This was kind of a prompt from tumblr. I wanted to make a really short story but then I was out of control. hahaha Hope you enjoy it.

I don't own any of this characters.

BONDING EXERCISES

Another 084 was reported, this time in Western Europe, some kind of staff with magical properties that had fallen into the wrong hands. It should be an easy mission,

When the team went in they expected to talk some sense into the group of people, but they were determined, talking about how the human race's not worth saving… the usual. They attacked.

The team got their ICERS ready and took cover, but Skye wasn't fast enough.

Grant did the only thing he could think of. He threw himself in front of her. He needed to protect her. He couldn't loose her again.

A powerful ray of energy hit them both. All they could see was light and the impact threw them several feet away from the team. He tried to cushion her fall when they hit a wall.

"Skye!" He said with his last bit of consciousness "Are you ok? Please…" He tried to move, he couldn't. In fact, he couldn't feel anything.

"Grant"

That's the last thing he heard.

Skye didn't registered how it happened. It was so fast, so… bright. She woke up a couple of hours later, feeling dizzy, heavy.

Grant. She needed to know if he was fine.

She opened her eyes to find herself in a medical room, it didn't look like the bus; they were somewhere else. Her throat burned like hell, she tried to move but her body was so heavy.

Simmons appeared in the room, telling her to stay still. The scientist looked relieved.

"Welcome back" she smiled "That was quite a punch, even for a big guy" She started checking on her. Skye frowned.

"Easy there. You have a couple of cracked ribs, but you have seen worse"

"Ward" Skye finally managed to say.

Only that it wasn't in her voice.

"Simmons" She said, and again, it wasn't her voice.."Wha…what…?" she cleared her throat and moved her hands up.

Her man hands.

"Oh God"

"Hey, Ward. Take it easy. Your cardiac frequency is accelerating. You need to calm down"

"No" Skye started to breath heavily "Skye" she corrected her friend.

"Skye is fine. She'll wake up soon. She's right next to-"

She stopped when Fitz stormed in the room.

"We have a problem. Oh… he's…she's awake. We have a very, very big problem"

"What are you even talking about" Jemma said, still confused, when the door was slammed open violently. It was Skye… or at least her body.

They looked at each other, both terrified.

"This can't be happening" Grant said when he finally realized that it was true. He was looking at his body lying on the bed right in front of his eyes.

"So you're telling me…" Coulson was walking while he was trying to understand the situation.

"Skye's in Ward's body" Said Simmons

"And he's in her body" Fitz added.

Coulson rubbed his eyes. They were in a meeting room in one of shield's medical facilities "How?"

"We don't know" Fitzsimmons said at the same time.

"But this is bad" Jemma continued

"Very very bad" Leo added

"It's ok, it's fine… we can fix it right? How can we fix it?" Coulson asked.

"We…" Simmons started talking, but Leo interrupted her.

"We don't know sir, really"

"It's alien technology… like magic" Simmons added

"Or science. It's just science" Fitz looked at her.

"Find a way. We have the staff. Make it work. And keep this quiet"

"Frankly sir, I don't think you should worry about us" Simmons concluded

Back in the room, Skye and Ward were staring at each other without being able to pronounce a word.

She managed to sit in the bed, wondering how did he seem so cool every time he was injured before. She wasn't used to this kind of pain.

Not that she was used to this situation either. There he was, looking at her, in her body.

He was as startled, feeling uncomfortable and… little. How could they fix it? Now this was a big problem. What if they couldn't fix it? What if he had to stay in a woman's body for the rest of his life. What if-"

"We're gonna see each other naked" She broke the silence and Grant almost choked.

"We… are not…" Grant sighed. He would never get used to his new voice "That's not our biggest problem here, you know that?"

"That's amazing" she smiled "You have my voice but you kind of kept your accent"

Grant frowned, sighing again, frustrated "Are you amused?!"

"Hey. Stop putting wrinkles on my forehead" She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward "Wow… I'm pretty"

"Skye!"

"Yeah… ok, sorry" she made a face when she tried to get more comfortable.

"You ok?" He walked next to her.

"I guess…"

"Sorry about that"

"You always get hurt like this protecting us, protecting everybody. And it really sucks" She swallowed and closed her eyes "How can you be so cool about it?"

