Episode 20: Nothing Personal
Part Two

Ward sighed, looking at his watch.
"How much longer?" he asked.
"Half hour," she shrugged.
"You said that a half hour ago," he muttered. He caught sight of one of the officers turning his head to look at them.
"Weren't you the one who told me to relax?" He looked to the police officers then rested his head on his hand, hiding his face a bit.
"Those cops over there keep looking at us."

Skye glanced over at them then back to Ward with a smile.
"They're just checking out the waitress. They don't know you're pretending to be someone you're not." She tilted her head to him, and he smiled, scoffing a bit.
"Yeah, all right. Who am I pretending to be?"
"The impatient fiancée of the girl across the street… hanging with her maid of honor?"

Lifting his eyebrows slightly, he glanced out at the bookstore where he could see Sara looking the shelves.
"I like that cover." His smile dropped when he saw a police cruiser go past the diner. Skye looked nervously out the window, seeing that Ward also noticed the police car then tried to distract him.
"What's the longest you've been undercover?" she asked. "Like, deep undercover?"

Ward was distracted but he tried to answer.
"Umm… 16 months."
"When was that?"
"Mm, about five years outside the academy, I posed as a Russian Attaché at the Embassy in Warsaw. That's where I met Sara. Didn't know she was S.H.I.E.L.D. at the time, just another pretty face."
"That's got to be so hard, living a double life like that," Skye said. "Getting close to people only to turn on them." She scoffed, "I don't know how Garrett did it."

Skye looked at the window and he looked over at her, confused.
"Garrett?"
"Think about all that time he spent as your S.O. Getting to know you, being your mentor. Only to lie to your face, betray you like that." He gave her a single sharp nod, looking down at the tabletop.
"It was, uh, difficult to accept. But thankfully that's over."
"Because you took care of him," she stated.

He stared at her, taken aback for a long moment then looked around the diner, leaning towards her.
"Can we not discuss this right now?" he asked.
"If you had one more moment before you shot him in the back of the head so heroically, if he was sitting right there and you could say anything you want, what would you say?"
"Skye."
"Would you say he's disgusting? Would you tell him he's a disgusting, backstabbing traitor?"

Skye had a wicked smile on her face. His face turned serious.
"Or to rot in hell?"
"What are you doing?" he gave her a smile. Was she on to him? Had she figure it out? "I'm just trying to have an honest conversation for once," she told him.

Glancing around, Ward saw an officer start clearing out the diner.
"They're starting to clear people out," he said. "We should go." He went to stand up, but she spoke again.
"No, I think I'm good here." She started typing on her keyboard again and he leaned close to her.
"Skye, we've been made," Ward hissed. "Come on."
"No."

Turning her laptop around, she showed him what she had been working on. There was an emergency dispatch notice on her screen, showing a picture of Ward. It read:

GRANT WARD has known connections to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency. Suspect should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. Extensive combat training. Suspect WARD is a wanted fugitive, terrorist protocol should be followed.

Skye smiled at him.
"I tipped them off." All Ward did was stare at the computer screen in shock. "Hail Hydra," she told him.

An officer rounded the corner, gun drawn.
"You two, show me your hands! Now! Get 'em up!" Ward coldly looked over at the officers. "Out of the booth, nice and slow." Skye slowly got out of the booth, both hands raised. "All right, turn around." Ward also got up, holding his arms up. "Hands on your head."
"Just be careful, he's armed," Skye said.

Skye looked at Ward as the two of them turned their backs to the officers. Ward just stared at her. One of the officers grabbing Ward's hand as another took Skye. As soon as the officer tried to get a hold of Ward, he twisted out of his grip and the fight was on.

While Ward fought the officers, Skye shoved her laptop into her backpack and ran out of the diner. The three cops were trying to hold onto Ward, but he saw her escaping.
"Skye!" he yelled after her. She ran out of the diner and over to police officers, just getting out of their patrol car.
"Officers! I surrender! Arrest me!"

