"Skye, it's Nat. What's around you?"
"Nothing. I'm on a metal chair. Tied with wire."
"Injuries?" Nat asked.
"My shoulder and I think some bruised ribs. He's coming. I gotta go." She whispered.
Ward was pacing again. Coulson knew that the two agents were involved. "Ward." he called.
"Sir?" He asked hoarsely.
"I think you should talk to Skye through Natasha. It might help."
"What if he talked directly to her?" May asked. Fitz mentioned it and she had been thinking it over.
"She might give it away." Coulson stated.
"Or it might be the push she needs." Nat said while putting communication on the intercom.
"How is that?" Coulson asked at the same time Fitz asked "Why?"
"Because they're in love!" May, Nat and Simmons said in unison. Ward just stared at the ground, not looking at anyone.
"Who's in love with who? I always miss the good stuff." Skye said with a groan.
"It's May! Ward isn't dead!" May shouted at the monitor.
"Huh? But he- I need proof. I swear if this is some ruse to get me to escape.." She started.
"No trick, Partner. Can't kill me that easy." Ward said softly.
He could hear her crying. "Oh my god! Don't ever die! Ever!" She demanded.
"Nope. It'll take more than Russian mobsters to kill me." He said with a small smile.
"Not mob. HYDRA. He's coming. Watch the cam." She whispered quickly. They all watched the video.
The man came back and asked Skye "Changed your mind, Agent?" Her answer was to spit in his face. He hit her again, causing her to spit up blood.
"This calls for some extreme measures." He states while he hooks up a car battery and two clamps. Nat gasps. The Russian laughs and says "Last chance little girl." She responds with "Bring it, old man." He puts the clamps on her chair and turns it on low. Skye grunts and shakes her head. Then he turns it up, she groans louder this time, and when he turns it up again, higher, she cries out. "Tell me what I need, or I turn it up." He said. She spit at him again. He turned it up higher and she screamed. Agonizing screams. They could only sit by and listen to it. She was dying. She cries out again and then passes out.
Nat cringes and hugs Clint, Fitz-Simmons hug, May's eyes are glassy and she turns around, Coulson looks like he's going to throw up, and Ward lets his tears fall.
"Ready to answer my questions? Agent Skye? Fine, I have no use for you." He yells.
The last thing they see is a knife and her scream as it stabs her in the gut. She grunts.
"Payback.." She said, wheezing. Fight sounds, then men groaning and a door slam shut.
Coulson heard this and he gathered the team and went to the lounge to relay the information. May, Nat and Clint were on the couch talking, Fitz-Simmons were in the lab, and Ward was sitting at the bar alone.
"She came back on the earpiece. She escaped." Coulson announced
"How?" Simmons asked.
"She learned from the best at escaping from these situations. Right Natasha?"
"We used to train for these scenarios when we were roomies at the Academy." She said.
"Skye went to the Academy?" Fitz asked.
"Yeah. Operations with me and Nat and Clint." Ward said with a smile.
"Whoa. I didn't know that." Simmons said.
"There's a lot about Skye you don't know. You'll have to ask her about it!" Clint said, with a grin.
Suddenly they heard a bang and saw the Cargo light blinking.
"Someone's in the Cargo bay!" May shouted running from the cockpit.
They all ran down to find Skye stumble in, beaten and bloody.
May ran off to the cockpit, and set course to the nearest SHIELD Med facility.
"Skye?" Ward asked.
"Grant.. I need a first aid kit and whiskey." She said hoarsely.
"Skye, what hurts?" Nat asked.
"Everything, Nat. Stop spinning. You're making me-" She started to feint but Clint caught her.
"Skye!" Ward rushed over to her side. He held her and laid her down in his arms.
"Hey Grant. I thought you were dead. I'm glad you aren't." She said touching his face.
"I'm glad you aren't either. I told you not to go in through the alley, Skye." He said.
"I'm glad I did. They were looking for you. Grant it was a trap for you. They knew about us."
"What?" He asked shocked.
"They wanted me to give you up. I wouldn't. They did things to me." She said as she passed out in Grant's arms.
When they arrived at the Med Facility, the doctors swept her into emergency surgery. The team sat in the waiting room for hours before the doctor came out to update them. She talked to Coulson and he gathered everyone to tell them.
"Skye? Is she alright?" Nat asked, unsure of the answer.
"I'm not sure." He said and turned to Ward.
"She's bad, isn't she? I can see the pity in your eyes. Tell me!" He snapped.
"The knife punctured her appendix, which ruptured, and she had bled internally. She has a hairline fracture to the cheekbone. She has a three inch cut on her forearm that will scar. And some burn scars on her fingers and hands." He said as he looked between the team.
"There's something you aren't telling us." Ward said as he clenched his fists.
"They- They branded her, Grant." He said, his voice rising an octave.
"Where? How? Did they- ?"
"On her shoulder with what looks like a fire poker, it's the HYDRA seal."
Everyone immediately looked at Ward. He dropped to the ground with his head in his hands. They went to her room in the ICU and looked through the window. They all were shocked that their friend, their partner, who was so energetic and full of life and stubborn as hell, look so broken and frail, and even worse, defeated.
"Ward, why don't you..." Nat said as she saw tears threatened to spill down his cheeks.
"This was John. I know it. I walked away from it. For her. He did this to get to me."
Ward walked into the room and sat on the chair, grabbing her hand and squeezing softly.
"I'm so sorry, Skye. I should've taken the alley. This is on me." He said mournfully.
He sat there and the tears he'd been holding back finally came and he cried while he held her hand and listened to the steady beep of the monitors.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Nat. She came in, she saw him crying and pulled a chair over, sat next to him and leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. Seeing her best friend so distraught after seeing the woman he loves beaten for over 14 hours. She held him while he cried and prayed to whoever was listening to make Skye get better. He's lost so much. Don't take her away too. He can't- no he won't survive this, not without her. she thought as she hugged her friend.
Hey everyone! Sorry to leave a bit of a cliffhanger here, but thought this was a good place to stop. Sorry about this chapter being short! I kind of made Skye a little bit more tough and Agent-like because I thought she was really helpless in season 1 and always needed rescuing. I like the dynamic between Hawkeye and Black Widow, I totally ship them:) I decided to add them to the team, not only because I love them, I wanted to give Skye and Ward a backround and I really liked the idea of Skye going to Operations with them. I'm going to go in depth about that and why she never mentioned it next chapter! Thanks, xoxo ~XxRoseyxX