He pouted, "You get used" then he smiled "That's what I do. I don't regret it. I just regret that it's you dealing with the pain now"

"It'll be fine. I'm… huge, and all muscle. I'm really trying to see the silver lining here, you know. Like this is a really weird bonding exercise" She teased with a smile.

For some reason he took her hand in his. Her… huge hand. He pulled back immediately "This is so weird"

Skye chuckled "Fitzsimmons will find a way to get us back to normal. Don't worry" He didn't answer "And I'm not amused. I mean… that thing could have killed us… or kill you. We didn't… " She looked at him "We didn't know what the staff could do… This was… kind of a surprise, but we're alive"

"I guess you're right"

They heard a soft knock on the door. Then May walked in the room.

"Uhm… are you ok?" The senior agent asked, looking at both of them.

"Are you talking to hurt Skye in here? Or other Skye in there?" Skye said.

"Wow… it is true"

"It is" Grant sighed

"Ok… I just wanted to check in because we're going to leave. We're heading back to the hub" He looked at Skye… in the bed "Can you… walk?"

"It hurts a little but I think I can"

"I'll help" Grant added.

May just nodded. Skye could swear there was an expression on May's face, like the first expression ever. The senior agent left the room.

A few minutes later Simmons was getting Skye ready. She was sitting shirtless while the scientist was wrapping bandages around her abdomen. After a ton of pills the pain had ceased and she could walk.

Back in the bus she rushed to her bunk to find a mirror. It was really amazing. She couldn't stop touching her own face, cheeks, cheekbones, jaw… that jaw. She narrowed her eyes, focusing all of her attention on her own image in the mirror… or Grant's image. He really was handsome. Not just hot… She always knew he was hot, but his face was just… good-looking.

She moved her hand down and poked her… his abs; everything was so firm. She looked down. Maybe a quick peek wouldn't hurt anyone. After all… she was going to see… it… sooner or later.

She moved her hands to his belt buckle, but someone opened the door of her bunk, making her startle and drop the mirror to the floor.

"What were you doing?" Grant frowned

"I was just…" she cleared her throat and pointed at the mirror on the floor "You know… looking at my new face… it's really weird" She tried to smile, but she could felt the blush on her cheeks.

Grant nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes "Alright…"

"Ehm… you need something?" She smiled.

"Well, actually… you" Skye frowned and he continued "I really, really need to… go… to the bathroom"

"Oh… that"

"I thought you should know"

She swallowed "It's… cool. Don't worry about it, really… I mean… we're adults. It's not like you have not seen a naked woman before, right?" She tried to sound as cool as possible.

"Yeah, but this is…" He bit his own lip. While the only think she could think was that, somehow, Grant Ward was biting her lip… "Uhm…"

"This is… what?" She finally asked.

"No… I mean. I won't look…. I don't want to…" He cleared his throat "I mean… I'll just go"

"Yeah. I think we should spare some details… as long as we're in this situation"

"You're right" He smiled and left the room, closing the door again.

That same evening Skye decided to check on Fitzsimmons and their progress. Maybe she found the situation kind of amusing, but that didn't mean that she didn't want her body back. Her ribcage still hurt a little and she felt a little clumsy… being that big. When she walked in the lab the duo was bickering about… things she couldn't even understand. They had the staff in there.

"We can't just blast them with it. It also has destructive powers, We don't know how to set it in change bodies, Fitz, it could do something worst, or kill them"

"Isn't the kill part the worst part?"

"Agh… it is, but that's not the point. We need to be sure" Jemma added.

"Well" Skye cleared her throat "I see that we're making real progress here, right?" She smiled.

It was so weird to see a smile on Grant Wards face.

"I will never get used to this" Jemma sighed.

A few hours later Agent Sitwell was waiting for them for debrief at the Hub. Coulson insisted that they had to keep their situation between the team before involving big Shield .

When they met the agent he asked Coulson, Ward and May to follow him.

He frowned when the hacker girl tried to follow them.

"Hey" Coulson said grabbing Ward's arm "You stay here with Fitzsimmons" he said slowly.

"And stay out of trouble" Skye teased, following the other agents. It was amazing how he was able to pull his hate face even…without his face.

