-Chapter 6-

Taking a deep breath, Skye mentally prepared herself for the awkward conversation that was about to happen. She just needed to be casual about it, that was all. Just casual. Smooth. They'd never know what she was up to as long as she didn't give anything away. She could totally pull this off and no one would ever be the wiser. As calmly as she could, Skye pushed open the door to the lab, shoving her hands in her pockets in an attempt to appear casual. She could do this.

Immediately, she spotted Fitz as she entered, just the man she needed to see. He was seated at his workbench like he nearly always was, hands busy as he stared at something small and delicate held between his fingers. Then, her eyes slid to the wheelchair resting beside his seat, and the familiar twisting sensation in her stomach hit. Fitz's condition was still hard for her to adjust to, namely because it was such a sharp change from before. Simmons took it the worst, of course; she was almost always fussing over him, to his great irritation. He'd even go so far as to snap at her occasionally for babying him. The whole team really did baby him, too. Skye tried not to, but it was hard. He'd fallen out of his chair more than a few times as he made the adjustment and on at least a handful of those occasions, he hadn't been able to get back in. It was why Simmons was nearly always with him, unless she needed to run an errand or he kicked her out for annoying him.

There was no sign of the biologist this time though. If that was because Fitz had booted her from the lab or she'd been called away, Skye wasn't sure. For the moment though, it looked like Simmons was absent from her partner's side and that was precisely what Skye needed.

"Hey Fitz," greeted Skye, doing her best to keep her heartrate and voice even. She wasn't doing anything wrong; just asking a friend to borrow some books. That was all. The fact that they were for the man who was more or less directly (if probably unintentionally) responsible for her friend's condition didn't make it bad. Nope, not at all.

Fitz's head shot up as soon as she spoke, spinning on his stool rapidly. He teetered momentarily to Skye's horror, but stabilized himself almost as quickly. Once he had stopped wobbling, he offered Skye a smile, though it was far more strained than it should have been. In that moment, she felt angry with Ward.

Sitting in the prison with the broken man, it was hard to remember the damage he'd wrought on their team. Being faced with Fitz's injury and the extent it limited him, watching him almost tip over, the anger returned like a flash fire. It disappeared as quickly though as the image of the broken man waking from sedation came to mind. Fitz was damaged because someone else had damaged Ward. Yes, it was Ward's actions that injured Fitz so severely, but his actions weren't necessarily his own. She needed to remember to ask him why he hadn't just shot Fitz and Simmons. She knew he could force the door to that pod open, so why hadn't he made sure they were dead?

"Skye?" called Fitz, waving his hand a little in an attempt to get her attention. She blinked twice, shaking her head slowly to snap her attention back to reality. Right. She was here to consult with Fitz.

"Sorry," apologized Skye with a shake of her head, "guess I just zoned out for a moment there."

"Little too much study time?" suggested Fitz with a bit of a smile and a knowing nod. "I was like that when I was testing for my PhD." Rubbing his hands on his legs a bit, he glancing around nervously before dropping his voice and leaning a little further towards her. "Did you get a minute to run that search I asked for?"

Oh crap, the stuff he wanted her to search. She'd forgotten all about that.

"You forgot," stated Fitz, his face falling a little. "I get it. No rush, Skye."

"I'm so sorry Fitz," apologized Skye, biting her lip a little. "I'll do it as soon as I get back to my office."

"Of course," agreed Fitz, though the doubt was apparent on his face. "So, what did you need?"

Rubbing her neck a little, Skye shot Fitz a hopeful look. "I was actually looking to borrow some books from you. This whole language arts section is kicking my ass and I'm hoping if I read something different from what I usually do, I might get better at it. Or at least I'll find a way to remember all this vocabulary."

Nodding, Fitz carefully shifted into his wheelchair and immediately began rolling towards the door out of the lab. "That's not a bad idea. Come on, I'll help you pick some out."

