Hi everyone!

Here is next chap!

Enjoy!

The cloth of her shirt was ripped apart, to allow Fitz to have a closer look at her wound. She let out a sigh when the tug of the ripping made her jolt. It was a cut, about 5mm deep. But that wasn't what shocke him the most. It was the skin of her arm. Hundreds of thin pink lines marbled it, scars.

"Oh my God."

"What?"

And he had found a long lines of stitches, maybe 20, red and a little bit swollen. It looked quite old, maybe a couple of weeks. And it was ugly. Really ugly.

"Does that... hurt?"

"What?"

"The…. The… The stitches."

He touched it. She had a little motion of uncomfort.

"Your hands are cold."

She mumbled as an excuse.

"Who did you... let to that? That's... horrible, and it has to hurt... as hell."

She heard in his voice that he was hesitating on his words, always waiting a fraction of second more than people usually did.

"Do you think that's easy to do stitches at that point? I was twisting my head like crazy I couldn't see the whole wound!"

"Because you did that to yourself?!"

His eyes were wide open. How was it humanly possible to do stitches to yourself? It had to hurt like crazy!

"Of course I did. What do you think? In a middle of battle, nobody stops. So we take care of ourselves."

He stayed open-mouthed for a while. She looked at him and smirked.

"You lost your tongue, mortal?"

"I… Let's take care of your… your… your wound there, will see for others later, alright?"

She straightened on the chair. She didn't really trust Midgardian medecine, since this realm was so retarded. What was taking care of an injury there? At least, he knew stitches and he was kind enough not to hurt her.

Well, that was normal if he was Fitz. She now saw the differences, the flaws in Grant's description of his team. There had been time running since the last time he had seen them. She had seen an icy and dangerous Coulson. And now there was the scientist who was so broken. And she had yet to see the others. How would Skye be? Torunn was afraid that her friend wouldn't recognize his family when, and if, he came back.

"That's going to hurt a little."

"Nothing from this realm is a threat to me. I am a goddess to your people."

"Alright, goddess. But I've warned you."

And he poured some antiseptic on the wound. She jolted and a yelp escaped her lips. The sting of the liquid and the pain from her other wounds when she had moved had made her voice her pain.

"For Loki's sake, you stupid Midgardian!"

"I am not Mid… Mid… Anyway, I am Scottish!"

"Freaking. Same. Difference! That hurt!"

He smiled.

"Come on, you mighty goddess. It's nothing... compared to what you can... endure."

"Stop laughing at me."

"What's your name, mighty goddess?"

"Torunn Thorsdottir of Asgard."

"Ok, once again."

"My name is Torunn Thorsdottir."

"I can't even…. pronounce it!"

"Just call me Torunn alright? What do I call you?"

"The others call me Fitz."

"Fitz is not a name. Do you have another?"

That girl was very different than anyone he had ever seen. She was extremely proud, incredibly stubborn and quite independant. She was so… Special.

"Leo."

"Then, I'll call you Leo."

She was so determined, and confident. She spoke freely, without restrain, and he really liked that. She was not some hypocrith.

"Now, princess, where are your other…. other... wounds?"

"Wait, what did you call me?"

"I called you princess. It suits you."

She looked at him. He smiled. He was nice. He was one of the niciest persons she had ever met. The first one being Grant. But… She felt something else towards Leo than she felt towards Grant. It was different. He was different. He… He was really nice to her. And it was a change.

He took care of her, they chatted a little, but they didn't have time. She wanted to know him. She wanted to know him, because Grant didn't know a lot about him. Because she felt compelled to do so. But it was time for another round of questions from Coulson. Another trip back to the vault. They freed her from the cuffs. She massaged her wrists. The door closed.

"Don't touch me."

Grant Ward was punching. That's everything he could do right now. He couldn't help but remember her words, the way they hurt deep down. How could he love her that hard? How was it possible to feel so much pain, without being injured. He had known it. He had known it had changed everything. But he couldn't help but remember her words. and the way they hurt.

The bag flew when his fist collided with it. He had to forget it. By any mean. With pain, or with pleasure. He had to forget it.

Her glaring eyes, that venom in her pupils. The way she moved to hurt him. She purposefully did, when he was trying not to harm her. It was cruel, and well-deserved.

He shouted in rage. All he wanted was Skye looking at him like she did before it had all started. When he was there for her, her friend, her S.O. and maybe more. It was all his fault, it had always been his fault. Everything. From Thomas to Hella. From the beginning to the end. from a betrayal to another betrayal.

"Don't try."

Don't try to talk to me. Don't try to make me like you again. Don't try to get close to me. Don't.

That's all she meant. Don't. Life was just a succession of don'ts. Don't tell the parents I forced you to do it, because I'll say it was all you. Don't try to run away like you did in school, you'll be back anyway. Don't attach yourself. Don't move an ear, or you'll be on the last rank. Don't forget you are Hydra. Don't forget you owe me everything. Don't forget your sister. Don't touch me. Don't try.

And he couldn't stand it anymore.

