Chapter Eight:
"I'm afraid this may scar." Jemma told Ward as they sat in the Providence's lab dressing his wounds with the rest of the team nearby.
"Upside, you'll look cool, dangerous." Skye tried to cheer him up.
"He's gonna be fine though, right?" Fitz asked, concern lacing his voice.
"He will if you back up and give me some room." Jemma pushed Fitz away in annoyance.
"So what then?" Coulson asked, wanting as much intel as possible.
"By the time we got to The Fridge, it was too late. It was overrun. Hydra everywhere." Ward supplied. "We couldn't stop them."
"What were they after?" May asked.
"They took weapons, alien artifacts, anything they could grab."
"I assume that means the prisoners are no longer prisoners?"
Ward nodded to answer Coulson's question, causing the man to grimace.
"So…." Skye hesitated. "Ian Quinn?"
"I'm sorry. He's out. They all are."
"And Garrett?" Fitz asked. "Did he get away?"
"Couldn't stop them from taking The Fridge, but I wasn't gonna let Garrett walk. Not after what he did."
"Is he the one that did this to you?" Skye gestured to all of his injuries.
"He was one tough cookie." Ward nodded.
"Was?" May questioned. "Past tense?"
"As soon as I had the upper hand I put two in the back of his head."
"Good." Fitz didn't even blink.
"One from me." Ward continued, looking at Trip. "One from you."
"I would've emptied the mag."
Selena narrowed her eyes at Ward for a split second. Something about his story didn't seem right. From what she heard him and Garrett talking about the other day, it didn't make sense that he just…shot him.
Unless of course, he had a change of heart and decided to do what was right…
"You're all set." Jemma finished up. "Well, I mean as much as you can be with two cracked ribs and a zygomatic fracture."
Selena furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She had no idea what a zygo…zygomatic fracture was.
"Uh, for those of you that don't know what that is, it's a—" "—A hardline fracture to the cheekbone." Fitz and Trip explained at the very same time.
Color Fitz impressed. He had no idea that Trip knew that.
"Your body needs time to heal. Please take some time." Jemma told Ward.
"Understood. Thanks." Ward nodded at her before she left, turning his attention to Skye. "Ah. One small victory." He held up a hard drive. "Hydra didn't get their hands on this."
"A hard drive?" Trip moved to get a closer look.
"It's all the research our team's ever done, downloaded off the plane and encrypted for safekeeping." Skye explained.
"We should probably back it up now that we're in a secure facility."
"First, Skye, I need you on threat assessment. Pull up a list of all the inmates at The Fridge. I want to know just how bad this is." Coulson instructed.
Well, now that they were in a secure place and there was no real threat nearby, Selena was going to do some digging of her own.
"Alright." Eric smiled. "I'm just gonna need you to answer a few questions. A few psychoanalytic, no sequitur questions."
"A lie detector." Coulson summarized.
"The lie detector Agent Coulson."
Selena looked around the barely lit room with an unsure look on her face. It was all concrete, like a prison with just a large chair smack dab in its center.
A little creepy, but kind of cool.
"This measures Galvanic skin responses, oxygen consumption, micro-expressions, biofeedback brain waves, pupil dilation, voice biometrics — Ninety-six variables in all. Fury designed this himself. He wanted a lie detector Romanoff couldn't beat."
"Did she?" Ward asked out of curiosity.
"Like Fury would tell!" Eric chuckled.
"Okay." Coulson just wanted to get this out of the way. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get to work." He turned to the team beside him. "Who wants to go first?"
Selena looked around awkwardly, waiting for Eric to start. She had never taken a lie detector test before, so she was a little nervous.
What if the lie detectorr said she was lying, but she was actually telling the truth?
What would happen then?
"We're gonna start with some easy questions to establish a baseline. Don't be nervous, as long as you tell the truth, you"ll be fine." Eric smiled at her. "Can I have your full name?"
"Selena-Marie…." Selena answered, quietly, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"Selena- Marie, what?" He asked, looking at the readings on the monitor in front of him.
"Just Selena-Marie, I think…..that's what I've always been called, but I've never seen my birth certificate and I've never met my parents, so I'm not sure if that's really even my name."
"Your story's similar to Skye's." Eric raised an eyebrow at her. "Any particular reason?"
"She's my sister….we both grew up in the system." Selena shrugged.
"Interesting. Eye color?"
"Hazel-Green."
"You ever been married?'
Selena furrowed her eyebrows at that one. "No?….."
"I'm just messing with you, your readings are telling me that you're nervous. I need you to relax."
"Oh." Selena cracked a grin. That was kinda funny.
"Please list your immediate family."
"I just told you. Skye is my sister." Selena knew he was trying to trip her up with that one.
"You said you grew up in the system, how many foster homes have you been in?"
"Oh." Selena scoffed. "A lot….I lost track after nine…I never had a good history with those."
"I'm sorry. Hopefully you're happy with your current situation." Eric sent her a sad smile.
"I am." She decided to crack a little joke. "Even if Skye gets on my nerves."
"My brother and I used to get on each other's nerves all the time. Trust me, it's normal." Eric read off another question. "What's the difference between an egg and a rock?"