"Uh, I don't want to distract you," stated Skye, glancing at his work and mentally cursing. She'd been hoping he'd give her some suggestions and tell her where his books were located, not actively help her choose books. Damnit. Now she'd have to actually pretend she knew what she was looking for.

"It's fine," dismissed Fitz, rolling out of the lab and into the hall. Skye was quick to follow, mentally cursing. "Simmons and Trip went off to run some errands, so I've got time today."

Well, that explained why Simmons wasn't around. "If she shows up and you aren't in the lab, won't she get worried?"

"She can call me," countered Fitz as he rolled easily down the halls. "Besides, this is important."

That really made Skye cringe. Fitz had no clue she was asking for Ward; how could he? He thought he was helping her out, not the man who'd put him in that chair. She couldn't let him think that. She'd just have to find a way to convince him she could do this on her own, maybe ask him for some suggestions and then go dig around online herself. There had to be a good book forum she could dig up or something- it was too bad no one online seemed to be able to agree on anything where it came to books.

"Look Fitz, I really can do this alone," insisted Skye even as Fitz keyed open the door to his bunk and lead her inside. "I won't take anything if you aren't comfortable with it. I mean, that's what the internet is for."

"Could you shut my door?" requested Fitz, rolling up to his bookshelf as if he hadn't heard a word she'd said. Which was weird because, well, Fitz never intentionally ignored anyone. Still, she reached back and shut the door before approaching the engineer wearily.

Almost immediately, he passed her three books from his shelf without even glancing back, still focusing on his personal library. And Skye was pretty sure it qualified as a library- it seemed like Fitz had at least 500 books in his possession. At least.

Taking the books, she flipped them sideways, glancing over the titles. "The Foundation Trilogy, Devil in the White City, and Snow Crashed?"

"Classic science fiction, nonfiction, and modern science fiction," confirmed Fitz, pulling off two more books and passing them to Skye as well.

Again, she took the books, fanning them out to read their titles. "Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy and The Hobbit."

"British humor and fantasy," explained Fitz, again looking back at the shelf. "I don't have any good mystery I don't think. Wait! I have some LeBlanc…"

"Fitz, why are you handing me all of these?" asked Skye, her head beginning to pound. Somehow, she doubted 'Hitch Hikers Guide To the Galaxy' would help with language arts, which begged the question of why Fitz had handed it to her.

"You need books for Ward, right?' asked Fitz, reaching up to snag a book from the shelf. "Ah! Here it is. Ward can read French, right?"

"Uh, I think so?" tried Skye, almost completely floored by Fitz's remark. How did he even know she'd been in contact with Ward? Better question, how did he know the books were for Ward? "Fitz, how did you know about the books?"

"Ward's shrink faxed some forms over and I was in your office dropping some papers off when it came in," stated Fitz, finally looking back at Skye. He was clearly embarrassed, but there was something remarkably resolute about the look all the same. "You've been acting secretive and I know it was paranoid of me, but I needed to know what you were doing. So I looked up the number the fax came from and then called the prison. They put me in contact with a man, Dr. Calgrove. He told me everything."

Well that…. actually, that really explained a lot. But it still left her with one major question. "And you're okay with this?"

"He told me everything," repeated Fitz with a sigh, fiddling with the book in his hands. "The file I asked you to do research on- it was on Ward. I didn't want to say it without you confirming it, but I kind of suspected something wasn't right." Pausing slightly, Fitz took a deep breath as if fortifying himself before speaking again. "I… my da used to beat on my mum and I. We escaped eventually, but the damage was done. Mum's never been the same and I still struggle sometimes to stand on my own. It's part of why I looked up to Ward like I did before… well, before everything that happened."

Softening slightly, Skye shifted the books to one arm so she could rest her hand on his shoulder. "I don't think Ward wanted to hurt you or Simmons, for the record. If he wanted you dead, he would have forced that door open and shot you both in the head. Instead, he dropped you out of a plane in an emergency pod. I haven't asked him about it yet, but I'm going to."

