Hello, everyone!

I'm a little tiny bit late on this one, but I think it's worth it. I don't know. It's for you to tell me!

I know readers expected twists and turns in the next chapter. I hope I won't deceive them with this one! Because I know the couple of next chapters will change everything.

Anyway, enjoy this one.

Her sword. He gave her her sword back. She couldn't help take it in her hands through the thick leather sheath. Finally… She missed that familiar weight so much… Tying the belt around her hips, she moved around. It had been days, weeks maybe since she last felt this weight at her left side. It meant protection. Fight. It was her life.

She slipped back into practice, drawing her sword. The muscles stretched and clenched, her joints didn't protest at the effort. It was one entire mechanic, used to the exercise. The light weight of her sword tugging at one of her shoulder reminded her of the axis these two latter had to form for the exercise to be down correctly. The metal of the weapon never touched the floor as she went through all her routine.

Her wrist flicked in any possible direction, around and around. Her body went through yoga positions at the same time, testing her balance, her focus. Her fingers were wrapped around the handle firmly and lightly at the same time, allowing her to keep the flexibility of her wrist and also allowing her not to be disarmed easily. It felt good to have these tiny muscles functioning again, lifting the blade away from the ground, against the force of the gravity.

She balanced leg to the side in one sudden, swift motion. Her other knee flexed, and before being completely put off balance by the weight of her leg on the wrong side, she made a small jump. It started as just a little hop, her bent leg suddenly stretching and propulsing her back. But with the side kick she had executed earlier and the way her body was positioned, her arm and sword tugging her to the ground on one side, with all her torso and head in that direction, her leg shot again and she flew across the room, flinging violently her whole body to where her opponent would have been. That was one hell of a move. And the bracelet felt it too.

The shock went through her from head to toe. She let out a shocked cry and fell to the ground, completely paralyzed and not able to move. She waited a couple of seconds to have her mobility back and groaned. That was painful. She shouldn't forget about it later on.

The door of the cell opened. She knew somebody would eventually come. Leo was nice to give her back her weapon but the Director didn't necessarily agree, since she was known as a ruthless psychopathic killer. Both Leo and the Director entered the room. She put the sword back into the sheath. She would better not appear as deadly as she was.

The scientist was trying to explain something, but his speech troubles were keeping him from succeeding in this task. The words were escaping him, as usual. He was struggling on his explanation of the way he had modified the molecular structure of the weapon to make it disappear thanks to a tiny system on the handle when he caught sight of Torunn's smile.

It was a bright and happy smile, one he hadn't seen on her face before. She had her sword at her hip, hand on the handle maybe not even consciously. It seemed to fit her in a natural way. She was made to have a solid weapon at her side. It was the first time he thought somebody looked good with a weapon. She seemed so happy to have it back. He couldn't understand that. Well, maybe he could. Maybe if somebody took his lab, his tech away from him for a long time, he would miss it.

"Paying me a little visit, Director?"
"How did you manage to have him get your sword back?"
"I didn't. We spent some time in the lab and when I came back, it was there."
"I don't believe it."

She sighed. She knew it would cause troubles. She knew it was not going to be easy. She was extremely happy , but she wouldn't be disappointed if they took it away from her again. It was a possible, probable, outcome of the discussion.

"Listen, Son of Coul. If I wanted to kill you with my sword, I would have done it already."
"The device would have prevented you from doing it."
"See? I'm not dangerous anymore. Right now, my life is between your hands." "Don't be melodramatic."
"I'm not. You could choose to have me crossed off. You could choose to keep me in here forever. My lifespan is way longer than yours. I could the most precious piece of evidence of your agency in a few centuries. You could have me tested like you did with that Kree."

Coulson had a slight frown. How could she know about this? Had Ward told her? Had Sif told her? And who else know about the 0-8-4, the GH-325 and all the other serums? What was going to happen then? They had had all this trouble getting rid of Hydra, and now people knew about the Kree. And the writing. It was turning into the most total mess.

"I didn't have a part in this."
"SHIELD did. SHIELD tortured an innocent being, to extract from him a serum that went against the balance of Nature itself. This shouldn't have existed. You should have stayed dead! But it doesn't stop there. SHIELD asks its agents to terminate some of their enemies. To kill people. Sometimes, they are even innocent persons who have just the sadness to have the most precious capacities! And you think I am a monster."
"You are a psychopath."
"Psychopaths don't have empathy. They don't care about lives, people. Do I look like I don't care? Hella is a psychopath. I am not. I am just a loyal little warrior."
"Your loyalties lay with the wrong person."
"Not anymore."

And at that time, Fitz turned to him and started to talk, almost fluidly. He talked about what he had done to the sword to keep its molecular structure shapeable at will, to make it less dangerous, the settings of the bracelet that kept her from hitting people. It was mostly sciency stuff that left both of them frowning, but he spoke almost naturally.

