Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.
AN: Thank you to all who have added to alerts, read, reviewed or any combination of the three. It means a lot to me.
AN2: To the guest reviewer who said I am only making Ward evil because I don't like him anymore and no longer ship SkyeWard, while it's true that I'm having issues with SkyeWard in the show that's not why I made him evil and Garrett not. You'll understand in this chapter but my main reason is that it didn't fit with the characters I created in this Universe. In this story Garrett has proven himself to be loyal by not betraying everyone to Hand and Quinn while Ward hasn't. If I had thought that if I made Ward Hydra would contradict his character that I have created then I wouldn't do it but I don't believe it does, especially once you understand his reasons, Garrett on the other hand would. You will understand a lot more about Ward after this chapter and I hope that you get why I've chosen to do things the way I have.
Skye is so worried that she can hear her heart beating in her ears when the door opens.
"Skye it's Aunt Maria."
"Oh thank god." Skye says lowering her bow, "I've never been so happy to hear your voice." Skye informs her Aunt as she walks in.
"Bring him in." Maria orders.
"Wow, wow, wow, wait." Skye says as she raises her bow one more as three people wheel in Fury who is on a stretcher.
"Skye, it's okay. They're here to save Fury." Maria tells her surprised to see Skye switching between aiming her bow at each of three people that are with her.
"Give me your names." Skye instructs.
"Skye." Maria requests, wondering why Skye is reacting the way she is.
"Not a single person is getting past me until you give me your names." Skye tells them, "Names" she repeats and Maria nods and the three people say the names.
"Okay, come in." Skye says lowering her bow once more and allowing the people to pass.
"You know where Medical is, get him there." Maria orders and once she does Skye hugs her.
"How much do you know?" Skye asks her aunt.
"Deep shadow conditions means that S.H.I. is compromised and if Fury was hurt we were to make it look like he died to every single person. That's why he's here; to the rest of the world Nick Fury is dead, and for now it's got to stay like that." Maria explains.
"S.H.I.E.L.D isn't just compromised." Skye tells her Aunt, "Hydra has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D at the highest level and their leader is Alexander Pierce." Skye explains.
"Are you sure?" Maria asks her niece, now understanding why she acted the way she did.
"Positive." Skye answers, "Not counting you, me, Nicky, and those doctors, there are only thirteen people who I know for sure aren't Hydra." Skye reveals, "And one person who is." Skye reveals, "Ward's Hydra." Skye says each word causing her pain to speak.
"Oh, Skye." Maria says torn between shock, anger, betrayal, and sympathy for her niece.
"I can't think about that at the moment, I've got to find the rest of my family and help them." Skye tells her.
"No." Maria tells her, "I may not know everything but until I speak to Fury you are not to go anywhere, clear?" Maria asks her niece.
"Clear." Skye responds, clearly not likeing that.
"Good." Maria tells her, "Fill me in on everything you know." Maria requests.
"How much time have you got?" Skye asks curious.
"Until his surgery is finished." Maria reveals.
"Then I'll give you the cliff notes." Skye responds and the pair head back to the main part of the base.
Several hours have passed since Clint, Natasha, Melinda and Coulson arrived at Clint's abandoned building. In that time they have decided that they wouldn't do anything about the drive until Steve gets back. They have all changed into the clothes that Clint gave them as well as doing a check on what they actually have.
"It's been over seven hours. We should work on tracking Steve." Coulson comments
"No need, I'm here." Steve says.
"What happened to you?" Clint asks seeing his friend.
"S.H.I.E.L.D tack team, falling several stories and a plane." Steve reveals.
"You hurt?" Melinda ask.
"Nah..." He reveals, "I know more about Skye." He reveals.
"What?" Everyone else ask.
"She arrived at the Triskelion, interrupted a meeting Fury was having with Peirce and they left together." Steve reveal, "Apparently Peirce has teams out looking for her but they haven't found her."
"Definitely seems like Fury told her to disappear." Clint comments.
"Did you tell Peirce anything?" Melinda asks and Steve shakes his head.
"Fury said not to trust people." He points out.
"And you're trusting us anyway?" Clint asks.