"The pod was supposed to float," stated Fitz quietly, shaking his head a little. "Supposedly, in an emergency, it can be released and anyone inside will be safe regardless of where it lands. The materials are adaptable. When they come in contact with water, bags around the edge are supposed to inflate. Apparently, it malfunctioned."

"I don't think Ward wanted to hurt you two," repeated Skye with a slightly frustrated sigh, stepping back and dropping onto Fitz's bed. "Garrett really did a number on him. At minimum, I think he has some kind of Stockholm Syndrome. Apparently, Garrett left him alone in the woods with only 'Buddy' for company."

"Who's Buddy?" asked Fitz curiously, rolling over next to the bed.

Skye shrugged. "I have no clue. I think he was a dog? Ward said something about letting Buddy go, which was apparently not what he was told to do."

"A dog," repeated Fitz slowly, his eyes momentarily zoning out. "A dog would have protected him, right?"

"If he was alone in the woods with it for five years? Definitely," confirmed Skye, her brow furrowing. "What are you thinking?"

For a moment, Fitz just opened and closed his mouth, as if he couldn't figure out how to put words to what he was thinking. When he finally did speak, it was slow and deliberate. "Ward looked… distressed when he pulled the lever that dropped the pod. Simmons and I were begging him to let us go and I could see him fighting with himself about something. At the time, I thought we were getting to him, but then he said something about Garrett always getting what he wanted or something like that. That Garrett would do it if he didn't, maybe?"

"Ward's exact words on the subject of Buddy were 'I proved myself in those woods, even if I did let Buddy go'," repeated Skye slowly, her eyes widening in horror as her stomach dropped out. God, if what Fitz was saying was true, Garrett might have ordered Ward to hurt or possibly kill Buddy. And if Ward hadn't been able to, then maybe Garrett had done it instead. It was a complete guess of course, but it fit with what Fitz said Ward had done and it would explain why Ward had still dropped them out of the plane. It would have been the only way to get them away from Garrett mid-flight. "Garrett was the one who ordered Ward to kill you guys, right?"

"Pretty sure," confirmed Fitz, pulling a face. "That was what I heard, anyway. You'd have to confirm that with Simmons."

Simmons…oh fuck. She'd forgotten about Simmons. Her head snapped up so fast at the thought, she should have probably been worried about whiplash. "Does Simmons know I've been visiting Ward?"

"No," assured Fitz as if he could see what she was thinking. "Simmons would go straight to Coulson and he'd go off about it." Shaking his head a little, he held the book in his hands out to her. "I trust you, Skye. Ward needs help; what he did… there was something off. He was too hesitant. I thought- I thought we'd even gotten through to him at one point. Then he saw something and his face transformed. Next minute, he pulled the lever."

"That is weird," admitted Skye, her lips thinning. "Ward didn't exactly have trouble shooting people. Well, not normally." She paused then, biting her lip a little as she mentally debated her next words. She hadn't talked to anyone about when Ward had kidnapped her, not really. Yeah, she'd given Coulson a brief overview of everything Ward had said that she thought was useful, but some things she'd refused to discuss. Like how he'd treated her. "He wouldn't hurt me, either. I literally came at him, punching and hitting him, everything. All he did was restrain me." Her eyes dropped to the floor; this next part wasn't something she felt like she could tell Fitz while looking him in the eye. "He swore he'd never hurt me."

"That's why you went to the prison originally," stated Fitz softly, the edge of his chair coming into view as he rolled close to her.

"I needed to figure him out," confirmed Skye quietly. It felt stupid to say it like that, but the whole reason she'd gone to the prison was to find out why Ward had betrayed them. The fact that he refused to hurt her proved it was probably more complicated than 'I'm evil'. He hadn't seemed reluctant, but his repeated insistences he wasn't Hydra, the fact he wouldn't hurt her, and the way he kept bringing up Garrett, it had all been weird. It had just taken her a bit to see that was what had made her question his actions.

