CHAPTER 104: Grant-II
"Every decision you make from here on out has consequences. So be warned...the kiddie gloves are off", Ward said with total seriousness.
Skye, didn't back down, with a determined look on her face, she said, "G7".
Ward looks on the board, and with a calm and mildly disappointed look on his face, he said, "Hit".
"Yes! Ha!", Skye said in happiness.
Right now, Skye and Ward were playing battleship, the board game. It has been a few weeks since Agent Coulson authorize Skye to be trained as an Agent of Shield and Ward effectively became the girl's superior officer and trainer. Ward had been grilling Skye in the physical aspect required to be an agent, so he decided to take it easy on her, at least for today.
"So, explain to me again what this has to do with my training", Skye said as ate some peanuts.
"It's important for every S.O to evaluate their student's thought process...and I like board games..B10", Ward replied.
Skye immediately replied, "Nope. This isn't thinking. This is stabbing in the dark, but it's nice to take a break from the workout".
"Well, you deserve a break. I got to give Coulson credit. I would have never pegged an Ex-Rising tide hacker as a good fit for the agency but...You're picking things up pretty fast",
With an amused look on her face, Skye replied, "Did you just give me a compliment?".
"I..", Ward shakes his head and said, "No, I made a comment".
"A kind one", Skye said. Ward wanted to retort to Skye but Skye interrupted him, "Did it physically hurt to do that?", she leans closer towards him and said, "Do you need an ice pack?".
Ward just smiled at Skye's statement.
Ward played the typically calm, cold, and rarely showing emotions type of agent. If he shows emotion most of the time no one would see it. This was the reason why Skye was extremely amused at the compliment that she got from him.
"Wow, a compliment and a smile", Skye said with a smile on her face.
"Comment", Ward said in false indignation.
"I don't want to ruin the moment, but I'm gonna have to respond with...G4",
Ward looks at his board and immediately realized that he lost.
"Say it, Ward. Say it", Skye demanded with a smile on her face.
"You sank my battleship", Ward said in a neutral tone.
"HAHAHA, YES!", Skye said with genuine happiness.
"All right, best two out of three", Ward said as he immediately started fixing his board. No way he'll accept defeat that easily.
"I beat you"
"Best two out of three"
"Best 1 out of nothing"
Skye eventually relented and had another game with Ward, which Ward immediately regretted because he lost every single one of them. From best of two out of three, all the way to best of 4 out of 7, Ward lost every single game.
"Damn, I'm soooo good at this", Skye said as she leans close to Ward to rub her victory in his face.
"Lucky, that's what you are"
"I am the champion and you are the loser, cause I am champion. OF THE WORLD!",
With a smirk on his face, Ward said, "You done?"
"Yes, that was the last one", Skye said.
Ward then began to clean the table and store the board game. Since it was already late in the afternoon, Ward decided to open two bottles of beers. One for him and one for Skye.
Skye accepted the beer, and said, "I thought you said no drinking allowed?".
"We have nothing to do, besides don't get too comfortable. I won't do this often", Ward said. Besides if something came up, Ward would just channel his chakra effectively removing any effects of alcohol in his system. But you won't get drunk by just drinking one bottle of beer anyway.
"So tell me, why did you join the Rising Tide?"
"Freedom of information, I wanted everyone to know the truth and that it should be accessible to the masses"
"Hmmm...I'm not sure about that", Ward said as he takes a drink of his beer.
"What do you mean by that?", Skye asked with a furrowed brow.
"You wanna know what I think?"
"Sure, why not?"
"What I think is that you are hiding under the veil of giving people the freedom of information. What I believe is that you are looking for something. Something that means a lot to you. That is the reason why you became a hacker, you are in search of the truth, not for anyone else but for yourself", Ward said as he looks at Skye straight in the eyes.
Skye remained quiet and she had a conflicted expression on her face. What Ward said was the truth. She became a hacker for her own personal reason. Somehow that reason just became entwine with the Rising Tide's philosophy.
Ward decided to break the silence when he said, "So tell me, what is it? What have you been searching for that led you to join the Rising Tide?".
"Huh? You'll help me?", Skye asked weakly.
