Oh look! I finally managed to get another chapter written before the week was up... yay! A less busier week did help along with having most of this prompt thought out a while ago already! I'd just like to take a quick second to say "Thanks!" to all my readers - byLunaA, wolfca, Ace, PreciousHeartBeats, firerosedreamer67 and my guest reviewer! This is another Coulson centric p.o.v chapter but I do feel much better about this one and I hope you do too! Presenting... the first dream that Coulson has about Skye! ^_^

Disclaimer: One day... one day I'll either have something of Marvel's that I own or I'll just stop these altogether.


"Phil?" Skye's soft but surprised voice reached Coulson's ears as he turned around to see her walking towards him, dressed in a knee-length rose pink sleeveless dress with a hint of gold. "What... what is all this?" More than surprise, it sounded as if she was... in awe.

"Hey, beautiful." Reaching out to wrap his arm around her waist, Coulson gave her a light peck on the lips before gesturing to the view in front of them, "This... is our date for tonight." He explained as he led her down the path which opened up to a private beach that had been specially reserved for the two of them. Tonight he had dressed simple - a grey shirt that was unbuttoned at the top and black pants without a jacket; just the way she liked.

"A date. On the beach? Under the moonlight." Unable to believe the sight that met her eyes, Skye still managed a bright smile as she realized that this was a dream come true and it was all because of the man beside her. "This is just..." She couldn't even find the right words to describe how her heart was fluttering as everything started to seem more real, it was surreal and magical.

"Cliche?" He tried to finish her sentence as they arrived at a table set for two which was already fully prepared with dishes, desserts and even a bottle of champagne.

"Yes. Sort of, I mean... in a good way obviously." Skye giggled when she found him pulling out her chair before she sat down, the perfect gentleman as always. "Have I forgotten a special day?" She couldn't help but ask him, this just seemed so... special, just like the other dates they'd been on but each had coincided with their six-month anniversary or first year anniversary or both their birthday's.

"I'm glad you liked it. Dinner on the beach is probably overdone but it is romantic too." Coulson said to Skye as he sat opposite and took her hand in his. "And no, this isn't in honor of anything special at all, I just... thought of doing something special for us... it's been a while since our last date and we do have the whole weekend to ourselves..." Drifting off at the end, he grinned when he noticed Skye's light blush in the candlelight.

"It's perfect. I was actually going to say 'magical' earlier... a magical, wonderful, perfect cliche." She loved everything about this night already and it had only just begun.

"Well then, allow me to create a little more magic for you sweetheart." Letting go of Skye's hand only for a minute, Coulson stood up once again and walked around to where she sat, offering his hand to her.

Glancing up at him in a slight state of confusion, Skye didn't blink before taking hold of his hand and got up as well, wondering what he had planned for tonight. There was definitely more than just this one surprise, but what was coming next she didn't know.

"Phil... where are you taking me now?" The two of them had not even left the tiny enclosure but Skye noticed that Coulson had brought her close to the path they had just walked down from, near a few rocks and pebbles which were strewn on the sandy beach.

"Just wait... you'll see." Stopping nearby, Coulson gestured for Skye to stand in the same spot without moving while he walked to the rocks and bent down; that was when she finally spotted something which had been concealed in the shadows all along, a small music player. "Here we are." He said as he pressed a button and stood back up once the soft song started.

Taking his place in front of Skye, Coulson wrapped his arm around her waist again and took one hand in his as he slowly began to sway in time with the music. It took only a few seconds but when Skye listened to the music playing, her eyes widened as her smile brightened.

"This song! Isn't this the same song that..." She began, but before she could say anything else, Coulson had completed the sentence for her.

"That we danced on together for the first time in my office. When I taught you how to waltz. Thought you might like it." He replied as they found their sync as always and continued to dance, though a little more slower this time around.

"I love it Phil. This night is truly magical, thank you." Skye couldn't help but feel a tiny bit emotional and before Coulson could notice her eyes tearing up, she rested her head against his chest and moved her arms up to his neck.

"You're welcome Skye." Coulson whispered softly, pausing for a second only to tuck away a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Once the song finished, they remained there, cherishing in the moment and not letting it end until they decided it was time. The dinner wasn't going anywhere and the night was still young, which meant there was plenty of opportunities for more surprises. In the meantime, Skye had thought of something she could do for Coulson and breaking apart from her hold around him but still staying where she was, met his gaze under the moonlight and saw the twinkle in his eyes, telling her he knew what was coming next. Standing on her tiptoes, Skye placed one hand on his cheek as she brought her lips to his in a soft, gentle kiss to which he responded in return by pulling her to him as his hands went to her lower back and deepened the moment when he felt Skye moan as her lips opened allowing him entry and her fingers tangled up in his hair. This was what she had been looking forward to and just like every time before this, Coulson never ceased to amaze her.

