A/N: It was supposed to be short... Well, it's really not! It took me four days and I think that now I can have that chocolate cake! This is a sequel to Broken Strings so you might want to read that first, otherwise it won't make much sense.
Where there is desire
There is gonna be a flame
Where there is a flame
Someone's bound to get burned
But just because it burns
Doesn't mean you're gonna die
You've gotta get up and try, and try, and try
Try ~ Pink
Ed Sheeran's voice filled the room and Skye hummed softly along to the tune of 'Thinking Out Loud' as Jemma finished pinning her hair on top of her head. She could have never predicted that they would get here, five years ago she was hell bend that their love was doomed. Skye pretty much expected that she would spend the rest of her life alone after Ward betrayed them, maybe get a couple of cats. She wasn't quite sure, Lance always said she was a dog person.
She was wrong though, so very wrong and for once in her life she was happy she let Lance talk some sense into her. Not that Lance could be trusted to give out advices freely, this one might as well have been a lucky guess too. Doesn't matter now anyway, because he was right she belonged with Grant and whatever she and Lance had wasn't even close to the way she felt for her husband-to-be.
As Lance had explained it so bluntly once, what they shared was a deep friendship with the occasional shag. She was too in love with Grant and he was too stuck in the past to actually get something resembling a meaningful relationship out of their brief hook up.
She couldn't see it at first, swore up and down that she and Grant were done and no amount of redeeming would convince her to take him back. Until he took three bullets for her and Skye had to spend five days begging whoever God was listening to let him live because she couldn't see her life without him.
Seeing as how Lance was the cause she and Grant were even together, because no matter what he said they both know he pushed Grant to make a move on her as much as he pushed Skye to open her eyes, the position of the best man was his to hold. Skye had something else planned for him though, she was going to fix his love life the way he fixed hers.
During their rebuild of Shield they had a run in with Lance's ex wife and if she hadn't tried to back stab them Skye could see herself liking the woman. Bobbi Morse wasn't so different from them down to her core, she was an absolute nerd and very loyal to the original Shield and Fury.
Skye couldn't judge her for trying to do what she thought was best though; at the end of the day she would have done the same. At that precise moment Bobbi thought that taking Coulson down was right. Once upon a time Skye thought that Grant should have tried harder to kill himself.
People weren't perfect.
They weren't perfect.
Skye had high hopes that Bobbi was an ally and that maybe she and Lance could work their shit out. No one of them had moved on that much Skye could tell, it was clear as a day. There were moments where she thought they were going to make it but sadly that wasn't the case.
Bobbi eventually made the wrong choice and followed through with her plans no matter how much Lance begged her not to. He even went as far as saying he'd run away with her, have a quiet life together. Money he had enough for them to live comfortable and then some. Still Bobbi choose her work over him once more and it took them weeks to get Lance out of his depressive state. Actually it was more of drunken stupor to be honest and if it hadn't been for Skye and her screams he would still be holed up in his room.
"You look beautiful." The familiar voice made her smile and Skye turned to face him. "That idiot won't know what hit him." Lance said as he stepped inside the hotel room and Jemma slipped out soundlessly. They all knew the close friendship they shared and this moment was special for the both of them.
"Is he freaking out as much as I do?" She asked giddily.
"Kara is doing shots with him to calm him down." He half joked and laughed at Skye's mortified expression. Kara Palamas or Agent 33 as they used to refer to her was one of the few people they succeed in getting out of Whitehall's claws. Even though Hydra broke her spirits for a while, brainwashing her and taking her free will away Kara managed to survive and come stronger out of it. That's when her friendship with Grant was born, having experience with being used and abused like that he was able to help her through her recovery. After some long months Skye was happy to see that the had been bonded and found a friend in each other. "He's not drunk, I swear!"
"He better not be!" She said and smiled back brightly. "I don't think DC will forgive him if he messes up the perfect order this wedding has." Honestly if it was up to her they would have flown to Vegas and had a shotgun wedding but she couldn't do that to Coulson.