"How's that going?" asked Fitz with a touch of sarcasm. It made Skye smile a bit. Fitz was right, Ward wasn't exactly an open book when it came to personal stuff. Still, she wondered how much of Ward's condition Dr. Calgrove had actually conveyed and how much he'd left out.

"Better than you'd think, though I blame the psychological break Ward suffered after my second visit for that one," admitted Skye with a sigh. That image of Ward destroying his cell in complete anguish would probably haunt her for a while; she just hoped it wouldn't be the rest of her life.

"Psychological break?" repeated Fitz, his eyebrows shooting up. "What do you mean?"

Sighing, Skye drew her legs up so she could fold them in front of her and mentally prepared to relay the recent events regarding Ward to Fitz. Who knew- maybe the engineer would have some personal insight they'd find helpful. Maybe he'd even have a way to help get Ward on the road to recovery. It would be a long one, but if they could help him start, then maybe someday, he'd finally be whole again.

Stepping into the hall leading to Ward's cell, Skye was pretty sure she'd never felt her back so tense. The books she'd picked out with Fitz were like stones in her bag and every step forward felt ominous. This felt like a bad idea. The whole plan felt like a really bad idea. When Fitz had suggested this plan, she'd balked. He'd been insistent though, and she ultimately couldn't refuse the engineer.

As soon as she stepped in front of the cell, she knew this whole idea would either turn out great or horrible. Ward was sprawled out on his bed, the GED test book she'd left with him open in his lap. He looked like he'd read the whole thing since she'd last been there which, well, he probably had. From what she could tell, he was kept more or less in isolation. He looked like he had every other time she'd come out to visit. It was only the look on his face when he raised his head towards her, the way he paled and his eyes turned wide and horrified- that was what made her question this decision big time.

What if he went into a blind rage? Or had another breakdown? Calgrove would be pissed if they had to sedate him again and she didn't really want to see Ward back in that observation wing. The way they'd all watched him like he would tear them all apart wasn't exactly good for his recovery. Then there was the fact that he'd basically tried to use sarcasm to drive her away on her first visit. Would he do that again? That would not help-

"Skye." The tension in Ward's voice snapped Skye from her thoughts, bringing her attention entirely onto her former SO. The way he sounded, the way he looked as he stared into the hall behind her, made her wonder if he was going to start throwing things again.

"Hey Ward," greeted Skye, keeping her voice as level as possible. It was hard when his face was blank like that though- she couldn't predict what he was going to do next, or what he was thinking. It made her nervous. "How're things going?"

"They haven't moved me to the nuthouse part of the prison yet," replied Ward, his voice distant as he focused on a spot just behind Skye. "That shrink still wants to move me, though."

"Believe it or not, he's trying to help you," remarked Skye with a roll of her eyes, setting her bag on the ground in front of the cell. "Besides, you know if he moved you to observation, we could talk without staring at each other through bars."

"Monsters should be behind bars," stated Ward, his voice wavering in a way that suggested he was under a lot more emotional stress than he was letting on. Not that Skye could blame him- she would be too in his shoes.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna talk about us using the library for these chats," continued Skye, nodding to the book still in his lap. "It'd be nice to use a table rather than the floor."

"Pretty sure I suggested a library the second time you showed up," reminded Ward, his voice just a touch sarcastic. It still had that distant tone to it, but he at least sounded a little closer to normal.

"Third," corrected Skye, glancing behind her at the same spot Ward was. "Besides, with Fitz along for the ride, it might be a little cramped sitting in front of your cell."

Fitz made a noise of agreement, his eyes scanning the area nervously like he expected someone to jump out at them. Which he actually might be- it would explain his silence since they'd entered the halls. "This is where they're housing him?"

"This and the observation wing," confirmed Skye as she cast a critical eye around the hall as well. "It's actually nicer than observation, believe it or not."

"I don't believe that," muttered Fitz, glancing at Ward a little nervously. "Observation was a medical facility right? It was at least clean!"

