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Chapter 2

The five agents in Director Phillip Coulson’s office were speechless.

Not only had they not anticipated the traitor Grant Ward to show up at the bar with Agent 33 in tow, they never even imagined Skye leaving with him.

Finally, Coulson’s voice spluttered into existence. “What…wh…why?”

“What on earth does Skye think she’s doing?!” Melinda May spit out more coherently.

“I would have expected he showed up to manipulate her feelings for him.” Jemma Simmons said, heavily disappointed in her friend’s choices.

“Feelings?!” Sam Koenig angrily shouted. “Skye was the one who found my brother dead! At his hand!” he gestured wildly at the screen on the wall.

“Skye’s always had feelings for Ward. They weren’t always positive, most of the time she found them rather confusing and chose to condemn him for his actions. Something he must have done, or said to her would have solidified her decision.”

“I should’ve known he would’ve shown up. We shouldn’t have let Skye go.” May said bitterly.

“This was her choice, May. She wanted back in the field, and this was only a low to medium risk op.” Coulson reasoned. “What I’m wanting to focus on is why Agent Morse just let them go.”

Billy Koenig had remained silent up until this point. “Either something she saw made her change her mind, or she and Skye had no other choice.” His voice was quiet, in a deceptively calm tone, but it held the attention of the other agents in the room.

“Are you saying you think Bobbi and Skye were held at some form of ‘gunpoint’?” May asked.

“I’m saying it’s a possibility. I never liked this guy, and it sounds like something he would do.”

“I’m wanting to agree that that is the outcome that has happened.” Simmons said. “However, considering that Skye and Ward were very obviously kissing directly before Bobbi and Agent 33 left the building that is the least likely option.”

Footsteps along the corridor outside got every agent’s attention. Two pairs, moving fast.

The door to Coulson’s office swung open to reveal a puffed and stuttering Fitz. “Sir…I uh…uh…found something in the, no on the…the web.”

Mack wasn’t far behind, but he gave the engineer his space.

“Mack, you, you…” Fitz doubled over, trying to catch his breath.

“Explain?”

Fitz nodded.

“Alright, well. I was showing Fitz some cool videos on YouTube, generally musical clips, stuff like that. Just looking for stuff to cheer him up a bit and sometimes they were funny.” He looked at Fitz and the Scot waved his hands to indicate hurry up.

“Yeah, anyway, we came across something recently uploaded.” He handed the tablet he was holding over to Sam, who hooked it up to the big screen.

“’Hot couple sing amazing duet in karaoke bar’?” Coulson asked. “What has this got to do with anything?”

“Just watch.” Fitz demanded.

The others blinked in surprise but said nothing as they sat, focusing on the monitor.

A loud cheering screeched through the speakers and the agents covered their ears as the Koenigs tried to get rid of the feedback.

“Sorry!” Billy said as he yanked down the volume. “The last caller was really quiet.”

“Just pause it til we fix the sound problem.” Sam muttered under his breath to his brother.

“Okay, okay! Sorry sir, you’re going to have to wait a moment.”

“There. Done, sir.”

“Good. Play it.” Coulson said. He was curious as to why Fitz freaked out over a musical YouTube video, but he had a hunch. And he didn’t like it.

Billy pressed play and the shakiness of the footage that commenced suggested it was filmed on a smartphone.

“Up by Olly Murs featuring Demi Lovato! Good luck!” said one of the figures up on stage before he walked off to the side.

The man and woman remaining looked at each other and then the music started.

The quality of the video dropped for a moment as the person recording zoomed in on the singers.

“Oh my god!” Simmons said loudly. She looked around at the rest of them. “Is that Ward and Skye?!”

They appeared as shocked as she was. Coulson was gaping like a fish out of water; the Koenigs and May had their mouths open slightly, fear and anger in their eyes; and Mack and Fitz just nodded knowingly.

“I drew a broken heart.” The figure taken to be Ward started singing, accompanied by whoops from the full crowd in front of him. Skye’s reaction was one of surprise at how good he was. “Right on your window pane.”

May and Simmons, desperate to find out why exactly Skye changed her mind about Ward, focused on the pair’s body language. At the moment, Skye was eying the man next to her like she wasn’t sure how to react to this new version and Ward’s expression was one of cautious realisation, like he didn’t want to give too much away in front of people he didn’t know.