So she gave in to peer pressure and let her adoptive father throw her the black tie wedding he wanted so very much. To say that Coulson went all out it would be an understatement! He had been putting this together for the last four months and nothing would go wrong he swore up and down. It's not like she didn't enjoy all the attention though, it was the first time in her life that someone went to this lengths to make sure she got everything she wanted.
"We can't have that now, can we?" Lance winked taking her hand in his. "Are you sure about this? We still have time if you feel like running. May will bring the Bus around and Coulson will make sure no one follows you." His words made her giggle as she took a seat careful not to damage her dress.
"Surprisingly enough I can't wait to officially have a last name." Technically she did have a last name, she took Coulson's a few years back but it didn't feel quite right. "I'm happy, Hunter!" She sighed contently. "I'm finally happy."
"As long as this is true than I am happy too." He said placing a soft kiss against her knuckles. "Just remember if he hurts you I'll hurt him twice as much."
Things went off with out a hitch and with a slightly drunk Grant Ward. Thankfully for him a) he wasn't drunk enough for the rest of the guests to realise it, b) Coulson was too preoccupied with sitting arrangements and the reception later to notice and c) Skye and Lance had a few shots themselves so everything was well.
Simmons had to take the champagne away from all of them after a while though. At least until the rest of the guests were hammered and didn't came up to the happy couple to congratulate them. She also had to take Coulson's ear set away because he was driving everyone insane. Lance didn't have so much fun even in his own wedding, which brought back bittersweet memories. He shook his head willing them away.
"They make a beautiful couple." His body froze as the female voice reached him and Lance bite the inside of his cheek trying to keep himself in check. Even after all those years she had a hold on him that he couldn't understand. "You'd think after what they've been through they wouldn't make it yet they like to prove everyone wrong."
"Some people actually give love a chance." His words dripped venom. "Some people don't cower away when someone tells them they mean the world to them. Not everyone is like you, Barbara." He regretted it the moment he turned to face her. The years apart did nothing to erase her from his memory; if only they made her absence from his life more pronounced and his love for her stronger.
She looked absolutely dashing and he had to remind himself that what they had was gone. She choose her work over them again and again and every time he fell back into her he only came out of it hurt. Lance had enough hurt to last him a life time; he wasn't planing on falling on his face again.
"Some people," She threw back his words. "Actually have the balls to admit their mistakes and ask for forgiveness."
"Why are you here, Barbara?" A frown marred her angelic features and her jade blue eyes filled shadows.
"Skye invited me." She shrugged running her hands over the skirt of her dress, smoothing down the non existing pulls on the fabric.
"I can't imagine why!" He snorted taking a ship from his drink. This fruity shit wouldn't do, he should have gone for the scotch. "You're not welcome here, though. You shouldn't have come."
"I almost didn't." She admitted. "But I had to try. You came back for me so many times I can't even count them. I owe to what we have to try, myself, one last time."
"What we had." The words were barely audible as they fell from his lips.
"What?"
"What we had, Barbara. As in past tense, what we had doesn't exist anymore, you murdered it the moment you walked out on me when I begged you, on my knees no less, to stay. What we had died three years ago!" If his words were knives she would be dead by now and for the first time in his life Lance wished they had never met. He wished that warm night he met her to be undone so he could live the rest of his life peacefully, without Barbara Morse haunting him everywhere he went.
"Damn it, Hunter!" She called after his retreating form following him to the open bar.
The whole purpose of waiting four months for Skye and Ward to get hitched was because Coulson wanted a summer wedding, complete with the outdoors setting and the fairy lights. You know, all that typical shit that people found romantic. In any other situation Lance would have humoured the older man but right now it all seemed annoying. She was here clearly to work out their shit and Lance juts wasn't in the mood to do that.
"What do you want from my life, woman?" He sighed motioning to the bartender for a drink.
"I want to talk." She said simply sliding beside him on a stool.
"Has it ever crossed your mind that I don't want to talk?" He growled finally turning to face her fully. "I'm done with whatever this is, Bobbi, . It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt and I've been hurt way too many times to want to fall back to you."
"I- I don't know what to say to you to make it right."