"This place was clean too, before Ward decided to turn his books into confetti," stated Skye, offering Ward a smile to try to show she was joking before bending to her bag. "Which is why I come bearing gifts. Specifically, books."

"You aren't supposed to feed the animals," stated Ward, his earlier sarcasm somewhat overshadowed by his own self-loathing.

Skye scoffed a little and pulled three books from her bag, setting them on the ground beside her. "Good thing books aren't food, then."

"They're food for the mind!" exclaimed Fitz, clearly scandalized by the idea that Skye would denounce the value of books. There was a teasing note to his voice though, almost jovial. Almost a little normal. "Books are wonderful! They teach you anything you want!"

Skye's lips tilted up at that, her body shifting to glance back at the scientist like she thought he was crazy. She opened her mouth to make a remark about the internet being the best book ever written, but her words were cut off by a somewhat angry outburst before she could speak.

"What the actual fuck?" asked Ward, standing suddenly and half prowling towards the bars. His eyes scanned Fitz, taking in the wheelchair and the man currently in it. The guilt in his gaze said he knew exactly why the scientist was in that chair, too. Or at least he thought he knew the reason- she still wasn't sure anyone had actually told him what happened to Fitz. "Fitz, what are you even doing here? This isn't the place for you!" Fitz actually recoiled a little at Ward's shout, particularly when her former SO suddenly grabbed the bars to glare at him. "This is the kind of place where they lock up monsters and throw away the key, not where they send scientists who need babysitters!"

"Ward!" snapped Skye, immediately recognizing his words for what they were- an attempt to drive Fitz away. It was the same shit he'd pulled with her, just aimed at Fitz this time.

Except there was something harsher about his reaction to Fitz- something sharper. If he was trying to protect the scientist from something or if he felt guilty for Fitz's condition, she wasn't sure, but it was clear he felt the scientist shouldn't be there. His words were disjointed and almost random, clearly meant to drive the scientist off. His words had no connection to their conversation up to that point; there was no other reason for him to snap like that.

Ward's eyes moved from Fitz to her almost instantly, the swirling anger nowhere near enough to mask the pain and guilt that battled for dominance in his gaze. It confirmed her theory that Ward was trying to push Fitz away to protect him.

"What Skye, are you really going to argue?" growled Ward as he gestured to Fitz, releasing the bars and stepping away a little. "At least you can protect yourself. Fitz can't even stand up on his own."

"That isn't true!" exclaimed Fitz, almost immediately reaching down to undo the strap that helped keep him in the chair. Skye had convinced him it was a good idea while they were in the prison- what would happen if they needed to make a quick get away? Fitz would need to be strapped in.

It took the scientist less than 30 seconds to remove the strap and grip the arms of his chair, hoisting himself carefully to his feet. He was shaky and it was visible in his legs, but he was standing all the same. He wasn't fully wheel chair bound, but him being up tended to make everyone nervous. From the way he paled, Skye guessed even Ward was afraid of what might happen to Fitz in that moment.

"See?" asked Fitz, spreading his arms a little as if to say 'look at me, you were wrong'. "I can get out of my chair whenever I want to. I even do physical therapy to help with the stiffness and keep my muscles up!"

"Fitz, sit down," ordered Ward, some of the man he'd been on the Bus- her SO and their specialist- coming through in that moment. The concern, the need to protect he'd always displayed, was written in his voice and eyes in that moment. "You're going to get hurt."

"No, I'm not," stated Fitz firmly, taking a shaky step towards the bars. He had to reach out with one hand to brace himself against the metal bars of the cell, wobbling a bit as he moved, but he managed to step up all the same so he was directly in front of Ward and beside Skye. "See? I can even walk."

"Kinda," corrected Skye, almost without thought. She didn't like reminding Fitz about his limitations, but he'd fallen more than a few times since he'd woken up and they didn't need that happening during their visit. The warden would not be happy.

