Gwyneth walked out of the room with Skye, turning off the blinders and sound block so Ward could be seen and heard as well as see and hear.
Gwyneth walked over to Jackson and raised an eyebrow. He got out his wallet and gave her a ten dollar bill. She smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Whatcha need AC?" Skye asked, meeting the rest of the team in the hallway.
"As you all know," Coulson said, "Mr. Ward is asking to be reinstated into the team. Now, once he's cleared by Miss Stark, and he's passed orientation, there will be no legal borders for him, but there will be personal ones. I want each of you to spend some time with him, and hopefully regain some trust in him. This team can't function with trust, and if he's going to rejoin the team, he'll need to be trusted. I understand this will take some time, and Mr. Ward has agreed to be patient with the process."
"How do we know he won't lie again?" Fitz asked.
"I have it under control." Gwyneth said calmly.
"No offense, but how do we know your plan will work?" Simmons asked.
"Skeptics." Gwyneth mumbled under her breath. "Grant. Show 'em." Grant pulled his shirt collar down, to reveal the detector. "Lie detector. I've got it under control. Plus, I'm going to be working with Grant and you all are more than welcome to observe."
"Why do you trust him so much?" May asked stone-faced as always.
"Stuff happens," Jackson interjected, getting defensive, "and Ward was there for Gwyneth when she needed it. The things he's done for her would earn anyone's trust for life."
Gwyneth put her hand on Jackson's arm softly as she spoke to the team. "Grant earned my trust, as he'll earn yours as well. Once he passes orientation though, he'll need a Supervising Officer."
She, as well as everyone else, looked at Skye. Skye hesitated a bit. "Can I think about it?"
Gwyneth let out a small laugh. "You have a while to consider it before you have to decide anything. You should all go back to your training and whatever you do in Area 7, but if you ever want to come down here then just get Coulson or I and we'll allow your access."
"Great," Fitz said, "when does 'Project R.E.H.A.B.' end?"
"Whenever I say it ends." Gwyneth said, adding a splash of sass. She looked at Ward. "Ready for this?"
Grant smiled. "Whatever it takes."
Coulson had insisted that everyone go back up and focus on something else for the day, allowing them to process the morning slowly.
Fitzsimmons went straight back to the lab, working on some invention, and May and Skye went back to training. They went to the gym and worked on hand-on-hand combat, something of which Skye needed practice with.
"Okay, what is this one called again?" Skye asked as they both got ready to repeat a combat strategy.
May smiled. "It's called a grip hold, but other people would call it the 'Thighs of Death' or something along those lines. Ready?"
Skye nodded and May came at her. It didn't take long for May to get Skye on the mat, and her thighs mashing Skye's face.
"From there," May said, releasing Skye, "you can twist and make them flip over, hitting the ground, or just keep hitting them. It's your choice."
"Okay, got it," Skye said, standing up, "let's go again."
"I think you could use a break Skye." May said, the slightest smile across her mouth.
Skye nodded gratefully and walked over to her water, May following her.
"I'm sorry. I'm not getting this very easily." Skye said after chugging half of her water bottle.
May shook her head. "Don't apologize. You have the strength, and you can pick it up quickly, you just aren't as focused today, which is understandable. Anything you want to talk about?"
Skye sunk down into the foldable chair next to her. "A lot of stuff, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I was just gonna make Coulson listen later."
May sat down next to her. "It's not uncomfortable for me, but you need to get it off your chest. It's a way to help yourself understand and process what happened."
Skye looked at May, and May raised her eyebrows, waiting for her to start talking.
As they were talking, Coulson walked in to talk to them, but stopped at the door when he saw them, unseen by the girls.
"Not awkward?" Skye asked.
"Not awkward." May answered.
"I don't even know where to start." Skye sighed and drank some more water.
"Start where you first talked to him, where it was only you and him. What happened?"
"A lot of stuff. He showed me the lie detector, and I can understand that. I mean, he wants me to know that I can trust him, and it works, I saw it, but after that I started asking him questions. Just rapid fire questions that I've needed answers for since the fall, and he answered without hesitation."
