Title: The World Outside Doesn't Exist
Author: snarkysweetness
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Skye/Ward
Summary: "What I want is to say here with you and imagine the world outside doesn't exist." An AU in which Ward isn't Hydra, Garrett is still after Skye, and the team leaves them in Providence to go save Audrey while they finally have that talk.
Warnings: Mentions of past abuse.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: Annie wanted some S.H.I.E.L.D.!Ward keeping Skye safe fluff and it turned into them sassing each other and breaking my heart discussing their pasts. Really, Annie, you brought this on yourself.

"I don't like being trapped here like Coulson's kept pet," Skye muttered in annoyance.

Grant smirked at her from over her shoulder as he glanced at the information she'd managed to hack from the NSA which was currently on its way to the CIA, Interpol, MI6, NATO, etc. "I hate to break it to you, rookie, but you just saved all of our asses," he whispered before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Skye wrinkled her nose but a blush crept to her cheeks. "Whatever, it's nothing."

"Nothing? Skye, you infiltrated the NSA in less than an hour." The blush spread to her neck and he grinned. "You're brilliant, I doubt even Romanoff could pull that off. It's okay to be proud of it."

Skye rolled her eyes. "A.C. assigned you to babysit me, not stroke my ego." She glanced up at him and gave him one of her 'looks'. He knew it was supposed to be threatening but all he wanted to do was kiss her on the nose and well… just kiss her really.

He leaned down until he was at eye-level. "If you think I wasn't going to insist on staying here to keep you safe, then you don't know me very well, Agent Skye."

"Yeah and why is that, Agent Ward?" She sassed.

Grant gently pressed the tips of his fingers to her chin as his eyes moved to her lips, remembering when she'd kissed him back at The Hub, when she though they were going to die. He glanced back up with a small smile. "Why do you think?"

Skye looked away before clearing her throat. "I should go tell Eric we're done."

Grant stood in confusion. What had he done wrong?

"Skye-"

"I'll be back," she insisted before disappearing through the door.

He waited five minutes before going after her. He knew it was just them alone with Eric and May but he wanted to keep her safe. Garrett wanted her dead and with Hydra having taken over the Fridge he wasn't the only monster out there who could hurt her. Coulson had told him why Hydra wanted her, why Centipede was on her tail, and why they needed to keep her safe. Skye was perfectly capable of handling herself but not from that many threats, not when S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't protect her anymore. He would increase her training, start training Fitzsimmons, and eventually S.H.I.E.L.D. would rise from the ashes and in the meantime he'd keep her alive.

When Grant couldn't find Skye in any of the common areas he checked the bus to find May leaving them. He was so shocked that he'd almost forgot about Skye as he sat in their still damaged living area.

"Hey."

He glanced up to find Skye in the doorway with a bottle of Scotch the way she had months ago. He smiled. "Are you okay?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Look I…I know I talk fast and I seem like nothing gets to me and yeah, I do cope with weird shit really well but when it comes to feelings-"

"Skye, it's okay-"

"Let me finish.

I don't over-analyze. I just act impulsively and then regret it afterward. I'm not used to having somewhere I belong. And everything is being taken away from us, which I'm used to and you're…" She gnawed on her lower lip and he could see her fighting off the urge to cry. "You're solid, Grant, and it scares me because anytime I let myself believe in something, it's taken away from me and I don't want to lose you. I don't want you to get hurt because of me. I have enough blood on my hands."

He was on his feet pulling her into his arms before she could start crying again. Skye wrapped her arms around him and pressed her head into his chest and he held it there, whispering comforting words to her.

"I'm not going anywhere; you're not going to lose me, Skye. My entire life is about danger, my life is always at risk, and if I'm going to die, I'd rather die keeping you safe than doing anything else. But I'm not going to die, not for a long time."

"You don't know that."

Grant pulled away and ran a hand through her hair. "Yes, I do," he whispered. "I don't believe in much, but I believe in us."

She gave him the doe-eyes and his heart broke just a tiny bit.

"Where's May?" She whispered as she leaned into him.

Grant sighed. "She left."

"What? Where? Why?"

"She…gave up. I tried to stop her but…" He shrugged. "I think she and Coulson…"

Skye nodded. She was the perceptive one of the team. "I guess dad got the kids and plane in the divorce, then." She let the information settle before holding up the bottle in her hand. "So, Agent Ward, shall we have that drink?"

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll see if we have glasses left." He found that not all of their dishware had been lost in the fight at the Hub and returned with two mismatched glasses.

She gave him a smile as he poured them each a drink.

"So…about you and May…"

He glanced up to find her chewing her damn lip again. Was she aware of what that did to him? "I told you, it was…two people who needed to work out their rage. It's not like it is with us."

"'Us'?"

"You know what I mean…"

"'Us' is a strong word. It's serious, Grant. Is starting something right now really the best idea?"

"Is there ever a good time to start something?"

And there was that lip again only this time with a smirk.

"So…we're um…I got say, Grant, I didn't even thing you liked me, let alone…liked me."

Grant took a drink and collected his thoughts. She was right, when she said he hated talking about himself, but he'd almost lost her. It had taken her nearly dying for him to realize he couldn't not be with her and if this was going to work then he needed to stop keeping it all in.

"I didn't want to like you, that's why I was such a charming asshole in the beginning. You were pretty and I've never done well with pretty girls. And then I got to know you and I tried to push you away when I realized you were someone I could be with. Being a specialist…it's just you. It's dangerous. Falling for you was bad for me and for you, it put you in danger, put the team in danger. I have to be willing to make the tough calls, be loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.; not risk everyone's lives just to keep you safe.

