Defining Moment

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Note: The show changed Ward's older brother's name from Maynard to Christian so I've reflected that change here.

Sorry this took so long. I was a bit in shock over Ward's "turn" on the show at the finale. No evil Ward here.

Chapter 6

The madness was both intoxicating and harrowing. The ecstasy of pain coupled with the release of the pent up rage that he had held in lockdown for so long melded into a perfect amalgam that rivaled the Hulk. The suppression of what he had hoped was the true Grant Ward wasn't as complete as it had been the first time he had held the staff. This time, it was that Grant Ward controlling the maniac, wielding the rage and hate like a weapon; a weapon to defeat his brother.

The energy that filled him also wasn't completely coming from a dark place. Though he knew that the staff only fueled itself from the darkest of emotions and memories, intermingled amidst the hate and rage were love, joy, understanding, grace, heroism, conviction, forgiveness...each of them came from an endowment that every friend he had bonded with on the team had contributed to the evolution of the man he was now; the man he was becoming. He knew that he had a long way to go to measure up to the kind of man those people deserved, especially Skye, but he truly believed that thanks to their presence in his life, he was becoming a better man. His last act had to be saving them from the very monster who had created him.

Ward hadn't been surprised when the "signals" from his brother had directed him to the Slingshot. He would have chosen it or The Fridge as the two places he would have started searching for him. Garrett would have planned a strategic point for his brother to not only infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D, but to lend just the right element of surprise; just as he had used Mike Peterson to rise out of the shadows after planting all the right red herrings: Raina, Ian Quinn and Thomas Nash. Nash's death was one of many Ward would regret until his own death which could be today.

Ward felt the "radar" his brother was projecting in order to draw him closer and closer to one building. Despite his newfound perceptions and strengths, he still tapped into all the training; the grooming that Garrett had subjected him to in order to ready himself for any battle awaiting him. For this confrontation, he returned to his beginnings, being the whole solution because at that moment he had to be exactly that.

He walked through the door of the warehouse; stealth and finely honed senses and muscle memory at the ready to be engaged. It was then that he stiffened, sensing a presence. He turned towards it; the staff responded to the emotional darkness radiating from Ward's body like a Geiger counter only instead of clicks, Ward felt the thrumming vibrations quake through every cell, muscle and sinew of this body. It felt oddly regenerative. His conscience warred with the desire to let the destructive power seize him completely and the control that Ward knew he needed to apply because once he surrendered to that power, he would be lost to a madness from which there would be no escape. He was amazed at how he was able to maintain his control at all. He was flooding his mind with the images as well as the emotions that came from those images of his friends. They were keeping him centered and focused on the only goal he needed to accomplish; to kill his brother.

"Grant! About time you got here. You know how I hate waiting. Gonna have to make you pay for that," Christian taunted as he sneered at him.

Ward was taken aback by what was standing in front of him.

Like Mike Peterson, Christian was covered in armor and weaponry only it seemed that there was more covering his body. More shocking was Christian's head and face. They were covered in scars and burns; his burned skin looked more like crumpled paper manifested into unnatural folds like origami gone horribly wrong; a balding pate showing the tufts of remaining hair that clearly he didn't bother to shave off as if to welcome the comparison of a rabies-infected dog with an incurable case of mange. Lastly, his left eye was white and clouded like a spoiled fish's; left too long to rot away in the sun. Christian noticed Ward's observation of him and his face contorted into barely contained rage.

"You did this to me, Grant. You and your pathetic need for acceptance and approval. Bet you thought you had it with that team of Coulson's," Christian scoffed with a grin, his face and lips contorted with the eerie pull of the mangled skin; making the grin look more like the teeth-baring snarl of a rabid animal.

It was Ward's turn to hold back his own rage, a rage that was not only fueling the staff, but it was returning it back into him with increasing force.

