Raised voices and unrelenting bickering echoed through the halls of the Playground, permeating even the closed door of the medical bay Skye found herself sitting in. If the stinging pain in her shoulder and the narrow escape they'd been forced to make from their latest mission wasn't enough to tip her building headache into migraine territory, the two men standing out in the hallway were undoubtedly going to be the final push she needed.
Releasing a sigh, Skye closed her eyes and attempted to block out the ensuing argument, yet even with the doors soundly closed, her colleagues' latest spat was proving difficult to ignore.
Casting a glance towards the door, Jemma returned her attention to the task of suturing the small yet deep wound on her friend's shoulder. Her hands moved deftly as they added the fifth and final stitch, and she tied the surgical thread with a flourish, forcing a buoyant smile. "There, all done!" she stated, returning the tweezers and scissors to the kidney bowl beside her with a resounding clang. Opening a sterile packet, she affixed a dressing to the wound, standing back for a second to admire her handy work. "Try to keep this dry, and..." she paused and closed her eyes as the two men made it almost impossible to think straight.
Folding her arms across her chest, Jemma kept her gaze directed to her feet as Skye sat motionless, staring straight ahead as she listened to the sniping between her team members reach a seemingly pivotal point.
"You almost got her killed! You pull another move like that and I'll..."
"You'll what? I'm not afraid of you, Ward."
Skye winced as she heard a familiar chuckle, although the sinister intent behind his laughter was all too clear.
"No? Maybe you should be."
Jemma pursed her lips, wincing as she began almost hesitantly. "Skye... Not that I'm questioning your decision or anything..." she planted one hand on her hip, and Skye knew immediately that this was a matter that had clearly been bothering the biochemist for a considerable length of time. "And I know Coulson supported your choice, but... Do you think having them together on the same team is... Wise?"
"Jemma..." Skye began, eyes widening as the scientist interrupted. "You know I still have very serious misgivings about having Ward back with us again..."
Skye arched an eyebrow, recalling the many and varied conversations she'd had with both Coulson and Simmons, about giving the former Specialist a chance to make amends. Six months after his addition to the Caterpillars team and she was almost certain Coulson was warming to having Ward around again. But Simmons, well, she was a different matter entirely. Not that Skye could blame her under the circumstances, but all of Ward's attempts to prove his loyalty and penitence never seemed to be enough to prompt Jemma to even consider the path of forgiveness.
"...But I am willing to admit that given his previous skill set, combined with his new... abilities, he's rather useful to have on our side. Provided of course he is on our side..." she arched an eyebrow to punctuate her point.
"He is," Skye managed a smile, hugging her balled up shirt to her chest as she shivered and began to hesitantly shrug on the garment. She halted instantly as the argument kicked up a notch outside the door and, shaking her head in utter exasperation, Skye pressed two fingers to her lips and whistled. "Hey! You two? Get your asses in here!"
Jemma sighed disapprovingly as the doors almost immediately swung open with force, and Grant Ward strolled into the room with his usual swagger. Lincoln followed close behind, glaring at the dark haired man as the door swung back towards his face and he reached out to grab it.
"Oh! Whoah! Hey!" Skye hurriedly tried to shrug her shirt over her injured shoulder, grimacing as the action sent a sharp pain radiating down her arm. "Son of a bitch!" she muttered through gritted teeth.
She looked up in time to see Ward reach out and hold his hand up in front of Lincoln's eyes, blocking his view as Skye pulled her shirt on with obvious discomfort, holding the edges closed to protect her modesty - and the view of her hot pink bra.
Lincoln ducked from the path of Ward's hands with an indignant and wholly exasperated shake of his head. "What? I... I'm a Med Student!"
"She's not your patient," Ward retorted, his eyes fixed on Skye as he made his way over to the bed she was perched on, his gaze sweeping over her with obvious concern.
