It probably should have bothered him more that he'd been so willing to meet with the man that he knew had built him up from nothing into a weapon. Taken a broken and hollowed out kid out of juvie with a choice. It had taken him a lot of time and a lot of hurt to accept that. But he was getting to. He understood what his life had been. And he'd been getting past it all, making his own choices. But then, what should have been the happiest he could possibly be, a chance with Skye, something real and tangible to feel, one text from John Garrett and Ward knew he'd lose her.
He should have just left the man to his own devices. But he couldn't do that. Everyone got a second chance here. And on some level it was still ingrained in him to help Garrett get what he needed.
He'd gotten himself a second phone already. For when he needed it. He'd been taught well, second best since Romanoff they'd said. He wondered how the rankings would shift given he'd already been in deep cover during the espionage tests, every aspect of his life checked and double checked and they'd never seen the lies.
Ward spotted Garrett quickly, reading, actually turning the page which was pretty key to not getting made.
"They're not hacking my phone John." he said simply, sitting on the bench. "And you don't need to worry that they'll come after you. Thing about this place, we work on a truce. Second chances all round, like I said, and if you take it. Maybe things can be good here for you."
He knew the look he'd gotten as soon as he'd sat down. Weak. Garrett thought he'd failed. A million other people, they wouldn't have caught it. But Ward knew the man well enough to know that much. And maybe he had failed, maybe he was weak. But he wasn't here to take orders from anyone. Not anymore.