"What?"
"What's the difference between an egg and a rock?" Eric reiterated. "Just say the first thing that pops into your head."
"Eggs are food and rocks aren't."
"Have you ever heard of Project Insight?"
"Nope." Selena popped the 'p'.
"Ever had any contact with Alexander Pierce?"
"Who?" Selena asked in such a way, that Eric tried not to laugh.
"You wash up on a deserted island alone. Sitting on the sand, is a box. What is in the box?"
These were very odd questions.
"Food?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer exists. The agency has been labeled a terrorist organization. So why are you here?"
"I followed Skye. Wherever she goes, I go. That's how it works now."
"You must really love your sister."
"Mmhmm. What do those squiggly lines tell you?"
"I'm running the operation here kid." Eric was clearly amused by her curiosity. "The lines tell me whether or not you're telling me the truth. If they're calm, you're telling the truth, but if they're active and out of control, you're lying."
"Cool."
"Congratulations Selena-Marie." He spoke after a few seconds of looking at the monitor. "Let's go get you a lanyard."
Selena grinned and hopped out of the chair, allowing Eric to hand her the lanyard, before skipping out the door, into the hallway where her sister was waiting for her, along with Ward.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Skye asked, tugging on a braid.
"Nope." Selena shook her head. "It was fun. He told me how the machine worked."
"Piece of cake?" Ward asked.
"Mmhmm. You have to talk about yourself a lot." Selena answered, watching his body language carefully. He seemed very tense. Hmmmm….
"So you'll hate it." Skye joked before pulling her sister away. "Have fun."
Ward sent her smile before taking a deep breath and entering the room Selena had just come out of.
"Have a seat." Eric motioned to the strange chair and waited for him to do just that, before beginning. "What is your full name?'
"My name is Grant Douglas Ward."
"Please list your immediate family."
"Two parents, a sister, two brothers. Don't have contact with any of them."
"Boy, your baseline's getting a lot of spikes." Eric looked at the monitor. Ward's lines were scrambling up and down rapidly. "Are you in pain?"
"Yeah." Ward grimaced. "Only when I breathe. Two broken ribs."
"Okay." Eric looked at him suspiciously. "Well, try not to move. It may affect the results."
"I'll try my best." Ward forced himself to stay still.
"What is the difference between an egg and a rock?"
"Eggs are food. Rock's a weapon."
"Have you ever heard of Project Insight?"
"No."
"Ever made contact with Alexander Pierce?"
"No."
"You wash up on a deserted island alone. Sitting on the sand is a box. What's in that box?'
"It would depend on the island." Ward answered. "Where it is. How big. What's the terrain? Is there fresh water?"
"Just say the first thing that comes to your head."
"A pistol."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer exists. The agency has been labeled a terrorist organization. So, why are you here?"
"I'm an agent. It's my duty."
That answered caused the lines to spike once again. "I need you to give that to me again."
"It's my duty."
Eric continued to watch the monitor and it showed no change, so picking up a gun, he addressed Ward again. "I'm gonna ask you a follow up. Agent Ward, are you associated with Hydra?"
"Yes." Ward smiled. "We all are. They've infiltrated the highest levels of our organization."
"Like you mean it." Eric cocked the gun and pointed it at Ward before looking back down at the monitor. "Are you Hydra?"
"I'm loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. To Agent Coulson…and to my team."
"Do you have any other agenda?" Eric asked. "Agent Ward, why are you really here?'
"Skye." Ward answered truthfully. "Came back for her. I want to spend time with her."
"Skye?" Eric questioned, putting the gun down after Ward nodded. "Cool."
Ward received his lanyard and made his way out into the hallway, turning an empty corner before pulling a needle from underneath his thumbnail.
"Hey Ward." Fitz came out of absolutely nowhere to greet him.
"Hey." Ward showed him his new lanyard. "Got my lanyard."
"Nice."
"So, are you guys taking off?"
"Yeah." Fitz nodded before screwing up his face. "I wish you were coming instead of Trip. He's insufferable, isn't he? I can't figure out why Selena is so taken with him."
"Trip?"
"Yeah."
"Think the guy's okay."
Evidently, Fitz hadn't heard a word Ward had just said. "I know. He's terrible. He's a horrible person."
"You sure this is about him?" Ward questioned knowingly. "Not about Simmons?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Everything is falling apart around us. We don't know how it'll end. If there's something you want to tell her, don't wait."
That was actually a good piece of advice, but Fitz thought it sounded very strange coming from Ward.
He wasn't exactly sensitive.
"Maybe Simmons should check you again for a head injury...…cause that's not the Ward I know."
"You know what?" Ward rolled his eyes. "Do you what you want. I don't care."
"Good to have you back."
"Skye! Skye! Guess what?!" Selena burst into the room in excitement, clearly interrupting a conversation Eric and her sister were deeply in the middle of.
Skye gave Eric a look, before she gave her sister all her attention. "Let me guess, you found where this place keeps their cookies?"
"That was a very good guess." Selena held a chocolate chip cookie out for her to take.
"You're such a cookie monster." Skye took the cookie and wasted no time, biting into it. "This is good."
