Hey there, folks! As usual, I have no ownership of the Agents of SHIELD franchise. And also as usual, please continue to comment! Enjoy!
Coulson was pacing around the room. It had been hours since May had gone to look for Skye. Was she alright? He had felt the ground shaking, like a small earthquake. Could that have been Skye? Should he go in after them?
"Sir!" he heard a familiar voice shout. He jumped, and turned around to find Simmons with Bobbi right behind her. "It's Skye's father, he –"
"Don't call him that!" Coulson interrupted sharply. When he saw Bobbi's raised eyebrows, he muttered "Sorry…go on".
"He's heading back towards here, sir!" Simmons cried. "We think he's going to try to find Skye!"
Coulson swore loudly, and buried his head in his hands. Should he send in more team members and risk them getting killed? No, he couldn't do that. "Okay, just keep monitoring his progress. I know he won't hurt Skye. May on the other hand…" he trailed off uncertainly.
"May?" Simmons cried. "What's she doing down there? It's dangerous!" Bobbi shot her a look as Coulson buried his head in his hands again.
"What have I done?"
Skye stretched, wiggling herself out of Ward's arms. "Is it okay if I try to stand?" she asked. Ward nodded, smiling at her, and gently helped pull Skye to her feet. She swayed at first, leaning on Ward for support, but after a few moments, she began to walk around slowly to test out her balance.
"You scared the hell out of me, Skye." Ward said quietly. "The rock that hit you was gigantic…I thought you would've broken your neck for sure."
"Yeah, I guess I'm just super-duper tough, then" Skye said, flashing a tense smile at Ward. She scowled inwardly, knowing that she was in no shape to be getting in a fight with him. She had a terrible headache and sense of balance…and was unarmed. She wobbled uneasily, and Ward grabbed her before she could fall.
"Sit back down, Skye", he ordered gently. "You shouldn't be moving around too much. At least wait until May wakes up. And besides, we still need to have that talk."
"Okay", Skye said, biting back laughter. Does he actually think that when May wakes up we're just going to prance out of here hand-in-hand? So all I have to do is wait around for May to wake up and kill him for me? Deal. "What did you want to talk about?"
"How's the team?"
Skye looked at him, speechless. She was so angry that she didn't even stop to filter her next words. "The team? As in S.H.I.E.L.D., the team you betrayed, and tried to have destroyed? Or as in Coulson's team, of which you tried to murder three members? We're fine, thanks for asking, because we actually have people who would die to protect us instead of killing off their friends to protect themselves." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she cursed herself for being such an idiot. She looked at Ward, bracing herself for an angry retort.
"I'm glad everyone's okay," Ward replied calmly, "And you're wrong about one thing, Skye. I would die to protect you. And anyone else on the team. I promise." Skye barely even registered the second part of his. Everyone wasn't okay, she thought sadly.
"Tripp died", she said, cutting him off.
"I'm sorry to hear that", Ward said. "He was a good guy". Skye nodded, blinking back tears, and cursing herself for showing weakness in front of him. C'mon, May, wake up! she thought fiercely. Let's end this.
As if in answer to her prayers, Skye heard a light moaning behind her. She jumped up to run over and check on may, but her head started spinning, and her vision blurred. Ward grabbed her around the waste, and said "Sit back down…let me check on her." Skye raised her eyebrows and laughed weakly.
"Probably not a great idea, Ward. I can handle it". She slowly made her way over to May, and leaned over her S.O.'s feebly stirring body. "May? Mayyy?" she called gently. "Are you alright?" She kept Ward in the corner of her eye as she roused May.
"Skye?" May asked weakly, "what's going on?" Skye bent down close to May's ear, her long hair shielding her face as she explained the situation. She paled as Skye described encounter with Ward. "Run, Skye…I can handle him. You just get out of here." May reached for her gun, and came up empty. Ward must have removed it along with the ICEr she had used to shoot Kara when she and Skye were unconscious.
"Not a chance, May". Skye whispered fiercely. "Neither of us are strong enough to take him on our own. I am not leaving you here, understood?" May nodded, and Skye grabbed her arms, pulling May carefully to her feet. The two agents embraced briefly, and Skye whispered "You go in for a direct attack, and I'll circle around until I get a chance to finish him, okay?"
May groaned softly, moving quietly towards Ward and muttered, "Let's finish this".
"Sounds like a plan", came a frighteningly calm voice from behind them. Skye screamed when she turned around and saw her father a few feet away, gun pointed at May. She didn't even have time to react before Cal pulled the trigger, and after a flash of motion and a yell, Skye saw two bodies fall to the ground. Before she could take a step towards them, May popped up from the ground, ICEr in hand, and shot Cal in the chest. He collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Skye sobbed with relief as she ran over to May, who was kneeling on the ground next to Ward. As she got closer, she could see that Ward was bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound that looked extremely close to his heart. May was swearing angrily. "The stupid traitor shoved me out of the way…he took that bullet for me. What the hell was he thinking?" May shouted angrily. Ward's eyes fluttered, and he grinned weakly as he saw Skye leaning over him.
"Told you", he whispered. Skye forced a smile as she watched her former S.O. fade into unconsciousness. He really is willing to die for me? For any of us? I guess he's taking this whole 'not lying' thing really seriously!
Skye looked up at May. "What do we do now?" she asked desperately. May looked absolutely furious as she replied, "I suppose we'll have to save him".