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Good Little Soldier
May grabbed the tablet synced to the vault from the kitchen counter. No one else touched it save Skye and Coulson on occasion. The only device in the base that could control the settings of Vault D. Fitz using it wasn’t even that farfetched, they left it open for anyone to take it.
The vault was dark. It didn’t have much lighting and what it did have was abysmal for decent vision. Ward was sitting on his cot. May remembered looking at the security footage and seeing Ward sleep for only 2-3 hours before giving up on it and starting his morning workout.
May remembered walking in on Skye one morning when she was watching Ward’s routine. May didn’t miss the slight glossing in Skye’s eyes or the tension in her shoulders. May didn’t need to read her mind to know what Skye was thinking about, it wasn’t like Skye got a lot of down time.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Ward spoke with a distant voice. May never made a trek down here unless it was for the more “extreme” interrogations that Coulson couldn’t stomach and Skye didn’t need to know about.
“Well, Coulson needs your help.” May explained.
“Really?” Ward asked in mock arrogance.
“Yeah, I don’t get it either.” May knew Specialists. They never got rusty. The training they went through made every move second nature. There wasn’t a specialist alive that couldn’t take on a SEAL team.
“So do I get some decent clothes or am I going to handle this in prison garb?” Ward joked. He wasn’t happy about the situation but he had to admit he was curious about what happened to make Coulson want to take him out of his cell.
May tapped a few commands on the tablet and the wall dropped. “Come on then. Let’s get you dressed.”
“No cuffs?” Ward asked.
“I assume you’re not dumb enough to try anything in a base where everyone has a gun and hates your gates, right?” May taunted as she made her way out of the vault.
“I guess not.” Ward trotted after her and ascended the stairs.
May led him towards a narrow hall with a window that overlooked the alleyway the base occupied. Ward didn’t bask in the first sighting of the outside world in a few months. He was a specialist, he knew what it was like to go without seeing much for long periods of time.
May opened a door and Ward saw a small dorm room type place with a twin bed and a closet.
“I moved your things after we got here.” May told him. “I wasn’t going to ask Skye to do it.” She said the last part quietly with a hardness behind her eyes that Ward didn’t miss.
Ward walked to the closet and pulled out some of his old clothes. He put on a sweater and a pair of jeans before lacing up his boots.
“Am I getting tactical gear or am I going stag?” Ward didn’t want to push his luck but he needed to know how far the Team was willing to go with him.
“You’re going to be armed the same as Skye. We don’t expect her to be able to do everything.” May spoke as though this were a normal occurrence.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Ward placed his hands on his knees and refused to meet her eyes.
“Skye’s not acting like herself. She won’t talk to me and Coulson doesn’t have time for her. I want you to make an assessment.” May hated talking to him like this but she needed someone to get a sense of where Skye was mentally. All May knew was that she was spiraling and someone had to figure out what was causing it.
“You want to me to tell you if she’s losing it.” Ward concluded.
“No, I want you to tell me if she’s turning into you.” May retorted.
Ward stood abruptly and made his way through the door and walked through the hallway. He studied the pathways he walked down the first time and made his way back to the door to Vault D. He scanned the area and looked through the different paths. To his left was what looked like a kitchen/commons area. Beyond it was a staircase that probably went to Coulson’s office.
Ward was about to make his way there when his senses alerted him to a presence on his right. A fist narrowly missed his face by fractions of an inch and in seconds Ward had his would be attacker pinned to the ground with no leverage to their limbs.
“Who the hell are you?” Ward quickly and quietly.
“Aren’t I supposed to say that? You’re the prisoner!” The man had a thick English accent. Probably straight from Britain if Ward had to guess.
“Yes, I am. I’m also being taken out of my cell for a mission with Skye and I need to know why May wants me to make an assessment on her.” Ward explained.
The man stopped fighting him and laid his hands palm first on the ground. Ward stepped off of him and extended his arm to help him up. The man took it and both were now on their feet.
“You’re the only one who hasn’t seen her in the field aren’t you?” The man asked carefully.
“Yeah, I’ve seen the bruises though.” Ward replied.
The man nodded his head before he gave a careful response. “She’s good, but there’s something in her eyes now. I’ve only seen it a handful of times and everyone I see with it usually ends up either the most decorated soldier or dead.”
“What have you seen?” Ward asked but he already knew the answer. He’d seen it in the mirror enough to know it by description.
“She’s blank. Like a doll. The only time she seems to move with purpose is when May gives her an order. It’s eating her alive from what I could tell. She won’t talk to anyone about it though.” The man recalled the events on the plane and in Pakistan, about the way Skye would put on a mask to keep people from seeing how messed up she’s been for the past few days.
Ward listened with rapt interest. He didn’t want to believe what he was hearing but he knew what was happening. Skye had her defining moment…and she lost.
“Ward,” He snapped to attention out of habit when he heard May call. She trailed up from behind him.
“Hunter, can you get Skye and tell her to meet us in Coulson’s office?” May wasn’t really asking but she was polite enough to make it sound like she was.
“Of course, I am an errand boy after all aren’t I?” Hunter voiced with a sarcastic wit that Ward only remembered hearing from Skye, but those days were long gone.
Ward followed May up the stairs and saw Coulson’s office for the first time. It was covered in old pieces of furniture and antique collectibles, exactly how Ward pictured an office to look if Coulson had a say in it.
Coulson was sitting at the front of his desk absently leafing through a file. May cleared her throat and he looked up to see her and Ward standing near the monitor behind them. Coulson motioned for them to sit down.
“I take it you’re ready?” Coulson asked with a tone that betrayed the bitterness in his eyes. Ward knew he was only making nice in an attempt to have Ward work with them willingly instead of by force.
“Why am I going with her in the field?” Ward asked slowly.
“Because I need someone who hasn’t seen Skye operate in the field since the Hub. That’s you. I need you to report to me any changes in her behavior, the way she handles the mission, etc. I’m afraid we’ve spent too much time with her to pick up on the subtleties. We’re spread too thin as it is to let the mission go however, so we’re using you.” Coulson explained calmly. Ward thought he fell into the role of Director far too easy. The act of looking at operatives and missions in a faraway lens tended to make one favorable to the needs of the majority. Maybe Garrett’s speech held some truth after all.
“Does she know about this?” Ward voices the question but he needn’t have. He knows the answer already.
“No, and she can’t.” Coulson confirms his theory and Ward feels a pit of anger bubbling in his stomach.
“You expect me to lie to her?” Ward wasn’t going to. They knew that.
“No, I fully expect you to tell her as soon as you’re on site. I still need to know if she’s changing however, and that leaves you as my sole means of doing so.” Coulson talked with the fluidness of a seasoned businessman. In another life Ward thought Coulson could’ve been a CEO of some company in New York. Maybe he would work 8 hours a day and go home and see May.
“When do we leave?” Ward didn’t like his parameters but they made sense. He was the one who could best decipher any changes in Skye aside from the obvious. He didn’t like it, but he knew better than to voice that opinion.
“You leave in an hour. Skye will take you to the armory with May and you’ll be fitted for the mission. Then May will take you to the site. I’ve arranged for you two to stay in a room under the guise of a couple out for a fun weekend in the city. Once you take out the target radio May for extraction.” The details rolled off Coulson’s tongue with seasoned ease.
“Yes, Sir.” Ward found himself falling into familiar territory. Get the mission, complete the objectives, and get out.
Plain and simple.
It didn’t mean he had to like it.