Awakening Quake
By Misha

Disclaimer in Part One.

A.N- Unlike in "So You're the One", I'm not ambiguous about Ward in this. The plot is so strong in my head and he has to be the villain. This also may be pretty dark at times, especially in the later chapters. Though I will place warnings on each individual chapter when it comes up. I make a major change to the canon, in this world Skye and Ward were lovers. The period between him telling her he's not a good man and her finding Koenig was longer and instead of him pulling away, the kiss deepened and they were intimate. It's important to the plot (and no, no pregnancy or anything like that).

Chapter Five: Night Terrors

"You're mine, Skye. You and I both know that." Ward touched her cheek.

"No." Skye said, shrinking back from his touch.

"You know you want me," Ward said, not detoured, "remember how it felt when I touched you? The way you came apart in my arms? It could be like that again, Skye… You just have to let it."

"No!"

Skye woke up screaming. To her dismay, she was also crashing to the floor as her bed broke.

"Miss Skye, are you all right?" JARVIS asked in her ear.

Skye couldn't answer, she couldn't control her shaking. Calm breaths. She reminded herself. But she could see Ward's face, could practically feel his touch and it was hard to keep her emotions in control.

"Skye, Skye?" She could hear the male voice and feel the touch on her shoulder and it made her shrink into herself. Was Ward here? But how was that possible? She was in the Avengers Tower?

After a moment, she realized the touch felt unfamiliar and calmed down enough to realize that it was Steve Rogers standing there, trying to calm her.

"How did you get in here?" She asked, still shaking, but no longer in a supernatural way.

"JARVIS woke me when he couldn't get a response from you." Steve told her softly. "You were registering extreme distress."

"I had a bad dream." Skye said softly.

"About what happened to you?" Steve asked, his blue eyes kind.

"No." Skye admitted. "About… About someone I cared about and trusted and shouldn't have."

"Coulson mentioned that your old SO was HYDRA." Steve said cautiously.

"Yes." Skye admitted, unwilling to elaborate. She had kept the truth about her relationship with Ward secret. Oh, everyone knew that there had been something between them, but only Jemma knew the truth about how stupid Skye had been.

"It's hard when you feel like you know someone and they deceive you," Steve said quietly.

"Yes." Skye agreed, suddenly very aware that she was sitting on a broken bed wearing a tank top and a pair of skimpy sleep shorts and Captain America was standing beside her. This was a combination of fantasy and nightmare. "I'm sorry that JARVIS disturbed you." She said quietly, standing up out of the wreckage.

"It's ok." He assured her, he looked at the bed. "Has this happened before?"

"No, but… They've been sedating me at night." Skye admitted. "It was a safety precaution." Coulson hadn't seemed crazy about the idea, but everyone thought it was for the best and Skye wasn't going to argue. "I guess Coulson thought I'd be ok here. I did too."

She hadn't expected her first drug-free sleep to be haunted by memories of her psychotic ex.

"The last few weeks must have been very hard on you." Steve said softly. He looked around the wreckage. "You can sleep at my place if you like."

Skye must have looked surprised, because he blushed. "I mean, I'll sleep in one of the guest rooms, but my bed is reinforced and shouldn't break."

Skye just raised an eyebrow and Steve blushed even darker. "I have super-strength," he explained awkwardly, "Tony… He figured I might as well be prepared in case, well…"

Skye got the message and had to give Tony Stark credit for thinking of everything, though she wondered if he'd also provided the bed partially to embarrass the big, blonde man.

"Thank you," she said quietly, "but I can't kick you out of your bed."

"There are two other bedrooms." Steve pointed out. "Tomorrow you can talk to Tony about getting you a special bed, but tonight, you need to sleep."

The idea of sleeping in Captain America's bed… Well, Skye had a feeling it could lead to a sleepless night for other reasons, like fantasies about the first avenger. "All right, if you're sure you don't mind." She agreed, because she didn't want to disturb anyone else and even if she went and slept in one of the guest beds, there was a chance it would happen again. Tomorrow she'd talk to Jane and Bruce about administering a sedative.

But for tonight, apparently she was going to be sleeping in Captain America's bed.

Grant Ward scanned the bar, taking in all the faces. It had been a while since he had gone out in public, since he was a wanted man and all but since he wasn't on American soil, he figured he was safe.

It had been a month since San Juan and he had been laying low, plotting his next move. Figuring out how to best offer his services. For the moment he was still partnered with Cal, because the older man had resource he didn't and because they had a mutual goal: They both wanted Skye.

Skye. She had been all he had been thinking about. He had recovered from his gunshot wounds and he wasn't even angry. He knew it had been her way of levelling the score. Now she had gotten it out of her system though and they could put the past behind them.

He just had to find her first. She hadn't been seen since San Juan. He knew she'd gotten out of the temple alive, their intel had shown that, but Coulson had been keeping her on lock down since then.

"They're afraid of her." Cal had declared. "I told her this would happen. She'll understand that soon, that they'll never understand and accept her and when that time comes, she'll be begging for us to rescue her."

Ward wasn't as patient as Cal, he didn't want to wait for that day. Besides, he knew Skye and how stubborn she was. He doubted she'd ever come to them, but if they could get to her… Well, surely he could get through to her. He just had figure out a way to get to her.

It had been a long, lonely several months. He had been without a woman in his bed since his one encounter with Skye. Raina and Anne, as Agent 33 had decided to be called, had both offered but he had turned them down. There was only one woman he wanted. Only one woman who could satisfy his need.

Ward scanned the bar again and his eyes fell on a small, dark woman in a booth with a few other woman. She noticed him looking at her and smiled, as did a few of her girlfriends. Ward ignored them, concentrating entirely on the first woman.

She was very pretty, in her mid-twenties with long dark hair and delicate features. Most importantly she looked enough like Skye to be her sister.

Ward got up off the bar stool and made his way to the booth in the back, his most charming smile pasted on to his face. The woman wasn't Skye. She couldn't replace Skye, but maybe she could do as an acceptable substitute for one night at least. Something to tide him over until he could win the woman of his dreams…