A/N: Hey guys! Let me greet you first with *hugs* because I know we all went through a lot because of Episode 17. I also know everyone's looking for angsty fics, including me, so I decided to try it out.

I apologize in advance if it's no good. This was a bit rushed because AOS is coming back tomorrow already and I'm only posting right now. :( Though, the good news is, it's either I update really fast or I do long chapters so I can finish this before the new episode airs. I hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

Note: This is set after they have already stopped Garrett's HYDRA group. Coulson and the team are in a hide out and are working from there. The flashback is in Italics.

Chapter 1:

Skye rubbed her tired face and bent down to let the water run through her palms. She quickly splashed some on her face and grabbed the towel hanging from her back pocket. She wiped her face dry and stared at the reflection in front of her.

She didn't fail to notice the darkness under her eyes, or the paleness of her face, or the worn out look that she had been wearing for weeks already.

She was startled when someone knocked at the door. She turned around and opened it. Jemma was standing in the doorway looking nervous and worried.

"Coulson's asking for you. He's in the main room." She told her.

Skye nodded and headed out. She felt Jemma's eyes watching her worriedly as she made her way to Coulson. She entered the busy room and immediately found Coulson standing in the middle, talking with someone. When he glanced to the side, he saw Skye and ended the conversation to go near her.

"We need to talk." Coulson told her.

Skye nodded and they went out of the room. She didn't want to hear it, but she knew she couldn't avoid it forever. They had Ward in custody already. It came down to an intense face-off between the team and Garrett's HYDRA group.

Skye was there despite Coulson's objections. She had felt so weak until that moment.

This was what it has come to. Skye knew deep down it was either she would never get to see him again, or that he would be the one pointing a gun at her.

And he was. He held the weapon in front of him, aiming right at her chest, while she just stared at Coulson and May, fighting for their lives.

She watched in horror as Garrett flipped May and threw her to the wall. She watched as one guard threw punch after punch at Coulson.

"No!" Skye cried out, but she couldn't move. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes, and she hasn't looked at him yet.

"Don't," she heard him say.

Anger built up inside her as she turned and finally faced Ward. He didn't fail to notice the rage, hurt and coldness that were in those eyes.

"See what you're doing?" She said. "You're hurting the only family I have. You've hurt me, but that's not important anymore, obviously."

Ward swallowed.

"Clearly I didn't mean anything to you. They didn't mean anything to you."

Skye glanced at her teammates and saw them struggling. She wanted to help so badly but she couldn't move. A part of her wanted to scream and yell every accusation she had been bottling up on Ward, but another part of her just wanted him to see this new side of Skye. The one who won't let her emotions compromise her anymore.

"Skye," he breathed.

Skye swallowed and looked straight at him. She didn't know what else there was to do.

"Go ahead." She finally said.

A flicker of shock was seen on Ward's face, and for a moment they just continued to stare at each other. A couple of gunshots rang out and the two of them glanced at the others.

May was holding the gun and the guard was down. Garrett was standing with his hands raised up halfway, looking smug.

"You might wanna lower down that gun." He said.

"Yeah?" May said. "Why would I?"

Garrett chuckled, glanced at Ward, and nodded. His rookie nodded back and looked at Skye again, clutching his gun mores steadily.

Skye backed up a step.

"Give me the gun or the girl gets hurt." Garrett said.

May gripped the gun tightly and looked at Coulson, who looked as worried as her.

"I'm warning you, Coulson. I just give the go and my boy Ward would pull that trigger."

Skye held her chin up and decided that she done. She had cried enough over him. He broke her enough already, and right now, maybe dying wasn't so bad.

"Do it, Ward." She said with a blank expression. "Follow his orders and kill me."

Garrett eyed his rookie, half-amused, half-shocked. "Any second now, Grant."

Ward's hands were trembling.

"You're never gonna stop. You're gonna keep coming after me and my team. Just end it!" Skye said forcibly.

"Skye," Coulson breathed nervously.

"Ward! I said shoot her!" Garrett exclaimed, before he noticed how Ward's jaw was shaking. "This is unbelievable." He shook his head. "I never thought you'd actually let this girl change you. I saw it when I entered your precious plane. I thought it was part of the act. And boy was I wrong."

Ward didn't look at him. He kept his gaze at Skye.

"Are you really telling me that you're that weak, Grant? That a simple hacker is all that's needed to break that wall? Well tough luck! Once we're done here, she's mine! I don't care what we agreed on! She'll give me what I want and she'll die doing it! It doesn't matter if you kill her now. Because in the end, she'll die anyway. Your choice, Grant. Pull the trigger."

Ward watched as Skye took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It shattered him inside that she was ready to die. He felt his anger build up inside him. And in that instant, he couldn't take it anymore. He turned to his side and aimed the gun at Garrett.

"What are you doing?" Garrett asked warily. "Kill her!"

"You're right. I am weak when it comes to her."

Garrett narrowed his eyes at Ward. "It doesn't matter. She doesn't matter. She'll end up dead anyway!"

"Not this time." Ward declared, before he pulled the trigger and shot Garrett twice in the chest.

Skye's eyes shot open and registered what she had just heard. She looked at Coulson and May, who were both wearing shocked faces. She didn't glance at Ward. No. She knew better than that. She wasn't the same anymore and he had to know that.

"What's going on?" Skye asked Coulson as they stepped out of the room.

"Well," Coulson began. "I feel like I should tell you. Ward's been asking to see you for the past few days."

Skye didn't let a hint of emotion show on her face. It had been a couple of months since they brought down Garrett's group, but that didn't mean that the other HYDRA teams were also gone. They had to keep searching and sending in small troops to those bases. For weeks, Ward was locked up in one of the rooms. Skye refused to see him, and no one had forced her into it.

They all knew that she took his betrayal the hardest. And even now, she hasn't fully healed yet. She still felt the pain in her chest every time she remembered him. She tried to keep herself occupied with the missions to get her mind distracted. She was also sent in as part of the strike teams, together with Triplett, and that also kept her occupied.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked blankly.

"I mean, he's begging me to ask you to just see him even for a few minutes only."

Skye fell silent. She wasn't denying it. She was afraid to break down in front of him. She had to play tough and cold. She didn't want to let Ward see how much his betrayal had affected her. But she didn't trust herself enough to be able keep it together.

"There's something else I should tell you." Coulson said.

"What?"

"For the past three missions, it was Ward who pointed out those HYDRA Base Locations. He helped us infiltrate it by giving us what he knows about those places."

Skye's eyes narrowed. "You trust him now?"

Coulson sighed. "I didn't, at first. But he said something that earned him a piece of my trust."

"And what was that?"

"That he couldn't bear the thought of hurting you more. He said he was done playing games and that the only thing that mattered was trying his best to earn your trust again. And he wanted to do that through helping out with the missions."

"What makes you think it's not another ploy?"

"I think you should hear that from him."

Skye scoffed. "I'm not planning on going there, Coulson."

"I understand if you don't. I just think it's time you stopped beating yourself up over him."

Coulson then walked away, leaving Skye in deep thought.

A/N: I hope it's okay so far. I'll be updating really fast I swear, maybe even later tonight.