"This choice is yours Skye." Ward told her as they had to quickly decide which of them was to run.
"I don't want to stay in here, but you stand the better chance against the dogs at 45 metres." She told him.
"I will run or I will continue. I don't mind either way." Ward repeated. He didn't particularly want Skye to run against the dogs from the distance they earned, but he didn't want to force her to stay either.
The tannoy crackled again.
"Who is going to go, and who is going to stay?"
"He's going, I'm staying." Skye said before she changed her mind, or before he could change it for her.
"Very well. Runner follow red, player follow black."
"You can do this. You just need to stay strong." Ward told her, placing his hand on her pale cheek.
"I know. I think I just need to breathe." Skye whispered, revelling in the feeling of Ward's hand on her cheek.
"Just remember one thing." Ward said to her, rubbing her check with his thumb.
"What's that?" She asked, raising her hand to cover his.
"I have faith in you." Ward told her, before moving his lips to hers and kissing her like she had never been kissed before.
He pulled away from Skye and dropped his hand from her cheek as he turned and walked away into the night.
Skye touched her lips. She could still feel the ghost of his lips on hers.
Ward walked his senses on hyper alert. He didn't know what made him kiss Skye, but he did know that even though they were in the middle of this crazy, alarming game, he enjoyed it.
The thought of Skye and the feel of her lips clouded his mind as he made his way to the kennels.
The sound of the dogs barking brought Ward back to his senses. He walked over to the box labelled '5', turned the key, got the backpack off his back and made to put the piece of their puzzle in it when he noticed the dog near him tracking the bag with its eyes.
Instead of placing the bag back on his back he gripped it in his left hand and walked confidently to the gate.
The dogs started barking again, so Coulson and May climbed to the top to help Skye get over the wall.
Simmons stayed at the bottom of the hay stairs to help Fitz put together their exit weapon.
"Why is Ward running? Where's Skye?" Coulson asked when he saw Ward approaching the gate.
"Probably the same reason I ran when I did. The gate is too far back for Skye to outrun the dogs. Ward stands a better chance."
"But he's left her on her own!" Coulson cried in outrage.
"She's a big girl. Besides, he taught her well, she'll be fine." May told him, trying to calm him down by placing a hand on his arm.
"If she gets hurt I will kill him."
"She'll be fine."
"Release the hounds."
The gate rose and Ward set of sprinting. They saw him getting clearer and the dogs getting closer to him. They saw the red backpack fly out of his hand and land on the floor, which the dogs then pounced on, earning Ward a few more seconds to gain an advantage.
He hurtled towards the ladder, the dogs soon back on his tail. May saw the exact path Ward was about to take, so she grabbed Coulson and forced him to duck as Ward almost leaped up the ladder and forward dived over the wall, fully intending to land on his feet, not realising there was a stack of hay bales forming stairs and promptly fell down each and every one of them landing on the floor, on his front, with a thump.
"Owww!" Ward groaned, turning himself over, but remaining on the floor.
"You lost the bag." May pointed out.
"Yeah." Ward admitted, trying to get his breath back.
"You lost the bag." She repeated.
"I did."
"Wait. You lost the bag? HOW DID YOU LOSE THE BAG?" Fitz shouted.
"Dogs. They're trained to go for the bag. By tossing it I bought myself a couple of seconds." Ward told him, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the item he took from the box.