Waking Up Next to You
Author's Note: Some light and romantic SkyeWard fluff . HYDRA Ward never exists. Established Skyeward.
It's a daily ritual he loves.
Grant Ward wakes up in bed in the morning, blissfully satisfied with the position he's in. Usually he has one arm tucked under his pillow, and the other in one way shape or form wrapped around his wife curled up next to him. Skye has proven to be a sound sleeper, and with Grant being the lighter sleeper of the two, he usually wakes up first. After blinking s few times, he glances down at the peaceful figure tucked next to him, taking in her beauty, her sweet scent, and the calm that only she is able to provide him.
Even before this first year of being married, Grant has a routine. Before, it was to get up, train, work, and train again. Missions came as they did. And when he met Skye, His routine changed to training her first, then him training, then working together, and training together again. Once they got together, add snuggling to that routine.
He thinks back of how far they've come, from the time he yanked her out of her van, to the day he almost lost her; he recalls the day he finally mustered the courage to ask her out, and how silly their dates have been (kinda hard to have a "normal" dating life when most of your time is spent flying or shooting bad guys). Most of all, he remembers the look on her face when he asked her to marry him, and how angelic she looked when she walked down the aisle in Coulson's arm towards him.
He is the luckiest man alive, he believes.
So much of his former self has changed that he almost doesn't recall why it took so long for him to get his head out of his ass. Why did he take so long to open up and let people in, why was he so cold towards others, and why he was so….lonely.
Until he met her.
Her sass, wit, and selfless beauty threw chaos into his life, and though he was so frustrated in the beginning, he was relieved that he was able to start seeing colors in his life, not just grey. His compartmentalized views were thrown open as she crept her way into the crevices in his heart. And now, he can't imagine anyone else filling those gaps in his heart except her.
It scares him everyday that she may leave him one day, not willingly, but by the nature of their jobs as agents. And naturally, it could be him who leaves this world first. But he's okay with that, as long as she is well taken care of—and he knows she will be, with Coulson and the team by her side. But he doesn't dwell in those thoughts long; he thinks back to some of the most memorable experiences with her:
(flashback #1)
"Surprise!" Skye yelps as she lifted her hands from Grant's face.
In front of him on the kitchen counter laid a small, round strawberry mousse cake with 3 candles on it. It was his favorite type of cake, and when he looked to his side, Skye was missing. He glanced back at the cake and found her smiling, holding out a small gift box in her hand. "Happy Birthday!"
Grant's eyes widened in wonder and warmth radiated in his chest. Moisture built at the ends of his eyes as he took in what just happened. He strode over and enveloped her into his arms. "How did you know?"
"You're asking a hacker this question?" she replied, muffled in his shirt. He could feel her teasingly grin into his chest as he chuckled in return.
"Of course not."
She gently pulled away and looked at him in the eyes. "This is my second year with SHIELD. I know you don't like celebrating birthdays, but I—I wanted to do something special for you. No party. No crowds. Just the two of us, our time together however you want it. I hope you—"
He cut her off by bringing his lips down to hers and kissing her, gently at first, and then a little harder. He felt her melting into his kiss and wrapping her arms around his neck. After a few more beats, he pulled away and brushed some hair away from her soft face. "Thank you. Thank you so much. This is exactly how I like it. I never really celebrated my birthday growing up and—this, THIS [gesturing her and the cake] is the best present I can ever ask for."
She sweetly smiled at him and held out the small gift box in her hand. "And don't forget this present!" she grinned, excitedly.
It was a very small gift box, with a simple blue ribbon tied on it. He released her and slowly unwrapped the box, only to reveal….
…a deck of poker cards.
Ward furrowed his brow in confusion. "You want to play poker?"
She shyly smiled and picked the deck out of his hands, pulling out the deck. "I was thinking…." She started, biting her lip. "We play a game."
"Oh?"
She grinned mischievously. "Whichever card(s) you pull out, is the number of kisses I give you. [pokes at his chest] And certain hands can give you certain privileges."
Grant smirked right back. "I think I like this game…" He started to reach for the deck. "What if I pull a royal flush?"
She fanned the cards in his face and pushed him back to fall onto the couch, with her stumbling after him. "Then THAT, is the winning hand…" She leaned down and kissed him slowly…
(end flashback #1)
That was the first birthday they celebrated together, and by far, one of the most memorable. He loved how much time she spends for him, making him feel like he is loved in this world, and that there are those who do want to make dreams come true.
He would equally do the same, and even more. He knows how much she cares not only for him, but the team as well…sometimes he wonders if she knows how little she spends on herself.
(flashback #2)
He knew she shouldn't have gone out alone in the streets of LA herself. Skye was supposed to meet up with a former—ahem—close friend from the orphanage she grew up in. He was her first boyfriend, even before Miles. Though he wasn't an outright douche bag like Miles, Grant had heard the stories of how he was a pretty popular kid growing up in the orphanage, while she was off alone (what a vast difference her personality is now). He always seemed busy, but he had a soft spot for Skye—or so she told him.
She was excited to meet up with him, because despite his popularity, he did teach her how to ride a bike, tutored her in school before she dropped out, and countless other things while growing up. She always felt so special around him; even after they broke up, she still viewed him as a big brother. There's just one problem.
He didn't necessarily always think the same thing.
So here she is, two hours after she was supposed to meet him, she was still waiting on the steps on the library, in the pouring rain. Her rain jacket was thoroughly soaked, and her umbrella broken. Her down trodden face was cast downward, and Grant watched from a distance away. His initial bursts of anger instantly melted into sadness and sympathy for the girl sitting alone on the steps.
