Don't Scare Me

The mission goes well until… Until it is not.

It was supposed to be a routine op, simple intel gathering – get Skye into the garden party hosted by a businessman with suspected HYDRA ties, let her do her thing, sweet talk her way into the building, then hack the system and transfer the contents of his hardware to their server. Ward was just supposed to be there as back up, as a plan B if things went south, but to be honest, going through the guy's security plans three times before the mission, he wasn't expecting any problems. So yes, he expected smooth sailing.

And it's not their guy who turns out to be a problem in the end.

Who would have thought that the mansion would be attacked at the same time with their mission?

It all happens fast and unexpected. First there's a high pitched noise in his comm that forces him to take the receiver out; a moment later it is over, and he just knows that the connection is lost. Whoever is behind the attack, he was smart enough to disable all communications before striking.

The next moment the gunfire starts.

Panic rises in his chest in an instant – Skye's still inside, her communications down, all alone. It forces him out of hiding, having him run into the midst of action, whether it is wise or not. He doesn't care if it's wise or not – all he cares about is finding Skye.

What was a party only five minutes ago is a mess now. There are masked mercenaries dressed in black running amongst the well-dressed guests, grabbing them and taking their valuables (could it all be a simple robbery, the mercs going just for the money?). There are already a few bodies on the ground, some wounded, some dead. He has no time to stop to check.

He has no time for anybody until he finds her.

He takes down a few attackers on his way to find her – knocks out some, breaks the neck of one and turns his own weapon on another. They are not as trained as they should be, which makes his suspicion that they are not from HYDRA stronger and stronger. Although it's not definitely a good thing – the less trained you are the more likely you'll miss your target.

He keeps looking around himself and shouting her name as he goes, and for the longest time, there's no answer, not even a flash of the lavender dress she's wearing, and with every passing minute his chest feels tighter.

It can't be…

But then, "Grant!"

He turns right away – and there she is, twenty feet from him, on the edge of the fight, but with an unconscious merc at her feet.

He wastes no time running to her.

She's lost her shoes, her hair's a mess and there's blood on her dress, but she is standing upright, seemingly unharmed (but he knows how adrenalin works – she still could be hurt). His hands reach out for her, grabbing her upper arm, almost as if he has to reassure himself that she's really there, that she's not just a mirage.

"Are you hurt?" he asks, his gaze flickering to her dress. Skye just shakes her head.

"It's not my blood," she reassures him, but at the same time, she's already turning away from him. "The way's clear now into the house. We should–"

"No," he tells her quickly. "We are getting out of here." His tone leaves no place for argument, and yet she tries.

"But the intel–"

"It's not important!" He yanks her so she'll look into his eyes (he realizes that he is being too forceful with her, but right now he is too focused on the task at hand – on getting her out of here – to care about it). "It's not important," he repeats, this time a bit softer.

There must be something in the way he looks at her, because there's a beat of stillness, and then she gives him a nod and lets him lead her away, away from the fighting, away from the mansion, away from their mission.

It's not until their quinjet is in the air, location locked, autopilot on, HQ notified of the failed mission, when Ward is able to shake off the shock and the agent mask, and be simply just Grant. But then the first thing he does is stepping to Skye, embracing her with her head tucked under his chin, pulling her close. He lets out a relieved sigh as her hands rest on his back.

"Don't ever scare me like that again."