An officer frowned at her.
"Slow down, ma'am. What are you talking about?"
"No, no. I am an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a wanted fugitive, take me in." The two officers gave each other a disbelieving look so Skye shoved one of them in the chest. "Come on!
"What are you doing?" Skye asked.
"Get me out of here!"
"That's it! Come on!" They roughly grabbed Skye and pushed her against the trunk of the car.
"I'll do whatever you want me to –"
"Skye!"

Ward appeared in the doorway to the diner, holding his gun pointed at the officer. He fired and took them both down and Skye hurried to get behind the wheel of the cruiser.
"Skye! Don't run!" He hurried towards the car with both of his hands up. "You don't understand!" She started the car and peeled out just as he got to the handle of the door. "I'm not trying to hurt you!"

Sara was flipping through a copy of the Times Magazine when she caught sight of Skye jumping into a police car. Trying her best to stay calm, she went outside, eyes going wide when Mike Peterson jumped onto the hood of the cruiser.
"Bloody hell," she gasped.

Someone grabbed her arm, making her jump.
"Sara," Ward said, pulling her closely to her side. "Come on," he ordered, pulling her towards The Bus. They caught up to Mike and she eyed him darkly.
"Peterson," she said coolly.
"Reyes-Fitz," he said, holding Skye's limp body.

Inside the cargo bay of The Bus, Mike set Skye on a seat and Sara put her fingers to Skye's neck, making sure the swelling wouldn't leave any damage. Ward started pacing when Sara settled back, her hands crossed over her book. She had a calm expression on her face.
"You should be thanking me," Mike said, watching Ward. "I saved your ass."
"You didn't save my ass. You turned it into a public spectacle..
"You let her get one over on you," Mike snapped. "That's exactly what Garrett was afraid of." Ward poked Mike in the chest.
"And Garrett told you to say out of sight."
"He ordered me to shadow you."

Skye stirred, putting a hand to her forehead.
"Well, we have them," Ward snapped. "And once they give us a location, we'll be off."
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Skye groaned. Ward looked at Mike as Sara went to check Skye's throat. The younger woman just pushed her away.
"I can handle them," Ward told Mike
"Can you?" Skye asked, ignoring Sara's look to just let it go. "You haven't so far?"

Mike looked down, losing focus, getting a message from Garrett.
"Garrett says you have five minutes." Ward gave him a nod and Mike walked away.
"I can explain," Ward said, looking down at the girls. Sara just looked away. She couldn't meet his eyes… Unlike Skye, who attacked him, punching him in the stomach.
"You're a lying bastard! Son of a bitch!" She punched him in the face, then grabbed his shirt, shoving him backwards.

Gripping her wrists, Ward tried to control her anger.
"Stop. Stop. Stop! Calm down!" He held her tightly. "Okay? Okay? It's over. You can't win." She stopped struggling for a second. "Okay?" he repeated, losing his grip slightly. She leaned her head back and thrusted it forward, knocking his face with her forehead. "Ow!" He wrangled her up again, putting her hands behind her back. He cuffed one of her hands to the railing of the spiral staircase. "Stop!"

They were both breathing heavily, and Ward headed into the lab, grabbing a towel for his bloody nose.
"All this time, everything we've been through," Skye snapped. "Why? How could you?" He stared at her for a moment.
"I was on a mission. It wasn't personal."
"It wasn't – you did not just say that. "It wasn't personal?"" she yelled at him, trying to move closer.

Ward gave up trying to talk to her and turned to Sara.
"Sara, please listen to me."
"About what?" she managed to say. "You're a spy. You had a job, you had orders. What else is there to add?"

Skye looked at him.
"You've killed more people than I can count. You gonna kill us now?" Ward's face turned hurt.
"No. I would never hurt you."
"Once I crack the drive, are you just gonna shoot me like you did with Thomas Nash, or are you gonna have someone else do it, like you did with Quinn?"
"I didn't know that was gonna happen! That was all Garrett."

Sara let out a breathless laugh.
"It's always Garrett's fault, Ward. Yes, he's your boss, he tells you what to do, but at the end of the day, you choose to pull the trigger."
"Sara, Skye. Do you – do you think this has been easy for me? Do you have any idea how hard it was? The sacrifices, the decisions I had to make. But I made them. Because that's what I do. I'm survivor."
"You're a serial killer," Skye spat. "And I will never, ever give you what you want."
"But Sara will," Ward kept his eyes on his girlfriend. Her face was placid, but her eyes showed her turmoil.

