AN: Hey all! So I know a lot of you have felt that the team's been letting Ward off too easy sometimes... I just want to point out that, yes, Skye is trusting and has forgiven him (as seen in her conversation with Simmons last chapter), and Coulson and Simmons are open to forgiving him (in time), but there are still two team members left. I think that the three who I just mentioned have personalities that would have them leaning towards forgiveness. But just wait and see how things pan out with the other two... Also keep in mind that everything that's happened so far (up until the end of the chapter) takes place in the span of one day! So he hasn't necessarily had a chance to really talk to everyone. That's the reason why it might seem a bit too easy... Anyways, I'm glad you guys are enjoying this so far! Thank you all for your support, and here's the newest chapter, Voice.

Skye's phone vibrated twice an hour later, alerting her to the fact that she had a new text message. She ignored it for a few minutes though. She was a bit pre-occupied; neither her nor Ward had been paying much attention to the movie thus far. But when Skye jumped as a loud noise came from the sound system (an explosion had gone off in the movie), she accidentally hit her head pretty hard against Ward's and they both settled down to actually watch the screen for a bit (while cuddling still, of course). That was when she remembered the text and pulled out her phone.

Send him to the kitchen at 9:45 the text from Simmons read. Fitz says he doesn't want to talk but he's always there for a nighttime snack at that time, so Ward can "accidentally" run into him then.

Skye grinned. Her friend could be sneaky, when she wanted to be. She showed the message to Ward, and he nodded. They had started their movie at 7:30, so it would be over about 15 minutes before the time that Jemma had set.

Even when the movie had finished, Skye and Ward stayed on the couch, sitting in silence.

Finally it was 9:40, and Ward stood up. Skye stood too, and stood on her tip toes to give him a quick peck.

"For luck" she whispered. Ward nodded, then went into the kitchen while Skye sat back down and flipped through channels. A few minutes later, Fitz came out of his room and went towards the kitchen. Jemma snuck out of her room behind him, too, and went to sit next to Skye. Wordlessly, Skye passed her some of the leftover popcorn as Fitz's voice started getting louder in the other room.

Fitz was quietly humming under his breath as he walked into the kitchen, but stopped as soon as he saw its current inhabitant. Ward, the Specialist that he was, had been clever enough to look like he was there coincidentally- he was pretending to rummage through the fridge when Leo walked in.

"Oh, bloody.. Damn." Fitz muttered. Ward turned around.

"Hey, you want some celery sticks?" he offered casually, holding out the aforementioned item that he had pulled from the crisper.

"No, thank you. I don't want anything from you, Ward" Fitz spat. He was about to storm out of the room, but Ward put a hand on his arm.

"Hey, talk to me, man" he begged. "I fucked up, I'm sorry. I get it that you're pissed. You have every right to be. But at least tell me how I can make it better."

"You can't! You can't make it better! You can't erase the fact that you pushed me out of a plane, can't undo the fact that you would have killed me. Would have killed Simmons!" Leo's voice cracked on the second last word and he broke for a moment before the razor edge returned to his voice. "Just tell me. How the hell does someone become so wretched, that he would kill the people who thought they were his friends? What could drive someone to betray everyone who had ever actually cared about him?"

"You don't want to know that" Ward replied quietly.

"Yes Ward, yes I do. For once in your life, be honest and just tell me."

Ward leaned back against the counter and stuck his hands in his pockets. "You know about my family, yeah?"

"Yeah, they were awful people. A lot of people have awful families, Ward. That's not an excuse."

"I'm not saying that it is! I don't have an excuse. Just circumstances that you need to understand. My family, they were assholes. But Garrett was worse. For the first little while, it just seemed like tough love. A bit of psychological abuse. He'd give me things and then rip that bit of happiness away from me as soon as I'd become attached. He disconnected me from everyone else.

"But later it got worse. He was like my father, but he wasn't a good one. He was that drunk, abusive father that you hear about on the news when a neighbor calls the cops. Only no one called in to save me.

"You know, when you get told enough times that you're worthless, that you can't do anything right, you honestly start believing it no matter how much evidence proves the opposite. And the person who's telling you those things, they're the only one who has the power to make you feel worthwhile again. That's what happened. That's what drives someone to betray everyone they'd ever loved. Years of psychological warfare and physical beatings. Fear. Hopelessness.

"People aren't born evil, Fitz. But they sure as hell can be made that way."

Leo hadn't looked up from the floor the entire time that Grant had been talking, but he did when the Specialist's voice stopped. He looked at Ward for a moment, registered the pain in his eyes, and then nodded once. Silently, he walked out of the kitchen and back to his bunk. Simmons returned to hers quickly too, and a moment later Ward came out of the kitchen and nearly fell onto the couch next to Skye. He placed his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands and Skye rubbed gentle circles on his back.

"You know that nothing Garrett ever told you was true, right?" she asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

He lifted his head part way, just enough to look at her with one grey eye.

"Part of me knows that" he murmured. "The reasonable part, the intellectual part of me knows that. But there's a part of me that can't be convinced. That's the part that's the voice in the back of my mind every time I look in the mirror, telling me that I'm a failure. It's the voice that whispers to me every time I kiss you. It tells me that I'm not good enough for you, that I don't deserve you, that I'm going to mess this up and make you hate me again. It's the voice that tells me that I don't even deserve this" he said, holding up his tracker bracelet. "This second chance. It just reminds me how I hurt you. It tells me that you all must hate me. So, even though I'm trying to win everyone's forgiveness, I still can't even forgive myself."

Skye took the hand that wasn't tracing patterns on Grant's back and cupped his chin with it, gently turning his head towards her, although he still wouldn't meet her eyes. "Hey" she whispered. "Look at me." Ward slowly brought his gaze up to meet hers, and only when their eyes met did Skye lean forward to kiss him.

"Don't you ever listen to that voice again" she ordered. "The only voice I want you to hear in your head when you kiss me is mine, telling you how much I love you. Got it?" Ward nodded. He was about to say something more when May walked in.

"Bedtime, Ward" she announced coldly. "Let's go".

Grant sighed and Skye groaned, but neither of them protested. Ward simply kissed his girl goodnight and followed the senior agent off to his cell/bedroom, but not before whispering "it may take a while for it to be the only one I'll hear, but I'm going to make damn sure it's the only one I listen to from now on" in Skye's ear. She smiled as she watched him walk off, and nearly floated off back to her bunk when he was out of sight.

AN: Please review guys! My life is crazy right now but reviews remind me that there are actually people who care what I'm writing, and motivates me to find the time to write more! 3