He stopped punching. He started thinking. If it was going to be that way, he wouldn't bear it much longer. He had to contact her. He had to know. He couldn't care less about restrictions. He couldn't care less about beatings, about don'ts.

The night was starting to fall. It had been two days since he had left Torunn there with Skye and the others. He now saw how much he valued that crazy warrior. How much she meant to him. Because she listened, and she understood.

He walked towards one of the offices on the first floor of the main building. The yard he had to come across was deserted. It was almost scary. He had never seen a base without soldiers on. In one of the offices, he found a laptop, which password he cracked easily. He opened a mail window and took a deep breath. She would have to listen, or at least read.

Ward… He was there, he was just there, so close. She wanted so badly to reach him and hug him. It was horrible. It was all too white, all too blinding, but he was there, just there. Her arms stretched forward, pulling on her sockets, trying to touch him. But she couldn't move anything else in her body, just her arms and her head. She saw him, he was going away. No, no, please! She couldn't let him go. She couldn't. Please…

She felt water on her face, tears, but she didn't feel like she was crying. It was scary. It felt like she wasn't really in her body, she could feel the tears but it wasn't her who cried. She just pleaded and struggled.

The floor she hadn't seen yet covered in symbols, the ones she drew. It was dark and glistening, it was moving slowly, expanding like a some sort of puddle, but it wasn't liquid. She felt she was going crazy.

Ward, no… Grant please, don't go. She pleaded, she cried, she shouted. Don't go away from me. Don't leave me. Please. It was crazy and sick, she felt overwhelmed with a stream of sensations. He turned his back and went away from her, she cried out for him to come back. She couldn't be alone, please, don't leave me alone.

You said, you were a survivor. You said it, so please survive… Please don't leave me alone. But he did. He went away. She felt her knees giving away and she fell. Her skin was now blue, it didn't strike her at first but then, she realized it wasn't normal. And her heart beat rose up again, even if she thought it wasn"t possible to be more freaked out than that.

She woke up with a start. She was shaking, crying. Ward… How could she miss him that much? She sighed and tried to have her heart beat calm down. It was ok, it was not hapenning. It was going to be alright. She hated him. She couldn't love him, she hated him too much for that.

Her bed was humid, because of her sweaty skin. Her hands were getting less shaky every minute but she couldn't get past the sensation she had in her chest. She had been torn apart from the one she loved. It hurt.

Sitting, she decided to take a shower. But that didn't help her feel better. She kept scrubbing her arms, even after dressing up. Unconsciously, there was that fear she was actually turning blue, and that the symbols on her ceiling, and Ward going back with Hella, away from her, that it was all connected.

She sighed. The Playground was silent and there wasn't any light. It was kinda eerie in a way, gloomy. She wrapped herself in her arms. Where was she going? She had absolutely no idea about it. Her footsteps led her to the lab. There she saw she wasn't alone.

Sitting in front of his computer, headphones on and typing quite furiously, Fitz didn't hear her. She opened the door and walked towards him. When she put her hand on his shoulder, he jumped in fright, before sighing in relief when he saw it was her.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"That's nothing… I'm just… a little… jumpy after… after the attack a couple days ago."

"I understand."

The first screen, just in front of him, had a page, covered in words. She didn't look at what he had written, it was personal after all. But the second most surprised her. It was the footage of Vault D, the one where the Asgardian was detained. She was not sleeping, just like both of them. They could see the ovale of her eyes in the dark.

"Why are you watching her?"

"I… I don't know. She… she is… fascinating. Really. So…. so…. intriguing."

"But she is dangerous."

"Some would say that but… I don't really believe it."

"Her parents admitted it. I think they have a very good reason to say that."

"Sometimes, parental love isn't what it should be."

Skye couldn't understand why he was so protective of that girl. For God's sake, he had just met her! What was that thing about parental love? She realized no one on the team knew Fitz really well. Nobody knew about his past. She doubted even Simmons knew.

They stayed that way for a while, watching the girl shift on the bed.

"She had some really ugly…. sutures. When I asked her who had done that, she said she did it herself."

"What?!"

Skye looked at him. He was dead serious. She guessed he was as shocked at her when he had learned that.

"I think, when it comes to a girl, who is lonely enough to have to take care of herself that way, the advice of her parents may not be the best to take."

She didn't answer. He was right. Had Sif and Thor cared enough about their daughter to have a relevant word in that story? That was a question they all had to keep in mind now. This girl was maybe dangerous, but it was just the top of the iceberg. There was a whole lot more to discover behind her nasty facade.

She looked at the hour on the computer. 4:58 am. She sighed. They looked at each other. They had that curious routine, meeting up in the lab at the break of day, talking a little, spending some time together in silence, and then going their way, and almost not seeing each other until the next night. It was a silent friendship, a compassionate one. One of the deepest.

"It's almost 5."

"One more day to go…"

In Skye's mail box, a little e-mail had just popped up, from an unknown adress. She wouldn't see it until she opened her laptop and checked her box, a couple of hours later.

Skye…

So what do you think Ward wrote to Skye?

Don't forget to give me your thoughts about it!

Until next time,

The Queen of Heart