"What kind of questions?" May asked, her voice curious but her face it's usual.
"It started simple, just to make sure the detector worked, his name and job with HYDRA, but then we got into him lying to me, and faking emotions, and what he told Garrett."
"What did he say?" Mays face had become a bit softer, and Skye could tell she was trying to help Skye process it all.
"He said...he said that he never faked anything with me. That everything was real, that he never lied to me about what was between us. He told me he loved me, May."
Skye had started tearing up, and May moved to place her hand on her Skye's arm. "Okay, Skye. You don't have to say anything else. You can take your break and eat lunch. We can start again later or call it a day."
"Can we just call it a day?" Skye asked, regaining her composure.
"Sure. I'll clean everything up, you go take a shower." May smiled a bit, and Skye nodded gratefully.
As they got up, Coulson, who could hear the entire conversation, thought for a moment, and then went down to the new Area 8, trying to find Gwyneth.
Sure enough, Gwyneth was in the room with Ward, playing darts. "Stark!" He practically shouted at them.
"Yo, Coulson," Gwyneth said, covering her ears, "you don't need to scream. You're already amplified in here."
"Sorry," Coulson said, lowering his voice a bit, "put the room under the veil. I'm coming in there."
Gwyneth shook her head. "I can't just keep doing it fifty times. The amount of energy it takes, I can do it three times a day, max."
Coulson was getting impatient. "How many times have you done it today?"
"Once with Skye, but I-"
"So you can do it again." Coulson cut her off.
Gwyneth sighed. "Give me a reason to do it, and I'll do it, but Coulson I can't just do it because. I need a reason incase Hill asks."
"I need to know something, and I'd prefer if it wasn't on record." Coulson said, slightly pleading.
Gwyneth looked at Ward. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
Ward thought for a minute. This morning with Skye, they all left to absorb what had happened, he knew Skye was known for venting, Coulson was close to her. Suddenly, it clicked. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure I do."
Gwyneth looked at Coulson and hesitated a moment before opening the door. Coulson walked in and Gwyneth lowered the veil, blocking everyone else out.
"Okay," Gwyneth said, walking back towards Ward, Coulson right behind her, "you two can yell and talk to your hearts' content. I'll be here if anyone needs me or throws a punch."
Coulson nodded to her before walking up to Ward, standing a few feet from him. "Is it true? What you told her?"
"It's hard to not tell the truth with this thing in me." Ward tapped the detector.
"I didn't ask if the detector went off or what it does. Is what you said true? Do you mean it? To your core?"
Ward's face softened a bit. "More than I can ever put into words, sir."
Coulson looked at him for a second, not saying anything, just considering what Ward had just told him. "Don't be stupid. If you hurt her, I will kill you."
Ward stiffened a bit, obviously intimidated. "I've never doubted that, sir."
Coulson tilted his head a bit and nodded. "Good. That's all."
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Gwyneth asked from across the room. "You made me drop the veil for thirty seconds where you didn't actually say anything specific? Do you even understand how much energy the veil uses? I mean, the least you could do is tell me what you're talking about."
Both men looked at her. "Skye." Ward said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh," Gwyneth said smiling, "okay. Carry on then."
Coulson rolled his eyes while smiling. She was a bit much sometimes, but he couldn't help but smile at her. "So, now can I go?"
Gwyneth shrugged as she looked down at her nails, inspecting them. "I don't know. You're the director." She looked up and smiled at him. She nodded her head sideways, in the direction of the door. Coulson grinned and walked to the door, followed by Gwyneth. She did the required security measures and Coulson left, Gwyneth closing the door and walking to Ward.
"So today has been interesting, wouldn't you say?" Gwyneth smirked and walked past Ward to the punching bag and turned to look at him. "Are we gonna train or just stand here and talk about our feelings?"
Ward grinned at her and walked to her and the bag.
They trained for about an hour before Ward basically passed out in his chair. "Okay," he said between exhausted breaths and gulps of water, "we can talk about our feelings if it means I get a break."
Gwyneth sat in the chair next to him and looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "You would rather talk about your feelings than punch a bag and get all your frustration out?"
