Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you
Skye was abruptly awakened by a ray of sunshine that morning. Everything seemed incredibly normal.
It had been almost five years since Hydra's fall, and, as usual, She still couldn't get used to that life.
Everything was marked by missions, training and than missions again. No bad guys to chase, no terrorist attack. And she liked it.
She believed to get bored after just two minutes, since they had found Whitehall, and brought him to the Fridge, but she didn't.
As usual, her wonderful husband sat at the foot of the bed with one of his trusted camera in his hands.
Skye had now lost count of how many photos he had done while she slept.
Who would have thought that Grant Ward was a photographer type of guy! Apparently it had been Gramsy to transmit this passion to her grandchilds. He and the other Ward boys merely make some shots from time to time, but the little Rosie had become an extremely popular fashion photographer, and Skye always smiled when she opened the various "Cosmopolitan" or "Elle" and was written "Photographs by Rose Ward" in no uncertain terms.
But that didn't mean that Grant hadn't his very personal fans. All team members wanted to be portraid by him, it was as if he became the official photographer of the team.
There was a demonstration in all the various rooms of the Playground. For sure, his first fan was the director Coulson himself, so as to allow him to build a darkroom in what was his old room before "moving in" with Skye.
The walls of his office were fully carpeted. The wall that once housed his engravings was lying unused under the large tarp, while the other walls were covered with photos taken by Ward. Some were simple landscapes, photos that Grant had taken all around the word, absolutely not thinking that someone might like them, but they struck particularly Coulson. Other photos were instead "daily life moments" of the team. Himself with the Avengers , with Skye which comes out from behind Cap's bacl. The Weddings photos of Grant and Skye, himself and May, Jemma and Leo and Lance and Bobbi. A large group photo that always managed to snatch a smile to Coulson, all of them lying on the grass in front of the Playground. And, on his desk, a photo of May and Skye smiling. All those pictures meant a lot to the Director. They had been tripped by Grant, and, despite the mistakes that he was still continuing to pay, he was glad to have him back. Now his family was fully booked, and those photos was there to prove it.
In addition, it helped to make their base a little more comfortable, a little more like a real home.
In the living room there was a large group picture very similar to that one in Coulson's office, but taken at Christmas. Ward had risen because the timer wasn't started yet and almost failed for a millisecond to lie down in front of others. May would never admit it, but see it every morning on that wall made her smile.
Grant's photos were even in the gym. A great photo, in fact, had been hanging just above the weight benches and portrayed all the boys, along with Skye, Bobbi and May while they was in strange poses showing their muscles. It had been taken by Fitz, and Tripp, seeing it every morning, had a reason to work even harder and be able to protect each of them.
More photos were in Mack's workshop. Two large pictures were hung just above his workbench and portrayed him and Fitz intend to repair one of the suvs while the other portrayed Mack smiling, sitting on the back seat of Lola. Coulson's scolding was memorable, but Mack was pleased that Grant had taken it.
But it was for couples of the team that Grant had become a sort of personal photographer. Coulson and May had hung a photo of their wedding on the headboard of their bed. It was a beautiful picture of the two of them together while they was retraced the aisle. May had wanted Nick Fury in person to accompany her to the altar and Skye had insisted until the exhaustion Grant did some pictures, including that one.
May was totally in love with it and so that picture was over in their room, while all the others were well guarded in their album or hunging in Coulson's office.
Fitz and Simmons were perhaps his biggest fans. They had hung his photos anywhere in the lab and in their room. They had "commissioned" to Grant two family photos. In one they were in the garden, under the big oak tree that was planted shortly before their arrival, and it had been hanging in their room. In the picture you can see the two of them and the little Sebastian, who gave to Grant a smile that was missing some teeth in front while sitting on his father's shoulders. The second was instead hanging in the lab, right next to the front door. It was a picture of them with Sebastian while wearing his little lab coat.
"One day I'll be an engineer like you, Daddy" the little boy always said to his dad.
What they didn't know is that both of them had hidden a very special photo. Jemma had hidden her in his personal agenda. It was a photo of Leo and Sebastian. His son had just turned two years old and was trying in every way to put Leo's giant goggles while his father held him in his arms and smiled. Simmons said that, on days when all its commitment and nothing seemed to be going right, seeing a picture of the mens in her life reassured her. Fitz had hidden his in the album he used to draw his inventions. It was a picture of Jemma and Sebastian on his 4th birthday . Sebastian was completely covered in cake while Jemma willingly accepted a kiss from her son. On days when his brain damage was returning to bite, those days when he couldn't even draw a simple straight line, seeing that picture, although he felt a failure, means there it will always be two persons who wasn't going anyway and didn't think he was a failure.
