The sun approached dusk by the time Skye and Ward found shelter that he deemed suitable. It wasn't a full cave, closer to a hollowed out embankment. But a stream gurgled past only a few feet away. And if they burrowed deep against the packed dirt of the back wall, thick brush hid them completely from view.
Ward nodded with satisfaction. "It'll do. Get some sleep, I'll be back in an hour."
Skye stretched to her full height. "Not a chance. I don't trust you out of my sight."
"Skye." About to put a hand on her shoulder, he caught himself. The hand dropped to his side. "You were knocked unconscious, which means you have a serious concussion. If you don't wake up every hour you could slip into a coma." He pointed at her wristwatch, its display shattered in the explosion. "Unless that works far better than it looks, we don't have an alarm clock. So I'll take first watch and keep checking back on you."
Skye shuddered. "I don't know if I can sleep knowing you're watching me."
Ward frowned, his eyebrows knitting together in a mixture of hurt and concern. "Whatever else you may think of me, you know I would never hurt you, right?"
A snort burst from her. "I know you'll do anything short of it. Including selling me out to Hydra if they promise you they'll give us safe passage. Oh wait," she mockingly added, "You already did that. With Garrett. Who was willing to watch you die, by the way." She smiled viciously. "So yes, please continue telling me why I should trust you. I haven't heard a good joke in a long time."
Ward looked away, unable to respond. Eventually, he managed, "I'll hunt for food while you sleep. And you have my word that I won't communicate with Hydra in any way."
Skye shrugged. "Why don't you get me a water skiing moose while you're at it? I believe in them as much as I believe in you."
"What else would you have me do?" Ward threw his hands in the air. "We have to sleep in shifts. Tell me what you want me to do while you're sleeping and I'll do it."
I want you to find the nearest bridge and jump off it, she barely resisted saying. But with her not wanting him near her and not trusting him out of her sight, what options did she have? "Go hunt for food," Skye bit out, unable to look at him. "You'll find a way to betray me with either plan. Might as well be useful."
He disappeared into the trees without another word.
Skye curled into the embankment, pine needles piled beneath her and shrubbery on top of her for warmth. At least her clothes had dried on their hike. Without blankets, she could only hope to keep from freezing. Warmth was a distant dream.
Dreams themselves were not as distant. It had been a long, taxing day, and her body cared more about having a concussion than it did about Ward. She dropped peacefully off into sleep.
It seemed like only seconds later that Ward started calling her name.
"Skye, I'm going to touch your shoulder if you don't wake up."
She snapped awake. "Don't you dare."
Despite himself, he smiled. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three," Skye scowled. "Now two, now four."
"What's your name?"
"You literally just said it ten seconds ago."
"Humor me. You've had a concussion."
She sighed dramatically. "Skye. Happy now?"
"Nearly. Count backwards from 100 by 7s."
Skye threw her hands in the air. "I couldn't do that without a concussion!"
Amusement tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Alright. I'll be back in another hour."
And he was. Five more times he returned to play new rounds of Aggravate Skye with Dumb Questions.
Skye stretched, done with her fitful sleeping. Stars shone through the inky blackness surrounding their embankment. Without risking lighting a fire, only the faint moonlight showed them as more than silhouettes. "Ok, my turn. What did you find?"
Ward sketched a lumpy oval in the ground. "We're here, on the south-west corner. I spotted a few patrols as I went farther east, so my guess is that the Hydra base is in the north-east corner, roughly 10 miles across the length of the island."
"Of course it is," Skye muttered.
"As for food," He gestured to a pile of berries and leaves. "This is all I found. I can't catch meat with my bare hands and I can't risk leaving traps that would lead Hydra right to our doorstep."
She looked at the pile of food with a growing sense of indebtedness. She'd never have known any of it from weeds or poison. Already, she'd have died three times over without him.
"Eat, Skye," Ward said softly. "It isn't much, but you'll need your strength."
"Yeah, ok." It came out weak without the usual anger. "It's your turn to sleep. I'm going to go explore for myself."
He lay down, watching her closely. "Be careful. I spotted a few trip wires when I was out."
Perfect. There was little Skye hated more than a trip wire. May kept drilling her in how to spot and avoid them, but it had yet to stick.
