Author's Note- This chapter is based on a modified suggestion from Belle97

Ch. 8

A few days later, Ward took me out to the gun range once again. I noticed that he routinely took me to gun ranges that were far away from the airfield where the Bus would be stored. Once, I checked Google Maps and found at least five gun ranges closer than the one he had picked.

I loved those car rides together. Every time we drove together, Ward would share a little more about his life, tell me just one more funny story or just ask me how things were going. He was so different one on one. It's silly, but it almost felt like I was watching a flower that would only bloom in my presence. Around the others on our team, he was so business-like, so closed-off, so focused on the job at hand. But, during those car rides together, I felt like I was getting a glimpse of the real Ward, of the man behind the facade.

"May told me, about teaching you. I think it's a great idea. You can learn a lot from her," he said.

"I'm learning a lot from you," I said.

"True, but May's a legend. You're lucky to have her as an instructor," he said as he pulled into a parking spot at the gun range.

"I don't always feel so lucky," I said, absentmindedly rubbing the knee I had twisted during that morning's training.

"Most recruits would do anything to train with Agent May. It's a privilege," Ward said as he opened the door to the building for me.

I sighed a bit. It's a privilege I would enjoy a lot better at eight in the morning instead of six.

00000

After our time at the gun range had ended, we emerged from the building and I noticed an arcade across the street.

"Come on Ward, let's go. It'll be fun," I said, tugging on his arm.

"We can't," he said and started towards the SUV.

I ran after him and grabbed his arm again, pulling him playfully towards the arcade. "Come on, we never have any fun. Let's play hooky for just a little bit."

"Skye, I said no," Ward ground out through gritted teeth, his expression hardening. He yanked his arm away from me.

"Why not?" I asked, my tone more pleading than I meant it to be.

"Skye, don't you get it? Every moment we're together is scrutinized. Every action we take is monitored. Do you have any idea the risk I'm running just by choosing a gun range that's farther away so that we can be in the car together longer? Any deviation, any excuse, any attempt at subterfuge and you wash out of the program. They'll send you away. It's not that I don't want to play hooky. It's that I don't have any choice in the matter," he said, exasperated.

He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at me, "Look, sometimes we want something, Skye. We want it so much we can almost taste it. But we can't have it. It's just out of our reach."

He sighed, "We'd better get going. We're already running late."

We rode back to the Bus in silence.