A/N: If you haven't read An Honest Conversation this might not entirely make sense...
Ward had never once cared to celebrate Valentine's Day. Pink hearts and naked cupids, cut roses and cheap chocolates, and sticky, putrid poetry; it was an absolute waste of time and resources. If Ward could self-induce a coma at 11:59 on February 13th and come out of it without the throbbing hangover on the 15th, he would. Or, rather, he would have before this year.
This was the year that Ward realized Valentine's Day had some strategic potential.
Valentine's Day was all about excess: pinker, cuter, sparklier, bigger, better. It was the one time of year when coming on too strong was seen as being sort of sweet. So, it was the one time of year he could drive hours out of the way, across state borders, and surprise Skye with dinner. On Valentine's Day, she just might not call him out for being 'stalky'. Ward was banking on the possibility.
For months, Ward felt like he and Skye had been engaged in the most elaborate game of chase. Ward had been tied into a three man operation tracking down former Hydra associates (and ending their association permanently). Skye had been otherwise occupied. Ward was never quite sure what Skye was up to at any given time. Getting training to use her newfound super powers had been a big priority for her but she kept the details about the what and how of it to herself and their respective paths never seemed to cross. Since the time Skye had reached out to him with that most perfect note and her phone number, they'd been in contact a lot, but frequent changes in locations aside, they always seemed to be on the opposite ends of the country or, in the very least, several states over. Ward wasn't entirely sure if this was a matter of choice (Skye's) or simply bad luck (his).
During their last late night phone conversation, he'd discovered that this time Skye was only one state over – a mere four hour drive south of where he was currently stationed in Seattle. And, better still, it was Valentine's Day; Ward was not going to let this opportunity slip by. Even Kara Lynn seemed supportive of the idea. She practically packed him a duffle and shoved him out the door herself.
Ward hadn't made it more than an hour out of Seattle before the rain started coming down in sheets. The windshield became a waterfall and the road became a river. He should have expected that. Seattle and rain go hand in hand, after all. Seattle's day-to-day rain was just a soft drizzle, like walking through a cloud. This unusual downpour further proved Ward truly had the worst luck in the world.
His four hour drive became a seven hour drive and, by the time he rolled into King City, it was far enough past dinner time he couldn't even play it off as having a European sensibility. Given that Skye didn't exactly know he was coming down for dinner, there was no way to salvage the plan.
When Ward found that Skye was not at the motel, he cursed his luck again. The silver lining to the whole disastrous trip was that King City was a miserable little town and did not have much of a nightlife scene. The hotel manager gave the uncomfortably damp Ward the name of several bars and restaurants that would likely be open at this time of night. He'd start his search with the ones that had free WiFi.
By the time he got to the Cornerstone Bar and Grille, he'd almost given up hope. Cornerstone didn't look like the sort of place Skye would favor. It was a raucous sports bar and, since the outdoor seating was closed due to the storm, the place was packed. Ward was positive they didn't offer WiFi to their costumers either (though, admittedly, that had never stopped Skye before).
When he stepped inside, he was immediately hit by the stale smell of beer and a clammy humidity that could only be caused by having too many bodies in too confined a space. There were flat screens playing the All Stars game every 6 inches all the way around the room. Every six inches around the room there also seemed to be clusters of single men hoping the few single women present were willing to settle for desperate action instead of romance this Valentine's Day.
Ward spotted Skye immediately. She was tucked away in the far corner, back to him. Her feet were tacked into the legs of the bar stool. She'd curled closer to the tablet in front of her so as not to give any eye contact. Ward was uncertain she could give eye contact given that her hair was down and she was hidden behind the curtain of it. All her body language was screaming 'stay away' but that didn't seem to translate well to the paunchy, red-faced loser that kept creeping closer and closer toward her. Her monosyllabic answers and apathetic shrugs must have seemed like sweet enticement to the fool.
Ward couldn't help himself. He strode over to her, making no effort to politely brush passed her admirer, and slid his arm across her shoulder, kissing her forehead lightly. "Hi babe. Sorry I'm late."
Skye tensed and looked like she was ready to punch him until recognition slowly flickered across her face. She dropped her tablet on the bar and nearly launched herself into him. He caught her with ease and smiled down at her as she spluttered, "Ward! What? How? Weren't you in Seattle?"
Fortunately, her enthusiastic surprise did as much to dissuade her erstwhile admirer as Ward's none too gentle hip check. The loser got the hint and vacated his now very overcrowded position next to Skye.
