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Sorry for not updating in a while! Here you go~

"Skye, Agent of SHIELD. I need somewhere to store this guy," Skye announced upon approaching the front gate of the Italian facility. Ward noticed that Skye had dressed for the occasion- the jacket that made her look uncannily like Melinda May, her look complete with a pair of dark aviators, leggings and combat boots.

"This Grant Ward? I thought he was already arrested." The guard said suspiciously, pointing his weapon loosely at Ward.

Skye rolled her eyes, "He escaped. Coulson wanted to keep it hush-hush. Not really good news for the rest of the world, is it? A dangerous felon broke out under our watch?"

"So where's the rest of your team?"

"I got separated from them chasing him. Barely got the restraints on him. It's something of a defining moment for me." Skye explained smoothly but Ward heard the hidden point meant for him. He kept his uninterested expression the same as he turned to bore his eyes straight into the guard's own suspicious ones. He hoped the facility was still SHIELD, Skye was beginning to ramble beside him and he wasn't sure if she would be able to make it through if they turned out to be in Hydra territory.

"He came quietly?" The second guard asked from his post on the other end of the gate. He sounded just as skeptical as his partner.

"I had to ICE him," Skye explained impatiently, "Now will you let us in or do I have to stand here all day holding on to him?"

Ward saw the guards exchange looks out of his peripheral as he kept his head straight, staring at a spot in the distant horizon.

"I showed you my badge but I'm not lifting up my shirt for either of you guys so either let me crash here until my team gets here or I'll go find them and you can deal with Coulson's ragey…wrath. He won't be happy to find how incapable you are!" Skye snapped, yanking Ward's forearm forward so he ended up right in front of the guard threateningly.

"And there's no guarantee that I can keep him restrained if I keep standing here. Do you really want to be known as the guys who were stupid and let a high profile prisoner get away?" Ward heard her hiss from behind him. He turned his head a fraction to look into the first guard's now panicky eyes.

"Fine, fine. Get in-," The guard cracked and ducked to buzz open the gate.

"'Bout damn time." He heard Skye grumble before being pushed forward by a small but forceful hand on his back.

"You sure you can take me?" Ward taunted, "Maybe you ought to take one of the guards with you."

"I got it," Skye said staunchly, more for the guards' benefit than his.

Ward scoffed, which earned him a sharp jab from Skye's ICER. He set his jaw to prevent himself from wincing. Trip had given him a good beating on the Bus to make their story more believable.

"Coulson's girl?" Another guard approached them once they neared the door of the facility. Skye said nothing, no doubt wearing that stubborn look of hers. Ward jerked his cuffs to the left and Skye yanked him back. That was his cue to her that the facility was indeed Hydra.

"Your point?" She asked stiffly. Ward peered at the guard, yup, he was definitely one of the guys that had been in Havana with him and Garrett.

The guard slid open the fortified door with a smirk, "Welcome."

The second the door slammed shut behind them a man in a tailored black suit strode up to them and Skye unlocked Ward's cuffs.

"The tea from Indonesia was certainly exquisite," the man said in a form of a greeting.

Ward replied comfortably, rubbing at the spots where the cuffs had dug into his skin, "You're mistaken. The tea was clearly from French Guiana."

The man nodded curtly at turned to Skye, reaching into his suit, "The hell's she doing here?"

"Easy, Joseph, she's with me. This is Skye." Ward slipped between Joseph's gun and Skye, shielding her from harm.

"You and this pretty thing?" Joseph scoffed, lowering his gun but not putting it away. Ward eased away from Skye to stand beside her, swinging an arm around her waist lazily drawing her to his side.

"Now that Garrett's gone, I can finally mix business with pleasure. He never believed that I could compartmentalize." Ward drawled, sliding his hand down to her hip.

Joseph eyed them for a moment before stowing the gun away, "You checked her for wires?"

Ward turned up the corner of his mouth jeeringly and Joseph caught on immediately.

"You sly bastard." The suited man said with a chuckle. Ward felt Skye stiffen at his side. He ran his thumb in circles around her hip, not for show, but hoping to comfort her a little, let her know that his wasn't who he really wanted to be.

"Were the defenses convincing?" Joseph asked as he began to lead them down the hall.

"Very. You had me worried for a few seconds there," Ward assured him. He moved his arm up to rest lightly on the small of Skye's back.

"So why her?" Joseph asked abruptly as if Skye wasn't walking alongside with them. Ward remembered he was never one to treat women like actual humans.

"Why not her?" Ward countered, pulling Skye back to his side. It really wasn't necessary but he liked the feeling of her against him, knowing that she was close by and safe. For the time being.

