Howdy, people! This will be the last update on this story of 2014! When chapter 11 gets published, it'll be 2015!

Thank you lots for all the super reviews, follows and favourites I've had so far on this story.

Oh, and I'll be publishing a New Year's Eve fan fic in my one shot collection, Saving, as chapter 11 on that, so if you want a little New Year celebration, check that out when it's published on New Year's Eve!

Anyway, enough with my rambling. We all know what you're really here for. The story! Enjoy, and please leave me a review at the end telling me what you thought!

May

Month One

"Have you been keeping up with your training?" I ask Ward as we sit in his room, our current base of operations. Skye and Simmons are out clearing the gym for us, leaving us alone so I can have a private conversation with Ward. Some may feel like it's weird that I'm going to become Ward's temporary SO, but personally, I think I'm a much better choice than the last SO he had. And although I don't believe in second chances, I do think that everyone deserves a good start in life: which obviously Ward didn't get. He deserves to pay for what he's done, but my idea of his punishment is to make him serve S.H.I.E.L.D for a decade doing only good deeds to make up for the decade he spent carrying out Garrett's orders.

"Yeah, I've been in a cell for months, and somehow I was able to train." He says sarcastically. I ignore his tone.

"Ward." I warn. "Three months is not long to convince Coulson to keep you here."

"Do you think I don't know that?" He snaps. "I know that three months is a ridiculously short space of time. Six months would be better, but even that wouldn't be enough."

"How did Garrett turn you into an asset?" I ask him. The reaction in Ward is immediate: his spine stiffens, his jaw clenches and his hands curl into fists. His reaction makes me realise exactly why Skye asked me to do this,to get information out of him on Garrett's methods. Unlike her, I'm not going to let any personal feelings get in the way of our need for information. I can easily put them aside for the mission at hand: turning Ward into a S.H.I.E.L.D asset.

"You got a patch of woodland you can leave me in?" Ward laughs dryly. "'Cause if you do, you have your answer."

I glance at him questioningly, raising an eyebrow as I wait for him to elaborate. I don't want to force him into answering, so I simply wait. I'm a patient woman, and he knows that I'll wait all day for an answer if I have to.

"Why are you helping me, May?" He asks instead of replying. I let it slide past me, logging it as a matter to discuss another day.

"I guess...it's because you haven't been given many chances in life." I start slowly, my words feeling awkward in my mouth. I've never been good with explaining why I do something, why I feel a certain way. It's been an annoyance for me ever since I was a small child. "And I don't want to see another person suffer because I didn't do anything to stop it. Plus, I saw what an affect your brother had on you." I add. Ward visibly stiffens at the mention of his brother. A normal person might feel pity for him, but I know that Ward wouldn't want my pity. He'd take it as an insult.

"You'd think I'd be able to take him, since I'm a specialist." Ward says softly, his eyes fixed on the floor. "But as soon as I saw him again, I felt like that scared kid all over again."

"Why does Christian scare you, Ward?" I ask him. Ward opens his mouth as if to answer, but Skye chooses that moment to walk in.

"Training room's ready." She announces.

"Let's go." Ward says, getting to his feet, dodging the question, so yet again I log it for later questioning.

Skye

I watch May and Grant train. The oriental woman is assessing how much of his muscle he's retained in his time in the cell, and Grant's just enjoying being back with the punch bag again, I think.

The scene reminds me of another, which took place after the whole Lorelei incident...which took place incidentally 1 month into our relationship.

1 month, 4 days into their relationship.

"Grant." I touch his arm. He shrugs me off easily, ignoring me as his fists pound relentlessly into the battered red bag. "Grant, look at me." My voice is commanding, authoritative. It's been 2 days since that...woman stole him away from me, and he still won't talk about it with me. I mean, I know the basis of what happened, but I need to hear it from his lips.

"Skye, please." He whispers, his voice strained from the effort of keeping his tone even. "I kind of just want to be alone."