In the command center, Mike held the hard drive. He was trying to decrypt it. There was a lot of flashing in his cybernetic eye then a message appeared:

LOCATION INVALID ACCESS DENIED.

He set the drive down, upset that he couldn't decrypt it. A message appeared on his eye monitor.

GARRETT IS DONE WAITING. GO TO PLAN B.

Skye tried her best to get her hand out of the cuff.
"Ow!" Sara rolled her eyes.
"Skye. It's no use."
"Times up," Ward said as Mike walked into the cargo hold. "You can tell me where to unlock the drive –" He nodded over his shoulder to Mike. "Or you can tell him." Skye stared at Ward for a moment then turned her attention to Mike.
"Mike…" Sara sighed, knowing exactly where this was going. "Please. I know you don't want to do this."

Ward shook his head a bit, walking away. Mike showed no emotions at all.
"It's not up to me."
"Yes, it is," Skye disagreed. "I don't care what they did to you. You're still Mike Peterson. You're still a father. You have a son."
"Who I left in your hands," Mike hissed. "I asked you to look after him, Skye. Where is he now?"
"He's with his aunt, under the protection of a S.H.I.E.L.D. team," Skye answered.
"And what is S.H.I.E.L.D. today? Hydra can hurt my son anytime they want and if I get any funny ideas about rescuing him – they push a little button and blow a hole in my skull."
"Fitz-Simmons and Sara will figure out a way –"
"No!" he snapped. "There is no way out of this, Skye."

Mike stepped close, looking down at her, intimidating her.
"Tell us how to unlock the drive," Mike hissed. Skye spoke very softly.
"No."
"Damnit, Skye," Ward snapped. He had been leaning against the door and stood up straight, walking over towards them.
"You could've shot me back in Italy, but you didn't," Skye ignored Ward. "They made Quinn do it because there's still good in you, Mike, and I don't think you're gonna hurt me."

Taking in a deep breath, Mike stared down at her.
"You're right, I won't hurt you." He turned towards Ward and shot something out of his arm band. It hit Ward in the chest, and they heard a whirring sound as Ward grunted in pain. He fell down to the floor on his back, clutching his chest.

Immediately Sara's attention drew to him, staring at Ward's withering body. She fought back every intention to help. She couldn't. She had a job, just like he did.
"What – what did you do to him?" Skye asked.
"I stopped his heart," Mike said as Ward gasped for breath. He noted that Sara's heartrate escalated.
"His heart…" Skye said slowly.
"Isn't beating. He's having a heart attack."

Mike held up his cuff.
"I can restart it or not. It's your choice."
"You think I don't want to watch him suffer?" Skye asked.
"Not suffer, die," Mike corrected. He looked over at Sara. "Garrett doesn't think you're gonna let that happen."
"He's a murderer, Sara. Let him die" Skye said. Sara bit her lip.
"So am I," she whispered.
"Yes, you are," Mike agreed.

A long breath came out of Ward and Sara closed her eyes.
"35,000 feet. It's not based on longitude or latitude, it's altitude."
"You're lying," Mike said.
"No. Skye puts in the password, starts to hack and once you reach altitude it unlocks." Mike studied her carefully as Skye glared at her.

Mike opened the fist and the red lights on the device lit up again. Ward took a big gasping breath and released it in a groan. He lied there, panting as Mike unlocked Skye's handcuffs. He grabbed her arm, pulling her into the lab as Ward sat up slowly.
"Put the password in, start the hack," Mike ordered. He sat her in front of her laptop then went to Ward.

Picking up Ward, Mike set him on his feet.
"You – you son of a bitch," Ward snapped.
"Get the plane in the air," Mike commanded.
"I can't," Ward hissed. "I can barely stand." He was hunched over in pain, still breathing heavily. Mike flicked his fingers and the device on Ward's chest glowed red again. He stood up straighter with a grunt. Mike slapped his face a couple of times.
"That should help."

