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It had been a week since the battle that ended Maveth. And it had been a week since the day Grant Ward came back to life. The team was quick to bring him back to base to watch over him so they could make sure that nothing else would happen. But they were quick to realize that the man that they had brought back was not the same man that Coulson had killed.
Traumatized. That was the word that Simmons had used. Traumatized and broken. Maveth had stripped him apart and had left behind a barely-functioning Ward. Ward had been contained in one of the containment rooms at the base since no one wanted to send him back to the Vault out of respect. And anyone who tried to approach him was met with screams, sheer rage, and utter violence.
It had been about four days since he stopped eating. Four days since he had relocated himself to a far corner of the room and stayed there curled-up into a ball. Moans could be heard, moans which made it sound like he was in absolute pain. And no one could figure out why.
And on that fourth day, Coulson had finally resorted to doing something. He still wasn't fond of the man, but felt bad about killing him and being the cause of the agony he had gone through for six months while possessed. The Director knew he had to do something.
"Skye, something's wrong with him." Coulson said, looking towards Skye as they stood outside of Ward's containment room. "And not just the fact that he's extremely traumatized. Something's going on with him and we need to find out what it is."
Skye sighed and crossed her arms, watching as Ward seemed to be rocking back and forth slightly, "You want me to go in there, don't you?" she asked, looking towards the Director. "You want me to see if I can get to him."
"Skye, you're the only I think he'll actually allow into the room. He attacks anyone else. He almost attacked Simmons of all people. She can't even go in there without armed escorts now. Whatever is going on isn't just mental. Something's making him be in pain like that and it has to be physical. He's either sick or something far worse is happening to him. I just want you to see if you can figure out anything.
Go in slow. I'll be right out here if something happens." he continued. "Be careful with him. I don't know if he'll actually attack you or not."
She bit her lip, "Are you sure that this is safe?"
"No, I'm not. But we have to figure something out." Coulson sighed and shook his head, "Skye he's the only one that he can trust. You're probably the only one that he'll talk to."
Skye gulped and nodded slightly, "Fine. I'll do it. But I'm not guaranteeing to what's going to happen."
Coulson nodded in response and watched as Skye made her way into the room. He didn't want to know what was going to happen.
"Grant?" Skye called, walking slowly towards the huddled man. "Are you okay?"
She saw his body tense up, but he didn't turn to look at her. And she noticed that his clothes were torn and singed? Wait, that didn't make sense. Why were they singed?
"Grant?"
"Why are you in here?" he rasped. "I don't want to be bothered. Let me die alone." He kept his back turned to her and his breathing was heavy and labored. "Let me suffer. Leave me alone."
Skye's heart skipped a beat as she took a step towards him, "Grant, I just want to know if you're okay or not. That's all." she said, her voice low and soft.
Ward laughed slightly, "Do I look like I'm okay?" he asked wearily. "Everything hurts. You should've let me die for real, Skye. I didn't want to be dragged back into this freakshow." His body tensed up again as a fresh wave of pain shot through his body. Burning pain.
"Hurts?" she questioned. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You don't need to be in here, Skye. It's… It's not safe." Pain and sadness found their way into his voice. "Something's wrong with me. I-I don't think I can hold it back."
The color drained from Skye's face. Hold what back? She began walking towards Ward again, "Grant, please, you've got to talk to me."
Ward growled in pain and huddled closer to the wall, "Get away from me." he hissed, holding his head in his hands. "Please."
Skye ignored him and came close, kneeling next to him. She went to reach out towards him, but drew her hand back with a hiss as soon as it made contact with his bare arm. It was burning hot.
"Get away from me, Skye. Get away."
"Grant, what's going on?"
Ward's head whipped towards her and she immediately scrambled back at what she saw. His eyes were blazing an orangish-red color. His mouth was a fine line, his teeth gritted in pain. A beard noted several days neglect and his normal-spiky hair hung down on his forehead, stuck to his skin with sweat. "Please, go. It did something to me." he croaked.
Skye's eyes widened as she looked back to Coulson, whose mouth hung agape. She gulped and turned her attention back to Ward, "W-What do you mean that it did something to you, Grant?" she asked softly.
