Title: A Path Less Clear
Fandoms: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Characters: Grant Ward, Skye | Daisy Johnson
Rating: Teen
Length: 1,074 words
Content Notes: Variation…This is a remix of my fic: A Clear Path. For the new version I used a Skye’s POV instead of Ward’s and I changed the ending. It is also almost twice as long as the original story.
Summary: Season 1…Ward tries to change his path.




Skye was getting ready to head back to her quarters and apply several heating pads all over her aching body after a longer than usual training session with Ward. He'd worked her hard and she was already feeling it. He'd been strangely quiet throughout the session, more so than usual. Something was obviously on his mind. Skye was just about to ask him about it when he broke the silence.

"We could leave." Ward's voice sounded off and the words seemed random. In her confusion, it took Skye a minute to reply.

"What're you talking about?" She asked.

Ward sighed and ran his hand through his hair roughly. It was all sorts of messed up now. Skye had to squelch the urge to fix it for him. "
"Forget the rules, forget S.H.I.E.L.D. Just you, me and the open road."

Did those words really just come out of Grant Ward's mouth? Forget the rules? That was something she never thought she would hear him say. Skye leaned against the all and stared at him a moment. He looked different somehow but she couldn't figure out exactly how. "Like a vacation?" A vacation would almost make sense. Not that she could picture Ward on vacation, but it was at least in the realm of possibility.

He shook his head. "Like an adventure."

Skye watched the grin spread on Ward's face and almost frowned. She'd never seen him smile quite like that. It was carefree in a way that Ward wasn't. Maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought she did. "Would we be coming back from this adventure?"

"No, we'd get a fresh start, away from all this." He made a sweeping motion with his arms.

Skye had no idea what had gotten into Ward, but it was weird. The idea of Grant not being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed insane. What else would he even do? "You want to leave the team? Leave Coulson?" Skye didn't want to leave, did she? Coulson was helping her find her family. He was helping her get answers who would help her if she left?

Ward's smile slipped from his face. He looked like he was bracing himself for the disappointment of his life. "We could be our own team. Just you and me. No clearance levels. No hierarchy. No big brother looking over your shoulder, and no bracelet of restrictions." At that last one, his eyes darted towards the punishment bracelet Coulson had shackled her with after he found out why she had first joined them.

Skye looked down at her feet for a moment to get a break from Ward's intense stare. He had a point. The hierarchy and clearance levels of S.H.I.E.L.D. drover her little anarchist heart crazy. She loved feeling that she was part of a team, but she didn't love going against her ideals. The time they had all spent at the Hub had really driven home how big S.H.I.E.L.D. was. Was she really on the right path here? Was becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent really the road that she was meant to take, or was she just lonely?

When had everything gotten so tangled up in her head? Skye knew she should tell Ward no. She looked up and took a step toward him. He seemed so lost in that moment. She reached out a hand and touched his cheek. The no she knew she should say sat heavy in her chest. When she heard her own voice squeak out "Yes" it didn't feel like as much of a surprise as it probably should have.

Ward's eyes lit up in an instant and that wicked smile returned. "Yeah, really?

Skye nodded. "There's one thing though."

"Your search for your family?"

How did Ward know? Oh yeah, super spy. "Coulson was helping me, getting information. I need to keep looking."

"I'll help you," Ward said.

"Really?"

"Even without S.H.I.E.L.D. I have plenty of resources."

Skye didn't doubt that. Ward was definitely resourceful. She had thought he was boring and predictable as well, but apparently, that was no longer true; if it ever really was. She was starting to get the feeling she didn't know Grant Ward as well as she thought she did.

Skye hadn't planned on saying yes to Ward's insane proposal, she hadn't even been sure that he was being serious about the whole thing, but it felt important that she take it seriously. With him helping her with her family search, then she didn't really need to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D., did she?
"So, what's next? When do we leave?" They were on the ground for the rest of the day but had plans to be in the air by the next morning. They'd have to leave soon.

"Go pack a bag and I'll get the information we need from Coulson. Then we'll be on our way."

"Should we say goodbye to everyone?"

"It's probably best if you send them an email later or something," Ward said. She knew he was right but she felt kind of bad not saying goodbye. After everything, they'd all been through.

She looked at her wrist and the bracelet that encircled it. She hated Coulson when he locked it on her, just for a moment. She held up her wrist to Ward. "What about this?"

"When you're ready to leave I'll take care of it."

Skye packed her belongings into a large duffle bag and a backpack. What wouldn't fit she left behind. Not that she had much. It's hard to accumulate much stuff when you go from living in your van to living on a plane. Ward was standing behind her when she turned around.

"You ready?" Ward had a couple of large black duffle bags slung over his shoulder and was wearing a black leather jacket Skye was didn't remember ever seeing him wear before.

Skye nodded. "Did you get the information?"

"I did, let's go." He held out his hand and she gave him her wrist. He whispered something into the bracelet that she didn't quite catch and it fell open. "Leave it on your bed, it's got a tracker."

Skye did as he said and slipped her hand in his and together they left everything behind.