I got eleven or so "5 times" prompts on Tumblr, so there will be several more of these! I hope you enjoy it. :)
I.
The first time Skye surprised Ward is when she let go of Miles.
He wishes with every fiber of his being that it was her betrayal that surprised him rather than her actions afterward, but it's just not true. She was always a liability, a risk, a ticking time bomb that finally detonated. It wasn't surprising at all.
Yet he still took it hard, and her hopeful glances were met with stone cold silence until Miles left the plane. And she looked all the world like she was glad to see him go.
It was possible, Ward knew, that it was his heart overruling his brain, that the regret he saw in her eyes was just what he wanted to see. But he didn't think so.
She threw herself into training with a new dedication after that incident, never complaining about the pushups or crunches he made her do out of both practicality and resentment. One day, as he took in the fine sheen of sweat lining her grimacing face, Ward found himself smirking slightly. She had a way of making him care, making him want to protect. And in that way, she was still a risk.
II.
The second time Skye surprises Ward is when she bought him a birthday gift.
They both know it's as much a request for forgiveness as it is a gift, but the gesture is kind either way. She had wrapped it in glittery pink wrapping paper with a purple bow — typical, he thought — and presented it with a dramatic bow and a quick "Here you go!" before immediately running away.
The whole thing makes him more than a little wary of what sits inside. He opens it slowly, ready for some sort of trick or trap or cascade of flying glitter. Nothing comes.
Instead he finds a book and a note that reads, "Your SO gave you a list of books to read, now it's my turn. Here's your first book, Robot."
The next time he passes her in the hall she smiles hopefully, and for the first time since her betrayal he smiles back.
III.
The third time Skye surprises Ward is when she defends Fitzsimmons.
Apparently all SHIELD teams get routine inspections, and the man sent to inspect the bus is either overworked or severely underpaid or both, because he does not look happy to be there.
"Why're you two here?" he asks gruffly, gesturing toward the two befuddled scientists.
"Well," Fitz starts, and Simmons interjects and says, "You see, we're part of the team."
The inspector laughs harshly, as if he can't fathom why a SHIELD ops team would need the young geniuses. Skye sees the interaction from the hanger bay and storms over in a huff.
Fitz and Simmons are opening their own mouths to defend themselves, and no one doubts that they could. But Skye isn't particularly rational when she's mad, especially when it comes to her friends.
"Look, you… You inspector-person-whatever," Skye declares. "I'd like you to meet Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz, who are two of the most annoyingly brilliant people I've ever met and two people who are more vital to SHIELD than you will ever be."
Before she can continue, the man waves his hands in surrender and offers some half-hearted apology. Ward, watching from outside the lab, is impressed.
IV.
The fourth time Skye surprises Ward is when she doesn't hate him.
In his mind, she has more than enough reason to. Even if it was the staff speaking rather than him, he had taken her trusted secrets and used them against her.
He had hurt her instead of protecting her.
But Skye doesn't hate him; she wants to help him. She sits next to him at the bar and speaks softly, stating that she'd rage if it help, and it didn't.
And that says more about her than she probably intended, Ward recognizes. Because it tells him that she did rage once upon a time, that her anger was not always so streamlined and worthy of admiration.
He has trusted her as a partner, a comrade, for quite some time now, but this realization makes him trust her as a friend.
V.
The fifth time Skye surprises Ward is the first time he sees her dress up.
Skye's so casual all the time, coming to a good portion of their morning training sessions in her purple plaid pajamas with a cup of steaming coffee. She rarely wears much make up because, as she said, "Sleep or make up? Yeah, sleep."
But the mission requires it, and she's not too pleased. The dress is floor length and blue, a deep shade of maybe sapphire. Her hair is curled and her lips are pink, and his jaw clenches because it's either that or gasp.
"I hate dresses," Skye mutters, plucking at the fabric with distaste. He feels for her, because the shoes she's wearing look like they could double as weapons of mass destruction. But god does she pull it off.
(+1)
Skye isn't easily surprised, but if anyone can manage it it's Grant Ward.
And he does surprise her, completely utterly surprise her, one day during a mission briefing. It's startling enough that Ward is late — she's fairly certain he's never been late before in his life — but her jaw hits the floor when he enters with flowers.
They're not just any flowers, but instead purple tulips. Her favorite. And he's shyly smiling as he offers them out to her and asks her out in a way that only he could: "I was thinking that we could go get some coffee tomorrow morning instead of training. That cool with you?"
"Yep," Skye announces. "So cool." Then she throws her arms around him.