Skye loved that she didn't have a last name – it was unique and she could pretend she was Madonna or Cher or Sting for a few minutes. Plus, Agent Skye had a nice ring to it. So when she and Ward got engaged, she decided that she didn't want to take his last name even though it would be convenient. Unfortunately, she forgot to mention that part to her fiancé and just told him that she wasn't going to take his last name when they married.
Ward tried to tell himself he wasn't thinking logically – and he knew his therapist would say the same – but he couldn't help but think Skye refused to take his last name because she refused to be associated with a traitor in that way. He had proved himself many times over the years but he had been abused for thirty years and his self-esteem still hit low points every now and then. This was one of those times and he hated himself even more for it. And Ward wanted to bring it up to Skye but he was terrified she'd confirm his worst fears and stayed silent.
She was confused when Ward started pulling away from her and making excuses but Skye just figured he was in a bad mood and needed some time to himself to think – this wouldn't be the first time this happened and they were all used to it. "You want to go find another way to traumatize Coulson and May?" Skye asked, snickering.
He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "Nah, I'm fine."
"Is Grant Ward actually turning down sex? That's new. Well, I'll just go make lunch and I think you should call your therapist. I think you need to talk to her."
"I don't need to talk to talk to her!" Ward snapped. He immediately apologized but Skye watched with worried eyes as he walked away.
"Do you know what that's about?" she asked Jemma.
Jemma had an inkling but she didn't want to get involved (yet; she would step in if she had to) so she just shrugged. "No clue but maybe you should ask him."
Skye sighed. "He's just having one of those days and I'll wait until he's in a better mood to see what's up."
Jemma wanted to pound her head against the wall because of Skye and Ward's lack of communication skills but refrained. She promised herself she wouldn't interfere so that's why she was staying out of it for the time being. "Whatever you think is best," she finally said.
"Okay then." Skye headed back to the kitchen, worrying about Ward the entire time.
A mission ended up distracting all of them so she didn't have time to confront her fiancé about his behavior and thought nothing more of it until Ward's bad mood continued.
Trip finally decided to say something after three days of tension – he couldn't take it anymore. "Why haven't you talked to Ward yet? This could be resolved rather quickly." He too knew what this was about but like Jemma he didn't want to interfere.
Skye glared at her friend. "You know what this about too? Why can't you just tell me so I can figure out what to say to Ward?"
"Sorry, I'm not getting in the middle of this. Ask him yourself."
"You're no help," she grumbled.
"Sorry!" But he clearly wasn't and went to go work out in the cargo hold so he wouldn't yelled at by Ward again (he was not amused by these two sometimes, especially since he had walked in on them having sex so many times).
Skye cornered Jemma one night because she knew her best friend wouldn't – couldn't – lie to her. "You know why Ward's upset and I want you to tell me now."
Jemma bit her lip nervously but eventually crumbled and hated herself for it. It was only because she loved both of them so much that she didn't want to see them angry at each other. "Skye, you told Ward you didn't want to take his last name but you didn't tell him why. He's an abuse victim with low self-esteem and he took it the wrong way. Come on, you're smarter than this and you should have figured this out days ago."
She closed her eyes. "Fuck."
"Exactly. Now do you need me for anything else? Will you go and clarify what you meant to the man you love now?" Jemma really hoped so.
"Sure. Thanks, Jem."
"No problem." And she was grateful when she watched Skye leave to find Ward and make this right. Why did they have to be so oblivious sometimes? It was exasperating.
"Hey, what's up?" Ward questioned once he saw his fiancée. He knew he shouldn't have behaved the way he had been but he was too hurt to care about that. He definitely needed to talk to his therapist as soon as possible because she helped.
Skye sighed. "I'm an idiot."
He stared at her in confusion. "Why are you an idiot? Who have you been talking to? Do I need to have a conversation with somebody?"
She laughed at his overprotectiveness. "Chill out, I'm fine. I'm honestly more worried about you right now. Why didn't you tell me why you were so upset? We could have been over this days ago instead of dragging it out."
Ward looked down at the floor. "You talked to Jemma or Trip."
"Bingo. Grant, I am excited to be your wife. I wouldn't have agreed to marry you if I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with you. You want to explain your side of the story?"
He felt stupid now and hated himself even more for it. "I didn't think you wanted to be associated with a traitor like me and that's why you don't want to be a Ward. Fuck, I don't even want to be a Ward ninety five percent of the time so why would you? I'm guessing I was wrong again. That's nothing new," he said bitterly.
She patted his arm. "You should have told me that because I didn't explain myself. No wonder you took it the wrong way. Grant, I am in love with you and I forgave you a long time ago. I like having no last name. It's fun being Agent Skye and the agency doesn't need two Agent Wards. That'd get confusing, wouldn't it?" Skye was pleased when he laughed – that had been her desired reaction from him.
"I'm sorry for not telling you why I was upset."
"And I'm sorry for not explaining my reasoning. We were both at fault here. But you should probably go see Amy, huh?"
He nodded. "Communication is important and I fucked that up – well, I guess we both did."
Now that this latest misunderstanding was cleared up, Skye and Grant decided that a ton of make-up sex was in order and ended up traumatizing poor Coulson in the process.