"Garrett told me everything. We both thought you were a fool for getting suckered into their idealism. And letting your guard down completely by falling for Skye like you did. Tsk, tsk, Grant."

"Shut up," Ward said with a glare, grateful for the surge in anger because he would need it.

Christian only continued to grin, the wider he did, the more exaggerated and grotesque the expression became on his face.

"You screwed up killing me then and you will again because you haven't got the balls to end me. After all, I'm family. You can't pick your family, but you love them anyway, right?" Christian taunted. "That bleeding heart of yours is your weakness, Grant. Nothing; not that Berserker staff; not your training; can change who you are. You're still that flawed and needy little brother who chose self-preservation over saving his baby brother."

Ward was vibrating with the power from the staff.

"I'm going to make sure that you feel every bit of the pain I did when the flames melted my skin," Christian almost growled. "You're not getting off easy this time."

Ward straightened, not to act arrogant, but as if to brace himself for the reaction to the admission he was about to make.

"You're right. I set that fire to kill you so that I could be free of you and our family. I'm not going to bother lying to you about it and I know you wouldn't believe or care if I told you I was sorry because the truth is, I wasn't then and I'm not now, but I'm done running from you. We end this today."

"So, Garrett did give you a backbone, after all. Good on him."

"Garrett's dead and no, he didn't give me anything other than another way to channel my hatred for you and to turn me into yet another monster. I'm no different than you are."

Christian listened, the contempt on his face unmistakable.

"No, we're very different, Grant, but that's not because of Garrett. He saw potential in both of us, but he knew you were the weaker Ward brother. You had a conscience and all the training he did was to embed you into Coulson's team. You killed by his orders. I killed because I liked it. Garrett knew I would get the job done without debating whether I should or not. He may have told me who to kill, but he didn't have to coerce me like he did Peterson. And contrary to what he thought, I wanted to kill Garrett too, but I chose not to because he was useful to me."

Ward didn't act surprised. He knew his brother better than anyone, knew that he didn't possess any conscience at all. From the moment he could understand and long before he knew the term, Ward knew that Christian was a psychopath.

"You're just the last act of Garrett's play. He didn't live to see it, but he knew this was what I wanted most of all. To kill you myself."

Christian then lunged at him. Ward blocked him with the staff, turning and twisting like a dancer as he swept the staff beneath his brother's feet, toppling him to the ground. He recovered his own balance and thrust the staff upward to clock Christian across his face, but Christian caught the staff with his hand and both their grasps electrified it, deriving a kind of synergy from opposite directions then pulsing it back into both of them.

Shards of memories slashed through them; the emotional pain associated with them rattled their nerve centers as well and they screamed. Ward heard the ferocity of rage in Christian's cry. There was no sentiment in the recollections for him, only frustrated resistance for the interruption they caused in his momentum to destroy his brother. Ward; though he didn't feel indications coming from Christian that he had ever been born or raised with any compassion or empathy; was being imbued with a revelatory understanding that any rationale for Christian's actions were moot. What had been more important to him was realizing that what had made him different from his older brother was that he had felt remorse, guilt, fear, empathy and love for his little brother Tommy and that despite his weaknesses and poor judgment, he wasn't like his older brother.

He was better than him because of all of those feelings, especially with the love he felt for and received from Skye. As soon as his thoughts focused on her, he immediately felt her presence and from the outer edge of his peripheral vision, he saw her. He tilted his gaze ever so slightly and confirmed that she wasn't a hallucination. She was there, smiling at him, Coulson and May on either side of her.

His joy at seeing them quickly shifted to concern and he turned his gaze back to his brother.

With everything in him, he pushed back on the staff to propel Christian against the wall of the warehouse.

"NO! Get out of here!" Ward cried out.

Only temporarily dazed, Christian quickly shook it off, baring all of his teeth in a sinister clench, the madness radiating off of his body. He ran at Ward, his arms outstretched, his hands curled and ready to grab Ward's throat. Ward managed to dodge his brother's attempt then sidestepped to pound the staff into Christian's neck. His brother roared with fury and turned to try again.

