A/N: Seriously. Hands up who thought I would actually kill off both of Fury's poster people?
What actually happened was, during his jump over the gap; Ward took a bullet to his lower back. He landed awkwardly and the microphone mechanism fixed to his ear fell off and broke. Now running for his life he ignored the pain and continued after Romanov. When they landed on the next building Covenant agents that had seen some of their escape plan had made it to that rooftop. Engaged in hand to hand combat, Romanov's feed had been ripped from her and thrown over the edge.
The ten Covenant agents were soon unconscious, dead or otherwise tied up, allowing Romanov and Ward to continue their building hopping escape. When they reached the last jump they paused to take in their options. There was a horizontal bar that they could use to swing into the window. For Romanov, it was easy. She jumped, her supple body twisting perfectly and as she let go of the bar, she landed feet first through the open window.
For Ward, it was a little more difficult. He was a lot bigger, heavier and not as supple as Romanov. He also had a bullet in his back. He jumped, grabbed the pole and swung. The pain hit him like a thousand bricks. It felt like his back was on fire. It was enough to alter his trajectory. When he let go of the pole he spun and all he could do was grab hold of the windowsill to stop himself hitting the ground, while trying not to pass out.
Romanov soon pulled him into the stairwell, and they made their way carefully down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was a convenience store, selling everything from band aids to soldering irons. Romanov grabbed a soldering iron, some batteries to power it, matches and a pair of tweezers on the way to the door to check to see where they were on the ground. Where they were was in the middle of the village.
They needed to find cover. Fast.
After a few mad dashes across the street they found the perfect cover, where they could stop and Romanov could treat Ward's wound. She tore his shirt further to expose the it, turned the soldering iron on and used the matches the sterilise the tweezers the best she could before digging around in Ward's back to find the bullet. She found it and pulled it out. To stop the bleeding she cauterised all of the blood vessels from the heat of the soldering iron. 'Bodge it' surgery they had called it at the academy. But if it meant that they both got out alive they didn't care.
"You ok?"
"Yeah. Let's get back to the 'bus."
By now it was completely dark, but they still kept to the shadows for cover. Once they were out of the village they relaxed a little and began the five mile trek back.
"May, be careful. You saw what these guys did to Romanov and Ward." Fury was telling her as she was preparing to make her assault on the Covenant hideout. They were making plans and plan b's, c's and d's. The rest of the team were still in shock from witnessing their colleagues deaths.
A beeping sound broke the grief. It was the intruder alert system. Switching to thermal sensors they could see two hostiles approaching the 'bus at a slow, cautious rate.
Coulson, May and Fury took up a position behind vehicles and opened the cargo door. Fitz-Simmons and Skye hid behind Lola.
As the hostiles got nearer the tension grew. Were these Covenant agents, told the location of the base of operations by Ward or Romanov before they died?
Skye was watching May. She wondered if she would ever be as talented in combat as her, especially without Ward. Then she saw it: May lowered her weapon.
"Skye. No!" Simmons yelled as she stood up and stepped out from behind Lola. When Simmons saw Skye was crying again she wondered if she was going to do something stupid. Then she noticed something else. Skye was smiling. So she took the gamble and went to stand by her side. What she saw took her breath away.
Ward and Romanov walking straight at the cargo doors of the plane.
Skye and Simmons looked at each other and ran straight for Ward. They jumped on him and hugged him with everything they had, all the emotion and grief they had felt in the last couple of hours.
Ward, barely able to stand carrying his own weight, collapsed backwards into the sand with the two girls on top of him, still hugging him dearly. Coulson enveloped Romanov in a big hug and helped her inside. Fury, Fitz and May went to help pick Skye, Simmons and Ward off the floor.
While Ward and Romanov were giving a report on what happened, Simmons and Coulson were evaluating the numerous cut and bruises on the two agents, stitching up the deeper ones and applying antiseptic cream to the not so deep ones.
Coulson asked Ward to let him look at his back, after all they had seen him get whipped. It was blue and mottled and where he had been shot was covered in thick red blood.
As a precaution both agents were taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital. Ward got the news that the bullet and subsequent exertion had torn a muscle in his back. He would be out of action for months.
As the doctor left his treatment room Skye slipped in. In her hands she held an ice pack. She gently pressed it to Ward's bruised face. As a precaution the hospital had put Ward's arm in a sling that pinned it to his body. Being able to move it would not allow the damaged muscle to heal as effectively. He flinched and grabbed her hand with his free one.
"I honestly thought I'd lost my SO"
"Sorry to disappoint you. I'm still here. I'm going to be on the injured list for a while but I'm still here, and it appears the entire team now know my secret."
"Fury told them when you used the knife to cut your hands free. I just confirmed that we'd been working on it. Are you mad?"
"No. It was going to happen eventually. I should have told them myself."
"Don't beat yourself up over it. They aren't mad at you. They all now know you're certifiably crazy though"
"Like they never suspected that! What do you think? Am I crazy?"
"Yes, but I love you for it!" She told him before leaning in for a kiss.