"Garrett and Raina wanted her nearby and things just kind of… happened." Ward finished suggestively.

Joseph was silent for a while before he remarked casually, "Never took you to have a weakness for pretty things."

At the word "weakness" Ward's stomach turned over and he instinctively pulled away from Skye before realizing his mistake.

"My prettiness isn't the only thing he fell for," Skye said in a sultry voice, resting a hand on Ward's chest, closing the newly formed gap between them. Relaxing a little, Ward glanced cautiously at the suited man beside him who had narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Where to first? I could go for a Scotch. We've been on the run from Coulson's damn team for far too long." Ward said, talking through the lump in his throat.

"We'll get you a drink and you can tell us how you managed to break out."

Once Ward had recited the practiced story of how Skye had broken him out after falling for him and betraying Coulson's team, Joseph summoned a foot soldier to take them to their quarters. As Garrett's right hand man, or "Golden Boy" as the foot soldier referred to him as, Ward and Skye were given one or the roomier and nicer private rooms.

After they scoured the room for bugs and hidden cameras, Skye whirled on him.

"Nice going, Golden Boy. I thought you were better than that." She hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ward replied edgily

Skye jabbed her finger in his chest, "You slipped out there. If you want to be able to do this then you need to be able to accept that you have weaknesses and not jump each time you hear that word."

So she had noticed. "Why are you so angry, Skye?" He snapped, turning away from her. This was not a good time to have this fight, "I thought you wanted to be here."

"I need to know that I can count on you to have my back." She retorted, grabbing his arm to turn him back to her, but he was much too strong for her to really do much damage.

"I won't happen again." He said shortly but Skye darted in front of him, her eyes flashing.

"How do I know that?" she demanded, "How do I know you won't crack again and betray me- the team-?"

Ward leaned in, pointing to himself angrily, "I have trained years for this sort of thing. I'm your damn SO!"

"Not anymore, you're not," Skye fired back. Somewhere along their fight their faces had become dangerously close so he could see her eyes widen and her pupils dilate ever so slightly as her expression changed quickly.

"Someone's coming," She whispered, her tone completely different from what it had been just seconds ago. Ward heard it too- heavy footsteps growing louder as they approached.

"Joseph." He deadpanned as he pinpointed the pattern before he pushed Skye against the wall and crashed his lips onto hers. She protested at first, but the second the door opened, her hand was under his shirt and her tongue was in his mouth.

There was a small cough behind them and Ward broke the kiss, catching a glimpse of Skye's wary look before turning to the intruder.

"What?" He asked irritably, not pulling away from Skye.

Joseph gestured toward the door, "Bradbury wants to meet with you-."

"Can't it wait until later?" Skye whined and Ward felt himself being pulled down to her lips again. Before he could even get a proper kiss in, he was wrenched back violently and Joseph had moved between him and Skye.

"What the hell, man?" Ward shouted, advancing toward the suited man, reaching out to shove him, but Ward froze as soon as Joseph pulled out his gun. He saw Skye's eyes widen as she pressed herself against the wall.

"Jesus, what the hell?" She yelled, her eyes flicking between Ward, Joseph and the gun.

Ward inched closer, "Man, just put down the gun-," But the moment he heard the safety click off he had his own sidearm out and trained at Joseph's head.

"Put the goddamned gun down, Joseph," Ward ordered, briefly glancing over at Skye before fixing his eyes back on the other man with the gun. Coulson was going to kill him for stowing a gun away if he wasn't already being murdered by the Director for letting this happen.

Joseph didn't waver, "She can't be trusted. Don't worry, we'll find you another plaything soon. We all know you don't get attached to things for a long time."

"Put the gun down!" Ward raised his voice, his mind going into specialist mode, "Damn it, Joseph!" He shouted when the Hydra agent kept his gun fixed on the hacktivist. She looked like she was barely keeping it together.

"You won't shoot me Grant." Was all the response that he got.

Ward gritted his teeth, "They need her alive. Those were my orders."

Joseph's eyes never left his target, "You don't have to watch, Bradbury's waiting for you." He said calmly.

Ward heard Skye whimper and that alone nearly made him empty his magazine into the Hydra agent.

"What are you doing Joseph?" Ward asked evenly, as though it were all an assessment.

"Eliminating the target."

Ward grimaced, "Exactly,"

He didn't flinch when he heard the first shot, nor when the second shot rang out, reverberating around the room, mingling with Skye's scream.

Again, sorry for the wait. I promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow. Review!