Ward panted with pain and rage as he ripped the device off and watched Mike walk back into the lab. He glanced at Sara.
"Thanks." She looked away, inwardly cursing herself. He was her weakness.

Sitting behind the wheel, getting ready to take off, Ward heard a voice come over the radio.
"Maria Hill to S.H.I.E.L.D. 6-1-6. You have 30 seconds to stand down and surrender." Ward put on the headset, rolling his eyes. "I repeat, stand down and surrender… You gonna answer me, Ward, or do I have to come over there?"
"Maria Hill," he finally said. "I kind of hoped you went down with the Triskelion."
"And I hoped you weren't the duplicitous lowlife you turned out to be, but here we are?"
"Gonna be honest with you, Hill. I'm having a pretty bad day. So, if I were you, I'd get the hell out of my way."
"Mmm, then give up Sara and Skye and we'll talk about it."
"Yeah, that's not happening."

Ward started hitting switches in the cockpit.
"You know, I never liked you, Ward. Not since our first sit down, but I never figured you for John Garrett's lapdog."
Ward smirked, "A lot of us lost respect for Fury when he picked you as his second. If he needed eye candy around, he could've at least picked Romanoff."

Inside the other jet, Hill smiled and let out a little laugh.
"That's funny. I'll tell her you said that. Now hand my agents over or I'll have a squad of F-16s knock you on your ass."
"Even if you had that kind of pull anymore, which you don't, Coulson would never let you do it." Hill rolled her eyes, looking at Trip, who was flying. "He would never sacrifice Sara and Skye like that… But you know Garrett would. So don't try to follow us."

Hill took a deep breath.
"It doesn't have to go down like this, Ward. You don't owe Garrett anything."
"You're wrong." Hill stared at the plane while Trip shook his head sadly.
"You want me to pursue?"
"No. Their tracking systems are up and running. I just hope we brought enough time."

With a grunt, Coulson pulled himself up onto a piece of metal. He had managed to get into the wheel well of the plane before it started to take off, but now they were in the sky. He scooted as far against the wall as he could to avoid the mechanics of the area as the door closed.

Once airborne, a floor panel inside the lab moved and Coulson climbed into the plane. He drew his weapon and headed upstairs towards the Command Center/Cockpit. He scanned around but saw no one. He opened the door to the holding cell, finding Sara and Skye inside. They both got to their feet when they saw him. Skye raced to him, giving him a hug that he happily returned.
"Are you okay?" Coulson asked. He looked over at Sara. "Did he hurt you?"

Coulson broke the hug, pulling her back so that he could look at them.
"No, I'm okay. But, encrypted hard drive, I had Skye unlocked it for them," Sara whispered. He shook his head quickly.
"Forget that. We need to move. We got to take the cockpit." He started out of the holding cell, but Sara grabbed his hand.
"You came alone?" she asked.
"It's okay. You and I can take Ward."
"How did you get past Deathlok?"

With shock on his face, Coulson stopped walking and turned to look at Sara.
"Deathlok's here? On the plane?"
"Yeah," Skye nodded. "You didn't take him out?" Coulson turned his head and through the broken glass of the Command Center, he saw Mike. He quickly, and fearfully, turned his head to them.
"New plan – run!"
"Wait, what about you?" Skye asked.
"Get to the cargo hold, now!" Coulson walked to the hole in the windows, aiming at Mike.
"I can't let you leave, Agent Coulson," Mike said.
"It's still my plane. I don't need you permission."

Down in the cargo hold the lights went red and the cargo bay ramp started lowering.
"I've never used a parachute before!" Skye shouted to Sara.
"Forget that!" Sara said, pointing at Lola.
"Get in the car." She pulled out a gun, as Skye looked to Coulson, who was running down the metal staircase.

Coulson hurried over and got into the driver's seat. Mike appeared on the walkway above the cargo bay and with one leap was down on the ground in front of them. Coulson hit a button on Lola and guns popped out from the headlights, firing at Mike. Mike ducked to avoid the bullets as Ward entered on the catwalk above the cargo hold. He fired once, but also had to duck to avoid being hit.
"Get down!" Sara yelled to Skye.