"She is not a... psychopath. She's just lost, broken. Like me. Like Skye. Maybe even like you. She would never hurt one of us…. Well maybe Jem… Si… Simmons. But you have to listen to me Coulson. Her parents are… God knows where, pretending to support each other's presence for enough time to find a solution about what they are going to do with her. She's their…. their daughter, and they are not even able to look at her in the eyes. Thor may be an Avenger that saved the Earth, but he is no better than…. than… than Ward's parents who closed their eyes on what was going on in their house. Thor doesn't care about his child. He didn't go to see her, even when she was sick. He doesn't look at the… at the… the.. thing… the monitor to see how she is. Sif doesn't find the courage to go see her daughter yet. But she asks about her. She held her hand when she was shaking in fever, down there in that Vault. Torunn isn't going to hurt us. She is way too hurt for that. She is way too restrained by her own… psychological bonds to do that. Can't you see it?"

Coulson just looked at the two of them with wide eyes. When did that speech come from? He saw the look Fitz gave to the warrior and he recognized a soft glow in them, in the way he held his hand against her shoulder, lightly, as if she was going to get afraid if he touched her differently. There was a deep understanding between the Asgardian and the scientist. He didn't know how it could have formed. It ran between the two, a bond of trust, gratitude, maybe even love.

"The only thing I can see is how this girl has you by her side."
"I will never hurt anyone on your team, Son of Coul. I swear on my own life. Even the healer girl. They are Grant's family. You are Grant's family."
"Grant Ward betrayed us. How can he still think we are his family?"
"You are a hurt and troubled man. I can see that, and I am really pained for you. But your anger may not be directed to the right person."
"How do you know that?"
"I guess, your anger makes you blind to the big picture. Yes, Grant betrayed you, but he's regretting that every day. You can't see it"
"He does not. He is a cold-blooded killer. Like you. Like Hella."
"This silly behavior of yours has to be stopped soon. You never saw what I saw. I saw true killers out there on the battlefield, fighting to satisfy their bloodthirsty deranged minds. I saw slavery, murder in every possible way. Torture. I felt pains your mortal bodies could not handle. I have more scars than I can count. And you basically say I don't know the difference between a fearful soldier and a primal monster!"
"Sir, you may... want... let her... talk with you first"

Fitz says stepping in the middle of the other two.

"You're defending Ward?"
"Not sure, but I nee..Need to hear him first, Sir"

"Too late. It's already done. A team leaves in a couple of hours. To cross him off."
"What?"

They both said at the same time.

"You heard well. He'll be dead before tonight."
"Why are you doing that?!"

Torunn said. She was looking at him like he was crazy. She felt Leo's hand nudging hers and wrapping around it, but she was too shocked to process the thought correctly. When she spoke, her voice was different, a little bit broken, betrayed.

"Grant is a good man."
"He's a monster, and he deserves to die"

Coulson said, trying to ignore the watery eyes of the girl, the way her hand was holding Fitz's one, and the sadness in the young man's eyes.

"You are the monster of the story. He trusted you! He thought you were going to give him a second chance. Because you said to him so many times that everybody could have a second chance, how bad their crimes were. You said it! And now you ordered to kill him."

Coulson stayed in silence. That girl really talked with Ward. He had said that to him, maybe even a few times. The worst thing was... her words, his own words were the real purpose of S.H.I.E.L.D. The organization that protected the humans and gave them a second chance.

"I suppose that will be my sentence too, right?"

She said, and the holding of Leo's hand over hers was stronger.

"This is not up to me. It's up to your parents and the justice of Asgard."

She had a bitter laugh.

"There is no justice on Asgard. Just the will of the Allfather. And the Allfather hates me maybe as much as Thor does. They won't kill me. They think themselves as a civilised people. But I will surely end in a cell for years. Held as a woman among men whom I put into prison. How do you think this will end?"

She shook her head and continued.

"Badly enough to make me wish I had been in Grant's place?"

There was a silence. It lasted. Long enough for the Director to feel awkward and ashamed. Coulson only nodded before getting out. He didn't look at this warrior who knew exactly where to hit to hurt, physically or psychologically. He didn't look to the way Fitz held her hand like she was going to disappear any minute. He had a lot of things to think before going onto the mission. A lot of things to keep his mind from wandering and wondering to much.

May was working on some boring paperwork. it was the kind of things she didn't miss at all from her desk job. Why had she chosen that in the first place? She did so much better in the field. Maybe because she needed to be bored, to be calm. To forget Bahrain. It was the only reason. Forget Bahrain and the loss of a part of her, the part that laughed, pulled pranks at her friends and didn't give a damn. But now that she had tasted the adrenalin of a mission on the field… She couldn't go back.

