Hey everyone! Sorry for falling behind on the updates; six assessments in five days leaves limited time for fanfiction!


Skye yawned and started to stretch when she felt a warm weight encircling her arms, preventing her from moving them over her head. She blinked slowly, letting everything come into focus gradually, and turned her head to find Agent Grant Ward asleep next to her.

Well, this is new.

She wiggled a hand out of his grasp and reached for his neck. She started tickling, and he immediately jolted awake. He blinked rapidly and whipped his head to face her, so close that their noses brushed as he took in his surroundings. He pulled back and gave her an annoyed look while squirming away from her hands.

"Hello. Anyone ever told you it's rude to wake someone up like that?" he queried.

"Nope! And apparently, that's not the only thing I lack information on. Why am I curled up with you in a hospital bed? I mean, I remember the wrist thing, but somehow I don't think that entailed getting into bed with you. Not that I'm arguing, of course…" she teased. Her tone trailed off at the look in his eyes.

"I…you were cold, and FitzSimmons was busy, and I couldn't find any blankets in this room. I only had one other available option."

She studied his face, and turned it towards her with her bad hand. "Ward…what's wrong? You're not yourself. Did I do something?" she asked, hoping her panic before the surgery hadn't exasperated him.

"No, you didn't do anything. It's just…well, Skye your surgery went a tiny bit…wrong," he murmured, trying to spare her the details.

She wasn't having it. "Ward. What happened?"

She was startled to see tears in his eyes. "Hey. Seriously, what happened?"

"We almost lost you."

"What?"

"You had an allergic reaction to the anesthetic. You coded on the table…you were dead for 2 minutes, Skye."

She absorbed this silently. "Well, I'm glad I didn't. It would have been a shame to leave you guys, especially so early. I've got a lot left to live for," she said solemnly.

Ward nodded. "It was…it wasn't good. With how Jemma reacted when she got you back, we thought you were gone. Thinking that, even for a few brief seconds…it was surreal."

The tone of his voice made her heart ache. She hated causing anyone pain, especially Ward.

"Hey. Look at me. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. It was a freak accident. You have nothing to worry about. I'll be here to annoy you for a long time to come." She smiled wryly, and lowered her voice to almost a whisper. "Besides, I could never have died without having experienced this." And with that declaration she claimed his lips.

The smell of vanilla and lavender and soft, warm lips on his wiped every thought from his mind. She tasted faintly of minty toothpaste and chocolate, a combination he never would have guessed tasted like heaven, but even he could be surprised. His hands came to the base of her head and tangled in her soft brown locks as hers came to rest at his waist. Something gentle turned into a heated battle of lust and tongues as each realized how much they needed the reassurance that the other was there.

It was nothing he expected, and everything he had ever wanted.

They pulled away together, and looked at each other with broad grins on their faces.

"Wow. Really glad I didn't miss that," she said breathily.

"Me too," he murmured as he moved to capture her lips again.

It was the taste of repressed feelings and recognized love and Skye.

It would be a long time before he moved again.


When they finally pulled away from each other for the last time, faces flushed and lips plump, Skye grinned and tossed her legs over the side of the bed.

He gave her a puzzled look until she extended her hand.

"Come with me."

He gave in without a second thought, and let himself be dragged to wherever she wanted to go.

He kept up with her easily, jogging at her heels as she navigated the twists and turns of the bottom level of the Bus. They climbed over crates and slipped between pillars and crawled through a narrow passage. Ward was completely and utterly lost; he'd never seen so much of the underside of the Bus.

She turned around and he got lost again – this time, in the depths of her warm eyes. Hypnotic chocolate brown orbs that completely derailed his thoughts and belonged to a very fast woman who had finally stopped weaving through obstacles.

She opened her mouth, snapped it shut, and bit her lip. She seemed nervous, and Ward looked at her with as much confidence as he could muster. He wanted her trust, craved it, and he was determined to give her his.

She pulled him forward a little and revealed what the journey had come to. They were at the very back of the Bus, unable to go any further if they wanted to, right below the engines. Instead of a completely solid metal hull, there was a wide horizontal strip of crystal clear glass. They could see for miles. The sun was about to set, and the vast surface of clouds was tinted pink and yellow and orange.

They sat down and she looked up at him shyly. "When I…when I made the worst decision of my life and betrayed you guys, I couldn't believe that Coulson let me stay. But I thought that just because he let me stay wouldn't mean that any of you would talk to me again, you know? I mean, why would you?"

He stayed silent, but tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, indicating for her to continue. She looked at the floor as one hand traced invisible patterns on the ground.

"I thought it would be best to disappear for a while. Find somewhere that was out of the way and prevented me from bothering anyone. I had never seen anyone go into the back of the plane, so I decided to try it out. And after a lot of searching, I found this little alcove right here. I came here a lot before you guys began talking to me again."

