A/N: Gosh, turns out that ending on a "we need to talk" cliffhanger generates a lot of strong emotions around here, hee hee! NEVER FEAR! I got this. Sequel (Part 3) to Under His Skin (Part 1) and A Heart Given to Know Me (Part 2), and you'll definitely want to read those ones first, or this isn't going to make much sense. This drabble is written with much love & hugs for emmy-kent and... well... everyone else who asked for it. ^_^
The nurses made Grant wait in the hallway while they removed Skye's breathing tube, in addition to pointedly suggesting he find some clothes.
"ETT removals aren't exactly pretty," Dr. Mendenhall casually informed him while he added notes to a digital file. "She's gonna need some oxygen afterwards and her throat will hurt like hell anyways, so you may as well take a break. You can find some scrubs out at the nursing station."
Grant attempted to keep his cool as he sauntered, in his t-shirt and boxer shorts, to retrieve some pants. With a raised eyebrow and smirk that suggested she was impressed with what she was seeing, a SHIELD nurse wordlessly handed him a set of scrubs. He calmly tugged on the bottoms and gave her a quick smile. She chuckled and returned her attention to her paperwork, and Agent Ward walked back to the Intensive Care Unit.
The nurses seemed to be finishing up. One of them was loading up a cart with various used supplies while the other was carefully placing a nasal canula on Skye's face, no doubt the oxygen the doctor said would be required. Skye brightened when she saw Ward waiting outside, and waved him in.
"Hey Rookie," he smiled at her. "How does that feel?" Better?"
Skye looked nervously at one of the nurses, and he gave her a reassuring nod. The sound she made was very faint and clearly caused her pain, but it was unmistakable. "Hey Ward!"
The nurse with the cart transferred a pitcher of water to Skye's night table. "Agent Ward?" she queried, and Grant nodded. "Her larynx is going to be pretty rough for a while. If she's willing to sip some water, that will help. Little sips, though…. nothing's gone into her for nearly a month, so take it easy."
She turned to Skye. "Okay, Miss Coulson. The oxygen and pulse-oximeter stay on, got that? I'll be back in 30 minutes to draw a blood gas and see how this is working out."
Grant sat down as the nurses cleared out of the hospital room. He poured a splash of water into a cup, and handed it to Skye. "Miss Coulson."
Skye smiled, and shrugged weakly. "I guess they had to get creative when they admitted me," she whispered, her voice scratchy and hoarse. She winced and took a tiny sip of the water. "Sonovabitch, that hurts!"
"Don't talk, then, Skye."
"You said," she enunciated slowly, "that we needed to talk."
Ward rubbed his eyes tiredly and gathered his thoughts. "How about," he started after a few moments, "I talk, and you just listen?"
"Sure, Ward," she whispered back. "Just don't keep me in suspense, here."
"I thought we'd lost you," he said quietly. "I doubt you remember, but Coulson found you in the basement at Quinn's. You were…. you were dead, Skye. Thank God Jemma was there, she started barking orders at everyone and somehow, she got you back. And I have never felt so useless in my entire life, Skye. Everyone seemed to know what to do… except me."
Grant paused, daring to look up from his hands to his rookie. She was still and impassive, her face expressionless. Noticing his hesitation, she exhaled. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head. "Nah, it was… I mean… what was I going to do anyway? I'm not a doctor. May got us to Munich in under an hour, FitzSimmons kept you alive and Coulson pulled every string and called in every miracle he had and… here we are. All I did was stand around and go out of my mind. Oh, and I put a dent in the SUV."
Skye chuckled softly. "Well… umm," she murmured, "I think I'm still here. So… uhh.. it's okay? I guess?"
Grant frowned. "No, it's not okay… what I'm trying to say, and doing poorly, I admit, is that I care too much, Skye. I need to be focussed. I'm not supposed to let personal feelings in the way, I can't…." he trailed off when he noticed the devastated look on her face, and he threw up his hands in frustration.
"No, no!" he exclaimed in exasperation. "God, this is why I'm so terrible with people. Everything I mean to say comes out all wrong. Let me figure this out…. how to say this clearly. You drive me absolutely crazy."
