I don't own Agents of SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
When Ward rejoins the team, he smirks the first time he lays eyes on Lance. "Is there a reason why you're staring at me, mate?" he questions.
"No reason. Just wanted to see what you're really like when you're not trying to catch me, cowboy." Ward likes the mercenary but he can't resist teasing him for the disguise that day at the bus station.
Lance scoffs. "It was a good one!" he tries.
Bobbi walks past them then and snorts. "It wasn't so stop trying it, cowboy." She winks at Ward before rushing off to help Jemma and May with something.
"I have to go talk to Coulson now but I'll see you later. Great job, cowboy." He then heads up to the director's office.
Ward is completely unaware of the tradition he's just started but he'll never regret it.
Lance and Bobbi are arguing again – not a surprise – and May is lightly banging her head against the wall because she's sick of this shit – when something shifts between them in an instant. "What is your problem?" he screams, completely aware but not giving a shit that the whole team is watching them fight.
"I'm still in love with you, you fucking idiot!" she screeches.
"I still love you too!"
"This is nice and all and so obvious and very dramatic but why are we yelling?" Skye shouts.
Ignoring them, Lance strolls over to his ex-wife and pulls her closer to kiss her. "I'm sorry I was a fuck-up and let you leave."
"I'm sorry for a lot of shit too," Bobbi replies, her voice breaking as tears of joy fill her eyes.
Ward ruins the moment by whistling. "Happy for you both, cowboy, but can we get back to training? We were busy before you two interrupted."
"Thank you!" May is glad that she has someone on her side even though she still's pissed at him. She'll take what she can get.
"You want to get out of here and fuck?"
Bobbi just sighs and rolls her eyes. "So you're still ruining it, I see, but that's okay." She entwines their hands together and run off to her bedroom. Lance doesn't even care for once that Ward called him by the annoying nickname again (he'll get him back for it later when he's not floating on cloud nine).
It's a nice, quiet on the base – pretty rare for them nowadays – and everyone is sitting back and enjoying it. May sits her glass down on the table and looks at her husband. "I'm tired, Phil. Are you joining me soon?"
He nods. "Of course I am, Melinda. I'll be there in five minutes after I check to make sure that nothing's going to hell because that's our luck." She smiles and departs the living room. Phil stands up less than a minute later and yawns but everyone sees right through it. "Time for bed. I'll see you all in the morning but enjoy your movie." And then he leaves too.
Trip starts laughing. "Do they think we're stupid?"
"I've walked in on them way too many times to answer that question," Skye mumbles as she lifts her head off of Ward's shoulder.
Ward looks at Lance. "What are you up to?" the suspicious mercenary questions. He and Ward are friends now and the specialist has earned this second chance but he looks like he's up to something.
He tries to look innocent and fails. "Nothing. You up to trying to drink me under the table again, cowboy?"
Lance groans. "I'm never going to live that down, am I? It was one disguise! Let it go."
"Never, Elsa." Skye giggles when he shoots a glare in her direction.
"No drinking tonight." The words surprise everyone and they all look over at Bobbi.
"You okay over there? You never turn down alcohol." Mack has never known her to turn down anything when it comes to drinking and so this is definitely weird.
Skye and Jemma's eyes both widen but Bobbi puts a finger to her lips so they know to keep quiet. "I'm sure she has her reasons so let's leave her alone." Jemma bites her lip to hold in a squeal.
"It's odd. Are you sick?" Lance frowns and feels her forehead.
"Sorta," she hedges, hoping her husband will figure it out on his own.
"Cowboy, we all know you're not stupid." A frustrated Skye groans but she relaxes when Ward runs a hand through her hair.
Fitz figures it out a few seconds after that because he starts smiling. "I'm happy for you both."
Lance is irritated that no one is telling him why Bobbi won't drink. "Someone tell me what's going on!"
"Figure it out on your own, cowboy. We're not here to help," Trip teases. He's not surprised when Lance throws his empty plastic cup at him and dodges it just in time.
Bobbi is deeply amused but she doesn't have the patience to hold this secret inside any longer. She leans over and whispers in his ear, "I am pregnant. That's why I can't drink."
He starts choking on his pretzel but once that situation is resolved, he grins at her. "You mean that I knocked you up?"
She confirms it with a nod. "Yeah. Your sperm works."
Lance tackles her with a hug and starts kissing his wife. "I can't wait to meet you, little one," he whispers when he dips down so he's facing her stomach.
"Congratulations, cowboy. You too, Bobbi." Careful not to jostle Skye too much, he leans over and high-fives Bobbi.
The birth of the team's first baby is a definite cause for celebration as they crowd around the hospital bed. "Brody Patrick Morse-Hunter is a great choice so keep having babies." Skye felt a deep longing stir inside of her and looked up at her fiancé. "We should have one of these, Grant."
Surprisingly, the thought didn't terrify him for once. "Let's do it."
"More grandbabies? Have as many as you want," an excited Coulson whispers.
"Whoa, don't get that far ahead of us, please." Skye is amused at how fast he's taken to this grandparent thing, though. It's cute.
Bobbi is in love with her son and pushes away the fear that's slowly been trying to take over since the moment she figured out she was pregnant, not sick. "You are perfect, Brody. Daddy and I are going to make sure that you know how to kick ass and take names."
