Previously: The BUS was taken over by Mac (with Skye and Simmons as hostages) after the team was drugged with hallucinogens, causing them to see Mac as Coulson. Mac injected Skye with a drug, giving her dangerous powers that she fears. The scientists were able to create gloves that dampen the powers, however the stronger the episode, the more the gloves hurt the hacker.

Seeing AC back on the BUS setting after having to have dealt with Mac looking like Coulson, Skye struggles with the memories Coulson triggers when she's around the team leader.

FitzSimmons implant tech on Mac that makes it impossible for him to communicate. The team drops Mac off at an offsite base and is headed to SHIELD to try and un-redact the documents on the flash drive. Not wanting to draw attention to them, Ward is assigned to stay on the BUS with Fitz while Simmons, May and Skye hack the SHIELD files and Coulson meets with Fury.

Chapter 107 Shenanigans

"Hey Jemma, remember when you used to like following the rules and doing what was expected of you?" Skye grunted out.

"Oh those were the simpler days," Jemma replied, reaching down to grab the now unconscious man's feet.

May walked around the corner to the site of Skye and Simmons attempting to lift and drag a security agent. She only used the word attempting because the man's midsection was dragging across the floor, his weight too heavy to be lifted. Agent May took a deep breath before calmly asking, "What did you two do?"

"May!" Jemma exclaimed quietly in surprise, dropping one of the legs. "We tried to distract him," she defended.

"Asking a security guard who asks for your clearance what conditioner they use is not even close to a distraction!" Skye whisper shouted.

"Well I was going to compliment him about how good his hair looked! Isn't that what you're supposed to do?" Simmons replied, their progress of moving the body slow and tiring. "Besides, it's not like you were of any help," the biochemist mumbled. Jemma immediately froze, regretting the words. "Skye, I didn't mean it that way."

"It's ok," Skye quickly reassured, knowing her friend was right. The man had placed his hand on the hackers shoulder when they had been accessing the wall panel and Skye had completely gone rigid, her awareness of the situation only coming back to when her best friend had laughed awkwardly, twirling a piece of her hair in one hand while asking him about his hair product regimen.

The security officer, at first, had been caught off guard by the question before his confused look had turned into a glare. And that's when Simmons had pulled out the night-night pistol and yet again rendered an agent unconscious.

"You're really getting a knack for this," the analyst replied with a grunt towards the unconscious man, wanting Simmons to know she really wasn't hurt by the comment.

May resisted rolling her eyes at the snail pace they were moving before sighing and reaching for one of the man's arms. Of course the guard that they knock out has to be the most out of shape, she thought to herself as she resisted a grunt at his heaviness.

"Aww, why thank you Skye," Jemma replied genuinely. "Wait, that was a compliment, wasn't it?" Simmons questioned.

Skye paused in her actions, "we still need to work on your distraction skills," she admitted.

May rolled her eyes. "Will you two please focus?"

"Sorry May," the two replied in unison.

"Let's stow him in that hallway for now," May instructed, nodding her head towards one of the dimly lit, smaller corridors.

"Out in the open?" Skye questioned nervously.

"I'll find his superior and explain what happened...again," she replied, remembering the last time that she had been in this exact situation. It was her fault really, for leaving them unsupervised for less than a minute. "What's the next step?" May asked.

Skye walked back over to the panel. "I have this flash drive which will use my browser history to mimic my old website habits, when in actuality, it will create an access point into the SHIELD mainframe that can be accessed from the BUS," Skye explained, attaching the drive into the panel.

"Is that the same drive you used to hack the HUB the last time?" Simmons asked.

Skye nodded. "With a few modifications. Here's to hoping it will work again."

"You know, I can't help but to think that this is all a bit thrilling," Simmons stated with barely contained excitement.

Skye raised a brow at her partner, "that was the exact word you used the last time before you almost got caught. Are you trying to jinx us?"

May was tempted to break the banter, to get them to move faster, and yet it seemed to be helping the hacker to relax. And she even had to admit, it was nice seeing Skye talking rather than withdrawing to the sidelines and watching the conversations happen.

"Well, we already knocked out our share of an agent, so I think the universe is balanced and satisfied," Jemma replied, closing the panel as the hacker checked their connection on the tablet.

"Fitz?" Skye called through her comm.

"The access point has started loading onto the BUS. I'll let you know when it's finished," Fitz responded over the comms.

"Copy that," Simmons replied with a smile, enjoying using the lingo.

May shook her head in amusement, trying to push the thought that she was a glorified babysitter out of her mind.