Coulson, May and Skye positioned themselves to be at the ready.

"Four against one superhuman Deathlok. I think the odds are in our favor," Coulson quipped in his usual manner to defuse a life threatening confrontation.

May glared at him and Skye smiled a little. There was this feeling of cohesion that enlivened her; she was fighting with her family, going into battle against something that shouldn't exist to save someone they all loved. They were united. When she heard Ward's warning, she focused her attention back to the fight.

As she watched Ward battle his brother, the ambivalence of killing one of his own must have been crushing for him and her empathy for him made her own heart ache as well as gave her a resolve to be there for him so that he could heal and realize just as she had that their real family was with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Ward tried to fend off Christian's advance by bracing himself for the tackle that he saw coming. When it did, he rolled on his back to throw his brother off of him. He realized too late that his brother's target wasn't his throat, but the staff. He felt the inhuman grip on it as Christian pulled it towards him. It was more pronounced than the brief hold they had shared earlier. Christian then smiled with evil gratification.

"No matter how much you think you can defeat me with this staff, Grant, in the end, you're just human. The staff can only amp the limited thresholds of what is just your flesh, sinew, and bone and its psychological effects only strengthens me that much more. Admit it, brother, you brought a knife to a gunfight," Christian taunted again.

Ward heard the truth of his brother's words, just as he felt the staff being ripped from his hands. No amount of strength he was asserting could stop the momentum. In a lightning swift maneuver, a martial arts move that would have made Garrett beam with pride, Christian had wrenched it free from Ward's grasp. He raised the staff and plunged it into Ward's unprotected torso.

"NOOOO! GRANT!" Skye screamed with panic, terror and rage all at once in her voice as she helplessly watched the staff penetrate into Ward's body then heard him howl out in agony.

Coulson and May couldn't allow the shock and horror to slow down their progress towards them, instead, they used their collective fury and quickened their pace to reach Ward because it now became a matter of keeping Christian from exerting more harm.

Ward felt the staff's energy penetrate into every cell of his body, just as the gravitonium had and like his melding with it, he was not only awash in pain, but he found coherency as well, another connection, but this time, with the staff. He was both in awe and confused over what his body was telling him. Yes, he was gravely injured; internal organs were punctured at least; damaged beyond repair at the very worst as the staff traveled inward, but he also felt the staff communicate through his nerves, telegraphing knowledge. He knew what needed to be done.

Family. His S.H.I.E.L.D family, their collective power. It would be the way to defeat his brother.

Skye had reached him and had tried to hold him, at first not knowing where to place her hands, but he answered her turmoil by reaching and squeezing her left hand both to comfort and for purchase against the pain.

"Hold on, Grant. Don't let go, please don't let go," Skye blathered.

Grant arched, inhaled raggedly then released a moan. He didn't have much time.

"Listen...to me...I need Coulson...May..."

"But -"

"Hu...hurry…" Ward insisted with another moan, his strength seeping away faster than he would have liked.

Skye saw the urgency in Ward's eyes and knew it was more than simple concern. Ward had a mission.

"COULSON! MAY! GET OVER HERE!" She yelled.

Coulson and May turned.

"Grant needs you! Please...hurry," Skye said barely able to keep the timber in her voice insistent enough to break their concentration and their need for retribution.

Coulson and May exchanged swift glances. The way that Skye had said "hurry" made them switch their focus so instead of heading towards Christian, they joined Skye and Ward.

Ward saw them gather around him. He was heartened by their willingness to forgo their need to defend, to protect and he knew in May's case, to exact her own version of a holy war onto his brother and tried to smile through his pain.

"Each of you...hold...the...staff," Ward said, gasping out each word.

"What? Why?" Skye asked, her anxiety escalating.