After scarfing down a few handfuls of the very organic salad, she headed out.
Creeping through the dark shadows of the forest, Skye made sure to favor caution over speed. A single misstep could get her caught and end all hope of rescue for her team. Every few feet, she blew on her hands to keep them warm. Should she run into trouble, cold, stiff fingers would be the last thing she wanted. Especially when only carrying a knife.
"Why are freezing cold islands even a thing?" she muttered to herself. "Tropical. So much better."
A clearing broke through the trees. Instantly, May's training kicked in. Skye fought down the urge to dash through the open space. Instead, she checked even more closely for traps.
A thread of wire gleamed in the moonlight. She grinned, stepping gingerly over it. Skye: 1. Trip wire: 0.
Specifically, Skye hunted for movement. Twice she froze, dropping to the ground for what turned out to be a rabbit. The third time, she heard voices.
They mumbled indistinctly through the forest ahead. Slowly, she crept forward, thankful that she was much better at stealth than trip wires.
At least wearing all black at night gave her good camouflage. The two Hydra goons strolled lackadaisically along, unconcerned with any threat SHIELD posed. Skye felt personally offended.
It was all too easy to keep up with them and out of sight.
"What do you think of those new agents?" the nasally one asked the other.
Skye's heart thudded in her chest. She held her breath for news of Coulson, Fitz, or Lance.
"New recruits are all the same," the deeper one replied. "Too eager to earn more badges and collect SHIELD scalps. I'm just hoping they brought better rations with them. If I have to eat another strip of rock-hard jerky, I'll riot."
Skye doubted Ward's salad could tempt him.
The nasally one snorted. "No you won't. It's still better than the bread they used to give us."
Jerky Hater spat. "You got that right."
They continued their patrol in silence. Skye was about to give up and resume her recon elsewhere when Jerky Hater chuckled. "SHIELD agents, huh? Who'da thought?"
Now her heart really did jump.
The nasally one laughed. "And to think they were coming here to hunt us!"
The other man joined in laughing. Skye didn't find it the least bit funny.
"And that one twerp, calls himself an agent." At Nasally's silence, Jerky Hater continued. "You know, twitchy and the like. Kid's barely got any marbles left to rattle."
"Ah, that one. Haven't been on guard duty yet, but I've heard stories. You know why we're still bothering keeping him around?"
"Nope. All I know is he's being shipped back to central. Him and the merc. The Big Bosses want them for something."
WHEN?! Skye mentally screamed. She strained closer to keep from missing a single syllable.
Nasally snorted. "Hate to be them."
Jerky Hater chuckled softly in admiration. "Still can't believe we landed the Director of SHIELD himself. The intel he must have locked away inside? What I wouldn't give to be the one who cracks him!"
"You and me both!" Nasally agreed. "Say hi to him for me, will ya?"
Jerky cracked his knuckles. "With pleasure."
Boiling fury rose up inside Skye. That they could joke about torturing the closest thing to a father she'd ever known? Her fingers tightened on the dagger's hilt. With the element of surprise and fury stoking her veins, she could probably take both of them.
What would May do? What would May do? She asked herself repeatedly, trying to pierce the fog of her rage.
The thought calmed her enough to get some distance from her plan. Hydra had guns. If either of them fired a good shot before she took them out...
Or if it didn't go utterly perfectly and she only managed to maim one of them...
Then every single SHIELD agent on this island was as good as dead.
Through gritted teeth, Skye fought her anger down. Not now. Soon, she vowed. And if Fitz and Lance were being transferred off the island, then very soon.
As she let the Hydra agents walk away still breathing, a new plan came to her. Skye liked it far less than strangling them outright, but it had a higher chance of success. Much higher, if she were being honest with herself. And that was the difference between feeling good that she'd tried to rescue Coulson and actually rescuing him.
Her shift's six hours came to a close. Skye barely kept herself from racing (trip wires!) back to the embankment. The worst step in the plan came next and dread automatically slowed her feet.
The first tinges of dawn lit the sky as she crept under the embankment. Ward slept peacefully on, looking slightly ridiculous covered in branches and pine needles. He must have been exhausted not to have woken up already.
"Ward," Skye whispered. Instantly, his eyes shot open.
She braced herself for the worst part.
"I need your help."