"Well, I've let you be alone. All of us have, for 2 days, Grant!" I snap suddenly, my hands on my hips. "And don't think I haven't noticed that the only time you come out of that room of yours is to shower and work out. You're not eating, and I bet you're not sleeping as well. Grant, I just want you to talk about what happened with Lorelei-"

As soon as her name slips past my lips, Grant slams his fist into the bag hard, and keeps facing the bag. I bite my lip nervously. Grant's unpredictable considering Asgardian magic, shown by both the Berserker Stick and that bitch seducer, and I don't exactly want to get punched, like May did yesterday when she went to talk to him. The shiny bruise around her eye is not something I'd want, thank you!

He takes a deep breath, his back shuddering slightly.

"Skye, I cheated on you." He says in a low whisper that screams of self loathing. I blink. This is what he's upset about? I place a hand on his shoulder, and he lets me keep it there. I can feel him shivering under my touch, and I realise just how badly Lorelei's actions have affected him.

"Grant, you didn't choose to-" I try, but he cuts me off mid sentence.

"But I still did it, Skye." He says despairingly. "I slept with another woman while I'm dating you." He rests his forehead against the material of the bag. "And I kind of enjoyed it." This last sentence is half whispered, barely audible, and he says it as if he's horrified by the very words.

"Well, I don't blame you." I start, my voice clear and confident, showing no traces of the inner turmoil I'm actually feeling. Not because of him sleeping with Lorelei, but because of how he's viewing it in his mind. Does it annoy me that she used him for sex? Hell yeah. Am I upset that he slept with her? Not so much, because he didn't have a choice. No, my anger is directed fully at that Asgardian bitch.

"What?" Grant looks up at that, turning around to face me, as was my desired response.

"I don't blame you for enjoying it. Sex is sex, right? And Lorelei was probably very, very good at it." I shrug, continuing. "Heck, if I was a guy and she seduced me, I'd probably enjoy it too."

"I still slept with another woman while I'm with you." Grant points out, unable to let go of his self hatred for his actions.

"Did you do it on purpose?" I ask him. Grant hesitates and then shakes his head slowly.

"Did you have a choice?" I ask next, raising one eyebrow. The pause this time round it longer, but eventually he shakes his head 'no' again.

"Did you want to cheat on me?" Is my final question. Grant shakes his head quickly.

"I'd never want to cheat on you, Skye." He says sincerely. I let a smile tug at my lips.

"See? It wasn't your fault, and I know you'd never actually do it." I pause. "'Cause then May would chuck you out of this plane at the highest altitude - without a parachute."

"And make it look like it's an accident, yeah." A ghost of a smile twitches on his mouth. I link arms with him, not minding that he's all sweaty. "Now, let's get you showered, then fed, and them we'll go to sleep, okay?"

"Only if you shower with me." He bargains. I raise both my eyebrows in mock shock.

"Grant Douglas Ward, you should know I'm a proper southern girl, and you'll make me untidy." I say in my best southern accent - which is not good at all.

He waggles his eyebrows back at me suggestively. I laugh.

"Come on, then, before Coulson wonders where both of us are."

I'm jerked out of my thoughts by Jemma.

"Hey, Skye?" She asks nervously. I look at her, seeing that Jemma's seated next to me in the corner.

"Yeah, Jemma?" I gesture for her to continue. Jemma gnaws on her bottom lip.

"Do you think Fitz will forgive me?" She asks uncertainly. I tilt my head too one side, considering my answer. On one hand, Jemma's hanging out with the man he hates most in the world. But then again, Fitz and Jemma are best friends: they're Fitzsimmons!

"I think that, in time, he'll come to understand why you did what you did." I reply carefully, my gaze drifting back to Grant, who's now doing push ups with May. "Because if you value each other as much as you think you do, anything is redeemable."

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(Oh, and a special thanks to KissMyQuiver for her lovely reviews!)