Thanks again for the reviews! You guys are great. Just a little FYI, Ward's character in this chapter was really hard to write. We don't really know much about him since the show just started, but his character in here might be a little...off? I don't know, I'll let you guys decides. Anyway, I hope you still Enjoy and Please Review!:-)

They've been in this warehouse for well over three hours now. Coulson and the others surely know that something has gone wrong, which is pretty damned important. Because right about now, Skye's having a hell of a time staying awake. He can see her struggling, fighting like hell to keep her eyes open. His checks on her have become more frequent, but she's stopped protesting them, and that worries him more than he'd care to admit.

Why does he care so much?

Because she's a colleague, he tells himself. It's his job to cover her back and to do everything he can to make sure she's okay.

But it's more than that, he realizes with a bit of surprise. He actually cares about her. Maybe it's because they're both outcasts when put into the real world. He's an asocial man who's great at his job but not so great at getting along with others, and she's always been an orphan, all alone and left to defend herself.

That has to be it, he tells himself.

"Hey Skye?" Ward asks.

It takes her a few moments this time to respond, and when she does, she sounds half-asleep, like she's rapidly losing the battle to remain conscious.

"Y...Yeah."

"Got a question for you?"

"Briefs!"

"Excuse me?"

"I...like my...men in briefs, but boxers are nice. They just...hide too much."

"Okay," he chuckles. "I'll keep that in mind."

She smiles at that, and Ward wonders just how goofy she is right about now. There are no drugs involved, but clearly her brain isn't working quite right.

"Are you...gunna ask your...question!"

"I'm not sure I want to hear the answer."

"Okay," she sighs. "Then let me sleep."

"No! Hey, come on Skye. Stay awake." He puts his hand on her cheek, and give it a couple light slaps.

She growls at first, then finds herself leaning into his touch. And for a few precious minutes, they stay like that. His cuffed arm around her waist and his right hand stroking her cheek.

But this blissful moment comes to an end when Skye jerks forward, her back arched. She grips the sides of his pants as a surge of pain cracks through her skull.

Thankfully, Ward was able to calm her down and she started to relax. Her body slumps back against his. He wishes he could be her hero, her knight in shining armor, and take the pain away. But he can't. So instead, he decides to distract her.

"You want to know a secret?"

She nods.

"I've been having these feelings...about this girl...and I don't really know what to do."

She opens her eyes and again leans back so that she can look at him. "You...have feelings? Oh my god, alert the media! The robot has feelings!"

Ward rolls his eyes. At least she's starting to sound like her old self.

"I'm serious. What do I do?"

Skye, clearly clueless, asks, "Well, what's she like?"

Ward looks up. "She's this amazing women, who's a big kid at heart, but is also warm, a little edgy, and witty. She's obssesed with superheros and loves to show them to the world by posting these videos on the web." He takes a breath and looks down at Skye. "She has long brown hair and is very beautiful. I cared for her the moment we met."

Before she can even open her mouth to reply, the door to the warehouse opens and Shawn Wilson enters, carrying the alien weapon in his hands.

"I see your girlfriend's awake," he calls out with a grin.

Skye looks up at him and despite the pain and the grogginess, manages to spit out, "You're going to pay for this!"

"Oh, I like her," Shawn says to Ward, his grin turning into a sneer. "Maybe before I kill you two, she and I should play."

Ward was about to tell Shawn, that if he even tries to touch Skye, it'll be the last thing he ever does, but the fiery brunet replies first, her voice a growled warning, "You want to play? Take off the cuffs and we'll play. I wanna see Agent Ward beat you down til there's nothing left."

Ward just smiles.

"I bet you do. Unfortunately, I got a buddy on his way to pick me up and get me the hell out of here. I've got buyers that will pay a pretty penny for this thing." He raises the weapon. "By the time you two are found in the morning, we'll be long gone."

"They'll know it was you," Ward tells him.

"Yeah, probably, but they'll be so busy trying to figure out what happened to the two of you, it'll take them awhile to get that I'm nowhere around." He gestures over towards a can of gasoline sitting against the wall.

"You don't want to do this," Ward insists once again, a hint of panic in his tone.

"Oh, yes, I do. Not every day you get to say you killed two S.H.I.E.L.D Agents."

"Not today, either," a voice rumbles from behind Shawn. And then, just before the gunfire begins, the voice, the one belonging to Agent Coulson, orders, "Ward, get her down. Now."

But he was already in motion, acting on instinct. He reaches his arms around Skye, holds her tight against his chest, and then rolls both of them away from the line of fire, putting his back to the gunfire.

He tucks her as tight as he can under him, his chin rested atop her hair. It's amazing to him just how small and vulnerable she feels against him. This makes him want to protect her even more. And so he does, tightening his hold around her.

The gunfire only lasts a few seconds, and then there's the sound of boots walking across the floor of the warehouse.

"Agent Ward," he hears just before a hand settles on his shoulder. "You two all right?"

"I'm fine, Coulson," Ward answers, seeing Agent May grabbing the device in the background. He rolls himself and Skye back over. He's not at all surprised to find that she's finally lost consciousness, her body limp in his arms. "But she's not."

He holds her close to his chest and lifts up their cuffed together hands and motions to Skye. "She need to get to a hospital."

"Don't worry," Coulson tells him, his voice almost ridiculously calm considering the situation. "Everything is going to be just fine."