"We're family, you're not just people to me." Steve tells them, "What have you got on the drive?" he ask.
"Nothing, we were waiting for you." Coulson reveals, "We thought it would be a better idea if we did it together." He explains.
"That guy, the shooter, how do you to know him?" Steve asks looking between Melinda and Natasha, "And don't say you don't because I saw the looks you got on your faces."
"He's a legend." Melinda tells Steve, "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists but those who do…"
"Call him the Winter Solider; he's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years." Natasha finishes, "He's a ghost, and you'll never find him."
"You two have though." Steve says looking at Melinda and Natasha, then at Coulson and Clint who look just as interested as he is.
"It was in 2006. Istanbul." Melinda reveals.
"Are you seriously going to tell us what went down there?" Clint asks surprised and both Natasha and Melinda nod, "Finally." He comments as what happened in Istanbul is something that has been bugging him for years.
"A team of scientists, from, we never did find out where, wanted to join S.H.I.E.L.D and bring their work with them." Melinda reveals, "Fury needed a small extraction team, to go in completely off book and get them, and we're the best extraction team there is." Melinda explains.
"We had to get them out by road, not air, which we did, but I guess whoever they were working for didn't want them to switch teams." Natasha tells them, "Or maybe whoever they were working for didn't want them talking to Fury, which is exactly what they wanted to do. I don't know." Natasha adds, "Once Melinda and I got them out two other agents joined our transport as extra cover; which was when things went south."
"We were hit by the Winter Solider, not that we knew it at the time." Melinda explains, "The other agents were killed and we realised that one of us would have to protect the scientists and get them away and the other would have to face him." Melinda explains.
"Melinda went to face him and I was going to get the scientists out." Natasha explains.
"I fought him, I wanted to give Tasha as much time as possible to get the scientists to safety, but I didn't give her much; he was strong, too strong." Melinda admits, "I didn't think I was going to survive, but instead of breaking my neck like I expected he just shot me, once in the leg and once in the lower chest." Melinda reveals and both Coulson and Clint are shocked about that.
"Why don't I know this?" Coulson asks
"You two were away, and we were fighting at the time." Melinda tells him, "I was healing and in admin by the time you got back and when we made up, at the time I didn't see the point in telling you." Melinda tells him.
"I did my best to protect the scientists but he crossed them off one by one, until there was just one left. I was firing at him but it was like the bullets had no effect. I was using my body to protect the last scientist so he shot through me to get him." Natasha continues, "Then he disappeared. I think because the mission was done, I assumed that the only reason that he left Melinda and I alive was because we weren't the mission." Natasha reveals, "I tried to get to Melinda, but I couldn't."
"And I couldn't get to Tasha." Melinda adds.
"Maria was running back end and I guess she realised that something happened when we didn't get to the meet point, so she disobeyed orders and came in with a medical team and saved both our lives." Natasha explains, "Linda had to talk her through how to re-inflate a lung while she was struggling to breath and Maria did it, without losing it once. That was when I knew, without a doubt, that Maria was one of the best S.H.I.E.L.D agents there was, or could be." Natasha tells the others.
"Going after him is a dead end, we've tried." Melinda reveals, "Like Tasha said, he's a ghost."
"Then we should find out what he wants." Clint says, "Let's get into that drive." He says and the others nod.
"Let's go." Steve says and after Natasha gives everyone one of the weapons, and a gadget for herself, they leave the building.
Back at the plane, Fitz, Simmons and Ward are just waking up and walking into the kitchen.
"Are they back yet?" Simmons asks Ward.
"Doesn't look like it." Ward responds.
"What do you think has happened?" Fitz asks
"I don't know." Ward lies, "But I think for now we should just stay here and wait." He tells them.
"Should we go to the Triskelion?" Simmons ask.
"No, Coulson said to stay here." Ward tells her, "Until we hear otherwise that's what we should do." He tells them, "I'll be downstairs." He says.
"I worried Fitz." Simmons tells her boyfriend.
"I know, so am I." Fitz responds.
It has been over an hour since Maria and the medical team arrived at the base and Skye has explained, in detail, what she knows,
"And then we went our separate ways." Skye explains, "I should have used my force field to protect us both."
