Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya! This is the last 'chapter', the next one is just an epilogue for you. This one was nice to write, though.

I may post the next chapter tomorrow, if I'm feeling up to it. ;)

Enjoy!

Slowly pulling the SUV up to a gas pump, Grant shifts the gear into park and then shuts off the engine, pulling the keys out of the ignition. He glances over to the passenger seat to see Skye reclined back in the seat, her feet resting up on the dash, her eyes closed, and earbuds stuck in her ears.

He reaches out and places a hand on her arm, drawing her attention to him.

She lifts her head and pulls one bud out of her ear, her brows furrowed together. "Why'd we stop?"

"We need to fill up," he tells her. "We're almost out of gas."

She nods. "Okay." She sits up more in her seat, wrapping the headphones around her phone and stashing it in the bag at her feet. "Do you want to fill up while I go inside and get us some snacks for the trip?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Great." She leans down to her backpack and pulls her wallet out, making sure she has enough cash to get food inside the convenience store. She looks up at him. "You have money to fill up, right?"

He nods. "Thankfully I still had some cash at my old safe house."

Her brows furrow. "When did we go by one of your safe houses?"

"You were sleeping," he tells her with a small smile. "There wasn't one too far from the motel we were at, so when you fell asleep I drove over there and got some of my things." He gestures to the duffle bag in the back seat. "I still had some cash there, too. Enough to get us by for a while, I think. And if we're near any of my other safe houses along the way, we can stop and see if there's anything of use."

She smiles. "Sounds like a plan. Is there anything you want me to get you while I'm inside?"

He shrugs. "Whatever you want to get is fine."

She chuckles quietly. "I'll make sure to get a few healthier options for you." She leans forward to give him a quick kiss. "I'll be right back." She turns away from him and steps out of the car, closing the door behind her and walking toward the convenience store.

Reaching into the backseat, he shuffles around inside the duffle bag before pulling out a small wad of cash. Pulling a few larger bills out of it, he exits the vehicle, making sure to grab the keys in case the car locks, and then steps over to the pre-pay machine.

He pays for what he hopes will fill up the car, at least, enough to get them somewhere, and then sets the pump into the gas tank, securing the pump so he doesn't have to hold onto it.

As he waits for the car to finish filling up with gas, he leans back against the vehicle, crossing his arms casually over his chest and lets his mind wander.

He's free, he's no longer tied down by SHIELD or Hydra, Garrett or his family, or anything else that used to cause him pain and stress. Now he's out on his own, with Skye, and they're just going to do whatever they want to do. It's more than he ever thought he'd have. He honestly thought he'd be dead by now. He technically was. But then he came back.

At first he thought it was just the universe trying to screw with him again. But now he's not so sure. Maybe it's actually trying to make up for all the horrible stuff he had to go through. Wouldn't that be something.

"Grant?"

Pulling himself out of his thoughts at the soft voice, he looks over his shoulder to see Skye standing on the other side of the car, looking at him with slightly furrowed brows.

"What?"

She cracks a small smile. "I think the car's done filling up."

He looks at the gas machine to see that it is indeed done filling, so he quickly replaces the pump into its holder and takes the receipt that prints out.

"What had you so lost in thought that you didn't realize the car was done?" she asks him.

He shrugs, replacing the gas cap and closing the little door. "Nothing important."

"Are you sure?"

He smiles softly and gives a small nod. "I'm sure. Now come on, we better get back on the road."

"Yeah, yeah." She rolls her eyes teasingly and then climbs inside the car.

He climbs into the other side after making sure that he's not leaving anything behind or unchecked, and then closes the door behind him.

"What's that for?" Grant asks the woman next to him when he notices the small, cheap camera she's fiddling around with in her lap.

"For taking pictures, duh," she says back, tossing the small bag of snacks she bought into the backseat.

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, I realize that. But why do you have it?"

"So we can capture as many moments as possible on our little adventure." She smiles. "We're going to be exploring this country and I've probably never seen most of what we're going to see, and I don't think you've ever stayed anywhere long enough to appreciate it.

"Plus, it'll be fun to have a photo from all the different places we go to. You don't have to be in all the pictures if you don't want to be, just as long as you allow me to get at least one picture of the both of us at all of the really cool places. It's not quite the quality I'd prefer, but what can you expect from a convenience store camera? You can be my own personal photographer since I know you won't want to be in that many pictures."

Grant thinks for a minute and then relents, nodding his head. "Fine." It doesn't take much for Skye to get what she wants when he's around. He just wants her to be happy. And he'll do whatever he can to keep her happy.

Skye grins at him. "Thank you." She leans forward and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning back around in her seat and strapping herself in, tossing her feet up onto the dash like before.

Grant just smiles to himself and straps himself in, turning the engine over and pulling away from the gas pump and back onto the road, ready and eager to start on this new adventure.

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They spend a significant amount of time just traveling; they roam across the country and explore as many different sites as they can. They visit all the major cities that they want to, as well as a few smaller cities that are popular tourist attractions. They go anywhere and everywhere they want, no one to tell them what they can or can't do.

Neither of them have the need to settle down anywhere just yet either, mainly because traveling and constantly moving helps to keep Grant somewhat grounded and distracted from all of his problems that he's still learning to deal with. There's always something new to do or see that keeps his mind occupied and off other, more stressful, things.

Most of the places they visit around the States are completely new to Skye, and she can't contain her excitement and amazement at everything they see. Grant loves the looks of pure wonder and joy Skye gets on her face every time she finds something she loves that she's never experienced before. It makes him fall more and more in love with her each time.

