Chapter Text
“We were able to identify our gifted: His name is Thomas Ward. He’s Ward’s younger brother!”
Bobbi’s voice was still ringing in her ear and Skye found herself reeling from this newest information. Ward’s brother was here in the warehouse? She looked right at Ward while she still pointed her ICEr at him and he in turn threatened her with the regular gun. His face was closed off, completely unreadable to her. Nevertheless, there was only one possible explanation as to why he was here: He was trying to complete his goal of hunting down every single member of his family.
“Your brother?” she finally choked out, fixing Ward with a stare. “You want to put down your own brother? You really won’t stop till the last of your family is eradicated! God, you’re such a monster, Ward, I knew I’d soon regret not putting that last bullet in your head.”
He remained infuriatingly calm in the face of her outburst. His eyes shone with something akin to regret, but he held her gaze steadily. A weary sigh heaved from his chest, when he finally tried to answer, “Oh, Skye...”
He suddenly paused mid-sentence and tilted his head to the side, as if listening intently. Just as she started to wonder what had made him stop, she saw May immerge from behind one of the shelves, her gun pointing at Ward. Which meant that he was now outnumbered two to one. True, Skye still only pointed an ICEr at him, but it would be nothing short of suicidal if he thought he could take out both of them. Since his own weapon was still pointed at her, he would be dead before he even tried to move his gun one inch into the direction of May.
“Drop your weapon, Ward,” the female agent ordered icily. “I hope you enjoyed your short trip into freedom and sunshine, because I’m rather sure that’s the last you’ve seen of both for a very, very long time.”
Ward was watching her out of the corner of his eyes and Skye could practically see him weighing his options. It seemed like he was definitely past his suicidal phase because he finally let his weapon drop to the ground.
“Good choice,” May commented, then nodded shortly in Skye’s direction before she approached him slowly. “Skye, knock him out.”
Her finger started pulling back the trigger, when an unfamiliar voice stopped her.
“No! Leave him be!”
Skye immediately swung her gun around toward the voice and saw a young man jump from one of the shelves. Fire was springing from both of his hands that he held up and away from his body, illuminating his face like a halo. She could make out boyish features under a mop of dark, unruly hair. He had the same straight nose and brown eyes as Ward (maybe she should start calling him Grant, since Ward kind of left the field open for both of them), but where Ward’s (Grant’s!) face was angular, his younger brother’s features were smoother and softer. There was no doubt that he had inherited his own fair share of good genes, at least superficially. If there had not been that ugly scar running from the left corner of his mouth down to his jaw, he could have sprung out of one of these renaissance paintings of young men with angelic faces, which Skye had seen in books back then in St. Agnes.
“Get away from my brother,” the younger Ward spoke slowly, voice steady and clear.
“Thomas,” May began calmly. “Your brother is a murderer and a criminal. We got to take him in. You, however, you’ve done nothing wrong. We just want to talk to you and ask if you need help. S.H.I.E.L.D. only has your best interest at heart.”
“You think I’ve done nothing wrong?” Thomas asked, eyes blazing. “You’ve got no idea, lady, I...”
“Shut up, Tommy,” Grant suddenly cut in and the affection that Skye heard in just that small nickname – though paired with a rather rude order – took her aback. “And you, May, please shut up as well and cut the holy S.H.I.E.L.D. crap. I’m rather sure Donnie Gill says thank you for talking to him, from the ground of the ocean.”
The mentioning of Donnie Gill, her first killing, raised the hair on her arms and Skye felt her pulse speed up. The clinking of glass behind her told her that she needed to get her feelings back under control, quickly. No one seemed to take notice, so she decided she needed to vent her anger and her pent-up feelings somewhere else. As always, Grant was a good target for that.
“Since when are you the defender of the gifted, Ward?” she spat, glaring at him angrily. “You’re gunning them down without asking any questions! It was you telling me to take the shot before even weighing options!”
“No, that’s not what I said!” he replied forcefully and the resentment in his voice took her aback. “That’s your problem, Skye, you aren’t listening. Not weighing any options, that’s what Hydra does. I told you so many times I’ve never been loyal to Hydra, but I could as well talk to the wall.”
This answer and the demeaning way he said it was too much for Skye. Anger heated her cheeks and she felt herself tremble and with her a good part of the warehouse. God, his gall!
“Shut up, Ward!” she hissed and tightened her grip around the ICEr in her hands. “I’m so sick of your lies and the way you try to talk yourself out of the terrible things you did. I don’t care who you’re loyal to in the rotten core you call your heart! I don’t care why you’re a lying bastard!”