“Waited for your reply, here in the pouring rain.”

The lyrics Ward was singing sounded pathetic to the Koenig’s ears, but Coulson heard the outpouring of emotion in the man’s voice. There was no weak desperation, only a desire for Skye to understand the depth of what he was feeling.

Perhaps he was finally building himself up this time. Coulson thought as he studied the tall man’s behaviour. He glanced at Skye, and the wariness that came with being this close to a known killer was there. But there was also a sort of joy in her stance, like she had hope for this.

“Just breathe against the glass, leave me some kind of sign.” Ward looked at Skye, directly into her eyes. “I know the hurt won’t pass, yeah. Just tell me it’s not the end of the line.”

Skye faced the front again and took a deep breath as Ward finished his lines.

“Just tell me it’s not the end of the line.” Ward stepped back as Skye stepped forward.

“I never meant to break your heart.” She began.

The agents all flicked their eyes to watch Ward’s reaction, which was nothing but pure admiration as they saw a smile grace his face.

“She sure can sing.” Mack commented, impressed. The other merely nodded, wanting to hear more.

“And I won’t let this plane go down.” The girl with the angel voice sang sweetly, happiness coating every tune. “I never meant to make you cry. I’ll do what it takes to make this fly, oh!” Skye looked over at Ward and they shared a smile. “You’ve gotta hold on, hold on to what you’re feeling. That feeling is the best thing, the best thing, alright!”

May’s whole posture stiffened. She shared a look with Simmons, who evidently also recognised the turning point.

“Oh, Skye.” The scientist said sadly.

“I’m gonna place my bet on us. I know this love is heading, in the same direction…that’s up!” Skye and Ward mirrored the other’s movements as they respectively stepped back from and towards their microphones.

“You drew a question mark. But you know what I want.” He sang.

“Yeah, big surprise that one.” May muttered resentfully. Coulson raised an eyebrow at her in amusement.

“I wanna turn the clock, yeah.”

The Koenigs shared a look at this.

“Right back to where it was.”

Mack looked at Fitz. The engineer was staring at the screen as though he didn’t dare to hope.

Skye stepped forward, but this time Ward didn’t move back.

“So let’s build a bridge, yeah.” They sang together. “From your side to mine.” The crowd loved it, cheering at the perfect harmonisation. “I’ll be the one to cross over. Just tell me it’s not the end of the line.”

May’s expression was souring by the second.

“Just tell me it’s not the end of the line.”

Skye sang her next line straight away. “I never meant to break your heart.” She and Ward gazed into each other’s eyes. “And I won’t let this plane go down. I never meant to make you cry. I’ll do what it takes to make this fly, oh!”

The crowd, now quieter so as to hear the singing better, was swaying encouragingly with the music.

“You’ve gotta hold on, hold on to what you’re feeling. That feeling is the best thing, the best thing, alright!”

“Who knew a song could do so much?” Mack said quietly. The others heard him, however, and shot him annoyed looks. “What?”

“I’m gonna place my bet on us! I know this love is heading, in the same direction…that’s up!”

“Girl, I know, we could climb back to where we were then. Feel it here, in my heart, put my heart in your hands.” Ward sang his part, placing his hand over his heart to emphasise how he felt.

“Well I hope, and I pray that you do understand.” They sang together again. “If you did, all you have to say is! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!”

“I’m waiting for ya!” Ward sang, gripping the microphone.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!”

“Ohhh!” this time, it was Skye who drew attention to herself.

“I never meant to break your heart!”

The sincerity in both of their voices astounded the audience they had in Coulson’s office.

“And I won’t let this plane go down.” They were still singing in harmony.

The next lines, although different for each participant, were sang at the same time.

“Let this plane go down!” Ward sang.

“I never meant to–” Skye sang.

“Make you cry!” they joined their vocals once more. “I’ll do what it takes to make this fly, oh!”

Ward focused on his last set of lyrics. “You’ve gotta hold on, hold on to what you’re feeling. That feeling is the best thing, the best thing, alright!”

“I’m gonna place my bet on us! I know this love is heading, in the same direction…that’s up!” Skye finished, and the last note of the music were completely drowned out by the tremendous support of the patrons and guests of the bar. Not that the pair on stage would have noticed.