"Say cheese" Said the machine, but Skye didn't know what to do. Coulson decided to go first and she did the same afterwards.

"Are you feeling ok, agent Ward? You seem a little distracted" Sitwell said.

"Yeah… I just have a couple of cracked ribs…. so… I'm a little slow" she smiled "but I'm fine, thanks for asking"

The man frowned "Ok… then follow me, please"

Skye had never seen one of those rooms. Now she felt like a super spy. All those agents working, monitoring everything with-

"Wow, dude, you could do that with a different channel. It would be way fast…er" She stopped when she noticed that Coulson and May were looking at her with a disapproving look "I guess…" She smiled "I've learn a few things"

"Do you mind, Agent Ward?" Sitwell frowned and skye shook her head. The agents continued talking about their mission and the staff. th

"I believe you found a few hostiles while retrieving the object"

"We did. But our team could manage" Coulson nodes.

"With violence" Skye interrupted and Coulson had to clear his throat.

"He's in a lot of pain killers" The agent added, referring to Ward… or Skye… in Ward's body….whatever "So, are we clear to go?"

"You sure you don't need medical attention for any of your agents?" Sitwell insisted.

"Absolutely" Coulson smiled

Back in the bus Ward was still with Fitzsimmons. He was getting a little impatient. He didn't want to be alone; it was too much of a temptation. He had to respect her. Skye was right, it wasn't like he hadn't seen a woman before, but what he couldn't say was that this was different, this was Skye… he wasn't going to see or…touch anything unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Hey. Ward! Are you even listening?" Fitz was almost yelling at him.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"We just told you" Jemma added

"We need Skye" Fitz said.

"Ok… I'll go get her" He nodded and went looking for her.

She wasn't in her bunk.

"Skye?" He couldn't find her. She wasn't in her bunk, she wasn't in the living are, or the kitchen.

"Skye!" He insisted, and then her head popped up behind the bathroom door.

Or his head, his head with wet hair.

From the bathroom

"What are you doing?!" He asked almost too loud.

"Uhm… taking a shower? Don't you shower?"

He swallowed "Why?"

"Well, because your body smells, silly. We just came from a fight. I didn't want to spend the day all sweaty"

"You're… you're not supposed to do that. It's inappropriate"

"Ok, I thought we had an agreement. You already saw my business and I can't see yours?" She rose an eyebrow "Seriously, it's not a big deal, Ward" She smirked at him, and then continued, "At least the deal part is not… big"

"What…?" He frowned "Ok…just stop"

"So that's how I look when I blush" She continued teasing.

"I'm not blushing"

"Relax, Ward" She smiled and opened the door a little. She was dripping water, but she was also wearing his boxers.

"You're wearing boxers" He said a little relieved.

"I am… that thing was too distracting…. like just hanging down there… you know like…" She let her arm hang and just…moved it to try to express her point. Grant grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Ok, you made your point" He sighed, "Can you even shower? I mean… you were hurt"

"I'm ok" She smiled "Don't need any help if that's what you're suggesting perv. I'll be out in a sec" She closed the door again with a suggestive smirk. He needed a few seconds to respond.

"I was not suggesting anything!" He yelled at the door until he heard someone clearing his throat behind him. He turned around slowly. "Eh… hello, sir, Agent Coulson. I was just leaving" he smiled and passed by his boss and wanting to hide in his bunk.

A couple of minutes later he heard somebody knocking on his door. It was Skye. She had her bandages in one hand.

"Do you mind?" She asked with a smile while she was stepping in his bunk. He didn't even respond when she was already sitting in his bed. She proceeded to take her black t-shirt off.

"Oww" She grimaced.

"You ok?" He helped her pulling the t-shirt up. She was so tall, even when she was sitting on his bed and he was standing up in front of her.

"Thanks. I'm… getting used"

He sat next to her, putting his arms around her body… his body, to start wrapping her with the bandages. He didn't realize how short her arms were until he was awkwardly invading her personal space; He pulled back when she did the same.

"I'm sorry. I kind of forgot that you are… you I mean, in my body… "

"No, it's ok" she smiled "You can touch yourself all you want" She tried to joke but it ended up sounding dirty. He kind of froze in his place "I mean touch me…" worst.