Then again, Ward didn't look happy about it. He eyed Fitz's hand where it was wrapped around the bars, almost like he thought it could hurt him somehow. Then again, who knew what Ward knew about Fitz's condition. Technically, it was Ward's fault Fitz had been injured, but even Fitz had admitted that Ward had no way of knowing a scalpel would end up lodged in his spine. No one had any way of knowing that. Plus, Fitz had acknowledged the pod had failed- that it should have floated to the surface and not sank like a rock.

"I can walk," repeated Fitz firmly, shooting Skye a faint glare. "I can't walk well, but I can walk."

Nodding faintly, Ward slowly approached the bars, still staring at Fitz's hand like he thought the scientist might hurt him somehow. Then again, Fitz had built some pretty weird weapons, so who knew what Ward was thinking he could do. Still, to her great surprise, she watched as Ward slowly reached out and touched Fitz's fingers. He half looked like he expected them to vanish under his hand or something equally weird. When they didn't, he carefully wrapped his hand around the top of Fitz's, squeezing gently. "I'm sorry."

Those two words echoed in the nearly uncomfortable silence that followed like breaking glass in a cafeteria. She had to admit- she hadn't expected that. Given Ward had never apologized for kidnapping her or subjecting her to danger or having to watch as he was tortured which, yeah, that had been hard. She hadn't liked him in that moment, but she hadn't wanted to see him tortured either. Yet, here he was apologizing to Fitz. It should probably piss her off on some level, but she understood all the same. Fitz was permanently scarred in a very visible, physical way. She wasn't.

Fitz stared at Ward's hand over his for a long moment, the shaking becoming a little worse for a second before he shifted that hand around so he could gently grip Ward's. He didn't offer any words, just the simple bit of contact. It spoke louder than words ever could have.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever as the two men just stood there, gripping one another's hands though the bars. It was Fitz who finally did break the silence, his words quiet but probing, if not a little shaken. "I don't like to blame you for what happened. It was literally unpredictable that the pod would fail or that I'd get stabbed by something as we escaped. You had no way of knowing any of that would occur for sure, but you also had no way of ensuring we'd be saved either. So, why did you do it? Why did you drop the pod? We saw you hesitate."

At first, Skye thought Ward wouldn't answer. The way he paled and averted his eyes, the way his fingers tightened further over Fitz's in a way that reflected his discomfort with the question, and the way his whole body stiffened indicated he probably wouldn't answer. Fitz must have picked up on the fact, because he added: "I deserve to know, Ward." Pause, shaky breath. "Normally I wouldn't push, but I need to know why before I do anything else. What did you see in the hall that changed your mind? Garrett?"

"Deathlok," corrected Ward quietly, his other hand curling into a fist at his side. His eyes slid closed as he spoke, the tension in his body rising. "I saw Deathlok coming. He was under Garrett's control; I don't know how, but I know he was. He would have done whatever Garrett wanted. If I hadn't dropped the pod, Deathlok would have killed you by shooting you. I-" He paused, the words seeming to catch in his throat. "I'm not sure if I did it because I wanted you guys to survive or if I didn't want to let Garrett down again, but I dropped the pod because Deathlok was heading for us."

"Certain death at Deathlok's hands or potential death in a pod in the ocean," stated Fitz slowly, nodding a little. "You made the call you thought you should."

"I made the only call I could," corrected Ward as he took a deep breath and slowly straightened back up. "The pod wasn't supposed to sink."

"I know," assured Fitz, giving Ward's hand a soft squeeze. "I wanted to make sure you did, too."

Ward's brow furrowed in the way it had before, including the frown. It was such a familiar look, Skye felt her heart rate kick up. It was instances like that that made her question how much of the Grant Ward they'd spent time with actually was the real Grant Ward, regardless of what Ward himself tried to say on the matter.

"Why would that matter?" asked Ward at last, shaking his head a little. "You got hurt because of me, Fitz. That isn't- it's the last thing I wanted."

