Chapter Text
Prologue: A Meeting in the Closet
He didn’t expect to be pulled into a room while walking around in Providence. But the sudden change of scenery sent his instincts into motion, and he lashed out with his fist. His knuckles connected with air, and he stumbled a little. As he turned to strike elsewhere, a sharp hit to his ribs sent him doubling over.
“So how’s Raina?”
Ward wasn’t as surprised at the question as he was by the person who asked it. “What are you talking about?”
She closed the door behind them. They appeared to be in a storage closet of some sort. He couldn’t hold back the memory of another closet, only he had been with Skye then.
“Don’t lie to me,” said Simmons, her voice low and dark. “I know you didn’t go drop off Garrett at the Fridge. I bet you were even one of those lucky few who got to raid it. I also know that Raina’s out. I’ve worked with her before, and I know that scent of perfume anywhere. It might have been faint when you arrived, but I was close enough to you to smell it. So cut the bull, Ward.”
Ward looked at her. This was a side of Jemma Simmons he didn’t know existed. “What do you know?”
She shrugged. “I know you are Hydra, and that you came into it under Agent Garrett. I know that you’re not here because of your loyalty to the remains of what was once called SHIELD, but because Garrett wants something. Whether it’s murdering everyone here or exposing this little haven to Hydra, I don’t know. But I know that it has something to do with Coulson’s team.”
Damn she was good. She had caught things that he had not expected. But something in the sentence that she just said sounded off. “You said Coulson’s team. Not my team.”
“You’re very observant Agent Ward.”
“You’re not SHIELD.”
She shook her head, smiling. “You’d be surprised at the number of people who are only loyal to SHIELD. It’s quite shocking to see how many of those ‘loyal’ agents have ulterior motives.”
Ward felt his breath catch. Did he have an ally in his midst? “Are you Hydra?” he asked hesitantly. Right now, she could say almost anything and surprise him.
Simmons scoffed, offended. Her lip curled in disgust. “No, I’m invested in something much more advanced and much less sloppy than Hydra. I’m part of something that’s built to last. Raina is too, even if her current objective lies within Hydra. Which is why I need you.”
Her eyes shone with pride and admiration as she spoke. Ward wished he could be that passionate about Hydra’s goals. But his first loyalty was Garrett. It had always been for the man who pulled him out of his hell.
“What do you want?” he asks flatly, swallowing a little.
Smiling sweetly, she reached into her pocket and produced a piece of paper. She handed it to him. Turning it over, Ward saw it was a photograph of someone he knew all too well. “This is-“
Her hand clapped over his mouth. “Hush now,” she scolded. “All I need you to do is give this to Raina as soon as you return to the Hydra base.”
He blinked. “But what does she want with this?” Unless Raina had some creepy obsession he was unaware of, he didn’t know how the photo would come of use to her.
“There’s someone who’s been looking for her for a long time, Agent Ward,” Simmons said casually. “They want to know what she can do. I’m just passing intel up to someone who is closer to the top than myself.”
Ward gripped the photograph. “You know, I can expose you to the team.”
Simmons laughed, but it was an icy laugh that almost made him shiver. “I can do the same thing, Grant,” she said, her words precise and cutting. “And somehow, I think they would be more inclined to believe me if I show the footage from the Fridge.”
She held up a flash drive he had never seen before. Ward felt nervous, but considered the possibility that she could be lying. But he couldn’t tell anymore. The warm, bubbly biochemist was gone, replaced instead by this cold woman who knew things that could destroy him. She was right though; he couldn’t just walk up and expose her. He didn’t even what or who she really worked for.
Ward slipped the photo into his pocket and made for the door. Before he could grab the handle, Simmons darted in front and stopped him. “Simmons, please,” he whispered pleadingly. He wanted to get out and get away from her. She actually scared him now.
“You say nothing of this,” she hissed. “You even give so much as hint of what I really am, and I swear whatever hell you’ve gone through with your parents or Garrett will be like heaven compared to what I could do to you. Are we clear?”
He nodded. Simmons smiled brightly as the mask of the cheery Brit slid back onto her features.
“Let’s go rejoin the team before they begin to wonder about us.” She opened the door, her face a picture of innocence. “Shall we?”
“Simmons wanted you to have this.”
Raina nodded in thanks at the specialist who had just handed her the photograph. Ward then left the room to go find Garrett or someone else. She didn’t care who. It wasn’t like she wanted to be doing this.
Looking at the photo made her stomach turn with fear. She remembered the last time she met Skye, when she had been torturing Coulson for information, the girl had punched her. But the memory of that incident wasn’t what made her so scared. It was knowing what she could be to her and what he might do to her that really scared Raina. It was for this reason that she hoped for once in her life that Jemma Simmons was actually wrong, and that Skye wasn’t who she thought she was.
But if she was, then she would have to keep her safe and away from that man who had destroyed both of their lives.