Fitz said. "May, Trip, and everyone said he was a mindless killer. He wasn't like that at all."

"He was the best in espionage SHIELD had since Romanoff," Coulson said. "Just because he seemed to have good intentions or do good things doesn't mean he wasn't just trying to work an angle. We don't know what Garrett's game is, but you can bet whatever Ward's doing is for him."

"You think he was manipulating us as part of some plot by John Garrett?" Simmons asked skeptically. It was the first time Skye noticed any uncertainty from her since the start of the conversation.

"Maybe," Coulson told her. "I do know that you can't trust him."

Skye felt sick. It was everything she feared. Did Grant have sex with her to further some psychopathic scheme of Garrett's? Did he manipulate her into proposing their meet up in the first place?

Except that did not make sense. Skye may not know too much about who Grant Ward really was or next to anything about John Garrett, but she was pretty certain he was hiding the secret of her special abilities. If Hydra was so focused on getting the GH formula, why would Grant conceal that she had it in her? It had been months since he kidnapped Fitzsimmons and yet no one had tried to take her. Nothing had happened. He even chased after Dr. Streiten to take him in for that information instead of organizing her abduction. What kind of plot would make him do all of that?

Skye did not say anything, worried that she was projecting her hopes rather than acting rationally. The last thing she wanted to do was sound like she was defending Grant to Coulson now. But that did not change the fact that things did not add up to her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Coulson asked Fitzsimmons, ending Skye's contemplations.

"Because I asked them not to," Skye admitted. "I was worried…" She trailed off as she considered her logic. At the time, fearing that her mystery man would be punished after the insinuations that his S.O. would react poorly to his failure seemed rational. After all, Hydra was not exactly famous for its mercy. But now that Skye knew that "Zach" was Grant Ward and that his supervising officer was John Garrett, it seemed silly.

Trip had even said that Garrett bragged endlessly about his protégé. Garrett would not hurt Grant. In fact, this whole thing may have been a scheme by Garrett and now the two of them were laughing it up because the stupid SHIELD agents fell for it.

"Skye?"

Skye returned her focus to Coulson. "It's stupid, I was stupid. I'm so sorry." Skye bit her lip as she became emotional. What if this really was the final straw and Coulson sent her away?

But Coulson did not become angry, he softened slightly while still not losing his Director Mode seriousness. It was only a brief moment before he hardened again. "How do you know Ward? Simmons just said you recognized him at Futurepharm."

For a second, Skye considered the possibility that she could hide the truth. Maybe she could give Coulson a shortened version like the one she initially gave Fitzsimmons. But she could not, she had already betrayed Coulson enough by keeping this from him and deliberately meeting with a Hydra agent in secret. If she did lie again, Coulson would probably make good on his promise to fire her.

"It's a long story," Skye hedged. When Coulson's frown deepened and Fitzsimmons looked at her bemused, Skye just began to blurt it out. She told them most everything. She did not elaborate on any of the more intimate details of her relationship with Grant, but she did mention them. Skye confessed to everything from Grant letting her go with the obelisk to running into him after he kidnapped Fitzsimmons to their encounter at Dr. Streiten's office to their night at the hotel. It all tumbled out of Skye's mouth before she could consider the consequences of being honest.

When she was finished, the room was silent. Skye stared resolutely over Coulson's shoulder and did not meet any of their gazes.

"You lied to me," came the hurt voice beside her.

"Simmons-" Skye began before being interrupted.

"No, you used me and misled me," Simmons was on the verge of tears now. "I asked you if you were over him and you told me you were- after you said you'd never let anything happen between the two of you! You manipulated me to spend time with him in secret."

Skye became defensive. "Well, you sold me out," she spoke angrily. Her eyes darted between Fitz and Simmons, "One of you told Grant that I was injected with the GH formula when you were kidnapped."

Truthfully, Skye could not know for certain, but she saw the dawning realization on Simmons' face and knew she was right.

"It slipped out by accident, but I never intentionally betrayed you!" Simmons yelled.

"And I never meant to betray you!" Skye screamed in retaliation. She looked at the shocked faces of Coulson and Fitz and continued more quietly, "I never meant to betray any of you, I just…" Skye lost the momentum and found that she had nothing to say. The fact was that she lied to her loved ones and went behind their backs because she felt connected to this man. In some ways, she chose him over them and that was unacceptable. He was a murderer and a Hydra agent.

Coulson seemed to understand what she would not give voice to. His face tightened, but Skye could not tell if it was from realization, disgust, anger, disappointment or some combination.

"This is serious, Skye," he said. "Did you give him any SHIELD intel?"

"What? No, of course not," Skye declared indignantly.

"Think carefully," Coulson said unperturbed by her outburst. "Grant Ward's very capable of deceiving experienced agents, he may have manipulated you into revealing something."

"He didn't," Skye said. "We never talked about anything specific when it came to SHIELD or Hydra."

Coulson's lips thinned, but he did not argue with her. "No one breathe a word of this to anyone. If anyone asks what we spoke of, send them to me." He looked to Fitzsimmons, "You're dismissed." Skye turned to go, but Coulson stopped her. "Skye, wait a moment."