Noting the worry clouding his features, Skye smiled briefly and as he reached towards the edges of her shirt she dropped her hands and allowed him to close the buttons. Jemma watched the intimate moment with a disdainful wrinkle of her nose, and as she pulled off her latex gloves and tossed them into the trash, she beat a hasty retreat from the room in anticipation of the dressing down she felt the warring Inhumans were about to receive from their leader.
Ward closed the final button against the curve of her cleavage and swept a finger slowly over her collarbone towards the white dressing. He pulled back the shirt gently and Skye watched his jaw set in fury as he exposed the injury, and his eyes immediately darted in accusation to Lincoln.
Glancing at the two men in turn, Skye glared at them both with evident fury. "Oh my God! You two are driving me crazy!"
Ward stepped back from the bed and folded his arms across his chest, and the two men eyed each other in blatant loathing, their poses comically mirroring each other. Lincoln leant back against the gleaming metal cabinets, but his apparently languid pose wasn't enough to convince Skye that he felt at all comfortable in Ward's presence. He, of course, remained at her side.
Skye shook her head as she sighed aloud and stared at both of them with perhaps even more venom than they were directing at each other. "You guys need to learn to get along or rethink your places on this team. I'm through dealing with your bullshit, so you need to either figure out how to work alongside each other, or I'll speak to Coulson about having one of you reassigned."
Ward avoided her eyes and peered down at the ground, but she knew from his expression that the threat of leaving her team was not one he took lightly. He'd worked too hard to get back into her good graces, and he'd started to truly feel like one of the guys again. He figured that checking his outbursts and loathing of the blonde-haired Inhuman was a small price to pay for all of the positives he now had in his life. Not least of all was the fledgling relationship he shared with Skye.
"Are you guys hearing me? Because we're not gonna have this talk again." Skye tried her best to summon her most authoritative voice, and she bit back a grin as she saw the genuinely repentant expressions settled on both mens' faces.
"Yes ma'am," Ward nodded, and she rolled her eyes at the still slightly mischievous glint in his eyes as he stole a glance at her.
"I'm sorry," Lincoln shrugged, almost wincing as he continued on with his apology - mortified to be doing it in Grant Ward's presence. "That was a dick move out there, I... I shouldn't have tried to take those guys down alone, I just thought that..."
Skye watched a smirk tug at Ward's lips from the corner of her eye, and she surreptitiously pressed the tip of her boot into his thigh to prevent his smirk from blossoming into an infuriating grin.
Returning her attention to her friend, Skye shook her head and offered him an encouraging smile. "It's okay, we'll talk about it in training tomorrow."
Whilst she and Lincoln didn't always see eye-to-eye about matters pertaining to Inhumans they encountered, she knew that his heart was invariably in the right place. She also knew, however, that his feelings for her were not simply of a platonic nature, and that wasn't something she felt was fair to encourage. Not when her heart had always belonged to another.
Lincoln's lips drew into a tight line and he nodded as he suddenly stood up straight then began walking towards the door. Ward this time managed to keep an admirably straight face but as the Inhuman pushed the med bay door open, Lincoln threw a final remark over his shoulder. "Asshole."
"Amateur."
Skye's head whipped around and she cocked her head at Ward in disbelief. His hands landed on the bed on either side of her thighs, and he made no attempt this time at even appearing remotely sorry for his actions.
"Seriously Grant? You guys are on the same side. I'm sick of getting caught between you two," she stated, her tone emphasizing just how weary she was of dealing with the continuing issue.
She knew that Coulson would be far less kind in how he chose to iron out the problem, and the idea that he might perhaps cut Ward from the team weighed heavily on her. Despite how antagonising and annoying he could be at times, and despite her better judgement and the disapproval of some of her closest friends - she loved him. She thought perhaps she had never stopped loving him; Not that she was ready to admit that to him any time soon.
Ward smiled, leaning in closer as he pressed a tender kiss against her temple and his hands slid up her thighs to enclose her fingers in his. "I'm on your side," he corrected her, peering down at her adoringly as she inclined her head to allow his lips to find hers.