*******AoS*******

Fitz chuckled, "You know who they remind me of?" he asked Ward. "The three stooges," he replied, not waiting for an answer. "I mean can you believe Simmons tried to distract that man by asking about his hygiene habits?" Leo shook his head fondly, smiling as he watched his science partner through the security feed. "I love her," he wistfully stated with a chuckle.

Grant turned his head at the confession.

The smile immediately left Fitz' features when he realized what he had said out loud. He turned to find Ward studying him. " I mean I love her in a...friend...slash science partner-ish way," he tried to recover, one hand on his hip as the other nervously pulled on his ear.

Ward raised a brow in reply.

"You know what I mean," Fitz frustratedly replied.

Grant continued to stare at the man whom he considered to be a younger brother.

"Ok so maybe I like her a little. I mean, she gets me!" he defended his words. "You know how rare it is to find someone who can understand your thoughts, and not just on a scientific level?" he asked.

Ward imagined it was extremely difficult to keep up with either of the scientists considering most of the time he tuned them out until they got to the part where they dumbed it down for their low-science-level-intelligence friends.

"Have you told her?" Grant asked, resisting picking on the kid.

"What?" Fitz demanded. "Are you crazy?"

"You love-"

Leo glared at the older agent, "I don't love her," his voice spluttered in a classic high pitched Fitz. "I mean, there are things that...well, she is...Look you don't understand-"

"Leo," Grant stated, stopping the other man's ramblings.

"What if she doesn't see me that way?" He finally asked, reminding Ward of a kicked puppy. "It would be awkward all the time and I would lose my best friend."

"Look, it can be scary-"

"And then I would have to run all of my theories by you," Fitz continued, shuddering at the idea.

Ward tensed at the thought. "You know what, you're right. It's not worth risking your friendship over," he quickly reasoned.

Fitz suspiciously studied the other man.

Ward sighed before turning his direct gaze back to the scientist. "Fitz, with everything you've seen in the last year…" he paused, noticing the younger man tensing in defensiveness. Switching tactics, "when you realized Mac had Simmons on the BUS...that you could possibly lose her-"

"It was terrifying," he quietly admitted, cringing as he remembered her frightened voice over the comms and not being able to do anything about it. "But she only sees me as a brother, Ward."

"Has she actually told you that, directly?" Grant asked.

He hesitated in his reply,"...no."

"Look, I know you're scared to put yourself out there…" he paused.

"She's been spending the nights with me," Fitz mumbled, his eyes on the camera footage. "Ever since we brought Mac back onto the BUS, she hasn't been able to sleep well. Has nightmares of the day Mac kidnapped her and Skye. Nightmares where neither of them get away."

Ward felt guilty at having missed this. He had seen Simmons go to Fitz' bunk, but that hadn't been a new occurrence as the two scientists were known to watch movies together.

"I mean, they're probably nothing compared to Skye's-"

"Don't," Ward interrupted. Grant softened his voice, "don't down play them."

"She wakes up terrified Grant, and it physically hurts me that I can't do anything to make it better. I honestly don't know how you deal with it so well," Fitz stated.

Ward caught himself studying the hacker over the screen. The same hacker that had turned his world upside down, making him question every core value he had been ingrained with. They'd been gone for less than a few hour and he still couldn't wait to have her back at his side. "You just make her feel as safe as you can and remind her that there is a future. A future that has so much potential to be better."

At the silence that ensued, the specialist turned his attention to Leo.

"She has really turned you into a sap," Fitz commented after studying the other man's intent gaze focused on his rookie.

Ward shrugged, knowing it was a moot point to deny something so obvious.

"Have you told her the L word?" Leo asked.

Grant rolled his eyes, "The L word? What are you, five?"

Fitz glared back in response.

"Yes, I have told her that I love her."

Fitz' face turned to one of shock. "Wait, you have?" he demanded in surprise. "But she hasn't said it back?"

"She doesn't need to," Grant replied patiently. If anyone had told him he would be talking about relationships with the resident engineer a few years back, he would have thought they had lost it. And yet, here they were.

"You don't feel rejected? I mean how awkward was it when you said it and she didn't say it back?"

Grant rolled his eyes. "It was not awkward. Look, she's been through hell and needs to find herself before she has to worry about the 'us' factor. I'm not going anywhere and we're ok with where we are," he replied, hoping that was the end of that.

"Wow. I wish I could take rejection as well as you," Fitz mumbled, earning him a rumpled piece of paper thrown at his head.

"Honestly, the world is falling apart. We almost lost them. There really isn't time for regrets right now," Ward replied, somewhat annoyed.