Skye cleared her throat "this body… you can… the bandages. Damn, just forget everything I said"

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, but then he started laughing.

"Are you laughing at me?" She punched his arm, gently; it was her arm after all. "Ok, as much as I enjoy seeing you laugh, just stop ok? This one doesn't count because all I'm hearing is me laughing. You get to laugh when you're in your own body and when it's not because something stupid I said"

"Maybe the laughs come with the body"

"You trying to tell me that I'll turn into a grumpy robot while I'm here?"

"Maybe an adorable robot" He said almost without realizing it. Then he avoided her eyes.

"You're blushing… again" She teased with a smile.

"How do you even control this thing?"

"I don't control anything. Maybe you're just too attracted to yourself" She continued.

"Or maybe that comes with the body too" He smirked at her. They were still too close to each other and the atmosphere felt suddenly charged with some kind of tension.

Skye swallowed.

Grant didn't know what to do. He wanted to kiss her… but her, not kiss himself. But it was her in front of him… it was too damn confusing.

"Fitzsimmons" He whispered

"What?" Skye raised an eyebrow.

"They.. they needed for you…eh, they needed you and they were looking for you"

"Oh"

"Maybe Simmons can help you with the bandages" He cleared his throat.

"You ok?" Skye asked.

"I… don't know. I'll be better when we fix this"

The next morning there was an persistent knocking on his door. And it was way too early, even for him.

He tried to ignore it, he felt so damn lazy. It was probably Skye's fault. Her body was lazy.

"Open the door, you dumbass" she whispered outside.

Ward sighed and finally got up, sliding the door to find Skye with a blanket around her waist.

"I have a problem" She walked in without asking for permission, as usual. "Close the door" She demanded.

"What's wrong? It's too early; go find someone else to bother"

"Oh,I would if I wasn't dealing with a massive boner right now"

Grant blinked a few times. If the situation was not awkward enough now it had reached a new level.

"Dude, like really? You are not a teenager, I thought you had those things under control"

"I…I…"

"Just tell me what to do!"

"It'll wear off. Try to distract yourself with something"

"That's your big plan? Really?"

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Well, I could…"

"NO!"

"Calm down, prudie…It was just a suggestion"

"What do you have to be such a jerk about this whole situation?"

"What?" Skye frowned, confused. So did Grant. "Did you just call me a jerk?" Skye chuckled.

"I'm sorry"

"Ok, are you going to help me with this or what?"

"Maybe we could see a movie or something, or pictures of horrible crimes. We have a lot of that"

"I prefer the movies" Skye smiled "Something dumb or boring, I don't care. And I'll keep this blanket"

"Ok then" Grant smiled. He had some movies, dumb action movies. A lot of bullets, and blood and bad dialogues, which was just perfect.

Skye was lying on his bed when he joined her, trying to keep his distance in such a little space.

"So, are you feeling better?" Grant asked.

"Well, you just reminded me of it, but yes.. I guess" Skye looked at him. He was wearing her pajamas, just a cotton t-shirt and shorts, barefoot. She liked to sleep wearing socks. That must feel so weird.

Then another thought crossed her mind. The image of Grant putting on her pajamas, the truth was she wasn't as uncomfortable with the situation as she thought she would be. Plus, he smelled really nice.

She was on her side, and noticed that he was half asleep. How could he? She realized that they were sleeping together in the same bed. No matter the situation, they were still… them. Skye leaned a little closer and almost without noticing, she was wrapping her arm around his waist… her waist.

Grant opened his eyes suddenly when he felt a hand touching his bare skin. The hand was pulled away immediately.

"This is not going to work" Skye almost jumped out of the bed.

"Wait"

"Maybe what I need is a really cold shower"

"What do you mean attracted to yourself?" Simmons asked a little distracted later in the morning. She was analyzing their blood samples.

"Are you even listening?" Skye insisted.

"I'm hearing"

"Well, I told you… I was there with him, who happens to be me and I felt things… in my man parts"

"Wow" Simmons finally looked at her "That's awfully graphic"

"I'm living it! It's wrong! It has to be like some level of incest… or gay-ness, I don't know" Skye sighed.

