As dawn broke, I opened my eyes. Ward was still asleep, cradling me in his arms, holding me close to him. After the night's event, we had collapsed in a heap of spent energy. But he had stayed.
A knock at my door sent me tumbling out of bed and onto the floor with a thud. "Just a minute!" I called out. Ward was already sitting up as I tossed his clothes to him and wiggled into my own. Quickly, I slipped out my door and shut it behind me before anyone could see in.
Simmons blinked, taken aback by my expression. "You seem a bit flushed, Sita. Are you okay?"
"Shiny. Just need water. Why don't you come with me? We can make some breakfast." I spoke loud enough that hopefully Ward could hear me. It wasn't like the walls of the bunks were soundproof. And with that thought, I blushed more. I was a little loud.
"Er, yes. Alright then." She smiled to me and made her way towards the mess hall.
I glanced back at the door. Ward cracked it open, scouted the scene then made it to his bunk undetected by anyone but me.
()
Coulson benched me for the next assignment. Fitz had pulled a name from the phone records that could be a lead and Ward was going in on his own to gather intel. The name had sounded familiar to me and I was racking my brain, cursing that I didn't have my books for reference.
Skye sat across from me as I sketched in my notebook. "You were right, you know."
"I think I need something a bit more specific to go on here."
"About how I feel about Agent Ward."
I froze. "Oh?"
She nodded. "Yeah. And knowing that, I can't believe you did what you did."
I proceeded cautiously. "And what did I do?"
"You got all combat-y and show-off and you have this whole 'other world' thing going on." She waved her hand around in a flustered gesture.
"Skye, seriously. Are you going to go all territorial on me?" I closed my notebook. "Ward is a grown man. If you like him, treat him like one. Don't play games. If he doesn't want you, that's not my issue."
She narrowed her eyes. "I thought we were friends."
"We are. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to start acting like someone I'm not just because you can't fess up to Ward that you wanna bone."
"Is there a problem here?" Coulson intervened, crossing his arms.
Skye immediately backed off. "Just girl talk." She stood. "Think I'll go check on Fitz and Simmons, see how the box project is coming."
After she left, Coulson took her seat with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to have this talk with Ward, too. Just so you know."
I swallowed thickly. Crap. "What talk?"
"I know about last night. I'd gone to talk to him about the next assignment and… well, the rooms aren't soundproof."
Oh snap. This was bad. I turned deep crimson. "Coulson, I…"
"It's why I benched you. I'm sorry but you compromise Ward. If he truly cares about you, it's going to cloud his judgment on missions."
"You're not going to tell us not to do that again?"
"On the contrary, I'm letting you bunk with him so that May can have a bed again. She's been hitting the couch for rest."
I had to take a moment to let this sink in. "So, you're okay with us?"
"'Okay' is a strong word. But I've learned to roll with the punches and make the hard decisions. I also think your influence on him may be something he needs."
"Yeah, cause I'm so, you know, gangster and shizzle."
He grinned. "You're personable. And you have values that are more than a mission statement. What you did on the bridge was an impulsive reaction, showing me who you really are. You could have let them take out the team. You could have gone to the team to try and warn them. But you didn't. You showed that when the chips are down, you're there."
I nodded. "I was raised that way. We do what must be done."
"Where were you raised?"
"In Oregon. I grew up with a group of Cherokee people who taught me a lot about respecting the earth and all its creations." I looked at my notebook, thinking back to that family.
He nodded sympathetically. "We will get you back to them. I'm sure of it."
"Glad you are."
()
That name was still mulling over in my head. Hardy. Felicia Hardy. Why did that name not make me feel at ease?
"Oh suck a duck in a pickup truck." I raced down to the war room where Coulson, Fitz, Simmons and May were. "Get him out of there!"
Coulson blinked. "What is it?"
"I remembered that name. In my world, that name belonged to the Black Cat. If it's her, she has micro-servo tech in her suit. She'll outmatch him physically. If he can't get the drop on her, he's toast."