"Because knowing you were trying to save us means I can forgive you," explained Fitz calmly, as if the statement made complete sense. "Which I do." Releasing Ward's hand, he returned his grip to the jail bars and offered Ward a grin. "Also, I wanted to do that while standing and I'm not sure I can actually stay standing much longer. Do you think you could accept so I can sit down again?"

"Your forgiveness?" asked Ward, still apparently completely confused. Skye had to admit, she was a little lost, too.

"Yes," confirmed Fitz, nodding his head sagely even as his legs began to wobble harder. Skye cursed and moved the chair so it was directly behind him, placing it in a position where it could theoretically catch him if it came to that.

Ward cursed slightly, nodding all the same. "Yeah, I accept Fitz. Just sit down."

"Thank you," thanked Fitz, carefully climbing back into the chair as Skye held it steady.

Once she was sure he was properly seated and wouldn't fall out, Skye moved to stand near the bars again, scoping back up the books she'd brought before and holding them out to Ward. "Here, books. Just don't tear these ones up- they belong to Fitz."

Hesitantly, Ward eyed the books before carefully accepting them from Skye. His fingers danced slightly along the spines, turning the stack to the side to check the titles. His brow furrowed further though, confusion written across his face as he glanced once more at Skye and Fitz. "I've never heard of these."

"They're excellent," assured Fitz, wheeling closer to the bars and shoving one hand through to point to one of the titles. "'Devil in the White City' is a historic narrative, meaning it was written in a novelized style using real historic documents and accounts to piece together the story. I think you'll like that best, given what you usually read." His finger slid to the next title down. "'The Hobbit' is just classic fantasy. Tolkien set the standard for the entire fantasy genre." One more, his finger dropped down, this time to the last title in the stack. "And that was Skye's choice. She thought we should give you the second Harry Potter book even though you didn't seem fond of the first."

"It's a series," insisted Skye, pouting a little and folding her arms over her chest. It was childish, but her hope was that at least one of them would laugh. Both men just gave her the same droll look though, drawing a put-upon sigh from her. "They get better, but you have to either read the books or watch the movies to get the later stories and you don't have a TV in here, so…"

"So I have to read them," surmised Ward, shaking his head a little and setting the books aside. "Fine, which one of these should I read first?'

"Whatever one you want to," stated Skye, mentally holding her breath to see how he would react. The reason she was so insistent on giving him three unconnected books was to see how he did with making decisions. Admittedly, she wasn't hopeful. Choosing a book probably wouldn't be easy for him and, more than likely, he'd decide against reading the books all together. She just really hoped he wouldn't destroy them like he had his own books. That would suck for poor Fitz. Well, and for her; she'd owe Fitz a lot of money.

Staring at Skye for a moment, Ward slowly looked down at the three books before setting them aside and reaching for Skye's study book. "You wanted help with history, so let's discuss history."

"World or US?" asked Fitz curiously, tilting his head a little in an attempt to see the book. It wouldn't help of course, Ward had the book firmly shut in his hands. It did prompt Skye to drig out her copy of the same book and pass it to Fitz though.

"Both," stated Ward, flipping the book open and glancing up at Skye. "Where did you leave off with the history work in your book?"

"Ugh, I think my head is going to explode!" complained Skye as she stared at the ceiling of the prison. The book beneath her head was hard, and that honestly might have been what was making it hurt, but she wasn't about to admit to that. It felt like they'd been discussing history for forever.

Beside her, Fitz gave her an exasperated look, as did Ward from his place on the floor, on the other side of the bars. Both men had been tag-teaming her on the history of colonial America and she was seriously starting to regret bringing Fitz with her to the prison.

"We've barely been at it a few hours!" exclaimed Fitz, as if Skye's complaints were completely unwarranted.

Ward shook his head at her, running a hand through his hair in a way that said he found her infuriating in that moment. "When is she registered to take this test again?"

"Five months now," stated Fitz with a shake of his head. "Not sure she's even started the science portion."