She glared at him and watched Grant’s eyes blaze in return. Good, at least he had dropped the I-only-want-to-help-you charade. She lifted her ICEr to finally knock him out, when his little brother suddenly stepped in front of him. Whereas just seconds ago only his palms had been sprouting fire, he was now fully ablaze. The sudden heat hit her face and Skye recoiled a few steps, but Thomas immediately advanced on her.
After that, everything happened very quickly. From the corners of her eyes, she saw May aiming her pistol – not an ICEr – at the gifted and she knew at once that her S.O. would take the shot to protect her. Out of nowhere, Grant lunged himself at May and the weapon discharged, the bullet flying harmlessly over their heads. The two were still grappling with each other, but right then, another heat wave hit Skye and made her retreat some more.
“Thomas,” she tried to talk calmly to the younger Ward, but she could hardly see his face in the blaze that surrounded him. “Please, be reasonable. We’re not going to hurt you. Let us talk. Just because your brother did some bad things doesn’t mean you’ll be held accountable for his crimes. We know you’re not the same...”
“You know nothing!” Thomas shouted back, his voice sounding strangely disembodied. “Grant is trying to protect me. From you! From S.H.I.E.L.D.!”
He lifted his hands and a jet of fire shot towards her, making Skye leap away a few steps. A wooden box right behind her went up in flames, making her swallow hard. This was quickly getting out of hand.
“It’s my fault my brother went through hell back then,” the younger Ward added in a voice that was slightly calmer. “The least I can do is try to protect him in return.”
Having said that, Thomas lifted both his arms and Skye could see two more fireballs forming. There was a shelf right behind her and he was now so close that she was sure he would not miss this time. At least she still got her ICEr. Without hesitation, she brought it up and shot him, right on the forehead. The flames on his body went out immediately and she could see the look of surprise on his boyish features just before he collapsed.
“I hope that helps you cool down,” Skye murmured to herself just before she whipped around to see what became of May and the older Ward.
She saw Grant flipping her S.O. off his body and there was a sickening crunch as May struck her head on the concrete floor. Skye brought her ICEr up at once, but before she could pull the trigger, she already looked down the barrel of Grant’s gun. Again.
He was more than fifty feet away from her, but there was no way he would miss his target. Behind him, May lay unmoving. Worry bubbled up in Skye, but there was nothing she could do. It was too far away to see if she was still breathing, but Skye knew that her S.O. was tough. She had survived worse than this.
“You shot him?” Grant asked incredulously, steadily advancing on her, his eyes darting to the unconscious form of his brother.
“He was about to roast me alive!” Skye retorted – and why the hell did she feel the need to justify herself? “At least now I know that the homicidal streak runs in the family.”
Grant shot her a contemptuous look, before he kneeled down beside his brother to feel his pulse.
“He isn’t like that,” he replied quietly. “He isn’t like me. You scared him and he had some negative experience with governmental agencies, that’s all. Don’t judge him for my crimes.”
The caring undertone in his voice and actions took Skye aback. His hand was still resting on his brother’s throat and she thought she could see worry and regret in his eyes. Grant almost seemed... human right now.
That was when she forced her thoughts to stop. This was Grant Ward she was contemplating right now. He always had an angle and she would not put it past him to exploit his own brother for his plans.
“Yeah, right,” she sneered. “Always noble, aren’t you?”
“Don’t, Skye,” he said wearily, still on his knees. “Let me take care of my brother and you can take May back to your team.”
Her eyes flew briefly to her unconscious S.O., then wandered back to Grant. They both still had their weapons trained on each other and she knew they could continue this stand-off forever. She was itching to get to May and make sure she was alright, which meant letting Grant and his brother go.
Skye found herself hesitating. Since she had not heard from her team again, she guessed that the comm was down once more. Coulson would never forgive her if she let anything happen to May, so maybe it was time to let Grant go.
“If I let you leave,” she began slowly, then was interrupted by the doors at the end of the warehouse banging open. Armed forces barged in and orders were barked. It took the soldiers only a moment to notice the three of them and they immediately opened fire. Skye’s training took over and she found herself taking cover behind the shelves while bullets flew over her head. Hydra was here. Once again, she let herself be fooled by Ward. Damn it.
“We have to go,” his voice suddenly spoke right beside her and when she whipped around, she could see that he had taken cover right beside her, his brother slung over his shoulder.
“We?” she snapped. “Seems like your buddies arrived.”
“They’re not my buddies,” he replied, his tone exasperated. “If they catch us, they’ll kill us. All of us.”