"Of course I will. I maybe your S.O but I'm also your friend", Ward said.
"Thanks", Skye said. She then took out a USB stick from her pockets and place it on the table. "Inside of this contains all the information about me. How I was placed to Saint Agnes Orphanage when I was a baby. How they named me Mary Sue Poots, I know that is a stupid name. That's why I change my name to Skye...All I wanted is to know who and where are my parents. My search led me to a classified S.H.I.E.L.D. file....", Skye said with a hint of vulnerability in her voice.
Ward took the USB stick and said, "I'll see what I can do". He then stood up and place one of his hands on Skye's shoulder and said, "I'll do the rest, Skye. I promise you that".
LATER THAT NIGHT:
Ward locked the door of his room, and he also placed a silencing seal just as a precaution. He wasn't that good in fuinjutsu but Ethan grilled in them some of the basic ones, some he had used in his previous missions as a S.H.I.EL.D. agent.
He then took out his laptop and inserted the USB stick, "Alfred, declassify this file for me".
"On it, sir", Alfred stated. After a few moments of waiting, Alfred was able to declassify the file. After reading through the file, twice, Ward just sighed in disappointment. It only talks about a group of S.H.I.E.L.D agents saving a baby girl and that all those said agents died doing so. It had no information about Skye's parents.
He then stood up and look out his window. He could see the clouds in the air, they were beautiful, the moon just gave enough light to add beauty to the fluffy clouds in the sky. He gathered his thoughts and then he eventually thought of his next move.
"Alfred, search in SHADOW'S database about Skye. Hack into this plane server as well and get her DNA sample that FitzSimmons have on their computer. Search that in Origin's database. It might be a far-fetched idea but I promise that I will help her, and I intend to keep that promise", Ward said.
After hacking FitzSimmon's computer, Alfred was able to trace Skye's DNA sample and get a match in SHADOW'S database.
"Sir, I think you might what to read this", Alfred stated.
Ward removed himself from looking at the window and he began reading the file that Alfred showed him.
"Who is this Jiaying?", Ward asked. The file only showed the name Jiaying, he didn't know why it was connected to Skye. He couldn't open the file cause he needed the authorization of Ethan. He may be part of SHADOW but even he needed the go-ahead of his leader in certain matters.
"Do you want me to contact Ethan, sir?", Alfred said.
"hmmm...yeah just tell him that I need him to open the file. I'm pretty sure he won't mind"
"Okay sir, wait a moment"
After a few moments of waiting, Alfred informed him that he could now view the file. He read through the file, and the more he read the file the sadder he became.
Skye's real name was Daisy Johnson, she was born in Hunan province, China. Her mother, Jiaying is an Inhuman that has the ability to absorb the life force of other people. After she was born she was separated from her parents due to Reinhardt, an old HYDRA leader capturing Jiaying by force.
Wanting to find his wife, Calvin Jonhson, Daisy's father left his daughter in the hands of the people he trusted.
He later found Jiaying remains in Austria, apparently died as a result of vivisection performed by Daniel Whitehall(Reinhardt). When Johnson discovered her body, he refused to allow his beloved wife to die and using his medical skills, stitched her body back together until her Inhuman powers allowed her to recover and return to life. Understanding, however, that he would be unable to defeat Whitehall in his current form, Johnson began to try and make himself stronger by dabbling in chemistry. Eventually, he concocted a formula that made him stronger, but also much more volatile.
He and Jiaying later returned to their village, only to find that Daisy had been taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. Jiaying ordered her husband to kill everyone, and so he did, butchering the entire population of the village and the S.H.I.E.L.D. teams who were coming to extract Daisy, who for them was as an 0-8-4. The first S.H.I.E.L.D. team was killed and a second team, composed of Linda Avery and Richard Lumley, succeeded in extracting Daisy. However, when they landed, all members of the team, including Avery, were killed by Johnson himself.
Lumley didn't like the idea of a baby being placed in the INDEX so he arranged for Daisy to disappear even from S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance. He disobeyed his order and change Daisy's name to Mary Sue Potts and placed her in Saint Agnes Orphanage.
"...This is not what I expected..", Ward said after reading the file.