"If it means you stop yelling at me and our training can pause, then yes, let's talk about our feelings."
"God you've changed since I started with you. Going from a closed off shell to...this." She gestured to him, and he chuckled.
"You and I both know that you're basically the only person I do this with. So how's the necklace working?" He pointed to her pendant.
"You tell me. I haven't destroyed anything lately...or killed someone." They both knew how heavily the sarcasm was draped over her answer, and it left both of them grinning. "Okay," she started up again, "what's going inside you right now?"
Ward looked up and sighed. "A lot." Gwyneth raised an eyebrow and he continued. "Happiness seeing Skye, fear over whether or not she still could stand looking at me, relief and joy after I finally got to touch and talk to her again,-".
"And then some." Gwyneth mumbled.
Ward grinned devilishly. "Yeah, that too. I just don't want to hurt her again. Purposely or accidentally, ya know?"
Gwyneth and nodded. "I know you don't want to hurt anyone Grant, ever. I think Skye knows that too."
There was a moment of silence before Gwyneth picked at painful scar she knew he wasn't going to like. "If I brought Daniel in here, what would happen?"
Ward clenched his jaw at the mention of his older brother. "I don't want to talk about him."
"I know," Gwyneth's voice was soft and comforting, "but before I can clear you, I need to be sure you to be able to talk about anything during orientation. Your family is going to come up."
Ward let out a breath and looked down, resting his elbows on his thighs and his head in his hands. "I'd punch him until he stopped breathing."
Gwyneth whistled. "Okay, that's the most violent answer I've heard in a few months from you."
Ward looked at her. "Gwyneth, he killed Ben and made me take the blame for it. My family disowned me and doesn't acknowledge my existent because of him. I wouldn't have met Garrett, I wouldn't have hurt everyone. I wouldn't have hurt Skye." His voice cracked a bit on the last sentence.
Gwyneth bit her lip. She knew this was hard for him, and she hated seeing him in pain. Through her entire life he had been there to protect her from pain, and now it was her turn to do the same for him. "But you wouldn't have met Skye."
"Are you saying I should be grateful for the bastard?" Ward looked directly at her, his voice filled with pent up rage.
"No," Gwyneth said leaning back from him, scared from his voice, "oh god no. I'm just trying to show you the good in your situation and not the evil, but as always, I'm terrible at comforting people."
Grant's face softened a bit, seeing how frightened she was. "I'm sorry Gwyn, I just don't want to talk about this."
Gwyneth nodded and stood up, walking to a panel of buttons on the far wall. She hit a few and then scanned her thumbs and the veil started fading. "Alright, before Hill storms in yelling about what we're doing, let's beat something up."
She walked to him, about to pass him when he grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him. "Instead of me being worked to death, how 'bout we change the pace and work on you?"
"I'm fine. I'm perfect." Gwyneth said in a peppy version of her father's voice while flicking her hair.
Ward nodded sarcastically while grinning. "Really?"
"Really." Gwyneth answered smirking.
"Then take off the necklace." Grant said raising an eyebrow at her, nodded at her neck.
Gwyneth stared at him and huffed before rolling her eyes and walking towards the door. "Fine."
They walked out of the room, into the hallway, and to a room with the number one written on paint. Gwyneth nodded at the guard in front of the door, and he moved aside, opening the door for the two of them, never looking it the room, only straight forward.
Gwyneth and Ward walked in and closed the door behind them. It was extremely large, and most of it was empty, as if they were waiting for something to come in go put in it. There were a few tables and everything seemed very hard, nothing fragile. The room was lit by lamps and lights everywhere. Some white, some colored, but there were so many of them, in corners, on the ceiling, on tables, that it took Ward a couple times in there to notice there weren't any windows. Almost everything had purple on it, including some of the lights.
Ward grinned at the room. "I feel like you made this room more purple since the last time we trained in here, if that's even possible." He walked into the middle of the room before turning back to Gwyneth.
Gwyneth chuckled. She looked at Ward nervously before reaching behind her neck and taking off her necklace.