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Bang.

Skye knew she screamed- how could she not when Joseph's blood splattered all over her. She fell to the floor half sobbing from relief and whirlwind of fear, panic, disgust and horror. She pressed against the wall, trying to move as far away from the body as possible, dry heaving the entire time. She didn't have to look up to see that Ward hadn't moved since his finger pulled the trigger. Skye wanted to jump up and demand what in the fucking hell had just happened and if they had been compromised but she couldn't move, let alone talk.

Suddenly Ward stepped swiftly over the body and reached out to her. Instinctively, Skye cowered away. Was he going to kill her now? Had this been the plan all along?

"Shh, it's okay, Skye, he's dead now." Ward withdrew his hands, crouching near her, misinterpreting her actions.

"Are-are you going to kill me?" She said between forced breaths.

Ward's eyes widened, stunned, "Wha-? No, Skye,"

She was hysterical, "Then why did you shoo-." Then Ward's larger hand was covering her mouth, making her hyperventilate even more.

"We haven't been compromised and we're on the same team. I'm not going to hurt you. That was just a test, trust me."

He said the last part with so much fervor that Skye had to believe him. Even if she didn't trust the earnest expression on his face, she couldn't get out of here without Ward's help.

"What are we going to do?" She stammered, breathing hard, still fighting the panic.

Ward sat back on his heels for a second before rising to his feet. "We're going to play the part."

Skye got up shakily with Ward's help, "how did you know you were supposed to kill him?" She knew he hated killing as much as he was a stickler for orders

"They just wanted to make sure I didn't go soft while I was with you." He responded, "Stay here," He added as he walked to stand beside the door so that when it opened two seconds later, he was hidden by the door swinging open. Two soldiers rushed in, guns up, scanning the room for danger. Skye let out a small scream upon their entrance, making them focus their attention on her. She looked beyond their rifles to see another well-dressed man stride across the threshold, watching as Ward grabbed the man's gun hand and yank it down so he fell on his knees, momentarily disabled while the specialist's free hand pressed his own gun to the other man's temple. Immediately, the soldiers flipped their guns to point at Ward.

"At ease." The man told his soldiers lightly, as if his brains weren't about to be blown all over the floor by Ward's Beretta.

"Grant Ward."

"Bradbury." Ward said as he released the man and stowed his gun in his waistband. Skye looked from Ward to Bradbury, letting confusion flood her face.

"Excuse me, would someone care to explain this?" She demanded, sweeping her arm around to indicate the body on the ground, soldiers with assault rifles and the two men shaking hands like the last man to come in hadn't tried to kill her.

"You must be Skye." Bradbury stepped over to Skye, taking her hand graciously although she didn't really offer it to him, "my apologies but there are certain steps we must take to ensure security."

"Security?" Skye said incredulously, "I almost died just now." She snapped, taking her hand out of his.

Bradbury chortled, as if it were all just a game to him, "Allow me to explain." He gestured for the new arrivals at the facility to take a seat at the small table. Sitting down himself, he waited for Skye to take a reluctant seat next to Ward before starting.

"Joseph was a liability. Crass, unsubtle, amateurish and too hungry for power. So we eliminated the threat. All he was ever good for was relaying orders and being the poster boy. When it came to real stuff, he had to go. We sent him in to cross you off because we knew there was no way he could touch you with Ward there."

"Garrett used to mention Bradbury when we were training. He told me to expect this sort of thing and I did." Ward chimed in.

Bradbury leaned in, all-business now, "Grant, we could use you running command here."

Ward shook his head, "No, I couldn't. I'm more of a field work type of guy." He said but Skye placed a hand over his on the table and he turned to look at her questioningly.

"You need to rest after being on the run for so long. God knows I need time to recover after that stunt." She shot a look to Bradbury before continuing, "Let's settle here for a bit, lay low until we decide what to do next." She coaxed but her eyes were trying to tell him that running command meant doing recon and Coulson would love all the intel he could get. Especially since Ward had that gun hidden away which disobeyed Coulson's direct orders.