When they broke apart for air, Coulson didn't want this to stop and so he began to leave tiny kisses on Skye's neck as he trailed down to her shoulder and kissing the silk ribbon that tied her dress, tugged on it once with his teeth knowing it was open when he heard her soft gasp. His hands were still on her waist and her lips were nibbling on his ear when he undid the second ribbon on the other side of the dress, giving him the chance to simply tug on the zip slowly and carefully...

Coulson's eyes snapped open as he sat upright and tried to figure out where he was; it took him only a moment to remember that he was in his bed on the Bus, not in the middle of the beach. He had been asleep and those thoughts... they'd been more than just that this time around, he seemed to have progressed to dreaming. About Skye. Letting out a deep breath and laying his head back against the pillows, Coulson started to focus on his breathing for a few minutes; a quick and effective exercise to calm his mind down and let the images of his dream settle enough for him to try and make sense of what he was going through.

The beach, the dance, the kiss... Skye in that dress, their first song, hearing her call him 'Phil' even if only in a dream... a dream that took place in the future... all these bits and pieces seemed to be part of a larger picture that he still couldn't see but somehow, Coulson knew that what he had seen tonight was the key to figuring everything out. Only this morning he had met Skye downstairs as she took out her anger from their mission in Monaco on the punching bag and in spite of all the feelings he'd experienced as well, he couldn't fathom what she had gone through and putting aside his own anger and jealousy, Coulson had hugged her. The rest of the day had gone by in a flurry as May had received orders to land at the Hub for a quick debriefing about the mission before they were given a few days off until the next mission came through; which meant that while he focused his resources on tracking Ian Quinn down, Skye was busy caught up in training with Ward and though they had crossed paths with each other, there hadn't been enough time to talk more. What exactly did he want to talk to her about he wasn't sure... the only thing he knew was that the jealousy was still there.

"Why? Why do I feel jealous? And what did the dream mean?" Coulson voiced his thoughts out loud as he tried to make sense of everything.

An idea came to him just then, if the feelings were something he'd felt for longer than he initially thought, maybe he needed to first figure out when this had begun for him. Closing his eyes as he began to recall the events over the last several weeks, Coulson started to remember it all, before the mission even was underway - gifting Skye his mother's antique hair comb, every dance lesson they'd had together, the night at the bar when Skye was working and he had made hot chocolate for her, that unexpected turbulence... seeing Skye in his office several hours before...

"That's it; the night of the turbulence." This time, Coulson didn't just sit upright in bed as he continued to relive memories of his encounters with Skye, he turned to sit on the edge as he clasped his hands together and focused on that one particular incident.

He remembered being in his office getting ready for bed that night when Skye had suddenly showed up unannounced, possibly to talk about the mission in more detail since it had been the first time they'd gotten word about it, but for some reason before she even set foot inside, Coulson had turned around to see her mumble something before running out and not bringing it up even when he had gone to check on her during the turbulence. The next few days after that... Coulson had observed a slight change in Skye's behavior, she seemed to be very conscious of herself when he was in the same room and during any of their briefings, she stood next to FitzSimmons but didn't meet his gaze for too long except when giving her report. And before he could ask her anything, that night at the bar... she seemed perfectly normal again; as if something had changed again, bringing the old Skye back.

"Did she...?" He started to say as the thoughts all started to connect with each other forming an idea in his mind; it was almost but certain now that there was a good chance he had understood when Skye might have realized her feelings for him.

Not just that, but the more Coulson thought about it, when he unconsciously reacted on seeing the froth on her lips and reached out to wipe it away, he had been thinking about those eyes of hers and remembered his first thought on seeing Skye there had been that she was beautiful. Once that word was in his mind, he shifted to the evening of their mission and going to her bunk, seeing her dressed in that gorgeous midnight blue gown and that momentary brush of his hands against hers when he took the hair comb to place it in her hair, dancing with her as Clark and Chloe at the mansion, hiding behind the curtains together... not to mention the morning when he had begun to teach Skye to dance, feeling her hand on his shoulder while he rested his on her waist, the smooth and swift transition as they danced in a near perfect sync and then twirling her around... all the details now meant more than they had. Coulson finally understood everything, but most importantly, he knew what the jealous feelings were about. Why they were there, where they had come from. He was never jealous of Daniel Quinn, no. His jealousy had to do with the fact that in that moment when it awoke within him, it was because he wanted nothing more in the world than to be the man who had Skye in his arms and be the person she could see herself with, someone who would protect her, be there for her, stay by her side, always remain her partner and... love her... always.