"Yes. We're still in Seattle but I had a little time today and I got you something," he shrugged and dug into his pocket to pull out a small stuffed hedgehog toy. He'd seen it at a roadside gift shop somewhere on the edge of Nebraska and Colorado weeks ago and bought it on impulse. He'd been carrying it around with him ever since in the off-chance he'd stumble across Skye. She'd been so adamant that 'hedgehogs in teacups' had been helpful for channeling her control over her power and delivering the round-eyed little rodent was the best excuse he could come up with for his drive down.
He was glad he'd decided to hand deliver the present. Although he and Skye spoke frequently on the phone, they'd never really recovered from their one night in New Jersey. The blissed-out look she gave him when he handed her the hedgehog broke through his trepidation about this encounter. He took in her nearly empty glass and offered to buy her a drink.
Skye was still struggling to shake off the surprise of seeing him or, perhaps, she was trying to grasp the overwhelming awesomeness of receiving a hedgehog for Valentine's Day. The offer of a drink seemed to astonish her as well. "Oh, uh. Yeah. Sure. I have something to show you!"
Ward raised an eyebrow but Skye just waved him off. "Drink first. Then I'll show and tell."
Skye perched back on the edge of her stool but Ward didn't want to lose the skin to skin contact he had with her so he left his hand resting on the collar of her shirt. His need to fidget was pacified by the circles he drew on the back of her neck with his fingers. She didn't shrug him off so he kept up his endless doodle.
When their beers arrived, Ward looked expectantly at Skye. She didn't take a swig of her beer like he expected, instead, she rested her hand on the sweating column of the glass and smiled brightly at him. He didn't catch it at first but then the beer inside the glass shivered and jumped. It surged lightly as if someone had walked by and dropped a penny into her glass without him seeing. Ward shot a glance around the bar. No other beers were rippling and dancing the way hers was.
"You can control it now? Direct it like that?" he said with a touch of jealousy. He didn't know who had been helping train her but he didn't like that it wasn't him. Granted, he didn't know the first thing about how to control her powers but he missed having that constant contact that he'd had during his days of training her.
"I'm getting better. You probably wouldn't find me 'field ready' yet but it's a neat bar trick, right? I'm like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park!" Her beer quivered one last time before settling and she took a light sip of it. Some of the foam settled on her upper lip. Ward was mesmerized by her attempts to lick it off.
When she failed completely at that, she used the back of her hand and laughed self-consciously. Timid as it was, the laugh felt unaffected. It had all the sparkle and merriment that had first drawn him to Skye and which had been missing from their interactions since he'd left S.H.I.E.L.D. for the far more treacherous ranks of Hydra.
"Have you had dinner?" Skye asked suddenly. He hadn't but he was not going to admit it so, instead, he shrugged. Skye continued, "I mean, I have but if you'd like we could grab some take out? Head back to my hotel?"
The nebulous concepts of 'take out' and 'hotel' combined shouldn't cause such a swift surge of arousal but, for Ward, they did. His eyes darkened and his fingers stopped their light circling on the back of her neck. "I'm not really hungry for food," he murmured and when Skye's own eyes darkened with understanding, he leaned in a pressed a hot kiss to her lips.
Eventually, he had to come up for air and, when he did, a troubled looking Skye glanced up at him through her eyelashes. "Are you sure about this? Sometimes I wonder if sheer exhaustion directed your actions last time." Her words started to smudge together and collided as she got more nervous and her rambling became more incoherent. "I mean, you gave me a chance to sleep for a few hours but you just powered through all that so maybe you regret your decisions? After you actually had time to sleep? I'd understand..."
He cut her off then with a ferocious kiss, a punishing kiss. One that would break down all those foolish notions and silly lies and leave the truth of how much he wanted her plain to see.
Cheering broke out in the bar behind them and Ward didn't turn to see if it was because someone in the All Stars game had made a good play or because someone had decided he was making a good play. He used his size to block Skye from the roving eyes of the drunks in the bar and quickly helped her gather her things. They beat a hasty retreat.
Skye's hotel was not nearly as run down as the Maple Shade Motel in New Jersey. It was a Super 8 with all the standard franchise comforts and none of the weird quirks that independently owned and operated places tended to cultivate. There was no southwestern décor or mauve carpeting either. The best difference, however, was the room was set for single occupancy. There was one queen sized bed and when Skye had offered to let him stay the night instead of making the drive back to Seattle, Ward officially confirmed that Valentine's Day was the single best holiday of the year and Super 8s were five star hotels in his book.
