Drabble 2: Self Defense

"I can't believe we have to do this," Fitz whispered to Simmons. "He's treating us like children."

"Can you blame me?" Ward asked. Fitz jumped, seeing him right behind his shoulder.

"I think Fitz meant -," Simmons started, but Ward held up a hand.

"I know exactly what he meant. But this is serious. If you don't learn how to properly defend yourself, you might not make it out of your next mission."

Behind Ward, Skye mouthed 'you're in trouble' at Fitz and Simmons. They were inclined to agree.

Ward handed them each a pair of protective glasses, and then a gun. "Once you hit the target, we're done for the day. If you can hit it anywhere. Now go."

Fitz raised the weapon and closed one eye, squinting the other. He pulled the trigger, wincing as he did to brace for the bang of it. When the sound didn't come he pulled the gun closer to him, inspecting it. "That's odd," he said.

"Why aren't they working?" Simmons asked.

"They're working," Skye said. "you just completely missed the targets." They watched as she fired her gun. Again, it seemed oddly quiet. "Or maybe there is something wrong with them," she said.

"There's nothing wrong with the guns," Ward said. He picked up his own weapon and fired a shot at Skye's target – a loud banging sound accompanying the release of the bullet from the chamber. Fitz jumped. Simmons looked at Ward carefully.

"Yours is different," Simmons said.

"Yeah," Skye said. "He's using real bullets."

"While we have dummies," Simmons said, nodding in understanding.

Ward sighed. "This is a training exercise-,"

"You gave us nerf bullets?" Fitz asked incredulously.

"He doesn't trust us with real ones," Skye said in a huff.

"Have you seen yourselves in the field?" Ward demanded. He looked at each of them in turn. "Skye, you're the best one here, but you're nowhere near ready to be a field agent. Simmons, you shot Sitwell with an ICER, but if he'd been expecting it you wouldn't have succeeded. And Fitz, you don't act quickly enough. If you hesitate, or wait to get something perfect, you'll be dead."

Ward sighed and lightened his tone. "Coulson wants me to work with you, to give you the best chance in the field. Just use the practice bullets for now, okay?"

Fitz-Simmons nodded and murmured consent, looking down. Skye, on the other hand, started to aim at her target again – and then spun around to shoot at Ward.

The practice bullet made a thwacking sound as it hit his shoulder, and Ward tensed. Skye's open-mouthed smile faltered slightly as she noticed how timidly Fitz-Simmons were looking at Ward, because they could actually see his face.

"Look, I'm -."

She stopped when Ward lunged into action, grabbing Simmons's gun from her hand and turning it on Skye. "What -?" Simmons asked.

"Come on, Fitz," Ward said. "You've got my back, right?"

"Simmons, take Fitz's gun!" Skye said, aiming at Ward.

"Sorry Jemma, I don't think so," Fitz said when Simmons moved toward him. He opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped when another bullet was fired from Skye. It bounced off his arm and he stared at her. "I can't believe you did that."

Simmons took advantage of his relaxed grip and wrested the gun from him, darting to Skye's side. "That was kind of fun," she said.

Ward handed Fitz his gun.

"What are you doing?" Fitz asked.

Ward nodded at him. "You can do this."

Fitz swallowed and nodded, aiming the gun at Skye. "Ready?" he asked.

Ward opened his mouth to tell Fitz not to ask them that, but saw the shift in the younger agents a second before they actually moved. They were a unit, and turned their guns on him in somewhat smooth movements, firing.

Five seconds later, they stood looking at him, expressions laced with light concern.

"Seriously?" Ward asked. "Not one of you hit me." He looked at them skeptically. "You're not even ten feet away!"

Fitz lifted his gun again, aimed for a few seconds, and fired. The bullet bounced off Ward's chest.

"Better?" Fitz asked, interrupting the silence.

Ward closed his eyes. "Yeah," he said. "Better." He opened his eyes, his mouth curving up into a smile. "Now you see why I wanted to use practice bullets?"

"Totally," Skye said, raising the gun again.

"We're going back to the targets now," Ward said, like a teacher.

"Of course we are," Skye said. She stepped back up to her place, and Fitz and Simmons did the same.

"Now on my mark, fire," Ward said. "Three, two, one."

Silence where a normal gun would have made a loud bang; aside from the thwack from behind Fitz and Simmons.

"Skye!" Ward called, as another bullet landed at his feet.

Skye grinned.

A/N: Let me know if you have scenes you want to see!