Matter of Importance

Spoilers: Season 2 promo

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Marvel owns it all!

Three Months Later

Grant Ward sat on his bed with his back resting against the wall while holding the small plastic game board piece that May had given him three months before. He would stare at it for hours and play a mental game of battleship, imaging Skye as his opponent instead of using his own mind as an opponent. Coulson didn't answer any of his questions about how Skye was doing while May had simply stated that Skye was fine. Fine to May was too many things so Ward just prayed that the girl that he loved was recovering.

The sound of the door opened and Ward looked up to see Cynthia Nixon, the base psychologist who he'd requested a session with months before but never came. Sitting up, he waited till she sat down in the chair and looked at him. She was quiet as she looked at him, probably assessing him just from the way he sat and looked.

"Grant Ward? Or do I have the wrong cell?"

"I am, who are you?"

Nixon nodded, "Agent Nixon, the base psychologist. I'm here to get a good idea of your character. Some say you're a psychopath and others say you've just had a hard life handed to you." She stood and walked to edge of the barrier, looking down slightly at the tablet in her hand to press something.

The barrier dropped and she stepped back to sit in the chair. Ward stood and took a few steps forward, putting a hand out to touch the barrier that usually kept him back. His fingers went past where it usual was and he pulled his hand back, moving to sit on the bed. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't like walls of any kind between me and those I'm speaking to." She pulled a pen from her pocket and started writing in the notebook on her lap. "What do you have in your hand?"

Ward looked down at his hand, surprised he had clutched it in a fist but it wasn't surprising considering he had an instinct to protect the small plastic battleship. It was his only connection to Skye beyond his memories, he'd figured out she'd been the one to handle it by the fast they were the only two who played the game to the point it would matter. He swore he'd hold onto it, keep it safe and never give it up for as long as possible. He didn't know why May had given it to him but he didn't question it.

"The only possession I have." He unclenched his fist and walked over, just stopping at the yellow line to hold out the piece so she could see. "It's a battleship, from the board game."

"How did you get it? Director Coulson told me you weren't allowed to have anything that could be used to harm due to your suicide attempts."

Ward moved to sit on the bed, "Agent May gave it to me, I don't know why but it's important to me." He looked down at the plastic, "it doesn't look like much but it holds a lot of good memories, memories I never want to forget."

"So you don't have many good memories? Do you have many bad ones?"

He shook his head, "more than anyone else on this base needs to know about. Those I trust know the truth of the past, I don't need to tell anyone else."

"So you only tell people you trust about your past?" Nixon sighed and looked up at him, "that's not abnormal, telling people we trust but after everything that has happened, I find it hard to believe you trust anyone. They've thrown you down here…"

"I deserve much worse."

Nixon shut her notebook, "do you believe that or is that what you're repeatedly told?"

Ward put the small game piece under his pillow before standing. He walked over to Nixon but stopped right before getting to the yellow line. "Dr. Nixon, I have murdered and harmed too many people to count. There is no chance of me ever leaving this room unless by body bag and after everything I've done, everything I've seen as a result of what I've done I don't believe I deserve a second chance. As long as any information I give up helps the team, I'll take what punishment they see fit to provide."

"So you have no reason to leave? No family or relationship waiting for your return?" She stared at him, "do you have anyone to care for Grant, any reason to what to change?"

"Doesn't matter, they'll never let me go." He returned to his bed and leaned his head back against the wall.

Nixon stood and played with the tablet, the barrier going up again before she started towards the stairs. "Thank you for speaking with me Grant." Halfway up the stairs she paused, "Director Coulson told me to tell you she's recovering, he said you'd know what it meant."

His head snapped up at the sentence, "did he mention anything else?"

"No. Who is he referring to?"

Ward let a small smile go as he looked down at the ground, "a light in the sea of darkness."

Coulson looked up from paperwork when a knock on his door arrived, he found the base shrink standing in the doorway. He waved her in as he closed the file that lay out before him, motioning to the chair in front of his desk. May moved from across the room, where she stood by filing cabinets, to sit beside Nixon.

"What's the verdict?"