"No...time...to explain..." Ward pleaded as he felt another wave of pain radiate through him. He had to muster whatever he had left to communicate what needed to be done. It would save the lives of people he cared about. He couldn't let them down. He wouldn't let them down. "Trust me…The staff...it will do the rest…"

He had exhausted all he had left and had to hope they would take his word on faith and do what he asked of them.

Coulson was the first to trust and believe Ward. He had seen enough "miraculous" and impossible things happen with Ward that he wasn't about to question his current request for trust and they needed all the help they could get fighting off Christian.

"Gathering them all up for the kill, aye, Ward?" Christian taunted again. "Maybe I'll take them down one by one anyway? Make you watch them fall. Saving your precious Skye for last?"

Coulson grimaced at the idea that Christian would hurt any of his team and grasped the staff with a "not on my watch" defiance; then May took it into her hand, her own determination to prevent Ward's brother from getting past her defenses evident in her stare down; lastly, Skye held it, her tears unpreventable, but she wasn't going to let them define her as weak to the monster before her.

Ward watched with pride and gratitude for the people who were risking everything without reservation or hesitation to trust him; to trust a man who had betrayed them; who he had hoped were seeing a man who wanted so much to measure up to their expectations.

"You have...no idea...what you're up against, Christian," Ward said with labored breaths as he managed a shaky smile.

Once they were all linked together through the staff, Ward, with trembling hands and struggled breaths, placed both of his own hands on the staff at the entry wound at his midsection.

They all felt as well as witnessed the staff vibrate and glow as Ward began to slowly lift it out of his body, using every dwindling ounce of strength he had to do it, groaning as if lifting a monumental weight.

Skye was sobbing, but didn't let go or stray her gaze from Ward. She hoped it would give him the strength he needed.

Still, she shook her head and squeaked out "Don't do this" as she watched him pull the staff out.

He smiled and nodded as he mouthed "I love you" and "it will be okay". She could only nod back as she kept holding on. For him.

When the staff was extricated from Ward's body, he grunted as the pulsating energy enveloped him. As it grew, it seeped into Coulson, May and Skye too. They heard Ward's voice coming through the energy into their minds. It was clear and unsullied by pain.

"You've harnessed the power of the staff in a way that it has never been used before. To fend off evil with your collective power. That's how it should have been used for millennia. You can defeat my brother now."

Ward then let go and the staff pointed itself at Christian. Coulson, May and Skye riveted their angry gazes towards Christian. He scoffed at them.

"The three of you can't kill me."

"Oh, I think we can," Coulson taunted back. "And we will, for Ward and for Tommy."

The staff then blasted its energy out like a cannon would expend its ammunition; the shockwave just enough to knock them off balance with the recoil yet they kept on their feet. They observed the wave surround Ward's brother, tightening its hold like a three-dimensional lasso wrapping around him. They watched Christian thrash, trying to wriggle out, but to no avail. Short-circuiting sparks began to sputter and crackle on all of Christian's devices.

"No! No! You can't do this to me! I'm DEATHLOK!" He screamed as he realized that when he tried to engage his armor and weaponry, nothing responded. He was becoming paralyzed, freezing in place, shut down like a computer by a virus then a tendril threaded its way through his chest plate and in an instant, stopped the electrical impulses to his heart. Christian collapsed and the wave of energy dissipated into thin air.

Ward was able to witness the slow death of his older brother and felt no satisfaction or even relief from it other than knowing that Christian wouldn't harm his true family. It had to be enough to lay his past to rest...and the way he was feeling, maybe his life as well.

Skye let go of the staff and ran over towards Ward; the wound in his chest still gaping. Ward was still dying...for the second time and she was terrified that there would be no miracle saves this time. There wasn't any more serum, just a stabilized gravitorium, and now a dormant staff that was created to destroy life not to save it.

Ward saw the anguish in Skye's eyes, took her hand into his and brought it to his blood stained lips.

