"Poker night! Who's in" Skye shouted down the bus when Ward was setting up the table.
Everyone wanted to play. Ward and Simmons had concocted a plan and had let the others in on it. After what he Kain did to Skye they felt he deserved a lesson.
They played for an hour without incident when Ward got up to grab a drink.
"Have you noticed his tell?" Skye asked May.
"You mean scratching his forehead?"
"Yeah. How did we not see this before."
Amber and Kain, who had plotted together so they wouldn't lose this time, were listening intently. They hadn't noticed Ward's tell, but made a note to watch out for it.
As the game progressed, Ward made some bad hands, using his tell every time. He was down to his last chip.
"I see your 10 and raise you," he looked through his pockets to find absolutely nothing, "My shirt" he said, taking it off and placing it on the table. Within minutes the chips lay forgotten. It had turned into full blown strip poker.
Half an hour passed and Ward was down to his jeans and one sock.
"All in" He said rubbing his forehead (they had agreed that you only had to remove the item if you lost the hand, it saved putting the clothes back on just to remove them again!) "AND I raise you a streak down the bus."
Amber and Kain, who were winning at this point noticed his tell and went all in plus the streak. Kain showed them his cards, two pair, 5's and 8's. Amber revealed her cards: Full house, 4's over 8's. She was happy she beat Kain but then her face dropped.
"You two better get naked" Ward told them as he flipped over his cards. He also had a full house, but he had 10's over 9's. He beat Amber's hand.
"But your tell..." She started spluttering
"Ward doesn't have a tell" Fitz told her.
"You made it up?"
"Not exactly. We thought he was having a rough day!"
The team made the interns strip and, while they held their clothes Amber and Kain did a naked run of the bus.
Ward was alone in the workout room. He was waiting for Skye. They had arranged a training session. While he was waiting for her he was punching the bag in the corner. Amber noticed this and went in to talk to him.
"That was cruel you know."
"What was?"
"Last night at the Poker game."
"Was it?" He stopped punching and turned to face her. "If you didn't brag about how good you are and that you're the academies champion we might have gone a little easier on you." He started punching the bag again.
"What are you saying?"
"You may be 'all that' at the academy, but if you haven't noticed this is real life, not training and you are not all that. There are things you will go through in the field that training will not and cannot teach you."
"Like what?" She scoffed at him.
"That isn't for me to teach you."
"No, that's for you to teach Skye. Who, I'm pretty sure, is a Rising Tide agent sent to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D and you have all fallen for it hook line and sinker. Hell you're even sleeping with her." Amber nearly screamed at him, her pent up jealousy flowing free. She didn't realise she had crossed a line.
"Listen to me very carefully." Ward told her in his best icy voice and pausing his workout to look at her again. "What is between me and Skye is between me and Skye. That is none of your business, and as for the other thing. What makes you think I don't already know?"
"What?"
He saw Skye outside watching this interaction.
"There's the door." He told Amber. "Don't let it hit you on the way out!"
Skye went in as Amber left.
"What was all that about?" She asked Ward, seeing the tell tale signs that he was irritated. It was one emotion he struggled to hide.
"She's convinced that you are still Rising Tide."
"What did you tell her?"
"That I know you are." He said with an evil grin.