Ch. 12
We spent hours going over different scenarios, rejecting one after another. Our cells consisted of a concrete floor and a plastic bucket. No toilet, no bunk. There wasn't a lot to work with. I came up with a feasible plan, not a good one, mind you, but a feasible one. However, Ward rejected it initially.
It must have been past three in the morning when Ward finally agreed to my plan. "I don't like it. It's too risky."
"Do you have a better idea? If so, I would absolutely love to hear it," I replied, exhaustion sinking into my bones.
Ward sat there, hunched over on the concrete floor, eyes downcast. "No, I don't," he admitted.
"Well, then, it seems as though we have a plan," I declared, although I was hardly enthusiastic about it.
Ward stood up again and began pacing,"You know, it never would have worked. You and I. Coulson told me."
"Told you what?" I asked.
"Told me that you looked up S.H.I.E.L.D.'s regulations on fraternization. He wanted to warn me. Make sure nothing happened. S.H.I.E.L.D. is so unbelievably strict about it. You have no idea. Even a hint of something going on and they reassign you."
"And you thought that was about you? I was thinking of Leo," I lied.
"What? Leo? How could you ever . . .," he began angrily, gripping the bars.
"See, I knew you liked me," I whispered, reveling in the confirmation.
"Liked you, Skye? Liked you? I stopped liking you after the first week on the Bus together," Ward said, looking down and shaking his head.
"Oh, really?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears.
Ward looked up slowly and deliberately to face me, his eyes boring through me from a few feet away. "I love you, Skye. I've loved you for months. It's been torture being so close to you day in and day out and not being able to even hold your hand. When I think of all those months wasted . . . months we could have been together. . . I just wish . . . We're going to get out of this. I promise you," he vowed.
"I love you, too. I've loved you for so very, very long. I know we'll get out of this. I believe you," I said. And I did. Ward always kept his promises.