"No, you did the right thing, with how strong you had to make it, it would have taken too much out of you to make it big enough for both of you for how long you needed it." Maria tells her.
"He has to be okay." Skye says looking to where Fury is being operated on, "I wish I had Jem to explain to me exactly what all his injuries mean." Skye says, as while she can use her power to determine the injuries she doesn't understand what they mean.
"Fitz and Simmons are on the bus with Ward." Maria realises horrified, "I told Coulson to leave them behind." She says knowing now that Fitz and Simmons are alone with a Hydra agent because of her.
"Jem and Fitzy are fine." Skye assures her aunt, "Ward won't hurt them unless he is ordered to, which I know without a doubt, isn't going to happen." She assures her aunt, "They're safe."
"Good." Maria comments, "I may not get along with Ward..." Maria begins to say.
"Understatement." Skye comments remembering how many times on the sky trip the two of them fought.
"But I though he cared about you, and John, and Fitz, and Simmons." Maria says ignoring Skye's previous comment, "I wouldn't have picked him for Hydra."
"Hydra's everywhere, a lot of people aren't who we thought they were." Skye comments, "And he does care about us." Skye says to her own surprises, "He just cares about and owes her more." She adds.
"Who's her?" Maria asks.
"His sister, I didn't even know he had a sister." Skye says surprised. Even though she has promised herself that she wouldn't use her powers to know personal things about the people she cares about this is different; she uses her powers to find out what she wants to know about Ward.
"He has a sister who is fifteen years older than him." Skye reveals, "She was taken away before Grant was born, before their brother was born, and she was adopted by..., of course." Skye says realising that it makes sense now.
"Of course what?" Maria asks interested
"The Peirce family." Skye reveals, "She was adopted by the Peirce family."
"Grace." Maria realises, "Grace Peirce, she's Ward's sister."
"Yes." Skye responds, "Once she grew up and became a scientist for Hydra she went searching for her birth family, and she found Grant and their brothers." Skye tells Maria, "Once she discovered what their parents and brother were doing to Grant and their brother she killed their parents, and Grant killed his brother, he was a teenager." Skye says shocked, "She took both Grant and his brother in and moulded them into Hydra, made Grant into both a killer and someone that S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't be able to resist." Skye explains, "Grace and Peirce wanted Uncle John to recruit Ward because they knew how much Nicky trusts him and they wanted someone in a position to report on the kind of things that he does; things that he wouldn't tell Peirce but would tell the agents that he trained." Skye reveals, "He's conflicted but his loyalty is to his sister." Skye tells her Aunt, "But it could have gone another way."
"But it didn't." Maria says reaching out and grabbing her niece's hands, "He is who he is now Skye, I'm not saying that people can't change because I know that they can but they have to desperately want to, and from what you've said Ward doesn't want to, you can't save him if he doesn't want to be saved."
"I know." Skye says pulling away, "Let's talk about something else, please." Skye requests almost desperately
"You look tired." Maria tells her, knowing better than to push Skye when she has made it clear that she doesn't want to talk about something.
"I'm fine." Skye responds.
"Go get some sleep Skye, I'll wake you if anything happens." Maria tells her.
"If I go to sleep, I'm not going to wake for a while." Skye admits, "And at the moment me sleeping for an extended period of time isn't good for anyone, I've got to push through the exhaustion." She reveals as she picks up a magazine, "Don't even try to talk me out of this." She tells her aunt before she can say anything.
"Okay, I won't." Maria responds with a sigh.
"Good." Skye responds and she looks down at her magazine and she begins to read it, "Did you see my parents?"
"Yeah, I did." Maria responds.
"How they doing?" Skye asks as even though she can use her power to find out she wants to hear it from Maria.
"Okay, considering everything." Maria response, "They are with your uncles and aunt." She tells her.
"Good, that's good, they shouldn't be alone, any of them." Skye comments and she goes back to reading her magazine.
Since leaving Clint's safe house Steve, Natasha, Melinda, Coulson and Clint have driven to a nearby mall.