She looked at the files. She was supposed to assess if those recruits would be good enough for the Academy. Coulson knew her standards were high. He wouldn't be surprised by the pile of profiles that had failed her examination. And by the only five remaining candidates, on the fifty or so files.

A knock sounded at the door, she sighed in relief and lt the person in. She smiled at Sif who had entered the room. May liked the woman, who seemed cold and detached at first but was really warm and caring when you knew her. They had the same professionalism and perfectionism when it came to getting the job done, and that was sometimes a relief. She really loved Coulson, but sometimes he was more like a grown-up teenager than anything else. The Asgardian sat on the chair in front of her.

"How are you, Sif?"
"I am good. I'm just out of another quarrel with my beloved prince."

Her last words were full of irony and contempt. May nodded; She had assisted in one of the huge fights between the two gods, and even if it was highly entertaining and they were quite creative when it come to insults, it was sad because Sif had loved the man. She maybe still did.

"And as usual, I almost lost it. Almost. But he didn't got me."
"Why did he say this time?"
"He said I was irresponsible because I let Torunn have her sword back."
"She does?"
"Yes. But it wasn't my fault. It's the scientist who gave it back to her."
"Sure, Fitz likes the girl!"

They both smiled. They had seen what was developing between the prisoner and the scientist. Maybe everybody saw it but them. They were so different… They didn't understand very much how they could trust each other that way. Sif winced at the thought.

"You're getting protective of your daughter?"

May teased, earning a light glare from the warrior in front of her.

"I wouldn't want her to do the mistake I did."
"She is a mistake for you?"
"No."

They stayed in silence for a couple of seconds, both gone in there respective thoughts. Indeed, Sif didn't think Torunn was a mistake anymore. The first few years, she had lived only to see Torunn's face light up when she entered the room. But then, Thor never showing up and his contempt towards her made her grow bitter and wish it hadn't happen. Now she regretted it. She had missed everything. If she had been there for her, Torunn would have never met Hella. And all of this would have been avoided.

"Have you thought about the Kree problem?"

May looked worried about that. About the girl. She thought of her like some kind of a daughter, Sif could see it. They were connected in a way that pushed May to protect the girl. It was sweet of her.

"Yes, I did. I can try. But I am not master translator."
"I know. But I would like you to give it a try. Any information would be great."
"Fine."
"Skye forced Coulson's hand, to let her go on that mission to kill off Ward. She'll be out for some time. We can go to her room then."
"Let me know."

The Asgardian stood up and nodded at May. They understood each other enough. Enough to know how it feel when your kid was in trouble. And for both of them, it was the case. The warrior walked away. The corridors didn't seem like a maze anymore. They had spent these weeks, that know had transformed into almost two months. Two months.

Skye zipped up her boots, checked her gun in her holster. She was determined and was starting to feel the adrenalin of the mission rushing in. She was going to be the one killing him. Finally. After all this waiting. She was going to make him see what he had shaped her into. A killer. His doom. He'd see. He'd die.

"You are ready?"

Carter was standing next to her. She hadn't really accepted the girl into the group. Her motive wasn't good. It was personal. It wasn't good to be blinded by feelings. She knew it. Skye was a great agent. There was no doubt about her skills. She had been trained by Melinda May, the Cavalry, after all. But also by a traitor, some kind of super-spy. She had qualities on the field, qualities not everyone had.

"You're never ready enough."

Her voice was cold and her hand firm. Carter nodded and double-checked her gear and her weapon. That was something she liked to do when she led a team. Double-check. Have the others rely on each-other. She smiled at the girl, appreciating the state of her gear. She asked her to check the others. Skye was surprised but obeyed the orders. Good.

Agent 13 moved to the next person on her check-list. Lance Hunter was ex-military, British guy with a horrible sense of humor and a capacity to be aggressive to his ex-wife that was quite impressive. He was a very skilled man too, but was quite stubborn. she knew him from a couple of missions and was welcomed by an exclamation.

"Carter n°2!" "I told you not to call me that, Hunter."

She smiled. Peggy Carter was the great-niece of one of the historical agents of SHIELD, Peggy Carter. And everybody liked to tease her about it. Well, those who knew her well. Because she usually was cold with the others and that didn't inspire people to joke with her. But Hunter knew her quite well after the years.

"And I told you I was going to continue, as long as you continue rechecking us. We know how to gear up."
"I just like it…"
"You knew him?"
"Ward?"
"Yeah. I mean, Bobbi and I are basically the only ones not to know who he is. The others already exchanged all their stories about how much of an asshole he was."
"I didn't know him. I knew his file. But I never met him."
"Good. We're not the only one in the dark, then."
"Anyway, he'll be dead before the night falls. This isn't the time to get to know him."

Thank you for reading!

I still don't really know how to put Skye's new-found powers into my story... Some of you guys have ideas?

Don't forget to let me know what you thought.

Until next time,

The Queen of Heart.