Chapter 3
He stood in the doorway as the silence hung in the air, neither of them moved.
"Skye." His voice was soft and gentle but her mind was racing with images from their past. She remembered the kiss, the hope she had, the betrayal, her being forced to save his life and give up Shield intel in the process. She wanted to simply stand and walk back to her room ignoring him but suddenly the anger overcame her and she picked up her glass and threw it in his direction. The glass shattered on the doorframe as she stood up ready for the confrontation that was long overdue but that she didn't want to have.
"What!" She simply said as he inched out the doorway stepping over the broken glass on the floor. Their eyes met and she could feel the tears starting to well in her eyes. She had to regain her composure, she couldn't let him see her weakness.
"Why are you here Ward? Why couldn't you join another team and leave us, me - be?"
"I'm following orders Skye but I wanted a chance to redeem myself." He said in almost a whisper.
"Redeem yourself! You almost got all of us killed- Garrett wanted to kill me because of you Ward- because of you!"
"I told you I would never let anything happen to you Skye- I kept my word!" The tone in his voice raising. She could hear the pain in his voice but she tried to ignore it. "I could never let anything happen to you Skye, you know why." This time almost in a whispered tone.
Skye knew it wasn't the right time but the image of what she had seen at the HUB came back to the forefront of her mind "you seem to have moved on from us- from me. Why not just stay away."
"You think it was easy for me to move on Skye? I never thought I would see you again. I never thought I would have a second chance-"
"You don't have a second change- you're here for now but I hope you're gone as quickly as possible- back to your happy life at the HUB." She walked out brushing by him through the doorway.
She rushed to her room anxious for the confrontation to be over. She was happy when she turned to close her door to see that he hadn't followed her. She sat on the edge of her bed and finally let the tears roll down her face- she had been holding them in since the Mess. She felt all the anger and confusion from 2 years ago but what surprised her more was her reaction to the woman Ward was with. Was she jealous or angry that he seemed to have moved on and was now happy without her. She laid her head against her pillow and tried to sleep.
Grant Ward still stood in the doorway of the bar area. He had wanted to speak to her desperately since the first moment their eyes had met in the Mess. He never thought he would see her again. He never thought he would be standing on this plane again that he would have an opportunity to explain what he had gone through to try to get back here. It had been two years. Two long years of interrogations and trials. Her comment about him being "happy" stung. She didn't know, how could she. How could she know the pain he felt today at the anger and hurt in her eyes. He had promised to never let anything hurt her but two years later he was the cause of the open wound on her heart and soul. He had never had a moment of happiness in two years because of what he had done. He was good at putting up a front- he had never really let Sabrina in. Skye was the only woman to ever have gotten past his wall.
He sat down in the lounge chair not wanting to return to his bunk- too close to her. He opened the window shade and could see the sun rise on the very distant horizon trying to focus on the mission and not Skye.
His mind wouldn't rest and he soon retreated to where he felt at home. He knew he couldn't punch his feelings away but it couldn't hurt to try. Coulson found him and watched him beat his frustration for a couple of minutes, wondering if he could trust Ward. He had betrayed them so deeply but even Coulson had to admit that without Ward's actions Hydra would most probably have won the battle. For all the betrayal he made up for it when he decided to save Skye and the rest of the team. He had kept tabs on him during the last 2 years and he had to admit that Fury was right- he was the Ward they had always known.
Ward turned to re-wrap his hands and looked up to see Coulson.
"I take it from the broken glass in the bar that you ran into Skye last night"
Ward just looked down at his feet uneasily.
"She was broken for a long time Ward- a really long time but she prevailed and put herself back together- she has become an incredibly focused agent"
"I'm sorry Coulson." Was all Ward could say. How could he explain just how much Skye meant to him. How she was the only reason he had fought to get back here.
"Don't break her again- stick to the mission and you'll be back at the HUB in no time. We meet in 10 to discuss the mission. Avoid Skye, please."
Coulson turned and walked away leaving Ward alone. Ward turned and punched the bag unhinging it from it's hook hitting the wall. How was he going to get through this- he started to unwrap his hands as he walked up towards the meeting area.