"Look, before we get off of this plane, I just want to thank you guys for giving me another chance. I've told you everything I know about HYDRA, and I'm really grateful you're giving me a second chance at helping to bring them down. Working with the counselors at the prison has actually been really helpful in getting my priorities and loyalties straight."

Standing across from where Ward was sitting in the jet, Melinda rolled her eyes at his little speech, advising, "Don't thank us yet; you've still got the others to tangle with."

Ward winced, asking, "How bad off are Fitz and Simmons?"

"Simmons is physically fine and doing as well as could be expected mentally;" Phil said. "Fitz can barely get himself to the restroom when necessary and he cannot talk. Something destroyed his larynx somehow."

Ward eyed Melinda as he muttered, "I know how that feels."

Melinda just grinned dryly at him. She was still proud of that beating she'd given him.

"So, what do the others think of you bringing me back onto the team?"

Phil answered, "Trip is open-minded, Skye has kept her mouth closed about it so far, Fitz is still totally on your side – which you do not deserve at all, by the way – and Simmons has threatened numerous times since yesterday afternoon to cut your legs off."

"I'm kind of looking forward to what she does to you when she sees you again," Melinda purred.

"Can we at least try and get along, Agent May?" Ward asked. "For Fitz's sake?"

Melinda snapped, "Because now you care ever so much about him?"

"I think I cared about the kid even when I was still working with Garret. He's the closest thing I've ever had to what I would consider a real brother."

"And what does it say about you that even that relationship was a lie?"

Ward glanced away from her then, and she was surprised to see a flicker of genuine shame in his eyes. "I'm sorry, okay? I will say that to you, and to you, Agent Coulson, and to Skye and Trip, and Simmons, and Fitz as many times as I need to for you all to believe me! For the first time in forever, when I met you guys, I wanted something for myself, but I still went along with Garret, at the sacrifice of what I wanted, and it means the world to me that you're letting me back in. Please, understand that all I want to do is prove that to you."

"Well, it's a good thing you want that so bad," Coulson said flatly. "Because you've got a long road ahead of you to get back anyone's trust. Starting as soon as this plane lands, I want you on better than your best behavior. Now buckle up, we're landing. And Ward? If you lay even one finger in any way on anyone who comes into this team or is already here, I will end you. Don't doubt it."

Ward swallowed. "No, sir."

Melinda smiled to see Simmons and Skye waiting for the three of them when the jet landed.

Skye had her laptop in hand and was practically bouncing on her toes. The moment Phil stepped onto solid ground, she said excitedly, "Johann and Rebekka Katt."

"Excuse me?" Phil asked.

"104 Zweite Street, Linz, Austria."

"You found Barton and Romanoff," Phil realized.

Skye grinned. "I did."

And just like that, he was gone, off down some hallway to work out a plan for retrieving the two assassins – leaving Melinda and Simmons alone with Ward. The man in the room seemed to notice this, shifting uncomfortably on his feet as he glanced nervously between the women.

They let him speak first, and he said, "Simmons, I just really want to apologize for everything that's happened. I never meant to hurt you or Fitz."

"No," Jemma said with a tight smile. "You meant to kill us." She took a deep breath, continuing, "But that's in the past now. It's time to move on and focus on rebuilding SHIELD. Do you want a tour?"

"Looks pretty familiar, actually," Ward said, making the obvious comparison to Providence base.

"Yeah, but this base has a better training facility, right, Agent May?"

Simmons had something up her sleeve, but Melinda wasn't afraid in the least bit to go along with whatever it was, so she said, "It's true. You'd like it, Ward."

"Come on," Simmons looped an arm companionably through one of Ward's arms and half dragged him into the elevator and down to the training center.

May followed at a distance, momentarily wondering if Simmons hadn't rigged the training center to explode on top of Ward or something. Maybe the biochemist had prepared some sort of a gas chamber for him there?

When Simmons and Ward reached the training room, Simmons dragged Ward into the boxing ring, claiming it was the best vantage point from which to view the whole room.

"See, just spin around slowly and take it in." Simmons said sweetly – way too sweetly. "Aren't I right?"

"Yeah," Ward agreed. "You are. This is a nice setup."

When Ward turned his back to Simmons, the little scientist attacked him. Ward yelped as Simmons sprang onto his back and clawed at his cheeks, neck, and eyes. Ward fell to his knees in the ring before rearing back. Simmons scrambled away for a half of a second before she charged him again, throwing him onto his back as she sat on his stomach and pummeled him with her fists.

Melinda watched this all with barely hidden glee, her hand on her gun in case Ward tried to do something to hurt Simmons. But he didn't, she realized. Though a little winded by the air having been forced out of him, Ward seemed barely surprised, and his inaction was surprising Melinda even more than that. Ward lay with his arms outstretched uselessly at his sides, leaving himself completely vulnerable as he let Simmons scream and punch and scratch at him until he was bleeding and sporting a black eye. This went on until Simmons wore herself out, her screams dissolving into sobs and her blows stopping so that she could wrap her arms around her waist, almost doubling over while still straddling Ward as her anger finally gave way to grief.

When Simmons devolved to this point, Ward gently slid out from under her and sat down beside her in the middle of the boxing ring, looking pained and at a loss for words. Eventually he repeated his earlier words to Simmons, saying in a voice rough with self-hatred, "I am so sorry."

This only brought on another round of tears from Simmons, but when Ward moved to wrap her in his arms, she didn't bother to resist. At this rate, Fitzsimmons might just be getting their big brother back. And as Melinda watched, she realized that this repentant man was the Ward that they were getting back on their team. She might just be able to be civil to this version of Ward.