"Nothing would be a good start!" He shot back defensively before storming away from her.
Grant Ward was not drunk!
What? He wasn't! He just had quite a few shots with Kara and then Skye dared him to do a few more and before he knew it he was on the stage singing with Trip and Fitz off tune. Which wasn't so bad since no one seemed to notice them. Grant couldn't wrap his head around the idea that someone like him could end up with someone as beautiful and amazing as Skye. He had Hunter to thank for that to be honest, if the other man hadn't pushed him all those years ago Grant would be still wallowing in misery while Skye had ridden off into sunset with someone else.
"Where's that wife of yours?" He knew that thick accent but Grant couldn't quite place it. "Ward!" Three fingers snapped in front of him and Grant tore his eyes away from Skye sitting on a table with Jemma and Kara a few feet way.
"What?"
"Skye!" Hunter growled. "Where is she?"
"I see you met your surprise." Grant chuckled, maybe he should lay off of the alcohol? He kind of want to get lucky tonight and he knew what too much alcohol could do to a man.
"You knew about this?" Hunter hissed, his fists clenching at his sides.
"Do you really think she could pull it off by herself?" She could but they worked better as a team. So when Skye came to him with her idea Grant thought that it could only make things better. Hunter had hit rock bottom and while he was fine by himself he wasn't really happy. If he wasn't happy then they weren't happy and it made their lives miserable. That's how families work after all.
"You people have no boundaries!"
"That's nothing new." Grant shrugged. "I mean you'd think after catching Fiztrimmons at it for the tenth time in the lounge you'd realise that boundaries is something this team is lacking!"
"I don't need either of you to try and fix my love life." Hunter took a seat beside him and Grant went back to looking at his wife. Skye caught his gaze briefly and shot him a bright smile before going back to her conversation.
"You don't say!" Grant bit back sarcastically. "Cause you've totally had this under control. Drinking yourself stupid, being careless during missions, it's like you have a death wish or something."
"I do not!" Hunter huffed crossing his arms over his chest.
"Hunter," Grant's gaze locked to his, suddenly more sober and alert than he had been seconds ago. "Someone once told me that everyone deserves a second chance if they want one. We've all come a long way, we've changed, we've saw life from a different point of view. Talk to her, see what she has to say and if it's not enough than part ways once and for all. She's not happy without you either, I've seen it." With that Grant left him alone and went to find Skye.
She owed him a dance anyway.
The clock chimed midnight and if Lance was Cinderella he's carriage would be turning into a pumpkin any moment now. Ward's words flashed inside his head again and again for the past two hours and he couldn't get rid of them. Lance didn't want to admit it but Ward was right about the way he lived his life. Up until the moment he met her everything was so easy, he did his job, he had a few drinks after and then took a young pretty thing back home with him. Some of them stuck around longer than others but it was simple, it was easy.
But of course he had to go stumble upon that demon of a woman. The moment he allowed himself to fall for her Lance knew he was done for, call it a gut feeling. He just knew that she wouldn't be like all the others. Within the first year of their meeting he proposed and to be honest if it wasn't for Shield and the distance her missions put between them Lance thinks they would still be together.
Just like he thought the second time around they met but again she choose Shield or whatever that thing was over what they had. It tore him apart the fact that after what they shared she still chose something as sallow as her job. Lance worked quite a few years as a mercenary and knew that the only true cause people were loyal to was money. Admittedly Coulson and his 'band of mischiefs' was a whole different thing but they were merely the exception not the rule. Besides that was the reason he stayed with them even after his promise to Izzy was fulfilled.
The 'ding' signalling that his lift was here brought him out of his thoughts. Lance stepped inside and his fingers hovered over the lit buttons, the numbers dancing before his eyes. With a sigh he pressed the one that led to the fourth floor of the hotel and gave in to whatever fate had planned for him. The walk down the hallway to her door couldn't be more than a few seconds yet to him felt like it was years. His knuckles rapped against the wooden frame sharply before he could regret it.