Ward's mouth curled up into a sad, pained smile, "I dunno." he mumbled. "Started hurting the other day… Feels like my insides are on fire…" His head motioned towards the floor by his bed, "I did that…"
Skye followed Ward's line of sight to see that the floor was all twisted and melted. How hadn't anyone seen this? She looked back to Ward for an answer.
He shrugged, "My hands got really hot… I fell to the ground and I… I melted the ground…" His orange-red eyes looked straight into Skye's. It looked as though fire flowed through them. "Something's wrong with me. You've got to get away." he growled as more pain racked his body. "Please."
Skye gulped, noticing as the air around them started to heat up very rapidly. She started to back away as Ward gripped his head in pain again. Pained vibrations came from his body as the air grew hot, very hot. "Grant?"
His head whipped back around and his eyes were now nothing but flames, "Get away."
Skye scrambled back and jumped up as Ward's body suddenly started trembling. She ran towards the open door and out into the hallway, "Seal the door, Coulson! Seal the damn door!"
Coulson sealed the door as soon as Ward's body shone and flames ripped from it in an explosive force, shaking the whole base. The room managed to contain the flames just to it, keeping the Director and Skye safe.
They looked at each other in disbelief and in fear as they realized that Ward himself had caused the explosion. Gears started to move in Coulson's head as he realized that Ward was more than likely gifted.
The flames died down as soon as they appeared and Ward could be seen passed out on the ground in the now-blackened and melted room. Skye went to run into the room, but Coulson held her back.
"Skye, it's too dangerous to go in there." he said, shaking his head. "Wait, we'll get him help, but you don't need to go in there alone now." He looked as Ward's unconscious form, now knowing that this wasn't the same man that he had killed. Ward wasn't even human anymore.
(Two Days Later)
Ward awoke with a scream and a jolt, but quickly adjusted to his surroundings. Another stark-white room, but he was in an infirmary bed this time with an IV in his hand. And Skye was standing at the foot of his bed.
He straightened up, remembering what had happened, "Skye, you're alright." he breathed. "I-I didn't hurt you."
"No, you didn't."
"The flames… They came from me. Skye, I exploded. Literally. I could've hurt you. I… I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Simmons ran the tests. Grant, you're not human." Skye stated, crossing her arms.
Ward's stomach lurched and the color drained from his face, "N-Not human?" he stammered. "W-What the hell do you mean?"
"The DNA in in your blood." She looked straight into his eyes, "You're Inhuman."
"What?"
"Now, we don't know how this happened. We don't know if you've always been Inhuman and Maveth's control awakened that in you or Maveth's control did something to you. There's no telling. It's even possible that the reason that you did come back to life is that you went through Terrigenesis somehow. We don't know.
All we know is that you're Inhuman and your powers seem to be connected to fire. We don't know how we didn't catch this when we brought you in." she continued. "It seems that your powers 'built-up' too much and that explosion was them releasing themselves. Not the greatest way to find out that you're gifted."
Ward started to shake his head over and over, "No, this can't be." he said, fear in his voice. "I can't be some monster. I can't be the monster that everyone already thinks I am. I can't be."
"Grant, you're not,"
"Look, I am!" Ward snapped, the fire reappearing in his eyes. "Skye, I went from being dead and possessed by some creature to being insane and able to shoot fire from my damn body!" The sheets underneath him started to smolder and burn, as well did his clothes. "I didn't ask to be dragged into this. I wish I could've stayed dead."
"Grant, look, you're going through a really hard time right now. It's hard to adjust to the fact that you've changed. It's even worse for you since you're in a really bad mental state right now. I understand. I've been through it before. It's not fun. It takes some time to come to terms with." Skye explained, holding her hands up to show that she wasn't going to hurt him. "Look, I can,"
"I don't want your damn help." he snapped, pulling the IV from his hand and sliding out of the bed. The metal of the floor hissed beneath his burning, bare feet as he stalked towards Skye, "I don't need anybody's help. I'm not some helpless little kid, I can do everything on my own."
Skye took a breath, "You're sick and you know it, Grant." she said, trying not to be afraid of the Inhuman before her. "You do need help, both with your powers and mentally. We all know that you're currently unstable. You attacked anyone we sent into your room to help you. That combined with unstable powers makes you dangerous. Very dangerous. You need help to control all of that before you explode again."