They left wordlessly, but Simmons sent Skye one last pained glance before disappearing out the door.

Coulson took a seat behind the desk and stared at her pointedly. After a moment of the torturous silence, he spoke, "I never thought you'd betray me."

Skye's chest tightened. "Coulson, I-"

"I gave you a second chance after you lied about your boyfriend and the Rising Tide. I trusted you, more than almost anyone. How could you go behind my back like that?"

"It wasn't like that," Skye tried desperately. "It wasn't about you or SHIELD. It was about me!" Skye's chest heaved as she tried to contain the frustration. "None of you treat me the same anymore. Mack won't even look at me and the rest of you tiptoe around me because I'm a monster!"

Skye's eyes welled up with tears as she said what she had been afraid to admit for so long. Coulson was startled out of his rage at her words, but Skye did not give him a second to respond.

"I just wanted to feel normal again. I know I was wrong, I know he was probably using me, but I felt like I was human when I was with him, okay? I'm stupid and pathetic, but I never betrayed you." Skye could feel the tears falling down her cheeks at the end of her rant.

Coulson stood up wordlessly. As she stared at his unreadable expression, Skye worried briefly that he was going to start yelling again. But she sobbed harder when he just wrapped his arms around her and said, "You're not a monster, Skye. Don't ever think that."

Her cries were muffled as she buried her head into his shoulder. It did not bring her the same feelings that Grant's embrace did, but it held the promise of acceptance that Skye never thought she would have from someone who knew the truth.

Skye let herself bask in the hug for a while before drawing back. "So what happens now?"

"Now I'm going to look into some things regarding Grant Ward. Something isn't what it seems here. If anything, I need to find out why he saved you and whether it's part of some larger scheme by Garrett."

"I don't think it is," Skye muttered as she wiped her eyes. "I know I shouldn't believe anything he said to me, but, Coulson, it just doesn't make sense."

Coulson regarded her. "I know you want to believe that he wasn't using you, but you have to understand that Ward's manipulative." He paused before continuing, "But there are few people whose judgment I trust more than yours. Don't worry, we'll figure it out. I promise."

Skye nodded. Maybe she was just trying to hold out hope that a Hydra killer had not seduced her for intel or something. She should know better than to be so foolishly idealistic about Hydra.

"As for you," Coulson said seriously, "No more lies. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt for coming clean, but this is serious. If you ever see him again, if anything ever comes up, you tell me."

"Am I going to be punished?" Skye asked. It was not really Coulson's style, but she was not sure. He did have her wear that awful anti-technology bracelet for months after the Miles incident.

Coulson smiled wryly. "Can't really afford to lose you, so no. But this is your last chance, if it ever happens again-"

"It won't," Skye reassured. "I promise."

"Good," Coulson said. "You're dismissed then."

Skye turned to leave before hesitating. Coulson said he was going to look into Grant, which was exactly why she hid Grant's actions at Futurepharm from him in the first place. She had feared Hydra would find out what he did and punish him.

She should not worry about him though, it was wrong. He was a killer. Anyway, she was overthinking things. Why would Garrett punish his prized pupil? Skye shook off the concern and left without another word.


When Grant entered into the safehouse and saw John, he knew immediately something was wrong. John's posture was rigid with what looked like restrained fury as he sat hunched over in a chair.

When Garrett turned his baleful glare and sneer towards Grant, Ward knew what had happened before John even spoke.

"SHIELD's been snooping around recently, did you know that?" Johh began as he slowly stood. "Funny story really, because they weren't looking into me or Hydra secrets, they were looking into you. Want to tell me why that is?"

Grant faltered. That was not what he expected. He told John honestly, "I don't know why they'd be researching me unless it has to do with the recent missions I've been taking. It's attracted some notice."

John smiled dangerously. "Oh, no, it's not about your Hydra missions, it's about your weakness again."

Grant froze as he contemplated what exactly Garrett could know.

"Are you working behind my back?" John demanded.

"No, never," Grant breathed.

"Then want to tell me again how AIM caught you?" John continued almost cheerily. "Because I heard an interesting rumor about that."

"It wasn't-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses," John interrupted with disgust. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with you."

Grant's heart dropped. He knew he had let John down but witnessing the full weight of his disappointment was even worse.

"I think you've forgotten your purpose," John said. His narrowed eyes assessed Grant as he nudged a long, black case with his foot. "I'm going to remind you of it." When Grant hesitated, John added, "Do you want to prove your loyalty to me?"

"Yes," he said at once. Whatever it was, Grant could handle it. It would be well worth it if it reassured John.

John grinned widely, showcasing his teeth menacingly. "Good. Then I got a present for you, son."


So now everyone at SHIELD knows and Garrett kind of knows as well. Secrets always come out, don't they? Also, I legit watched all of Coulson's "personal betrayal" scenes to get an in character response to Skye here. Hope that worked.

This past week was my graduation from college, birthday and finals, so I've been busy. Sorry for the delay! It also didn't help that I was really disappointed by last episode. My fingers are crossed that everything can be explained by the finale but we'll see.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Please let me know what you think of this chapter :)