When they got to the room, Ward dropped his bag in the corner and got rid of his wet shoes and socks. Skye, too, was shirking off her wet clothing. The first to go was her button down shirt. The gray camisole underneath was cut low enough the lace edging at the top of her pink bra peaked above the neckline.
"Hmmm..." Ward said as he moved to her side. He wove his hand into her hair and tugged lightly before letting it trail on down to rest on the back of her neck. "I have this thing I'd like to try."
"Yeah?" Skye angled her face up to him.
"Do you remember when we first met? When Coulson played you with the truth serum and you interrogated me?"
"I'd still contend that I wasn't being played."
"Right. Well, I still dream of your particularly sweet interrogation."
"Grant, you've had a lot of my interrogations and most of them weren't all that sweet."
"True. But you never wore a shirt that low cut again." He trailed his hand down her neckline and rested it just between her breasts. "Care to see if you can get me to be entirely honest?"
"What? Like Truth or Dare?"
"If you want to open this up to dares, I wouldn't say no."
"I don't know. I feel like Kara Lynn should be around if I'm going to embarrass you that much. She'd never forgive me if you make a fool of yourself without her nearby to appreciate it. Or record it." Skye said with a laugh.
"Truth then," Ward said sitting down on the bed.
Skye walked slowly toward him until she stood directly in front of where he sat. It was a very generous view. Ward reached up to pull her closer but she swatted his hands away so he let them fall behind him and leaned back. She straddled his lap pushing him further back onto his elbows.
"Last time we shared truths, it got a little nasty," she said. Her position in his lap was seductive but he could hear the worry thread through her tone so he hastened to reassure her.
"It's Valentine's Day. We'll keep it light."
"Is that the truth, Grant Ward?" she said with more confidence and just the slightest shifting of her hips. He groaned in response.
A sly smile spread across her pink lips and she leaned in closer. "I didn't hear you. Are you telling me the truth?"
"Yes ma'am. The absolute truth," he replied.
"Good," Skye said and cruelly slid off him. Ward was about to protest when she turned around and waved one finger at him. "Uh-uh. Answers first." She strode over to where he'd dropped his duffle bag and opened it. She riffled through his change of clothing, his selections of weapons (never leave home without them!), and pulled out the box of condoms. "Kara Lynn?"
Ward really wished he could say otherwise. "Yes. She, uh, packed for me."
Skye smiled wickedly at him. "Does she always pack for you?"
"Not always. Just, apparently, when she's trying to get me laid." The words came out before he thought about them and once they were floating about the room he wished he could unsay them. Skye, however, thought his answer was hilarious. Hilarious enough that she sauntered back to the bed with her newfound loot.
She was aware enough not to get too close to him. She knew he had a long reach and didn't want to get snagged just yet. "That wasn't my question, by the way. My question is...what's the worst pick up line you've ever used on a girl?"
"Honestly?"
"That's kinda the whole point, dummy."
"I once told this girl that I really, really liked that she was bad for me."
Skye blushed, remembering the conversation, and waved it away. "That doesn't count, Romeo. You're keeping it light, remember?"
"Right. Romeo. Because he's so good at keeping it light."
Skye smiled, "You'll do better than him. At least you're not a love-struck teen!"
"Well, if you want dumb pick-up lines, I'll have to age down a lot. In fifth grade, I told my teacher, Miss Monroe, that she'd grown on me like mold on bread."
"You didn't? Your teacher? You dog." Skye crowed.
"I did. I think she thought I was sweet. She gave me an A in creative writing and I'm pretty sure I didn't deserve that mark." He'd been edging forward on the bed and when he finished his answer, he deftly sprang forward, grabbed Skye, and pulled her back to the bed. When she tumbled onto it, he quickly captured her arms and leaned down to kiss her. "Truth or truth. When did you decide you liked me?"
Ward didn't wait for the answer before he occupied himself with running kisses along her neck. Skye leaned into them. "That depends on how you define like. Do you mean when did I think 'Wow. I admire that fine specimen of sculpted abs and cut cheekbones'? Or, do you mean like-like."
Ward grinned into her neck and wondered if Skye could feel his smile run across her skin. "Like-like. I'm pretty sure the other option didn't take that long."
Skye pushed at him. "Conceited much?" But he hushed her complaint by stealing her lips for a thorough kiss.
When he freed her again, her eyes were glazed, her breathing jagged. Ward helpfully reminded her what the question was again.