Skye almost hummed in approval, and she felt him smile against her lips as their kisses grew more urgent, and his hand landed on the back of her head as she pressed against him, leaning up as best as she could as his body curled over hers. Drawing back to hold her gaze, Ward brushed his thumb over her cheek and almost at once his expression grew troubled again.
"Simmons check you out?"
She captured his hand as he caressed her cheek, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he leant his forehead against hers. "I'm fine..." she assured him, noting how his dark eyes were fixed attentively on hers.
Deciding to try to clear the air somewhat between her team members, Skye slipped her arm around his waist and pressed her cheek against his chest. His embrace was warm and reassuring, and Skye wondered just when it was that he had gone from being her enemy to becoming her constant. Though she needed nobody to look after her, and her powers certainly made her a force to be reckoned with, Ward made her feel safe and cared for, just as he had before.
She closed her eyes as his fingers began to comb through her hair, and she pressed closer into his chest, enjoying his familiar scent and the gentle thrum of his heart beneath her ear. "It wasn't his fault, Grant..."
Ward pulled back for a moment, and his incredulous and clearly sceptical gaze caused her to almost instantly rethink her statement. "Okay. It wasn't all his fault."
Ward grimaced, and she was powerless to stop the laughter that bubbled up from her chest. "It was kind of his fault, I guess. He's just not used to being out in the field, he needs a little more training... You could help me with that... If you wanted to?"
"I'm not sure how receptive Sparky's gonna be to that idea," Ward countered, although he had to admit that the idea of ordering Lincoln around and putting him through his paces was definitely appealing. He'd seen the glances Lincoln directed at Skye, and he wasn't too proud to admit that a lot of his loathing was rooted in good, old-fashioned jealousy.
"Well maybe if you stopped calling him Sparky... Hellfire?" Skye teased, laughing as Ward deflected her barb with a disparaging expression that she recognised from the days when he had called her his 'rookie'.
But his handsome face remained unchanged, and she softened as she saw the very real concern that clouded his features. She pressed her palm against his, and her stomach fluttered as his larger hand curled almost protectively around hers. "Grant, I'm okay. There's no real harm done, a week or two and I'll be good as new."
"This time." Ward replied gravely, and she felt him hold her tighter in response. Leaning back in his arms, Skye sought out his eyes, looking for the reassurance that she still occasionally needed given their history together.
They worked seamlessly together in the field; and indeed even in those awkward first few weeks together, they seemed to have an inherent knowledge of each other - anticipating movements and communicating via mere glances even in the heat of battle. Skye wanted desperately to trust him again with everything she had, and though she knew almost instinctively that she could trust him with her life, her heart remained slightly more reluctant to surrender entirely.
"I've got you to watch my back though, right?" she asked, feeling somewhat foolish the moment she saw the awe and adoration in his eyes.
"Always," he affirmed, taking a moment to simply look at her before he tilted her chin towards him and claimed her lips in another kiss that set every nerve ending in her body alight. His hands mapped out her back and even through her shirt the heat that seemed to radiate from his touch made her conversely shiver with desire. His kisses trailed down the column of her throat, and she stilled as she felt him press a feather light kiss over the dressing on her shoulder.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay home tonight?" he double-checked, and she watched as he cast a glance at the bottle of pain killers Jemma had left for her on the table.
"I'm sure," she replied emphatically, hopping down from the bed to stand in front of him without breaking their embrace. The action pressed their bodies closer together and Skye looped one arm around his neck, content to wrap the other around his waist so as not to jar her injured shoulder. "This is our third attempt at a proper date, Grant. I just want to feel normal... Just for one night. I'm totally fine, I'm just a little sore. Nothing I can't handle. Okay?" she widened her eyes imploringly, grinning as she watched his resistance slip and he nodded in agreement.