Lance however was not prepared for how she would be dressed when she opened the said door. His breath caught in his throat as he took her in, dressed in only a fluffy white towel, hair still wet sticking to her tanned skin. Memories he had buried to a very far corner inside his mind came rushing back. Memories of their life together, days spent in a bed, naked under soft sheets. Nights of holding her close when the nightmares would come back to haunt him. Plans that were made on a front porch but were never fulfilled.
"Lance?" She questioned raising a perfectly sculptured eyebrow.
"The one and only." He retorted softly. "May I?" He asked motioning towards the inside of her room. She stepped aside and let him pass in answer. "We need to talk this out. Not our favourite thing to do but we can't avoid it anymore."
"Just give me a few minutes." She said and disappeared inside the small bathroom. Lance helped himself to the mini bar, they'd need the alcohol, for that he was sure. He wasn't drunk enough to do this, maybe that wasn't even a good thing. That way they couldn't take back whatever was going to be said tonight claiming that it was the alcohol talking. God knows they've been through that route before.
"Three olives martini, hold the olives." He handed her the glass as she stepped into the room again dressed in a nightgown that Lance would like a little longer. Now was not the time to get distracted by her amazing long legs or her boobs playing peak-a-boo with him. They stood in silence for a while, barely looking at each other. "So why are you here?"
"Skye came to see me." She took a sip from her drink as she moved to sit on the large recliner at the foot of her bed. "We had a long talk about various things."
"Like?" He prompted.
"Shield. My past. The way my worked affected my life. Why I'm stupid for giving up on what we had, that kind of thing." She shrugged finally meeting his gaze. "We also talked about how time changes people." She pointed out.
"You didn't change." He retorted annoyed.
"You don't know that!" She shot back equally bothered. "It's been two years, Hunter. Things have changed!"
"How so?"
"For starters I've given up on the spy business." She confessed smiling slightly. "I teach biology in a high school now." The laugh that was torn from the back of his throat startled them both.
"You are a teacher." He tried the words on his tongue, still laughing a little. He sat beside her, their arms barely touching.
"I'm good at it!" She hissed kicking his leg. "And I actually enjoy it. More than I could imagine to be honest."
"I know." He nodded. "You always said that if it wasn't for Shield you'd probably be off teaching."
"I miss you." She whispered and her fingers touched his for a brief second.
"Doesn't change the fact that we're screwed up, love." He smiled sadly. "Why are you really here, Bobbi? We both know that this will only end in heartbreak."
"I'll put it as simple as I can since I know you're not very smart." She smiled at his tiny huff but didn't let him interrupt her. "The last few years have been an eye opener for me. Being away from the agency put things into perspective, life it's not always black and white. I realised that my happiest memories were with you, crammed in that tiny flat we had in London. My best memories were of us pressed against each other because our kitchen was too small, cooking dinner." He took a sip from his drink, letting the scotch burn down his throat. "I want it back, Hunter. I want us back and I'll do whatever is needed in order to get it. I'm tired of putting everyone else before me and never getting my happily ever after."
"You make it sound so easy." He laughed bitterly. "Like we can go to sleep and wake up tomorrow as if nothing happened."
"I never said it is." She rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying that I want to try. I'm asking you for one last chance, Hunter. One last chance to prove to you that I've changed." Their gazes locked together and he searched her eyes for a long moment.
"Yes." He said after a long moment of silence.
"Yes, what?" She asked hopefully.
"Yes I'll give us one last chance." Bobbi tried to talk but he placed a lone finger against her lips. "But I expect a lot of wooing! Like flowers and chocolates and dates and everything."
"I can do that." She agreed smiling softly.
Skye stirred in her sleep as her phone vibrated on the night stand. She tried to slip out of Grant's arms with not much success, her husband only pulled her closer. "Where are you going?" He murmured in her ear sleepily.
"My phone." She smiled softly as she reached for it. She scanned the text twice to make sure she read it right and wasn't imagining things. A small smirk tagged at the side of her mouth.
"What is it?" He asked rolling on his side.
"Nothing." She put her phone back on the nightstand and slide back into his arms. "Everything's absolutely fine."
The text read…
Thank you for everything. ~ Bobbi