Ward managed to clear the range of the guns and fired at Coulson and Lola. He hit the windshield a few times. Sara brushed him out of her mind as she focused on Mike. He was leveling up his armband, preparing to fire something.
"Buckle up," she called to Skye. Mike fired a small missile at Lola, but Coulson put the car into reverse and backed out of The Bus. The car started to fall, but it barely avoid the missile.

Skye did not buckle up. She screamed as she was ripped from the car and was now floating above it. Coulson reached up and managed to grab her hand, pulling her back down into Lola's back seat.
"Sara told you to buckle up!" he scolded.

Uncovering a switch, he hit it, firing up the rocket booster on Lola. However, the engines were spotting, flickering on and off between all fours – none of them staying on at the same time. Coulson leaned over the side of the car, looking down. Suddenly, one side of engines fired causing them to spin out of control. Skye screamed as Coulson continued flipping switches.
"Must've hit the boosters," he muttered calmly.

Lola headed nose first towards the ground rapidly. Just before she hit, Coulson tried a switch one last time. This time, all four engines fired at once and they leveled out, hovering a few feet above a rooftop of a building. He was able to control Lola long enough to land in front of a L.A. theater as people around stared at the sight.

Hitting the ground with a loud thump, Coulson reached up, running his fingers through his hair as they started to calm. A valet nearby walked over, handing them a ticket. "That'll be 20 bucks." Sara glanced at Coulson, who dug into his back pocket for his wallet. Skye paused a moment, noticing a change.
"Coulson… where's Sara?" Eyes wide, Coulson looked around before cursing and looking back up at the sky.

Ward stomped to the cockpit after depositing Sara's unconscious body in the med-bay, Mike right on his heels.
"I'm putting the plane down. We need to go after them," he said.
"No, we don't," Mike disagreed. "We stay with the plan."
"I don't answer to you," Ward snapped.
"Coulson and Skye don't matter anymore. We have the data and Garrett wants us back right now. And you got what you wanted."

Stopping, Ward turned, getting into Mike's face.
"Listen, I'm not just gonna forget what you did to me back there. You try anything like that again, I will kill you." He turned away, but Mike's words stopped him.
"It wasn't personal," Mike said. Ward glanced at him over his shoulder. "I was just following orders." Ward spun on his heels, heading back down to the med-bay.

In a motel, Fitz-Simmons sat by the pool with their feet in the water. Behind them, Trip was getting a snack out of the vending machine. Coulson was inside one of the rooms, filling Hill on all that happened.
"Wow," she whistled. "I can't believe he shot Lola."
"I can't talk about it," Coulson said, setting a large gun down on the bed.
"I don't blame you for going after him," Hill said.
"We'll need a base of operations, weapons, tactical backup. Who do you have working for you?"
"Okay, wait, wait. Hold on, Coulson. There is no more backup."

Hill walked closer to him.
"No more hidden bunkers."
"Oh, come on. I know Fury has others," Coulson rolled his eyes.
"There's no Fury. We're not bringing the band back together again, Coulson. It's over. There is no S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore."
"Well… not officially," he shrugged. Hill lowered her head.
"Look, I get it, okay? You have to take Ward and Garrett down. But don't act like it's some officially sanctioned mission. It's a personal vendetta, and when it's done, you should walk. Let your people go their separate ways."

Coulson sighed, looking out the window, seeing Fitz-Simmons and Sara by the pool.
"And what?" he asked sadly. "Turn themselves in? Cut a deal? Work in the private sector?"
"You know Stark would take Fitz-Simmons and Sara in a heartbeat."
"If we can find her." Hill sighed and looked down again.
"I should go," she told him. "You know where to find me."
"Say hello to Stark for –" She turned and looked at him. "Oh, yeah. Never mind. He thinks I'm dead." Hill walked out the door, leaving Coulson alone.