He quickly walks over, with his umbrella in hand and held it over her, shielding her from the rain as he knelt down. He noticed the redness and tears that had once slid down her face and he reached to hold her arm. "Skye?"
She looked up and saw Grant's face, full of empathy, and then the umbrella that was preventing any more water from soaking her. After a couple of seconds of staring at him, she threw her arms around him and pulled him close. Grant didn't mind her wet clothes now soaking his as used his free arm to wrap around her too. "I'm such an idiot," she cried. "He never changes. He never shows up. It was like that growing up. We only met when he wanted to, never when I wanted to. I'm just never an important enough person—to him, to those families—"
He pulled away for a moment and silenced her with a finger to her lips. "NEVER say that again. You are important, Skye. You're important to the team. You're important to me. And that's all that matters. That guy and those families did not know what they're missing out on. We will never leave you hanging."
She nodded slowly. "Promise?"
"Promise," he nodded, smiling. They hugged each other again, and Skye felt for the first time, she found her rock. Never will he leave her, and never will she leave him.
(end flashback #2)
Grant still wanted to punch that guy in the face for standing her up like that, but he knew it was all in the past. No one gets to hurt his girl. He will always take care of her.
She will always take care of him too.
(flashback #3)
He stumbles into the lab with his right hand grasping his left shoulder. The whole team was grazed with various injuries, so Simmons was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to patch everyone up. He had just a shot to his shoulder, so he felt he could manage. It wasn't until he almost trips over the holotable that he feels he maybe (maybe) is losing too much blood for him to focus.
As he fumbled around the cabinets for medical supplies, he felt a warm hand tug on his free hand back to a chair a few feet away. Before he realized what was happening, Skye sat him down and started tearing his shirt apart, making a quick work of the antiseptic and then extracting the bullet from his shoulder. (She later told him it was because she's watched Simmons do it so many times on him that she can do it herself…"How hard can it be?" was what she said.)
Throughout the procedure—he was too dazed to remember most of it, only recalled later—he remembered her saying soothing things to him, and he remembered it was cold….it turned out that specialist Agent Grant Ward was not just susceptible to just gunshot wounds, but also the flu as well. He did a number on himself going into the mission without much clothing and only gear in 30°F weather.
He does remember that she managed to get him to stand back up and lean on her petite frame while they stumbled back to his bunk. He was tucked into his bed, and by that time, he was shivering worse than a cat that fell in the water. Grasping her hand, he wanted the fire to stop burning him while she stayed by his bedside, all night, making sure he didn't agitate his wound from all the shaking and fever coursing through his body.
He woke up the next morning feeling pain in his shoulder and cold, but at least he stopped shivering. Here curled up on the chair beside him was the little angel who set aside her cuts and wounds to take care of him, all night. She held a moistened towel in one hand, one likely used to dab his forehead, and his hand in the other. And in that moment, he knew that he will never let her go.
(end flashback #3)
They've been through thick and thin together, sprinkled with dabs of laughs too.
(flashback #4)
"I sunk YOUR Battleship!" he yells, rejoicing. He was grinning ear to ear and stared at his victorious peg board, trying to memorize the formation on it.
She pouted for a moment, but an amused grin crept up on her face as she watched her SO have an adorable child-like moment.
"Fine," she huffed. "I lost. What was supposed to happen when I lose?"
He got up from the couch across from her and walked over slowly. She watched his eyes as he did so, suspicious at his demeanor. "What are you doing?" she slowly asked. She knew he was up to no good.
A mischievous grin came onto his face. He loved how unsettled he was making her; that adorable look of confusion could make his heart melt any day. He crouched down in front of her and peered into her eyes. "Do you really want to know?" he asked, grinning.
"Stop it, now you're acting like a cocky douche—EEEEEEE! AHHHH! WARD!"
He pounced on her and grabbed her sides, tickling her mercilessly. She burst into a fit of giggles, falling back on the couch and trying to clutch her sides.
"This is what happens when you lose! Ha! Ha! Gotcha! Gotcha!" he laughed, continuing with his tickling.
"GRANT! Stop, stop! I can't take this anymore! Hahahaha-!"
"Never! You will suffer at the hands of the Tickle Monster!"
(Yes, he was proud of cracking that joke.)
"How many more battleships of mine are you going to sink—"
"GRANT! Ahhhhh!"
The commotion was so loud that Coulson and the rest of the team barged into the lounge area, and they were thoroughly amused watching Grant overwhelming Skye with his ticklish feat. It's been a while since they've heard so much laughter on the Bus together, not ever since the recent visit from Lorelai and Lady Sif. But the familiar sounds of Skye laughing, and even more now, Grant laughing, were a common occurrence, and they couldn't all be happier to share the joy with each member of this little family.
(end flashback #4)
He tried to repress a chuckle from his mouth at the thought of the last memory, but he couldn't help it. She was laughing so hard that day that she had tears in her eyes afterwards, flushed. It was one of the first memories soon after they started dating, and he could never get tired of how cute she was whenever she broke out in a fit of giggles. Her beauty just shines that much more whenever she smiles and laughs.
His chuckling suddenly woke the lovely angel beside him, as she sleepily rose her head up to glance at him. "Grant? What are you doing?"
He brought his hand down to brush stray hairs away from her face. "Nothing hon'. Just thinking about things."
"Are they good things?"
Grant smiled and leaned closer to give a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Yes. Very good things. Go back to sleep," he whispered.
She nodded and cuddled into his side again, allowing sleep to overcome her in a matter of seconds. He readjusted the blankets to cover her before warmly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her close.
As his eyes close, he thinks, "Waking up next to you, that's the best way to start my day."
THE END