Ward's face hardened, even though the fire died from his eyes, "Look," he began. "I don't,"
Skye put a hand on his shoulder, "Grant, it's okay to ask for help every now and then. You don't have to always act like some tough guy. It's okay, especially after everything that you went through. It's completely fine."
Ward blinked, his eyes trailing off to the side. He remained silent as he backed up and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Why help me now?" he practically whispered, looking at his hands. "After everything that I did, why help me now? You all know that I don't deserve this. I should just be killed and thrown to the side, left to rot. I don't get it. Why help me now?"
Skye gulped, looking down as she was unsure of how to answer that question and not set Ward off. "I, uh… I don't know. It's hard to explain."
Ward looked up at her, a confused look on his face. But he didn't say anything in response.
"After seeing what you went through with Maveth, I decided that it's not worth it to keep treating you so poorly." she began. "We should've helped you long ago and none of this would've ever happened. Now I see that you're not the same man you were. Grant, I don't see the villain in your eyes anymore, I see someone totally different.
And to be honest, I mourned you when Coulson said that you had died. I was hurt to find out that Maveth was using you. And I was angry to find out that it had been Coulson who killed you. I almost killed him in anger." she continued, sitting down on the bed right next to Ward. "I still cared too much for you and I was ecstatic when I found out that you were still alive. I guess that's why I want to help, as long as you don't go all dark side again."
Ward gulped and looked down, "Skye, I don't think that's going to happen again. Too much is happening right now for me to even worry about that. I let myself become delusional with Hydra's lies and I went crazy, psychotic. It took me dying to realize that I had been misled, manipulated. Skye, I take full responsibility for my action and I do regret them.
I'm sorry for hurting you all. I'm sorry for the hell I put you through." he continued. "I… I can't live with this regret. I can't live with these powers. I can't live like this." He looked Skye straight in the eyes, "The help I want is for you to kill me, Skye. That's all I want."
Skye sighed and shook her head, "Grant, that's not a solution. You know what death got you last time. Death got you here. It's gonna bring you nothing good. Like I said, you need help. Serious help. I don't know who else is going to be willing to do so, but I am." she said, taking his hand. "I will help you through this."
Ward pulled his hand away from Skye's grasp and held both of them out in front of them. He watched as tiny embers danced in his palms and quickly grew into massive flames. Skye gulped and slightly moved away as she watched Ward grow fascinated by them.
"You know, it's amazing that it doesn't hurt now." he said. "I was in pain for four days straight. They were burning to get out. Now it doesn't hurt me." He watched as they snuffed out and he returned his gaze to Skye, "I don't know what to do anymore, Skye. I want to die, but you're not going to let that happen. I'm a monster. An alien in my own skin. I've got nowhere to go."
Skye stood up and held a hand out to Ward, "I can help you with that." she said as Ward gingerly accepted her hand and he stood up. "It's not going to be easy, I'll tell you that. But I'll make sure that you'll get through this. You are not dying. You are staying here. I really do think that you've somehow been given some kind of second chance, Grant. You've got to take it.
There's no Hydra to get at you. There's no more Maveth to control you. There's no one controlling you anymore. You're free to do what you want, and I know that you want to do better." she continued. "Why not take that chance?"
She watched as Ward remained silent, his eyes darting around the room before settling on her. And she couldn't help but to laugh as Ward began to look at her like she was some kind of goddess, like how he used to do before the betrayal. And the light in his eyes told her that the man he had been was gone, now replaced by this fire-fueled Inhuman, broken to almost beyond repair.
Ward blushed as he noticed Skye's laughter and quickly moved his gaze. He remained quiet, not responding to Skye's question.
Skye raised an eyebrow, "So, Grant, how about it?" she asked. "I'm pretty sure Coulson will agree to this, if I do beg him enough. You need the help."
Ward looked back into Skye's chocolate eyes and finally realized that Skye was telling the truth. She would help him. And it seemed that she would do whatever it took to make sure he wouldn't succumb to his powers or what he called his insanity. He gulped as she smiled at him. After what seemed like forever, he finally nodded and smiled back at her.
"Sure, what the hell? What harm could it do?"