Outside, Fitz spoke quietly.
"There must be some reason why Ward did it," he murmured to Simmons, keeping his voice low. "Maybe they brainwashed him."
"Don't know," Simmons shrugged. "Some people are just evil."
"Well, I'd rather not believe that!" Fitz snapped.
"It's true," Simmons sighed. "I just assumed we'd be better at spotting it."

His head snapped up and he looked at her with a strange expression. "
Tell me you're not Hydra." She looked over at him, surprised he would want to her to say that.
"What?"
"I know that it's ridiculous, but I just need to hear you say it." Her safe softened and she leaned closer to him.
"I'm not Hydra."
"Yeah, good, good. And I – cause I'm not either."
"Of course not," Simmons agreed.
"Yeah. Because if – if you ever did…"
"I wouldn't," Simmons interrupted.

Fitz looked down at the water for a moment before looking back up at her.
"I don't know what I would do," he finished with a whisper. They stared at each other for a long moment.
"You'll never have to find out," Simmons promised. She gave him a smile and he looked down into the pool again. Simmons softly rested her hand on his knee.

Nearby, Skye sat at a table, working on her laptop. She looked up over the screen smirking at Trip, who was leaning against the vending machine.
"I thought you didn't eat junk food."
"I'm on vacation," Trip said.
"Until…?"

A door opened and Trip pointed over.
"Until that man tells me it's time to work." Coulson shook his head as he closed the door behind him.
"Not tonight. Get some rest." Trip laughed and stood up straighter from the machine.
"In that case, I'm gonna go crazy. Maybe have another bag." He laughed as he passed by Skye.

Coulson fed some money into the machine to get something for himself.
"Never been homeless before," Coulson remarked.
"It's not fun," Skye agreed. "At least we have a pool." Coulson made his selection and took out his candy car. He glanced over and watched Trip walk over to Fitz-Simmons. He held out his bag of chips to Fitz, who took some.

Skye looked down at her laptop.
"We'll get him, and we'll rescue Sara," Coulson promised, sitting down beside her.
"I know," Skye nodded. "I left them a little present when I encrypted the drive. Should help."

Sighing, Coulson looked down at his hands. He split his candy bar in half and held out a piece to Skye with a tiny mile. She took it from him.
"Thanks." She sat back and they were quiet for a moment, eating while they watched the others. "Nice night," Coulson commented. Skye looked up, staring at the stars.

Coulson walked into his motel room, stopping when he saw something.
"I was hoping you'd come back," he told May, who stepped into the light. "Ward is –"
"I know. Hill told me." He nodded and they stared at each other for a moment. "There's something you need to see," May said.

Opening a laptop, May pulled up the message she had found earlier.
"You wanted to know who was behind T.A.H.I.T.I.? This is what I found out." Coulson sat on a chair in front of the computer, with May standing next to him. Coulson looked at the screen for a moment then hit the play button. His face popped up on the screen with a very serious face.

"Good morning, Director Fury. I regret to inform you that I'm handing in my resignation. I know you brought me on to Project T.A.H.I.T.I. because you trusted my judgement, and it's that judgement that is telling me that I can no longer, in good conscience, let the testing continue.

"I understand you started the program to potentially save the mortally wounded Avenger, but the side effects are too extreme. We had initial success with the regenerative properties of the guest-host tissue, but after the initial physical recovery the subjects began to deteriorate mentally. Displaying hypergraphia, aphasia, catatonia, or just complete psychosis.

"We don't know if it was the biology at play or simply the awareness of what was done, but the only course of action that showed any promise of stemming these side effects was memory replacement. Erasing completely the awareness of what they'd been through. Even those results were very inconsistent.

"To be clear, I'm recommending the termination of Project T.A.H.I.T.I. Under no circumstances should these procedures or drugs be administered to anyone. Ever. The cost is far too great. Thank you, sir."

END OF TRANSMISSION

Coulson stared at the screen with wide eyed shock.
"Huh."

Sitting alone, Sara pulled her knees up to her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to even her breathing. She had done the right thing. Gave herself up to save Skye and Coulson. All in all, everything she had ever been trained to do. But now she was alone. She couldn't trust anyone. Even the person who was her closest confidant was now against her and everything she believed in.

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