"Good!" she enthused, standing on tip-toe and pulling him down towards her to initiate a searing kiss that she hoped would dispel any lingering concerns he might have about her condition. Ward returned her kisses with equal hunger, and as his hand slid down her back and settled on her rear, he pressed his hips against hers, spurred on by the whimper of pleasure he elicited.
The couple glanced up sharply as the med. bay doors swung open and Lincoln walked in with a hesitant smile in place. Ward fought to catch his breath and regain at least some of his senses, and he swallowed hard as he tried to calm his bounding heart. Skye made no move to extract herself from his arms and for that he was thankful, for both emotional and perhaps more embarrassing physical reasons.
"Look, Mac and I are gonna go out for pizza... You guys are welcome to join us?"
Skye smiled at the gesture, trying to ignore the fact that Ward's hands remained in a thoroughly territorial gesture on her ass. She shot him a pointed glare, but his amused smirk told her that this time he was neither repentant or the slightest bit sorry. Mirth danced in his eyes and for the time being at least she wasn't inclined to dampen his mood. Holding his gaze for a moment, she nodded in approval, deciding to grant him at least this much in his ongoing battle with the other Inhuman.
Ward smiled, lifting his gaze to Lincoln's as he replied in a characteristically smug tone, "We've got plans."
Lincoln jammed his hands in his pockets, shaking his head as he huffed out a laugh and headed towards the hall. Skye rolled her eyes, about to thank Lincoln for his offer and proverbial peace offering, when she felt Ward's chest vibrate beneath her hand.
"...but, thanks," Grant added, and both men held each other in a less hostile gaze as a measure of understanding seemed to pass between them; for the moment, at least.
The doors closed once again, and Grant wasted no time in snatching up the bottle of pills and jamming them in his pocket before Skye could object. He offered her his hand as they too decided to make a hurried exit from the surgical stench and bright lights of the med. bay. They'd each seen more than enough of S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facilities to not want to linger any longer than was truly necessary.
They walked towards the door hand in hand, and Ward did a double take as he noted just how intently Skye was staring up at him, a deep V creasing between her brows as she frowned in a mixture of amusement and disbelief.
"What?" he checked, biting back a chuckle as he realised the source of her confusion. "I can play nice when I have to."
"Uh-huh," Skye replied, still looking bemused by his suddenly mature and almost friendly response. Ward laughed out loud, and Skye found herself grinning at not only the sound but also the reality of that moment and just what it meant to them.
He held the door open for her and she stepped out in front of him, but their hands were once again entwined as they began a leisurely stroll down the hall.
"I told you, Skye, I'd do anything for you," he repeated the long-held promise, cocking his head as he added in a pained manner, "even if it means being nice to that d..."
He blinked as he found her fingers pressed firmly to his lips, and she shot him a warning glare that was more playful than pointed.
"Don't... Don't ruin it."
Ward's eyes creased as he smiled in a appropriately mischievous manner, and they fell in to step beside each other, hands clasped together again. Leaning her head on his shoulder, Skye felt herself pulled in closer to his side as his hand released hers, and he instead encircled her waist with his arm.
They walked wordlessly down the hallway, and Skye wondered if he was haunted by the same ghosts that had so often plagued her since his return.
"You should have run faster."
"If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."
Turning to look down the empty hall, Skye shook herself free from the memories that threatened to spoil the moment; and with it, their second chance. In time, the memories would fade, and the blanket disapproval they had so far earned from her friends would turn to grudging acceptance, perhaps even friendship. May would deign to speak in his presence, Coulson would loosen the reins, and Jemma might perhaps stop pointing out the reasons Skye should "consider" the finer points of potentially dating Lincoln Campbell.
She'd made her choice, and given him and them a second chance. At what, she didn't quite know yet. But the future was there for the taking, and together they would figure it out. She suspected that was how it was always meant to be.
Tugging him towards the stairwell, Skye hit the light switch on the wall and plunged the hall behind them into darkness.
"Come on, let's go get that drink."