Skye started to cough, and quickly reached for her water. "Is that really…. better?" she gasped.
"I'm not finished," he replied, frustrated. "You constantly make jokes, you're the opposite of serious, you do everything wrong and you…."
"Oh my God, Ward," she choked painfully. "Seriously, this is what we had to talk about?"
"No!"
"Then spit it out, you jackass!"
"Dammit, Skye! I'm trying to explain that I'm falling in love with you!"
They both fell silent, the pinging and hissing of the medical machines in the room suddenly abnormally loud. Skye blinked at him, confused. Ward groaned, and buried his head in his hands. A solid minute passed before Skye found her voice again.
"Wow. Okay. That's…. not what I expected. Um. Are you… are you.. sure?"
Grant looked up at her, his expression somewhere between pleading and miserable. "Yeah," he sighed. "It's bad, Skye. There isn't a single rule book at SHIELD that allows this. I love you, and I can't do anything about it."
Understanding dawned on her face. "Ahhh. Position of authority… that's what John meant."
Ward nodded. "Yeah… so, he knows, which is… not great. I mean, it's not not great that he knows, I mean… he wouldn't ever…. hmmm. What I mean is, if he knows, that means it's written all over my face, which I kinda knew, and that's not great, because now everyone will know…."
"Okay, hold on, Robot," Skye interrupted with a rasp. "Maybe it's just me… you know, the girl who took two slugs to the chest, died then spent a month in a coma… but I'm completely lost. I have a great idea. How about I talk now, and you listen?"
Grant groaned. "Fine."
"As I understand it, I died. You felt helpless and sad. This triggered, against all odds, the realization that perhaps the Tin Man really did have a heart."
"The Tin Man is about to smother Dorothy with a pillow."
"Shhh! Don't harsh my metaphor! As I was saying, Tin Man, my irresistible charm, incredible wit, and utter, complete adorability oiled that rusty heart…"
"I think I'm changing my mind…."
"… but cruel fate has conspired against you, as the Wicked Witch of the West… that's SHIELD… has declared there to be no love allowed in Oz!"
"If you say 'flying monkey', I'm leaving."
"Well who's Fitz gonna be now?"
Grant couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out between his fingers. He looked up at Skye with a smile. Her eyes were sunken, her hair limp and her face pale with dark bruise-like circles under her eyes. Despite all of that, she had a wide grin, and he thought rarely had she been so beautiful. He shook his head…. man, he did have it bad.
"Come here," she whispered, and he carefully slid from the chair to the side of her bed, and threaded his fingers through hers with both hands.
"Hey Robot," she smiled at him. "I'm just gonna put this out there, okay? But I would not be opposed to a little rule-breaking if it meant I could have a little of you."
Against all his better judgment, his heart soared.
Skye tightened her fingers around his large hands, drawing both warmth and comfort. "Aren't you supposed to be some great master of espionage? Shouldn't you feel right at home, faking your feelings and skulking around in dark corners? Me, dark corners are my natural habitat."
"I do pretty well in dark corners, yeah," he admitted with a chuckle.
"I don't think those SHIELD rules even apply to me, you know," Skye added. "I'm technically not an agent. I don't even have a fancy badge. Also… I'm pretty sure that Coulson said my job is to ignore protocol, so…. yeah."
Ward gingerly pulled one of his hands from hers, laying it gently against her cheek. "Head over heels, Rookie," he beamed at her.
"Imagine that," she whispered back at him. "I'd kiss you now, if my mouth wasn't a disgusting hellhole. And I am seriously ready to kill someone for a shower. When am I allowed to have a shower?"
Ward stood up with a laugh, and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sure we can work a zero-fatality solution to this problem. I'll go find a nurse."
"Good," Skye pouted. "And a toothbrush! And a dark corner."
"One thing at a time, Rookie. Slow and steady, that's the secret to subterfuge. You can't just rush off to the Emerald City without following the yellow brick road."
Skye laughed. "As long as there is a chapter to this story where I get a shower and you end up back in your boxers, you've gotta deal, Tin Man."