Two new characters and some daddy Ward.
Coulson called Ward very early that day back to the plane for few hours; Skye stayed home with Lilly. Ward suggested they could come with him to see everybody (Skye missed FitzSimmons as well as the rest of the team) but she was too tired because Lilly didn't sleep well that night and even when they had turns at taking care of her it was exhausting.
Around ten o'clock in the morning Skye decided she would take Lilly for a walk to the shop because they ran out of some needed supplies and she hoped that a walk would help the little girl sleep as she didn't sleep at all if somebody didn't carry her. She blamed Grant and that evening when he brought her to their bed. It looked like he was glued with the baby since that day and it was really interesting to watch how they developed together.
Skye pushed the pushchair between shelves with nappies, baby shampoos, baby oils and other babies' stuffs when she saw a woman who looked familiar. She frowned a little bit before realizing that the woman is Elaine. She needed to think about a way how to start conversation with her but didn't have any idea. She started to lose her hope when a little boy with blond curls ran to the pushchair because he didn't look out. He fell on the floor and started to cry.
Skye squatted down. "Oh, are you okay?" she asked and gently touched his shoulder.
He stopped crying, caught by surprise and looked up at her. He sniffed as he nodded.
"Where are your parents?" she asked as if she didn't know anything about him at all. She didn't have much information about the little boy and there was no picture of him in the file but he looked exactly like his father – except the hair, he had his mother's hair.
He sniffed one more time and then pointed at the direction he ran. Skye could see Elaine coming to them; she looked apologetically. "Neal, you know you can't run from me like this!" she said and picked the boy up then she looked at Skye. "I'm really sorry! He does that quite often now. I guess he want to explore everything on his own," she shrugged.
Skye smiled."Well, he's a child and it's probably good thing that he wants to be independent, isn't it?"
"As long as his mummy doesn't have a heart attack, then yes." Blonde haired woman stretched out her hand. "I'm Elaine by the way."
"Oh," she squeezed her hand, "I'm Skye."
"Nice to meet you, Skye. Are you new here? I didn't see you before."
She nodded. "Yeah, we moved in just a few weeks ago. But it was quite hectic so I just went for a walk every day but didn't really see anybody or talk to anybody."
Elaine smiled and took a breath as she wanted to answer but she was interrupted by Skye's call.
Young woman looked at the screen and frowned a little. "Sorry, I have to answer this. It's my husband," she explained with a smile. "What's up?" she said to the phone.
"Where are you?" asked Ward coldly. He was worried when he came back from the meeting with Coulson and found an empty house.
Skye was taken aback by his tone. "In the shop."
"Is Lilly with you?"
"Of course she is! Do you really think I would leave her home on her own?" she whispered angrily and rolled her eyes in the other woman's direction.
She could hear as he sighed. "I don't. I'm sorry. I was just worried when I came back and didn't find any sign of you. Not even a note," he added with clear reproach in his voice.
Skye rubbed her forehead. She actually didn't think he could worry about them so much. Also she didn't expect him back for at least another few hours. Otherwise she would send him a text or leave a note. They were going to talk about it soon. "Well, we're fine," she assured him.
"Great," he answered shortly. "When are you going to be back home? I need to talk to you."
She smiled at Elaine as she looked at her with question written in her face. "I don't know Wa-Grant," she quickly corrected herself as she realized it would seem weird if she called her own husband by his surname. "Probably in an hour?"
"Ok. I'll be waiting. Be careful!"
"What's going on?" asked Skye. Something in his voice made her worried.
"I'll explain you everything when you're back."
She made a face. "Fine. See you."
"Is everything ok?" asked Elaine when Skye put her phone away.
She smiled. "Yeah. He's just overprotective." She shrugged.
"Well, he obviously love you both," the other woman said and smiled at her son in her arms. "Jonah is the same. When he doesn't know where we are he is going crazy. He's looking for us everywhere. I guess it's some sort of men thing."
"I guess so," agreed Skye. "I should get moving because if I won't be home in an hour he'll go through the roof." She gave her a meaningful look.
Elaine chuckled. "Well, I'll better get going too. There are playgroups every day in the church. Don't you want to come by sometimes?" she suggested.
Skye frowned a little. "I don't know. Lilly is probably too young for playgroups."
The older woman laughed. "Oh, she is but it doesn't matter. The first time I went there Neal was just three months old. When you've got older child it can play with other kids but you can talk to other mums and just have fun. I'm sure your little one will be fine. There is always somebody who will look after her, don't worry." She assured her.
Skye thought about it for a few moments. It could be a good opportunity for her to befriend Elaine, she could get to know her better and she might find out what is going on in their neighbourhood. "Ok then. I'll come. What time is it?"
Elaine's face brightened up. "It usually starts at ten but there are some changes sometimes. You know what? Why don't you give me your email and I will send you the schedule."