"Thank you," he said as Coulson and May joined them. "To all of you…"

"Why are you thanking us? What was it all for?" Skye questioned. "To save the world? Big deal…"

"No...to save you...the others…" Ward answered, his body feeling weighed down, his lungs feeling filled with fluid; maybe his blood.

"But not you? Not to save you? I'm tired of always having hope and...I just can't do it anymore…"

"Skye...stop…" Ward wheezed and groaned out his words.

She took in a breath, knowing it wouldn't calm her, but it stopped her anxiety if only for a few seconds.

"You, everyone...matter...to me...I gave up hope and it...made me a monster…Don't do the same thing…You gave me...hope...again and I was redeemed."

"No, no, it's not enough. Do you hear me? It's not enough!"

"Skye…"

She broke from his grasp and went for the staff. She picked it up and it began to vibrate and glow in her hands.

Ward saw it and his expression was one of concern. Skye was losing herself to the staff. It was absorbing her anguish and it would turn her against the others.

"If I lose you…" she said as she turned to face them, more tears falling and coating her cheeks, "then I don't think I have any hope left to give."

"Coulson, May, help me up...I have to stop her," Ward said as he tried to lift himself up to a sitting position.

"Grant, you can't -" Coulson started to say, but Ward was undaunted.

"I have to...help her...help me get to her," he insisted.

Ward marshalled everything he had to get up off the floor. Every move brought more agony, causing fits and starts to his progress, but he didn't care. He had to stop Skye from losing herself. He could feel her control slipping and if it were just about emotions, he would have let time and the others salve her grief, but whatever power was in the staff still radiated inside of him and like radar, he felt something emanating from Skye and it was building with every negative emotion that was bubbling within her. There was another shockwave building like the staff had released onto Christian.

Coulson and May knew that keeping Ward from getting up wasn't going to help him or Skye because Ward would force himself up without them; would crawl if he had to in order to get to her so they lifted him up and braced him with their own backs and shoulders.

Skye watched with shock.

"Grant, stop...don't…" She pleaded, the confusion of watching him walk towards her whirling with her despair at losing him.

"No, I won't, Skye...not until I convince you that you have so much more hope in you to give...that you can't give in to anger and rage...it's not who you are...you saved me with your hope for the world - "

"I can't do that anymore. I don't feel that way anymore… not without you," She implored.

"You won't be without me…"

"I don't believe in an afterlife!" She cried. "This is all you get and I've learned that no matter how hard you try to change, to make up for the past, it's all a cosmic joke because you've done so much and you deserve a second chance, but you're going to die and I can't believe in a world where that happens or one without you in it."

Ward grimaced and curled in with pain. Coulson and May kept him standing as much as they could.

"Skye, please...hold me...I need you to feel how strong you are," Ward said as he girded all the strength he had to prop himself up taller with his hands braced against Coulson and May, but only for a moment. He knew he had to do the rest on his own.

Skye rushed over carefully and hesitated at first, thinking she would hurt him.

Ward understood and reached out his hand to her, finally letting Coulson's and May's support drop away. He felt her power wane, but it was still there.

"You won't hurt me, Skye. Take my hand. Believe in just you and me for now. Let go of your anger towards the world and just believe in us."

Skye listened to Ward's words, marveling at how his voice had changed. She couldn't tell if she was hearing him differently or if he was changing, but there was no more pain in it, as if he wasn't wounded at all.

Coulson and May watched confused at the exchange. They had felt Ward's weight press on them; not only felt the gravity of Ward's injuries, but the Earth's gravity pulling him down yet they knew that Skye was seeing something else. They watched as she offered her outstretched arm out to Ward and he did the same, trying to balance himself without their assistance.

Ward felt her fingers touch his and and he drew her hand in by leading it with his gentle caress until finally he had it in his grasp. The staff was in her other hand and he joined it with his. They were now a completed circuit. It was then the surge of her power through the staff gripped the both of them. It propelled Coulson and May away and Ward pulled Skye into an embrace, his face and lips pressed against her cheek. He sighed with the comforting release.

