Caught

It was just like the night after encountering the Asgardian berserker. Grant was upset, Melinda was in the mood. Just the same. Except this time, Skye caught them in the act.

The team's day hadn't gone too smoothly. HQ had said that it was a fairly normal mission, and they needn't stress over it. Of course, HQ had been wrong.

They had found their way to a remote temple in the Himalayas where there had been reports of a spirit emerging from an idol of Hindu god Shiva. This spirit first possessed a person, then imitated everyone within a mile's radius, then spoke at the same time as them, then transferred from its original host to a new one. It was a scary affair.

Coulson's team had taken a while to counteract the effects of the spirit on a human being and then neutralize it into its proper translucent form. The being was an alien that was then shipped off in a Cage with an alien anatomical expert to a facility which was most definitely at a classified location.

Before Fitz-Simmons had managed to neutralize the being, though, most of the team found themselves being possessed by the being. Coulson was the first, getting awfully drained in the process and panting by the time he had been freed. May was next – she went awfully numb and even more silent than usual. The being then went to Fitz, with Simmons fretting every seconds of the process. It never possessed her or Skye, as by the time the being was done with Ward, the equipment had been modified to show it.

The entire affair, though not as dangerous as most other missions they'd been on, was scary. It was scary as hell. Not only was it scary to be possessed, but it was also scary to watch someone who'd been possessed. For Fitz and Simmons, it was scary to find something that countered the effects while observing them.

Concluding that everyone was shaken up by the events, Coulson instructed May to land them at the nearest place with decent facilities for the night. She did so at Leh, near the Indian border.

Leh was a small town, but it was a place of tourist importance and as a result had a lot of good hotels. The rules were as usual for the overnight: each team member was given a room, and whatever they did that night was their business as long as they turned up in the Bus on time the next day.

Grant Ward found himself in the bar of the hotel Coulson had chosen.

He drank from the glass in his hand, not giving much thought to what the bartender had provided him with. He wanted to be free that night from all the pain that had been caused to him during the day. Being possessed hadn't been easy on him, and Grant suddenly remembered the last time – the Asgardian berserker and May. Oh, Melinda May. He was so sure that today would be just the same as the last couple times, with her leaving the door open for him after a seductive look his way with a bottle of whiskey in hand.

He almost smirked at the thought, until he heard a soft voice next to him. "Hey," said Skye, almost apologetic. She seemed genuinely sorry for what had happened that day and recovering from her own trauma too. She hadn't been possessed, but Grant reasoned that watching her teammates repeating sentences wouldn't have been easy.

He nodded at her in response.

"I know what happened today frustrated you, I can see it in your eyes," she said. "Just know that I'm there for you. Can't say I've been possessed before but I sure as hell have been through some shit and I know I would've loved having someone I could talk to about it."

Grant nodded again. "Yeah. Bit tired today. Later? Maybe," he said. Melinda was waiting back in her room, he reminded himself.

Skye bit her lip, understanding that he wasn't really comfortable talking to her. "Offer's always open. Anyway, I gotta go ask Coulson if he'd let me out to explore the town. I'm not too keen on sleeping, me, and I could do with a bit of fresh air after all the time in that really closed cave," she shuddered.

Grant gave her a half-smile, then turned and exited the bar after leaving a room number at the bar.

The next he knew, he was in the hallway where all of their rooms were situated. There was a loud discussion in Fitz' room, which was obviously him and Simmons having a debate in a language that did not resemble Grant's English at all. Coulson and Skye had their room doors shut tight; they were not inside. Grant's own door was shut, but he had no interest in opening it. He saw the room with the open door, Melinda's, and he walked in without a second thought.

He closed the door, and without bothering to lock it, he went across to Agent May, looking especially seductive. She poured him some whiskey and they sat beside each other, not talking at all but comforting each other nonetheless. It was stress-free, it was comfortable. Melinda May was years older than Grant Ward, but in those moments he felt as though he understood her perfectly. Their sex didn't actually mean anything – if he developed feelings or something like that for her, he'd be compromised. Grant sure as hell didn't want that.

They went through the bottle faster than anticipated, and then they moved on to kissing. Before he knew it, he'd removed his clothes and she'd removed hers and then they were on the bed and his lips were moving across her body and –

Melinda and Grant had been too preoccupied to notice that the door of the room had been knocked on at least thrice. He hadn't locked the door, before they knew it, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were revealed in a compromising position to their consultant and teammate, Grant's rookie Skye.

The shock was evident on her face. It was very clear that this was something she had not been expecting. Cursing Leh hotel room doors in his mind, Grant scrambled to a better position than the one he'd been caught in.

"I – I'm sorry, I didn't know I just –" Grant saw Skye's words caught in her throat. She looked down, embarrassed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I interrupted, just that I was speaking to Agent Coulson and he wanted to see Agent May in the lobby."

The two senior agents looked blankly at her, and Skye awkwardly went to shut the door. "Uh, I'll just go, then."

With her gone, Grant and Melinda turned their gazes to each other. The night was ruined.

The next day, the boarded the Bus and Grant realised that due to the events of the previous night, Skye was avoiding him. She hadn't told Fitz-Simmons or Coulson, something to be grateful for, but Grant felt bad about it. It was a mistake, something that would screw his world if it reached HQ. He supposed that walking in on two of your superiors in an intimate position would be awkward, but he had to shut her up permanently so that she wouldn't destroy his and May's reputation and career.

Grant approached Skye while she was typing on her laptop, sitting on her favourite place on the couch. "Hey," he muttered to her.

She looked up from the screen and smiled awkwardly. The weirdness certainly hadn't worn off. "Uh, hi."

"So, about last night -" Grant began, but he was cut off by Skye. She said, "It's okay, you're allowed to have secrets. I won't tell."

She smiled weakly, and there was something about it that seemed almost…sad. Was she upset? Grant wondered why. Awkward he could understand, but why would Skye be upset?

"Thanks," he said. Then he added, "You alright? You don't seem too well."

"No, I'm fine," Skye let out a light breath. "Although, I must ask…how long have you two been doing…each other?"

She seemed to be nervous asking the question, and Grant contemplated not answering it. Not like he owed her anything.

"I mean, it's alright if you don't want to say. I was just a little bit curious," Skye told him, sensing the hesitation.

Grant sucked in a breath, deciding to answer her. "The Asgardian berserker. That was the first time."

And it seemed as though a hundred emotions passed through Skye's face, because the next he knew, she was standing up with a look that told him that perhaps he should have lied to her about this.

"Oh my God," she said. "I thought you were lonely, and I offered you a shoulder to cry on. I'm so stupid. I should've known. And you, Ward, you should have just told me that you already had the Cavalry warming your bed and stopped me from sounding so bloody stupid!"

Then, Grant watched as Skye picked up her laptop from the couch and stalked off to her bunk. He had just screwed up, and the truth was that he didn't even know what exactly his mistake was.

a/n: I wrote this because I have serious issues with the May/Ward pairing, mostly due to the fact that I am a huge supporter of Skye/Ward. Since May/Ward is evidently canon while Skye/Ward isn't, I decided to envision a story where Skye/Ward is mostly unrequited, and something that could still take place. In the remote future.

Please let me know if I got the characters! And tell me about the writing too. Please please review, it means a lot to me. :)

Thanks for reading.

- Isha (Infinitish) xx