"She should never have gone in. This mission was stupid from the very beginning! We had her plant a bug when she made the deliveries that should have been enough!" Ward screamed at Coulson, his usual composure was long gone. "We took everything from her. If she lives she has to run and hide from those people." Once Cidney went into surgery at the trauma center in D.C Ward returned to the plane.

"She won't have to leave. After we got you out we received orders to take Wilson into custody. We remained on site and once the party was over we tailed other suspected Project Centipede members and took Wilson."

"Are you trying to say this mission was a success?" Ward gritted his teeth, "You could have done all of that without putting her in harms way. So what she can stay in D.C…she got shot Coulson! Her life isn't going to be the same."

"You're right. She never should have had to go through any of this. I'd hoped that this mission would go smoother with her being on the inside but it didn't. You two were made so the mission changed. And for that I'm sorry."

Ward ran his hand through his hair as he paced Coulson's office. "Sorry isn't going to make her okay."

"You got her to Simmons fast enough for her to stop the bleeding and get her stable before we got to MedSTAR Trauma."

Ward sank into a chair as his head fell into his hands. Everything was his fault. She should be happy, but he hurt her when she trusted him completely. And now after he convinced her to trust him again and she was lying in a hospital.

"None of this is your fault, Ward." Coulson assured "You want to blame someone you blame me."

…

Ward sat in the waiting room starring at the clock as the moments passed by. Someone sat in the seat beside him and before he could move away he was stopped by Fitz's voice, "She's going to make it, Ward. I think she's strong enough to make it."

Ward accepted the coffee handed to him and glanced over his hands. He'd washed off the blood but it felt like it still lingered. Even though he'd changed on the plane he thought he could still feel his shirt covered in her blood.

"Queens to me." Fitz muttered thoughtfully

"What?" Wards head snapped up and anger flashed through his eyes

"Queens to me." Fitz repeated, "She said it after she'd pretended to faint. In the room when you two were alone she said the "looks like the queens to me.' What does it mean?"

Ward rolled the cup between his hands, "Ever since I met her she'd make references to books and films." He sighed and shook his head, "agh at first they drove me crazy. The ones I didn't get always were added to the list of movies she believed I needed to see. When we first started dating we watched The Count of Monte Cristo. First time she loved a movie and book of the same story equally. 'We are all kings or pawns'…" he quoted "She loved that they added that to the movie. Whenever one of the main characters had a victory they were king of the moment or they said the kings to you and they'd give up the chess piece. Months later she had a small victory and I told her 'queens to you.' After that it sort of stuck…whenever one of us was right about something important to us or one had a success we'd say that. King for me and Queen for her."

"It's been nice seeing you two together." Ward shifted uncomfortably, "Look I get you don't like being vulnerable. No one does…I…I'm just saying she brings out a good side of you. It's been nice seeing you a little more human."

"As opposed to…"

"A closed off Agent who only converses in grunts or very few words." Ward scoffed at him, "I'm serious. Why do you think Simmons and I talk so much? We have to make up for the lack of yours and Agent May's."

Ward smiled slightly. Despite everything going on and everything he was feeling Ward was glad to have Fitz by his side. "Thanks, Fitz."

…..

Even after long hours of waiting Fitz refused to leave. Finally Cidney's doctor came out to the waiting area.

"Are you Cidney's husband?"

"Yes." Ward knew that was the only way they'd tell him anything short of him flashing his SHIELD id and keeping a low profile was best.

"She's stable but in critical condition. The bullet entered her shoulder joint. We searched the wound and removed all the fragments. The damage was only to soft tissue and muscle and she lost a lot of blood but she'll be okay. She got lucky, the weapon was low caliber and from a distance, if it was closer it would have been much worse. However, she will need a lot of PT to gain back strength in her shoulder. Even then it won't be the quite the same."

Ward nodded, he knew the road to recovery would be long and frustrating for her but he was just glad she had a chance to get better, "Can I see her?"

The doctor waved him to follow, "We just moved her down from recovery. The anesthesia is still wearing off so she's a little out of it."

Ward approached her bedside taking in all the wires and tubes coming out of her. He couldn't help thinking that he should be the one on that hospital bed. Taking her hand he bent and kissed her hair. "Hey sweetheart." He stroked a stray hair away from her pale forehead.

"Hey" she whispered to him

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired, " she mumbled, "Nauseous too…they told me that's from the anesthesia."

"It'll wear off soon." He promised.

She nodded slightly and her eyes slowly began to close.

"I'm here now, Cid." He swallowed thickly, "I was supposed to protect you." he whispered, "I let you down…I keep letting you down. You're the one person I never wanted to hurt and I've caused you so much pain. You deserve so much more."

"How is she?" Ward started at Coulson voice.

Ward composed himself quickly, "She…her doctor said most of the damage was soft tissue and muscular. She'll need PT."

"How are you doing?"

"Fine."

Coulson glanced over the agent in front of him. Everyone knew Ward kept things to himself, he wasn't one to wear his heart on his sleeve but his eyes showed Coulson everything he wanted to know in that moment.

"I'm not going to pressure you to talk about your feelings over all this. I think that conversation would make us both uncomfortable. I'm here because the team is leaving for a new mission."

The ever ready solider inside Ward stood ready to follow orders, "Where are we going?"

"You're taking a leave of absence." Coulson saw the relief that flooded Ward's eyes. "I want you back of course. But I don't think abandoning her right now is a good idea. Once she's alert and on the mend you two need to have a long talk. Then once you two sort things out I need you back."

Ward nodded, "Yes sir."