And with May…I thought the distraction would keep me from slipping up with you but then you were shot…"

He glanced up and met her eyes. "You were shot and I watched you fight for your life. You were bleeding out and still struggling to keep going and then when you were in that coma…Skye, I was willing to die to find a cure for you. That's when I knew I couldn't push you away anymore."

Their hands met in the middle of the table and he linked their fingers together, his eyes still on her.

"I'm no good for you, Skye. I killed an innocent man and he wasn't the first and he won't be the last. There are things I have to do because of this job that are dark. You're just…you're good, Skye."

"So are you."

"Not always. There are times when I'm not a good man."

"Hey…I know what kind of man you are, Grant. You're the kind of man who'll jump out of an airplane to save the life of a girl you barely know, who's protected me more time than I can count, who the team needs to survive. We're not in a black and white business, Grant. Everything we do is grey. We all have skeletons." Skye moved to the table and placed her hand above his heart. "I know who you are in here and that's what matters."

"I lied to you," he whispered, needing to get his darkest secret off his chest. She was so willing to see the good in people, to ignore the darkness, and she deserved to know the truth. "My older brother used to make me hit my younger brother; it was a game to him. I was just as much of an abuser as he was. I was so scared of him and what he would do; I never stood up to him. I was a coward, Skye. Sure, I protect people now, but he needed someone to stand up for him then and instead of being there for him I just added to the abuse."

Skye's face fell. "What about your parents?"

"They were worse. My dad was a drunk who liked to prey on my older sister and my mom was too busy shooting up to notice. My Grams took us in for a while, before she died, but um…it was too late, we were all too damaged by that point."

Grant didn't cry often, he was too composed, too used to compartmentalizing, but he could feel the sting in his eyes. "I don't talk to them anymore, my older brother's in prison, my sister…." Grant swallowed hard. "She got pregnant so her douchebag boyfriend would marry her and he killed her in a rage so I put a bullet between his eyes. I don't know where my younger brother is, he disappeared as soon as he could. And my parents are still making each other miserable."

Skye leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead. "Grant…" She wrapped both arms around him before pulling him into a hug. Grant held onto her tightly with one hand tangled in her hair. "It's not your fault," she whispered. "You were abused and I know you wish you could have done things differently, but you were a child, you can't blame yourself for what you couldn't do then. Look at what you do now; your choices now are what matters."

"Oh, Skye…" He drew away from her and placed a hand on her cheek. "How are you so willing to see the good in people? How does none of this…bother you?" It terrified him what she must have gone through. When he'd met her she was content living in her van, a girl who had erased her past. He knew her story was a sad one. What had she seen for her to not be horrified by his story? "What…you can tell me anything, Skye." He whispered as he caressed her cheek.

"There isn't much to tell, Grant," she replied with a shrug. "You already know everything Coulson and I were able to find out about my past-"

"No, Skye. What happened in China and with Avery, sure, that's where your story started but that's not all of it. Growing up not knowing where you came from, in orphanages and foster homes, I know that's not easy for people. If something happened-"

She shook her head. "I saw a lot of terrible things, but…" She sighed. "S.H.I.E.L.D. moved me a lot, to keep me safe, usually when I was beginning to get attached but now, looking back…anytime I was in a home where the parents were abusive…they didn't just keep me safe by keeping me alive. They made sure I was well taken care of. I was always moved before anything happened and in a lot of those homes, those kids were all taken away." She smiled. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has always protected me and that erases anything negative that I went through, knowing I wasn't alone, that there was always someone watching out for me. And when I dropped out of High School they knew it was best for me. I had my van, I was able to move around, I learned to depend on me and that was the best thing they could have done for me because I learned how to survive."

Grant didn't know anything about love, how to be loved, how to love someone, but right now, he thought this had to be what it felt like.

"You're amazing," he whispered. "I think your superpower is that you're just the embodiment of everything good in this world." Skye blushed and looked down but he caught her chin and carefully lifted it so he could gaze into her eyes. "I mean it. You're the best person I've ever met, Skye. You make me want to be better, to do better. I think you give everyone around you hope."

"Grant-"

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Skye returned the kiss, climbing into his lap in the process. He drew her closer and deepened the kiss, needing her more than he needed air. A moan escaped his throat as she ran her fingers through his hair and he was glad they had the plane to themselves.

Skye was the one to break the kiss and he whined in protest. "Grant…" She searched his face and caressed his cheek. "You know I may not be…human, right? I could explode with some unknown power any day now, I'm dangerous-"

"I just told you I killed a man in cold blood and you think you're the dangerous one?" He sighed. "Skye, you are something else."

She frowned. "I mean it, Grant, before this goes anywhere further I-"

"Hey, I'm not going to leave you," he insisted, taking her hands in his. "I'm willing to take the risk if you are."

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"What I want is to say here with you and imagine the world outside doesn't exist," he whispered sincerely. A smile played on her lips and he frowned. "But, it does exist. S.H.I.E.L.D. is falling apart and things are going to get harder before we can even begin to fix it."

Skye hopped into his lap and slipped her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair. "Well…the team is gone and Eric is too busy playing MMORPG's to remember we're in the building, so…right now, it's just us. We could pretend the outside world doesn't exist, just until the team comes back and we're forced to deal with it again."

"What exactly are you suggesting, Agent Skye?"

Skye grinned before kissing him in a way that left him breathless. "I think there's a few things my S.O. and I can teach one another…yunno, some contact exercises," she teased before pressing her mouth to his once more.

Grant had a smart-ass comment on his lips but he let them die because damn did she know how to leave a man weak in the knees. He carefully laid her onto the sofa, pressing her into the cushions. The outside world was waiting for them to be big damn heroes but for a few hours they were able to ignore it and just be 'us'.