One step closer to a real family

Grant was sitting up in his bed, annoyed that the doctors wouldn't let him leave. The mission wasn't supposed to be that dangerous, even though they were going against Hydra.

He was one of the few Specialist's capable of taking down several Hydra agents at a time, while planting a bomb. He was very proud of himself. Thanks to Coulson and his team, who not only accepted him back, giving him a much needed second chance, but also spoke on his behalf in front of other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Fury himself, Ward now had the opportunity to repair some of his past mistakes by helping his team take down Hydra.

While he felt good doing his job, something bothered him. Or better yet, someone. Skye. She knew it was important for him to go on this missions, not only for S.H.I.E.L.D., but for himself as well. He could prove to everyone that he was good again and help them take down the enemy once and for all. But Skye wasn't happy. She would never ask him to choose between her and his job, but at times she felt selfish.

It has been two years since Hydra stepped out of the shadows and a year and a half since he came back. Shortly after his rehabilitation he asked her out on a date. A real one. And it felt good. Being normal, for once. Even if it lasted only that one night. But then again, they never were normal. He a spy, she a hacker, both part of an organization no one really knew what it was. Well, they knew. They were the line between the world and a much weirder world. Their job: to protect, whether it was one person or the entire human race, they would protect this world.

At least Coulson backed off when Skye told him that she would expose super secret S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets if he even tried to ruin her relationship with Ward, by sending him far away. It was her choice, not his. And if he didn't want her to hate him, he better kept his nose out of her business. As the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson could have punished her severely for just her tone, but what really bothered him was that she seemed to love Ward. He didn't know how to handle things, so he just promised her he wouldn't send him away, unless it was absolutely necessary. Thankfully, Agent Hill needed Skye for something and Coulson seized his chance to have the talk with Agent Ward. It is unnecessary to say that they talked for hours before Coulson was satisfied that the former Hydra agent was as much in love with Skye as she was with him. For now that was enough. Besides, Skye was Coulson's little girl and he swore to give her a better life than the one she had so far. He dismissed Ward, but not before signaling that he had his eye on both of them. Ward only nodded and left.

So, after a few weeks not only the Bus, but the whole of S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about them. At first some thought it wouldn't work, but everyone came to realize that those two worked together as one, some might say even better than Barton and Romanoff, which meant something. At times Ward went on missions alone, but that happened rarely. They all went on missions together, most of the times anyway, just like before Hydra. And everyone enjoyed it.

But every time Ward had a solo mission and Skye was forced to stay behind, she made him swear that he would come back home to her in one piece. He promised, not only trying to comfort her, but to drive him on to actually keep his promise. He would die gladly to save her, but after so many days (and nights) spend together he knew that she would fall apart if anything bad would happen to him. It amazed him the fierce way she loved, not only him, but the entire team. But when it came to him, she reached new extremes. He understood her, though. He felt the same way. When he first joined the team, because of Garrett, he started to feel something for them, all of them. But know, he had a family and he loved them all. But Skye was different. She was his light in the darkness, his breath under water, she was his whole life.

When they came to brief him about the mission he knew it would be difficult and dangerous, but when all hell broke loose he thought for the first time that he might not make it back home, back to her. It was a miracle that he did, but he was badly injured. He tried to convince the doctors that he was fine, but they threatened to put restraints on him if he would try to leave his bed. He just nodded and was left alone. So there he was sitting on his bed. All alone, wondering where his girlfriend was. Before he even finished his thought he heard the door fly open and saw Skye standing out of breath in front of him.

"NEVER DO THAT AGAIN" she yelled at him. One single tear ran down her cheek and it made Grant swallow hard. He hated it when he made her cry. Before he could respond she threw herself at him, pulling him into a tight embrace. She was sobbing and the only thing he could do was to rub her back and whisper I'm sorry and I love you. It took her a little while to calm down and Ward started to worry that something else might have upset her.

"Skye?" No answer. "What is wrong? You are not just upset because of me. I know you." He did. And she knew that. She wanted to tell him, but not like this. She wanted it to be special.

"You have to promise me something…" she started.

"Anything."

"Stop going on such dangerous missions."

"Sweetheart, this is my job. I want to help rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. and this is the only way."

"I don't wanna loose you."

"You won't."

"How can you say that? Look at you right now." He knew better than to argue with her. He loved her very much, but sometimes she reminded him of the day they met, when he thought she was an ass, not an asset as Coulson called her.

"I need you. We need you to come back" Skye said in a low voice, but he heard her.

"Don't worry. I will always come to you and the team."

"Not just the team. Someone else."

Figuring he wouldn't understand, Skye took out a paper, it seemed, out of her back pocket and handed it to him. Skye watched him carefully, not wanting to miss his reaction. When realization finally hit him he must have looked shocked, because Skye immediately stood up and turned her back, wanting to leave. But Grant kept her in place by grabbing her wrist.

"Is this for real, Skye?" She turned around, unshed tears in her eyes. She just stared at him, unable to say a word. Grant got out of his bed, despite the pain he was in walked the short distance to her and pulled her into his arms. "I'm going to be a father? I love you" Grant knelt down and pushed her shirt up, exposing her still flat belly, pressing a gentle kiss he whispered "and I love you too." Skye couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks and knelt down as well wrapping her arms around his neck. He was alive. And he loved her. And he was happy about the pregnancy. At last, they would have a family of their own. They loved the team like a family, but this was different. This would be theirs: Grant, Skye and little baby … Well they still needed to figure out a name, as soon as they knew the gender. But other than that everything was perfect.