"You are the most powerful woman I know, Skye. Your power is your hope and your love. I love you with all of my heart and now, you have my soul as well."

"No, Grant, please don't go," she pleaded again, hugged him harder against her, believing that Ward was giving her one last embrace.

Ward pulled away to lock his gaze with hers again and smiled.

"I'm not going anywhere," he stated as he softly kissed her, letting the love and passion between them be freely expressed.

Skye welcomed it and allowed herself to relax and forget about what was happening around her. All she wanted was to stand still in time with Ward in that singular moment.

Finally, the energy had encased them completely just as it had Christian. Coulson and May could only look on both mystified and helpless at what they were witnessing. They didn't know what was happening to their friends, but had to believe that it was benevolent, not malevolent. Neither of them could believe that Ward would lead Skye into danger.

The energy then burst brightly as if a star had gone supernova, blinding them both. Between the flash and shielding their eyes against being blinded, they couldn't see what was happening to Ward and Skye. When the light dissipated, they found both Ward and Skye prone on the ground unconscious.

Coulson pulled out his cell phone as he and May ran over to them.

"Simmons, we need you! Both Ward and Skye are down!"

After he put his phone away, he gave May a glance that revealed how concerned he was. He didn't have to say a word. May knew what he was thinking because she was thinking it as well; that they had lost them both.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

Coulson was beginning to lose count at how many times he had waited outside some medical bay for one or more of this team. It was ironic and sad that he had no memory of anyone waiting for him to live or die. Perhaps Fury, but he didn't even know that for sure. Until he resurfaced alive, touting what a beautiful place "T.A.H.I.T.I" was, everyone had thought he was dead, killed by Loki and though Fury used it to inspire the Avengers into finally acting like a team, for Coulson, it had been a pyrrhic victory especially now.

As he watched the two bays, Skye in one and Ward in the other, he couldn't help, but feel ancient and taxed beyond what any leader should be asked to endure. It was selfish, he knew, but the feeling was still there.

Skye and Ward were both connected to medical devices monitoring their vitals as well as keeping them stable. Skye was better off in that she had no injuries when they had been enveloped by the staff's energy field; energized even further by their collective power infusing into it, but despite Ward's Herculean effort to stand and hold Skye as if there was nothing wrong, he had been mortally wounded and though he was now healing at a miraculous rate, the image of him fighting off death just to comfort Skye stayed with Coulson and he wondered how reasonable it was to expect Ward to triumph over death yet again.

Coulson was a realist. He had to be even in the wake of facing aliens, inhumans, and the enhancement of ordinary humans seemingly everyday. Still, his conviction wavered at times. It was getting harder and harder to defend the actions of S.H.I.E.L.D. His devotion seemed blind to others, but he knew that it wasn't that simple. Ward's initial betrayal had shaken the confidence he had valued in his ability to read people. He now wondered if it was less about reading people as it was in just placing his unquestioned belief and faith in what he had hoped he had assessed as humanity over evil. Skye had proven it to him. Ward had broken it, but was redeeming himself with every action he had taken since agreeing to go undercover for them. That had been another risk, another potentially misplaced faith. After all, what was the adage about the definition of insanity? Repeating the same action in the hopes of getting a different outcome? But Coulson felt almost compelled to give Ward that and he had paid that belief and faith back fully, maybe finally with his life. Coulson didn't regret the decision, but as he watched Ward remain unconscious, he couldn't help but weigh the price that it might have cost him and the team.

He felt May sidle up to his left side.

"You're over thinking again, aren't you?" She teased.

Coulson smiled.

"Maybe…" He said without much conviction. "Yes."

"You did the right thing."

"Which thing?" Coulson said a bit of defeat his voice. "Because I don't feel like I did anything right."

May gave him her characteristic look of derision.

