Chapter Text
"I can’t risk your lives anymore, AC. I have to do this."
"Skye, will you just hear me out?" Coulson pleaded.
"Don’t ask me to stay. Please. It’ll just make things harder for me," she interrupted, shaking he head and looking down at her feet.
"Skye, please-"
"I’m gonna pack my things now. I hope you’re still up for finding that redacted file of mine. Goodnight, Sir. I’ll see you in the morning." With that, Skye left his office, crying. She got down the spiral stairs and headed out to her bunk to pack her things.
‘Stay away from that girl. Where ever she goes, death follows.' It kept echoing in her mind as tears pricked her eyes when she started packing. They were right, and she knew it. She was a magnet for disaster, for death. Everything she does just calls out for death.
It was just like their mission concerning Dr. Hall. She was the one to get in, and everything falls apart. It was like their mission with Scorch. She just had to go to Miles, and everything falls apart, too.
—
"Don’t do this, Skye. Please," Jemma pleaded. She cried on Skye’s shoulder once the hacker informed her of her departure. They were already down the cargo hold saying their goodbyes.
"I’m sorry, Jemma. I’m doing this for everyone’s safety. Maybe one day, we’ll see each other again and become the best of friends," Skye replied, wiping her tears, and pulling her friend into a tight hug.
"Skye. Why?"
"I’m sorry, Leo. You take care of Jemma here, alright? Or I’ll hunt you down and kick your ass," Skye laughed with sadness as she pulled Fitz into another hug. She hated seeing Fitz cry, it wasn’t a normal thing for him to do. And it stabbed her heart to see that it was her departure that caused his tears.
"You’re just gonna leave?"
"Ward-" Skye whispered, looking down at her feet, avoiding his pleading eyes.
"No, I’m not yet done," he interrupted. "You’re just gonna leave? That’s all? You’re just gonna leave all this behind? Leave SHIELD? The bus? The team? You’re just gonna leave me?"
"I’m sorry, Ward. It’s for the best," Skye said, tears rolling on her cheek as she looked up to see Ward.
"What the hell do you mean it’s for the best? Why the hell do you even keep saying that?! You think leaving us will be for the best?! How can you even-"
"Ward, please. Don’t make it any harder than it is now," she cut him off. She hated to hear Ward yell at her, but she knew that he was just concerned. She looked up and continued, "Just.. Just take care of yourself, alright? Careful not to get wet."
"Do you really have to do this?"
"Yeah, I kinda do. I’m sorry. It may look like I’m betraying you guys again, but please don’t look at it that way. I just want everyone safe. Like you do, Agent May," she gave her a weak smile, as the elder woman just nodded at her.
"Skye, please. Just-"
"AC. Please don’t," Skye shook her head as she looked down at her feet again.
"Alright. Just remember that we’ll always be glad to welcome you back. And as for my promise to you, I’ll keep it. For as long as I can," Coulson reassured her, as he put her arm on her shoulder.
"Thanks, AC," she replied. She hugged him as tears started to fall of her eyes again. She pulled away and gave him a small smile before turning and walking away.
"Skye," she heard Ward’s voice when she felt his hand on her wrist. She looked back and saw his face inches from hers.
"Ward. Just. Don’t, please," she begged, taking a step backwards.
"Isn’t there anything I can do to make you stay?"
"I’m sorry, Grant," she answered. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered, "I’ll miss you the most."
"Skye, don’t do this please," he begged. He tightened his arms around her waist, afraid of letting her go. "Don’t leave me," he whispered to her ear as a tear rolled down his cheek. Skye pulled away and wiped his tears with her thumb. He pulled her to his chest again, hugging her tightly.
"You have to let me go, Ward," she whispered after a few seconds.
"I can’t," he started sobbing on her shoulder. Skye pulled away and put her hands on his chest, and pushed him away.
She placed her hand on his cheek, leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. “I’m sorry,” she said again before running to the awaiting jet to take her to the Hellicarrier where Agent Hill was waiting for her. Skye had asked Hill to see her, so she can ask her to erase all her interactions with SHIELD. The jet took off, and she watched over the window her crying team looking up at her.
—
He heard a knock on his door, he opened it to see Jemma behind it. “Hey,” she whispered. He returned to his bed, sat on it, and put his head on his hands again.
"You have to eat, Ward," Jemma said as she placed a tray of food on his nightstand. "You barely ate anything since.. Since four days ago when she left," she continued and sat beside Ward on his bed.
"She just left," he whispered, shaking his head in his hands. He looked up at Simmons and continued, "She just left, Jemma."
"I know, Ward," Simmons comforted him by placing a hand on his shoulder as he looked down again.
