A/N: Oneshot, um, forgive me if it was awful. Takes place after 1x15 "Yes Men."
"Ward!" Skye yelled gleefully as she searched the Bus for him. "Ward!" She found said person on the cargo hold, punching away. "Guess what?" she asked. He stopped punching and glared at her, though ineffectively.
"What?" he asked flatly, punching again.
"Coulson just told me something…" she trailed off. "There is a truth serum. Who knew the Robot was such a softie!" she giggled. He rolled his eyes. "So," she started, flipping her hair and looking innocently at him. "Am I really beautiful?" she asked and he stopped, for once in his life not knowing what to say. So he shrugged and took a sip of water to avoid answering. She bounced up and followed him. "Am I?" she asked. He whirled around and opened his mouth, but shut it.
"We should do some sparring…" he said, drifting away from the subject. They began sparring, but she wouldn't relent.
"Am I? Am I? Am I?" she giggled, clumsily dodging a punch.
Thirty minutes later, Ward lost it. "If I say yes, will you be quiet?" he grumbled.
"I make no promises," she answered honestly.
"Yes, you're beautiful," he answered, looking at her with such meaningfulness that she felt like she was standing naked in front of him. Her gaze flitted down to check. Nope, she was clothed.
"Oh," she answered, before dashing up the stairs without looking back.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
She avoided eye contact with him for a week. He tried not to think about it. She spent hours in the lab. He trained alone. Then she got shot. He died inside. Then she got better. Then he spilled his guts to Lorelei. Then May dumped him. Then she started training slowly, going harder on herself then he ever did. Then he lost it.
"Skye," he said, and she jumped at the sound of his voice, her eyes searching the room but never looking at him. "Skye," he repeated and she settled her gaze on his face.
"Yes, Ward?"
"Skye," he stepped closer.
"Ward," she stepped back.
"Skye," he stepped closer again.
"Ward," she stepped back again.
"Skye," he stepped closer again.
"Ward," she stepped back, running into the punching bag. "Ward, what are you doing?" she asked and he looked at her. "Ward?" He placed a kiss on her forehead, and stepped back.
"Skye," he said, kissing her cheek.
"Ward, go back to May. I don't do cheating," she mumbled, avoiding his gaze. His jaw dropped. She knew, and she never said a thing. Never.
"I'm not with May," he told her.
"You are, and you've been since the berzerker staff. Ward," she shoved him back. "Ward, I get it. You need more than a shoulder. You need someone who has been through what you've been through. I—I gotta go," she answered, running up the stairs. But this time, she did look back. And he looked at her.
He didn't like what he saw.
There were tears in her eyes.
And then she was gone.
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She asked to be moved to another team. She asked to be moved to a place where it would be easier to work, and she does.
She left them.
She left him.
She was gone.
But then they heard that she was kidnapped on a mission and when retrieved, had major injuries. S.H.I.E.L.D. offered her support but she could not be a field agent. She lived in an apartment alone in D.C. That's what Ward thought.
But as he was sorting through files one day, he stumbled across Skye's.
Orphan. Broken arm, age five. Bruised ribs, age eight. Broken nose and dislocated shoulder at age eleven. Suicide attempt at age fourteen. Two broken legs at age fifteen. Ran away at age seventeen.
Raped at age twenty-four.
Almost died, had a daughter. Named her Jemma. Jemma. She never forgot.
Her daughter was two now. Ward got Coulson to fly to D.C. He banged on the door to her apartment and a woman with blond hair and green eyes, but familiar features opened the door.
"You're gonna wake up—" she started. "Ward?" she gulped, and he engulfed her in a hug. "Ward." She choked out bitterly. "What do you want?" she asked, and he didn't answer. He didn't let go, either.
"Skye," he said.
"I'm not Skye anymore. I'm Isabelle. I work at a bar near here and I have a daughter. Go away, Ward. Please," she made it sound like a plea, but he had no option to argue because the door was promptly slammed in his face.
FitzSimmons, Ward, Coulson, and May sat at the bar, watching as Isabelle rushed in through a back entrance, taking off her coat to reveal a bruised body concealed by a black dress.
"What can I get you?" she asked, and Simmons started crying. She bawled her eyes out as tears rush down her face, and Isabelle looked on, plastering a bored look on her face, even though the look didn't reach her eyes. "Vodka, beer, wine? Order or leave," she stated.
"Come back," Coulson sad. "It's an order. Come back to the team, Skye,"
"You must have me mixed up with someone else. My name is Isabelle," she answered flatly.
"You really like this song," unidentifiable male told her as she asked the D.J. to play "Bang Bang" by Nancy Sinatra again.
"Story of my life," she replied, wiping the bar.
"That sucks," he told her and she glared at him.
"No shit, Sherlock," she bit out bitterly.
"Sorry, just being honest," he replied and she sighed.
"I know, I know. But it was honesty that screwed my whole life up. I had an epic job lined up, family, a guy, but they're gone."
"Gone, huh?"
"Yeah," she answered, but her attention is on a person across the room. A familiar face. He aimed an ICER gun and pulled the trigger, but it hit the man in front of her, not her like she expected.
"What the hell, Ward?" she yelled, and he responded by kissing her. She responded by pushing him away. "Why can't you just leave me alone, Ward? I can't go back. I have a kid, and she needs me more than the country does. Please, Ward!" she begged, and he looks into her eyes.
"I know. The team is at your apartment. Jemma loves Fitz. Your daughter, I mean," he told her.
"Stay away from her!" she demanded, grabbing her jacket and running towards her home. "Jemma?" she asked, and her daughter ran to her. "Baby, it's okay. Why'd you open the door for them?" she scolded.
"Skye?" Simmons asked. "Skye, please come back. We know who you are. We know who your family is."
"Who?" she asked, still holding her child.
"Us."
Skye goes back to the Bus under the condition that Jemma can live with them. She stays in her old bunk and stops wearing contacts and dying her hair. She becomes as giggly and as happy as she was before, and it turns out that Jemma could become one of the first agents to join S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new Junior Agents program.
"Ward?" Skye asked one day. He turned to her, seeing everything, absorbing every detail about her.
"Yes?" he answered.
"Am I really beautiful? Be honest," she pouted and he laughed.
"Very," he said and she giggled.
He stepped closer, but this time, she did not step back. "I love you, Skye," he informed her.
She grinned.
"I love you too, Grant," she said.
Years later, Jemma was living at the Academy, Skye and Ward were partners. In the field and in life. Their life is not a fairy tale. Hell no. But they were happy, and life itself was just…what's the word? Oh yeah.
Beautiful.
A/N: So I know this might've been a little sad, but my God the feeels! Review. I love them.