"We'll have nine minutes once we insert the drive before S.H.I.E.L.D finds us, so we have to be quick." Natasha tells the others.
"We can't all go in together, it will draw to much attention to us." Clint comments.
"Linda and I will go in." Natasha says, "We're less noticeable than you three." She comments.
"You two stand out the most." Clint comments and both Melinda and Natasha roll their eyes.
"To some, but we're the best at staying hidden." Melinda says and her and Natasha get out of the car without another word to the other three.
"So I guess we're waiting here." Steve comments.
"Seems like it." Coulson response.
As Skye continues to read her magazine Maria continues to watch her niece because she is worried about how much of a toll using her powers is having on her.
"I know how much you're worried about me." Skye says looking up at her Aunt, "But I'm okay." She tells her.
"If you insist." Maria responds as the doctors come out from the operating room, "How did it go?" Maria asks the doctors.
"We've treated all his injuries, he should wake in the next few hours." One of the doctors replies, "I will stay to monitor him and the others will go back, they've been away for too long." The doctor tells Maria and Skye.
"Thank you." Maria tells the doctors and they nod; one goes back to Fury while the others leave the bunker.
"Finally, good news." Skye says relieved that her godfather is okay.
After leaving the guys in the car Melinda and Natasha make their way to the Apple store in the mall.
"Chances of you getting into it?" Melinda asks her friend.
"Depends how good they were." Natasha responds, "I can get into most things but I would prefer if Skye was here too."
"So would I." Melinda responds, the worry for her daughter clear in her voice.
"Nine minutes starting now." Natasha responds as she puts the drive into the computer.
"So is the person who designed this smarter than you or what?" Melinda asks her friend curious a couple of minutes later.
"Slightly." Natasha admits, "There seems to be an AI that is rewriting itself to counter my commands." Natasha explains.
"If you can't find out what is on the drive then try finding out where the files came from." Melinda suggests.
"Already working on it." Natasha responds, "How long?"
"Three minute left." Melinda responds.
"Can I help you ladies with anything?" A store worker asks coming up to them.
"Nah, we're fine. We're looking for the perfect weekend away destination, we've been wanting to have a girls weakened for months." Melinda lies.
"Oh, well If I can help let me know." He tells her.
"Thanks, we will." Melinda says with a half-smile as the guy walks away.
"Girls weekend?" Natasha asks as Melinda turns back around to face her.
"First thing I thought of." Melinda responds, "Have you got it?" She asks checking her watch.
"Yep, let's go." Natasha says and the pair leave the store.
"We've got company." Melinda notes a minute later.
"I see." Natasha responds.
"Chatty best friends, caught up in their own world?" Melinda asks and Natasha nods and they turn slightly so that they are looking right at each other and begin to have a very quick conversation about basically nothing.
Natasha and Melinda continue their chatting friends act until they are on the escalator. When they get on the see Rumlow.
Knowing that she never has to explain what she is doing to Melinda, as they have known each other long enough to just go along with it, Natasha turns around and kisses Melinda. She knows that public displays of affection make people uncomfortable, especially if it happens to be two people of the same gender; closed minded people get even more uncomfortable and judgmental.
"You know Rumlow was staring right at us." Melinda points out as they exit off the elevator and continue to walk.
"Yep, but the genius didn't even bother to look at our faces." Natasha comments.
"He's never been the most observant of agents." Melinda comments as they exit the mall and head to where the boys are waiting in the car.
"Drive." Natasha says as she gets in the passenger seat and Melinda gets in the back with Coulson and Clint.
"What did you find?" Coulson asks.
"I couldn't get any of the information but I got the location of where the program was created." Natasha reveals.
"Where?" Steve asks.
"Camp Lehigh, Wheaton, New Jersey." Natasha answers, "Steve, what is it?" she asks noticing the look her friend has gotten on his face.
"I know it." Steve answers.
"It's where you were trained." Coulson comments.
"Yeah it was." Steve confirms.
"Guess we're going to New Jersey then." Clint comments.
"We have to." Melinda answers, "We need to know what is going on."
"I'm not disagreeing." Clint comments, "But I'm going to try and get some sleep on the way, I have a feeling that we are going to need it."
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