"It's my little place, you know? When Coulson was captured, I couldn't think. So I came back here and I just sat down and cried. And when I looked up, there was a shower of shooting stars. They were streaking across the sky again and again and again and I just thought…we can do this. We can get Coulson back."

She was blissfully happy. He stroked her hand as she related the narrative, watching as her expressions displayed every emotion. He scooted back and tilted her chin up to face him.

He took a deep breath before confessing his happiness. "Skye, it means a lot that you shared this with me. I know that a place like this…" He looked out the window at the darkening sky and fading tinges of orange. "A place like this is special."

He exhaled and decided to tell her. "When FitzSimmons were looking through your medical records for your allergies, they came across a file…it was your x-rays." Her eyes got wide, but he continued. "I'm sorry for thinking that you were scared because you thought you couldn't trust us. I…I understand exactly why you didn't want to think about it."

Her gaze dropped to the ground. "I'm sorry. I hate being this broken. It's not something I ever wanted you guys to see."

Ward shook his head vehemently. "No, Skye. You're not broken. You're enthusiastic and bubbly and happy, and to me, it takes someone who's unbelievably strong to still be all those things after such horrible experiences. I've seen things like that happen to more experienced agents who become shells of their former selves. But you? You persevered, and you pushed through to become who you are today. And for that, I respect you."

She looked up at him as he grasped her hands in his own. She gave him a shy smile. "Thank you."

Rough, calloused fingers entwined with soft, nimble ones, and Grant leaned in and kissed her again.

He tasted like cinnamon and smelled like the dust of an abandoned town. She felt the slight scrape of his stubble against her chin and the soft strength of his lips on hers. She wrapped a hand around his tie and pulled him closer, moaning slightly as his hands settled at the nape of her neck. Her tongue entered his mouth, proclaiming dominance, and he happily granted her entrance.

Skye pulled away from the passionate embrace and touched her forehead to his.

"I love you."

He grinned broadly and eagerly leaned forward to capture her lips in yet another kiss. And as she responded, he murmured "I love you too" against her lips.

They sat, heads on each others' shoulders, and watched the day turn into night. They made wishes as they spotted the first twinkling stars, never to know that their wishes were exactly the same.


They slipped back through the obstacle course of boxes and metal pillars and ended up on the opposite side of the lab. Right before they started to climb the winding metal staircase, Skye pulled him back.

"Hey…Grant?"

"Yeah?" He liked the way his first name rolled off her tongue.

"What are we now?" He raised an eyebrow and she bit her lip nervously. "I mean, I'd like to call you my boyfriend, but if that's not okay…" she trailed off.

Ward pulled her into a hug and inhaled the scent of her hair. "I would love to be called that, as long as you're my girlfriend. I'd like to avoid telling the team for a little while, if that's okay? I haven't looked into SHIELD's fraternization policy."

She grinned. "Of course. Can't be breaking any rules, now can we?" she teased.

"Well, hopefully not, but I'd be willing to for you. Besides, don't you find that everything's better when it's new and fresh and we don't have to explain anything to anyone? I've always liked it that way," he confessed.

Skye tilted her head and considered it. "Has an excellent ring to it. Not explaining is my specialty, after all."

"Good."

She slipped her hand into his, and they climbed the stairs together.


Skye was generally fussed over and hugged and cared for, seeing as no one but Ward had seen her awake since the disaster. She and Ward were briefly puzzled, having forgotten about the events that led to their relationship in the heat of the moment. Skye caught on quickly and apologized for scaring everyone.

"I never knew," she said sheepishly. "Guess we'll be careful next time, though."

They ate dinner as a team that day. Coulson was back, Skye was damaged but alive, and they were all together. It seemed fitting.

They sat down to a meal of burgers and corn, Coulson having had some fun with the grill. The burgers were thick and juicy and well seasoned, and the team argued over who got the last one. The corn was delicious and buttery and Skye's favorite. Ward watched as the butter melted and dribbled down her chin as she tore into the delicious mess. She noticed his look and tried to point her eyes at her own chin. She giggled and grabbed for a napkin. She raised one eyebrow seductively in his direction, going unnoticed by everyone else. He had to stifle a laugh as she went cross-eyed.

He looked around the table. Coulson looked tired but happy, and was involved in a deep discussion about the Avengers with FitzSimmons. His eyes lit up with enthusiasm as he argued passionately on the side of Captain America while they resolutely defended Thor, seemingly infatuated with the undiscovered properties of Mjölnir. He glanced at May, who was rolling her eyes and secretly helping herself to the now-forgotten last burger. And he looked back at the happy girl sitting across from him, watching her friends argue about a demigod and a supersoldier with a content expression and more butter dripping down her chin.

When I got assigned to a team, I never thought it would be like this.

This is more than a team. It's a family. Small, dysfunctional, but a family nonetheless.

It's home.


There's one, maybe two more chapters to this story, so stay tuned! Hope you enjoyed! J

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