Ward's eyes lingered on hers while he thought. "I'll sleep on it." He told Bradbury.

The man nodded and rose, "We'll leave you undisturbed until then."

"Wait. Can you send someone to clean this up?" Skye asked.

Bradbury turned to her, his face half hidden in the shadows, "I thought you would be able to stomach this kind of thing after being on the run…escaping the direct clutches of SHEILD and betraying your fellow teammates."

Skye stared back at him coolly, "I did what needed to be done but that doesn't mean I pad my head with it when I sleep at night." God, with all this awesome lying, she'd be damned if Coulson didn't give her something short of a trophy.

"Very well. Take him away. I'll have someone here to wipe off this bastard's blood." Bradbury said, addressing the soldiers, then the supposed couple. Ward walked him to the door after the soldiers carried off Joseph's body. He stayed there until he announced,

"He's gone."

Skye slumped against the table and asked the obvious question, "Can we trust him?"

"We can trust him to be the Hydra agent that he is," Ward replied firmly.

"Can I trust you?" Skye asked more quietly. She watched as he moved towards her to put his arms around her but she pulled away and walked past him, " I need to wash this blood off,"

He followed her to the small bathroom in the room but was stopped by the knock on the door. "That'll be the cleanup crew."

Alone in the bathroom, Skye leaned over the sink and stared into the mirror, allowing herself a minute to panic before she ran her hands under the water, giving herself a pep talk. She was here to help rebuild SHIELD, to rise out of the dust and destroy Hydra once and for all.

And where the hell had Ward gotten that gun?

The thought popped into her head out of nowhere and when a soft knock sounded on the door, she opened it with every intention of asking Ward how he managed to smuggle in a real gun with very real bullets.

"The gun-?"

"May." He answered without missing a beat, "I don't know," He said quickly when she opened her mouth to ask why.

"Sit down, I'll help you."

Skye obediently took a seat on the lid of the toilet while Ward took a washcloth to her face and body, wiping away the traces of violence.

"I'm sorry it got all over you. It should come off your clothes though. Meanwhile, you can wear my shirt to sleep." He offered, catching Skye off guard. She hadn't thought about what she was going to do while her clothes were being washed. She certainly wasn't about to sleep naked in the same bed as Ward but they hadn't brought anything with them except guns and a couple of knifes. But yet, sleeping in his shirt seemed too…domestic.

"I only do button ups." Skye replied lamely. Ward gave a small smile and without a warning, pulled his black shirt over his head and folded it neatly on the countertop.

"I'll be outside." He said with a small smirk. Skye nodded, a little speechless, trying to clear her mind of his finely sculpted chest. It wasn't as if she had never seen him shirtless- she'd seen his chest plenty of times, but he had never stripped in front of her before much less so she could wear his shirt.

After taking off her bloodstained clothes and giving them a good scrub, she pulled on Ward's shirt, which was still contained some of his body heat. The tshirt was just long enough to cover her bottom. Walking out of the bathroom, she noticed first the sharp smell of bleach before she saw that Ward had turned off all the lights but one lamp next to the bed. He was waiting for her, perched on the edge of the bed and as she approached him, she saw his eyes skim up and down her body almost as if involuntarily.

"You can take that side," he said, his voice oddly uneven. She noticed that he offered her the side farthest away from where the shooting happened.

As they settled into the mattress, Ward turned the lamp off then turned on his side so his back was to her. Skye knew it was only appropriate but she wanted to screw appropriate and protocol. All she wanted was to be comforted, not professional.

"Ward," She whispered, placing a light hand on his arm until he turned over. She traced her fingers down the muscles of his arm, "can you just…?"

His arms slid easily around her, pulling her closer to him for the hundredth time that day, but she didn't mind.

"Skye," He said hoarsely, but she shushed him. She was exhausted and didn't feel like fighting him so she buried her face in his shoulder and placed a light kiss to his bare skin which earned her an unsuppressed shiver from him. Smiling, she inhaled his scent before drifting off.

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