She saw how excited the woman opposite her was – she reminded her of FitzSimmons. Suddenly she realized how much important it is for Elaine to be friends with her. They exchanged their email addresses and phone numbers, said goodbye to each other and went different directions.
"You're late!" said Ward when she opened the door of the house.
Skye sighed and rolled her eyes. She pushed the pushchair inside and closed the door behind her. When she was sure nobody could see or hear them she looked at her phone and spoke: "Three minutes Ward. I'm sorry if you were worried but I did my best." She convinced herself she should stay calm even when he would look like he was going to kill her for that. It was better than yelling which would lead to threatening. She was quite sure AC wouldn't send Simmons instead of her now but her husband could find other ways how to make her life unpleasant for her.
He pressed his lips together. "How's Lilly?" He covered a short distance between him and the pushchair and leaned down. He saw the little girl sleeping so he looked up at her with his eyebrows raised.
She spread her arms. "Geez, she's fine! Do you think I would be calm if she wouldn't? What is going on with you, Ward?"
He squirmed and she could see hint of concern on his face but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared so she wasn't sure if it was ever there. "I just feel responsible for you. I don't want you to get hurt."
Skye tried to find any sign of a lie in his expression but she wasn't lucky. It hurt! She desperately wanted to find something; something that would tell her he cared about them; something that would tell her he wouldn't walk away when they would be back on the Bus; something what she saw in his eyes when he took care of Lilly for the first time. She blinked few times. "Don't worry about us. We are going to be fine. I can keep her safe," she assured him.
Grant clenched his fists. He knew what she was looking for but he hid it because he was afraid of everything what he felt right now. He knew he cared about them, he loved them but he also knew he shouldn't feel it because when Skye would find a family for Lilly she wouldn't let him in. She would be devastated and she would blame him because he let her to form an attachment with the baby. And he knew for sure he would be devastated as well.
She turned away from him and put the house keys on the cabinet next to the door. "So," she started, "what did AC want?"
Ward took a breath. "Well, they found a connection between the victims."
Skye turned back to him, surprise written in her face. "Really? That's a huge progress. What exactly did they find?"
He sighed. "Every one of the victims knew our couple. It looks like they were killed just few hours after they saw them. But we don't know why they killed them. Coulson thinks it could be because they were angry. May thinks they were just bored. Fitz thinks that the victims told them something they didn't like and Trip agrees with him."
"What does Jemma think?" she whispered the question.
He made the face. "Simmons thinks they could do it because they were jealous. The victims are mostly men but there are two women as well. She thinks the victims must do something which made the couple think they should be jealous so they just kill them." He shrugged. He didn't want to tell her this because he knew she would seize on it.
Skye frowned. "Did they assume that nobody else could do it? I mean," she took a deep breath as she knew he wouldn't like what she was going to say, "I've met Elaine and little Neal in the shop today and you can trust me that she doesn't look like somebody who could kill in cold blood. Seriously Ward, she is really nice! I don't think she would hurt anybody much less kill anybody."
"They all look nice at first sight!" he snapped. His heart tightened with fear. He wasn't happy about the idea that Skye and Lilly were alone with Elaine. And he was even less happy about the idea that she was trying to defend her. Because it could cause a problem and he knew it.
"Yeah, I know but what if they've got some enemies. Anybody could know about Programme Pegasus! They could exploit it because they would figure that everybody would go after them and nobody would suspect it!"
Ward sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I can see your point but," he shook his head with a sigh, "I don't think you're right. I'm sorry Skye but you have to accept the fact that they are responsible for those murders."
"No, I don't have to," she opposed him. "I'm going to prove you that you're wrong."
"Well, I can't wait," said Ward sarcastically.
Skye rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen. She wasn't sure if she didn't slap him if she looked at him for one more moment.
He wanted to follow her but there was a sound of sob so he quickly moved to the pushchair, leaned down and with a broad grin he picked Lilly up. "Hello, baby girl. How are you?" he asked as he walked to see Skye. He found her looking out of the window, her teeth clenched. He frowned when he saw her expression. Once again he was the one who kept hurting her and he didn't like that idea at all. He wanted to make it up to her and he knew exactly how to do it. "By the way," he started, "Fitz and Simmons are coming for a weekend."
It was really amazing to watch how quickly and how much her expression changed. She turned from the window and looked at him, a delight written in her face. "Are you serious?"
Grant nodded. "Yeah, they miss you. And they don't have any mission now so they'll come for a few days. They are driving Coulson crazy already so he allowed it." He chuckled as he remembered earlier that morning when he stepped on the Bus and FitzSimmons plied him with questions about Skye and Lilly. Coulson behind their backs just rolled his eyes.
She smiled and hugged him. She even gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you!"