Lance would never admit it, but he and Bobbi were Grant's fans too. In their room had been hung a very special pic. It was the first real family photo that Lance did with his womens. In the picture it was him, Bobbie and their little princess Isabelle. Lance was narrowing his eyes because of the sun, Bobbi was smiling and Isabelle was holding the stem of a daisy between her lips, while all three of them were lying on the lawn of the Playground.
And, just like Fitzsimmons, even the two of them had hidden two very special photos. That one Lance had hidden was a very special photo. It was dated back to the period when Grant had taken a couple of pictures to Bobbi for a very personal project. It was nicknamed "The future of the SHIELD" and consisted of three photos hanging on one wall of the living room that portrayed the three women's team during their pregnancies.
It was all started as a joke. Fitz had asked Grant to take a picture to Jemma because, knowing that particular talent of his best friend, he wanted to cheer her just as she passed the typical period of the pregnancy in which every woman feels ugly and fat. Jemma's pic was the first and portrayed Jemma while she had her sweater slightly raised and with both hands she was cupping her belly. From there, it was like tradition.
Bobbi was the second and her picture portrayed her as she sat on the ledge of one of the few windows of the base, one hand was holding a steaming cup of tea, and the other was stroking her belly.
The one hanging on the wall was very artistic, but that one that Lance had hidden was very different. In that picture Bobbi was in the exact position, still with her hand on her belly, while doing a grimace.
"Here, now that I recognize my wife," said Lance when he saw it.
Bobbi had instead hid a photo that Grant had managed to shoot when he had returned very late from a mission with Bobbi. It portrayed Lance asleep on one of the armchairs in the living room, while a baby Isabelle was sleeping on his chest and Bobbi said that was the only prove she had that his Lance was a great dad.
Skye was the last to be added to the series. Her pic portrayed her in the middle of the poppy field not far from the base with one hand on her belly and a cheerful floral dress.
Needless to say that Skye was Grant's favorite subject for his photos, almost a muse. Skye had now lost count of the number of Polaroid that he had taken over the years. He had taken every single funny face she had done, countless photos of her asleep, in where she smiles, her with each team member and an endless series of selfies with him. Some of them were on the walls of their room but most of them were stuck in her diary or some albums that Skye had did.
The only missing was a family picture, but the two of them still had to wait a while before they could have their little Harper in their arms.
"You owe me explain why you keep take pictures of me while I am asleep" said Skye yawning.
"Good morning to you, honey" said Grant, kissing her and lying down next to her.
"Look" Skye said in a bored tone, indicating the polaroid that was just out of the camera.
"I don't understand, what do I need to see?"
"No, I say look at me" Skye said "My belly is completely uncovered, my hair are disheveled, and then I could go on for hours"
"Don't listen to her Harper" said Grant baring her belly "Mommy has only woken bad today"
"Yes, and it's all because of your daddy" said Skye.
Grant smiled when their daughter gave him a small kick.
"No matter how you try to convince me otherwise" Grant said, kissing her temple "To me you are always beautiful"
"Ok, maybe you are right" said Skye "You know, every member of this team have one of your photos hidden somewhere"
"You know" said Grant, who by then was lying on her legs to be at the same level with her belly "I must admit that I'm glad"
"Want to see my favorite picture?" Skye asked smiling.
"I don't know" Grant said, smiling "Every single photo that I ever did to you end up in your diary"
"Oh, but I bet this you've completely forgotten about this one"
Skye then pulled out an old polaroid dating back almost 10 years earlier. It portrayed her while Grant was carrying her on his back.
"You know, I write this diary from the first day that you and AC had kidnapped me" Skye said with a laugh "And that's the first real picture we ever took together"
"The first of a long series" Grant said "Take my wallet, I want to show you mine"
Grant's pic was only taked a few weeks before. It didn't even show their faces but it was only Skye's bare bally and Grant's big hand still resting at the point where he felt his little girl kick for the first time.
"You know" said Grant, while Skye cried "Gramsy used to say that the photos are used to capture a piece of life. They serve to capture those moments you don't want to forget. This picture serves to remind me of who I come home every time I go on a mission "
"Oh, Grant" Skye said, leaning toward him for a kiss.
A few weeks later they welcomed Harper Elisabeth Ward and Grant had a new muse for his photos.
A/N: the fluffiness of this fic is IMMENSE. But tomorrow is the last episode before the winter hiatus and I expect that it will be something catastrophically epic, so I needed a little fluff. I hope you too. The song is "Pictures of You" by the Cure