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Over the months they spend traveling, Grant slowly starts to get back to his regular self, or at least, a version of himself that is much less haunted by the nightmares of his past.

The nightmares stop coming to him as often as they used to. He's never plagued during the daytime anymore, only at night, and not as much as before. The voice he used to hear taunting him is now just a faded memory. Every once in a while he'll think he hears something in his head, but he can usually manage to push it back and focus on something else.

Most nights he's able to get himself calmed down from a particular bad dream, but some nights, rare nights, they're more than he can handle alone. But Skye is always right there beside him to help him work through it all. Without any ounce of hesitation.

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Eyes still closed, Skye's brows furrow together as she waits for the thrashing and the few small flames she can hear crackling to cease as they usually do after a minute or two. Most of the time Grant's able to get himself calmed down and she'll curl up closer to him, letting him know she's there without saying anything.

When, this time, instead of dying down, both the thrashing and the flames grow in intensity, she opens her eyes and flips over to see Grant's face scrunched up and his body moving violently across the top of the bed. Flames lick at his skin, as she suspected. It hasn't been this bad in months, not since those first few rough nights right after leaving SHIELD behind when he was still worried that someone was going to come after him in his sleep.

She sits up quickly in the bed and pulls her legs up to avoid the leg that he throws out, most likely reacting to something in his nightmare. "Grant!" She reaches out to him and places her hand on his shoulder, hoping to ground him back into reality. "Grant! Babe, it's okay. You're okay. You're safe. Grant, please. You're safe."

Grant bolts upright, his breathing heavy and sweat beading on his forehead. The flames slowly start to retreat back into his body as he comes to, taking deep breaths to slow his heart beat.

"Hey," she says softly, scooting closer to him and running a hand through his hair while the other rests on his upper arm. "You're okay now." She drops a kiss to his exposed shoulder and then rests her chin on it, looking up at him as she massages his scalp with her fingers, knowing that it helps to calm him down. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asks quietly.

He swallows thickly, staying silent for just a moment. "It was...you were...and Quinn...and it was bad...way worse...and I...I couldn't...I'm so sorry." His body starts to tremble again.

"Hey, it's okay." She moves closer to him, almost sitting in his lap, and places both of her hands on his cheeks, making him look her in the eyes. "I'm okay. It was just a nightmare, it wasn't real." She places one of his hands on her chest, right above her heart, staying quiet for a moment so he can feel the beat beneath his fingers. "You guys saved me that and now I'm here. And I'm not planning on going anywhere. Ever."

He nods slowly. "Will you hold me?" he asks her in a whisper. "I just...I need to know you're here."

She gives him a small smile and shakes her head. "You don't need to explain anything. You know that you never need to explain." She presses a soft kiss to his lips before scooting back down to her side of the bed and silently opening her arms to him.

Grant moves down the bed and lies next to her, wrapping his arms comfortably around her waist and resting his head on her chest. He lets his eyes close as he listens and concentrates on the steady beat of her heart beneath his ear, letting it lull him back to sleep.

Skye just smiles, dropping a kiss to the top of his head before settling down into the bed and letting sleep overtake her again. She prays that the rest of their night will go smoothly.

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Grant shifts a little in the new bed he shares with Skye of their new home on their first night in their new town. They'd been traveling for months and finally, just a few weeks prior, Grant suggested that they find a place to stay for good, to put down roots and really make a life for themselves. Skye agreed instantly, as long as it was what he really wanted to do and not just because he thinks it's what she wanted.

It took them a little while to find a good place, somewhere far enough away from the main SHIELD base, but not crazy far in case Fitz, Abby, or Mack want to visit them. They're both pretty happy with where they picked, finally settling down like normal people.

"Skye," Grant speaks up, shifting again.

"Yeah?" she replies, eyes closed as she snuggles deeper into his warm embrace. His unnatural body heat makes her never want to leave his arms.

"Do you regret leaving SHIELD?"

"No," she says simply. "I don't."

"You don't?"

She shakes her head, turning in his arms so she can look at him. "No, I don't. I like being here, in this small town, with you, away from all the prying and judgemental eyes we were constantly getting. I like being in a place where no one knows us and we can start over and build a good life together."

"You don't regret leaving. Even though they were your family?"

"Key word here being 'were'," she says. "They were my family. But you're my family now, Grant. You and me, this is our little family. And I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Really?" he asks, a small and rare light in his eyes.

She smiles at him and nods. "Really." She leans up to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "I love you, and I'm not going anywhere."

He smiles when she pulls away. "I love you too."

"Good, now go back to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow."

His brows furrow together but he lies back down anyways. "We do?"

"Mm-hmm. Tomorrow I'm setting up our home security system. I mean, I know this place is known for being very low on the crime, but it'll make me feel a lot better. And you have that appointment tomorrow as well, to make sure you're really doing as okay as we both hope you are. And I think I saw one of our neighbors watching us yesterday while we were moving in, so I think I might go and introduce myself, try and make a friend."

"Sounds like a very busy day," he mumbles.

"Plus, I need to set up a secure line so that we can still keep in contact with Fitz, Abby, and Mack. I know Abby will like to know that you're doing okay, and I'm sure Fitz and Mack will too."

He nods. "Okay."

Skye smiles and then leans up to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw before settling herself back in his arms, breathing in deeply as she lets her body relax.

She can't keep the smile off her face as she thinks about where they're at in their lives now. They've really started to make a good life for themselves; a good life, together, away from all the pain and chaos and heartache that goes along with SHIELD, and that's exactly how she wants it to stay.

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!