Coulson focused, touching his earpiece. "Ward? Ward, do you copy? Fall back."
Silence filled the room and my heart stopped beating.
After what seemed like an hour, he responded. "This is Ward, I copy. But I'm almost to the target. Have a visual."
I shook my head at Coulson. Ward was underprepared for this one.
Coulson hesitated. "Obtain tech only. Do not make contact."
"Confirmed. Will meet at point in forty."
My heart sank. "Coulson…"
"He knows what he's doing, Sita. Have faith."
()
Forty minutes was petrifying. I had gone to Ward's bunk with my notebook and music to try ad distract myself from the thought of him being taken out. Eliminated. Or worse, captured and tortured. Coulson had been right. Ward would have been compromised with me there. However, what Coulson failed to mention was how I would be compromised.
I'd left the door open. No use hiding the fact now. If Coulson knew, it was safe to presume some, if not all, of the others had figured it out. Simmons knocked on the doorframe. "Hey there."
I looked up with hopeful eyes. "Hey, any word?"
She shook her head. "No. But he still has twenty before we need to worry." She leaned on the door. "So, you and Agent Ward…"
"Yeah. Me and Agent Ward." I hugged my knees to my chest. "I don't know what we are, but we are."
She flashed a nervous smile. "Well, good on you, then!"
I grinned. "I know, it's weird. A couple of weeks ago we didn't even know each other."
"A couple of weeks ago, you thought your world was the only real one."
"Very true." I rested my chin on my knees. "Do you really think you and Fitz can figure out the box?"
Her smile faltered. "We're trying. We really are."
I inhaled deeply, thinking. "If it did come with me, it may not have landed in the same spot. What if we tracked that energy reading you found from me in the lab? I mean, with like, satellites and stuff?"
"We could try." She pressed her lips together. "Do you really want us to succeed now?"
"That, dear Jemma, is a very good question."
()
He was ten minutes late. And shot. I rushed to his side as soon as May parked the SUV. "Grant? Oh crap, are you okay?"
He grinned. "I'm fine. It's just a little flesh wound." He tossed his pack to Fitz. "Got the tech. Hardy was bit feistier than we thought."
Coulson nodded. "Sita remembered her. That's why we wanted the abort."
I grinned. "I got mad skills on memory."
Ward smiled affectionately to me but then tried to hide it, unaware that the entire plane knew.
Well, almost the entire plane.
()
I sat on our bed and watched as Ward winced, pulling his shirt over his head. He'd taken the hit to his shoulder. And he'd been right, it wasn't too bad. The bleeding had stopped a long time ago. "You want me to clean it?" I asked softly.
"Sure." He popped open a drawer with basic medical supplies and sat beside me. "You done this before?"
"Not on gunshots. I used to be a caregiver, though. Mostly hospice." Gently, I tended to his wound, mulling Simmons' question in my head.
"Why did you stop being a caregiver?"
"Got too attached to people. I tend to care a lot. And watching people die…" I trailed off. He could have died today. This wasn't a TV show anymore. Swallowing, I bandaged him up. "There ya go."
He put away the excess supplies and turned to me. "So, Coulson had a talk with me."
"Yeah, me too."
"Are you sure you want this?" He crossed his arms, letting his expression go into poker face mode.
"Are you?"
"No. But that's why I think we should explore this. Whatever it is. It's new. And it feels right." He uncrossed his arms and sat back on the bed. "That and I'm sure May is glad to have a bunk again."
I smiled and kissed him softly. "Today upset me. But I got through it."
He put his good arm around me. "You're stronger than you think. I noticed that when we trained. You hold back. Not just physically."
I ginned mischievously. "Do you think I held back last night?"
He smiled back. "Yes. But only because I think you didn't want to get caught."
"You may be right about that." I kissed him again. "Tonight let's take it easy though. It was a rough day."
He nodded. "I'm good with that."
I went to sleep fitfully, one sentence repeating in my mind:
"Do you really want us to succeed now?"