"I can do science and math!" exclaimed Skye, waving her hands around in a complicated pattern that was meant to be the standard encompassing circle but somehow got distorted in the process. "It's the history and reading stuff I suck at."

"And that's why you asked me for help," reminded Ward, even as he ear-marked the book and closed it. "I can do that stuff."

"And I want you to help me do that stuff, not liquefy my brain!" countered Skye, offering him an upside down pout. "Can't we take a break? Please?"

"We could break," agreed Fitz slowly, glancing at Skye nervously. Immediately, it put Skye on high alert. She knew that look- Fitz had something planned. Whatever it was, she hoped it wouldn't get them banned from the prison. There were a lot of rules about prisoners, most of which Calgrove let her break in the spirit of helping him psychologically fix Ward. The scientist had brought a bag with him for their visit, one Skye thought had contained work for him to do while she and Ward studied. Now though, he reached for it for the first time since they had come into the hall, rummaging around inside for a moment before extracting two very familiar looking cases.

Offering one to Skye, he kept one for himself and flipped it open in his lap. She immediately flipped hers open as well, her stomach flipping slightly as she recognized the familiar Battleship board. Had he seriously snuck these into the prison? They were going to be in major trouble if they were caught. Her books were one thing- they were paper. Thick, ridged plastic though? That was another story. Behind her, she felt Ward crowd close to the bars, his own sharp inhale echoing practically in her ear at the sight of the game.

"Fitz-" started Skye, only for the scientist to wave her off with a hand.

"I got permission, Skye," stated Fitz as he began to move pieces around. "Calgrove said we couldn't give a case to Ward because it could be dangerous, but he can play with you or me, as a teammate, and it's fine."

"Alright," agreed Skye, smirking a little as she looked back at Ward. "So Ward, who do you wanna team up with? Me or Fitz?"

Ward raised his eyebrow in challenge, glancing back and forth between them before focusing on Fitz. "I know you, Skye. You'll beat Fitz into the ground if he doesn't have my help."

"Hey!" exclaimed Fitz indignantly, his fingers pausing in his set-up. "How do you know I won't beat her?"

"Because I couldn't beat her and I'm trained in tactics," countered Ward, giving Fitz the 'are you serious?' look. "Have you ever beat her?"

"Yes!" stated Fitz, puffing out his chest a little. "Once!"

"Did she let you win?" asked Ward, giving the scientist a knowing look.

Fitz deflated a bit at that, his shoulders slumping slightly as he pouted. "Maybe."

"You have no proof of that," stated Skye, though she could feel the corners of her mouth tugging slightly upwards. "You won, fair and square." Both Fitz and Ward shot her disbelieving looks before Fitz maneuvered closer to the bars so Ward could see his case as well. She just dropped the subject and quickly set up her board. "Fine, but no cheating Ward! You're at an angle."

"We don't have to cheat to beat you, Skye," stated Ward confidently, leaning on the bars to see the board better.

"We might have to cheat a little," remarked Fitz in a quiet voice, though Skye could hear him pretty clearly.

She just shook her head and went back to setting up her board. "Just let me know when you're ready to lose."

She ended up winning all but one game, which she admittedly let them win because she felt bad they'd lost so horribly. One game they hadn't even managed to hit any of her ships. Of course, the guards eventually came and kicked them out, though she noted it was past five when they did. As they were packing up their stuff and getting ready to go though, she noticed something odd about Ward. Where he usually showed indifference to her visit, he looked almost a little sad this time. He'd never acted like he actually wanted her to come back again and he still wasn't, but there was something in his eyes that said he was sad to see them go. It actually made her not want to leave him. That wasn't possible of course- he was in prison after all. But maybe someday, that wouldn't be the case. It was the first time since she started visiting she allowed herself to consider the idea that, maybe, they wouldn't be talking with bars between them one day. And maybe, maybe someday, she wouldn't be leaving the prison without him.