He briefly tilted his head towards the unconscious form of his brother, then looked right back at her. His dark eyes – the ones she used to dream of a lifetime ago – shone brightly and there was something in them that begged her to believe her. Even before she had learned that he was a traitor, she had thought that his face was often unreadable, like a mask. Now that he was right beside her, there was not even a trace of that mask to be seen. A myriad of emotions played out on his face, she could easily make out worry, exasperation, alarm and even fear. It made him seem human. Not a robot, not an action figure, not a traitor, just a human being in a tight spot. In a very tight spot.
“I know another way out and I got a car ready,” he told her quickly, his eyes on the advancing Hydra agents. “I can get us out of here.”
Skye eyed him intently, then ducked some more when a bullet whizzed narrowly past her head. They could not stay here long, she needed to make a decision.
“What about May...” she began hesitantly, her eyes flying back to the body of her S.O. still lying on the ground in the open.
“Coulson’s got her,” Grant replied reassuringly.
What? Skye looked back and suddenly noticed that Coulson, Bobby and Hunter had entered the building and had grabbed May under heavy fire and were pulling back already.
“We got to help them!” she almost yelped.
“Hydra’s too strong!” Grant replied. “We can’t get to them. We’re five, they’re more than thirty.”
Skye saw that he was right. Hydra was cutting them off from joining forces. Her team was already leaving the warehouse and part of the armed forces were following them. Her training told her that this was a hopeless situation, there was nothing else to do but pull back and regroup later.
If Ward told the truth and this was not part of one of his ploys.
“Skye,” Grant’s voice sounded urgent in her ear. “We got to get out of here. You can either come with me or fight your own way back, but I’m leaving now! I promise, no I swear I won’t harm you.”
She looked back at him and thought she saw honesty in his eyes. But she had believed him before, trusted him with her life...
“Dammit!” he finally muttered while she was still hesitating, then turned around to leave. “Good luck. Maybe we’ll see each other in another life.”
Just like that, he left her crouching behind the shelf all by herself and slunk to the back of the warehouse, with his brother still slung over his shoulder. That was when she finally made up her mind. Quietly, she followed him.
“I’ll cover your back,” she told him when she had caught up to him.
He shot her a quick look, before he made sure the next row of shelves was clear, then muttered, “I’d actually feel safer if you handed me that gun.”
Somehow that comment stung and Skye felt her cheeks reddening.
“No way,” she hissed back. “I’m not coming with you unarmed.”
In that moment one of the Hydra agent rounded the corner of their shelf and Skye lost no time to shoot him in the chest.
“Hurry!” she urged and not a moment later they were sprinting the rest of the way towards a small door at the end of the warehouse.
Bullets rained down all around them, but luckily enough, none of them hit home. Grant kicked the door open and Skye followed him not a moment later. She was relieved to find that no more Hydra forces waited for them outside. On the other hand, there was no sign of S.H.I.E.L.D. either. A small part of her had hoped that she would see Coulson and the team waiting for her. It was a stupid hope, they probably had enough to deal with on their own. She just hoped they were alright.
“Get in!” Ward shouted, laying down his brother on the backseat of a Ford Taurus that was parked right outside the warehouse.
Skye thought shortly about trying to make her own way back to her team, but when the Hydra agents started pouring out of the door, she quickly jumped into the passenger seat of the car.
“Give me your ICEr,” Ward told her calmly, stretching out his hand.
Skye stared at him, then back at the Hydra agents aiming at them. The engine of the car was running, but they were still standing. Why the hell wasn’t he taking off already?
“No way,” she replied forcefully and kept a solid grip on the weapon in her hand.
“I’m not leaving before you give me your gun,” he told her, the unreadable mask once again in place. “I told you I’m not going to hurt you. I’m doing this for the safety of my brother and myself, I can’t have you knock me out while I’m driving.”
Bullets were hitting the car and Skye ducked instinctively. Luckily enough, the glass seemed to be bullet proof, but she could already make out the cracks in the back window.
“You’re going to get us all killed!” she shouted at him. “And no, I’m not handing over my weapon, because I don’t trust you!”
“Well, surprise, I don’t trust you either!” he yelled back in a rare show of emotion.
The outburst surprised her, but then again, she had to confess she had thought about shooting him as soon as they were out of the danger zone. Bullets still hailed down on them and it was just a matter of time before the car would be too damaged to drive at all.
Skye looked at Ward and he glared back at her. Finally, she shoved the weapon into his hands. He finally took off and just a few seconds later they were already clear of their enemies.
“Thank you,” he said quietly and looked at her briefly. “And sorry.”
Before she even had the time to think about the reason why he was apologizing, she felt a hard impact on her thigh and then, just a moment later, the world turned dark.
-tbc-