"Phil, no matter how many orders you give out, this team, your team isn't a bunch of trained S.H.I.E.L.D agents. With the exception of Ward, they're not soldiers. It's what you like about them. And if I were to be honest, it's why it makes it difficult to control them for both of us. They think for themselves and will do whatever it takes to save one of their own -"

Coulson smiled.

"Guess that includes you too."

"I follow orders," May insisted.

"Not always and that's why, contrary to what you think, you belong here as much as they do," Coulson said. "It's why I need you here. So you can tell me if I'm missing something."

"Like you listen to me."

"More than you think. I think you know that. I know that facing an enemy you have to make... I have to make the tough calls even if sometimes, this being one of them, it doesn't feel right at all. That's when I need you the most, Melinda."

May always softened when Coulson used her first name. It reminded her that their relationship was more than as fellow agents who have been on missions together. They were friends who had seen horrific things together; had battled side-by-side against what seemed like overwhelming odds and had survived because of being there for each other; having each other's backs. She would take a bullet and more for him so it hurt her the most when there was nothing in her cache of abilities that could help him like at that moment.

"Ward knew the risks. Skye too."

"It doesn't make it feel any better, does it?"

May was silent. She had no answer to that. Working the way they did, doing the kinds of assignments they did, both in the past and now, she knew that casualties happened. It was never easy even when you were commanding an army, but when you were close to the people you battled side-by-side with; developed friendships with them; shared intimate secrets, the loss was that much more devastating. You couldn't rationalize that the casualties were a faceless many. May had grown close to all of them even despite her closed off, distant and practical demeanor. Sometimes it helped her protect them better by keeping a small bit of distance, but she wasn't a robot. In the end, as much as it sometimes irked her to become vulnerable, she knew it was that vulnerability that also made her fight that much harder for them.

Suddenly, both of their attentions were snapped back to the situation at hand when Skye bolted upright from her bed screaming, "NO!"

Jemma immediately rushed to Skye's side and embraced her.

"It's all right, Skye. You're safe," she cooed with comfort.

Coulson and May joined them.

"Ward. Where's Ward?" Skye asked, the panic in her voice unmistakable and predictable.

Everyone had gone silent as they guided her with their gaze to where Ward was in the bay next to her, unmoved by the scream she had just let out. Skye's body collapsed under the weight of disappointment; her will seeping out in a rush.

"How is he?" She asked, this time her voice dropping to a sad sigh.

"He's stable for now," Jemma interjected. "His vitals are strong and his wounds are healing at an astronomically rapid rate, but…"

"He's in a coma," Fitz piped in, dismay on his features at Ward's plight. It seemed appropriate for him to say the words since he had been in one himself and from which Ward had resurrected him. Who better to understand what Ward was going through?

"He just needs to rest is all," Jemma said trying to put a positive spin on the situation as she always did.

Skye pushed off her bed and went over to Ward. The leads to all of the devices dotting his chest and the IV threading into his arm, it was all very surreal. He had almost died once. How could it be happening again? She stroked his face, her expression forlorn.

"I felt the staff tap into my darkness, my grief and I didn't try to resist it. I was just letting it take over, but Grant, he knew it would destroy me so he stopped it and me. When we were connected together with the staff, I didn't feel angry anymore. I just felt Grant loving me and my pain went away. He saved me..." She said with a sad smile as she continued to touch his face, tracing the line along his jawline with her forefinger until she caressed his lips.

"He saved all of us," Coulson acknowledged.

"Who will save him?" Skye asked and silence was her answer.

After a few more hours, medically, once again, Ward had escaped death. He had healed completely and yet this time, there was no indication that he would miraculously awaken as he had before, as he had awakened Fitz. He seemed just to be asleep. There was nothing mechanically sustaining him. He was breathing on his own. There was every reason to believe that he would emerge whole again yet at that moment, hope and an expectation that he would was in short supply for everyone.

