Ward grabbed Skye roughly, pulling her into the small room.

"I have to search you. Garett told me to." He pulled her bag out of her hands before she could protest and began to go through it.

Skye had been in the Hydra base for a month, three weeks, and four days. She had been tortured daily for information she did not have, but she learned what she needed to know—that Ward never loved her. She had known for a long time now. Too long. He threw out her wallet but finally reached the item she was desperate to hide.

He pulls it out and then stares at her abdomen. "You…are you pregnant?" She doesn't answer. "You are."

"I was. I was until Garett started beating me. Do you really think a baby could take that? If you did, you were wrong. Okay Ward? Are you happy? You've left the team, you've killed your child, and you've abandoned me. Are you finally happy?"

He put his head in his hands. "I can't believe you think I'm happy. I'm here because he threatened to kill you! He said that he would take away everything I cared about if I didn't join his stupid club. And he killed my child. Okay. Let's go. We're leaving. I'm getting you back on the plane." He pulled her up gently and pushed her towards the door. "Go. I'll cover for you."

"Why are you doing this, Ward? Why?"

"Because I love you."

Four years later, they had just finished a mission in Italy (which went better than the last one), and he saw her, in a café outside Naples. She was with Trip, and Fitz had an arm around Simmons. He thought he saw Trip look at him, but he must have been wrong. He whispered something in her ear and she swatted him.

"Don't lie, Antoine."

"I'm not. Look."

"Oh my God." The next thing he knew, she was sitting across from him, despite the other team member's protests. "I'm thinking of getting the prosciutto. What about you, Robot?" He looked up at her, to see that she was even more beautiful than before. Her eyes looked at him with uncertainty and he smiled.

"I was thinking the same. Reminds me of Simmons." The group sat down around them, and soon, Coulson and May entered. They shot Ward a glare but after explanations, they all sat around him, like a team.

Like a family.

He turns to Fitz and Simmons, who are talking animatedly about Skye on a recent mission. She shot a man for insulting May, apparently. They also found out what made her an 0-8-4.

Turns out, she can read emotions, and magnify them or lessen them based on what a person deserves. On recent missions, she had been magnifying emotions of her enemies so much that their skulls caved in.

"Jesus!" Ward commented when he heard that story. "What did he do to you?"

They stayed in the café for the whole afternoon, catching up and taking a long time to eat their food. But when it's time to leave, Ward stops Skye, grabbing her arm and kissing her. She kisses him but is pulled away. He mouths I love you to her before his image, standing there, is engulfed by a crowd of tourists, and then he is gone.

Another two years passes until they meet again. It's her birthday and Coulson got her the Avengers for a night. He shows up at the fancy New York restaurant in a tuxedo. She's wearing a black dress and she looks exactly the same as the last time, except somehow even more beautiful.

He sits down next to her and wraps an arm around her shoulder.

"Do you still love me?" she whispers.

"More than anything."

THE END