"But in all seriousness, do you really think…" the scientist hesitated, nervous at the other man's reaction. "Do you really think she's ready?" He finally asked, bringing forth an idea that had bothered him when their 'relationship' had first started. "Don't get me wrong, I care for you both like my own family, but the pressure of a relationship…and Skye being where she's at..." Fitz' words slowly came to a silence as he anxiously waited to see how Grant would take it.

Ward caught himself cringing on the inside, his fears spoken out loud. He wished this whole conversation was over already, not being one to enjoy 'come-together' therapy sessions. But he respected Fitz enough to take his worries seriously. "Do I think she's ready for a relationship?" Grant finally asked. "No, I don't."

Fitz' face turned to one of confusion. "Then...why?"

The specialist sighed. "She needs something that she can have control over, with no pressure."

"Wait, wait, hold on. You giving over control?" Fitz questioned, knowing what a control freak Ward could be.

The specialist shrugged, "I trust her," he replied, the words easily slipping out. "Fitz, for seven months, she had every choice stripped away from her. Sometimes the only way I can pull her back from a panic attack is to talk about the future, give her something to look forward to," he explained, his thoughts remembering how she would desperately ask him what they would do after a dreaded shower or activity, her mind needing an anchor to hold on to.

"And... you're ok with all of this?" Fitz asked, his mind still held up on the control bit.

"Look, I'm going to be whoever she needs me to be," Ward replied, getting frustrated with the conversation.

The engineer opened his mouth to retort before he decided otherwise.

"What?" Grant questioned, his tone impatient.

Leo shook his head.

"Just say it," Ward demanded.

"Well…be whoever she needs you to be? It sounds a bit unhealthy. Like you're just transferring your obsession from Garrett to Skye-" the scientist immediately shut his mouth as he watched the specialist's annoyed features disappear behind his well practiced mask. "Wait, I didn't mean-"

Before Ward could bellow out a robotic, it's fine, "Are you two done?" Coulson's voice came off the coms, his tone sharp.

Fitz blanched at the fact that the team leader had heard it all. He looked to Grant, but the other man blankly stared ahead as if it was no bother to him that Coulson had just heard their confessions.

"I hope so," Grant replied, annoyed at himself for even letting the conversation get this far. Fitz had no idea how psychologically screwed up Garrett had left him, had no idea that he still met up with Coulson on a regular basis to make sure he didn't slip as he worked on finding himself outside of Garrett and the identity his family had thrown on to him. And now, his friend had just compared the most unhealthy, screwed up relationship he had ever had to what he felt for Skye?

The specialist struggled as his mind began questioning his real feelings for the hacker. Was it an obsession and she just wasn't able to say no, because she didn't know any better? Was he hurting Skye in the long run, if he really thought they weren't ready? They were both two messed up people, after all.

Before his thoughts could go any farther, Coulson's voice pulled him back to the present. Ward took a deep breath, pushing the conflicting emotions to the side to be dealt with later, if ever.

"Good, I'm done on my end. How's it looking for the others?" Coulson asked.

"Simmons shot an agent with a night night gun," Fitz supplied, looking at the progress of the data transfer.

"Again?" Coulson asked. "I'm beginning to wonder which one of those two is the bad influence on the other," the team leader mumbled.

"Annnnd we got the access on our part," Fitz stated as the loading bar reached 100%. Opening the comms to the entire team, "You guys are all clear to come back," the engineer reassured.

"Copy that," May responded.

"Grant," Leo turned to the specialist. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," Ward replied on auto, walking away and down to the ramp to perform one more round of surveillance and make sure the path was clear.

AN: Happy SHIELD 100th episode everybody!...but please feel free to not tell me what happened as I have not seen it.

Also, this conflict at the end was not supposed to be there but just...happened? Idk, I imagine Fitz as being pretty protective of this Skye. Hope you enjoyed!

Reply to the reviews: Firstly, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your opinions! I love the engagement and reading how you guys perceive the chapters versus what I have in my head. Also, who doesn't love encouragement! It's extremely motivating :)

I know some people had stated that the Coulson-Mac scene might of been a bit too much, but honestly, getting into Coulson's head after everything that's happened including Skye once again pulling away from him, I could see his frustration building as he had to watch Skye hurting and unable to do a thing about it (not to mention, knowing that it was his decision to bring Mac on board the BUS that lead to the hacker's agony and fears being amplified). On top of that, letting Mac leave his sight with his heart still beating...It was his own way of comforting Skye from afar and easing her consciousness that Mac would never be able to harm anyone the way he did with her. Just my two cents. Thanks again!