Chapter 6

"RUN!" May yelled. She had tried to grab the device but she realized that it had been set to detonate. "It's programmed to go off!" The team turned and ran towards the door- this may be one device that they weren't able to recover. Skye stopped and turned back.

"SKYE!" Ward yelled.

She knew that she could disarm it. They had to have sent a signal to detonate as they hadn't known S.H.I.E.L.D was coming so it had to be connected to a network. She just had to get into it and shut it down.

"Are you crazy Skye- let it go, get out of here."

"I can do this Ward..." Maybe it was the panic but she couldn't get in...she couldn't figure out how to hack the encryption. Whoever did this was good but she knew that she was better. As her fingers worked gracefully along the keyboard however she could see that the maze of firewalls would take probably a lot longer than they had.

"Get out of here Ward..." He stood beside her - the device was about to go off and she was standing right in front of it trying to disarm it.

"Not without you, it's not worth your life Skye- please let's go." His voice was panicked.

She turned and looked at him, her fingers stopped. His eyes were pleading with hers.

"Ok, let's go."

In that fraction of a second Ward heard the weapon click and he pushed her out of the way. She hit the ground hard and turned to look up to where Ward was standing. There was a beam of bright orange light going right threw Ward's body. He was frozen there. Then a pulse was discharged and Ward hit the wall 15 feet away. Skye scrambled to her feet to get to him. He lay unconscious against the wall and when Skye reached him she immediately checked to see if he was alive. He wasn't breathing and she couldn't find a heartbeat- she could feel the panic rising in her soul. "Common Ward please..." She begged "please fight." She pulled him down so that he was now lying flat on the floor. She put her lips to his and tried to blow life back into him. She pushed on his chest for what felt like hours and she tried with every ounce of her being to bring him back.

Ward's body still lay motionless. Coulson and May ran back into the room and froze at the scene before them.

Laying her head on his chest Skye whispered "please don't leave me."

Coulson watched for a minute and his heart broke for Skye. He walked over and pulled her off Ward. "You've done everything you could Skye." He motioned to May to take over the efforts to save Ward's life.

"You did everything you could" Coulson held Skye in his arms.

"Ward- please don't give up. FIGHT WARD!" She screamed.

May looked up at Coulson and without making a move she confirming Ward's death.

Skye turned and put her hand over her mouth. Her breathing slowed as she tried not to feel the anger and the pain.

The room was deathly quiet despite the alarms that were blaring on the other side of the wall. Coulson knew that they had to get out of there and he wasn't sure they'd be able to take Ward's body. He handed Skye his gun and told her to get the hell out but she hesitated. "There's nothing more you can do Skye- go now." Skye knew that Ward would have said the same thing so she took the weapon handed to her and ran for the door. She stopped only briefly to look back at Ward's body.

Coulson and May looked at each other. "We can't get out of here with his body Coulson."

"I know." Coulson helped May to her feet and they turned towards the door. "He died protecting her- he'll be remembered that way" Coulson said, these were the decisions he hated making.

Coulson stopped just as they got to the door- "Wait May..." He turned slowly back... Something made him stop... Suddenly Ward's sat up gasping for air. May and Coulson ran back to him.

"Ward..." Coulson was kneeling down in front of him holding his face in his hands. Ward looked shocked and confused.

"Skye, where's Skye..." Ward's voice was terror stricken.

"She's fine but we have to go now..." Ward got to his feet and grabbing his gun off the floor he walked to the door "We'll let's get out of here shall we." Coulson and May, still in shock, couldn't agree more.

Skye hadn't turned back until she reached the bus. Her adrenaline had kept her going. FitzSimmons came running down to the ramp to meet her. "He's not really..." Fitz started but was interrupted by Skye. "He's gone Fitz, there was no heartbeat." Skye's body shook at the anger she felt. Whoever had done this was going to pay. She wouldn't stop until she had taken their life.

"Where are Coulson and May?"

"Right behind me...they should be here in two seconds, we have to get out of here."

Skye walked up the ramp trying desperately to keep it together.

"Skye..." Fitz called. "Skye!" He yelled once more, insistently.

"Fitz I can't right now..." And then she saw them. Coulson. May. Ward.

He was alive! She thought her mind was playing tricks on her until they reached the ramp themselves. She couldn't move. Ward collapsed onto the ramp his rib cage rose and fell frantically as he tried to catch his breath.

"Get us in the air May!" Coulson yelled as he walked up the ramp door as it began to close and when he walked past Skye he stopped putting his hand on her shoulder "it'll take a lot more than that to kill him." With a wink he continued on his way.