The camera suddenly zoomed out again, taking in the full scope of the atmosphere in the room.

The host finally managed to make himself be heard. “Do you two know each other?” he asked, turning to them. They glanced at him, then back to each other.

“You have no idea!” a familiar female voice shouted from the edges of the screen.

“Bobbi?!” the women asked, dumbfounded, as the patrons in the bar all laughed.

“Why is she going along with it?” Simmons shrieked.

The video ended and the cheering was instantly cut off.

Mack rubbed the bit of skin before his ears. “Remind me never to go to a karaoke bar.” He said to no one in particular.

“Fitz, did you know what happened exactly? Is there anything in there that you didn’t notice the first time?” Coulson asked the engineer, standing up and walking calmly over to him.

“That was the first time.” Fitz said. “As-as soon as I realised who it was, I-I…I ran straight here.”

“I didn’t realise that it was part of the mission you gave the girls, Coulson.” Mack interjected. “Weren’t they supposed to apprehend a certain Hydra agent? Getting up there to sing would have blown their cover and with the size of the crowd, made it easier to escape.”

“I don’t think so.” May said analytically. Her anger at the situation was there, but pushed down by reasoning and logic. “Only Skye was up on stage with Ward, so Bobbi would have been kept in the back. The bar is a good vantage point, and she would’ve been looking for anyone trying to sneak away. Plus, from what I could see, Agent 33 was standing next to her. Still with my face…but she’s also a trained specialist. One of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best.”

“And from the CCTV footage, both Agent 33 and Bobbi are on their way here with the Hydra agent. We can ask them all questions when they arrive.” Coulson added. “And until May and I get the answers, the rest of you can have the night off. There’s no point looking electronically for Ward and Skye.”

There was a chorus of “Yes, sir.” As Simmons, Mack, Fitz and the Koenigs filed out of the office.

“You know, as shocked as I am at the events of tonight, it’ll be nothing compared to Coulson and May.” Lance Hunter said, directing his words to the women beside him as he drove back to the base.

Bobbi and Kara had explained what had happened when Hunter turned up with the SUV, confused at the change of agents.

“I know. No doubt, they’ll already know that Skye’s gone with Ward and will be waiting for us at the entrance demanding answers.” Bobbi replied.

“Sounds like this new S.H.I.E.L.D. is one to hold a grudge.” Kara muttered.

“Wait til you meet Agent May.” Hunter put in. “You know, without trying to kill each other.” He shuddered. “I asked Coulson if she was one to hold a grudge after I ICED her, and he said she ‘savours it, actually’.”

“Why’d you ICE The Cavalry? Was she trying to kill you?”

“I was trying to get revenge on Carl Creel for Hartley and Idaho’s deaths.” He replied after a pause. He sounded bitter, and even Bobbi had gone silent and reserved.

“I didn’t mean to pry.”

“You didn’t.” Bobbi quickly reassured her. “But what do you mean ‘hold a grudge’?”

“You all had Ward locked in a vault for months before shipping him off to his childhood abuser all because he was misguided by a madman.” Kara didn’t look at them as she said this, and underlying anger at what S.H.I.E.L.D. had become was evident in her tone.

“Wait, so he wasn’t kidding when he said that the senator threw his brother into a well?” Hunter asked, as shocked as Bobbi. “I thought that was a ruse to get Skye to pity him.”

“It wasn’t. He showed me the well in his parents’ old estate, and had me listen to the conversation he had with his brother before he burned down the house.”

“And killed his family.” Bobbi added.

Kara just shook her head. Bobbi turned hers to stare at the May look-a-like.

“They’re not dead?”

“Nope.”

“Well, where are they? What was the point in burning the house down? And what about the bodies?” Bobbi reeled off, skeptical.

“They’re hidden. It was to get into Hydra and help Cal and Skye. And the bodies were the bodyguards and a Hydra sleeper agent, hiding as the housekeeper. The bodies were only identified by the possessions they had on them, and not through DNA. Too much damage for that.”

“Huh.”

“So…do you have any idea where Ward and Skye will go?” Hunter asked uncertainly.

“Nope. Could be anywhere. And from what Grant’s told me about Skye, it sounds like you’re not going to find them unless they want to be found.”

“Ohh, Coulson’s going to be so pleased…”