"I can’t believe she just left," he whispered again as tears pricked his eyes. Tears started to fall from his eyes down the carpet. He looked up to see Jemma offering him a box of tissues, but instead of taking it, he looked up at her with teary eyes and said, "Skye. She.. My Rookie.. My Skye.. I didn’t even get the chance to tell her how I really feel. She just left me. Alone."
"Oh, Ward," Simmons whispered as she pulled him into her arms. She felt tears welling up in her eyes when she felt Ward’s tears on her shoulders. She tried comforting him by rubbing his back, but he kept sobbing. When he pulled away, she offered him the box of tissues again, and now he took it. They just sat there in silence for a few minutes before Jemma got up, and asked Ward to come with her to the lounge where Fitz was staying.
"Hey," Fitz whispered when he looked up to see Ward as Jemma walking to him. "How are you?" Ward took the seat where they, he and Skye usually sat. Jemma walked to Fitz, and sat beside him.
Ward’s hands started to roam on the cushion beside him. Looking down, he could still see Skye sitting beside him. “I miss her,” he whispered, still looking down. “So much,” he looked up with tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
"We miss her, too," May walked in from the cockpit and sat on the other long sofa. The three agents in the lounge were surprised to see so much sadness and worry in the Cavalry’s eyes.
"What’s going on?" Coulson asked when he saw his team hanging out in the lounge. He saw Fitz holding Jemma’s hands. He saw May’s sad eyes looking at the wall. And he saw Ward’s tears as they fell onto the carpet when he had his head down. "Oh," he breathed when he realized what was going on. "I miss her, too," Coulson said, taking a seat beside May. The team sat there in silence, longing for the hacker. Their hacker. Their special, bubbly, fun, sarcastic hacker who decided to leave them to keep them safe.
—
"And I thought I would enjoy this," Skye muttered to herself as she rolled on her side to feel the fluffy pillow and warm comforter around her.
When she got to the Helicarrier six days ago to see Agent Hill, she was surprised to be greeted by the one and only Nick Fury.
"Hello, Skye."
"Hello, Sir," she replied nervously.
"Please. Take a seat," he said, motioning her to the seat across his table. "How are you, Skye?"
"I’m doing fine, Sir."
"Agent Hill came to me this morning and told me that you wanted her to erase all your interactions with SHIELD. Is that correct?"
Skye swallowed the lump in her throat, and stammered, “Y-Yes, Sir.”
"Don’t be worried, Skye. I am with you on that," he assured her when she looked up to him. "However, all actions deserves reactions. Correct?" Skye nodded.
"I will erase all your interactions with SHIELD personally. I will look into your past two months when you stayed with Agent Coulson’s team. I will personally delete all clips from security cameras where you are seen. I will make you look like you didn’t even exist in SHIELD."
Skye looked up to the eye-patched man surprised and conspicuous. ‘What does he want from me anyway?’
"But you have to promise me to stay with SHIELD," he held up his finger to her when she opened her mouth to protest. "I have seen all your works, Skye. You work faster than the whole IT Team we have in the Hub and HQ. Giving up a skill like that, is like I’m giving up Ironman from the Avengers. Now, before you protest, I want you to see my point of view," he said, raising a finger again when she opened her mouth.
"We will erase all your interactions with SHIELD. We will give you your own apartment, own car, new and advanced equipments. Everything you need. You will be working with SHIELD, helping us to hack and infiltrate sites when needed."
"What if I say no?"
"Oh, I’m pretty sure you’ll agree to this," he chuckled. He turned serious again, clasped his hands on the table, looked her straight in the eyes and said, "If you don’t, I will disband Coulson’s team."
After a lot of deliberating and arguing with herself, she finally agreed to his offer. Of course, she can’t let him disband her team. What would they do without each other?
May would go back to her desk, all alone and isolated. Fitz and Simmons will go back to the Academy to teach freshmen, all alone and isolated from the real world. AC would go back to, I don’t know, whatever he does, all alone and isolated from his team.
And Ward.. Ward would go back to being a specialist. He would go back to being the robot she knew. He would go back to this T-1000 who didn’t offer emotions. He started to open up and lighten up, but could she really let that all be wasted? He would go back to being all alone and isolated, just like he was before Coulson recruited him.
"Alright," Skye said, pushing herself off from the bed. "Time to get to work," she continued as she walked into her own computer room which was filled with dozens of screens on the walls, and a pile of laptops on the corner of the desk. ‘Damn. I won’t ever get used to this,’ she thought when she started checking her email, then she checked her SHIELD account for new assignment. ‘No new messages’
"Guess who’s watching movies again all day," she muttered to herself. She got up and went to the home cinema in her apartment.