Ward's Salvation

Chapter 11: The Journey with Kara

My phone buzzes and I recognize Hunter's number. I roll my eyes and answer. Kara's gone out again but didn't tell me why.

"Ward, you haven't called."

Every time I hear Hunter, I get the urge to roll my eyes. "Didn't need to. I don't need anything at the moment."

"Alright. Are you warming up to Agent 33 then? I hear you shagged May, so I guess a woman who has her face even if one side is—"

"Hunter, shut up. It's not like that. What do you want?" He really is irritating if I don't shut him up.

"Calm down, mate. I was only joking. Listen, ah...I need to talk to someone but I can't talk to anyone here."

I sit up, interested. "Alright. What's up?"

"So, Bob...she—well, you've been gone and well—"

"You're sleeping with her," I interrupt, "go on."

"What? Who told you? Was it Fitz. He can't keep his—"

"Nobody told me Hunter. I know enough about you and Bobby. And from what you've told me, I expected things to repeat themselves."

Hunter's quiet for a moment. "Well...right then. See, she's keeping secrets. Which is why I can never trust her. And I want to think that it has nothing to do with me but her and Mack have been acting strangely and going off. They whisper. I have this gnawing in my stomach. It usually happens right before she turns back into a monster."

I think about what he's saying. All agents have secrets. On one hand, it can just be Hunter sabotaging the relationship but somehow, the way Hunter is explaining it, I don't feel good about it either.

"You have no idea what the secret may be?" I ask.

"No. Coulson asked me to stay permanently now that he's lost Tripp and I thought Mack and Bob would have been happy but they both looked like didn't want me anywhere near here. She was hiding a flash drive me from me a while ago. I'm going to do some digging. That's where you come in."

"Me? What can I do?"

"I'm going to talk to one of them about it. Mack maybe. He sucks at lying. If you don't hear from me, then you have to talk to Coulson. It makes me sick to say this but if I'm right, he can't trust either of them."

"Hunter, you need to talk to Coulson now. Don't wait. If they're up to something, he should know. Don't do it alone. That's a disaster waiting to happen, you hear me? Do you think they're Hydra?"

"What? No. Bob is too loyal to SHIELD but they're not loyal to Coulson. Mack is outright going against him. Look, we had a crazy day. I—what the hell?"

I can hear a lot of noise in the background and Hunter curses. "What's going on Hunter?"

"It's an earthquake. I've never felt one before. It's getting bigger. Fitz! Fitz! What's going on?"

Again, all I hear is noise and shuffling. I wait. Now that I'm paying attention, I can hear things falling on what I believe may be the floor.

"Fitz! What the bloody hell?!"

"I have to get to Skye!" Fitz had to have yelled it for me to hear.

"Ward, I'll call you back."

"Hunter, take care of Skye. Make sure she's ok."

"Yeah. Yeah. I'll call you back." Hunter sounds distracted and winded.

The line goes dead. I run my hand through my hair. Dammit! I hate not being there. What the hell is going on? But this was on me. I could be there right now. Coulson wanted me there. And I still feel so damn guilty over everything that happened that I can't stand being there. I can't show my face until I've made things right and I've done nothing so far. Nothing.