Coulson had retrieved the device and FitzSimmons carried it together to the lab.

"I want a full work up now." He barked at the scientists. "I want to know exactly what that thing is."

With excitement in their eyes FitzSimmons answered "yes sir" in unison.

Skye stood there watching him. His breathing progressively slowed as his body quieted. He sat up and turned to stand when he saw her standing there.

"Hi." He smiled, thankful that she was ok and that he got to see her again. "That was fun."

"You died Ward- I watched you die." Her voice was filled with emotion and he realized this wasn't the time for jokes.

"I didn't die Skye. I'm right here." She stood up and walked towards her.

She put her hand up. She hadn't felt pain like that in 2 years when she thought he had died and she needed to protect herself. "I'm happy you're here Ward- alive"

She turned not wanting him to see and then she walked away leaving him standing there as FitzSimmons came running out of the lab wanting to conduct a thousand tests on him.

Later that night she couldn't sleep. She walked around the bus trying desperately to silence her thoughts and make sense of the days events. The last 72 hrs had been insane. FitzSimmons concluded that the device was a like a stun-gun but probably alien. That it had temporarily knocked Ward literally - out of body.

She walked aimlessly but she knew where her feet were taking her. As she reached the staircase she could see him punching away. He had been given his life back today. She took a sip of her drink and watched his body move. She took in every inch of his shirtless body and watched his muscles as he punched over and over. For someone who just got a new lease on life she was surprised at the aggressiveness he showed. Then he stopped, holding the punching bag. She watched him breathe and she realized just how much that made her happy.

"I guess it's your turn to watch me" he said not even turning around. How did he know she was there?

"I was just wandering...can't sleep."

"Why are you here Skye? You've made your feelings perfectly clear."." He punched the bag again.

"I told you I can't sleep..."

"It's a huge plane Skye, why are you here!" His frustration resonated in the tone of his voice. "You've made it really clear that you don't want me around. You push me away every chance you get Skye. Last night you tried to beat the hell out of me. I know what happened 2 years ago and I have tried to make amends but I now know, I realize that no matter what you and I Skye...well..."

"Ward..." She said walking down the staircase.

"I died today Skye! My life flashed before my eyes and I realized afterwards that no matter what I do, no matter how much I apologize you'll never, never be...I died today and you couldn't care less"

"I know you died today Ward..." Fear was running threw her veins as she approached him, could she control herself? "I didn't care- really- I was terrified! You died in my arms. I couldn't save you no matter how I tried and I tried Ward." She stopped and she was now right in front of him. She could feel the heat of his body on her skin.

"I didn't know you tried, no one told me." He hung his head.

"You said I'd never be...never be what Ward?" She looked up into his eyes. She knew the answer but she had to hear it.

"Ward...I'd never be what?" She asked again.

He grabbed her and slammed her against the wall. "You'd never be mine Skye- you'd never be mine!" He leaned into her body.

"Ward..." He pushed himself off her in frustration before she could say another word. He turned quickly and punched the bag.

"What makes you think I ever stopped being yours Ward?"

He punched again but stopped when the words registered. "What?

She just looked at him and shook her head. She had finally said it out loud.

It took him 2 steps to get to her slamming her body against the wall once more, covering her body with his again. Then his lips crashed down onto hers. It was frantic and passionate, they had never kissed like this before. All this had been pent up for so long that it was like their bodies exploded. Skye's hands were in his hair and his hands found themselves all over her body. She loved the feel of his body on hers and as he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his firm body and she knew she wanted more- she wanted all of him, forever.

Then an image flashed in her mind, Sabrina.

"Grant, stop, stop."she said allowing her legs to fall to the floor.

"What's wrong?"

"We can't do this..." Frustration and confusion flashed in his eyes.

"You don't want this..."

"You can't betray her...Sabri..."

Skye didn't have a chance to finish her sentence as Ward's lifeless body hit the ground.

Skye reacted in slow motion not understanding what was happening- 20 seconds ago his body was fuelled by passion and now it lay motionless on the floor. He wasn't breathing and she ran to hit the panic button that would alert everyone on board that she needed help- fast.

Coulson was the first to descend the staircase, he asked a few questions and Skye gave him the relevant information. Skye stood back as the others arrived and FitzSimmons started working to revive Ward. "It must be a secondary attack from the device... I don't understand-" Simmons said to Fitz. "Maybe an electro-pulse would jump-start his system?" Fitz replied running to get the necessary equipment from the lab.

"We need to get him to the HUB..."

As they worked Skye hit the wall where moments earlier he had kissed her- her body slipped to the floor and tears rolled down her face. He couldn't die- not now.