"Not technically because you're in a man's body. You may be you but all his system is still working as a man's body, which means your hormones are man hormones. You could feel attracted to girls"

"BUT NOT TO ME! The girls are not the problem here, Simmons"

"Or maybe there is a stronger effect at play. You know males can react to the female organism that they already like"

"Please don't turn this into a biology class" Skye rubbed her eyes.

"It's simple, your brain, or Ward's brain is reacting by instinct, an animal impulse, triggered by to scent of the female he already likes" Jemma had a big smile on her face.

"Ok, you'll have to stop right there because you're just making it weirder, weirdo"

"Did he display any unusual behavior?" Simmons asked curiously, walking closer to Skye, who was sitting close to the holotable.

"I don't know. He blushes a lot" She smiled.

"And?"

"He's kind of over reacting about…anything"

Meanwhile, Ward was playing cards with Fitz, and for the first time loosing.

"I just don't know. I feel like I should be doing something. It must be so difficult to her, this whole situation"

"I raise 10" Fitz pushed more of his beans to the middle of the table.

"Hey! I'm trying to talk to you. Could you please be my friend and offer some advice?"

"Yeah but you've been drawing circles about it for 20 minutes. I don't even know what are you talking about"

"I'm talking about Skye!"

"She seems to be doing just fine"

"Do you think so? I don't know. What if she's not telling me something"

"It's your turn"

"Fitz!" Grant dropped his cards on the table.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, you clearly are more interested in this stupid game than what I'm telling you"

Fitz frowned "Oh my God"

"What?" Grant asked, looking offended.

"I need to talk to Simmons. I think I know what's happening"

"With Skye?"

Fitz just sighed and walked towards the stairs, leaving Grant alone and heading to the lab. When he arrived his partner was talking to Skye.

"Ward's turning into a woman" He announced, a little too excited.

"Oh my God. This is amazing" Simmons smiled "I was just thinking about it. Skye's body, or Agent Ward's body here is actually presenting a sexual response towards Skye"

"Wowowowo… that's not-"

"Obviously" Fitz said amusedly. He walked closer to Skye "Obviously. Her brain, well, his brain is still processing-"

"Male hormones and responses" Simmons added, "the same with Ward, just imagine his levels of estrogens he's dealing with. And he's not used to any of that" She said to Fitz and then turned to Skye "Are you close to your menstrual cycle?"

"Ok… that's enough with the mad scientist thing. I'm leaving" Skye stood up.

"What? No! We want to monitor your brain activity. Now it's the perfect time. We can bring Agent Ward in here to see how you react in front of him"

"Why?" Fitz asked.

"She's attracted to him, or her"

Fitz smiled brightly "Really? Oh that's incredible"

"That is not... I'm leaving"

"But Skye!" they both said at the same time, she just continued walking until they heard May's voice announcing a meeting in the briefing room in 5 minutes.

Once the whole team was reunited Coulson started explaining the mission. They had a lead on a target that had been on shield's radar being the principal subject of selling the extremis virus formula after AIM was dismantled.

"It should go without complications. He's staying at a rented apartment in Rome. He's guarded by a small crew. They're not expecting us so, I'll go in with Agent May. Fitzsimmons will run coms in the SUV"

"Wait sir" Grant interrupted "What about us?"

"You, agent ward, are in the middle of a situation. You're staying here"

Now Skye interrupted "Hey, I could help. I'm in Arnold Schwarzenagent's body and I-"

"Without his training, and you're not completely heal. We're not discussing it"

"What are you doing?" Grant asked when he found Skye examining the alien staff in the lab.

"I was bored"

"We could play a game or something. I was just there"

"I don't think that's working for me anymore" She added without looking at him. Still focused on the artifact.

"Are you avoiding me?"

Skye sighed, "No, would you stop please?"

"With this? Or with the fact that you knocked on my room in the morning with your problems and then left without an explanation"

"Are you fucking serious?" She finally turned around and looked at him "Are you making a scene now?"

"It's not an scene… it's just"

"Oh please, don't start crying" she said, a little startled.

"Something is really wrong with me" Grant had to fight his own tears. He really wanted to cry for some reason. He was desperate, impatient. That same morning she had been so close to him, she had touched him and he really wanted her to be… her, to be his rookie, to be able to kiss her.