"I love her." As soon as those words were on his lips, Coulson knew that it was true. For whatever reason, he hadn't really ever thought about his feelings so deeply and earnestly but now that he had, there was nothing else he needed just then. "I'm in love with Skye..." He repeated, hearing the words loud and clearly even if his voice had been a mere whisper and felt the smile forming across his face.

Sighing to himself as he fell back on the bed, this time with his hands tucked under his head as he stared at the ceiling, Coulson didn't think about anything else for several minutes, allowing himself to cherish this time immediately after accepting his feelings and letting the contentment wash over him. Content? He couldn't be content; how was that even possible... he still hadn't said those three words to Skye. And neither had she. Frowning for a second as he mulled over that, Coulson realized that if Skye did indeed have feelings for him as well then it was possible she hadn't spoken about this to him all along because she wasn't sure of his feelings towards her... and maybe she had been worried if he did love her... but enough time had gone by already, maybe even too much if he thought about it... there was no need to waste any more; he would go to her now and tell her how he felt right away. The rest of everything that came after this would be something they both could deal with... together.

"Hmm... 7 o'clock already." Coulson mused as he glanced at the time, wondering if it was wise to simply jump up and find Skye now. The rest of his team could be awake by now, it was only by luck the day before that they had been asleep till late morning. "I should see where she is." One step at a time; there may not necessarily be a right minute to talk to her about this but at least he could try and find some privacy away from the others.

Having made his mind up, Coulson decided it was time he got ready soon before heading out and checking Skye's bunk first hoping to catch her sooner rather than later. A quarter of an hour later found Coulson passing through the briefing room after lucking out on the bunk, kitchen and bar; if she wasn't up here then perhaps he would find her downstairs training with Ward. As soon as he reached the docking bay, he heard loud peals of laughter coming from inside the lab and on arriving there saw FitzSimmons and Skye mimicking Ward... in front of him to his amusement; but Coulson didn't notice anything else... his attention was riveted on the young woman standing with her back to the doors as her laughter echoed through the walls and reached his ears, he could only see the way her eyes twinkled under the lights in the room, the comfort and familiarity she felt around her teammates, all the bubbling energy and cheerfulness so early in the morning, the beaming smile that only grew on her lips... lips that he had kissed not so long ago in his dreams... and now Coulson wondered to himself what it would be like outside the dream.

"She's doing much better today." A voice from behind suddenly interrupted his thoughts as Coulson noticed May standing next to him, watching the same thing he was until just then when she turned to face him.

"So she is." Coulson replied back, he'd had a nagging feeling that maybe Simmons was someone who knew more about him and Skye than the others, even if there was nothing yet; May on the other hand, he might have guessed that she had her thoughts but hadn't said anything to him all along. Until now.

"Are you going to tell her?" May asked, sounding so calm and neutral about the whole thing that to Coulson he might have thought she was talking about something as normal as the weather if he didn't know better.

"How did you know?" He answered her question with one of his, not breaking away from his gaze on the lab but still standing in May's direction. "Was it that obvious?" Coulson added as an afterthought and wondered if Fitz and Ward knew as well.

"I had a feeling... but no, it wasn't too obvious. Jemma was the first to figure it out; you already knew that though." She had been watching him and as she noticed the look on his face and clearly saw the love he had for Skye in that second, May finally smiled.

"Yes, Jemma has always seemed like she knew more than she was trying to show. I think she just wanted to help... but chose to wait it out and see what happened first." It was only when he saw that sliver of a smile on his colleague's face did he glance her way and saw her reaction to the news; she was happy for him and he was thankful he had someone like May to talk to.

"And what is going to happen first?" Curious to hear what he had to say, May waited patiently as she saw him focused only on Skye as if she was the sole person in the room with him.

Coulson didn't reply to May's question for a few minutes as he turned his gaze back to the lab where the others had finally noticed his presence and stopped fooling around to resume their work - Fitz was working with his dwarves, Jemma was checking Ward's routine test results and Skye was busy on her laptop; but when she felt his gaze on her, she looked up and smiled at him before going back to what she was doing, leaving Coulson to continue watching her.

"I'm going to tell Skye that I love her." No matter how long it took, no matter what he had to do to find that one moment of privacy, no matter if he had to shoo his entire team off the Bus, Coulson was determined to tell Skye how he felt today itself and if all went well then maybe he would see what a real kiss would be like.


Well... well... well... thoughts anyone? I'm not 100% sure when the next chapter will be up, gotta go for my final dentist appointment day after to get the top braces off... but definitely sometime before next weekend! xD