Skye stayed by him, refusing to leave except to eat and even then she ate near Ward. It worried the others, but Coulson understood and Skye seemed to be drawing whatever hope she was barely clinging on to being near Ward. He wouldn't stop that. As he walked in, she looked up only briefly as she continued to stroke Ward's hand.

"You don't have to say it," she declared.

"Say what?" Coulson said feigning innocence.

"That I'm obsessing; you know, watched pot never boils; that watching him like a hawk isn't going make him wake up any faster. "

Coulson gave her a sympathetic expression.

"I wish I knew or could remember if anyone was sitting by my bedside. I'm thinking since everyone thought I was dead, probably not," Coulson said almost with longing in his voice. "Ward's lucky that when he wakes up, you'll be the first person he sees."

"You really think he'll wake up?"

"I've seen a lot of strange and unbelievable things; superheroes defeating an alien takeover of Earth and Ward cheating death once already. I think that track record speaks for itself."

"Didn't really answer the question," Skye accused softly.

"I believe if anyone can come out of this, it's him."

Skye smiled. "Thanks for that pep talk, boss."

She then focused back to Ward.

"You know, he never left your side after Quinn shot you," Coulson said. "Whenever he wasn't on assignment, he'd be here. We'd find him asleep in a chair or at the foot of your bed. Other times he would be telling you about his other deployments. I even caught him reading to you."

"What?" Skye reacted with a sweet smile.

"I think it was The Hunger Games?"

Skye could only smile wider with the memory of teasing him about his choice of reading material when they had first shared a drink together. The smile faded as she looked over at him.

"Guess it's my turn now."

"He blamed himself, you know. For what Quinn did to you," Coulson said. "At the time, I just figured it was the usual kind of guilt that comes from being an S.O. He told me later he should have stopped Quinn, killed him, but that like with everything else, he had been too weak to defy Garrett."

"It was my decision to go in there -"

"It doesn't matter, Skye. Speaking from some experience myself, it doesn't matter. The fact that Grant feels that way, tells me about how much he's come to terms with his actions. He understands what he's done and isn't defending them anymore and he was doing that before the serum so I know it's not coming from something or someone else."

Skye nodded in agreement.

Fitz entered to join them, Jemma close behind him.

"He'll make it. I know it. I'm proof positive that it's possible and that's a lot coming from a hard core scientist like myself."

Skye smiled.

"Through his bringing me back from the brink, I heard him through the energy field. He told me that Garrett wanted him to kill us outright, but he couldn't do it. He thought and had hoped that we'd get out of the pod; to give us the best chance possible…" Fitz said. "But he also told me that he had been been a coward then and apologized for not fighting for me; for both Jemma and me."

Fitz looked over at Ward, his expression showcasing his own regret.

"He said…" Fitz stalled for a second. "He said that he would never expect forgiveness from me, but funny thing that. It's all I want to do right now. Forgive him."

Jemma watched his dearest friend offer forgiveness to someone that she had harbored nothing but contempt and that if it weren't for the fact that Ward had saved Fitz, she would have never have forgiven him. It gave her even more insight into Fitz and she had believed she had known everything about him.

"His vitals are strong and his wound has almost completely disappeared. Medically, he's recovered -" Jemma began to clinically outline for them.

"But mentally -" Skye said, unable to finish her sentence, fearing Ward might be able to hear the anxiety in her voice.

"His brain activity is quite normal, in fact, the patterns are showing -" Jemma began her characteristic babbling, but realizing that it wasn't helping, stopped in mid-sentence.

Skye gave Jemma a knowing smile and she nodded in return; her acknowledgement that there was more to Skye's concern than just brain wave activity.

"Will he remember anything? Will he remember me? Will he be…" Skye said, trailing off.

"Like me?" Coulson finished. "Has he gone through some kind of memory alteration like T.A.H.I.T.I did to me?"

Skye didn't confirm his statement. She didn't have to.

"I wish I knew."

TBC.