Nixon shrugged, "he's not a psychopath or sociopath. He believes he deserves to stay in the cell for the rest of his life and hangs onto what good memories he has. Grant Ward is a survivor, from what little his file states about his childhood and what Agent Garrett did to him, it's a surprise he's not either one of them. My honest assessment is that he'll sit there for the rest of his life, supplying information and living in his mind if he doesn't have something to hold on to." She looked down at the notebook in her hand, "if I didn't know how dangerous he is, according to the information provided…"

"He's not dangerous." Coulson looked up and both women turned to see Skye in the doorway. She wore jeans and a plaid top with her hair down, looking as if she'd been sleeping moments before. "Trip told me you were sending the shrink down to assess Ward. I wanted to see if she came back with the same assessment as you: a dangerous, homicidal psychopath."

Coulson put his hands together, "Skye please leave."

"Is that an order?"

"No, it's a request."

Nixon put her hand up, "no, it's okay. Skye, come in please and sit down." As soon as Skye sat in the chair May vacated, Nixon turned to her. "What's your favorite board game?"

"Battleship, Ward and I used to play it a lot before everything happened." She sighed, "he's not dangerous. I mean, it's obvious that he's a serial killer but he only did those things because Garrett either expected it or ordered him to. I have the choice to say no when May or Coulson order me to do something, Ward never had that choice under Garrett. He'd be reprimanded or worse if he even thought about something different. Even before that his family basically psychologically tortured him and I know his older brother tortured him psychologically and physically."

The psychologist looked surprised as she leaned in slightly. "How did you find all this out?"

"Skye is our resident computer specialist…" Coulson started but Skye interrupted.

"Ward told me, half before everything went down and half a while ago." Skye shrugged as she pulled a knee up to her chest and started picking at the small hole at her knee. "He trust me and I trust him. He didn't run did he?" She looked up at Nixon, "when you lowered the barrier? Trip said you do that will all prisoners."

Nixon shook her head, "no he didn't."

"He won't," Skye pushed her hair back as she looked the woman in the eyes. "Not as long as there a threat outside this base or on it that could harm me, he'll keep supplying information as long I'm breathing and alive. You see Dr. Nixon, he's in love with me and I'm the only thing in the world that matters to him." Skye stood up and looked between May and Coulson, "they won't tell you the truth but I will. Come find me if you want to know more about Grant Ward."

Skye left the room and May pinched her nose, "we should have expected that."

"I thought you were keeping an eye on her?"

May merely gave him a look, "I asked Hunter to keep her occupied while we waited for the results. Trip must have said something during lunch and she escaped to come here."

"She is the one you told me to mention." Nixon sat back in her chair and turned her attention to Coulson. "What is she recovering from?"

"Emotional overload, we barely caught it in time. Two months ago everything erupted after we failed to see that Skye was in a very fragile state due to her compassionate nature." Coulson sighed and looked at May as the woman sat down again. "May had to restrain and sedate her, she's been undergoing psychological treatment from Dr. Sayani and been barred from mission work."

Nixon nodded, "emotional overload in an agent is cause for concern. How did you know she was suffering? Did she verbally notify you or was it there lashing out?"

"It was video feed from Ward's cell." May looked at the woman next to her. "We review it each morning for security purposes. Upon reviewing it I found that for three nights in a row Skye would go in without authorization and speak to Ward. It was too friendly and personal, a line we can't cross with prisoners so her access to his cell has been revoked permanently."

"So in actuality it not for the fact she spoke to Grant, you wouldn't have caught what was happening with her." Nixon looked down before speaking. "How did he respond with her issues? Did he use her weakness against her or lie and tell her it was nothing to worry about…"

Coulson leaned back in his chair, "he spoke to her about how to deal with the matters. Was attempting to teach her to compartmentalize it so she could sleep without being haunted. That's not what we need from Skye and it put her at risk for deception."

Nixon nodded, "I'd like to see their interaction for myself. Tomorrow I'd like Skye to join me when I visit Grant. I want to see their interaction because while you see one thing and they see another, it is possible I will see something none of you see. It might just help me access them both." She stared Coulson down, "I won't take no for an option if you want me to continue helping Grant. I maybe a psychologist but I'm a trained agent, I can still take out someone if necessary."

"What time do you plan to head down?" May asked before Coulson could interject. "So I can have her ready. She tends to work from her bed on a laptop now that she isn't on mission rotation."

After a few moments the shrink spoke, "around lunch, I'll take his lunch down to him."

A/N: Ward and Skye are going to interact for the first time in three months. Anyone want to guess what could or may happen?

Next...hint already given

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