Author's Note: Another chapter up, YAY. Please keep the reviews coming it encourages me to know that people want me to continue the story.

Once again, I don't own Agents of SHIELD.

Chapter 6 – The Dead Man

Grant Ward had always been a specialist, he could dismantle a bomb or build one. No matter what the job you could always tell he'd been there, be it by a trail of bodies, a hole in a wall or a cracked safe. His jobs always involved sneaking into places and then blasting his way out. So sneaking into a secret Russian underground facility was easy for the former HYDRA agent, even stealing a top secret miracle drug from right under the guard's nose was easy, at least by Ward's standards. It was getting out of the base undetected that Grant Ward was finding difficult.

The plan had been simple and solid. It had worked perfectly, right until Ward turned a corner and ran straight into the guard Natasha had gotten the information out of the night before. Ward couldn't tell who was more shocked, the Black Widow or the guard. Even Ward had to admit he was slightly shocked, the drugs Romanoff had slipped him should have knocked him out for almost a full day, yet here he was twelve hours later, ready to work.

"Natalia?" the guard almost whispered.

Ward reacted first, slamming the butt of his gun into the side of the guard's head. Both Ward and Romanoff were well trained, they didn't even have to look at each other to know that it was time to run. If by luck or act of god, they didn't run into anymore guards as they made for the exit. Considering there was meant to be no evidence that they were ever there and there was no a very large piece of it passed out in the hall way both Ward and Romanoff knew that Fury wasn't going to be happy. However as the pair made it outside to the vehicle they had hidden away hours before, Ward didn't care how Fury would react. They had the miracle drug, which meant they had a cure for Fitz. As they drove of Grant Ward was happy, he was on the road to redemption.

Later that night they waited for Fury's extraction, they were in some dingy hotel that no one in their right mind would call a holiday destination. Natasha had all but run to the bed on arriving, leaving Ward with the uncomfortable chair in the corner. Knowing he never be able to get any sleep before the extraction arrived Ward busied himself with another task. The guard that had surprised them shouldn't have been walking around, he shouldn't have even been awake, something wasn't right. Either Fury was keeping him in the dark or Fury himself didn't know, either way Ward wanted answers, he wasn't going to be left out in the cold because a superior wouldn't give him the whole truth, not again. SHIELD had hacked into the Red Room's data base long ago, the files they had retrieved were a few years old now but were still useful. Ward pulled up the personal files, searching for the name he remembered from the previous evening, Alexi Ivanov. Ward was shocked at what he found, he read the file three times just to be sure. He even pulled up the fire photo to confirm it was the same guard.

Balling up a piece of paper, he through it at the sleeping assassin, watching in quiet amusement as she sprang wake, searching for any signs of danger. Finding none, Natasha glared at Ward, "What?"

In response Ward passed her the laptop, still open to Ivanov's page, gesturing for her to read.

Natasha's anger turned to confusion as she read, like Ward she read it three times just to be sure. Then she looked at Ward, her confusion evident on her face, "That's not possible."

Ward raised an eyebrow, grabbing his notebook he scribbled his response, That file's 3 years old.

This confused Natasha even more, "So three years ago, this guy was brain dead and now not only is he up and walking, but drugs don't affect him or at least not for very long."

Ward nodded, Do you think it's the drug?

Natasha gave a small nod, "It has to be," she sighed, "at least we know that it works. That's good news for your engineer."

But what are the side effects?

Natasha shrugged, "Fury knows what he's doing. He brought Coulson back, didn't he?"

Ward gave her a sceptic look, With the same drug that made Garrett go nuts.

Natasha smiled, "I thought you said Garrett was already nuts, that you just didn't see it."

Ward raised an eyebrow, You've been talking to Fury about me. He paused for a second, You were ordered to shoot me if I ran, weren't you?

Natasha nodded, "For what it's worth, I'm glad I didn't. You were almost as good as Clint today."

Ward smiled, Almost?

"He would have shot the guard." Natasha said with a shrug.

No more killing. I've done enough.

Natasha scoffed, "I went through that faze once, believe me you'll get over it. I did."

Fury's extraction was right on time. What neither Romanoff or Ward was expecting was for the man himself to flying the plane, Ward held back a comment about depth perception, knowing Fury would be more than happy to strand him in Russia. The truth was, he was secretly pleased to see Fury. He could sign with Fury, Ward was tired of scribbling in his notebook for Natasha. He actually smiled when he sure Fury, Where to?

"Romanoff's being sent to the deliver the package." Fury almost yelled above the sound of the small plane's engine.

Ward was slightly disappointed he wasn't the one coming to Fitz's rescue, but he wasn't ready, not yet. And me?

Fury smiled one of his annoying smiles, "You're going after a girl in a flower dress."