Bleeding Out

Part Two

A scream built in her throat, but Skye ignored it and slammed down her glass before slipping into the crowd. Simmons. She needed to find Simmons.

Skye shoved people around desperately searching for her friend. Though she received many glares from the people she disturbed, Skye was determined to find Jemma.

The beer had been too much on Skye's stomach, giving her a queasy feeling, or was it Ward. The swirling lights and the mass of people only made it worse.

Finally, she found Jemma at a high table chatting with a tall man in dark appeal, margarita in hand.

Skye grabbed onto Jemma's shoulder and whispered, "We need to go. Now."

Simmons turned, a shocked look in her face. "But I'm having a good time! I thought-"

"Ward is here."

Simmons's eyes widened as her quivering hand placed her drunk on the table. She turned to the man she had previously been talking with. "I'm sorry," she stated, "I have to go now."

Simmons and Skye turned to leave, when the man said, "I'm sorry too, but I can't let that happen." He grabbed Jemma's and a shriek escaped her mouth, but was drowned out by the blaring music.

Skye stood frozen only for a moment, then reached for Jemma's drink and splashed it in the man's face. The surprise allowed Skye to pull Jemma from his grasp as he wiped his face.

The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents darted through the drunken dancers and to the exit. They shoved open the door and ram into the rain.

"Quick! Over here!" Skye yelled as the girls leaped into the alley way behind the club and ducked behind a dumpster. They watched as their chaser, assumed to be HYDRA due to Ward's appearance, pushed through the door. He scanned the area before pulling out a com link.

"We need to get out of here," Sky muttered to Jemma.

"You think?! This place is swarming with HYDRA! We never should of left." Remorse coated Simmons's words.

"What's done is done. We need to figure out how to get out of here."

The rain continued to pound down, concealing their voices, but just barely. The streets were sleek and puddles began to form on the sidewalk. Skye and Simmons watched as the man stalked back into the club.

"Let's go now." Skye peered around the dumpster, the signaled for Simmons to follow. Skye was out of the alley when she realized Simmons wasn't with her.

"Good God," she muttered as she ran back.

"Hello, Skye."

She stumbled back at the sight of Ward holding a gun to Simmons's head.

The shock lasted for less than a second. Skye then lunged for Ward, slamming Simmons to the ground. Her foot connected with Ward's kneecap, bringing him down.

The girls scrambled. Skye shoved Simmons back into the club through a side entrance, and when Ward looked up, Jemma was gone.

"Skye!" Ward's voice was a mixture of desperateness and frustration. "Why the hell would you leave the Bus?!"

Skye blinked, momentarily disorientated by his sudden change in demeanor. "Huh?"

"Get out of the way. In fact go back to the Bus. Just-just let me take Simmons. I swear no harm will come to her."

Skye scoffed. "Yeah right, Ward. I'm not abandoning her. I'm not like you."

Ward hesitated, but pressed on. "They need her alive, but you're just an obstacle. They'll shoot you. Get out of here."

"No." Skye raised her chin stubbornly. "She's my friend, and I won't leave her here."

"They'll open fire on you, and I won't be able to do anything." Ward stepped into Skye's space. "Please, go home. I can't protect you here Skye."

"Protect me?!" Skye begins to let out her furry. She rages over the pitter patter of the rain. "You don't want to protect me. If you wanted to protect me you wouldn't have tossed Fitzsimmons to the bottom of the sea! You wouldn't have betrayed us! Fitz is in a coma, Ward! He might not ever wake up! I didn't just lose you that day, I lost him and Jemma too! You broke us, all of us! Even May!" Skye shoved him, putting all her furry behind that one push. He grabbed her wrists and she shivered at the contact.

"Skye...."

She didn't hear hum, just saw his lips moving. She lashed out again, randomly, throwing kicks and punches. He dodged them, and twisted both her arms behind her back. "Skye!" His voice was louder this time, more forceful. "I'm giving you thirty seconds to leave. Then I'm under an oath to shoot you."

Maybe she imagined it, but Skye thought she heard his voice crack on "shoot."

"I'm not leavening." Skye punched him, grabbing the gun from his belt, and raised it to shoot him. But she couldn't. Skye couldn't shoot Ward.