A/N: I know that it has been forever since I last updated...sorry! End of the semester and the start of the new one has been crazy, but hopefully I'll be back to updating at least weekly =). Enjoy! (Also, this chapter was inspired by Mary Margaret's ideas.)

Trouble was coming. She could feel the impending doom even as she ran, unable to look back. The scenery blurred around her as she raced down the alleyway, the wind stinging her eyes until she felt the tears start to fall. But it wasn't just the wind that was making her cry - it was something far worse.

Ahead of her, she saw the street end at a plain brick wall. Her heart sank. Looking around wildly, she tried to find an escape route, or at least something that she could use to defend herself. Nothing magically appeared. Halting in front of the wall, she tried to control her terror, but to no avail. She was trapped and defenseless. Behind her, her pursuer's footsteps slowed to a more moderate pace - she wasn't the only one who knew that there was nowhere left for her to run.

Her heart hammering in her chest, she slowly turned to face her assailant. The sun was behind the tall figure, leaving his face shadowed and unidentifiable. But the gun in his hands, pointed straight at her heart, was as clear as day.

"Please," she choked out, her breath still coming in gasps. "Please don't do this. Please."

For a second, a brief moment, the figure seemed to hesitate. But then he walked towards her, slowly, a hunter stalking his prey. "I'd say I was sorry," the man said, his voice light and conversational as his face became clear to her frightened eyes, "but that would be a lie."

She watched as Ward pulled the trigger, his mouth twisted into a sardonic smile, his eyes cold. She screamed.

...

A knock sounded on the door, startling Skye out of her nightmare. Acting purely out of reflex, she leapt out of bed and snatched up the gun that she now kept by her bedside. Crouching beside the wall, she aimed the gun at the door as it slowly opened, spilling light in the small room. Her breath sounded unnaturally harsh in her own ears.

"Skye?"

The whispered voice was familiar. Allowing the gun to drop out of her shaking hands, Skye collapsed against the wall. "Fitz." Her voice trembled and she fought to keep her tears contained. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry. I...I'm sorry. I heard you scream and I was worried."

Looming and backlit from the light in the hallway, he looked eerily similar to the figure from her dreams. To Ward. She felt the remembered terror start taking over again, and this time she was unable to successfully control her tears. She felt a hand against her hair, gently stroking it out of her face. Looking up, she met Fitz's worried gaze. "I'm sorry," she whispered, hiding her tear-stained face in her hands again. "I'm fine."

"Clearly," he agreed even as he settled in beside her on the floor and put his arm around her shoulders.

"It was just a stupid nightmare." For some reason, she felt the need to explain to him that she wasn't really this much of a mess. That there was a reason that she was screaming in her sleep. That she wasn't crazy.

"Talking sometimes helps," he suggested, pulling her closer. She was sure that he could feel how her whole body was trembling with fear.

Drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, she started to tell him. "It was Ward. Again. He...he…" she trailed off and buried her face in Fitz's shoulder, her tears soaking his shirt.

"Shush. It's okay, Skye. I'm here." His attempts to comfort her actually helped - she felt the knot of fear in her stomach loosen ever so slightly, and the sobs slow. "Ward can't hurt you."

"I...I know. It's just that I trusted him. How could he do this?"

"I don't understand it either. He was our friend."

She could hear the hurt in his voice and immediately felt bad for being so selfish - she knew that Fitz had idolized Ward. It only made sense that he would be taking this hard as well. "I'm sorry, Fitz. I don't want to make you upset too."

There was a pause, then he asked, "Do you want me to go?"

Skye responded immediately. "Please don't leave me. Please don't…." She squeezed her eyes shut to stop fresh tears from flowing. There was nothing that she wanted less than to be left alone with the phantom Ward. She couldn't rid herself from the nightmares - they had plagued her every night since Coulson had rescued her. And for once, she didn't want to fight him alone.

"I'm not going anywhere, Skye. I promise." As if to reassure her that he truly meant that, he entwined the fingers of his right hand with her left and squeezed soothingly. "I promise."

And Skye believed him. No matter what had happened with Ward, nothing could make her mistrust Fitz. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Please review! I love seeing all of your thoughts =).