"You're perfect too." Lance can't stop staring at his wife and son, and although he hates seeing her in pain, would love to do this again soon (but maybe not for a few years because he's pretty sure Bobbi will kill him where he stands if he says anything right now).
"Wow, a rare compliment from the cowboy known as Lance Hunter. What a rare sight to behold." But the look in her eyes gives her away her happiness.
Ward leans down to get a closer look at the baby and gasps when Brody opens his eyes. "Wow. You did good, cowboy."
"Seriously, both of you? Today of all days?" Lance is so not amused with them. "But thank you anyway."
May yawns. "I'm exhausted so I'm pretty sure that means Bobbi is too. Come on, everybody out," she urges. Coulson places a hand on the small of her back as he follows their family out.
Bobbi, Lance, and Brody enjoy some rare and valuable alone time before they're back together with everyone else. They enjoy it despite the exhaustion both are experiencing.
Lance is heading to the cupboard to grab a bowl of cereal when he feels his shirt being tugged. He looks down to see Ward and Skye's two year old daughter, Eve. "Hey, sweetheart. What do you need?"
"Cowboy!" she cries and then toddles out of the kitchen.
His mouth is still open in shock when Ward strolls in, grinning from ear to ear, holding Eve's hand. "What's up, Lance? Can you grab me a spoon, please?"
"I cannot believe you used your daughter like that, Ward."
"It was actually Skye's idea and I just stuck around to watch the look on your face." Ward helps Eve into a chair and then sits down next to both of them.
Lance waves his spoon around and he watches in amusement. "I'll get you back for this someday. Watch your back."
"Looking forward to it," Grant answers. And then he turns his attention to his whining toddler to try and calm her down.
Halloween is something the entire team throws themselves into, especially since most of them are parents now. Fitz wraps his arms around his wife and watches the chaos unfold with glee. "I can't wait to steal the kids' candy," he whispers.
Jemma sighs. "Never change, Fitz."
Mack throws something over to him. "Here, go to town early."
"Thanks!" Fitz is so glad he's met this man, that Mack and Jemma both know him so well and will give him what he wants.
"Can I get some over here?" Trip is trying to pull the costume over his daughter's head but three year old Abigail is not a fan and fighting back. He stares pointedly at his husband.
Mack kneels down so their daughter can see him face to face. "Can you please put on your costume for Daddy and Papa, Abby? You'll get candy." He and Trip both smile when that convinces her and she lets Trip pull it down without any complaints.
"You could have helped earlier," he points out.
Mack shrugs. "Sue me for watching you try to reason with our stubborn kid." He kisses him and then stands back up.
Skye and Ward ignore everyone else and keep making out in front of the door. "It's been years and you two still act like horny newlyweds." Jemma shakes her head and screams when Fitz drops a fake stomach on her head. She glares at him as she grabs it and throws the spider to the floor.
"They're never going to stop," May points out. Her gaze softens when Skye and Ward's younger daughter, Juliet, opens her arms up to be held. She picks her up. "You're going to have a lot of fun tonight, baby," she promises.
Phil walks over to them. "Can Grandpa hold you?"
"She's with her grandma now so tough luck."
"Daddy, are you going as a cowboy this year?" Belle – Lance and Bobbi's daughter – asks out of the blue, sending the whole group into a fit of laughter.
"Where did you get that idea?" He clenches his fists and resists the urge to slap Ward for starting this whole thing.
"Uncle Grant. He calls you that all the time, so are you a cowboy too?"
Ward doubles over because he's laughing so hard. "I'm sorry, Hunter. I had no idea what I started all those years ago. But you have to admit that it was a stupid as f-u-c-k disguise." They're all careful not to swear in front of the kids but everyone already knows it's a lost cause by this point anyway.
Lance sighs. "Every single one of you can f-u-c-k off," he hisses.
Brody raises his hand and looks bewildered. "You do know I can spell, right? I know you're swearing." And that sets them off again.
May pulls herself together a few minutes later and decides she's had enough. "Time to take the kids out trick-or-treating. Damn it, Ward and Skye, you're going to get knocked up again at this rate. Break it up!" She shoos them away from each other and helps her grandchildren get ready to leave.
Bobbi slides up next to her husband and beams at him. "We have a pretty kickass family, don't we?"
He smiles wistfully and wishes that Victoria, Isabelle, and Idaho were here to see him now. They'd be happy he and Bobbi reconciled and found a family that loves them. "We do," he tells her.
All in all, Halloween goes pretty well this year.
Lance and Ward are on a mission together and have to huddle together for warmth because it went south. "You've very cuddly. No wonder Skye likes being in your arms all the time."
Ward splutters. "Random but thanks?" He doesn't mention that at night, he's the little spoon because he's pretty sure Lance would make fun of him for it.
"You're welcome. So how's house hunting going?" They all still live at the Playground but Skye and Ward recently decided they wanted a house of their own since they were sick of living with so many people (he and Bobbi have also discussed it but they thrive on the chaos).
"Not very well – we can't agree on anything and the girls just want to stay on the base." God, he's tired.
"They have grown up there so it's not shocking they don't want to go. When is the extraction team coming?" Lance just wants out of here and to see Bobbi and the kids again.
"Soon, cowboy."
Ward's right – the extraction team shows up within the hour to save the two of them. And Lance doesn't know when it happened but somewhere along the way, "cowboy" became a term of endearment. He's grown to embrace and love the nickname given to him by one of his best friends.