Title: Orange is the New Grant
Author: snarkysweetness
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Skye/Ward
Summary: In which inmate Grant Ward meets S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Skye who has a tempting offer for him.
Warnings: Mild-angst and little shit Grant Ward.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: I had another idea for the meeting in prison AU and I decided to throw in a little bit of a soulmate AU because why not?

Two thousand four hundred and thirty three days; that was how long he had been trapped in this shithole. He'd come to accept that it could be worse; he could have never met John, he could have wasted away in that juvie cell and then a maximum security prison, he could be dead, he could be a million other places than in a solitary cell being fed three meals a day provided by S.H.I.E.L.D.

He wasn't stupid, he knew why he was here; Hydra's coming out party had proven their infiltration ran deeper than S.H.I.E.L.D. could have ever imagined and they needed his help. He didn't care what they offered him, he knew nothing. He'd given them everything when John had gone off the deep-end and taken him down with him. He'd saved himself then and someday he would leave this hell behind and…well, he wasn't sure what he'd do without John and with no S.H.I.E.L.D. to go back to but he'd figure it out; he always did.

"Hello, Agent Ward."

So, they'd sent some cute little thing to try to seduce information out of him? As if that would work. He didn't even bother to glance up from the floor when he answered. "I haven't been an agent in a very long time."

He didn't know how but he could feel her smile. He pawed at his wrists, which was difficult to do with the cuffs. His skin felt as though it was on fire.

"Very well, Grant, I'm Agent Skye and I have an offer for you."

Agent Skye? That was a fake name if he'd ever heard one. "I'm sure you do, sweetheart." He glanced up to find the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen sitting across from him. The moment his eyes met hers the floor dropped beneath him, the air left his chest, and the overwhelming urge to vomit took over his senses.

Her mouth opened to form a small 'O' of surprise as she stared down at his wrist.

"Well, this could be a problem."

He stared down at her wrist where his name had appeared in black ink and when he frantically glanced at his own there it was: Skye Coulson written in loopy scrawl and boy did it smart. He tried not to think about how she would look sprawled beneath him or how Skye Ward had a ring to it because there were more pressing matters at hand; she was his soulmate. He'd found her at last and she was a goddamn S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and he was her prisoner. It was an irony that could only fit into his screwed up life.

And the truly messed up part was he was sure he was already half-in-love with her and he knew nothing about her other than she was an agent and clearly Coulson's kid and wow, her smile could melt even his ice cold heart.

"Tell me more about this deal," he whispered, finding his voice.

She blinked in surprise and then smiled timidly and the nausea returned.

"Agent-uh, Director Coulson now, is willing to let you come back, to work that is. With us, I mean…him. On his personal team," she clarified. So, he wasn't the only one flustered by this development.

"Why me?"

She glanced down with a blush as she pushed a file across the table. He purposely brushed her hand with his as he took it and her blush deepened.

"He read your file and your history and he feels given the circumstances and the fact that you've cooperated in the past that you've more than served your time and he wants to give you a chance to prove yourself. He thinks you could be an asset."

"An asset to help him finish taking out Hydra you mean?"

She glanced up and met his eyes. "No. He believes you took the only path you saw available to you at the time and when John Garrett died you told us everything you knew. You were a kid when he forced you to join Hydra, you didn't know any better and when you had a chance to do the right thing you took it. You're smart and you were a good agent, Agent Ward, now you have a chance to prove that you can change, that you can do better. Do you want to take it? He's not going to make this offer to you again."

He'd had a lot of time to think in this place and he knew now following John had been a mistake but he wasn't sure he could trust anyone else who came to him with an offer that seemed too good to be true but her? Her he could trust.

"And if I join daddy's ragtag team will you be there?"

"Agent Ward, I don't care what these marks on our wrists mean; soulmate or not you're going to have to earn my trust and respect and once you've done that…well, then we can see where things go."

He smirked; he liked her already. "You didn't answer my question, Agent Coulson."

"Yes, I will be on the team," she whispered while absent-mindedly rubbing her sore wrist.

If he was going to continue following someone else's lead for the rest of his life there were worse people he could follow. "Fine. When do we start?"

"Right now," she answered with a smirk as she leaned forward to uncuff him. He took hold of her hand and instead of pulling away she linked her fingers with his and met his eyes. "Ready to see your new home?"

"I'm already there," he whispered. Now that he'd found her he wanted nothing more than to follow her to the ends of the Earth because home was wherever she was.