"Maybe after Hong Kong? Your disappointment in me cut deep and I knew I was starting to care about how you felt toward me."
"You know I wasn't all that disappointed in you, right? I mean, I didn't know how to deal with you at the time and feigning such sharp disappointment was a good way to discredit you should you have come onto my cover sooner. You were, after all, the unknown threat to it since you were an outlier variable I could never account for."
Skye laughed and the feel of it rippled up Ward's body in such a way he almost wondered if she was using her powers, if her powers had the capacity to make him feel such pleasure as well as destroy entire cityscapes.
"Your game really hasn't gotten much better than it was when you were in fifth grade," she said, softening the blow of that criticism by sucking on his lower lip and sliding her tongue into his mouth. He released her hands to get a better grip on her shoulders as he invested himself in her. She quickly brought her hands into play, running them down and pulling his shirt off. Once she had free access to his torso, she raked her fingernails from his shoulder blades to his hips. The move made Ward press into her further and he lost interest in asking more questions.
He also lost interest in their remaining clothing and made quick work of removing it. "I have plenty of game. Let me prove it." Skye's look suggested she was very skeptical of this statement but he knew he could change her mind. He nudged Skye until she rolled over and rested on her stomach and then rested his hands just above the small of her back and pressed firmly down. The almost musical hum Skye made let him know he'd found a tender spot. He continued to run his hands across her back, kneading, and rubbing in turns. He worked with such tenacity, it almost felt like he was training his muscle memory to remember this map of all the places on her back that caused her sigh of contentment.
"I give up. You're right. You still have plenty of game," Skye reluctantly admitted, turning over to her side to pull him down to her. Skye gave as good as she got. They drowned in each other; their senses overloaded with the taste and feel of the other. When, finally, they'd spent themselves and collapsed back on the bed in a tangle of sweat drenched limbs, Ward felt the happiest he could ever recall feeling. Skye had nodded off lying across his chest and he made sure to further ensnare her by combing his hands into her hair and winding his arms around her.
He woke first when the rain stopped. The soft shurr, shurring of the downpour settled into a plinking drip and then fell to silence. Skye grumbled sleepily in his arms but eventually worked herself free of his hold. Her dark eyes found his and Ward thought, perhaps, she was trying to read him, to peel away the layers of his masks and find what lay beneath. He wanted to tell her she didn't have to do that, that she'd already found all that he was but he didn't know the rules to this morning's game. It was no longer Valentine's Day and they had no obligation to keep it light. Still, he didn't want to make it their thing – this night of wild abandon followed by a morning of words sharp as daggers and terrible regret. He decided to start small: "Good morning."
Her lips curled up softly and she returned his greeting. "How long are you planning on staying in Seattle?" she asked. Physically, she hadn't pulled away from him yet but she was already suggesting such distance. Ward couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Another week or so. Not much more. And you? How long are you staying in Oregon?"
"The same. A week."
Silence descended again and Ward was about to get up, to make it so she didn't have to tell him to leave, when Skye asked softly. "Ward?"
He wished she'd call him Grant but was unwilling to voice it. "Yes?"
"I don't want you to feel any obligation. I mean, I know you have a thing going and work – with Kara Lynn and Mike. But my research...on the Attilanians? I think I found out where they live."
Ward told himself not to hope. Having hope only led to greater disappointment. Still, he couldn't keep the edge of excitement out of his voice when he prompted her to continue.
"I might need some help. Getting in. If you and Kara Lynn and Mike are free ever...No obligation..."
"Yes."
"You don't need to answer now, Ward. I mean, you can ask them?"
"I don't need to ask them. We'd be happy to help."
She smiled at him, kissed him softly on the chin, and said, "Thanks Ward."
"Skye, when I'm running around in combat gear and kevlar, you can call me Ward. When you're naked in my arms in bed, I'd rather you call me Grant."
She laughed at that and ran her hands down his torso as if to illustrate just how naked her was. "I thought you were always kevlar. I remember you telling me something about being cut out of it."
He rolled so that she was pinned underneath him and smirked down at her. "I must have been lying. You really shouldn't be so gullible."
The punch she gave him was much weaker than the kiss that followed it.
A/N: Again, the fantastic ExellentlyEllen has cleaned up all the messes. If you'd like more Skye/Ward and haven't found All Is Fair (But This Is Not Love, It's War) - go read it! Despite her best efforts, some mistakes likely still remain because Ward wanted to give them a second chance.