"I know right?"
"Ahem." Eric cleared his throat.
"Oh, right." Skye smirked.
"You can't goad me into—"
Poor Eric never got to finish his sentence due to another interruption.
This time, it was Ward who made his way across the room and plopped a folder down.
Selena noticed that he had just covered a tablet that looked like it had been tracking movement.
Interesting.
"Can you help me convince Steve Rogers here to suit up, grab his shield, head into battle?"
"Okay." Ward smiled at Skye. "Who's he supposed to battle?"
"If we hack NSA satellites, we can get footage from The Fridge breakout, see who was there, where they went."
"Well, she's right. It's worth trying. You know, I can't hack the NSA, but maybe I can upload the hard drive you gave me." Ward suggested. "Get the specs on the weapons they might be carrying."
"Absolutely, we should." Skye agreed. "But we can't. The encryption is location based. We'll have to take a field trip at some point to decrypt it."
Selena watched the way Ward had almost visibly relaxed at the prospect of not getting this done and took note of it.
"Okay! Alright!" Eric relented. "Color me impressed. Now impress me more. Get me that footage." He handed Skye a lanyard. "These are the keys to the comm/sat room. The mainframe is in there. Start the hack, but then send the feed to these monitors. Let's live dangerously."
"Yeah." Skye smiled, before making her way out of the room.
"How long before you get visuals?" Ward asked her.
"NSA satellites should be tough. Give me an hour."
"I wanna come!" Selena hurried after her like a shadow.
"This is exciting." Eric grinned at Ward. "Let's see if being sneaky pays off."
"Eric?" Skye called, looking for the man with readings from her tablet.
"Skye! I found more cookies!" Her sister found her and handed her another cookie, in true Selena fashion.
"Thanks, have you seen Eric?"
"No….why? Is he missing?" Selena's stomach sunk.
"Yeah. I can't find him anywhere."
"I'll help look."
"Thanks."
"But Skye?" Selena looked at her in all seriousness. "I have to tell you something."
"Can it wait?"
"I don't think so."
"Okay, go ahead."
"I think…...I think Ward is Hydra."
"What?" Skye stopped in her tracks and glared at her sister. "Selena that's a serious accusation and you know that's not true."
"But Skye—"
"—No." Skye shook her head. "I don't want to hear it. I'm so disappointed in you. This isn't a game, Selena. Hydra is full of awful people, and you think that Ward is one of them?"
"Sorry." Selena knew that Skye wouldn't believe her, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
"You should be. I don't want to hear you say that again. Ever."
"Okay." Selena swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat. "Sorry."
"Let's go." Skye started moving again. It took Selena a few moments to regroup and fight back tears, but eventually she followed suit.
The two followed Skye's tablet, leading them to an unopened door.
"Eric?" Skye called with her ear against the door.
When she received no answer, she twisted the knob and opened the door, causing a penny to drop and hit the floor.
"That's weird." Skye picked it up and examined it before she and her sister entered the room. "Eric."
The two looked around the room, only finding rows and rows of supplies.
"Eric?" Selena called this time, seriously freaked out.
She peered over at Skye's tablet and saw that their dots were directly over Eric's even though they couldn't see him.
They didn't have to keep looking for long though. A few drops of blood dropped down and hit the tablet, making both of them look up.
Selena's jaw dropped when she saw what was above them.
It was Eric.
Skye gasped and covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming, before looking back down at her tablet, nothing that Ward was approaching them.
"Ward…..oh my….Selena…" She looked down at the child. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You were right." She whispered tearfully, before grabbing the girl's hand and fleeing the supply closet, running straight into a bathroom in tears. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Selena told her softly, allowing herself to be pulled into her arms.
"No." Skye shook her head. "You were right. I'm so sorry…..Ward….."
"I'm not mad at you Skye." Selena's voice shook with fear. "I'm not."
"Skye?" They both jumped at the sound of Ward's voice. "Skye?"
"What are we gonna do?" Selena panicked. "He's gonna know we know!"
"Calm down. It's okay." Skye had managed to compose herself. "If we act like we don't have a clue, we'll be fine. I need you to do something for me, okay? He doesn't know that you're with me. I need you to hide. You've found good hiding places, right?" Skye took Selena's lanyard off and put it on the sink so that no one was able to track her. "I need you to go to one of those places and wait an hour or longer before you come out, okay?"
"But what about you?" Tears flew down Selena's face. "What's gonna happen to you?"
"Don't worry about me. He's not gonna hurt me. I need you to do this for me, please?"
Selena took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm scared." Her voice cracked.
"I know. I'm scared, too. It's gonna be okay." Skye wiped the child's tears away. "Stop crying. If he sees you crying, he'll be suspicious. You've fooled him before, you can do it again." She gave her an encouraging smile. "Now go."
Selena walked to the bathroom door and looked back at her sister one last time, before she opened the door and ran as fast as she could to one of her hiding spots.
"He's Hydra." Skye took a breath. "Okay, okay, okay. I can do this. Selena is safe. She can let everyone know what's going on. I can do this."
A/N: We're getting to the good parts now :) XOXOXOXO