"Look, we'll figure this thing out. I was just thinking. The staff doesn't have like… buttons. They were using it to make things explode but for some reason it didn't kill us. Maybe its powers adapt. Where you thinking about something when we got hit?"

"I don't remember"

"Come on, just tell me" She walked closer to him.

Grant swallowed and avoided her eyes. He wanted to leave. Normally he could just make something up but now he couldn't "I was scared"

"Why?"

"We saw what the staff could do and I thought you were going to die so…" He looked at her again "I just prayed, I begged to be able to save you, to be the one getting hurt instead of you. I thought that I would have done anything to be in your place when Quinn shot you"

"That makes sense" She felt the urge to hug him, to make him feel better. Something was definitely wrong with her too. Maybe Simmons was right about all the hormones stuff. "We have to do something about it. This thing is changing us"

"Something like what?"

"Well, it didn't kill us the first time and I… I was thinking that if something happened to you" She bit her own lip but then she continued "I wanted it to be me, ok? Not you. It has to mean something. Maybe that controlled it, somehow"

"It's too dangerous" He shook his head.

"Yeah, not at all like our job, right?"

"This it different. It could make everything worse"

"Or not. Come on, Grant. We have to do something. I just can't be like this anymore. As good as I look, I really want my body back" She smiled reassuringly.

"But what do we do?"

Skye took the staff. She could feel its power just by wielding it. "We take the risk. At least we're on the ground and we can't hurt the team"

"If it doesn't work…"

"We would have to live like this anyway. I mean, I think it'll work. I know"

He put covered her hand with his. "Then let's do it together" he smiled. She had a point. They would have to try it anyway. They had to carry the staff to the fridge and it was the only thing that could turn them back to normal.

"You know what you have to think, right?"

"Yeah. Where do we shoot?"

"I don't know, everywhere?"

When she opened her eyes she barely remembered anything but light, her body hurt a little and it was hard to move. She struggled to open her eyes. There was a blurry silhouette next to her… saying something.

"Are you awake?" It was Coulson's voice. "Simmons!" the man yelled.

"Coul-" She stopped when she heard her voice. Her voice.

"Ward, what happened?"

"No" she smiled "It's me"

"Skye?" He frowned " What did you do?"

"I don't know" She smiled but her expression faded suddenly "Where's Grant" she tried to get off the bed.

"Hey, don't move"

"No, I'm fine. Where's Grant"

"He's in his bunk" She helped her to get on her feet "You sure you're feeling ok?"

"I'm just a little dizzy…and man, just little. I need to see him"

Simmons appeared in her bunk in that same moment with a big smile on her face. "He's asking for you. He's awake"

Skye smiled and rushed towards his bunk. She felt really clumsy and very excited. She kind of wanted to cry too, for some reason. When she found him he was trying to sit down, with a hand covering his ribcage. He looked up to her with a smile.

"You're back" she said

"And you're crying" He teased.

"I know, you really messed me up" Skye sobbed.

"We will adjust, I guess" He stood up and walked closer to her.

"I see you're both ok" Coulson said behind them. Simmons was still smiling right next to him. "So, can anybody explain what the hell happened to the lab!"

"Sir, they're still recovering from a very shocking experience. Maybe we should give them some privacy to talk about it"

"To talk about what? They look ok to me. They completely destroyed the lab!"

"Sir" Simmons insisted.

"Fine" Coulson sighed "But I want you two down stairs in 10 minutes"

"Or 20" Simmons added.

"15. You two are in a lot of trouble" He finally left and Simmons followed him, not without winking suggestively at them while she was sliding the door to close it.

Skye just chuckled. "So, you won't believe what Simmons told me when I was you"

But when she turned to face him he just grabbed the back of her neck and pressed his lips against hers. She froze for a second but finally kissed him back with the same intensity. He moaned softly and pulled back making a face.

"Wow… was it that bad?" Skye asked, part of her terrified of his answer, and totally failing to keep her voice steady.

Grant smiled "My ribs, I forgot… it was so good I don't care if I'm going to be in pain for the next 15 minutes" Before she could say anything else he pulled her in for another, deeper kiss. Pressing her body against the door and forgetting about any cracked ribs when her hands were all tangled up in his hair.

Aaaand it's over. Let me read your thoughts. Sorry again if there are lots of mistakes… English is my second language.