Prompt: "A fanfic where Skye picks up the staff instead of May and defends ward and then they head back to the hotel and spend the night together"
Skye could here May yelling at her to stop and come back up the stairs but Ward could barely stand up and there were more than a dozen more combatants filling into the building. She saw Ward struggling to reach out to the staff and she ran forward and picked up the two pieces after shoving Grant back to his sitting position. As soon as the staff pieces made contact with her skin she no longer saw the monastery in front of her. She saw the car that took her back to the orphanage, to a new home, and back again. She saw the abusive older brother in one of the homes as he stood over her bed while her temporary parents slept soundly down the hall. She saw that one drunk dad that had beat the wife unconscious then came down the hall, while her and the other foster girl snuck out the window to go sleep in the local park. She got stuck in one particular memory of when she went to a house party as a teenager, she had had to much to drink and she had all but passed out. She remembered feeling smothered by the group of guys standing over her. She remembered how helpless and dirty she felt the next morning and every morning after that. Even today she could still feel their hands on her in the mists of a particularly vivid nightmare.
When she came back to reality she was shaking and couldn't control her breathing, the staff in one complete piece a couple feet away from her. She felt an arm go around her waist and she panicked and started to fight back until she heard Ward whispering in her ear. He pulled her back into his lap and rocked her while the team did clean up around them. She felt her breathing slow and the muscle in her back started to relax but she still couldn't focus on anything but the gentle sway and Grant's hand combing through her hair.
Skye woke up in a hotel room and had to curl in on herself and take several deep breaths to keep from sobbing. She had continued to relieve all of her worst memories while she was sleeping. She felt the bed dip and rolled away to the other side of the bed. "It's okay. It's just me, Skye." She relaxed and rolled back the other way so that she could lay her head in Grant's lap. "It's all okay. We got all the pieces of the staff and it's headed for the sling shot. No one will ever have to feel like us again. We did it. We'll be okay. We survived those memories the first time, we can survive them again."
Grant got her to sit up and then walked over to the little table in the corner of the hotel room. He had a couple tumblers and a bottle of whiskey waiting. He topped off his glass and poured one for Skye. He handed her her glass and crawled back up next to her so she could tuck herself into his side. She slowly sipped her drink while zoning out. Grant was worrying that she still hadn't said anything, but he knew she was lost in her own demons and needed time to get them under control. "What did you see?"
He looked down at her, she hadn't looked up at him when she asked the question, just continued to stare at the opposite wall. He took a deep breath and pulled her a little closer. "I saw my brothers. My grandparents had an old farm in Missouri. One summer, my older brother threw my younger brother into a well on the outskirts of the property. I eventually managed to get him pulled out. There were no lasting physical affects, but he was so different- even more quiet and timid. Maynard was always beating on us. But I don't think the idea of his violance being potentially fatal had every really crossed Sam's mind...What did you see?"
Skye looked down at her hands instead of answering. After a few more seconds, Ward thought that she was going to ignore him. "It was a mix of memories. Different families that I stayed with. Things that happened when I was a teenager. Basically, all the crazy stuff that happened to me growing up. It's the same stuff that haunts me everyday. I just don't usually have to relive it that vividly." She swung back the last of her drink and stood to refill her tumbler. She refilled Ward's glass and set it on the nightstand. "Do you ever talk to your brother?"
He held one of his arms up for her to curl back up next to him. "I haven't seen or heard from any of my family since I was sixteen. Maynard attacked Sam while I was at military school. I drove home, burned the house with Maynard inside. I was in juvie when my SO recruited me to shield. As far as any of my family knows, I might as well be dead..."
She turned sideways to lay her head on this chest. "So you don't know how Sam's doing? You don't know where he's living or if he has kids or anything like that?"
Grant smirked. Leave it to Skye to the difference between him knowing about his family and his family knowing about him. "I've looked him up before. He graduated from college a few years back. He's an engineer, like Fitz. He lives in Seattle; works for Boeing. He got married to a mousy looking girl his third year of college. Last time a checked up on him, he still didn't have any kids. Overall, he seems like he's doing okay in life. He seems like he would be happy...I really hope he's happy."
Skye gave his waist a light squeeze, "I'm sure he is Grant. Everyone has their demons but as long as he's away from your guys parents and brother, I'm sure he's gonna be alright. He has his own family and a good support system...You know you have that, too, right?"
Grant looked down at her, "I have that now...I didn't for a long time. But this team...we're a family."
"Yea...We are..." Skye sat her glass on the bedside table and then grabbed Grants to put it down as well. She scooted down the bed, pulling Ward with her so that they were laying back on the pillows. "Promise me you'll still be here in the morning?"
He pulled her so that she was laying across his chest. "I'm not going anywhere...I'm here as long as you are."
A/n: Sorry-not sorry- for the abrupt ending...